I Have 10 Equipment Slots-Chapter 94 - 88: Promoted Again
"Ruff?"
Pang Hu flicked his short tail and tilted his head, baffled by Gu Zheng and Cheng Zong’s praise.
"It’s nothing."
Gu Zheng smiled and had twenty Spirit-Eating Ants fly out and present themselves before Pang Hu’s mouth.
"Awoo!"
Pang Hu opened his mouth and swallowed the twenty Spirit-Eating Ants in one gulp. He then squinted his eyes, a look of pure bliss on his face, his short tail wagging nonstop.
"This..."
Cheng Zong watched, stunned. "This Spirit Beast needs to be fed Spirit Ants?"
He had seen how the Spirit-Eating Ants had pursued the Night Demon. No matter how it tried to escape, as long as it didn’t exceed a certain distance, they could always find it.
He had taken quite a liking to these Spirit-Eating Ants and was even pondering asking Gu Zheng for a few.
But as it turned out, Gu Zheng was using the Spirit-Eating Ants to feed his Spirit Beast!
"Pang Hu likes to eat them, so giving him some is no big deal."
Gu Zheng smiled. "There are plenty of these Spirit Ants, and more can always be hatched."
"...I see."
Cheng Zong reluctantly accepted this.
When his gaze swept over the pool of liquid left behind by Sun Zhenyao and the Night Demon, he accepted it completely.
The Spirit-Eating Ants were certainly useful, but they were far inferior to Pang Hu’s ability.
To knock a Spirit Body out of its host with a single slap...
’Pang Hu is the truly precious one!’
...
...
With all the Night Demons eliminated, the mission in Daping County was officially over.
The next morning, everyone from the Demon Slayer Bureau left the county and returned to the State City.
Before leaving, Gu Zheng gave Sun Zhenyao some Awakening Liquid to help his damaged Spirit recover.
As for Yan Hongxue, who had been recuperating, she had already returned to the State City earlier, escorted by An Xiaoxue when she came to Daping County.
With no one else to look after, Gu Zheng, along with Cheng Zong and the reinforcing Warriors and Demon Suppression Guards, traveled at high speed. The vast procession passed through prefectures and counties, returning to the Demon Slayer Bureau headquarters.
The first thing they did upon their return was calculate their merits.
Unquestionably, Gu Zheng had once again earned the top contribution.
Destroying the Rule Array Hub and eliminating the Domain was worth a direct fifty Great Merits.
Eliminating the Night Demons and turning in the spoils from the Blood Drop Sect amounted to another ten Great Merits.
Added to his previous ten Great Merits, he now had a total of seventy!
Promotion from a Demon Suppression Guard Commander to a Hundred Households required meeting two conditions.
First, one must accumulate at least thirty Great Merits.
Second, one’s Cultivation must reach the Super Body Realm.
Gu Zheng met both conditions, and his merit points even exceeded the requirement by more than double.
Thus, the receptionist in the Internal Affairs Hall respectfully invited Gu Zheng to the rear courtyard to verify his realm.
By the time Gu Zheng emerged from the rear courtyard and returned to the hall—
"Greetings, my lord!"
Everyone in the hall had arranged themselves into three neat rows, bowing in unison toward Gu Zheng.
SNAP!
Gu Zheng straightened his back and returned the salute.
"My lord, please change your armor."
After the salute, four Internal Affairs personnel stepped forward, carrying an inner lining, Armor, a helmet, and a Cloak, and approached Gu Zheng.
They skillfully removed Gu Zheng’s old armor and fitted him with the new set.
The Silver Moon Armor!
A Hundred Households Demon Suppression Guard wore the higher-grade Silver Moon Armor and Cloak. Each month, they received one Third-Turn Profound Pill, five hundred silver, and a Half-Spirit Soldier Battle Blade.
One could never have too many Spiritual Soldiers, so even though it was only a Half-Spiritual Soldier, Gu Zheng accepted it.
Afterward, he used his merit points to redeem the All Heaven Jade Void Skill Super Body Chapter, a bottle of Rejuvenation Pills, and three Upper Grade True Skills.
The first was a Body Technique and Lightweight Skill called the White Crane Soaring Technique.
His Super Body·Vajra did not yet allow him to fly.
Triple Jump was merely a mid-air glide, not true flight.
Cultivating the White Crane Soaring Technique, however, would help Gu Zheng, allowing him to fly freely and with incredible agility for short periods, like a bird, after leaping into the air.
The second was a Saber Technique True Skill, the Nine Luminaries Golden Saber.
This True Skill had a total of nine forms, each one as powerful as the Frenzy Battle·Celestial Blade Slash.
Once cultivated to Completion, the nine forms could be combined into one, with a power that rivaled an Ultimate Skill.
The third was a fist and palm True Skill, the Hundred Beasts King Fist.
After careful consideration, Gu Zheng decided to forgo cultivating the Heaven-Striking Hand that Qing Yixiao had given him.
Otherwise, the favor he’d owe would be too great.
The Hundred Beasts King Fist was not bad either, and it was sufficient to unleash most of the power of his fully unlocked Bronze Elephant Body.
