Chapter 316: Old Martial Arts and New Martial Arts

Chapter 316: Old Martial Arts and New Martial Arts

The Luo residence and the Chen residence were separated by just one street.

The Luo family lived in the southern part of Yunyan County and ran a silk business, which was not only limited to Yunyan County but also reached an entire province.

Master Luo was known for his charitable deeds, often repairing roads and providing porridge, earning him a good reputation in Yunyan County.

Master Luo’s pride and joy was his son, a martial arts prodigy.

This young man, Luo Bufan, had exceptional martial talent and was even considered for a special recruitment by the Demon Subjugation Division to become a regional Demon Subjugation Envoy.

However, half a month ago, Luo Bufan went missing, causing a great stir in Yunyan County. Master Luo even offered a reward of 7,000 taels of silver to find his son.

Unfortunately, his son was never found. A week ago, the entire Luo family was killed, shocking all of Yunyan County.

On the same night, not only was the Luo family exterminated, but the Chen family also suffered a massacre—76 members of the family were killed.

The mass killings caused an uproar in Yunyan County, prompting the Demon Subjugation Division to come to Yunyan County to investigate the case.Findd new stories at novelhall.com

Qi Yuan sipped on some thin porridge, sitting casually while his thoughts wandered, "There’s no glass, no cannons here. If I could produce these, wouldn't I make a fortune?"

This game was indeed suitable for building a foundation and developing technology.

But after some thought, Qi Yuan decided not to bother with it.

First, he needed to complete the task. He was also eager to return to participate in the martial arts tournament and was waiting to form his Golden Core.

“Sigh, such a pity that the young master of the Luo family and the young lady of the Chen family had just gotten engaged, only to face such a tragedy.”

Nearby, some townsfolk were whispering, their words filled with regret.

Qi Yuan stood up and stopped listening to these NPCs gossiping.

He had already gathered enough information.

Now, he headed toward the Luo residence.

As he approached the Luo residence, the entire street grew desolate, with even beggars rarely seen.

From a hundred meters away, Qi Yuan could smell the strong scent of blood.

In the distance, there were constables from the yamen who had set up a perimeter to prevent ordinary people from entering.

Was Qi Yuan an ordinary person?

No.

He was a player.

So, he swaggered toward the Luo residence.

Up ahead, a few constables were chatting.

Seeing someone approaching, one of the constables, Li Shu, lifted his knife and glared sideways at Qi Yuan. "Qi Er, what are you doing here instead of selling your pork? I almost mistook you for a high-ranking member of the Demon Subjugation Division. Gave your Grandpa Li quite a scare."

Li Shu often bought pork from Qi Er without paying, so he knew Qi Er.

"I'm here to complete a task," Qi Yuan said earnestly, believing that sincerity was the ultimate weapon.

Qi Yuan felt these NPCs also had the right to know this was a game world.

"So, let me in quickly, so I can finish my task. I'm in a hurry to log out," Qi Yuan, who always followed the rules, reasoned calmly. If he wasn’t worried about drawing too much attention, he would’ve considered carving the word "justice" on his forehead.

Sure enough, Qi Yuan’s words left Li Shu stunned. “What’s gotten into you? Did you lose your mind because your child bride was taken by Master Huang?”

Huang Sijue wanted to take Qi Er’s child bride, and Qi Er had approached Li Shu for help.

As expected, Li Shu, despite owing Qi Er money, didn’t help at all.

At that moment, a pair of men and women dressed in black combat attire approached.

The round-faced woman, tall and holding a whip in her left hand, was leading a large black dog with her right hand. “What’s going on?”

Upon seeing them, Li Shu immediately changed his demeanor. “Two officers, this Qi Er is a butcher from the city. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but he insists on going to the Luo residence. I suspect he might be involved in the Luo family massacre. Should we arrest him and throw him in jail?”

His words were quite malicious.

In these times, being arrested and imprisoned meant facing torture or even death.

Li Shu had always harbored ill intentions, thinking that by framing Qi Er, he could kill him.

That way, he wouldn’t have to repay his debt, and no one would ever find out about his setup.

Qi Yuan owed gambling debts and had used his child bride to pay them off, all part of Li Shu's scheme.

The round-faced woman glanced at Qi Yuan, a playful smile on her face. “He looks so handsome; he’s obviously a good guy. What a shame to be so handsome and work as a butcher.”

Her words left Li Shu speechless.

The man in black combat attire chuckled. “Focus on the task. Don’t get distracted.”

Clearly, the round-faced woman wasn’t new to this.

At this moment, Qi Yuan looked at the two of them with a curious expression. “Are you two also players? Players in a game world?”

He found it confusing.

This world was a large game, and within the game’s world, there were actually other players.

“Are you... a newbie?” The round-faced woman was surprised, her eyes suddenly lighting up.

