In the Evil Extermination Bureau, within Yang Quanfeng's courtyard.

Qin An picked up the tea beside him, took a light sip of the clear tea, and leisurely recounted the news from the Golden Array Sect.

Upon hearing the words, Yang Quanfeng's expression slightly darkened, his fists gently tightened: "The waters in Lingzhou are becoming increasingly unfathomable."

Qin An put down the teacup and asked as if casually: "Any new developments from the black market?"

Ever since the black market's previous owner's daughter transformed into a benevolent pseudo-god, he had paid little attention to the matter, now asking it casually.

Yang Quanfeng said in a deep voice: "Upon closer inspection, not only are demon blood elixirs traded on the black market, but some small factions have been infiltrated by the people of the demon hall."

"Now, those small factions have been completely besieged by the patrol officers, resulting in the acquisition of a large number of blood frenzy elixirs, which we have uniformly destroyed."

Qin An raised an eyebrow slightly: "This will undoubtedly be a huge blow to the demon hall. How about the situation in Zongzhou?"

The matter of the blood frenzy elixir concerns the plans of the demon hall, and since the demon hall holds enmity with Qin An, naturally, Qin An is unwilling to see the demon hall prosper.

Yang Quanfeng shook his head and sighed: "We are still being restrained by the demon hall, with the rumors about the demon transformation pool being intermittent, making it difficult for Zongzhou to disengage in the short term."

Qin An furrowed his brows: "That being the case, it's as if we've fallen into a quagmire."

Zongzhou, being the central hub of the Lingzhou Evil Extermination Bureau, has yet to return to its place.

Many important matters can only be communicated through secret letters, which is inconvenient and full of hidden dangers.

But there is no way around this situation.

In the current state of affairs, every step Zongzhou takes will result in huge impacts.

Yang Quanfeng said slowly: "I'll continue to report the matter of the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave to Zongzhou, perhaps there will be a new plan."

The difficulty in acquiring earth vein crystals lies in the search, and if the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave does indeed have a method for seeking them, it could lead to monumental upheaval.

He is merely a patrol officer from Jinzhou. Despite his esteemed status, such matters have significant ramifications, making them difficult to decide upon from his position.

Qin An stood up and said: "In that case, I shall take my leave for now."

This visit was solely to inform Yang Quanfeng about the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave issue.

How things proceed next is a matter for Zongzhou and the regional officers.

As a patrol officer, he focuses on killing without traversing, only accepting tasks and completing them.

In addition, after returning, he needs to concentrate on improving his array skills.

Qin An doesn't want to waste any time.

Understanding that Qin An had many affairs to handle, Yang Quanfeng did not persuade him to stay. After Qin An left, he asked the patrol officer from Silverzhou to invite other officers from Jinzhou over to start discussing the matter regarding the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave.

Back in his room, the sky was still early.

Qin An sat on a chair, took out several teaware pieces, and concentrated on arranging them under the flickering candlelight.

The arrangement of the array was quite peculiar.

If done intricately, the required materials would be extremely demanding.

If arranged simply, a few teacups could also be used to set up an array.

Qin An was aiming for speed, to practice the proficiency of the array as quickly as possible, so he chose teacups as the simplest means.

The dim candlelight illuminated Qin An's profile, and he focused intensely while arranging the teacups.

If an outsider were present, seeing Qin An meticulously arranging a few teacups, they would undoubtedly find it baffling.

...

Time flies, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.

Recently, the Jianghu seemed a bit peaceful, but amid the tranquility, waves would sporadically rise.

Storytellers often lingered in teahouses, recounting various interesting tales from the Jianghu.

Some were serious, others less so.

Sometimes they spoke of a sect's prodigy breaking through a realm, other times they jested about a sect leader taking a second wife.

But among such news, the name Demon-Slaying Saber gradually spread in Lingzhou.

Though not exceptionally loud, combined with his identity as a patrol officer, many Jianghu people have remembered the name Demon-Slaying Saber.

However, for some reason, recently, the renown of the Demon-Slaying Saber has begun to fade.

The reason is exceedingly simple, it's because Qin An, the wielder of the Demon-Slaying Saber, has recently stayed in Lingzhou and hasn't stepped out.

