Escort Jiang

After waiting another three days.

That afternoon, at the Training Ground, Jiang Ping practiced the Nourishing Life Technique.

His progress had been swift, with a qualitative leap almost every day. He was only a hair's breadth away from pushing the Nourishing Life Technique to its limit:

[Nourishing Life Technique Ninth Layer (286/300)]

The Flying Snow Saber, meanwhile, had been practiced to the point where there was nothing left to practice. He had mastered all ten strands of Flying Snow Saber Qi, and his strength had undergone another qualitative transformation.

My cultivation is advancing too quickly. If I don't exchange for a Stance Technique soon, I won't be able to keep improving.

Jiang Ping thought to himself, unable to suppress a sense of urgency.

For the first time, he felt the importance of resources—especially for a genius like himself, alone and unaccompanied, yet gifted with extraordinary talent.

"Old Jiang, what's wrong?" Seeing the sorrow on Jiang Ping's face, Liu Wensheng could not help asking.

"Nothing. By the way, have the Head Escorts still not returned?" Jiang Ping waved a hand, then casually asked. To his surprise, Liu Wensheng gave a slight nod.

"They're back?" Joy rose in Jiang Ping's heart.

Head Escort Liang and Escort Huang handled many matters concerning newcomers like them. If he wanted to become an escort, a Head Escort had to personally verify it.

Now that the Head Escorts had returned, he could begin taking escort missions as well.

"No, why didn't I know? Where did you get this information?" Jiang Ping's eyes flickered slightly as he asked in confusion.

"Wait, you didn't know?" Now it was Liu Wensheng's turn to be puzzled. He said gravely, "Fang Yong has already completed his registration and is waiting to take an escort mission."

"Huh?" Jiang Ping froze on the spot.

Seeing his expression, Liu Wensheng grew even more puzzled. "I heard it from my roommate. He's quite close with Fang Yong, and Fang Yong himself told him."

"Head Escort Liang and Escort Huang returned yesterday morning. Then Fang Yong was summoned over. The Head Escorts didn't call for you?"

"They did not." Jiang Ping shook his head, his brows knitting slightly as he seemed somewhat displeased.

Liu Wensheng smiled and consoled him, "Don't be upset. Fang Yong is talented, so it's only natural that the Head Escorts value him."

Jiang Ping glanced at him but said nothing further.

He was not unhappy because Fang Yong had received special favor. Rather, since the Head Escorts had returned, they had likely learned that he had passed the assessment.

He, Jiang Ping, had at least been the Second Person to meet the assessment requirements. No matter what, they should have sent word to him.

Fang Yong had completed registration yesterday morning, yet Jiang Ping had not heard this inside information—already passed around who knew how many times—from someone else until the afternoon of the next day.

"I heard," Liu Wensheng said mysteriously at that moment, "that Head Escort Liang was injured."

"Injured?" Jiang Ping was startled. Liang Sheng was an Eighth-Rank Martial Artist, and this time, the Chief Escort had even accompanied the escort mission.

"No one knows the specific details, but both the Head Escort and Escort Huang were injured. The Head Escort especially seems to have been seriously hurt, and they have both taken leave to recuperate."

"Huh?" Jiang Ping was stunned again. He had just planned to find a Head Escort to register, only for the man to take leave.

How biased. If he was going to take leave anyway, he could at least have called me over to register before leaving.

Of course, now that the Head Escort had taken leave, someone else would certainly be responsible for verifying and registering newcomers like them.

He immediately bade Liu Wensheng farewell and headed for the Outer Courtyard of the Escort Agency.

The internal structure of an escort agency was quite simple, as with the Four Seas Escort Agency where he currently was.

The pillar holding it all up was the Chief. Next came the Chief Escort, who had seemingly just failed an escort mission. Under him were the Four Great Heads, and below them were Martial Artist escorts like Escort Huang, who could independently lead teams on escort missions.

Below that were the lowest-ranking escorts, the kind Jiang Ping was about to register as.

Of course, there were also Porters responsible for moving goods. They were Cannon Fodder, hardly worth mentioning.

The Escort Agency also had three offices to handle miscellaneous matters: the Accounting Room for business dealings, the Accounting Office for financial calculations, and the Letter Room for documents and correspondence.

He was headed to the Accounting Room. It had previously been managed by Head Escort Liang, but its affairs should now have been handed over to another senior member.

Not long after.

Jiang Ping met the new Chief Clerk of the Accounting Room. He was a young man who looked barely over thirty, which caught Jiang Ping somewhat off guard.

