Fantasy: Starting with a bowl, you can exchange it for endless cultivation.

"Yes." Gongsun Yuan nodded. "This is a great thing for our master and for us fellow disciples."

"However," Gongsun Yuan changed the subject, "after Master was transferred to Zhongzhou to serve as a high-level decision-maker, a new Chief of the Night Watch will be transferred to the Central State Night Watch Headquarters in the Wilderness State. As a result, our power may be suppressed."

"Will the newly transferred commander suppress the power of my master's former subordinates?" Gu Chen wondered. Logically speaking, his master had broken through to the Super Grade realm.

Those who enter the upper echelons of the Night Watch headquarters to serve as decision-makers should have even greater power, so why is their power still being suppressed?

"Yes, and it definitely will," Gongsun Yuan said.

"Do you know how many factions there are among the big shots at the Central Plains Night Watch headquarters?" Gongsun Yuan asked.

"I don't know about that." Gu Chen shook his head. He had only recently become an official of the Night Watch and his power was limited.

Naturally, they were unaware that the high-ranking officials at the Central Continent Night Watch headquarters were divided into several factions.

"The Central Continent Night Watch Headquarters' high-level decision-making group consists of one Chief of the Guard with the highest authority, two Deputy Chiefs, four Secretaries, and seventeen Golden-Clad Night Watch decision-makers. With Master's presence, there are eighteen of them," Gongsun Yuan explained. "These people are divided into four major factions."

"The four major factions are separate from the factions of the Chief. Each of the four major factions has two Deputy Chiefs, one for each faction, and four Heads, two for each faction. Master belongs to the faction of one of the two Deputy Chiefs."

"The position of Chief of the Night Watch of a province is highly coveted. It grants access to a great deal of resources, and the power within a province is practically all-powerful. After Master's departure, the position of Chief of the Night Watch of the Wilderness Province can no longer be arranged by his own faction. It will have to be arranged by a big shot from another faction. Do you understand?" Gongsun Yuan looked at Gu Chen.

"So when the commanders of other factions come, they will definitely suppress the former master's subordinates, and may even transfer them away to rebuild their own forces in the desolate state."

"I understand." Gu Chen realized.

His master left.

The new commander of the Wilderness Watch has arrived.

There will definitely be a major internal reshuffle and personnel change.

The important positions must be filled by your trusted confidants.

The newly arrived commander belongs to another faction within the Central Continent Night Watch.

Naturally, they wouldn't give their master any face.

At that time, these disciples of Shangguan Wuqing may all become targets of suppression by the new director.

"So, what is the purpose of your visit to me, Senior Brother?" Gu Chen asked Gongsun Yuan.

Gongsun Yuan took out a secret manual and handed it to Gu Chen, saying, "The two fourth-grade martial arts you applied for from the Wilderness Night Watch Headquarters were not approved by your master. With your seventh-grade official rank, you can only apply for martial arts within the seventh grade. In the past, your master could break the rules and approve the martial arts for you, but it is not possible in these extraordinary times."

"It's been approved for you. The new Chief of the Night Watch of the Wilderness State is coming to take office, and he might use this as an excuse to suppress and make things difficult for you." Gongsun Yuan explained, "This is a sixth-rank martial art, a sword technique. My master asked me to bring it to you. You can take it and practice it first."

"Before coming to find you, I had already gone to see my sixth and fourth junior brothers. This morning, I came from my fourth junior brother's residence. From now on, Master has instructed us to keep a low profile."

"Once he establishes himself at the Night Watch headquarters in Central, our lives will be a little easier."

"For now, let's keep a low profile. Of course, with our master behind us, the new commander-in-chief won't be too harsh on us, as long as we don't give him any leverage."

"If you want those two fourth-grade martial arts techniques you applied for, you can apply to the Chief of the Night Watch of the Wilderness again when you have made merits and achieved merits. The Night Watch attaches great importance to merits. If you have merits, I can approve them for you."

"And with his merits already established, the new commander-in-chief dared not say anything."

"Understood." Gu Chen nodded and accepted the sixth-grade martial arts manual handed over by Gongsun Yuan.