At this moment, inside the room.

Qin An looked at the text before him, his lips curling slightly.

[Array Master lv.3 (0/400): Your speed of arranging arrays has slightly increased]

[Promotion Condition: Arrange ten ordinary arrays (10/10)]

[Talent: Qi Storage Realm Array Mastery]

After forming, the text turned into a large volume of information that drilled into Qin An's mind.

Qin An closed his eyes, absorbed all the information thoroughly, and finally opened his eyes.

A third-level Array Master brings the talent of Qi Storage Realm Array Mastery.

For any Qi Storage Realm arrays, Qin An could set them up effortlessly.

However, there was still no method for vein seeking.

"The lack of the vein seeking method is due to the insufficient level of the Array Master."

Rubbing the handle of the Cold Star, Qin An carefully reconsidered and came to a conclusion.

If and when the Array Master's level is raised, elevating to mastery in the Returning to Storage Realm arrays, Qin An would then master all arrays of the Returning to Storage Realm.

At that time, the method for vein seeking would naturally be at his fingertips.

Qin An pondered: "From level three to level four requires four hundred points, to level five is six hundred, to level six is eight hundred, to level seven is one thousand points, from level seven to level eight is one thousand five hundred points."

"In total, that sums up to four thousand three hundred points."

"Considering the current pace, and with the increased proficiency gain from an advanced Array Master level,"

"the daily average increase would be about two hundred points, requiring roughly twenty days to achieve an eighth-level Array Master status."

After carefully calculating, Qin An had an idea.

He plans to prioritize practicing the Array Master profession, striving to advance it to the eighth level swiftly.

Beyond level eight is the Returning to Storage Realm, which includes the vein-seeking abilities.

Twenty days aren't much, during which Qin An doesn't intend to accept any more tasks.

With each main vein being refined, Qin An can accumulate more foundational strength.

Being a lone individual, he can only rely on his own efforts, and rushing into the Pulse Condensation Realm is out of the question.

"Not taking on tasks for twenty days will result in some losses."

Qin An's eyes narrowed slightly: "But when compared to the gains from reaching an eighth-level Array Master, those losses are insignificant."

Having resolved this, Qin An went out for a meal and continued to practice array proficiency.

...

North of Lingzhou, in an extremely remote area.

At this moment, on a flatland that appeared quite ordinary, a pitch-black hole was particularly conspicuous.

A short mouse demon looked around, and after confirming safety, quietly slipped into the cave.

Within the cave, various passages were densely spread like blood vessels.

This place is the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave.

Every fork in the path leads in different directions, and with dense arrays standing at every step, the paths change daily.

As one of the top three tiers of monster forces in Lingzhou, even the Evil Extermination Bureau would get lost among the countless cave openings.

Because of this, the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave is extremely difficult to eradicate.

A short mouse creature's nose twitched incessantly as it navigated through one path after another, taking half an hour to reach a giant underground cavern.

The underground cavern was devoid of light and eerily cold.

Upon closer inspection, one would notice many red glimmers flickering in the darkness.

Each red glow was filled with a bloodthirsty brutality.

Returning to Storage Realm mouse creatures, eyes blood-red, stared intently at the incoming short mouse creature.

The short mouse creature felt chills all over, carefully moving its steps to the largest throne and prostrated itself on the ground.

"This humble one greets the Cave Master!"

On the throne, a diminutive figure radiated a terrifying majesty.

A sliver of faint light illuminated the small figure's features clearly.

An elder with hair and beard as white as snow sat on the throne, his small stature a stark contrast to the throne's enormity.

The elder's beard extended outward, occasionally twitching, exuding a cunning look.

His eyes were long and narrow, imbued with a ferocious red hue, as if coagulated blood.

The Cave Master licked his lips, his gaze passing over a Returning to Storage Realm mouse creature.

The Returning to Storage Realm mouse creature immediately understood and dragged a woman out from a nearby cavern.

The woman was pale, her eyes vacant.

"Cave Master, she's fresh and still a virgin." The Returning to Storage Realm mouse creature's eyes flashed with greed but quickly masked it.

The Cave Master approached the woman and pinched her mouth.

