Thirty Years of Demon Slaying at the Demon-Slaying Department - Chapter 40

Chapter 40: Dream after Drunk

The first volume of the sword scripture included a set of sword styles that also doubled as a set of techniques.

There were 36 sword moves in total that, when complemented with movements, could enhance one’s sword skill and strength at the same time.

After reading the entire scripture, Zhou Yi closed his eyes and practiced the 36 moves in his head. His body trembled ever so slightly from time to time to mirror the training.

It took him no effort to fully refine his skills and reached the ninth-grade level of martial arts.

Seeing that Zhou Yi had his eyes closed, Zhang Cheng thought that his colleague was trying to digest the knowledge he had just got and decided to help a little.

“Even though the first volume is widely known to people and the moves aren’t a secret like most other royal techniques, it’s still a classic born through countless battlefields. It’s not that easy to get the basics right…”

As Zhang Cheng spoke, Zhou Yi had already finished refining his muscles and bones and had completely mastered the first volume of the sword scripture.

“Is there any way to get the second and third volume?” Zhou Yi asked.

“Are you trying to run before you can walk? If you can master the first volume in ten years and reached the seventh-grade Way of Martial Arts, then I’ll do everything I can to get you the second volume.”

“Deal!”

Zhou Yi decided to wait another five, or maybe six years before he showcased his skills to get the second volume for free.

…

The moon was high up in the sky as Zhou Yi practiced his swordsmanship in the garden of the Breeze Villa with his Purple Ying Sword.

He was performing all the moves that he had just learned. He leaped off the floor and spun the sword around him. The faint moonlight reflected off the sword, making it seem as if a light show was happening in the garden.

After performing the moves ten times, he had mastered half of them.

After 20 repetitions, he had mastered three-quarters of it.

And after performing a hundred times, he still had three left.

He decided to perform the last three moves in one succession. First was a slight lift, followed by a thrust and ending with a slash.

He then completed all 36 moves with a leap and thrust his sword towards a stone pillar. He halted the sword’s movement abruptly just a foot before it hit the pillar, but a pure wave of sword energy pierced the pillar and left a three-inch deep hole on it.

Since Zhou Yi was still a lower-third-grade martial artist, he could only train his body and not integrate magic into his attacks. However, he could still focus energy into the sword and unleash it as an attack.

The Swordsmanship Divine Art was a power that could turn a normal sword attack into something unbelievably powerful.

“By combining all 36 moves into one thrust, I’ll call this technique the Guiding of Immortals.”

It didn’t even take Zhou Yi one full day to completely master all the 36 moves and achieve the pinnacle of body refining.

From a normal person’s perspective, it could also be seen as an acquired pinnacle. The next step would be gathering the Essence Qi needed to reach the Innate Master of Martial Arts and become known throughout the mortal world.

Zhou Yi sheathed his Purple Ying Sword and fetched the jar of wine that was buried under the jujube tree.

He broke the hardened soil outside the jar, and the aroma of the wine filled his nose instantly. The Hundred Beast Drunken Wine, famous for having an extremely strong alcoholic content, now smelled soft and gentle.

“The little fox is right. The Bright Moon Gem has absorbed the essence of Lunar Moonlight and became a high-quality ingredient for wine brewing,” Zhou Yi gasped. He then leaped onto the roof and raised his head to look at the moon.

An almost invisible silver ray was being attracted by the mysterious power of the Bright Moon Gem and slowly gathered into a grain-sized silver droplet.

The droplet formed in front of the eye of the rabbit-shaped gem as if it was giving the treasure life.

The Bright Moon Gem would only absorb the Lunar Moonlight once every night. It would take at least half a year to gather enough for a jar of wine.

The Hundred Beast Drunken Wine was supposed to be a mortal wine, but after mixing in the Lunar Moonlight and kept for half a year, it had become a spiritual wine.

“Sweet olive tree and a rabbit-shaped gem… It’s as if God really existed in this world. I wonder if the Guanghan Palace actually exists on the moon.”

Zhou Yi took a sip of the wine and could feel it burn his insides right away. It was a euphoric feeling that most people would never experience.

The wine was now a high-quality spiritual wine that could strengthen one’s essence and qi as it consisted of the nutrition of the wine itself and the energy of the Lunar Moonlight.

It didn’t take long for Zhou Yi to finish the entire jar. And instead of dispelling the alcohol with his power, he decided to let himself get drunk and sleep on the roof instead.

He dreamt of an old couple laying next to him and whispering to each other.

He tried to listen to what they were saying, but it was as if he was separated from them by a barrier.

The dream continued until the sun was up. When he slowly opened his eyes, it was already late in the morning.

“Did I just have a dream?” Zhou Yi frowned and tried to recall everything he had experienced in his sleep.

It was abnormal for a cultivator to dream. Usually, when it happened, it would be a warning or a premonition of danger.

“Wait, I think I know the old couple. Did something happen in Hengyang? I have to ask Zhang Cheng about it. He has trained in both the way of martial arts and the arts of Taoism. He can help me depict the meaning of the dream…”

…

It was Zhang Cheng’s first time arriving at the Resource Division earlier than Zhou Yi. Instead of working, he was enjoying the Hundred Beast Drunken Wine and allowing its aroma to spread throughout the workplace.

