The remote Tianning County had recently been filled with a new fervor, with banners about cracking down on criminals hanging everywhere.

Wang Jie and Bu Xiuwen were eating breakfast at the newly opened Affordable Bun Shop on East Street.

"Deputy Director, do you really think these banners are useful? Won’t putting them up just tip them off?"

Wang Jie continued to eat his bun in a slow, deliberate manner. The buns at this shop had thin skins and generous fillings, and they tasted excellent.

The millet porridge was also good. It had the perfect consistency, and drinking it in the morning was a refreshing, soothing experience with a pleasant aftertaste.

Of course, Wang Jie’s favorite thing here was the tea eggs.

Everything else at this shop was cheap, but the tea eggs were expensive!

Other shops sold them for 1.5 or 2, but this one sold them for 2.5.

Wang Jie picked up a tea egg and gently cracked the shell. With a slight squeeze, the shell slid off completely, leaving no fragments behind.

The surface of the egg was covered in beautiful, marbled patterns from the braising liquid. It was slightly salty but not overwhelmingly so, with a perfectly balanced flavor. The egg white was firm—a sign of quality.

He loved eggs, and to Wang Jie, tea eggs were the soul of breakfast.

Few breakfast vendors on the market put any real effort into their tea eggs. They were either too salty or too bland, or the eggs themselves were poor quality, tasting of nothing but seasoning.

But this owner definitely used free-range farm eggs, and combined with his superb skill, it was clear he was a master chef.

So, even at 2.5, Wang Jie felt it was well worth the price!

Bu Xiuwen was still rambling on, righteously listing off every idiotic move the bureaucrats in that "white building" had ever made, piece by piece, declaring that his dog Big Yellow would do a better job in their position!

As he grew more excited, spit flew from his mouth. Unfortunately, Wang Jie saw a droplet land in his half-finished bowl of millet porridge.

A Martial Artist’s eyesight was astounding, their observation skills meticulous. So, he had clearly seen two tiny bubbles on the fleck of spittle.

The clearer part on top of the millet porridge was soothing to the throat and whetted the appetite, while the thicker part at the bottom contained the essence of the millet, carrying the simplest, most rustic fragrance of the food.

That was his favorite part.

But remembering that fleck of spittle, his appetite vanished in an instant.

"Xiuwen!"

"Hm?"

"How many years have you been a team leader?"

"Deputy Director, I have to think... It’s been so long!

I was promoted to team leader on February 17th, year 823 of the New Calendar, for meritorious service in capturing a fugitive. So, if you do the math, I’ve been a field operations team leader for about thirteen years, hahaha~

But I’ve been the leader for all four of our teams at some point.

Man, so much time has passed!"

Bu Xiuwen sighed with emotion!

Wang Jie stared silently at the old team leader for a few seconds before saying with a deadpan expression:

"Keep up the good work. The Martial Arts Administration Bureau needs experienced team leaders like you!"

"Oh~"

"Let’s go. We’re going to be late. During these special times, we must be strict with ourselves!"

With that, he stood up and left.

Bu Xiuwen looked at the spicy tofu bun he had only taken one bite of, the millet porridge he hadn’t touched, and the two braised eggs, his face a mask of reluctance.

He shoved the entire bun into his mouth in two or three bites, immediately choking so hard his neck went stiff. He quickly gulped down two mouthfuls of porridge to wash it down, snatched the two braised eggs, and rushed out. Seeing that Wang Jie was already far ahead, he had no choice but to circulate his Qi Blood and hurry to catch up!

...

Unaware of the changing situation in the world, Yu Fei just trained tirelessly every day, with even greater dedication.

His goal was one of the Seven Greats, though he hadn’t decided which one yet. However, the entrance requirements for the martial arts departments of the Seven Greats were very high, requiring at least the fourth gate, which was equivalent to the first realm, the Blood Refining level.

To guarantee admission, one needed to reach at least Blood Refining Perfection and break through to the second realm to be safe.

Based on the news from previous years, there were always some freaks who had already reached the Inner Qi Realm in high school. Those kinds of prodigies were currently beyond his reach, but Yu Fei was confident that he would be the one to have the last laugh.

