Human Clan Defender

After visiting the vast Martial Hall, Shen Changqing gained a substantial understanding of it.

In short, the Martial Hall is a martial artist's holy land, a paradise. Here, you can comprehend martial arts as you wish. Grandmaster Martial Arts are commonplace, the Martial Dao True Intent is as plentiful as the stars, and you can also exchange ideas with peers of the same level. The purpose of the Martial Hall in doing so is to encourage individuals to try to gather the strengths of various schools and then break through the human body's limits. However, as it stands, the Martial Hall's progress in this respect has always been without much result. Therefore, the Martial Hall is now also focusing on researching martial arts to offer to the Demon-Subduing Division in exchange for its own survival.

From what Zhong Ning said and the snippets revealed by Tan Tianji earlier, Shen Changqing could be almost certain that the Hidden Heart Pavilion should mainly consist of the Suppressing Evil Hall and the Demon Sealing Hall. Compared to these, the Martial Hall is somewhat weak.

Whether the Martial Hall is weak or not doesn't really concern me. I am not lacking in the martial arts department. The only thing I lack is a breakthrough in the spiritual aspect, and the Martial Hall can now fulfill my needs. Next, I only have two choices: either stay in the Martial Hall and comprehend the Martial Dao True Intent, or go out to slay Demon Evils to improve the martial arts on my panel. Shen Changqing reflected.

Compared to the average Demon Hunter, he now had a much wider range of choices.

I'll look into it further; there's no need to rush now!

Having been part of the Demon-Subduing Division for less than three years, he had already entered the beginner stage of both the Physical System and the Spiritual System, making him akin to a late-stage Grandmaster martial artist. This was because he hadn't made a breakthrough in the Spiritual System, distinguishing him from the average late-stage Grandmaster. Yet, the benefit of the Spiritual System only becomes evident among Grandmasters after one has made achievements in its second stage. Strictly speaking, the difference between Shen Changqing now and a true late-stage Grandmaster wasn't all that great.

Shaking his head, he stopped thinking about this matter and then looked at the courtyard in front of him. The courtyard was neither large nor small, yet it featured artificial hills and flowing water, with a pavilion standing elegantly, resembling the backyard of a wealthy family. This was the residence arranged for him by the Martial Hall. Having joined the Martial Hall, he could naturally no longer live in the Demon Hunting Court. Therefore, Shen Changqing also spent some time moving his belongings from the Demon Hunting Court and informed Jiang Zuo. After all, Jiang Zuo was the Steward of the Huang Department's Demon Hunting Court, and it was necessary to notify him of the relocation.

The white jade tea tray was already placed inside the pavilion, while the remaining elixirs were all kept in his room.

The Hidden Heart Pavilion truly offers excellent treatment, not to mention anything else. No wonder so many people want to join. Although the overall treatment of the Hidden Heart Pavilion is good, that rule at the Martial Hall is a bit of a trap.

Thinking of the obligation to pay Merit Points despite making no contributions, Shen Changqing felt somewhat helpless. It was a mandatory payment. If one could not pay, the Demon-Subduing Division would restrict all their Merit Point exchange activities, and any Merit Points earned from missions would be confiscated until the debt was cleared. Such measures completely prevented the possibility of defaulting. However, he didn't have this sort of worry.

Back in his room, Shen Changqing, following his new routine, sat cross-legged and delved deeply into comprehending the Hundred Battles True Intent.

The night passed without incident.

「The next day.」

Shen Changqing emerged from his Sea of Consciousness. Ever since he started expending spiritual power to comprehend True Intent, he had had no time to absorb the Heaven and Earth Purple Qi. The time spent comprehending True Intent passed swiftly, not allowing him to focus on two things at once.

After tidying up briefly, he headed to the Martial Hall. When he arrived at the entrance of the Martial Hall, Zhao Bai, whom he had met yesterday, was still sitting there, resting and rejuvenating.

"Elder Zhao!" he greeted, stopping to pay his respects.

Zhao Bai made an effort to prop open his eyelids, glanced at him lackadaisically, uttered a light grunt, and then closed his eyes again. There were no extra words, no superfluous actions. Shen Changqing was no longer surprised by this. He had found that the guards of places like the Martial Hall's Scripture Pavilion were all rather eccentric. Perhaps that is the temperament of the highly skilled!

Entering the Martial Hall, Shen Changqing glanced at the secret chambers but didn't rush to practice inside. He ascended the steps. The second floor was a treasury of martial arts. While others needed to draw from the vast knowledge of martial arts to enrich themselves, he temporarily had no such need. Therefore, Shen Changqing went straight to the third floor. On the third floor, several people were sitting; some were reading, others writing. Then, he saw Zhong Ning sitting there.

"You've arrived!"

"Elder Zhong!" Shen Changqing greeted with a fist and palm salute.

Zhong Ning nodded slightly, then stroked his beard with a smile and said, "You can browse any scroll here at your leisure. It would be beneficial for you to read more when you have the time."

"Thank you for the guidance, Elder Zhong." Shen Changqing humbly accepted the advice. Then, looking at the others, he couldn't suppress his curiosity and asked, "Speaking of which, how many people are there in the Martial Hall nowadays?"

He had noticed that the faces he saw yesterday and today were all different.

