He ate until evening.

The weather was nice that night.

There was no snow.

And so, in the sky above the Imperial City, countless fireworks were lit.

They filled the sky, like a swarm of dancing fireflies.

"What do you think? This is the only part of the celebration worth watching."

Xu Ningying had long since finished her negotiations and returned to Su Qing’s side, saying with a playful smile,

She saw the reflection of the fireworks dancing in his eyes, mingling with their natural color.

"The fireworks... they’re quite nice, especially when it seems like everyone in Shangjing is setting them off together."

"It’s a beautiful sight. I haven’t seen anything like it in a long time."

Su Qing was telling the truth.

He truly hadn’t seen it in a long time.

Not even in his past life...

"I’m getting tired. I’m going back to sleep."

Memories of his past life surfaced, and Su Qing shook his head, trying to cast them aside.

He had already started walking.

"Huh? You’re going back so soon?" Xu Ningying had thought she could spend a little more time with Su Qing.

"No, I’m tired."

"Oh, right. I’ll return these clothes to you," Su Qing said without turning his head.

"Don’t worry about it! Spring is just over a month away, remember?" Xu Ningying shouted after him.

"I remember. I won’t run off."

Su Qing nodded.

He walked back to the small house he had bought, changed out of his clothes, and put on a set of black garments.

Su Qing covered his face.

Then, he slipped away quietly.

The Demon-Extermination Bureau. He had learned the names of these places long ago.

During his visits to the brothels, the women there would mention where the Demon-Extermination Bureau was located.

So, Su Qing found the Demon-Extermination Bureau with ease.

At this time of greatest relaxation for the city, Su Qing only wanted to find a Qi Cultivation Stage cultivation technique.

The exterior of the Demon-Extermination Bureau was quite imposing.

Two stone Qilins flanked the main gate.

By the light of the fireworks in the sky, Su Qing could see that the gate was made of red wood.

He didn’t hesitate for long.

He leaped into the Demon-Extermination Bureau’s compound.

Although the Demon-Extermination Bureau was vast, some of its buildings were very conspicuous.

For example, there was a stargazing tower seventy to eighty meters tall.

And there was a pavilion that stood taller than the other ordinary buildings.

The pavilion was brightly lit at night.

It was obvious someone was inside.

However, Su Qing could see bookshelves inside.

’That was easy. Are they not afraid of thieves, leaving it this obvious?’

Su Qing crept cautiously toward the pavilion.

He also figured out why it was so openly displayed.

’It’s probably because the strong wouldn’t bother with it, and the weak can’t get in.’

Su Qing scanned the area, activated his Divine Concealment Technique, and lightly leaped to the top floor.

Then, he slipped quietly through a window.

But as soon as he entered, he saw a middle-aged man sitting there.

"Well, a rare guest."

The middle-aged man spoke without looking up, his eyes fixed on the book in his hands.

Su Qing paused. This middle-aged man felt somewhat like the Demon-Extermination Bureau superior from that morning.

But his aura was different.

Su Qing couldn’t tell how powerful he was.

"Senior, this junior only wishes to borrow a Qi Cultivation technique."

Only then did the middle-aged man look up.

At first, he had truly thought the intruder was just a thief with no Cultivation and had planned to deal with him casually in a moment.

But hearing that Su Qing was after a Qi Cultivation Realm cultivation technique, he took a proper look at him.

Their eyes met.

He noticed that the other’s eyes showed no fear.

’Very beautiful eyes,’ he thought.

’And from his voice, he’s a young man.’

’Dressed all in black.’

"You want a Qi Cultivation Realm technique?"

"Alright, then. Defeat me," the middle-aged man said, his voice full of energy as he made the first move.

He spun around, grabbed a nearby sword, and unsheathed it, launching an attack at Su Qing.

"Flame Sword!"

Su Qing saw the blade become wreathed in flames, much like Xu Ningying’s techniques.

Su Qing protected his hand with Water Spiritual Qi.

He formed a palm, dodged the sword’s edge, and struck the flat of the blade.

CLANG!

The sword shattered.

The middle-aged man’s eyes widened, and he tried to retreat.

