Cao Feng's death instantly threw the courtyard into chaos; many Embroidered Uniform Guards were stunned, frozen on the spot.
Even though they'd just gotten into a violent scuffle, not many took it seriously—after all, internal conflict was common in the Guard, and brawls popped up now and then,
But this time was different,
Someone died,
A captain just died right in front of everyone.
Everyone stared in terror at the young man barely in his twenties, unable to believe what they'd just witnessed.
They were shocked a murder happened in the Hundred Households Office, and at the same time stunned that Gu Zhan, someone they never thought much of, was this ruthless—he just cut down Cao Feng, no hesitation.
Everyone knew, Cao Feng was an old-timer at the South City Hundred Households Office. He might've only been a captain, but he had considerable prestige,
For such a man to be cut down publicly like this,
For an instant, a single thought crossed everyone's mind,
Gu Zhan must be insane,
If he's not crazy, why would he kill someone in the office? Getting arrested in front of everyone was already bad enough, but murder?
Even Chen Fei and the others with Gu Zhan felt a chill of panic rising inside them,
This is way too big!
But Gu Zhan himself acted as if nothing had happened, calmly wiping the blood from his face, and said in a low voice: "Take Zhang Peng to the Prefecture Government, and bring Cao Feng's body along as well!"
At that moment, Chen Fei and the others were a bit dazed, not thinking for themselves at all. Hearing Gu Zhan's order, they didn't pause, and just dragged the panic-stricken Zhang Peng out.
Inside the courtyard, it was dead silent,
Everyone instinctively moved aside, keeping their distance from Gu Zhan.
Gu Zhan dragged the Horizontal Saber, expressionless, leading the way.
Out the front gate of the Hundred Households Office,
Gu Zhan instructed Chen Fei: "Captain Chen, go to my home right now, find the steward and get one thousand taels of patterned silver. Take it to pay respects to the Chief Banner and explain everything that happened today. Remember, just lay out the facts, don't embellish anything."
Chen Fei paused, surprised: "Sir, one thousand taels—that's overkill, isn't it? Sure, you killed Cao Feng, but he hired an assassin in the first place, and attacked you in public. You killing him is understandable."
Gu Zhan looked at Chen Fei, voice heavy: "Just do as I say."
Chen Fei wanted to say more, but seeing Gu Zhan's stern expression, he swallowed the words.
Though he still felt a pang of pain inside,
That's one thousand taels of silver,
Put aside the perks and side profits, that's still several years' salary.
He felt it wasn't worth it,
But since it was Gu Zhan's own money, he kept his mouth shut.
Chen Fei cupped his hands and went off,
Gu Zhan led his men straight to the Prefecture Government.
As he walked, he summoned the system and started allocating experience points:
[Used 20 experience points]
[Profound Yuan Skill upgraded to the Third Floor]
[Current Realm advanced to Seventh Grade]
In a flash,
His inner strength surged, proving he'd become a Seventh Grade martial artist.
After that, Gu Zhan checked the system panel again,
Just as he expected, leveling up from Seventh to Sixth Grade required a whole different amount of experience—exactly one hundred points.
Going from unranked up to Seventh Grade, crossing three grades, took only 31 experience points total; but now, just from Seventh to Sixth, takes a whopping 100 points.
Still, this was within his expectations,
Martial artists officially had nine grades, but the real difference was in three major realms—what actually mattered was crossing those thresholds. The further up you went, the greater the gap became.
Nine to Seventh Grade was the Lower Three Grades; within these three, inner strength changed, but not by much.
Sixth to Fourth Grade was the Middle Three Grades; from here, the difference between each grade's inner strength grew more and more obvious.
Third to First Grade was the Upper Three Grades—with each step, the gap was crystal clear, almost like each grade was a whole other world.
So, he'd expected the amount of experience needed later would get increasingly huge.
He continued adding points,
Having just killed Cao Feng, he gained 150 experience points, used 20 to level to Seventh Grade, leaving 130—more than enough to reach Sixth Grade.
[Used 100 experience points]
[Profound Yuan Skill upgraded to the Fourth Floor]
[Current Realm advanced to Sixth Grade]
Instantly, Gu Zhan's inner strength exploded, as if ignited, blasting open numerous meridian points.
This was a qualitative leap,
From Lower Three to Middle Three Grades,
His cultivation surged for real.
But it didn't cause any big commotion—after all, whether his cultivation or martial skills advanced, it was the system doing it, letting him instantly and perfectly master it, no risk of losing control from a sudden surge, no need to spend time adapting. It felt as natural as if he'd broken through years ago.
Seeing the remaining 30 experience points,
Gu Zhan didn't hesitate and spent them on saber technique.
[Used 10 experience points]
[Wind-Breaking Saber Technique upgraded to Great Success Realm]
Within a single step,
Gu Zhan mastered Wind-Breaking Saber Technique perfectly, reaching Peak of Perfection.
Although this saber technique was common trash,
Being able to train it to perfection was no simple feat.
"No need to swap out the cultivation technique, but I need to look for a few more martial skills."
Gu Zhan gripped his saber, mind already at work thinking.
Martial skills mattered a lot,
Inner strength was like gunpowder—if all you have is gunpowder, you might make fireworks, or you might make artillery shells,
The same inner strength paired with advanced skills could kill enemies above your rank, but if your skills are lousy, you'd be the one getting killed instead.
But Gu Zhan wasn't too worried about this,
He had the backing of the Embroidered Uniform Guard,
The Guard provided techniques and skills—though he had little merit now, his Small Banner status was enough to claim a few martial skills, certainly ones better than trashy Wind-Breaking Saber Technique.
As he walked,
Gu Zhan took another look at the system page:
Player: Gu Zhan
Realm: Sixth Grade
Cultivation Technique: Profound Yuan Skill (Fourth Floor 0/300)
Skill: Wind-breaking Saber (Great Success)
Experience Points: 20
...
Just as Gu Zhan was at the Prefecture Government making a report,
East Yard Chief Banner Lei Yun received word that Gu Zhan had killed someone in the Hundred Households Office, and rushed back furiously. When he learned what had happened, he instantly flew into a rage, smashed a table with one slap, and roared: "Is Gu Zhan trying to flip the heavens? He actually dared to kill someone in the office—his own colleague! Is he trying to embarrass me on purpose?"
The staff officer standing nearby watched Lei Yun's furious outburst, too scared to say a word.
Just then, a subordinate entered and cupped his hands: "Sir, Captain Chen Fei requests an audience, says he's here at Small Banner Gu's instructions to pay respects!"
Lei Yun said angrily: "Pay respects for what? I'm not seeing him, tell him to get lost..."
"Sir," the subordinate quickly added, "Captain Chen also brought a big chest, says he has something to offer you."
Lei Yun raised an eyebrow and said, "Let him in."