Into Danger

He strode forward and soon reached the enormous courtyard of the Garrison Bureau.

Quite a few people had already gathered inside.

"Ha!"

"Hah!"

Rough shouts rang out as they trained their strength, mixed with the crisp, cold clang of long blades sliding back into their sheaths.

The air was thick with cold, hard killing intent.

Gu Yanzhi had already changed into a gray uniform with black trim and was waiting in the courtyard. When he saw Lu Zhen enter, he hurried over to greet him.

"Brother Lu."

They stood side by side, waiting for the morning roll call.

Gu Yanzhi folded his fan and lowered his voice, leaning closer as he filled Lu Zhen in on the bureau's inner workings.

"The Garrison Bureau's rules are that a squad leader's official monthly pay is two hundred Silver Dollars."

He paused briefly.

"But that's only a small part of it. The most important thing is the monthly allowance of one hundred jin of 'first-tier demon beast meat.' That's the hard currency martial artists use to replenish their depleted qi and blood."

Gu Yanzhi glanced at the Squad Leader's grand chair on the raised platform ahead, a hint of longing flashing in his eyes.

"If you can endure your way to the rank of Squad Leader, the benefits change beyond recognition. Instead of first-tier goods, you get an extremely rare supply of 'second-tier demon beast meat.'"

Lu Zhen's expression shifted slightly as he began calculating.

"Brother Gu, what tier was the Red Scale Treasure Fish the Gu Family gave me before?" he asked casually.

"That treasure fish was exceptionally rare, but it could only be considered top-grade first-tier," Gu Yanzhi answered honestly.

He glanced at the faint heat radiating from Lu Zhen and explained in a low voice.

"At the Bright Force stage, the body is like a blazing furnace. Most first-tier flesh is refined away by that heat once you eat it, greatly reducing its effects. Only genuine second-tier demon beast meat can nourish the internal organs and strengthen the foundation of Bright Force."

Gu Yanzhi lightly tapped his palm with his fan.

"Our Tongjiang Chamber of Commerce does have secret channels. If you're in a hurry, Brother Lu, you can spend a fortune to get some second-tier demon beast meat on the black market. But the prices there are exorbitant."

"How expensive?"

"One hundred Silver Dollars only gets you one liang."

Lu Zhen fell silent.

Adding what he'd taken from Duan Hu to what he already had, he had just over two thousand Silver Dollars at most.

He had thought it was a windfall large enough to secure his future.

But now that he did the math—

Two thousand Silver Dollars would only just about buy a jin or two of second-tier demon beast meat on the black market, barely enough for a taste.

Breaking through in martial arts really is a bottomless pit. Lu Zhen shook his head inwardly.

"Boom—!"

The gong sounded in the courtyard, marking the end of the roll call.

The two followed the crowd through the front courtyard and entered the Military Affairs Pavilion to one side.

The pavilion was dim. No Ocean Lanterns had been lit; only a few yellow oil lamps hung from the walls.

Rows of black-lacquered wooden tablets covered the walls. Each one bore, in glaring cinnabar, a list of bounties for mutated ferocious beasts outside the city, along with the corresponding rewards.

Lu Zhen's gaze moved slowly over the tablets. He found the rewards for these missions rather interesting.

"Slay a mutated Black Boar wandering the outskirts of the city... reward: half a major merit."

"Clear out a bandit stronghold at Sunset Ridge... reward: one major merit."

Lu Zhen raised his brows slightly and turned to Gu Yanzhi. "Brother Gu, what's the significance of the 'major merits' written on these tablets?"

Gu Yanzhi was just about to answer when laughter came from behind the tall counter.

The man in charge of military affairs was a scrawny old fellow, all skin and bones.

He had been idly fiddling with an abacus. Hearing the question, he looked up, his eyes sweeping over Lu Zhen's black uniform with red trim and the gold-and-silver "Garrison" insignia on his chest.

The old man's drooping eyelids sprang up. His wrinkled face immediately broke into a warm, courteous smile.

"Oh, you're a new face. You must be the new squad leader, sir?"

The scrawny old man quickly rose. Even his normally hoarse voice softened as he greeted Lu Zhen ingratiatingly. "You've only just arrived, sir, so there's much you won't know. Allow this old man to explain."

Pointing to the black-lacquered wooden tablets on the wall, he smiled and explained, "The Garrison Bureau isn't like those civil offices outside that care so much about seniority.

"If a squad leader wants to rise through the ranks and take the position of Squad Leader, simply waiting out the years won't do."

"You have to risk your life and earn ten major merits through real deeds to win it!"

The old man paused, then tapped another stack of gray-covered Registries beside him. His tone carried a hint of temptation. "As for the ordinary members under your command who wear gray, the bureau has given them a path forward, too.

"As long as they're tough enough to survive assignments outside the city and accumulate ten minor merits, they can go to the Logistics Department warehouse and exchange them for a top-grade martial treasure medicine."

