Over the next few days, Lin Manor appeared to return to its usual calm, but the vigilance beneath the surface had been raised to an unprecedented level.
Because Li Bufan had yet to recover from his injuries, and because the manor had just undergone a major purge that required personnel to be reassigned and screened, his original patrol duties were temporarily postponed for half a month.
The guards now patrolling key areas throughout the manor had almost all been replaced by more senior First-Class Guards, whose cultivation had generally reached the Tendon Tempering Realm. After a thorough investigation, the First-Class Guards had proven to have the lowest rate of infiltration and the most reliable loyalty.
The manor's decision was clear. During this sensitive period, if Qingfeng Village's bandits refused to let matters rest and attacked again, their counterattack would surely be even fiercer. Muscle Tempering guards were indeed no longer enough before such desperate outlaws. It was better to concentrate their elite forces and ensure nothing went wrong.
Li Bufan had no objection to this. It was a good chance to recuperate and cultivate in peace.
During these days of recovery, he discovered another change: the number on his wooden waist token, marking him as a Second-Class Guard, had been changed from "thirty-one" to "seventeen."
This meant that during the purge, the Minor Mastery Muscle Tempering cultivation he had displayed had surpassed his former ranking, invisibly raising his status by quite a bit.
That silent change let him feel even more clearly just how hair-raising that night had been, and how far-reaching its aftermath was.
Under Elder Mr. Zhou's careful treatment and with the help of his own recovery ability, Li Bufan's injuries healed quickly. Three or four days later, though faint pain still lingered when he moved, it no