Official Water Soldier

"Is this sweat towel for me? Thanks for the trouble!"

The soldier had already enjoyed Hong Ming's service before. When he saw the towel being offered, he took it without a hint of embarrassment.

Before leaving, he even remembered to thank him.

Hong Ming, however, seemed not to hear him. His fixed gaze suddenly cleared with understanding.

He finally knew what change came with the Word Master's upgrade: he could sense Traits without touching them!

"What's the range?"

Hong Ming watched the Trait disappear and found himself with a new question.

He couldn't be bothered to guess, so he put it to the test, feeling his way around.

After the time it took to brew a cup of tea, he reached a firm conclusion: he could sense Traits within a radius of half a zhang!

The range wasn't particularly broad, but Hong Ming was quite satisfied.

Being able to sense Traits out of thin air was far more convenient than having to touch them.

Having tasted the benefits of upgrading, Hong Ming's thoughts immediately began to race, and he no longer felt like practicing martial arts.

He took the opportunity to expand his search to cover all the impoverished Water Soldiers training along the riverbank.

It wasn't that he didn't want to visit the area where the wealthy young men were. He simply couldn't get close.

The wealthy young men were all scattered about, each occupying their own space, with household servants guarding them. They weren't easy to approach.

Once he could sense Traits, there was no doubt that the results improved.

Hong Ming walked along, searching as he went, and in less than half an hour, he had thoroughly checked all the Water Soldiers.

Just as he'd expected, the Traits he found were few and far between.

Most were Breathing and Exhalation Traits, while Traits related to bone structure were rarer than phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

One could easily tell from this small glimpse that people like Qin Hao, who rose from the bottom, were few and far between.

[Trait: Lower-Lower Bone Structure]

[Status: Cannot be solidified]

[Required Fortune: 5 points]

[Solidification Effect: Greatly increases the efficiency of training in any martial art.]

This was one of the few bone-structure Traits Hong Ming had found.

What caught his attention was the status: Cannot be solidified.

It had appeared on Qian Biao before, too. At the time, he'd guessed it was because he already possessed the Lifespan of Thirty, and so couldn't solidify it.

Now that it had been confirmed, the two cases were exactly alike.

"Looks like Lower-Lower Bone Structure is the worst I can have!" Hong Ming surmised.

He wasn't satisfied and decided to find out what his own bone structure was like.

It didn't take long to reach a conclusion: he had Lower-Middle Bone Structure. It wasn't outstanding, but among the many impoverished Water Soldiers, he was clearly near the top.

With his exploration over, Hong Ming put aside his distracting thoughts and focused wholeheartedly on practicing the Coiling Dragon Stake.

The Coiling Dragon Stake was a superior stance-training technique taught by the River Bureau, one that could lead all the way to Transformation Force.

Transformation Force came after Bright Force and Dark Force. It was the highest realm reached by the River Bureau's top experts.

When a martial artist developed Bright Force, they had truly stepped onto the martial path. Dark Force was one in a hundred, enough to make its wielder a pillar of any faction.

And anyone who reached Transformation Force could stride freely through any district of Clear River City.

Hong Ming practiced while waiting for his identity token to arrive. He waited three whole days.

It was only toward evening that he received word from the General Affairs Department.

Without wasting any time, he headed straight there and finally collected the identity token he'd been dreaming of.

After putting the token away, he asked about the benefits and provisions for official Water Soldiers.

That was the most important part of his trip.

"Lord Hong, let me give you a brief introduction to the benefits for official Water Soldiers..."

As the Water Soldier explained at length, Hong Ming gained a better understanding of what official Water Soldiers received.

Official Water Soldiers were indeed the foundation of the Water Army, and their benefits were far greater than those of non-official Water Soldiers.

They fell into three broad categories: monthly pay, cultivation resources, and food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

As for monthly pay, an official Water Soldier received five qian of silver in their first month.

It wasn't much—about what Hong Ming earned from rowing a boat for half a month—but the difference was that this money was free.

