One more catty, one more attribute point

"Creak!"

Demon Suppression Tower, fifth floor.

Su Heng stretched out his hand to push open the thick solid wood door in front of him, and sunlight immediately poured in.

This was a room in the Demon Suppression Tower specially prepared for the Tower Master. The floor beneath his feet was made of marble, adorned with golden, strange patterns.

On the ceiling, layers of gray lines wove into a net.

And hanging on the net were human skulls symbolizing purity and death.

The walls on all four sides, the one facing south contained huge windows, the sunlight streaming in allowed one to see tiny dust mites floating in the beams of light.

And the other three walls.

Each one was adorned with a huge tapestry, the heads of wild beasts, and thick, rustic ebony bookshelves.

Su Heng's gaze lingered momentarily on the tapestry, which was embroidered with a black and white depiction of a dragon turning the clouds and rain.

Near the window was a large desk.

On the desk, there was a censer with wisps of white smoke trailing in the sunlight.

Su Heng approached and then smelt a peculiar scent like that of steel drenched in ice water, somewhat unique, but not unpleasant.

From the style retained in this room,

it wasn't hard to imagine that its previous owner was a stern, merciless guardian.

No wonder, after the last Demon Suppression Tower Master was defeated in a surprise attack, Li Daoxuan was so enraged he even turned against the noble families.

Su Heng moved over to the bookshelf.

He casually took down a few books and flipped through them.

Most of the rows of books contained research and records related to the demonic beings within the Demon Suppression Tower.

Another part consisted of Xu Tong's cultivation notes, and his doubts and insights.

Su Heng frowned as he read for a while.

He also found it interesting.

It could serve as a pastime, enriching his own knowledge reserve.

However, the pressing matter was still to quickly enhance his strength, for even in the current Baihua County,

although Su Heng's strength was already formidable, it was certainly not the strongest.

In a corner of the room,

the corpses of seventh-level demonic beings had been neatly organized and placed in boxes, stacked together.

They filled an entire wall, like a small mountain.

Apart from the fresh blood and rotten flesh, or things too disgusting to ingest, which Su Heng had transformed using parasitic species into flesh of the Mass of Meat,

most of the demonic flesh had been completely preserved.

In Su Heng's view,

the parasitic species of the Yin Body Mass were more of a compromise talent.

Ordinary flesh, transformed by the parasitic species, became easier to digest and absorb.

But pure demonic flesh,

transformed by parasitic species, would lose some nutrients and be a loss rather than a gain.

Such a vast reserve of food was enough to allow Su Heng to advance his martial studies to a considerably profound realm.

But profound did not mean perfect.

Click!

He took out a horn from the box, most likely snapped off from some demonic servant.

The steel-hard horn, under Su Heng's well-trained bite, was just like high-quality chocolate, melting immediately upon entry.

While eating, he pulled out a small booklet detailing the "Miniature Mist Skill" from his chest.

"The Miniature Mist Skill corresponds to the Metal attribute Secret Technique within the Eight Phases Secret Skill; once this skill is mastered, the Bone Forging Realm's Secret Technique within the Eight Phases will be considered mature. But clearly, this is not yet perfect."

Su Heng sat on the large chair behind the long table.

The long table and chair were custom-made, fitting his current physique.

Sitting on it, he did not feel uncomfortable.

He rubbed his temples, then opened the attribute panel.

[Realm: Vein Mutation 130%, Bone Mutation 62%]

"Judging by the current situation, even if the Miniature Mist Skill is perfected, the Bone Mutation will not reach one hundred percent."

"Therefore, to perfect this realm, I must find a way to complete it."

"Tsk tsk ... The two missing techniques are fire and earth attributes. The fire attribute technique can be substituted with the enhanced Black Evil Technique."

"As for the earth attribute technique ...",

"With Demon Suppression Bureau being immense and wealthy, finding a suitable one within it is not difficult. If necessary, I can merge several lower-level techniques to create a new technique. It's just a matter of more time and effort, nothing serious."

"The key lies in ... how to integrate the five techniques into a single framework; this is the most troublesome issue."

Su Heng, somewhat annoyed, tapped his fingers on the table, making a thudding sound.

Just then, a flash of inspiration struck his mind.

"Hmm!?"

He stood up and walked to the bookcase.

After searching through it, he retrieved a small booklet that he had found among the Xu Family's secret treasures, called "Minor Five Elements Fist."

Initially, Su Heng considered it second-rate.

Afterwards, he hadn't paid much attention to it and it had been forgotten in a corner.

But now, looking at its contents, an idea gradually formed in his mind that might work.

"By using the content recorded in the Minor Five Element Fist as the fundamental framework and integrating it with the Five True Cultivation Techniques, perhaps the upper part of the Eight Phases Secret Skill could be perfected. The cultivation at the Bone Forging Realm could be pushed to its limit, or even exceed it."

