The Speedrun Begins with Choosing Hunter

Chapter 364: Chapter 358: Dragon and Tiger Strength

"Lord Bai."

The one who received Bai Yuan was a chief clerk from the Ministry of Revenue.

The Six Ministries each had their own duties, and the Ministry of Revenue was solely responsible for distributing officials’ salaries.

Standard items like silver coins and Spirit Pills were usually sorted and packaged for direct collection. Cultivation Techniques were the exception; since they varied so greatly and everyone’s choice was different, they had to be collected individually.

Bai Yuan said, "I wish to select a Cultivation Technique from Heavenly No. 1."

Hearing this, the chief clerk’s eyes filled with envy.

Heavenly No. 1... That place was filled with all of Xuan Yang’s finest treasures. The Cultivation Techniques in the Heavenly No. 1 Inner Treasury were even comparable to the True Inheritance Techniques of major sects like the Dragon Tiger Sect.

He wouldn’t dare dream of such a thing. Even a high-ranking official like a Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, with his Third-Grade Mansion, wouldn’t necessarily get such an opportunity.

The chief clerk flipped rapidly through the ledger before him, and in a moment, he found the page for the Heavenly No. 1 Inner Treasury.

The Heavenly No. 1 Inner Treasury was far too important; it was personally guarded by the Imperial Guard.

Bai Yuan had to first select what he wanted from the Ministry of Revenue’s list, and then the Imperial Guard would retrieve it.

Compared to the other Inner Treasuries, the list for Heavenly No. 1 was much shorter.

Bai Yuan ignored the sections for pills and weapons, going straight for the Cultivation Techniques.

He had actually seen the list of Heavenly No. 1 Cultivation Techniques back in Ling Province when he chose the White Ape Mountain-Breaker, so he perused it quickly this time.

"I’ll take this Dragon and Tiger Strength Body Technique."

Hearing this, the chief clerk made a check mark in the ledger and wrote down Bai Yuan’s name.

"Lord Bai, the Dragon and Tiger Strength Body Technique will be delivered to your residence tomorrow."

Bai Yuan nodded. "Thank you."

Collecting one’s salary was a routine procedure, and everything went smoothly.

...

「The next day.」

A Commander from the Imperial Guard personally brought a transcribed copy of the Dragon and Tiger Strength Body Technique to the Bai Mansion.

Bai Yuan accepted the Cultivation Technique.

"Thank you, General. Would you like to come into the mansion for a cup of hot tea?"

The Imperial Guard Commander shook his head. "No, thank you. I have other duties to attend to, so I cannot stay long."

Seeing this, Bai Yuan didn’t insist.

He returned to his room and opened the brand-new copy of the Dragon and Tiger Strength Body Technique.

The ink on its pages was still fresh; it had likely just been copied the night before.

The reason he had chosen the Dragon and Tiger Strength Body Technique was because it was a superior Body Refining Technique.

From his previous battle with the barbarian master, he was keenly aware of the power of Body Refining Techniques. A physique impervious to blades and spears was an enviable thing.

Now that the four Divine Mansions of the second layer of his Divine Mansion Technique were located in his torso, it was the perfect time to cultivate a body-hardening technique.

Body-hardening was a mainstream type of Cultivation Technique in the Jianghu, so naturally, there was more than just this one in the Heavenly No. 1 Inner Treasury.

The reason Bai Yuan chose it was because this technique was difficult to practice.

This would be a drawback for others, but for Bai Yuan, it was an advantage.

A technique that was difficult to master often meant it would be incredibly powerful once completed. Otherwise, it wouldn’t have been placed in the Heavenly No. 1 Inner Treasury.

This Dragon and Tiger Strength Body Technique was exactly such a technique.

Legend had it that just reaching the entry-level took ten years, and it only grew more difficult from there.

Fortunately, Bai Yuan had a cheat...

’Is there any martial art that can’t be mastered in ten thousand years?’

...

「A sleepless night passed.」

Bai Yuan walked out of his room, feeling refreshed and energized.

The words "Dragon and Tiger Strength Body Technique" had already appeared on his status panel. The next steps were simple and clear: grind mobs, and add points.

This Dragon and Tiger Strength Body Technique was truly extraordinary.

The Grandmaster who created this technique had refined the body’s inner strength into two currents—one of dragon power, one of tiger power. The two forces would then merge to temper the physique.

