Su Ye Really Has Changed

The few men looked up and saw Su Yuan standing before them. No one knew when he had arrived; he was watching them in silence.

"Captain Su! C-Captain Su!" Their hearts jolted. They hadn't even noticed when he'd come up behind them.

Su Yuan had known all along that these Liang People wouldn't change their ways. He had been quietly following them.

"You've truly disappointed me." He stood with his hands behind his back. His tone was calm, yet carried a chill.

"Captain Su, p-please take this!" The men hurriedly pulled out the silver they had taken and held it out to him.

"Give it back." Su Yuan's gaze swept over them. "I won't hold your past gossip against you. It was all a misunderstanding."

The crowd had no choice but to steel themselves and return the money to its rightful owners, one by one.

At first, the townsfolk were suspicious, thinking the amount was too small. Only after Su Yuan nodded to confirm it did they dare take their money back.

"Lord Su... really has changed. If only there were more good officials like him." Someone murmured with a sigh.

"Let's hope it's not an act. I'm afraid Great Liang is deliberately putting on a show for us, trying to make us think that throwing in our lot with the Liang People will bring us a bright future." Someone remained doubtful.

Though the city had recently adopted a conciliatory policy, old habits died hard. Most Great Liang soldiers were still used to taking whatever they wanted by force.

"That's right. Besides, he got where he is by stepping on us Jing People. Now he's become one of the Liang People, and you're praising him just because he's shown us a little kindness." Another voice struck straight to the heart of the matter.

At the Patrol Office.

Su Yuan looked at the men standing with their heads bowed and said calmly, "You broke military discipline and took money from civilians. You must be punished."

The men had no choice but to pull out some more silver.

Su Yuan didn't take it. He ordered them to turn it in.

"From now on, you'd better all behave yourselves." He gave them one last glance, then turned and left.

Wei Che stared after Su Yuan, his teeth clenched.

A higher rank could crush a man, and besides, he couldn't beat Su Yuan in a fight.

But deep in his heart, a thought quietly took root.

You like pretending to be a good person?

I'll make sure you don't get your way.

Over the next month, Su Yuan spent most of his time cultivating in the Inner City. He kept his movements unpredictable, giving the Shan Family no chance to make a move while also making it easier to check on Gao Mian.

He returned to the Patrol Squad now and then to make sure they weren't causing trouble.

With the Shan Family's stipend and his military pay, he had little need to do carpentry anymore. Most of his thoughts were devoted to martial arts.

[Destiny: Keep climbing, and reach even greater heights]

[Golden Horse-Head Technique: 234/2000 (Second Layer)]

[Heavenly Horse Flying Star Fist: 13/2000 (Third Layer)]

[Origin-Returning Finger: 1855/2000 (Perfection)]

[Cloud-Striding Palm: 342/500 (First Layer)]

"Whew! The Heavenly Horse Flying Star Fist has entered Savage Strength too." Su Yuan clenched his fist, feeling a solid, domineering force course through his fingers and palm.

Flying Star Strength!

Its force struck like a falling star, concentrated at a single point. At the slightest touch, it exploded, shattering tendons and breaking bones in an instant.

He tried to fuse Vajra Strength with Flying Star Strength.

The two forces didn't clash. Instead, they complemented each other, adding an explosive edge to their ferocity and doubling their power.

After all his time practicing martial arts, he had come to understand one thing.

At the Blood Condensing stage, practicing several martial arts at once wasn't difficult. It only took time.

But once it came to refining one's strength, the forces produced by different cultivation methods often clashed.

Great Liang martial arts, in particular, generated rough, savage strength, while Great Jing martial arts produced strength that was subtle and refined.

The more refined a force was, the harder it was to fuse with other forces.

The Horse Division's cultivation methods likely had room for fusion built into them. He just didn't know whether, once he developed Cloud-Striding Strength, the power of his destiny would let him fuse it with the others as well.

The Shan Family had yet to teach him the subsequent techniques of the Heavenly Horse Flying Star Fist.

For now, he was still focusing on the Golden Horse-Head Technique.

"I'm still too poor." Su Yuan looked at the more than three hundred taels he had to his name. He still couldn't afford even one Break Strength Pill.

The pill was useful not only for breaking through a realm but also for cultivating Savage Strength.

Unfortunately, when he had awakened Flying Star Strength, he had used up the pill Gao Mian gave him.

Besides pills, the flesh and blood of certain second-tier Monsters could also aid the cultivation of different forces.

For instance, Vajra Strength could be cultivated by simmering the backbone of an Iron-Bone Mountain Boar into soup, while Flying Star Strength required the heart's blood of a Star-Falling Python. Both were costly ingredients.

This month, he had stopped taking Blood Origin Pills and switched to ordinary meat and medicinal meals instead. His constitution had indeed improved, albeit slowly, and his cultivation had sped up a little.

He had taken only one Blood Bone Pill. The other two were still in his possession.

He still didn't dare take too many of those things.

A thought suddenly occurred to Su Yuan: since his constitution really had improved, the Shan Family would surely trumpet the news. When they did, there might be a market for Blood Bone Pills.