Not many people in the Demon Slaying Department could be as casual as he was at work.

“Brother Zhang! I dreamt of my parents last night!” Zhou Yi exclaimed as he arrived . He described his dream to Zhang Cheng.

“Your parents are talking next to you, but you can’t hear what they were saying…” Zhang Cheng put his wine down and looked at Zhou Yi with empathy in his eyes. “Usually, this kind of dream is a sign that your parents have passed away, filled with regret, and they have no one to bury them. It leaves them no choice but to notify their children through dreams…”

“But… That’s impossible. My brothers were still with my parents when I left…”

Zhou Yi’s voice softened. Death in the family was a difficult topic in this world.

In the past, drought and White Lotus demons had plagued Hengyang for years, causing a rebellion among tens of thousands of citizens in a bid to survive.

It took a few months for the military to calm the rebellion down. However, things ended up being worse than before.

After the rebellion, the Zhou family’s food source dwindled and became so scarce that they couldn’t feed everyone in the family. Zhou Yi had to make the decision to run away from home.

His plan back then was to find a rich family that would hire him as a servant, and he could, in turn, support his family a little.

However, even the rich families were suffering because of the drought and could not afford to hire servants anymore. After months of wandering aimlessly, Zhou Yi arrived at Luojing and noticed that the Demon Slaying Department was hiring. He decided to join the department so that he could make a living for himself.

“My deepest condolences…” Zhang Cheng patted Zhou Yi on his shoulder. “I know how painful it can be. The same happened to me as well. I didn’t learn about my parents’ passing for years until I came out of my secluded training…”

“I… I’m thinking of going back for a short while to tend to their funeral,” Zhou Yi suddenly said after a moment of silence.

“Hengyang is ten thousand miles away from here, and it’s dangerous out there. You were lucky to survive the journey here. Are you sure you want to go back?” Zhang Cheng asked. “If you are really troubled by the dream, you should head to the White Cloud Monastery and pray. The dream should stop in a few days.”

Zhou Yi knew how dangerous it was outside the city. Great Qian was a huge empire, where a single state was the size of a dozen in his previous world. Even though military orders could be quickly relayed through divine arts and magics, and every city was heavily guarded by the military, the humans still could not completely prevent the demons from attacking.

It was even normal for people to die from starvation in Luojing, the capital of the empire. One could only imagine how dangerous it was in other cities.

Whenever a city suffered from a demon attack, unless the attack was led by a higher grade demon, the city would have to fend for itself. Officials of the city would submit a report to the palace, stating that there was an attack and countless had died.

That was how dangerous the world was, where death was so common that the government would not even count how many people died in an attack. Zhou Yi was considered to be one of these “countless” people.

1,500 years into the past, when Great Qian was founded in Yun Continent, humans and demons used to live together. Fights among the two different species were more common back then than in the present.

That was a true dark age where the immortals hid in forests or high up on mountains.

Back then, powerful demons would attack humans almost every day, taking all the souls they could find. There were even cases where a small country had perished due to a demon’s attack and became a demon country where humans were nothing more than livestock.

Even now, when the Great Qian had finally ruled over all of Yun Continent, demons were still a huge threat because of how vast the continent was. The truth was that humans had only taken control of the plains in the continent, while a huge amount of the landmasses were actually forests and mountains that were the territories of demons.

It was pure luck that Zhou Yi had survived the journey from Hengyang to Luojing back then. The survival rate was only a mere 1%.

“But, as a son, I have to go back. It’s my duty,” Zhou Yi said as he nodded confidently. “I’ve survived in this place for the past ten years, didn’t I? The trip would be nothing.

Although he wasn’t the real Zhou Yi, he knew that taking over one’s body meant that he had to take on the previous soul’s responsibilities and karma as well.

“Well, you sure are a lucky lad, I’ll give you that,” Zhang Cheng smiled as a stack of charms magically appeared in his hand. “These Lightning Charms don’t need any magic to activate. All you have to do is drip a few drops of blood on it. Take them and be safe on your journey.”

“Thank you!” Zhou Yi took the charms and did not say anything more, but he was forever grateful for how kind Zhang Cheng had treated him.

Despite looking like a drunken old man almost every day, Zhang Cheng was actually vital to Zhou Yi’s growth and survival. The blood-activated Lightning Charm was an excellent example. Even a single piece would be treated like a treasure in any mortal family since it could save a lot of lives in times of need.

After bidding farewell to Zhang Cheng, Zhou Yi went to apply for a three-month leave from Chief Secretary Chen.

When the chief secretary heard of Zhou Yi’s loss, he took out a badge and a hundred silver coins as a form of his condolences.

“This is the badge of our department. This will help save you a lot of money when you stay in inns or rent horses,” the chief secretary explained. “Remember to use it often as the guards at the border are way stricter when you enter the city.”

“Thank you, sir!”

Zhou Yi then left the department and went to the administrative building to apply for a traveler’s permit before renting a horse at the courier station.

He left through the Northern Gate of Luojing and galloped at full speed towards Hengyang that was situated in the State of Jing.