Luo Wen smiled wryly, "This time we must have made a grave mistake in the officialdom, acting beyond our rank and trying to bring down our superior. No one in power likes subordinates who do that."
He knew this at the time.
However, at that moment, between Wei Fan and Wei Qingyuan, he had to choose one, and if he hadn't chosen Wei Fan, Wei Fan would probably have chopped him up and accused him of colluding with Demon Fiends.
Symbolically, even if they achieved merit, dealing with their superior would surely disappoint the City Lord with their actions.
Promoting such individuals, who knows if one day they might also plot against oneself.
Wei Fan nodded lightly, understanding these intricacies. In the officialdom, such subordinates are indeed frowned upon.
"I don't care about that, but the City Lord didn't penalize Wei Qingyuan and actually let him continue as a Clerk in the East District. I had overestimated the City Lord's justice."
This point did not surprise Wei Fan.
The problems originated from the City Lord himself, which led to the rampant Demon Fiend activities in Yun City. Perhaps the City Lord was colluding with them personally.
Moreover, regarding the E Shen Bang matters, the only evidence was Wei Qingyuan asking Luo Wen to take care of Lu Tianming; there was no proof that Wei Qingyuan was colluding with Demon Fiends too.
Having been a Clerk for over a decade, the relationship between Wei Qingyuan and the City Lord of Yun City might not be solely superior-subordinate, so it's not unusual for Wei Qingyuan to remain unscathed.
No matter how much they do, Yun City is ultimately ruled by the City Lord's words alone; he decides promotions and demotions.
"No problem, we'll continue as we are, adhering to the rules, and we won't need to fear him."
I don't fear, you might, because you're a Military Officer while I'm a Civil Servant, it's completely different.
Luo Wen left worriedly, sensing a bleak future ahead.
Wei Qingyuan might have limited methods to deal with Wei Fan, but plenty against Luo Wen.
Moreover, Wei Fan ultimately joined the Demon Suppression Bureau, while Luo Wen had to remain in Yun City; their paths were entirely different.
[Mirror Lake Skill (Uninitiated)]
[Current Power Level: 102 years]
Wei Fan didn't pay much mind to Wei Qingyuan's matters; he quickly began studying the Mirror Lake Skill.
Similar to the Unity of the Three, Mirror Lake Skill is a special Heart Method, focused on expanding the Dantian. As for how much it can expand, the secret manual states it depends on personal potential.
Those with lesser potential would expand their Dantian by twenty to thirty percent, while those with exceptional potential might expand it four to five times.
Of course, this process takes a long time; generally, those with heritage and background start cultivating Heart Methods to expand the Dantian from the first strands of True Qi.
"Luckily, I have a Golden Finger!"
"My Dantian can only accommodate ten years of power. If it can expand two to three times, it could hold twenty to thirty years' worth of power, though I'm not sure it can expand that much."
"Ten years of power, add Mirror Lake Skill!"
Following the usual routine, Wei Fan first infused ten years of power, and the panel began to flicker:
[Deducting 10 years of power, adding Martial Arts Mirror Lake Skill!]
Instantly, the True Qi within the Dantian began circulating like a serene lake suddenly stirred.
[Cultivating Mirror Lake Skill for one year, Mirror Lake Skill perfected, Dantian expansion with a thirty percent increase in True Qi capacity]
[Cultivating Mirror Lake Skill for two years, Dantian expansion with a thirty percent increase in True Qi capacity]
[Cultivating Mirror Lake Skill for three years, Dantian expansion with a thirty percent increase in True Qi capacity]
...
Wei Fan couldn't help but rejoice; with just one year of power, his Dantian's True Qi capacity had increased by thirty percent, equivalent to holding an additional three years' worth of power.
Meanwhile, the location of the Dantian in his abdomen began heating up and swelling, as if inflating.
However, before he could indulge in happiness for long, the panel's growth showed changes as the Dantian's expansion rate quickly weakened.