Suddenly, he transformed into his original form, becoming a fist-sized gray-white mouse, tearing the corner of the woman's mouth with its teeth and crawling inside.

The woman's pupils contracted sharply as she fell to the ground convulsing madly, her screams unending.

After the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the woman's convulsions gradually subsided, leaving only a skin spread on the ground.

The Cave Master crawled out, transforming back into the form of a small elder, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"From the inside out, it is the most delicious."

"Those who don't understand gourmet dining, who can eat better than my Ten Thousand Mouse Cave?"

A group of Returning to Storage Realm mouse creatures all responded in unison.

The Cave Master then returned to the throne, lightly tapping the armrest with his fingers: "Speak."

The mouse creature prostrate on the ground raised its head: "The eighth elder, the ninth elder, and the tenth elder... are gone."

The Cave Master's expression paused slightly, then exhibited a savage demeanor: "Who did it!"

The mouse creature trembled violently: "Rumor has it that Demon-Slaying Saber Qin An went to the Golden Array Sect, perhaps it was him..."

"Crack!"

A cracking sound came from the throne.

The Cave Master crushed the armrest, gritting his teeth: "Qin An again!"

"I'm going to skin him alive!"

"Someone! Someone! Go collect Qin An's whereabouts!"

The terrifying pressure of the Pulse Condensation Realm raged continuously from the Cave Master.

At this moment, a Returning to Storage Realm mouse creature stepped forward, hurriedly advising: "Cave Master, do not act impulsively."

"Currently, Earth Vein Crystals are most important. Qin An will surely report this, we must quickly gather all the Earth Vein Crystals."

"This matter concerns the future of the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave..."

With every sentence the Returning to Storage Realm mouse creature spoke, the Cave Master's aura became a bit calmer.

By the time the last sentence was spoken, though still angry, the Cave Master's rage had diminished significantly.

"Inform all clansmen outside, have them gather all the Earth Vein Crystals." The Cave Master waved his hand.

The mouse creature prostrate on the ground promptly got up, agreed with a word, and left the cavern in a few swift movements.

The Cave Master's face remained extremely sullen.

"Someone come!"

The initially approached Returning to Storage Realm mouse creature stepped forward again: "This humble one is here."

The Cave Master took a deep breath: "Have all mouse creatures return to the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave, the Evil Extermination Bureau... is likely to take action."

To hold the position of Cave Master, he naturally had some tricks up his sleeve.

Earlier, blinded by rage, he had now cleared his head.

If the Evil Extermination Bureau knew they could find Earth Vein Crystals, they would come to destroy the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave no matter the cost.

"Once the mouse creatures return, reinforce all arrays, we must hold the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave."

The Returning to Storage Realm mouse creature nodded hurriedly, asking: "Can we seek aid from the Demon Hall?"

The Cave Master shook his head: "No need."

"They restrain the central state, doesn't the central state also restrain them?"

"Moreover, if we let the Demon Hall people get involved, how many Earth Vein Crystals would we have left?"

"This is the opportunity for the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave to rise, we cannot share it with anyone else!"

The Returning to Storage Realm mouse creature, hearing this, said no more and shifted the topic: "How do we handle Qin An?"

The Cave Master cast a cold glance: "When the Ten Thousand Mouse Cave thrives, why worry about not killing Qin An, for now, we must endure..."

As these words were spoken, the blood-red eyes in the cavern flickered constantly.

The cavern returned to silence, no more sounds emerged.

...

Time flew by swiftly.

At dawn, when the first ray of sunlight shone through the window, Qin An set the teacup in his hand aside.

During this period, Qin An had almost only two points of activity.

Every day, aside from eating, he stayed in his room practicing his array master skills.

Now, twenty-two days had passed.

Everyone at the Evil Extermination Bureau knew that a patrolling silver guard was not taking missions, staying in the Bureau every day.

They were puzzled, but no one dared to ask why.

Even Yang Quanfeng found it strange why Qin An had been slacking lately.

Only Qin An knew, that twenty-two days of tedious practice had finally paid off today.

Array Master—achieved!

In front of him, smoke swirled like serpents, floating in mid-air.

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