High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

Inside the training room, the lingering smoke and dust had not yet completely dissipated.

Shen Chang'an and Ji Xiaoyue remained frozen in an awkward position.

Ji Xiaoyue remained in a half-crouching, forward-leaning position. But Shen Chang'an's hand didn't stop an inch from her throat like in the movies; instead, it completely... gripped Ji Xiaoyue's neck.

Shen Chang'an could even clearly feel the powerful throbbing of Ji Xiaoyue's carotid artery in his palm, as well as the warm touch of the fine beads of sweat.

An awkward silence hung in the air.

Two seconds later.

Shen Chang'an suddenly came to his senses, and as if he had been electrocuted, he quickly released his grip and took two steps back.

He clenched his fist and coughed awkwardly twice: "Ahem... Um, Sister Ji, thank you for being so kind."

Ji Xiaoyue also straightened up, touched her neck where she had been choked, her expression was somewhat unnatural, but a rare look of surprise and complexity flashed in her beautiful eyes.

Fortunately, because the dust from the previous attack hadn't completely dissipated, Li Xiwan and Ji Lin, who were watching from outside the glass wall, didn't see this awkward and ambiguous scene.

Ji Xiaoyue stood there, touching her still slightly warm neck. After a brief moment of surprise, she quickly reviewed the entire process in her mind and soon understood the key to it.

"You little rascal, you deliberately made the flame chains binding your hands so brittle just now, didn't you?" Ji Xiaoyue looked at Shen Chang'an, her eyes full of undisguised admiration. "You deliberately made chains of different strengths, using my habitual thinking to create an opening, and you were able to set up this kind of psychological trap under such a rapid offensive and defensive transition... Very clever."

Shen Chang'an scratched his head, reverting to his lazy demeanor, and said modestly, "Just some trivial ideas I come up with in my spare time, nothing serious. You flatter me, Sister Ji."

Ji Xiaoyue is a person who can take things in stride. Since she lost by half a move, she didn't act coy like a scion of a noble family. She readily admitted, "Losing is losing. Your combat intuition and reaction speed are indeed superior to mine."

Shen Chang'an smiled and snapped his fingers casually.

"call--"

A powerful whirlwind suddenly appeared and quickly swept away the smoke and dust that filled the training room.

At this moment, Li Xiwan and Ji Lin, standing outside the protective glass, were watching the scene intently. When the smoke cleared, they only saw that the two had stopped fighting and were unharmed, completely unaware of the thrilling struggle that had taken place in those brief few seconds.

Shen Chang'an and Ji Xiaoyue walked side by side toward the edge of the arena.

As soon as the door opened, Ji Lin eagerly rushed over, looking the two of them up and down: "Sis, how did it go? Are you done?"

"I lost."

Ji Xiaoyue spoke directly without any hesitation.

"A narrow victory, just a stroke of luck," Shen Chang'an added politely from the side.

Ji Xiaoyue shook her head, remaining silent. She knew very well that this was far from a narrow victory. Not only had she not used her trump cards, but Shen Chang'an hadn't even revealed his true "manifest attributes" from beginning to end! Just how deep were this kid's trump cards? They were simply unfathomable.

After calming down her blood and qi, which had been churning from the intense battle, Ji Xiaoyue picked up her coat and put it on. She then waved her hand generously and said, "Let's go. It's lunchtime. I'm treating today. Let's go to the cafeteria first."

On the way to the cafeteria, Ji Lin, like a curious child, kept pestering Shen Chang'an, asking, "Hey, how did you win? My sister is at the peak of the fifth realm, and you just broke through. How could you possibly beat her?"

"Let's just have a normal fight. I managed to win by half a move by taking advantage of Sister Ji's mistake."

Shen Chang'an gave a perfunctory answer, not going into detail about the awkward chokehold scene at the end.

Ji Lin's suspicious gaze swept back and forth between the two. One refused to talk about the details of his victory, while the other was equally evasive about his defeat. Could it be that one won in a dishonorable way, or the other lost in an undignified manner? However, he didn't think too much about it. After all, at their level, it was normal to hold back in sparring; it wasn't a life-or-death battle.

The group soon arrived at the city bureau's canteen.

It must be said that the benefits at the Municipal Bureau are incomparable to those in places like Qingzhou District. There is a separate canteen specifically for officers of the Town Night Division, which is not only luxuriously decorated, but also eliminates the need to share meals with ordinary administrative staff.

Most importantly, the exclusive window of the Town Night Division offers a special ingredient called "spiritual flesh".

