"We got gift lists from nine families, totaling 1,300 taels of silver and sixty Earth Origin Pills! There are also two precious blades, rare medicinal herbs, brocade..."
"My big brother really knows his stuff. He took the Martial Examination and got all this money!" After Li Gou'er finished counting, his face flushed with excitement. He admired Zhao An beyond words.
He'd never seen so much money in his life.
"If we were still back in our village, we could farm for a hundred years and still not save up this much wealth!"
He thought Zhao An had seen all this coming, and that was why he'd taken the county examination.
But Zhao An himself had never expected such a huge windfall.
Just because he'd performed well in the county examination, people had sent him hundreds of taels of silver without a second thought, along with a pile of valuable Earth Origin Pills, herbs, and brocade.
The wealthy clans living in the Inner City must have been unimaginably rich. The common folk at the bottom could hardly begin to picture it.
"Big brother, we absolutely have to hide this money somewhere safe." Li Gou'er grinned foolishly, his eyes gleaming with the sheen of silver.
"Look at all that silver piled together. How can it be so beautiful..."
"No wonder everyone's fighting tooth and nail to earn an official title. That title means money!"
"Don't be so small-minded. There'll only be more money coming in from now on." Zhao An tapped Li Gou'er on the head, bringing him back to his senses.
"Yes, yes. My big brother is the Martial Star descended from heaven. You're bound to become a great man someday. This is just pocket change, pocket change." Li Gou'er scratched his head and chuckled.
They carried the pile of wealth into the inner room for safekeeping. Zhao An kept only the dozens of Earth Origin Pills and the two precious blades with him.
Sixty Earth Origin Pills would last him a good while. Their quality varied, but together they were worth several hundred taels of silver—not a small sum!
As for the two precious blades...
One was a long horizontal saber. Its edge shimmered with a clear, icy blue light, like a lake in autumn. Its keen edge was exceptionally sharp.
Even a layman could tell it was an excellent blade.
Two characters were engraved at the base of the blade, where it met the hilt:
Clear Water!
The precious blade Clear Water, its cold gleam reflecting the moon!
Zhao An gave it a couple of light swings. Its edge rang softly through the air, the sound pleasing to the ear.
"A fine blade." Zhao An was very pleased with it.
He'd already forgotten about his old, standard-issue Wild Goose Blade.
The second precious blade was a superior Hundred-Forged Blade. Its body was wider and heavier than Clear Water's, making it a heavy blade. Its edge was just as keen, and it looked even more imposing when swung.
On the battlefield, there was no doubt this heavy blade would be the better choice.
Zhao An liked both blades, so he simply decided to carry them both.
After the county examination ended, the many candidates didn't leave. They still had to wait half a month for the results to be posted.
For most of them, everything hinged on this one moment.
And so, after celebrating, the county town soon fell into an even more tense atmosphere as everyone waited for the day the results would be announced.
Every candidate waited with bated breath. Most had spent ten years poring over their books, all for this moment that could change their fate.
While so many people waited for the results, an even more worrying piece of news blew into Lianjiang City like a hurricane.
Months earlier, the Moon People in the west had already reached Xiding Province. Warships belonging to the Moon People had even appeared near Qinghu Prefecture, where Lianjiang County was located!
This meant that before long, the fighting might spread to their own Lianjiang County!
The people panicked. The Moon People hadn't arrived yet, but the townsfolk had already worked themselves into a frenzy.
For thousands of years, the western borders of the Great Wu Dynasty had been locked in unending conflict with the Moon Tribe. The two sides had constantly attacked one another.
They knew each other well. The Moon People had always been merciless, and they'd razed and burned more than a few cities.
With such dreadful news spreading, if the County Magistrate's office hadn't promptly calmed the people, another massive wave of refugees would have fled.
If that continued, Lianjiang County's decline would become irreversible—something the newly appointed County Magistrate clearly didn't want to see.
"Chunzi, if the war really reaches us, we'd better run as soon as possible. If we're too slow, we won't just lose all our possessions—we could lose our lives too!" When Li Gou'er heard the news that the Moon People were invading, he grew deeply worried.
"Then where could we run?" Zhao Chunzi asked.
