A Martial Saint in Chaotic Times: Starting with Grinding Proficiency

After finishing his martial arts practice, Zhou Yuan was on his way home.

Since he couldn't reach an agreement with the Chen family, he had to find another affiliation as soon as possible.

The canal gangs, the patrol inspectors, and those smaller gangs... each has its own advantages and disadvantages, and they all need to be carefully weighed.

As he pondered this, he noticed that the streets were much more chaotic than usual. Groups of menacing-looking men could be seen rampaging through the streets, questioning passersby and causing widespread panic.

Zhou Yuan arrived at the familiar beef shop.

Having seized the spoils from his previous murders and robberies, he had a lot more money and planned to buy some beef for his sister to improve her meals.

"Master Zhou... Master Zhou!"

Upon seeing Zhou Yuan, the beef shop owner immediately dropped what he was doing, greeted him with a beaming smile, and was more respectful than ever before.

What would you like to order?

Zhou Yuan ordered half a pound of beef and casually asked, "What's going on on the streets today? It's so chaotic."

The boss, while deftly slicing the meat, lowered his voice and said, "Hey! It's those mad dogs from the Jinshi Gang again!"

"I heard their gang leader, Gao Qiang, died a violent death in an alley a couple of days ago. Now his younger brother, Gao Sheng, who's a core disciple at the Black Tiger Martial Arts School, is back and leading a group of people searching the world for the killer! They're interrogating everyone they meet, causing complete chaos!"

As the owner spoke, he deftly wrapped the beef in oil paper and, when weighing it, deliberately cut an extra large piece to put in.

"Master Zhou, you're now a martial artist at the Skin Refining Realm. You'll have to patronize my business more often in the future!"

Zhou Yuan took the beef, but his heart sank.

Goldman Sachs.

Bone Forging Realm.

These two words weighed heavily on his heart, like two mountains.

He knew very well that he had handled the matter cleanly and that Goldman Sachs would not be able to find any evidence.

But sometimes, evidence isn't even needed for these kinds of things.

Once Goldman Sachs has investigated all of his enemies and found nothing, he, as the person who ultimately clashed with Gao Qiang, will inevitably become his prime suspect.

A Bone Forging Realm expert who has lost his mind is capable of anything.

We must find a powerful enough backer as soon as possible!

The Canal Gang is domineering and might not stand up to the Black Tiger Martial Arts School for his sake, and the Chen family's attempt to affiliate with them failed.

After much thought, only one option remained.

Inspection Division.

That's the government.

Once he puts on that official robe, he becomes a member of the imperial court. No matter how powerful Goldman Sachs is, it wouldn't dare to openly attack government officials; that would be tantamount to treason.

This tiger skin is the only protection he can currently obtain.

Without further hesitation, he paid the money, turned and left the butcher shop, heading towards the Inner City Patrol Office.

......

Zhou Yuan passed through the city gate and entered the inner city of the capital, instantly shutting out the filth and noise of the outer city.

The streets of the inner city are paved with bluestone slabs, clean and tidy, with shops lining both sides.

The pedestrians were well-dressed and composed, a stark contrast to the distressed people in the outer city who toiled for a living.

Zhou Yuan secretly made up his mind that one day he would move into this inner city with his sister.

Following the address he remembered, he quickly found the office of the Inspector General.

The stone lions at the entrance are majestic, and the vermilion gate is solemn and dignified.

Zhou Yuan stepped forward and explained his purpose. Soon, the middle-aged manager who had invited him earlier quickly came out and greeted him with a smile.

"Young Brother Zhou Yuan, you've finally arrived! Please come in, please come in!"

The manager's enthusiasm surprised Zhou Yuan, but it also put him at ease. This indicated that the Patrol Inspection Division was indeed short-staffed.

The two entered a side hall, where the steward personally poured him tea and got straight to the point: "The bandits on Black Wind Mountain are causing quite a stir right now, and the department is in dire need of manpower. Your presence, young man, is a great help indeed!"

He put down his teacup and began to explain the specifics of the Patrol and Inspection Division to Zhou Yuan.

"Our patrol and inspection division is mainly responsible for inspecting passing pedestrians and merchants, checking travel permits, and cracking down on smuggling and fugitives. The headquarters is located in the inner city and is overseen by a chief patrol and inspection officer."

"Under the commander-in-chief, there is a patrol inspector at each of the four city gates in the east, west, south, and north. Each patrol inspector has three bailiffs under his command, and each bailiff is in charge of a dozen or so bailiffs."

The steward, looking at Zhou Yuan, smiled even more broadly: "With your Skin Refining Realm cultivation, young brother, you're more than qualified to be a constable. I'll make the decision; appoint you as a constable for the North City Patrol Division. What do you think?"

This was completely beyond Zhou Yuan's expectations.

He thought that as a newcomer, he would at most be a regular constable, but he never expected to become a small leader in charge of more than a dozen people.

"As for the monthly salary, the errand boy receives six taels of silver per month, plus three Body Tempering Pills."

The words of the person in charge gave Zhou Yuan a shock.

Six taels of silver!

This already exceeds the income of many minor stewards in the inner city. Not to mention, there are also three precious Body Tempering Pills.

"Furthermore," the steward took a money pouch from his pocket, placed it directly on the table, and pushed it over, "these are special times. The department has granted special permission for new brothers to receive three months' worth of provisions in advance. Here is eighteen taels of silver; take it first."

Eighteen taels of silver!

With the heavy money bag in his hand, Zhou Yuan's heart, which had been hanging in suspense because of Goldman Sachs, finally settled down.

Once he put on this official uniform and assumed the identity of a patrol inspector, even if Goldman Sachs found any clues, they would never dare to treat him as they would an ordinary citizen.

