"Congratulations, host. You've come into contact with a cultivation manual. The King Character Card System is now unlocked."
Lin Lei had been feeling rather frustrated. He'd obtained a battle qi technique, but couldn't learn it. Now, having suddenly received a system notification that he had a technique of his own, he was so excited he could hardly contain himself.
Lin Lei opened the system panel and found the cultivation techniques section.
Technique: Primordial Heavenly Thunder Battle Qi Technique (Not Learned)
"Huh, this name sounds a lot like Allen's family battle qi technique. Could it be that the system..."
Lin Lei silently focused on the technique, and a stream of text appeared in his mind. After spending about half an hour, he finally understood the general meaning of the entire manual. It wasn't what he'd expected at all. This technique had absolutely nothing to do with that battle qi manual.
It was an unmistakably Eastern cultivation technique. The Primordial Heavenly Thunder Battle Qi Technique had nine realms, just like the system's power rankings: Bronze, Silver, all the way up to Glory King and Hundred-Star King.
Lin Lei went to the secret chamber and began trying to circulate the technique. Gradually, a kind of energy emerged from his body and flowed into his meridians.
"Mmm!"
Lin Lei let out a contented sound. At that moment, he felt like a newborn baby protected in its mother's womb. Gentle battle qi flowed around him, relaxing every pore on his body.
As time passed, Lin Lei cultivated for more than two hours. The amount of battle qi in his body had reached the level of a Bronze Five.
"No wonder so many people in novels become cultivation fanatics. It feels so good to grow stronger."
Muttering to himself, Lin Lei left his secret chamber. In addition to cultivating battle qi within the body, the Primordial Heaven Thunder Art also involved martial techniques practiced externally. The two had to be combined, with internal cultivation supporting external practice, in order to break through to the next realm.
Because Lin Lei was already strong, he made quick progress through the early stages of the technique.
However, this had also stimulated his body's potential. From here on, he would need to cultivate slowly and steadily.
"This technique seems especially beginner-friendly. Even someone who's never practiced before can pick it up this quickly. My own strength is part of it, of course, but the technique itself deserves plenty of credit."
Lin Lei thought to himself.
"System, can I teach this technique to the soldiers in my territory?"
The system gave no response. Lin Lei shrugged and continued.
"Okay, if you don't answer, I'll take that as a yes."
Lin Lei left the secret chamber and returned to the hall.
Aierlan was sitting there alone, sipping tea, with two young maids of about thirteen or fourteen standing behind her.
"Where's Allen? Where is he?"
Lin Lei asked.
"He left ages ago. You've been in there for more than two hours, and Allen still had training to do, so I told him to go ahead."
Aierlan explained.
Lin Lei nodded, picked up the cloak from the chair, and walked out of his courtyard.
"I'm going out for a bit. I need to see Allen. I'll spend time with you when I get back."
After spending so much time together lately, Lin Lei had realized that the girl was especially clingy. She liked being with him all day long.
"Hei! Ha..."
As Lin Lei approached the training grounds, he could hear the loud, spirited shouts of the soldiers practicing in the distance.
Just as at the City Defense Department where Lin Lei had once worked, two guards stood at the entrance to the training grounds. Lin Lei could see them clearly from afar. They stood perfectly straight, like bamboo that feared neither cold nor frost, with roots sunk deep into the ground.
When Lin Lei came closer, the two guards were about to go inside and inform Allen, but Lin Lei waved them off.
"You're doing well. Keep up your guard. I can go in by myself."
"Yes, sir!"
Lin Lei crossed the threshold and saw Allen leading fifty soldiers through physical training. It was the foundation of a warrior's cultivation.
The training grounds had been built to resemble a military camp and were divided into five sections.
The soldiers' living quarters lay to the east, west, north, and south, taking up no more than a third of the grounds. In the middle was a huge square. Even back when all the roads in the territory were dirt, the square had already been paved with stone.
At the center of the square stood a circular arena, about the same size as Wheat Town's town hall. It was used for sparring between soldiers. Allen and Lin Lei also usually stood on the platform to give orders.
When Lin Lei entered, Allen was standing in front of two five-by-five formations, teaching them the most basic combat techniques. The veterans were naturally quite good at the drills, while the new recruits were making encouraging progress.
They could already perform the movements with some semblance of skill, and they were gradually developing a soldier's bearing. In another six months, they would become capable soldiers.
Lin Lei watched quietly from the side, a faint smile on his face. When Allen finished the round of drills, Lin Lei walked over to him.
"Your training's looking good. You've got the makings of a commander."
Lin Lei said with a smile.
Allen looked toward the source of the voice. Only then did he notice Lin Lei's arrival. Hearing Lin Lei's praise, he scratched his head shyly.