The old man lowered his voice and pronounced the name.

"A three-hundred-year-old Earth Dragon Blood Vine."

"Snap."

Gu Yanzhi's fan stopped abruptly in his hand, his pupils shrinking.

The Earth Dragon Blood Vine?!

Lu Zhen was astonished, too.

He knew this thing all too well.

Not long ago, Yan Tieqiao of the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall had taken out this very peerless treasure medicine—the one he had risked his life to obtain back then—and handed it to Zhang Lei.

There was a very high chance that this medicine could help someone in the Late Force Refining Realm forcibly break through the natural barrier to Bright Force.

It was also the key to Zhang Lei's confidence, and why he had gone so far as to betray his master and curry favor with the White Family!

A heaven-defying treasure capable of changing one's fate, the kind that would make all the martial arts halls and martial sects outside fight tooth and nail for it, even beat each other bloody—

In the Garrison Bureau...

It was actually just a basic commodity that ordinary members could exchange for with military merits?!

As expected of an official institution. Its resources were nothing like those of private martial arts halls.

Lu Zhen paid no attention to the scrawny old man's incessant chatter.

He raised his eyes and looked past the densely packed black-lacquered wooden tablets below.

Clearing out wandering beasts and wiping out bandit strongholds didn't interest him.

The rewards for these minor assignments were too meager. They couldn't begin to make up for what he needed to break through.

His gaze traveled higher, finally settling on the very top.

There, a lone crimson wooden tablet hung like a drop of blood.

It read: Yanglin Official Road.

Clear out one second-tier mutated ferocious beast leader, along with a pack of more than fifty late first-tier ferocious beasts.

Bounty: two major merits.

Ordinary team members: two minor merits.

All beast meat obtained along the way belongs to the team.

The scrawny old man followed Lu Zhen's gaze. His expression changed, and he hurriedly warned him.

"Squad Leader, that tablet..."

He lowered his voice. "That job's been posted for half a month. Several teams haven't dared touch it.

"Second-tier ferocious beasts are already tough-skinned and thick-fleshed, and this one has more than fifty late first-tier beasts with it. If you get surrounded, it'll be extremely dangerous."

If this were an ordinary world, he might have played it safe.

But the ban on martial arts was coming in three years. There was no time to lose.

Lu Zhen reached out and plucked the Crimson Wooden Tablet from the wall.

"This one."

He walked through the corridor and pushed open the wooden door to the Class A-6 Barracks.

Inside, several old soldiers were lounging about, smoking dry tobacco to pass the time. When they saw Lu Zhen enter, they quickly straightened up.

Smack!

Without changing expression, Lu Zhen slammed the Crimson Wooden Tablet onto the square table in the middle of the room.

The tablet struck the tabletop with a sharp crack.

The room fell silent.

"Tomorrow morning, we leave the city. We're heading to Yanglin Official Road," Lu Zhen announced calmly.

Several men instinctively crowded closer for a look.

Just one glance.

Big Belly, Uncle Old Pockmark, and the others went deathly pale.

A second-tier leader? A pack of more than fifty late first-tier beasts?!

Big Belly's lips trembled, and the fat around his waist quivered.

He couldn't help cursing inwardly.

It's over! Just as I thought! This hot-blooded young squad leader wants to win the first merit and rise through the ranks, so he's set on using our lives as stepping-stones!

They were just a handful of low-ranking gray uniforms. Picking a fight with a pack of fifty first-tier beasts? How was that any different from throwing themselves to their deaths?

Uncle Old Pockmark gripped his pipe tightly, lowering his head without a word.

However, in a corner of the communal sleeping quarters,

the young man called Monkey suddenly raised his head.

He wasn't afraid at all. His eyes blazed with startling intensity. He clenched the freshly sharpened mountain-cleaving saber in his hand, his chest heaving.

This was a chance!

The only chance in his life to follow a Bright Force powerhouse and risk everything to make something of himself!

"Squad Leader!"

Monkey sprang to his feet, his voice cracking with excitement. "I'm willing to go fight alongside you tomorrow!"

Lu Zhen glanced at Monkey and gave a slight nod.

Then his gaze turned cold as it swept over Uncle Old Pockmark, Big Belly, and the others, whose faces were still deathly pale.

His voice remained calm, but it carried an unmistakable chill.

"I don't keep idlers under my command when I lead a mission, but I won't force anyone."

"Those willing to go can earn merits and share in the meat. As long as you follow the rules, I guarantee I'll bring you back alive."

Lu Zhen reached out and pointed toward the door.

"If you're afraid to die, take off that gray uniform today. Go to the Logistics Department to resign, then get out of my barracks. I won't make things difficult for you."

The room was silent as a grave.

The few old soldiers looked at one another, but none dared speak.

Lu Zhen picked up the Black Gold Long Blade from the table and turned toward the door.

"You're all dismissed early today."

"You have the whole night to think it over. We'll see who shows up at the City Gate Office tomorrow morning."