He could take advantage of the moment to sell the two he had and make another profit.

Seeing that evening was approaching, Su Yuan rose and headed back to the Inner City.

He never stayed in the Outer City at night, to avoid trouble.

Just as he was about to leave, Wei Che blocked the doorway. "Captain Su, orders have come from above. Two Cloud-Water Wolves were captured in the Outer City and are being escorted inside. We're to guard them along the way and prevent the Jiguang Society from snatching them!"

"It's late. You can go yourselves. I can't join you." Su Yuan refused flatly.

He didn't even want night duty, let alone an escort outside the city.

Whenever he'd gone out on official business during the day, he'd run into Shan Family martial artists. They had watched him like hawks.

Fortunately, they were no more than at the Savage Strength level.

During the day, they didn't dare act too brazenly, and Su Yuan was always alert enough to slip away in time.

Now, unless a Vein Splitting martial artist came in person, no one could keep him there.

But Vein Splitting martial artists were among Ji City's top fighters. There were only a dozen or so of them. Why would they waste their attention on a minor "Blood Condensing" nobody like him?

At night, however, things were entirely different.

He would have to watch out for the Shan Family's plots, as well as possible attacks from the Jiguang Society.

After all, in the eyes of the rebels, his title of Chief made him the Liang People's number-one lackey.

Still, over the past month, his squad had behaved themselves, and the area around Fengxing Street had been fairly peaceful.

Other parts of the city were another matter. The Jiguang Society was causing trouble everywhere, and he occasionally had to go lend support.

The other side rarely struck during the day, but they had gained the upper hand in their last few clashes. They were also loudly proclaiming that Great Liang's martial arts were inferior to Great Jing's, and their reputation was steadily rising.

That was thanks to their hidden positions. Their surprise attacks were impossible to guard against.

Perhaps because of Yun Xu, or perhaps because he never appeared at night, the other side hadn't come looking for trouble with him.

As a result, Su Yuan had lost his chance to make contact with them.

He had thought they would come to him on their own, which was why he had deliberately stayed at the Patrol Office for a while during the day.

"So they still don't trust me." Su Yuan understood, and he could hardly blame them.

But Wei Che didn't move aside. "Captain Su, the higher-ups have already given the order. They say our squad has been slacking lately and may be drawing pay without doing the work. The whole squad has to go on this mission!"

He was seething inside.

Working under Su Yuan, he couldn't skim a penny, and the man was still so halfhearted about his duties.

He had reported Su Yuan to the higher-ups again and again, yet they still tolerated him and wouldn't dismiss him. It was absurd.

Su Yuan sneered inwardly. Thirty taels? Why risk my life for that? Staying alive is what matters.

Besides, he'd only been doing this for a month. Why was Wei Che in such a hurry?

"The whole squad has to go? Isn't that what you say every time?" Su Yuan ignored him and walked straight out.

After returning to the Inner City, Su Yuan was summoned by someone Chai Nian had sent.

"Su Yuan, you don't seem very invested in your military duties. You spend all day training. How's your progress?" Chai Nian asked with a smile, waving his fan.

"Reporting to Young Master, my progress has been rapid. The Heavenly Horse Flying Star Fist has reached Blood Condensing, and Savage Strength is just around the corner." Su Yuan spread his arms to demonstrate.

"Ah, I know you don't care for the day-to-day business of the army, but since it's a military order, you still have to attend to it now and then." Chai Nian furrowed his brow slightly.

"My only wish is to serve the Shan Family, Young Master. Since taking the Blood Bone Pill, I've gradually felt my constitution changing. That's why I want to devote myself wholeheartedly to training and not let you down after all the effort you've put into me." Su Yuan's expression was respectful, his voice full of loyalty.

Chai Nian smiled when he heard that. "Good, good! Hang in there for one more month. Once Tie Niu finishes his breakthrough, I'll take the two of you outside the city to broaden your horizons."

"Yes." Su Yuan withdrew, his heart heavy with emotion.

A month ago, Tie Niu had taken a Break Strength Pill to force a breakthrough—and failed.

His early use of Blood Origin Pills to speed up his progress had left hidden problems after all.

Fortunately, his constitution hadn't been damaged, and the Shan Family hadn't made him take Blood Bone Pills.

The hardest part of martial arts was breaking through its bottlenecks. A single barrier could hold someone back for months or even years.

But with his destiny supporting him, Su Yuan never had to worry about bottlenecks. That was the greatest advantage he had in martial arts.

The next afternoon, Su Yuan returned to Fengxing Street.

Today, the street vendors greeted him less readily than usual. Their expressions were also a little less warm.

"Lord Su." Even their voices sounded reluctant.

Had something happened?

Su Yuan stepped into the Patrol Office and saw that several men under his command were injured and wrapped in bandages. A few others were nowhere to be seen.

He asked around and learned that during yesterday's mission to escort the wolf Monsters, the squad had been ambushed. The wolves had escaped and rampaged through the streets, leaving many dead and injured.

The Eighth Patrol Squad bore the brunt of the blame. And as the captain who had shirked his duty, he was sure to be held responsible too.