"Here. Teach this to the soldiers."
Lin Lei got straight to the point. Allen took the battle qi manual without much thought.
The lord provided every soldier in his territory with a cultivation technique, just as the Flower Territory had the Hundred Flowers Technique. Allen wasn't surprised. The soldiers had now reached the point where they needed to learn battle qi.
"This is... This technique is incredible."
The moment Allen opened the book, he was captivated by its theories. He glanced at Lin Lei in disbelief, then plunged back into the text.
Allen's expression shifted from confusion to sudden understanding and back again. Lin Lei wasn't in a hurry; he waited beside him with a smile.
"Why does it end here?"
At last, Allen reached the final page. The manual ended at Silver rank, fifth stage. He came back to himself and asked Lin Lei.
"I wrote this technique myself, and I plan to teach it to the soldiers in our territory. This is the Bronze Chapter and Silver Chapter. I also have the Gold Chapter and Platinum Chapter, but I won't teach those for free. They'll have to exchange military merit for them."
Lin Lei continued.
"I want to establish a military merit reward system in our army. Soldiers would be able to exchange their merit for money, treasures, techniques, and land. What do you think?"
Lin Lei told Allen his idea, naturally taking credit for both the technique and the military merit system.
"..."
Whenever it came to serious matters, Allen regained his composure. Faced with Lin Lei's request for his opinion, he fell into thought.
"I think it could work well. We can try it out in the territory."
Allen cautiously gave his opinion.
Lin Lei nodded.
"You can teach them the Bronze Chapter now, so they can learn to defend the territory as soon as possible. As for the Silver Chapter, keep an eye on their character and conduct. Teach it first to the soldiers who are highly loyal."
Allen said he understood. Lin Lei didn't stay at the training grounds any longer and returned to the Lord's Mansion. As the lord of a fledgling territory, he was busy every day.
After Lin Lei left, Allen didn't resume training. He called a halt to all the drills and summoned his adjutant, Luo Ji, then gave him a summary of what Lin Lei had just said.
Luo Ji was also a veteran who had followed Lin Lei from the Flower Territory. Back then, he'd defied his family's objections and insisted on following Lin Lei. Lin Lei hadn't let him down; he'd made Luo Ji Allen's adjutant, and the two of them managed the barracks together.
"Luo Ji, have them each copy out the Bronze Chapter. Everyone will begin formal battle qi training today. This is also what the lord has ordered."
Allen spoke very seriously.
"I guarantee it'll be done."
Luo Ji readily agreed. He fetched some parchment from the territory and had every soldier start copying down the technique.
"Squad Leader, what are we copying?"
A boy of about thirteen or fourteen watched someone writing on a blackboard and asked the pockmarked veteran beside him curiously.
"The technique you'll be learning from now on. The lord gave it to us."
The veteran with the pockmarked face explained like someone who knew the ropes.
"Oh, so this is a cultivation technique?"
The boy thought happily. His hand had already been moving quickly, but now he wrote even faster.
An hour later, everyone began their initial training in the technique. The veterans only needed to convert the battle qi they'd cultivated through their previous techniques. They would lose a little in the process, but could recover it quickly.
The new recruits, on the other hand, had to explore outward step by step from the very basics, which was more difficult.
Most of the new recruits couldn't read, which made cultivation even harder. But with Luo Ji and Allen teaching them hand over hand, they quickly overcame the problem.
By the time everything was finished and everyone had cultivated their first wisp of battle qi, the sun had set. From then on, every soldier was a warrior with a rank.
Meanwhile, after returning to the Lord's Mansion, Lin Lei plunged straight into his study and began drafting the laws for his territory.
As the lord of this era, he had the right to write the laws for his territory. Lords who loved peace and were fair and kind tended to make laws that were just and equitable, while those who were violent and cruel tended to make harsher ones.
Lin Lei couldn't possibly account for every aspect of life just yet, so he wrote down all the laws that came to mind.
He stayed in his study for four or five hours. By the time the insects began chirping at night, he had barely finished a quarter of the work.
"Looks like I need some professional officials. Otherwise, all my time will be swallowed up by these administrative duties. I don't want to become a second Qin Shi Huang."
Lin Lei said, rubbing his back.
As someone at the Gold rank, working at a desk for so long wouldn't make his body sore or tired. It was the prolonged mental effort that made his brain send out the signal that his body was exhausted.
"Keep at it. I'll try to finish drafting the code before dawn."
Lin Lei rested for less than three minutes before throwing himself back into work.
Starting a new venture was always this difficult. Even with the King Character Card System, Lin Lei couldn't avoid hard work.
Keep going! You've got this!
Lin Lei silently cheered himself on.
At this point, less than three years remained before the Orcs invaded...
Before you continue