"To Prefecture City. If Prefecture City falls, we'll head east. It'll definitely be safe there." Li Gou'er's mind raced as he started planning their escape route.
"That's right, Brother Zhao. We should ask the escort agencies and merchant caravans to sell us some maps, so we don't take a wrong turn when the time comes!"
"Mm." Zhao An kept practicing his punches and agreed with Li Gou'er's suggestion.
There was no harm in being prepared.
Since the Moon People had been able to fight the Great Wu Dynasty for thousands of years, they were naturally no easy foe.
Throughout the dynasty's history, the Moon People had repeatedly invaded and ravaged these three western provinces. It was nothing unusual.
If the county town really came to its last days, he had no intention of staying to defend it.
Even if he did choose to stay, it wouldn't be to defend his country.
His homeland wasn't here. He'd stay only to see how many Red Names he could claim among the Moon People's army...
Besides, the Moon People's strength didn't come from martial cultivation, but from the spells and incantations unique to them.
Zhao An wondered: if he gained a Soul Slave from the Moon People, could he make the Moon Tribe Soul Slave cultivate their people's unique abilities for him?
And so, before long, the end of the month arrived.
That day...
In the courtyard, Li Gou'er and Zhao Chunzi gripped short sticks and chased after Zhao An, swinging at him from every direction. After a long while, both were exhausted, yet they hadn't even managed to brush his clothes.
Zhao An had stayed close, circling around them, yet somehow kept them both reeling until, in a moment of carelessness, they knocked their heads together and fell to the ground.
"B-Brother Zhao, I can't go on." Li Gou'er was drenched in sweat. He rubbed his head and groaned.
Now that they had the means, both of them had started practicing martial arts at Zhao An's insistence.
He didn't expect them to be of much use in the future, but at least they'd get stronger. Then they could run errands for him more efficiently.
"Brother Zhao, what kind of movement technique are you practicing? It's incredible!" Li Gou'er exclaimed.
Before, when they'd chased him around like this, Zhao An hadn't been so nimble or quick. Sometimes, he and Zhao Chunzi could even corner him together.
But now, if Zhao An wanted to, they could chase him from dawn till dusk and still not touch him once.
"Roaming Body Steps. The County Vice-Magistrate gave it to me. It's an Eighth-Grade Movement Technique," Zhao An replied.
He'd already mastered this movement technique before the county examination, and had even tested it briefly during the martial competition.
Today, however, Soul Slave Zhou Hu had helped him cultivate it to the second stage:
Flowing Cloud Circling Steps!
His footwork was now smooth and fluid, his steps silent. He moved like clouds circling his body, shifting and changing position in the blink of an eye!
Forget Li Gou'er and Zhao Chunzi—even if several genuine Martial Masters came, without powerful movement techniques, they'd still have a hard time touching him in this courtyard!
After all, this was the fruit of Martial Master Zhou Hu's twenty years of arduous cultivation in the Soul Pool!
Zhao An could tell that he was only a hair's breadth away from taking the final step and reaching the third stage of the technique!
"Martial Master Soul Slaves really are useful. One is better than three or five ordinary Soul Slaves practicing together..." Zhao An thought to himself after testing his movement technique.
The higher the grade of a martial art, the less suited ordinary Soul Slaves were to cultivating it. Their poor comprehension and lack of relevant traits meant the results were mediocre, and progress painfully slow.
That was why he was having Martial Master Soul Slaves cultivate his Eighth-Grade Hard Bone Skill, Roaming Body Steps, and Heavenly Profound Pulse-Severing Finger.
As for the Ninth-Grade Gale Palm and Mountain Crushing Fist, he had ordinary Soul Slaves working on those, piling up numbers to raise their levels.
"Too bad Martial Masters with Red Names are rare in the Outer City. I'm starting to run short." Zhao An thought to himself.
If he couldn't find enough Martial Master Soul Slaves to take their place later, he'd have to go back to using ordinary Soul Slaves.
That would slow down his martial arts progress considerably.
Suddenly, a commotion rose from the street outside the courtyard.
"The results are posted! The results are posted!"
"The county examination results are out!"
Hearing the announcement, Li Gou'er, who had just sat down to rest, sprang to his feet, excitement written all over him. "Big brother, they say the yamen has posted the results!"
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