Grinding Cultivation Toward Martial Saint

"Tonight, should I test the waters?" she muttered to herself, turning her head slightly towards where Jiang Ning was.

Just at that moment,

she suddenly heard two sets of footsteps approaching from behind, along with the conversation between Jiang Ning and Bai Luoyu.

Xiao Emei immediately snapped back to reality and quickly adjusted her expression, revealing a faint smile.

The next second,

she turned around to see Jiang Ning and Bai Luoyu walking shoulder to shoulder, laughing and chatting along the way.

She immediately put on a smile, seemingly welcoming their arrival.

A moment later,

Jiang Ning and Bai Luoyu reached the doorway.

"Brother Jiang, let's meet again soon and I'll treat you to a drink," Bai Luoyu said.

"Then it's a deal!" Jiang Ning smiled.

"A deal!" Bai Luoyu also showed a light smile.

Then, he turned to Xiao Emei.

"Miss Xiao, do you have anything you'd like to say to Brother Jiang?"

Xiao Emei nodded and looked towards Jiang Ning, "Commander Jiang, might I have a word with you?"

Jiang Ning glanced at her and then nodded slightly.

"Master Bai, I'll speak with Commander Jiang for a moment!" Xiao Emei directed this to Bai Luoyu.

Bai Luoyu smiled and gestured with his fan, "By all means!"

...

By the Luoshui River,

downwind about a dozen yards from Bai Luoyu.

"Commander Jiang!" Xiao Emei brushed the hair tousled by the cold wind behind her ear, revealing her attractive profile and snow-white neck.

Feeling Jiang Ning's gaze turning towards her, a hint of pleasure flashed in her heart.

She quite enjoyed the attention of a man's gaze.

The next instant,

the cold wind blew again, scattering the strands of hair she had just tucked away.

"Commander Jiang!" she spoke up again.

"Miss Xiao, feel free to speak your mind," Jiang Ning responded.

Xiao Emei brushed away the strands of hair on her red lips, then said, "Commander Jiang, my master invites you to visit the Water Moon Sword Palace for a banquet. Would Commander Jiang be willing to do us the honor?"

Jiang Ning chuckled upon hearing this, "I'm not a fool, this banquet by your master is no ordinary affair!"

"You misunderstand, Commander Jiang," Xiao Emei showed a hint of apologetic expression, "My master simply wishes to host you properly and, by the way, to investigate whether the death of my master's nephew He Jinyun has anything to do with Commander Jiang?"

"I'm not interested!" Jiang Ning waved his hand and walked away.

"Young Master Jiang!" Xiao Emei's voice softened and became gentler, "I cannot defy my master's command, please help me!"

Afterward, all she saw was Jiang Ning's retreating figure and his unwavering footsteps.

Seeing this scene, she set her gaze on Jiang Ning's back and the thought she had earlier resurfaced in her mind.

"Tonight might be a good time to probe!" Xiao Emei secretly resolved.

A moment later,

she saw Jiang Ning and Bai Luoyu wrap up their brief conversation, and then Bai Luoyu walked towards her.

"Master Bai!"

"What's the matter?" Bai Luoyu asked with a smile, "Miss Xiao's attempt at seduction didn't work, did it?"

Xiao Emei's originally cheerful expression froze for an instant.

"What seduction attempt?" she retorted, lifting the strands of hair that had fallen beside her ears, exposing her neck as pale as snow.

Bai Luoyu just chuckled and remained silent.

...

Meanwhile,

back inside the mansion,

Jiang Li appeared in front of Jiang Ning.

"Little brother, what was that important person from the County here for just now?"

"To promote me!" Jiang Ning said.

"What rank?" Jiang Li's eyes immediately sparkled.

"Secondary Sixth-rank."

"Secondary Sixth-rank!!!" Jiang Li's eyes widened in astonishment.

Then, Jiang Li wandered off towards the house, muttering to himself in a daze,

"Secondary Sixth-rank!"

"Secondary Sixth-rank!!"

"My family's ancestral tomb must be spewing green smoke, a high-ranking official is about to emerge!!!"

Watching this scene, the corners of Jiang Ning's mouth curled up, a faint smile on his face.

...

In the east courtyard,

Jiang Ning looked at the neatly arranged Contribution Points tokens in front of him, feeling exceedingly pleased.

Within the Inspection Office, Contribution Points were a universal currency.

They could be used for promotions, for obtaining official positions, and for exchanging for gold and silver.

They could also exchange for various martial arts resources and secret manuals of martial arts skills, including the heretofore unrevealed techniques of the major sects.

Because the Inspection Office's inner storage was directly connected to the inner storage of the Martial Saint Mansion.

The Martial Saint Mansion's accumulations over several hundred years were also made available to all qualified personnel of the Inspection Offices everywhere.

