Xuanqing Guard-Chapter 47: Rest Day

Tang Qingyuan fulfilled his previous promise to Shen Hao, granting him a six-day Rest Day. However, he requested that Shen Hao not travel far during these six days, just in case there was any urgent duty and it would be easier to find him.

Actually, Shen Hao hadn’t thought about traveling far; he didn’t have that kind of leisure. For a cultivator, downtime simply meant cultivation.

Ever since that near-death assassination attempt, Shen Hao found that his cultivation progress had changed again.

Previously, because he had taken an Evil Core and dozens of pieces of Yin Tofu, the Black Beast Tattoo on his chest had converted all that gloomy energy into True Qi that Shen Hao could absorb, and through cultivation, it was gradually transferred into his body.

At its peak, Shen Hao’s daily cultivation yield was fifteen times more than before!

But that assassination more than half a month ago forced Shen Hao into a "berserk" episode. Afterward, he managed to survive, but the huge energy source of that berserk state was actually the True Qi stored in his tattoo, which should’ve been gradually funneled into his body.

In other words, a single berserk episode drained all the True Qi stored in Shen Hao’s chest tattoo; even what was left was negligible.

Fortunately, he ended up absorbing the souls of those five assassins like plum powder, which helped replenish him a bit. But his cultivation speed dropped from a peak of fifteen times down to seven or eight times these few days—a decrease of over half.

Still, Shen Hao wasn’t anxious at all. He was no longer the person he used to be, and didn’t need to rely solely on meditation for cultivation; he could now plan and make full use of external assistance: elixirs.

When he solved the Qi Family extermination case in Five Rams City, he was rewarded with two Small Nourishing Pills. Dealing with the Li Family’s rebellion case earned him another four. With six Small Nourishing Pills in hand, Shen Hao even felt that the elixirs he needed to advance to Qi Refining Seventh Layer were basically enough.

So, since he was on a Rest Day, couldn’t travel, and for the first time had so many elixirs to eat at will, Shen Hao simply set up a simple array outside his study, then went into secluded training.

Secluded training! To grassroots cultivators, this was an incredibly luxurious move. At least prior to this, Shen Hao never had the conditions to do so.

Following his usual routine, Shen Hao spent an hour meditating to clear his mind, getting himself into his optimal cultivation state. Then he began taking Small Nourishing Pills one by one.

After swallowing the first Small Nourishing Pill, Shen Hao didn’t feel much of a True Qi increase; it was less effective than the one he took at Fifth Layer.

After an hour, the effect of the first Small Nourishing Pill dissipated. Instead of continuing, Shen Hao focused on consolidating the gains the pill brought him.

Only after another half day did Shen Hao start taking the second pill.

And so on. Over five days, Shen Hao "paused and moved" his way through all six Small Nourishing Pills, successfully advancing his cultivation from Qi Refining Sixth Layer to Qi Refining Seventh Layer.

But this advancement felt different from before. The Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth layers in the Qi Refining Realm are collectively called "Post-Third Realm of Qi Refining." The results of advancement here are much more noticeable than those of the First Three Realms or the Middle Three Realms.

Take Shen Hao’s own experience—now, when he wields the Yanji Saber and slashes, a palm-sized slice of Blade Aura flies off the blade, traveling six or seven feet before dissipating.

Blade Aura leaving the blade edge—this was no longer the restrained "Hai Mang" of before, but could properly be called "Blade Gang."

Of course, a mere few feet of distance still counted as just entry-level Blade Gang.

"Swish!"

Watching the millstone sliced in half from a distance by his Blade Gang, Shen Hao was satisfied. Even though his Blade Gang was only entry-level, its power absolutely exceeded that of Hai Mang several times over—possibly even a qualitative leap.

As someone who clawed his way up from the lowest soldier, Shen Hao was never greedy; he understood perfectly the importance of steady progress.

Five days flew by. During this time, Housekeeper Hu received lots of invitation cards—some inviting Shen Hao to banquets, others wanting to come congratulate him. After all, Shen Hao had just been granted a Viscount title, and all the "big figures" in Li City wanted to seize the opportunity to curry favor, or at least get acquainted, right?

Unfortunately, Shen Hao had secluded himself for five straight days, turning everyone away at the door; even the gifts they brought were refused.

Thus, a rumor about Shen Hao started spreading among the Li City upper-tier: Shen Zongqi from the Black Banner Battalion was hard to approach.

In truth, Shen Hao wasn’t cold-hearted. On the contrary, he was much clearer and more aware than most when it came to interpersonal relations and knowing exactly what he should do.

As for those irrelevant people’s opinions? Shen Hao never considered them.

May 21st.

The last day of Rest Day, Shen Hao hosted a banquet at home.

Two groups were invited: one was all the Warriors, School Commanders, and Xiaoqi from the Black Banner Battalion—these were Shen Hao’s own people. The other was all the General Flags, Trial Hundred Households, and Hundred Households Officer Tang Qingyuan from Li City Xuanqing Guard Garrison—these were the ties Shen Hao needed to maintain.

A person may live like a wolf, but it’s best not to become a lone wolf, or else the outcome is usually bleak.

Since he was entertaining guests, the home cook found herself stretched; Housekeeper Hu Tian went to Drunken Immortal Pavilion to hire two master chefs, and borrowed plenty of cookware. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Aside from the main dishes by the chefs, Shen Hao himself cooked three small dishes: sweet and sour ribs, scallions tossed with tofu, twice-cooked pork.

The others didn’t get to eat Shen Hao’s cooking; those three dishes were only served at Tang Qingyuan’s table.

Compared with the restaurant chefs, Shen Hao’s skills naturally didn’t measure up, but upon hearing that these three dishes were personally made by Shen Hao, everyone at the table—including Tang Qingyuan—thought they were the highlight, and they were finished quickly. Everyone showed Shen Hao even more warmth than before.

Why?

The dignified Flag Officer, newly minted First-Grade Viscount, Li City’s hottest figure, was willing to cook for you himself—doesn’t that give you plenty of face? Isn’t that a gesture of goodwill?

The final meal brought joy to host and guests alike, with more than thirty jars of wine consumed.

Shen Hao didn’t get drunk—his drinking capacity was unmatched in this world unless you "cheated" with cultivation; otherwise, this ten percent wine couldn’t possibly take him down.

Tang Qingyuan didn’t get drunk either—first, his tolerance was considerable; second, his status was highest, and no one dared pressure him to drink.

Right before dispersing, Tang Qingyuan patted Shen Hao’s shoulder and said something that lingered in Shen Hao’s thoughts afterwards.

"Shen Hao, do you know much about Chen Yiyun?"

"No, never heard of him before. Would the Lord be willing to teach me?"

"No need to teach; you’ll gradually find out for yourself. But you need to keep your eyes open for a lot of things. Chen Yiyun and you and I are not the same kind of people; many of his ideas just aren’t something we can relate to.

Heh, this time he got appointed as Hundred Households Officer of the Black Banner Battalion at Thousand Households Station, I bet even Households Commander Jiang had no choice but to grudgingly accept him."

Shen Hao wanted to ask more, but Tang Qingyuan just waved his hand and smiled, saying, "The rest, go find out yourself. You’re about to be promoted to Trial Hundred Households, so you should start developing connections at Thousand Households Station. The people you need to see, you should go see them."