Novel Full Chapter 23: Salary Penalty
Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Salary Penalty
A few days later, the Tier One Top Grade Demon Beast to the east was hunted down and killed by three Late-stage Qi Refining Cultivators from the marketplace.
When the news reached the marketplace, the tension that had been building for days finally eased.
However, it only eased a little. The fact that a Tier One Top Grade beast could appear just a few miles east of the marketplace was, in itself, a problem.
Li Yuan maintained his daily routine as usual. He practiced the five stances of the Iron Bull Skill once a day, squeezed in practice of the Nourishing Essence Skill whenever he could, and cultivated the Spirit-Introducing Skill at night. The outer patrols had been suspended, with the patrol area drawn back to within the marketplace itself.
The workload hadn’t lessened at all.
Today was the day monthly stipends were distributed. Now that he was a deputy captain, he was considered a minor officer and no longer had to queue up for his pay. The downside was that he received it at the same time as the other captains and deputy captains, which was a while after the regular patrol members.
Three Spirit Stones, two Meridian Opening Pills, and fifteen Contribution Points—this was his monthly stipend.
Back in his quarters, Li Yuan bolted the door, sat on the edge of his bed, and emptied the contents of his cloth pouch.
Three Spirit Stones rolled onto the table. Beside them, two dark-red pills gave off a faint medicinal aroma. The pills themselves were translucent, with crimson patterns seeming to flow faintly across their surfaces.
Two Meridian Opening Pills. Li Yuan picked one up and placed it in his mouth.
The pill dissolved the moment it reached his stomach. A warm medicinal potency rose from his core, spreading slowly through his meridians.
Unlike the feeling of Spiritual Qi entering the body during cultivation, this medicinal potency was gentler. It felt like a warm current seeping into the walls of his meridians, slowly clearing any subtle blockages.
The Spiritual Power in his Dantian rippled for a moment before stabilizing.
The Meridian Opening Pill could enhance one’s Spiritual Power and, for a limited time, accelerate one’s cultivation speed.
However, for Li Yuan, who was at the Mid-stage of Qi Refining, the Spiritual Power enhancement was minimal.
The real benefit was the accelerated cultivation speed.
A prompt appeared on the panel:
[Meridian Opening Pill Permanence Progress: 1/10]
’It takes ten pills to achieve permanence. Just relying on the monthly stipend, it would take at least five months. But there’s no better way. I’ll just have to save them up slowly.’
Li Yuan carefully put away the remaining Meridian Opening Pill, tucked the Spirit Stones into his sleeve, then sat cross-legged and began to cultivate.
His cultivation speed didn’t increase by much, but it was still thirty percent faster than usual. ’And with my stacked traits, it’s even faster.’
When Li Yuan finished cultivating and pushed his door open, he saw Fang He from next door sitting on his threshold, polishing a short blade.
Upon seeing Li Yuan, Fang He stood up and cupped his hands in a brief salute.
"Hey, I wanted to tell you something. I joined the guard team."
"When did that happen?"
"The day before yesterday."
Fang He slid his short blade back into its sheath and brushed off his robes.
"I have you to thank for digging up that information for me. I went and signed up with the guard team right after."
"They happened to be severely short-handed. The moment they saw I had experience with a demon-hunting team and my Cultivation was high enough, they approved it on the spot."
’The guard team really is short-staffed. They still haven’t replenished the manpower they lost before.’
’The guard team had no reason to turn down a Loose Cultivator like Fang He, who had actual combat experience.’
"I officially report for duty tomorrow." Fang He stretched his neck, his tone flat.
Li Yuan nodded.
Fang He cracked a smile. "I’ve done time in a demon-hunting team. At least with the guards, you have backup. You don’t have to worry about getting a knife in the back from your own side."
He left it at that, turning and heading back into his room.
Li Yuan didn’t press for details and left to begin his patrol.
The foot traffic on East Street was lighter than it had been a few days ago.
It wasn’t a huge drop, but the difference was palpable—a few temporary sheds that had been crammed at the mouth of an alley were gone, leaving only impressions in the dirt. Two or three stalls in the middle of the North Alley were also empty, widening the walkway a bit.
After news of the Tier One Top Grade beast spread, a number of Loose Cultivators had indeed chosen to leave.
But not many had left. The reason was simple: it was even less safe outside the marketplace.
The journey from Qinghe Marketplace to the nearest Li family marketplace was nearly a hundred li, most of it through open wilderness.
That route used to be relatively safe, but now with Demon Beasts from the Yuanheng Mountain Range spreading out, one could run into anything along the way.
Better to stay in the marketplace than risk the journey.
Most Loose Cultivators subscribed to this line of thinking.
But something else truly caught Li Yuan’s attention.
As he patrolled to the end of East Street, he noticed that a Talisman shop that usually did brisk business was closed.
The wooden door was bolted from the inside, and several packed crates were stacked by the entrance. Peeking through a crack in the window, he could see that the shelves inside were mostly bare.