And that Martial Saint, at the beginning of the founding of Great Xia, set foot in all the major sects of the world, subduing them, and thus collected numerous cultivation techniques from each sect, making the Martial Saint Mansion's centuries of accumulation dauntingly rich.

Jiang Ning was very clear that the contribution points he currently possessed were a fortune he would be unable for a very long time to come.

Therefore, he needed to plan carefully how to use the one million four hundred thousand contribution points he had obtained today, plus the thirty thousand contribution points he had saved before, making a total of one million four hundred and thirty thousand contribution points.

Thinking of the contribution points he had previously saved, he couldn't help but feel a pang of distress.

Some days ago, he had spent a hundred thousand contribution points at the Internal Affairs Office with Granny Bai to be promoted to Standard Eighth Grade, thus gaining higher privileges.

Looking back now, that choice was an incredible waste.

A stand-in inspector was equivalent to a Secondary Sixth-rank official post.

With that status, the hundred thousand contribution points he had spent were akin to water splashed away.

Thinking about the hundred thousand contribution points, valued at least at a hundred thousand taels of silver, how could he not feel distressed?

"Forget it!"

He silently shook his head, dispelling the negative emotions in his heart, and carefully put away the pile of Spirit Stone Jades in front of him.

Then he resumed his training and cultivation.

Xiao Emei's arrival, while unable to threaten him,

But he was also clear that Xiao Emei's arrival meant that the Water Moon Sword Palace was indeed focusing on him and had already taken action.

Even if Xiao Emei returned without success when facing him, it did not mean that the Palace Master of the Water Moon Sword Palace would give up.

Even if the Palace Master gave up, it did not mean that her own sister, He Jinyun's mother, would give up.

A mother who lost her child could do anything unexpected.

This was a latent threat in the shadows.

Ultimately, a trouble.

But his current strength was not enough to deal with this trouble, let alone the ability to eliminate it beforehand.

He could only do as he had told Bai Luoyun just now, to meet the soldiers with a stratagem and counter the flood with earth, to respond to every change with unchanging actions.

To solve this troublesome matter, in the end, one could only rely on strength, rely on sufficiently powerful strength.

...

On the other side.

After Bai Luoyu and Xiao Emei returned to the inn,

Xiao Emei went back to her room and closed the door.

She stood by the window, gazing in the direction of Jiang Ning, her brows involuntarily furrowing.

Arriving at Luoshui County, she found this matter more troublesome than she had imagined.

Originally, in her eyes, Jiang Ning was nothing more than a Martial Arts Seventh Grade, or possibly a Martial Arts Sixth Grade.

His official post was merely a Deputy Commander of Secondary Eighth-rank.

Neither in terms of strength nor position was he enough to make her wary.

But today's events had overturned her understanding.

The fact that Bai Luoyu was so courteous to address him as Brother Jiang also indicated the importance the Inspection Office placed on him.

She knew very well that Bai Luoyu, on the task of the Inspection Office, had far more understanding of Jiang Ning than she did.

Such an action by Bai Luoyu meant that she had previously underestimated Jiang Ning.

"It seems he is not so simple."

"Tonight, I should still test the waters first, probe his depths, then make plans."

After coming to a decision, Xiao Emei called for the inn's serving boy, preparing to take a hot bath first and wait for night to fall.

...

At 9 p.m.

The bright moonlight was at times obscured by thick clouds and at other times appeared to be veiled by a light gauze, resulting in a hazy moonlight.

Xiao Emei stood in front of a large brass mirror, her skin bare.

Then, she wrapped a black cloth tightly around her bust and bound her bare feet with black bands, after which she dressed in form-fitting night clothes, piece by piece.

Soon her pair of black eyes were all that showed.

She picked up the long sword from the table, thought for a moment, then put it down, and instead picked up a dagger from beside it.

After inserting it into her waistband, she nodded in satisfaction.

Creak—

A street-facing window of the Cloud Inn was opened.

Afterward, from a slit in the window, a slender figure squeezed through.

She looked left and right for a moment, detecting no movement, then her figure, as nimble as a cat, made no sound as she moved across the eaves and disappeared into the night.

It was only after this figure had gone far,

The window of the room where Bai Luoyu was located was then opened.

"Xiao Emei indeed took action!"

He looked in the direction where Xiao Emei had disappeared, pondered for a while, then shook his head.

"Let it be! I won't intervene tonight!"

"If the candidate looked favorably upon by those above can't handle even a little trouble like Xiao Emei, that would be disappointing!"

"And it's not suitable to trade favors tonight either, Xiao Emei doesn't have the guts to actually kill him."

After clarifying his thoughts, Bai Luoyu closed the window again.