"Thank you, steward." Zhou Yuan solemnly put away the money pouch.

"Of course, of course." The steward breathed a sigh of relief when he saw him agree and immediately brought out a brand-new official robe and a black iron token.

"Here is your escort token and official robes. Keep them safe and report to the North City Patrol Office immediately."

Zhou Yuan changed into his official robes. The dark blue outfit was much more tailored than the martial arts school's disciple uniforms, and a fierce tiger descending a mountain was embroidered on the chest, making him look majestic.

He tied the token around his waist, and his entire demeanor changed.

Just as he was about to take his leave, a man dressed in official robes walked in from outside.

This man was tall and had a resolute face. He walked with a powerful stride, and a strong aura swept over him, causing Zhou Yuan's blood and qi to stagnate slightly.

Bone Forging Realm! And no ordinary Bone Forging Realm martial artist!

"Inspector Lü." Upon seeing the newcomer, the steward immediately bowed respectfully.

The man called Inspector Lü simply nodded slightly, his gaze lingering on Zhou Yuan for a brief moment before heading straight to the back hall.

Zhou Yuan understood that this person must be one of the four inspectors.

If a mere patrol inspector possesses such power, the Patrol Inspection Division's foundation is even deeper than he imagined.

He bid farewell to the steward, took the token, and headed straight for the north city.

The office of the North City Patrol Inspectorate was much smaller than that of the General Headquarters, but it was still quite imposing.

Zhou Yuan explained his purpose to the guard at the gate. After the guard went in to report, a burly man came out to greet him with a loud laugh.

"Haha, you must be the new guy, Brother Zhou Yuan? I'm Li Tong, one of the constables from the North City Patrol Division."

Li Tong was around thirty years old, and his cultivation level was at the Skin Refining Realm. He appeared to be quite generous and forthright.

"Brother Li," Zhou Yuan said, bowing.

"We're all family, don't be so polite!"

Li Tong patted him warmly on the shoulder and led him inside.

"Come on, let me show you around."

Zhou Yuan followed him around and found that there were indeed not many people in the patrol office, making it seem rather deserted.

"Brother Li, is our patrol and inspection division... so short-staffed?"

Li Tong sighed, "Don't even mention it. Our North City Inspector Zhao Dacheng, along with another constable, Wang Meng, went into the mountains to suppress bandits with the main force of the patrol battalion. Now I'm the only constable left in the department, and I'm so busy I barely have time to breathe. You finally came!"

The patrol battalion went into the mountains to suppress bandits.

Zhou Yuan recalled Chen Shaoshang's transport of weapons a few days ago, and it seemed that the government was indeed making a big move recently.

"How are our police duties arranged?" Zhou Yuan asked.

"Simple. The three of us will rotate every five days, with the officer on duty taking over the night shift. As for the inspector, he's unpredictable and will come to patrol from time to time."

Li Tong explained.

"Starting from today, it will be your turn to be on duty in five days."

Zhou Yuan nodded in understanding.

Afterwards, Li Tong called over the remaining dozen or so garrison soldiers and introduced them to Zhou Yuan.

When the soldiers heard that Zhou Yuan was also a master of the Skin Refining Realm, their faces showed obvious surprise and awe.

After spending half a day familiarizing himself with the patrol office, Zhou Yuan went home.

He told his sister about joining the patrol inspectorate and becoming a constable.

After hearing this, Zhou Ting was stunned at first, then her eyes reddened and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Okay...okay..."

Her voice trembled with excitement.

"If your parents could know from beyond the grave, they would be so proud to see you succeed today."

Zhou Yuan took out twenty taels of silver from his pocket and stuffed it into Zhou Ting's hand.

"Sister, don't work so hard embroidering handkerchiefs anymore, our family is rich now."

Looking at the heavy silver in her hand, Zhou Ting was so surprised that she couldn't speak for a moment. She felt that all the fear and anxiety she had endured these past few days had been worth it.

She sensed that her family was gradually getting better.

That evening, Zhou Ting prepared a table full of sumptuous dishes.

In the following days, Zhou Yuan's life returned to normal.

He went to Qingyang Martial Arts School to practice martial arts every day, but he found that his fifth senior brother, Chen Shaoshang, had not come to the school for the past few days and he didn't know where he had gone.

The news of his joining the patrol department also spread within the martial arts school.

However, this matter did not cause much of a stir.

A newly recruited servant's monthly salary of six taels of silver was utterly insignificant to those arrogant inner disciples.

Compared to the genius Wang Tengfei, who was recruited by the Jiang family with thirty taels of silver and five bottles of body-tempering pills per month, they were worlds apart.

Han Ming and Jiang Qian were only slightly displeased when they learned of this.

The patrol and inspection offices were, after all, the county magistrate's power, and the merchant alliance behind them was an opposing camp.

However, Zhou Yuan's strength was weak, and in their eyes, he was nothing more than an insignificant pebble that could not cause any trouble, so they quickly put the matter out of their minds.

Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

That evening, after Zhou Yuan finished practicing martial arts, he had a thought and brought up the control panel.

[Realm: Body Tempering Stage 1 - Skin Refinement]

[Exercise Method: Six Harmonies Stance Exercise (Beginner)]

[Progress: 180/500]

[Martial Arts Skill: Mountain-Shaking Fist (Second Level)]

[Progress: 200/500]

Seeing the steady progress, Zhou Yuan felt increasingly at ease.

For him, reaching the Bone Forging Realm was simply a natural progression.

He finished his work, returned to the hut, changed into the dark blue patrol officer's uniform, and neatly put on the token.

The night is getting darker.

Tonight, it's his turn to be on night duty.

......