[Cultivating Mirror Lake Skill for five years, Dantian expansion with a twenty percent increase in True Qi capacity]
[Cultivating Mirror Lake Skill for seven years, Dantian expansion with a ten percent increase in True Qi capacity]
[Cultivating Mirror Lake Skill for ten years, Dantian expansion with a ten percent increase in True Qi capacity]
[Mirror Lake Skill (Perfection)]
[Current Power Level: 92 years]
"Expanded by over double, my current Dantian should accommodate over twenty years' worth of power."
That was practically his limit.
Generally, individuals who cultivate Martial Arts to expand True Qi would only do so for ten years and not continuously cultivate, as breaking through to the Acupoint Realm becomes difficult with age.
Fortunately, this issue doesn't apply to Wei Fan. As long as the Mirror Lake Skill can further expand his Dantian, he can continuously add power.
He continued to add, ultimately pouring in eighty years of power before the Mirror Lake Skill was of no further use to him.
[Mirror Lake Skill (Perfection)]
[Current Power Level: 22 years]
"My Dantian's breadth is about five times what it was before."
The results from eighty years of power left Wei Fan pleasantly surprised; now his Dantian can hold over fifty years of True Qi.
According to Ning Xuan, even the demon talents from the Demon Suppression Bureau have Dantians around this level.
Meaning, in terms of True Qi quantity, he's on par with top talents from the Demon Suppression Bureau, not inferior to them.
"If I were to fight Tiger King again now, I could use just ordinary Martial Techniques; with this fivefold increase in True Qi, I could crush him."
Assessing an individual as a genius based on True Qi capacity is quite logical, as perfecting a single Martial Technique takes too much time.
For instance, the Dragon Roar Heaven-Shattering Finger took him twenty years of power to perfect, and even for geniuses quicker than him, it would take at least seven or eight years.
In that duration, true talents would have already broken through to the Acupoint Realm, rendering True Qi Realm Dragon Roar Heaven-Shattering Finger ineffective.
Martial Techniques need constant change, while only True Qi remains eternal.
"Had it not been for cultivating four Horizontal Martial Arts, my flesh is robust, expanding my Dantian to this scale wouldn't have been possible!"
Previously, people said Horizontal Martial Arts were tougher than True Qi; now it seems that's not necessarily the case.
For most, a single-arm's strength of ten thousand pounds is indeed superior to True Qi Ninth Layer.
But suppose True Qi Ninth Layer has a Dantian that accommodates fifty or sixty years of True Qi; they could easily slap a Horizontal Martial Artist with ten thousand pounds of strength to death.
Even now, with his Horizontal Martial Arts reaching single-arm strength of twenty thousand pounds, the physical attack power does not match True Qi.
"The arrest officer is in trouble!"
Wei Fan opened his eyes, seeing Liu Chengzhou and Hu Qing.
In trouble?
Wei Fan furrowed his brows.
Hu Qing expressed gravely, "Someone reported from Sanlitun, saying a Demon Fiend entered the village today and ate three or four people. Should we check it out?"
In Wei Fan's responsible area, besides several city streets, there are also some villages outside the city. If anything happens in these villages, he is responsible for them too.
For example, previously Five Miles Village was under Li Shen's jurisdiction; now it's under his supervision.
"Let's grab our gear and go!"
Wei Fan picked up his belt knife and led the way outside.
There was an unspoken understanding between Demon Fiends and the Government Office, even when they devour people, it's usually done secretly during night to avoid attracting those Godslayers from the Demon Suppression Bureau in broad daylight.
"Bring more people along; it might be a setup due to the Tiger King incident to lure you out of the city!" Hu Qing advised.
She could think of it, naturally Wei Fan had such suspicions too.
However, he was currently running out of power, hoping for Demon Fiends to appear; why would he fear them?
If it's aimed at him, he must go; otherwise, for every additional death, there'll be more blood debts on his head.
"No need, just you two. If I can't handle it, bringing more people would just be sending them to their deaths."
Upon exiting, Wei Fan saw the person from Sanlitun who reported the case, a middle-aged man around forty named Tian Qi.
With that man, they walked out of the city together.