’They aren’t just closed for the day,’ he realized. ’They’re packing up to leave for good.’
As Li Yuan continued his patrol, he noted at least three shops packing up their goods. Another had already posted a "For Sale" sign.
’A few Loose Cultivators leaving is no big deal; their vacant stalls are quickly filled. But shops are a different story.’
’The annual rent from a single successful shop is equal to that of dozens of Loose Cultivator stalls.’
’If shops start leaving, the marketplace’s revenue will take a noticeable hit.’
’The Wang family certainly wouldn’t want to see that happen.’
When he went to the station to report in that afternoon, Wang De was sitting behind a desk piled high with a new batch of documents, his brow furrowed.
Li Yuan knocked before entering and gave a brief report on his patrol.
Wang De listened without immediate comment. He set aside the document in his hand and tapped his index finger twice on the desk.
"We’ve figured out what happened with the Demon Beast in the Spirit Field District."
Li Yuan stood before the desk, silent.
"During the period the southern patrol had that issue, Zhou Dazhuang and two other guards were responsible for the area. The three of them were negligent during their shift. One day, they packed up early, leaving a gap in the southern defenses. The Demon Beast slipped in through there."
Wang De’s tone was level.
"All three will be fined two months’ stipend, and their service time in the guard team will be extended. Three extra months for each of them."
’A two-month fine... that’s twenty Spirit Stones gone.’
’The three-month extension is even worse. A rotation in the guard team is supposed to last one month; now it’s four.’
’Zhou Dazhuang’s wife is pregnant, too. He mentioned last time that her morning sickness was so bad she’d lost a lot of weight. Now, with his stipend docked and having to stay on patrol for an extra three months... it’s going to be tough for him.’
’Still, there was nothing to argue about the punishment. Their negligence allowed a Demon Beast into the Spirit Field District. If a Spirit Farmer had been hurt or a Spirit Field destroyed, the consequences would’ve been far worse than a docked stipend.’
"There’s something else."
Wang De pulled a few reports from the paper mountain and spread them on his desk.
"Demon Beast sightings around the marketplace have been getting more frequent. From last month to today, the guard team has filed seventeen sighting reports. Six of those were within a couple of miles of the marketplace."
"The month before, there were only two or three," Li Yuan said.
"So yes, you could say Demon Beast activity is on the rise."
Wang De picked up his teacup, then set it back down without taking a sip.
"But a few of these encounters were... strange."
"While patrolling to the north, the guard team encountered different Demon Beasts in the exact same spot for three days in a row. Day one, an Iron-Spine Hyena. Day two, two Horned Lizards. Day three, a Unihorned Snake Badger. Those three types of Demon Beasts have completely different habitats. They wouldn’t normally appear in the same location."
Li Yuan frowned. "Were they driven here from somewhere else?"
Wang De shot him a look.
"Hard to say. But for it to happen on three consecutive days, in almost the exact same spot... it doesn’t look like a natural migration."
’They still haven’t found out who was behind Zhao Wu’s attempt to spy on the marketplace’s defenses. If someone was secretly driving Demon Beasts to harass the marketplace’s periphery, then Zhao Wu’s intelligence gathering would make a lot more sense.’
Wang De didn’t elaborate, simply waving his hand.
"The guard team and the Wang family are looking into it. You just focus on your patrols. But be ready for new assignments. Come find me if anything comes up."
Li Yuan acknowledged and left.
It was evening by the time he returned to his quarters.
Li Yuan bolted the door, found a clear space in the room, and went through the Iron Bull Skill once.
With his organs strengthened, the five forms flowed together smoothly. The surge of his Qi Blood washing over his organs felt solid and powerful. The opposing tensions in the fifth form, "Iron Bull Damming the River," were perfectly stable.
[Iron Bull Skill: Proficient (382/400)]
’Not far from Mastery now.’
After finishing, he practiced the Nourishing Essence Skill twice. Once he was done with both Cultivation Techniques, Li Yuan sat cross-legged and began circulating the Spirit-Introducing Skill.
Spiritual Qi surged into his meridians—pure and potent.
The Spiritual Power in his Dantian was significantly fuller than it had been a month ago.
The emptiness he felt right after breaking through to the fourth level was long gone, replaced by a dense, heavy fullness. With each completed cycle, he could feel the Spiritual Power settling solidly within his Dantian.
Circulating the Spirit-Introducing Skill was also becoming smoother. The breathing rhythm that required conscious effort a few months ago was now nearly instinctual, and the proficiency on his panel was approaching the stage of Great Success.
Thanks to the boons from his traits, Li Yuan’s cultivation speed far surpassed that of his peers.
Not only did his Spiritual Power accumulate rapidly, but because it was so pure and flowed so quickly, Li Yuan had yet to encounter any bottlenecks in his training.
Bottlenecks didn’t just appear when Breaking Realms; minor ones could pop up during normal cultivation. They could be worn down over time, but it was a time-consuming process.
Li Yuan closed his eyes and circulated his Cultivation Technique, his breathing long and steady.