"Hmm." Gongsun Yuan looked at Gu Chen: "That's all for now. Junior brother, you have excellent talent, far surpassing the six of us. Your cultivation level will likely improve very quickly in the future. Once you reach the sixth rank, you will be qualified to be transferred to a prefecture's Night Watch Division as its director."

"But to become the head of the Night Watch of a prefecture, you need to have a lot of merit. You need to pay attention to accumulating merit during your term of office. Otherwise, when your term ends, even if you have connections, without solid achievements, you can only serve as a prefecture's head at most, and you won't be able to serve as the head or deputy head of a prefecture," Gongsun Yuan reminded him.

"Okay, Second Senior Brother, I've got it." Gu Chen nodded.

"Well, I won't stay any longer." Gongsun Yuan said, "Yesterday I heard from my fourth junior brother that you had some conflict with the people of the Qingyun Sword Sect. With Master's current breakthrough to the Earth Venerable Realm and his appointment as a decision-maker at the Central Continent Night Watch Headquarters, they shouldn't dare to do anything to you. In the future, you should focus on your cultivation in Jiuwan City and accumulate merits whenever you have the chance."

"Yes, Senior Brother." Gu Chen nodded.

After giving his instructions, Gongsun Yuan left without lingering.

The newly arrived Chief of the Night Watch of the Wilderness State is about to arrive.

He needs to make some preparations to welcome him.

After Gu Chen saw him off at the mansion, he asked Liang Xiaoyun to continue seeing him off.

He then returned.

Back at his residence, Gu Chen picked up the secret manual that Gongsun Yuan had just given him and began to examine it.

This secret manual is called "Breaking Illusion Blade," a sixth-grade martial art.

Moreover, it is a top-tier martial art among the sixth-rank techniques.

When cultivation reaches perfection, one's attacks can rival those of a powerhouse in the early stages of the Transformation Sea Realm.

The two fourth-grade martial arts techniques he had previously applied for were withheld because his master was about to take up a new post.

For now, he can only practice this martial art.

Next.

He needs to find a way to accumulate some merit points.

Otherwise, if the newly appointed commander-in-chief targets him, he will be in a very passive position since he has no outstanding achievements to show for it.

And after achieving merit, he then applied for those two fourth-grade martial arts techniques.

That person won't say anything either.

Gu Chen stopped refining pills and said to Wei Zhong in the courtyard, "Go and call Miss Cheng here. I need to speak with her."

"Yes, Elder Gu." Wei Zhong accepted the order.

He left the mansion to fetch Cheng Mengling.

Gu Chen entered the mansion.

Gu Chen placed the Broken Illusion Blade into the copper bowl.

Copper bowl tip:

[The second-grade martial art of the Wanderer, "The Blade of Delusion," can be learned by spending one thousand taels of silver.]

The silver cost for a second-grade martial art is twice that of a first-grade martial art.

However, he had enough money on him now, so he didn't care.

First, master it and make yourself a powerful fighter.

Otherwise, even if he has the Breaking Aperture Realm, without the corresponding martial arts techniques, his combat power will drop significantly.

That won't do.

Gu Chen put a thousand taels of silver into it, and the silver disappeared.

The insights into this sword technique instantly entered Gu Chen's mind, allowing him to successfully master it.

[Spend three thousand taels of silver to exchange for a minor level of understanding of the "Breaking Illusion Blade".]

Three thousand taels, the copper bowl indicated.

Gu Chen was startled, but he still gritted his teeth and made the exchange.

Gu Chen took out three thousand taels of silver and put it into the copper bowl.

An even greater realization entered Gu Chen's mind.

Let him master this sword technique to a minor level.

continue!

A profound understanding requires five thousand taels of silver.

Gu Chen put the silver in.

Great swordsmanship.

Gu Chen was excited.

carry on.

A master-level sword technique requires five thousand taels of silver. Gu Chen estimates that a perfect level technique would require at least eight thousand or even ten thousand taels.

Gu Chen conveyed his desire to exchange for the perfect sword technique insight to the copper bowl, and the copper bowl responded:

[Spend 10,000 taels of silver to obtain a complete understanding of the "Breaking Illusion Blade".]

really.

It went straight to ten thousand taels.