Just the feeling of being constantly hammered by a great sledgehammer was enough to make most Martial Artists shrink back in fear.

Fortunately, Bai Yuan could skip that process entirely.

This technique truly complemented his cheat perfectly.

For once, Bai Yuan arrived early at the Imperial Inspection Office today.

He had just reached his office when he saw that his desk was already piled high with case files.

Just then, Zhou Minghan, who had already heard the news, happened to walk into the room.

Looking at the mountain of case files, Zhou Minghan wore an awkward expression.

"Lord Bai, you may not be aware, but ever since Lord Du left the Capital City, the position of Left Chief Imperial Censor has been vacant. Lord Zhang, meanwhile, doesn’t handle minor cases, so all cases were passed to Lord Feng. As a result, the case files have been piling up more and more."

Bai Yuan snorted lightly. It wasn’t hard to imagine such a scenario.

Though he hadn’t been diligently working in the Imperial Inspection Office during this time, he had certainly not been idle.

He had been dragging Yue Xiaobai along to chat with Senior Vice Minister Guo every day.

If anyone in the Capital City knew the inner workings of the various government offices, it was the Ministry of Personnel. With Yue Xiaobai as a connection, Bai Yuan naturally had to make good use of the goodwill from Guo Yingru.

Although the Imperial Inspection Office had always been divided between a Left and Right Chief Imperial Censor, the left was superior to the right. The Left Chief Imperial Censor was the true Chief Official of the office.

Although the Right Chief Imperial Censor seemed to be of equal rank to the Left, their authority was vastly different.

The Left Chief Imperial Censor held the power of official evaluation and was ranked among the Nine Ministers, but the Right Chief Imperial Censor was far inferior in comparison, only having the authority to supervise Xuan Yang’s local officials.

By extension, Bai Yuan’s current position as Left Deputy Chief Imperial Censor was also senior to that of the Right Deputy Chief Imperial Censor.

Working at the Imperial Inspection Office was a job that inherently made enemies, so it was only natural that Lord Feng would follow the "rules" and dump all the Capital City’s cases on Bai Yuan.

"I understand."

Bai Yuan wasn’t bothered.

He sat down in the Grandmaster’s Chair and casually picked up a few case files to read.

"40th year of Yuanding. The son of Le Yuli, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works, committed murder in the streets. The impact was heinous."

...

"41st year of Yuanding. Zhuang Zhengben, Junior Minister of the Ministry of Justice, sheltered a criminal, knowingly breaking the law."

...

"42nd year of Yuanding. Sheng Congxin, the National Academy Sacrificial Officer, illegally seized ten thousand qing of private farmland, forcing good citizens to become tenant farmers."

...

Bai Yuan smiled faintly and tossed the case files in his hands back into the sea of documents.

These case files were all impeachments sent in by officials from various regions.

Most of them were likely the result of factional strife, which was why they had been dumped on the Imperial Inspection Office.

But once a case reached the Imperial Inspection Office, it didn’t mean it would actually be judged.

After all, the officials implicated in these files accounted for more than half of all Capital Officials. Which official didn’t have a few stains on their record? If they were all arrested according to the Profound Sun Decree, the Emperor would have no one left to command.

Therefore, every Left Chief Imperial Censor of the Imperial Inspection Office had to strike a balance, only arresting those officials whose crimes were particularly heinous but whose fall would have minimal impact.

Even the strictest of them, Du Qinghui, had been selective.

It came back to the same point: the Imperial Inspection Office belonged to His Majesty the Emperor.

The purpose of the Imperial Inspection Office wasn’t to truly cleanse the bureaucracy, but to help His Majesty the Emperor solidify his rule.

Those the Emperor wanted arrested must be arrested. The others were optional.

Each Chief Imperial Censor had to gauge this standard for themselves. If they misjudged, they would be the ones to get burned.

Zhou Minghan stood quietly to the side, awaiting Bai Yuan’s orders.

Although Bai Yuan was only the Left Deputy Chief Imperial Censor, in the current Imperial Inspection Office, he was the de facto Chief Official.

The decision of who to arrest and who to let go naturally had to come from this chief official.

Bai Yuan casually grabbed a handful of case files and started walking toward the door.

"Let’s go. Come with me to make some arrests!"

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