...
After finishing his exchanges, Gu Zheng, now wearing the Silver Moon Armor, followed an Internal Affairs staff member back to his old cabin to collect his belongings and move to his new small courtyard.
The residence assigned to a Hundred Households was a private courtyard.
"Greetings, my lord!"
"Good day, my lord~"
"..."
As he walked, the people he encountered all bowed in greeting.
Those approaching from the opposite direction even stepped aside to clear the path.
Gu Zheng nodded in response to each one, thanking them repeatedly.
Just as he was nearing his new residence, he ran into Song Qingshan, whose slicked-back hair was as meticulous as ever.
"Supervisor Song!"
Gu Zheng cupped his fist in greeting.
"I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare." Song Qingshan subconsciously bowed in return. "Greetings, My Lord. This subordinate is not worthy of... uh, Ping... Ping’an!?"
Song Qingshan’s eyes went wide as he clearly saw Gu Zheng’s face, and he froze on the spot.
’Silver Moon Armor and a Cloak?’
"Ping... Lord Gu, have you been promoted to Hundred Households?" Song Qingshan asked cautiously.
"Supervisor Song, you should just call me Ping’an."
Gu Zheng smiled. "Ping’an is more familiar. Yes, the promotion was just finalized. I got lucky on this mission and earned a few extra merit points."
"...Congratulations, Ping’an!"
Hearing this, Song Qingshan adjusted his slicked-back hair, and a huge grin spread across his round face. He cupped his hands and offered his congratulations, "Ping’an, this is incredible! You were just promoted to Commander, and now, not even a month later, you’re a Hundred Households!"
His internal shock was even greater.
’Besides merit points, promotion to Hundred Households requires a breakthrough to the Super Body Realm.’
’How long has Gu Zheng been gone? He’s already at the Super Body Realm?’
’He came back from his first mission and was promoted from a squad leader to Commander.’
’He came back from his second mission and was promoted from Commander to Hundred Households.’
’After the next mission, is he going to be promoted from Hundred Households to Thousand Households!?’
In all his decades of life, Song Qingshan had never seen anyone get promoted so quickly.
It was simply unbelievable.
While shocked, Song Qingshan also felt a sour pang of envy.
He was still just a Commander.
...
"Thank you. I was just lucky."
Gu Zheng smiled. "Supervisor Song..."
"Old Song! Just call me Old Song!"
Song Qingshan quickly raised a hand, his face serious as he corrected him.
"Alright, then, Song." Gu Zheng replied without missing a beat. "There’s something I wanted to ask you. Now that I’ve been promoted to Hundred Households, should I host a banquet and invite the neighbors for a meal?"
"No need."
Song Qingshan shook his head. "All our grain now comes from reserves, so feasting is discouraged. Even the restaurants and taverns outside have daily limits on how much they can use."
"I see."
Gu Zheng understood.
The climatic anomalies caused by the Celestial Change were severe, so food control was naturally tight everywhere.
Although the Demon Slayer Bureau was currently the court’s most important institution, its own regulations were even stricter.
...
After bidding farewell to Song Qingshan, Gu Zheng moved into his new residence.
Once the diligent Internal Affairs staff member left, he closed the door.
SWOOSH~
A blurry afterimage flashed, and Pang Hu appeared as if from thin air, landing on the table. He looked left and right, surveying the new environment.
A Wooden Fish orbited slowly around his body.
Gu Zheng paid him no mind, sitting cross-legged to the side. He began spending his Demon Points to cultivate the White Crane Soaring Technique.
Cultivating an Upper Grade True Skill was several times more difficult than a Lower Grade one.
However, Gu Zheng’s agility attribute was over one hundred.
Because of this, cultivating the White Crane Soaring Technique didn’t cost many Demon Points.
From entry-level to Mastery cost 10 points.
From Mastery to Minor Achievement cost 15 points.
From Minor Achievement to Great Success cost 25 points.
From Great Success to Completion cost 30 points.
His accumulated Demon Points were almost depleted, but the White Crane Soaring Technique at Completion provided a +5 bonus to his agility attribute.
All in all, the result was quite good.
...
He rested for a night in his new home.
The next day, Gu Zheng took his Celestial Frost Blade to find Ke Juzhen, asking the Master of Weapon Casting to once again infuse it with Magic Gold to upgrade the blade’s grade.
Seeing the nearly twenty jin of Magic Gold, Ke Juzhen’s eyes burned with eagerness. He stated frankly that it was the largest amount of Magic Gold he had ever handled.
Upgrading a Lower-Grade Spiritual Soldier to a medium-grade one required at least ten jin of Magic Gold.
Furthermore, during the reforging, Gu Zheng would have to drip two drops of his Essence Blood into it every day.
And so.
For the next few days, in addition to his daily cultivation, accumulating Divine Wondrous, and carving the Nether Heart Slave Seal, Gu Zheng made a trip to the Weapon Foundry every day.
This continued until the morning of the seventh day, when Zhang Ning suddenly appeared at his door.
"Mr. Gu, something’s happened! Old Zhang is missing!"