Gu Chen put the silver in.

At that moment, an immense realization flooded into his mind.

This allowed him to master the sword technique to a perfect level.

He went into the courtyard, but Wei Zhong had not yet returned.

Gu Chen immediately began to use this sword technique.

Of course, he did not use his true energy to perform the move.

It's simply a matter of showcasing the essence of this sword technique.

Ancient dust was discovered.

After mastering this sixth-grade sword technique to perfection.

He grasped something: the essence of the sword.

The unique artistic conception of this kind of knife technique.

A sword technique that has grasped the essence of the sword can be more powerful than other sword techniques that have not grasped the essence of the sword.

The essence of this sword technique is the "Delusion-Breaking Sword Intent".

With a single slash, the sword's intent follows, vanquishing evil and shattering illusions, advancing relentlessly.

In the courtyard, as Gu Chen unleashed his Breaking Illusion Blade, profound auras appeared on his Fire Profound Blade. This was the Blade Intent, a power a level higher than Blade Qi, capable of unleashing greater destructive force, causing more damage to enemies, and making them even more difficult to resist.

After demonstrating his swordsmanship once, Gu Chen sheathed his sword and stood still.

It feels good.

With this sword technique and its intent, plus his two extraordinary symbols of the Azure Dragon and White Tiger.

He was confident he could fight a powerful expert at the peak of the Breaking Aperture Realm.

"Brother Gu, you were looking for me?" Just then.

Cheng Mengling's voice came from outside the mansion.

Then she and Wei Zhong stepped into the mansion.

"Hmm." Gu Chen nodded and said, "I called you here to sell you a batch of pills, and also to ask if you've collected all the ingredients for that special pill I asked you to gather last time."

Last time, Gu Chen asked her to help him collect materials for refining the Crimson Copper Pill.

Several days have passed now.

I wonder if she has collected them all.

Once she has collected a complete set.

Gu Chen's bronze body was then ready to begin cultivation.

"Not yet." Cheng Mengling shook her head and said, "Most of the spiritual herbs involved in that pill are high-grade spiritual herbs, which are quite troublesome to collect. It may take a few more days to gather them all."

"Alright." Gu Chen took out all the pills he had extorted from the Qingyun Sword Sect group yesterday and handed them to her: "I'll sell these pills to you at an 85% discount. Take a count and see how much silver you can get for them."

Cheng Mengling counted the pills Gu Chen handed over: "Five Cleansing Pills, Sixteen Tendon-Changing Pills, Thirty-Seven Bone-Forging Pills, and Eleven Skin-Tempering Pills."

"That's right, Brother Gu, this quantity." Cheng Mengling looked at Gu Chen.

"That's right." Gu Chen only sold her pills for the Innate Realm.

The third-grade Transformation Pill for travelers, Gu Chen did not sell.

Those Transformation Sea Pills can be used later when he breaks through to the fifth-grade Transformation Sea Realm.

After calculating the price, Cheng Mengling said, "These pills, at an 85% discount, will cost a total of 10,400 taels of silver."

She paid the silver to Gu Chen.

Gu Chen accepted the silver, feeling quite pleased with himself.

He just went to comprehend the Breaking Illusion Blade.

It cost 19,000 taels of silver.

Now they've earned back some of it.

He previously had a total of over 110,000 taels of silver on him.

Yesterday I spent over 60,100 taels of silver to buy the Breakthrough Pill.

I just spent another 19,000 taels to learn martial arts.

There are still more than 30,000 taels left.

Now he has earned 10,400 taels.

Another 40,000 taels have been collected.

To purchase pills that allow one to break through to the late stage of the Breaking Aperture Realm, sixty-four Breaking Aperture Pills are needed, costing sixty-four thousand taels of silver.

He refined pills for the Cheng family and earned about 24,000 taels of silver a month.

Refining pills for a month will allow you to gather enough silver to break through to the late stage of the Breaking Aperture Realm.

Now that Master has broken through to the next level, he is going to Zhongzhou to serve as the decision-maker of the Night Watch Headquarters.

He should keep a low profile from now on.

I'll lie low for a few months and work my way up to the perfect Breakthrough Realm before making any further moves.