The Reverse Fate Pearl gave him the ability to copy the talents of living beings, but Tianning County was too small, a place with no heroes for the time being!

Right now, the Reverse Fate Pearl could only copy blue-quality mediocrities like Jiang Yifan, which was a real shame.

He would save up the Reverse Fate Pearl’s copy uses. From now on, unless he encountered someone with a special constitution, he wouldn’t activate its ability.

He had already reached the entry level in his cultivation of the Cyan Lotus Sword Seal. As it turned out, this prerequisite training method for the prerequisite Cultivation Technique of the introductory Cultivation Technique of the Tribulation Sea Formless Sword Manual wasn’t that difficult.

It was just a matter of Qi Blood manipulation, which only required constant practice to build muscle memory.

In a word: grind!

’Yes! Any Cultivation Technique that can be mastered by grinding is a minor issue.’

Yu Fei took stock of the techniques he had learned.

His fundamental Cultivation Technique, the Ox Subduing Pile Skill, was at the Great Accomplishment stage, and he had already made some progress beyond that.

Of the five fist styles contained within the Six Harmonies Killing Fist, the Straight Line Thrust Style was at Great Accomplishment, with progress over halfway to the next stage! The time to Perfection was unknown.

Yin Stream Shattered Jade was at Great Accomplishment, with progress at about thirty percent.

Dragon and Snake Double Stack was approaching the Minor Accomplishment stage, which he estimated would take another week or so of practice.

Mountain-Blocking Celestial Net: Entry Level

Light Swallow Shadow: Entry Level

Cyan Lotus Sword Seal: Entry Level

Most importantly, Yu Fei sensed that his Muscle Refining was over ninety percent complete. He estimated he would break through in about ten days!

Ever since he first stepped onto the path of martial arts last September, he had floundered for more than half a month before the Reverse Fate Pearl awakened. He gained the ability to copy talents and, at a critical moment, encountered his fated feline benefactor, from which he obtained a talent no human could ever possess: Super Speed Reaction.

Although this talent was only blue-quality, Yu Fei’s intuition told him that Super Speed Reaction was far more valuable to him than any other blue-quality talent.

A sevenfold increase in his neural reaction speed was a great help in his martial arts training, providing a perceptive effect close to the level of "Subtlety."

’Hmm... Yan Sea was the one who told me about the term "Subtlety" during a casual chat. It’s a state generally mastered by Inner Qi Realm Martial Artists. In essence, it’s a buff that comes from the leap in a Martial Artist’s life level, granting them a more minute and comprehensive perceptual ability. It’s a passive trigger.’

However, for Yu Fei to achieve a similar effect, he needed to rely on his own subjective analysis and judgment.

The greatest benefit of his sevenfold neural reaction speed was in combat. It allowed him to think calmly, make the most advantageous combat decisions, and precisely control his own body, which was why he was repeatedly able to win fights with a single move.

The Reverse Fate Pearl could use Stardust to upgrade talents, so this one still had future potential to be unlocked.

Later, he saw the tabby cat once more in his residential complex, but it ran off as soon as it saw him approaching from a distance. He left some cat food in that area for it.

An adult tabby cat is a powerful hunter, always on the path of battle.

Today was the weekend, and Li Mengyao had invited him out for coffee.

Yes, just for coffee. She said it was to thank Yu Fei for giving her the Vitality Elixir.

Out of courtesy, Yu Fei planned to arrive half an hour early and wait for her at the entrance.

Blue Mountain Coffee was an old, established beverage shop. In its early years, it only sold coffee, but in recent times, it had followed the trends and added milk tea and some light snacks. Its customers were mainly middle and high school students.

Young people came here to chat about friendships and gossip. These verdant years might be remembered for a lifetime.

Lost in thought, Yu Fei arrived at Blue Mountain Coffee.

The young woman was standing there, wearing a low-cut, cream-colored knit sweater, paired with a milk-tea-colored plaid pleated skirt that ended just at her knees. On her feet were a pair of small, brown leather shoes, revealing her delicate collarbones and fair thighs.

Li Mengyao stood under a tree, looking left and right, a small handbag dangling from her hand.