The monthly pay after that wasn't fixed. It depended on the battle camp he was assigned to later.

But according to the other man, it would only be higher than five qian of silver!

For cultivation, he could receive one Force-Nourishing Pill every half month, a medicinal pill that helped cultivate Inner Force.

In addition, every official Water Soldier would receive a free boxing technique to practice.

The technique was called Frost Sky Fist. After Hong Ming reported to the Preparatory Camp, an instructor would personally teach it to him.

As for food, clothing, housing, and transportation, he could receive two sets of spring-and-autumn uniforms and boots; eat free meals at the Dining Hall; move into a dormitory for six people; and, for the time being, receive no travel provisions.

After learning all this, Hong Ming didn't head straight to the Preparatory Camp. Instead, he returned to the private room he'd rented.

It was already late, and the Preparatory Camp had long since emptied out. He could only go the next day.

After putting away his clothes, Hong Ming set off for home. On the way, he bought some wine, dishes, and pastries to celebrate.

He arrived before long. He hadn't even gone inside when he saw someone stride out of the shop toward him.

It was Zhong Ping, the manager of the Zhong Family Cloth Shop.

He was nothing like the arrogant man he'd once been. His face was wreathed in flattery as he said, "I'm Zhong Ping. My respects, Master Hong!"

His tone was deferential, and he bowed and scraped. Compared to before, he seemed like a completely different person.

"Manager Zhong, what's with the grand gesture?" Hong Ming asked, his expression shifting slightly, though he already knew the answer.

Zhong Ping caught the mockery in Hong Ming's words and grew nervous. "Master Hong, I was blind and offended you before. I've come to beg your forgiveness. I hope you'll be magnanimous and not hold it against someone like me. This is just a small token of my appreciation, nothing much—just a little gift to celebrate your promotion!"

As he spoke, he took a silver ingot from his robe. It was a generous gift, worth ten taels!

"In that case, thank you, Manager Zhong." Hong Ming accepted it without hesitation.

He had no qualms about taking the money. He considered it compensation for the wages Zhong Ping had docked from him back then.

Seeing that Hong Ming was willing to let the matter go, Zhong Ping was so relieved that tears of gratitude welled in his eyes. "Thank you, Master Hong. Thank you..."

He was even happier than Hong Ming.

Heaven knew how unable to sleep or eat he'd been when he first learned that Hong Ming had become a Bright Force martial artist.

He'd felt as if one foot were already in his grave, as if life itself had become unbearable.

Perhaps that was an exaggeration, but his fear had been real.

A Bright Force martial artist who was also a Water Army soldier—wouldn't dealing with him be as easy as saying the word?

He'd spent the entire night before on tenterhooks without sleeping a wink.

As soon as dawn broke, he'd wasted no time. He'd prepared a sincere apology and hurried over to beg forgiveness.

"Master Hong, I'll leave you to it. If you ever need anything, just give me the word!"

Zhong Ping noticed the wine and food in Hong Ming's hands and took his leave with admirable tact.

Only after Hong Ming nodded did he dare turn and leave.

But he'd barely gone a few steps when he heard Hong Ming ask, "Manager Zhong, how did your shop deal with that thug Liu Hu, the one who robbed the goods?"

Hong Ming's predecessor had already reported the matter to the cloth shop.

"That thug Liu Hu?"

Zhong Ping paused to think before answering.

"To answer you, Master Hong, I don't know the details myself. I've heard Liu Hu may have connections, so the shopkeeper didn't investigate further."

Connections?

Hong Ming's eyes flickered. He said nothing more, merely waving Zhong Ping away.

Zhong Ping showed no sign of displeasure. He bowed and slowly withdrew from Hong Ming's sight.

Once he was far away, he let out a long breath of relief.

He straightened up and suddenly felt a chill wash over him. Only then did he realize that his back was already soaked with cold sweat.

After shuddering a few times, he returned to the cloth shop.

Halfway there, he suddenly ran into a menacing group of people coming straight toward him.

"Qian Bao?"