After all, Liang Sheng, a Head Escort, had handled it before. Whether in status or martial strength, he had stood at the very top.

Why had he suddenly been replaced by an escort one rank lower?

Of course, that was a matter for the Escort Agency's upper ranks and had nothing to do with him.

A moment later.

After Jiang Ping reported his name and purpose, the other man located his records. Only after verifying them did he have Jiang Ping enter his Name Plate and register it on file.

Then the man handed him a waist token, a set of azure robes, and a black saber before waving him away. "Go. There are plenty of vacant Single Houses in the Residential Area of the Inner Courtyard. Pick one and move in."

"Huh?" Jiang Ping was immediately dumbfounded.

That was it?

There were no further instructions?

He could not help boldly asking, "Sir, could you explain the matter of escort missions to this younger generation?"

The man glanced at Jiang Ping. "You've been assigned under Huang Youren. When you can take an escort mission, he will tell you himself. Go back."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Ping was first delighted. Huang Youren was precisely the Escort Huang who thought highly of him, so he could be considered an acquaintance—or a backer. At the same time, Jiang Ping understood that whether he could take escort missions was not up to him; he had to wait for arrangements.

Then Jiang Ping wanted to ask a few more questions, but seeing impatience already appearing on the man's face, he could only take his leave.

"Being under Escort Huang is good news. Senior Huang thinks highly of me, so he'll surely give me extra care."

On the way back, Jiang Ping pondered to himself.

"Still, I haven't figured out the matter of escort missions. At the very least, I need to know whether escort missions are divided by difficulty and how much silver one can earn from each trip. This concerns my grand cultivation plan."

Jiang Ping had intended to seek out Escort Huang for answers and visit him while he was at it, since Escort Huang had also been injured during this escort mission.

But then he remembered that he possessed nothing at all, not even silver to buy a gift, and abandoned the idea.

"When all is said and done, I'm still too poor." Jiang Ping let out a long sigh.

"Then again, from today onward, I'm an escort who takes escort missions!"

That night, stars filled the sky like a net.

After dinner, Jiang Ping came before two low houses enclosed by a fence.

At last, he had a Single House of his own and was beginning to have private space.

The house was not large, but it had everything needed for cooking, sleeping, and bathing. There was also a level open space in front, just right for practicing martial arts.

Beside the open space was a small vegetable garden. Apparently, the previous owner of the house had enjoyed growing vegetables.

Jiang Ping pushed open the door and entered.

He had already tidied up the house after registering that afternoon. Now that he had finished dinner, he could directly practice in the open space.

"By tomorrow afternoon, the Nourishing Life Technique should reach its limit. Then my Blood Qi will reach Great Accomplishment, and my strength will rise another notch."

Jiang Ping glanced at his Destiny and looked forward to it in secret.

The stronger he was, the more confidence he would have when taking escort missions.

Afterward, he immersed himself in the Nourishing Life Technique.

Time passed without a sound...

The next morning.

After eating, Jiang Ping headed toward the Residential Area rather than practicing alongside everyone else. The sight left the others both envious and regretful.

They envied the formal escort robes he wore and the Single House that belonged to him, where he no longer had to crowd into a room with others and breathe in foot odor. They regretted that they could no longer watch him practice his saber and draw enlightenment from it.

Before leaving, however, Liu Wensheng, Sun Qi, and one other stopped Jiang Ping. "Stay up a little later tonight. The three of us will celebrate Escort Jiang. Your Excellency Escort doesn't need to buy anything—we'll prepare the food and drink."

"Sure. Then can you lend me some money?"

"..." The three of them fell silent.

So he was eating and taking at the same time, was he?

Of course, the three readily agreed.

Qian Dele was even rather pleased, seemingly growing bold and generous because Jiang Ping had asked to borrow money from him. "I still have a little over three taels here. Brother Jiang, take it all."

"This is Brother Jiang's first time asking. How could I be stingy? I have four taels here too," Sun Qi said, looking somewhat excited as well.

Look at that—once your strength rose, not only could you turn enemies into friends, but when you borrowed money from them, they would even be happy about it.

Of course, Jiang Ping did not need that much. He only intended to take some silver to buy a jug of good wine and visit Escort Huang that afternoon.

Escort Huang had invited him to eat an extra portion of nutritious food at every meal. Jiang Ping had always remembered that kindness. Whether it had actually helped him or not, he still needed to show his appreciation and draw their relationship closer.

And, while he was at it, thoroughly get to the bottom of the matter of escort missions.