Su Qing pressed forward.

His skills were far superior to the middle-aged man’s.

Su Qing grabbed his left arm and pulled, causing the man to stumble toward him.

Su Qing chopped the back of his neck, hitting him hard.

’After all, who knows how resistant this guy is to being knocked out?’

The middle-aged man collapsed.

Su Qing then turned his attention to the bookshelves.

There were a dozen or so unremarkable cultivation techniques.

However, there was only one Five Elements Technique.

There were also many records of the Immortal Cultivation Realm. Su Qing glanced at the titles and took them all.

He tucked them into his robes and checked the middle-aged man’s breathing.

Still alive.

’That’s good. I’m not a murderer or a robber, I’m just borrowing these books.’

’I’ll just return them later.’

Su Qing left the Demon-Extermination Bureau.

...

Back in Su Qing’s residence, a lamp illuminated his bedroom.

Five Elements Qi Cultivation Technique

Su Qing silently glanced at the cover.

Then he opened the book.

After he finished reading,

[Five Elements Qi Cultivation Technique: A mediocre Five Elements Qi Cultivation Technique that refines Five Elements Spiritual Qi into one’s own Magical Power. Only covers the Qi Cultivation Stage.]

[Synthesizable]

"Not bad, not bad."

After reading the Qi Cultivation Technique, Su Qing nodded in satisfaction.

He was in no hurry to return the books now.

Because Su Qing felt his Five Qi God Demon Technique could still be improved.

’Duplicate one Five Qi God Demon Technique +1.’

DONG~

It was as if his head was inside a great bell. The moment it rang, his mind went blank, and he fainted.

An hour later, Su Qing slowly came to.

He looked at the sky.

It was still dark.

A few fireworks were still blooming in the air.

"Damn it, the most annoying thing about this era is the lack of clocks. How am I supposed to know how much time has passed?"

Su Qing looked at the two nearly soulless Puppets beside him.

He couldn’t help but shake his head.

’No, if I’m going to do this, I have to see it through.’

’Duplicate one Five Qi God Demon Technique +1.’

Su Qing’s head lolled back, and he collapsed again.

His Chaotic Life Body and Five Qi God Demon Body were constantly helping him recover.

Another hour passed.

Su Qing groggily woke up again.

After staring blankly for a few minutes...

’Duplicate one Five Qi God Demon Technique +1.’

Su Qing closed his eyes again.

He fainted once more.

After this repeated several times...

...

...

"Finally, I have nine of them."

’Synthesize Five Qi God Demon Technique +1.’

With a thought, he placed the nine techniques into the Synthesizer.

He mentally confirmed the command, and the synthesis began.

[Synthesis Failed]

Su Qing’s face instantly darkened.

"I don’t believe this. Synthesize again."

’Duplicate one Five Qi God Demon Technique +1.’

Su Qing once again fell into the cycle of fainting and waking up.

If it weren’t for the Puppets standing guard, Su Qing wouldn’t have dared to let himself pass out like this.

After another nine cycles...

Su Qing didn’t even bother to sit up.

’This time, I feel like it’s going to fail again, or at best, it’ll just synthesize a simple Five Qi God Demon Technique +2.’

Without triggering his Evolution Talent, Su Qing felt it still wouldn’t be good enough.

’The Evolution Talent is the strongest thing I have.’

’Aside from being unable to change a technique’s fundamental characteristics, it has no downsides at all.’

But that didn’t stop Su Qing from obsessing over an evolved version of the Five Qi God Demon Technique +2.

"Synthesize."

Su Qing’s mood was calm this time. He had already prepared himself for a long period of self-torture.

[Synthesis Successful: Evolution Talent Triggered]

[Five Qi God Demon Technique +2: 20 times the efficacy of the original Five Qi God Demon Technique +1 (the original Second Layer had a 2x effect; Evolution adds another 10x multiplier).]

"Finally! I finally synthesized it. I thought I was in for a long haul."

Su Qing knew it was deep into the night.

"Extract."

In an instant, Su Qing received the cultivation method for the Five Qi God Demon Technique +2.

It was more complex than the original, but also far more powerful.