“You’re so dumb. Clearly, they were burned after death, and as for who burned them, it’s obvious it was the county magistrate,” An Qiao said seriously.

Hearing this, the man in black combat attire became alert, “If it was him... then this matter is more complicated than it seems. But with a newbie in this mission, the difficulty should be low. This Yunyan County not only has three demon factions, but even the county magistrate also... has evil intentions. Something's not right.”

Usually, a newbie mission would be easy, with the toughest opponent being a blood martial artist-level demon.

This investigation mission shouldn’t have been difficult, but whoever exterminated the Luo family clearly wasn’t an ordinary demon.

After all, both the Luo and Chen families had blood martial artists.

Investigating such demons could be manageable for experienced individuals, but for a newcomer like Qi Yuan, it was almost a death sentence.

“Maybe it's because I'm special, so they gave me a slightly challenging task,” Qi Yuan chuckled.

“You’re lucky to have run into us,” the man in black combat attire remarked.

At that moment, the Tracking Dog spoke up, “Over here, I smell the scent of two demon races—one is a yellow weasel, the other is aquatic. Also, there’s a scent I recognize, but I can’t remember where I smelled it before.”

“It involves two demon factions?” The round-faced woman’s expression turned grim.

Yesterday, Chen Fan had mentioned that there were three demon factions in Yunyan County that they shouldn’t provoke lightly.

Two of these factions were the yellow weasel and the aquatic clan.

Now, this case involved both factions. How could they not be alarmed?

“The strongest in the yellow weasel clan is a peak blood martial artist. Among the four of us, only the captain is a match for him. In the aquatic clan, there are rumors of a demon even beyond the blood martial level. This is difficult!” The round-faced woman furrowed her brows.

Investigating this matter has somehow implicated two major factions, leaving them in a difficult position.

Qi Yuan looked at the big black dog and asked, “What’s the familiar scent?”

As for the yellow weasel and the aquatic clan, Qi Yuan had already planned to find them.

They were his mobile blood supply stations.

Now, he wanted to find out the true reason behind the extermination of the Luo and Chen families.

“I don’t know,” the Tracking Dog shook its head.

Qi Yuan felt a bit disappointed.

His eyes revealed much information.

But to him, this information wasn’t particularly useful.

For instance, he saw that Elder Huang had visited the Luo residence, as well as a demon from the aquatic clan.

At that moment, the Tracking Dog sniffed and approached Qi Yuan, giving him a sniff. “Strange... you also have a scent similar to the aquatic clan, but... it’s not exactly the same.”

“Have you encountered any aquatic demons?” the round-faced woman asked.

Qi Yuan squinted, lost in thought, “The aquatic clan... I don’t think so?”

Since arriving in this world, his eyes had been scanning for useful information.

He hadn’t encountered any aquatic demons.

As for his predecessor?

Even less likely.

He had arrived in this world in his true form.

As for Qi Er, he was long gone.

“How strange,” the man in black combat attire muttered, frowning.

At this moment, Qi Yuan asked, “Do you have martial techniques and skills here? Give me some. I want to learn, especially that storage technique from earlier. I’m quite interested.”

Qi Yuan asked for them shamelessly.

After all, they were NPCs.

If they wanted to trade, he would trade.

“Our martial techniques... aren’t for sale,” the man in black combat attire shook his head, “You’ll need to join the Demon Subjugation Division to exchange for them.”

“Seems like I need to find some martial arts manuals here,” Qi Yuan casually said.

Currently, his strength wasn’t strong enough, so he needed to learn some martial techniques and master martial arts skills to increase his strength.

“Don’t learn any martial arts here!” The round-faced woman quickly warned, “The martial arts here are... Old Martial Arts. Once you learn Old Martial Arts, it’s difficult to change paths later.”

“Oh? The setting is so complex; there’s a distinction between Old Martial Arts and New Martial Arts? Which is stronger?”

“We in the Demon Subjugation Division all practice New Martial Arts,” the round-faced woman An Qiao explained. “Even though Old Martial Arts and New Martial Arts might seem similar in this world, and their power might be the same, there’s a significant difference. Old Martial Arts are only effective in this world. In another world, an Old Martial Artist’s power would drop by a whole level. New Martial Artists don’t face this issue; their power remains consistent in any world. Many senior members of our Demon Subjugation Division unfortunately chose Old Martial Arts when they didn’t know better back then. What a pity.”

The round-faced woman looked regretful.

Qi Yuan paused in thought.

“Many worlds? Many games?”

“Yes, every time we complete a mission, we actually go to different... parallel worlds,” the round-faced woman replied. “Only New Martial Arts are universal across all worlds.”

Qi Yuan squinted his eyes. “This setup... sounds like it’s related to the Greater Truth Realm of the Yang God.”

“Yang God, Greater Truth Realm? What’s that?” An Qiao looked puzzled.