Spirit meat is taken from certain low-level demonic beasts or special livestock raised on spiritual energy. It contains abundant and gentle spiritual energy, and long-term consumption can greatly improve physical condition and accelerate the recovery of spiritual power. This stuff is precious, and there is no quota at all in the Qingzhou branch. Everyone can only eat ordinary pork, beef, and mutton.

In the Beijiang City Bureau, each lamplighter with a formal position receives a monthly allocation of twenty kilograms of spiritual flesh.

The group sat down after getting their food. Shen Chang'an picked up a piece of braised spiritual meat, its color a deep red and its aroma enticing, and put it in his mouth. Feeling the warm spiritual energy spreading down his esophagus, he couldn't help but exclaim, "Tsk tsk, the Municipal Bureau really has to have this. The food here is so much better than what we have back home."

Li Xiwan also ate in small bites, nodding in deep agreement.

Upon hearing this, Ji Lin, sitting opposite him, immediately curled his lip and began to show off with disdain: "Tch, what's so special about that? Shen Chang'an, you should hurry up and apply to be transferred to our provincial department! The provincial department gives every official officer a hundred catties of spirit meat every month! We can prepare it in various ways, enough to eat until you're stuffed, just like snacks!"

"Bang!"

No sooner had Ji Lin finished speaking than he received a solid rap on the back of the head from Ji Xiaoyue.

"You talk too much nonsense! Even food can't shut you up!"

Ji Xiaoyue glared at her younger brother and scolded him irritably.

"We fed you so much good food every month at the provincial government office, but you didn't become any more capable. Didn't you still get kicked out in one go today?"

Ji Lin covered his head, picking at the rice in his bowl with a wronged expression. Although he was extremely dissatisfied, he didn't dare to say a word in response to his sister, who was suppressed by bloodline and whose strength was overwhelming. After all, it was an undeniable fact that he had been kicked away by Shen Chang'an.

After scolding her younger brother, Ji Xiaoyue turned to Shen Chang'an, her tone becoming serious: "By the way, Chang'an, your college entrance exams are over. Now, when you fill out your university applications, which city are you planning to go to?"

Shen Chang'an ate a couple of bites of rice, thought for a moment, and said, "We'll see. But Old Zhao also said that with my current abilities, there's really not much room for development in Qingzhou. Going to a big city might be better."

At this point, Shen Chang'an was actually a little puzzled.

According to the unwritten rules within the Zhenye Division, a fourth-realm strength is sufficient to serve as the top leader at the district or county level; and once one breaks through to the fifth realm, they are generally transferred to the municipal bureau as a powerful figure at the captain level. Two years ago, he was already at the peak of the third realm, and now he has even stepped into the fifth realm, so in principle, he should have been transferred by his superiors long ago.

"I guess those old men at the top of the State Administration have their own plans. I'm too lazy to think about it. As long as I get paid, that's fine."

Shen Chang'an muttered to himself.

Ji Xiaoyue pondered for a moment, then gave a serious suggestion: "If I were to recommend one, I would suggest you apply to a university in Shanghai or Guangzhou."

"The Magic City? The Demon City?"

Shen Chang'an raised an eyebrow in slight confusion.

"Why not go to the capital? Isn't the resource there top-notch?"

Ji Xiaoyue shook her head: "The capital city does have the best resources, but it's the power center of Donghuang, and the waters run too deep. Various ancient families, sects, and factions are intertwined, and there's constant infighting. With your free-spirited personality and dislike of being constrained, you could easily get caught up in the political vortex of those high-level officials if you went there."

"In comparison, Shanghai and Guangzhou are more focused on practical combat and the front lines. Although there are family forces there, the rules are relatively simple and brutal—might makes right. The environment there is most suitable for a practical genius like you to show your skills."

As Ji Xiaoyue spoke, she glanced at Ji Lin beside her: "Anyway, once the results come out, I'm planning to let this kid choose between Shanghai or Guangzhou to gain some experience. We can't let him always stay in the province and rely on his family's background to be a hothouse flower."

After listening to this analysis, Shen Chang'an found it very reasonable and nodded seriously: "Okay, Sister Ji, I will think about it carefully."

Upon hearing that Shen Chang'an intended to go to one of these two major cities, Ji Lin, who had just been dejected, instantly perked up again. He excitedly leaned over and said, "Hey! Shen Chang'an, remember to let me know in advance which university you decide to choose! I'll apply to that city too, so we can keep each other company!"

Ji Lin's little scheme was quite clever. Finding a companion was just a pretense; his real purpose was to find a powerful ally who could spar with him anytime and also serve as a free top-tier bodyguard.