The Historian Pan highly praised Xia Honghua, saying her accounts here are the best among the sect’s departments and that she would soon be rewarded with official recognition.
Xia Honghua originally just wanted to pass the inspection, but she unexpectedly became the top scorer, and she was overjoyed.
Xia Honghua specifically rewarded Duan Rong with twenty contribution points, and Duan Rong was naturally delighted to earn more.
With the Historian Pan’s praise, Duan Rong’s position with Xia Honghua became quite secure.
Originally, Xia Honghua was contemplating replacing Duan Rong, given that Duan Rong only worked two hours a day and often slacked off, which irritated Xia Honghua greatly.
With Historian Pan’s praise, Xia Honghua, even if willing, dared not replace him, fearing that a replacement might not be as good as Duan Rong, which could ruin the good impression painstakingly established with Historian Pan by the year-end audit!
"A bit of slack is fine. Just make sure you do the job well!"
After half a year passed, Xiao Yu and Shen Mizi finally achieved Inner Breath Realm’s Great Perfection, now able to train in martial arts for the True Qi Realm.
Because the initial strand of true qi is born from inner breath, if the Inner Breath Realm isn’t thick and stable, forcing the training of the True Qi Realm’s martial arts can easily make the initial strand of true qi very flimsy.
If the initial strand of true qi is flimsy, even with vigorous cultivation, although the amount of true qi accumulates, it remains insubstantial, resulting in a false realm. The late stages can be endlessly problematic!
Therefore, martial artists usually only start training in True Qi Realm martial arts after achieving Inner Breath Realm’s Great Perfection.
Of course, some, after achieving Micro, sit in Great Perfection for over ten years unable to break through, and many such martial artists will abandon the Great Perfection Realm and forcibly train in True Qi Realm martial arts. However, these martial artists, even if achieving the True Qi Realm, will be bottom-dwellers of the same realm.
The Criminal Chief Constable of Xianggu County, Jie Daohan, is such a case.
On this day, Duan Rong, together with Ximen Kankan, Xiao Yu, and Shen Mizi, came to the Scripture Repository.
Ximen Kankan, Xiao Yu, and Shen Mizi were here to select martial arts secret manuals for the True Qi Realm.
Actually, Ximen Kankan achieved Inner Breath Realm’s Great Perfection a few months earlier but wasn’t in a rush, saying he would wait to choose together with Xiao Yu and Shen Mizi.
Duan Rong knew Ximen Kankan was never really keen on martial arts and couldn’t force him, letting him be as he is.
After displaying their sect cloud scrolls, they entered the Scripture Repository.
Ximen Kankan said, "Why are there so few guards at the Scripture Repository?"
On the plaza of the Scripture Repository, only a sparse few people walked about, and there were only two guards at the entrance.
Moreover, this place didn’t seem like the Medicine Pavilion, which had several arrow towers erected.
But Duan Rong knew that the defense here was loose on the outside and tight inside because two strands of divine sense had crossed over them the instant they stepped through the door.
Duan Rong said, "Let’s move quickly."
They passed through the plaza and headed toward the building where registered disciples exchange True Qi Realm secret manuals.
It was a low, shabby wooden building, inside which an old man with a bald head sat behind a counter, fanning himself.
They received a tattered booklet, flipped through by countless people, whose cover was torn, and which was originally a single book but split into four parts.
Ximen Kankan, Xiao Yu, and Shen Mizi found a well-lit spot, each holding one part of the booklet, and began examining it.
"With so many martial arts, which one should I choose?"
Shen Mizi looked at the densely-packed martial arts catalogue and felt troubled.
Ximen Kankan scratched his head as he flipped through, though each line was followed with detailed annotations introducing basic information about the martial art, it was just too much.
The saying goes, when too many flowers compete for attention, they confound the eye. How does one know which martial art suits them?
Seeing the three of them bewildered, Duan Rong hesitated slightly, then said, "You are suited for the Orchid Chaos Sword, you are suited for the Sky-Cleaving Saber, and you are suited for the Flowing Cloud Snow Shadow Saber."
Duan Rong spoke rapidly, pointing at each of them once as he spoke, finishing all three sentences and having pointed at each of them.
Ximen Kankan paused slightly and said, "What Sky-Cleaving Saber? You didn’t even look; what are you commanding blindly for?"
Duan Rong said, "Flip through the booklet in your hand and search for the Sky-Cleaving Saber."
"If I don’t find it, I’ll cleave...," Ximen Kankan’s sentence froze halfway.
"There really is a Sky-Cleaving Saber!?" Ximen Kankan looked at Duan Rong doubtfully.
Actually, the most surprised person was not Ximen Kankan but Shen Mizi, for the martial art Duan Rong mentioned to her was the same one her father Shen Yanliu had advised her.
It’s the Orchid Chaos Sword, which Shen Yanliu had specifically instructed her to pay attention to before she left Xianggu County, saying it suited her.
And Duan Rong directly pointed out it suited her too.
Shen Mizi looked at Duan Rong, shocked, and paused for a moment.
Perhaps out of rebellion and resistance towards her father, she didn’t initially want to choose the sword technique Shen Yanliu suggested. But after Duan Rong also pointed it out, she instantly changed her mind, feeling that it wasn’t a coincidence. That sword technique might truly be suitable for her.
Shen Mizi then started flipping through, but after going through the section of the booklet in her hand, she couldn’t find the Orchid Chaos Sword.