"This general direction should be feasible, but the specific details still need to be verified first."

Su Heng replayed the whole process in his mind, his face gradually revealing a trace of a smile.

After confirming the direction,

Su Heng did not hesitate and quickly began to act.

With a clear direction and a concrete plan, combined with strong execution,

time passed quickly.

In the blink of an eye, five days had already passed.

On the surface, Baihua County was calm, but underneath, there were already tumultuous undercurrents.

...

...

...

At dusk,

inside a tavern called "Drunken Immortal Pavilion" in the inner city of Baihua County

The place was busy, bustling with activity.

The first floor's hall featured a landscape of artificial hills and flowing water, with cranes-shaped colored lanterns on either side.

The entire tavern was designed in tiered circles.

A series of lanterns hung down from the ceiling.

Clearly, a special type of light source was placed inside; even as the sun set, the interior was as bright as day.

In the not so developed Great Zhou Dynasty,

this scene could be considered a small spectacle.

As you can imagine, most of the patrons practicing here were the upper echelon of Baihua County.

Drunken Immortal Pavilion's third floor.

Inside an elegantly classical private room,

a rugged-looking, bulbous-nosed man with a dark face impatiently tore open his clothes at the chest, revealing his hairy chest.

Bang!

He slapped down hard.

The dishes and cups on the table in front of him were thrown into the air, clanging as they fell back down.

Soup and drinks were splashed, leaving a sticky mess on the table.

But this butcher-like man didn't care; instead, he blurted out angrily, "This damn Li Daoxuan! It never ends. He just threw me into the Demon Suppression Tower, and there it was, over thirty years. It was hard enough arranging an early leave from the Demon Suppression Tower, and then this mishap occurs. It's infuriating, don't you think?"

In front of the dark-faced man was a middle-aged man dressed in a brown long robe, his appearance sharp-witted.

His skin was fair, his hair meticulously groomed, and he had two small mustaches by the corners of his mouth, giving him the look of a businessman.

These two men were the remaining elders of the Demon Suppression Tower.

The dark-faced man was named Wang Bingquan, and the one across from him was Ma Youcai.

Ma Youcai chuckled and raised his cup, "Elder Wang, calm your anger, we're finally out for a meal, why speak such disheartening words?"

The two men lightly clinked their cups and downed the excellent brew inside.

"Don't talk about these things; the more you talk, the angrier I get," Wang Bingquan couldn't help but curse again, "Even though we are called elders of the Demon Suppression Bureau, in my view, we are no different from those demons inside the Demon Suppression Tower."

"We can't leave the Demon Suppression Tower at will anyway, the pressure is high, and it's dangerous."

"If by accident a demon escapes, Li Daoxuan will publicly berate us. I really can't stand this bullshit."

The elders of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

Generally divided into demon-slaying, demon suppression, and the Demon Suppression Tower itself.

Among them, the elders of the Demon Suppression Tower faced the most pressure and threats.

Wang Bingquan was very dissatisfied with his current situation; he had already negotiated with Hong Wendao that after the new Tower Master was appointed,

he would leave the Demon Suppression Tower and be replaced by another elder.

But unexpectedly,

a mishap arose.

The plans he had made evaporated in an instant, and Wang Bingquan was naturally in a foul mood.

It just so happened that Ma Youcai invited him out for a drink, and Wang Bingquan agreed without a second thought.

This drink...

was obviously some rare, exquisite brew.

Wang Bingquan didn't talk much, just kept a smile on his face, urging drink after drink.

After the dishes had varied through five flavors and the drinks had gone through three rounds,

Wang Bingquan's big face flushed black and red.

He was noticeably drunk, his head cloudy, and Ma Youcai in front of him seemed to have double images.

"Burp..." Wang Bingquan leaned back in his chair and let out a belch, a piece of lettuce sticking to his yellowed teeth.

Ma Youcai's brow furrowed slightly, a hint of disdain crossing his face.

Wang Bingquan, already muddled by alcohol, didn't notice and blurted out, "The drinks at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion are really good. It's a pity, once we return to the Demon Suppression Tower, it will be hard to drink like this again."

"Elder Wang, I actually have an idea," Ma Youcai, judging the mood right,

put down his cup, raised his head with a mysterious smile on his face.

"Given that the Demon Suppression Bureau is declining and the noble families are uniting and flourishing, since Elder Wang is discontent within the Demon Suppression Bureau, why not consider switching sides and serving the noble families?" Ma Youcai suggested with a smile, "After all, our capabilities are real, and we won't be mistreated no matter where we are."

Wang Bingquan jolted, his drunkenness clearing significantly.

He suddenly looked up, staring at Ma Youcai in shock, "You belong to the noble families? No, you've been serving the noble families!?"