Hearing this, Zhong Ning replied, "If we count everyone in the Martial Hall, there are roughly one hundred and fifty people. Not everyone cultivates in seclusion within the Hall. Some are out on trials or supporting the Demon-Subduing Divisions in various regions. Once you're in the Hidden Heart Pavilion, you no longer need to complete the fixed annual tasks. But in times of crisis, when the Demon-Subduing Division is short on hands, people from the Martial Hall must step in. As the saying goes, in a collapsed nest, no egg remains intact."

In a collapsed nest, no egg remains intact. The Martial Hall, and indeed the entire Hidden Heart Pavilion, could cultivate in peace here because Great Qin was currently stable, and no one could threaten this place. If military disasters and chaos were rampant, how could the people of the Hidden Heart Pavilion have the chance to stay here in peace? Therefore, the prerequisite for everything was that Great Qin remained stable. If an issue arose that the Demon-Subduing Division could not resolve with its current manpower, all the powerful individuals in the Martial Hall, even those in the Hidden Heart Pavilion, had to offer aid to ensure no major problems occurred.

Shen Changqing nodded in deep understanding. At the same time, he was shocked by the foundation of the Martial Hall.

One hundred and fifty people! Those who could enter the Martial Hall were at least Grandmaster-level. In other words, the Martial Hall alone had one hundred and fifty Grandmasters. Such a number was somewhat outrageous.

So the Martial Hall has so many Grandmasters!

"Are there many Grandmasters?" Zhong Ning asked in return.

Many? Shen Changqing was taken aback, then a realization dawned. Not many?

From what he knew about the Jianghu, all the Grandmasters of the various Jianghu Sects combined probably didn't even amount to a hundred. Any sect possessing a Grandmaster was considered a top-tier sect. Yet the Martial Hall alone possessed one hundred and fifty Grandmasters. Furthermore, this one hundred and fifty didn't include other Grandmasters from the Demon-Subduing Division who hadn't joined the Martial Hall; such a number was indeed astonishing.

"You need to understand just how many people there are in Great Qin, and how many have joined the Demon-Subduing Division over the years. Moreover, the Martial Hall doesn't only accept people from the Capital City's Demon-Subduing Division; individuals from all Demon-Subduing Divisions across the land are eligible to join. One hundred and fifty Grandmasters is actually not that many at all," Zhong Ning said, shaking his head. One hundred and fifty Grandmasters would hardly make a ripple in the vastness of Great Qin.

"Of course, if every Grandmaster had entered the threshold of the Physical System, that would certainly be a significant force. However, most of the Grandmasters in the Martial Hall have only just entered the threshold of the Spiritual System. Very few have reached the entry-level of the Physical System."

Without entering the Physical System and only having entered the Spiritual System, even among Grandmasters, the disparity in strength was vast, like the difference between heaven and earth.

"Alright, if you have any questions in the future, feel free to come to me. As for your share for this year, you can collect it from the Internal Affairs Hall. Don't miss out on it, because they won't give you a replacement if you do."

Having said that, Zhong Ning no longer looked at Shen Changqing, instead turning his attention back to the scroll in his hands, resembling a true old scholar. This was a far cry from his enthusiasm yesterday.

Shaking his head inwardly, Shen Changqing left the third floor and went directly to the fifth. His goal was clear: he was seeking a breakthrough in the Spiritual System, so the Jade Wall on the fifth floor was the most useful thing for him.

In front of the Jade Wall, someone was already sitting cross-legged. It was an old man who appeared to be about the same age as Zhong Ning. As if deeply attracted by the Jade Wall, his consciousness seemed to be immersed in it. Seeing this, Shen Changqing did not disturb him. However, unlike cultivating True Qi, comprehending Martial Dao True Intent didn't require worrying about interruptions; one could withdraw from the process at any time if needed.

Finding another spot, he sat down cross-legged and tried to touch the Jade Wall in front of him with his thoughts.

In less than two breaths, the scene changed.

When Shen Changqing came back to his senses, he found himself inexplicably in the midst of a starry sky. The starry sky was vast, with no visible edge in any direction. Numerous stars floated within it; some shone with a dazzling light, while others were dim, seemingly on the brink of extinguishing. However, Zhong Ning had mentioned some things about the Jade Wall to him before he left yesterday. Therefore, apart from being amazed by the vastness of the starry sky, Shen Changqing felt nothing else particularly unusual about the scene.

Looking at the many stars before him, he recalled the information in his mind.

Dim stars indicate that the True Intent within is severely exhausted; even if one enters, the gains will be minimal. Bright stars mean that the True Intent within is abundant, available for people to enter and comprehend. The encounter of different True Intents is like a clash between powerful experts; if one emerges victorious, one can devour the True Intent energy contained within the stars to nourish oneself. If defeated, aside from some loss of spiritual power, there will be no other consequences.

Shen Changqing's eyes flickered.

Simply put, the Martial Dao True Intent within the stars is like an ownerless property, ready to be absorbed by anyone. However, a martial artist's own True Intent is their possession and, even in defeat, it would not be lost. It's just unclear how much spiritual power will be lost, what gains there will be after defeating the Martial Dao True Intent inside, and whether it's more worthwhile compared to my personal closed-door contemplation.

As he silently considered this, his attention swept over the stars one by one.