The sun was high in the sky, and Li Miao got up from the bed, stretching lazily.
Hmm~——
This stretch lasted a long time, a full half an incense stick's worth of time. Only then did Li Miao let out a long breath, shivered, and put on some clothes before getting out of bed.
He had worked overtime last night for too long, causing him to fall asleep directly, not even knowing how he got back.
He walked out of the door and waved at a little girl who was watering flowers in the courtyard: "Little Four, come here."
Little Four heard the call, turned around and saw him standing on the steps smiling, but she ran over in a slippery smoke and said anxiously: "Master, you're finally up."
"It's almost past Chenshi （ nine o'clock ）, and it's been an hour since the government office's roll call! If you don't make it today, this month's salary will be deducted again!"
Li Miao said indifferently: "Deduct it then, I can just grab a couple of handfuls from the treasury, and that'll be enough for us to eat."
He had no psychological burden taking money from the Embroidered Uniform Guard's treasury, because that money was originally his.
"Master, you always say that, but the money hasn't even reached home before you spend it all!" Little Four said, wronged.
"Alright, alright." Li Miao was a little embarrassed at this moment. He had originally wanted to call Little Four out to eat some breakfast together, but seeing her serious look, he didn't want to tease her anymore.
"Alright, I'll go to the government office for roll call now. When I get some silver, I won't put it in my pocket, I'll have your Brother Hai bring it to you, how about that?" Li Miao said jokingly.
Little Four's face turned red, and without saying a word, she turned around and ran into the room.
"Little girl, can't keep her." Li Miao smiled and looked, went back to the room, put on his clothes, and slowly went out the door.
The current dynasty was called Da Shuo. It was roughly similar to Li Miao's previous life's Great Ming, with some minor differences in the details.
There were similarities, such as the emperors all having the surname Zhu, such as there being Embroidered Uniform Guards, such as eunuchs manipulating power, and such as civil officials engaging in factional struggles.
There were differences, such as not being as strict as the Great Ming, the division of the markets not being so rigid, allowing Li Miao to slowly pick a few food items to hold in his hand, eating them while walking to the government office.
For example, this world had real Martial Arts.
Crossing the river on a single reed and striking an ox from across a mountain were both real, and even eternal youth and limb regeneration were not fabricated, but rather a consensus recognized by people of the Jianghu.
And if one were to ask how Li Miao had cultivated in Martial Arts in this Martial Arts World for more than thirty years?
Heh—let's put it this way, he had achieved a small accomplishment.
That is, the level of invulnerability to swords and spears, imperviousness to water and fire, eternal youth, and an Unbreakable Spirit, half a Martial Arts Myth, not worth mentioning.
And if one were to ask why Li Miao could cultivate his Martial Arts to this level.
Firstly, Innate Talent. Li Miao's Innate Talent was not good, it was excessively good, to the point that Bodhidharma would weep upon hearing it, and True Person Sanfeng would be shocked upon seeing it. Relying solely on this Innate Talent, even if Li Miao had stubbornly focused on one Internal Energy cultivation method, he wouldn't be too bad now.
Of course, Innate Talent determined the lower limit, and at the level of Supreme expert, what often determined the upper limit was Comprehension.
You don't see Yang Guo, with only one arm left, following a big bird that couldn't speak and learning blindly, yet he could comprehend the Sorrow-Melting Palm. And Hero Guo had more Peerless Skill than brain cells, but after using the Subduing Dragon Eighteen Palms for half his life, he didn't show any new tricks.
It can be seen that to reach the Grandmaster realm of establishing a Sect, Comprehension is the decisive factor.
And Li Miao's Comprehension, well, it can only be said to be average, very average.
To say how average—let's put it this way, suppose there was such a gifted Young Hero,
This Young Hero's Sect had a disciple with average talent,
This disciple went down the mountain and encountered a Bandit,
This Bandit had an underling who robbed and plundered,
This underling had an underling who cheered and shouted,
This underling's family had a dog that could shake hands and sit—Li Miao's Comprehension was not much different from this dog.
This was not an insult to Li Miao, but an actual evaluation. His "average" was neither "average among people of the Jianghu," nor "just average among ordinary people."
Rather, it was "average among mammals."
Some might say, isn't Comprehension just IQ? Does that mean Li Miao's brain is similar to a dog's?
No, Comprehension is not equivalent to IQ, at least not in the Da Shuo Martial Arts World.
The so-called Comprehension is actually closer to "adaptability." The same person might have strong Comprehension for a certain cultivation method, but be as dense as wood for another.
And some Martial Arts geniuses have high adaptability to almost all Martial Arts. And Li Miao, has low adaptability to all Martial Arts.
Because he has to use the thinking of a modern person to understand those things that are mysterious and sometimes even violate common sense.
Commonly known as "cognitive obstacles."
He can change his ideas, he can change his understanding of the world, but it's difficult to shake the way of thinking that has been practiced for decades and has become deeply ingrained.
This shook his foundation for understanding all Martial Arts.
Fortunately, he's a Golden Finger dog.
Relying on a Golden Finger that had neither written instructions nor task releases, which was more like a special constitution than a cheat, Li Miao spent twenty years, and he stubbornly cultivated himself to the level of half a Martial Arts Myth.
As for the details of this Golden Finger, I'll explain later.
Let's talk about the present. Li Miao, taking Square Steps, ate as he walked, and walked as he ate. He stubbornly ground the sun to its zenith before he walked to the Subduing Commissioner's Office's gate.
It was almost time for the break, and the front half of the street of the Subduing Commissioner's Office was empty, obviously few people were willing to pass by the doors of these experts in destroying a Sect. The two Embroidered Uniform Guard on duty at the door were also happy to be quiet, and were squinting their eyes to rest.
Seeing Li Miao from afar in casual clothes, chewing on something, looking like an idle ruffian, he was swaying and about to walk into the Subduing Commissioner's Office, a young Embroidered Uniform Guard was about to step forward and question him.
Before he could speak, the older one took a step forward, and ran to Li Miao's side as if flying, nodding and bowing, and said.
“Commander, you're here. You worked hard last night. The Commander said that when we see you, we should say, go quickly to see him.”
Li Miao was still chewing on something and couldn't speak. He took out a string of candies from a small bag, patted it into the older Embroidered Uniform Guard's hand, and patted his shoulder as if coaxing a child, and entered the government office.
When Li Miao was gone, the young Embroidered Uniform Guard said: "Brother, which Commander is that? Why did he come at this time, and he's wearing casual clothes?"
Although there were levels within the Embroidered Uniform Guard, there were also distinctions of subordination. Generally, only the direct superior would directly call the position without the surname. It was like only his direct Centurion would be directly called "Centurion," and those not directly subordinate would be like Centurion Wang, Centurion Zhang.
But the older Embroidered Uniform Guard had clearly called him Commander directly, without adding any surname.
And the Embroidered Uniform Guard's internal family rules were strict, even the two Assistant Prefects were taking the lead and being meticulous. How could a Commander, who looked like an idle ruffian, come to work at noon?
The older Embroidered Uniform Guard took out a piece of paper from his arms, carefully wrapped the string of candies that Li Miao had given him, and then said.
“Remember this master's face, and call him Commander directly in the future. Do what he tells you to do, and pretend you didn't see anything he does. Got it?”
“He is the oldest, has the strongest connections, the most ruthless methods, and the most days off in our entire Embroidered Uniform Guard, Commander Li Miao!”