I bear witness to immortality in the human world.

Chapter 83 Promotion to Patrol Officer
It didn't take long.

Two things then spread throughout the Ministry of Justice.

Firstly, patrol officers Wu Ming and Wang Wufeng had a conflict due to disagreements on how to handle the incident, resulting in a street brawl that had a negative impact. Both officers were punished with a three-month salary deduction.

Secondly, patrol officer Wu Ming, having mastered both skills and abilities, was promoted to the Night Patrol Division as a seventh-rank deputy patrol officer.

The first incident didn't attract much attention. The patrol officers who served in the Censorate for many years only needed to take a look to know that this was a case of taking a big gamble and letting it go lightly. A three-month salary deduction was hardly a punishment. The majority of the money that the officials who actually served in the Censorate earned each month did not come from the Censorate's salary, but from the daily tributes from gangs and forces under their jurisdiction. Three months' salary was completely insignificant.

But the latter thing is different. Just as Feng Yong broke through the three blood clotting breakthroughs and was promoted to the position of quasi-inspector, the breakthrough of combining skills and techniques is also extraordinary. This promotion, whether in terms of power or status, is incomparable to what it was before.

Moreover,

Wu Ming himself is extremely young, not even twenty years old. At this age, he can comprehend the unity of skill and technique, which is a completely different concept from those old martial artists who finally achieve enlightenment and step into the unity of skill and technique in their thirties or forties.

Moreover, it is quite obvious that the reason why Wu Ming and Wang Wufeng were let off lightly despite fighting in the street is because Wu Ming's skill breakthrough led to a sudden change in his status, while Wang Wufeng had the background of the Wang family. Neither of them could be easily punished, so the street fight was simply suppressed.

In the Department of Censorate, such matters are inherently of a range that can be considered either serious or minor.

Previously, Wu Ming was an unknown figure in the entire Shenxing Division. Even though he killed He Tian, ​​the Black Cloud Bandit, and gained a little fame, he did not attract much attention. However, this breakthrough in his skills has finally allowed him to emerge from the water and stir up some waves in the Shenxing Division.

……

The Department of Cautious Punishment.

Wu Ming walked out from the central building.

At this moment, he had changed into a new set of official robes, which were the standard official robes of a seventh-rank deputy patrol officer. He had also received the deputy patrol officer's waist token and remained in the Night Patrol Division, serving as Zhou Huai'an's deputy.

As the deputy patrol officer, he had the authority to command all the troops under Zhou Huai'an's command. The area he was responsible for patrolling at night was expanded from his own team to five teams under Zhou Huai'an's command, covering the entire northern district of Jingye City.

In addition, their salary and other benefits were the same as those of a seventh-rank patrol officer.

The difference between him and Feng Yong, who is a 'quasi-patrol officer', is that Feng Yong will inevitably be promoted to a full-fledged patrol officer after a few months and will command a department on his own, while he will always be a deputy and will never be promoted to a full-fledged patrol officer unless he reaches the third stage of blood coagulation.

“Wu Ming… no, Inspector Wu.”

Just as Wu Ming walked out of the office building and returned to the Night Patrol Office, Zhou Ruoyun called out to him.

"What advice does Miss Ruoyun have for me?"

Wu Ming had no intention of currying favor with Zhou Ruoyun, nor did he deliberately distance himself from her; his attitude was very calm.

"Inspector Wu, may I have some advice?"

Zhou Ruoyun was also quite frank, and bowed to Wu Ming to make the request.

Her skill level had been stuck at the threshold of the Unity Realm for a long time. She had consulted many people in the Cautious Punishment Division who had reached the Unity Realm. Although Wu Ming had grown up step by step under her nose and left her behind, in martial arts cultivation, the advanced comes first. She felt no shame in asking Wu Ming for advice.

"Row."

Wu Ming paused slightly, then nodded.

He entered the Shenxing Division under Zhou Huai'an's guidance, where he had many opportunities. When Zhou Ruoyun asked him for advice, he naturally did not refuse, as it was not much trouble.

Now,

Wu Ming, carrying his gun, led Zhou Ruoyun to a quiet courtyard within the Night Patrol Office. After they stood facing each other, Zhou Ruoyun drew her sword, bowed apologetically to Wu Ming, and said:

"excuse me."

Swish.

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhou Ruoyun drew her sword and attacked. Her swordsmanship was agile and graceful, and she had practiced it skillfully and thoroughly. However, that was all she could do. In Wu Ming's eyes, it seemed perfect, but in reality, it was full of flaws.

Wu Ming remained calm, holding the gun in reverse and casually flicking it to deflect Zhou Ruoyun's sword moves one by one.

Zhou Ruoyun knew that Wu Ming's skills were perfectly integrated and his realm was far superior to hers, so she didn't have much to worry about when she attacked. She used all her sword techniques one by one, trying to find a flaw in Wu Ming's spear technique and attack it. However, no matter how many of the forty-two moves of the two sword techniques she had practiced were used, she was still unable to make any breakthrough.

Ding!
Finally, after dozens of moves, Wu Ming lightly trembled his spear, thrusting and flicking, and touched the tip of Zhou Ruoyun's longsword. A shockwave pressed through the blade, causing Zhou Ruoyun's fingers to tremble violently, losing her grip on the longsword, which flew out of her hand.

"Miss Ruoyun, the art of the Unity Realm is the fusion of techniques, from which one comprehends the principle of combining strength and gentleness, achieving a unified and integrated force. Everyone's method of comprehending the way of strength and gentleness is different."

"I see that your two sword techniques, one containing strength and the other containing softness, are correct in their approach. However, the combination of strength and softness is a state of mind that can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words. Instead of painstakingly trying to integrate these two techniques, you should put the techniques aside for now, or even put aside martial arts itself, and seek opportunities for enlightenment from other aspects."

After exchanging nearly a hundred moves with Zhou Ruoyun, Wu Ming took the initiative to offer some pointers.

Zhou Ruoyun's father, Zhou Huai'an, was also a master of combining skills and techniques. It was impossible that he hadn't guided Zhou Ruoyun. However, although Zhou Huai'an was a master of combining skills and techniques, he might not have had the powerful perception and insight of someone who had refined his primordial spirit three times. He could sense that Zhou Ruoyun was trying to integrate hardness and softness in her moves. But the combination of hardness and softness itself requires breaking free from the constraints of moves. Zhou Ruoyun's cultivation path was like putting shackles on herself. The deeper she went, the narrower it became.

Zhou Huai'an might not even realize this, but he could vaguely sense it.

"Is that so?"

Zhou Ruoyun looked puzzled as she listened to Wu Ming's words.

Wu Ming explained, "The balance of strength and gentleness lies in the intention, not the form. The wonder of strength and gentleness is everywhere in life. You have been stuck on the moves for a long time. If you can break free from the shackles of the moves, you may gain a different understanding."

In fact, Wu Ming himself had been struggling for a while at the threshold of mastering both skills and craftsmanship. However, after crossing that threshold, his realm and vision became completely different. From his current perspective, the omnipresent flowing water, the gentle breeze between heaven and earth, and even his father Wu Qi's carpentry skills all contained the profound principles of the way of strength and gentleness.

It's difficult to grasp these things without crossing that threshold.

Zhou Ruoyun was also somewhat bewildered, but after a moment of surprise, she quickly composed herself, solemnly clasped her hands in a fist salute to Wu Ming, and said:

"Thanks for the advice."

She had sparred with many masters who combined skill and technique, and each of them had shared their insights on the unity of skill and technique, but she had not been able to grasp the essence of any of them. She thought it would be difficult to gain any insights from Wu Ming as well, but what Wu Ming said was different from what the others said. He gave her a vague and subtle feeling, but she could not clearly grasp it.

After thanking Wu Ming, Zhou Ruoyun suddenly said apologetically, "When my father recruited you, I was a bit harsh with my words, but that was because of some things that happened before. I hope you won't take it to heart..."

In the early days of the Night Patrol Division, there was a patrolman under Zhou Huai'an who took advantage of his position to commit crimes and was caught red-handed. This incident even affected Zhou Huai'an to some extent. It was this incident that she always remembered, and she would warn all the officials and constables serving under Zhou Huai'an and deliberately observe them for a period of time.

Wu Ming was naturally among them at the time, but when she discovered that Wu Ming was like her, with his mind mainly focused on martial arts cultivation, she stopped paying much attention to him. However, she never expected that Wu Ming's talent was so high. While she was still stuck on the second blood coagulation and her skills were not fully developed, Wu Ming had already quietly moved ahead.

"It's such a trivial matter, Miss Ruoyun, you don't need to apologize. I didn't take it to heart."

Wu Ming spoke calmly to Zhou Ruoyun, then picked up his gun and turned to leave.

Zhou Ruoyun was left staring blankly at his departing figure.

(End of this chapter)