Lu Li went straight to Elder Qing. "Elder Qing, I'm here to take some missions."
Elder Qing was lying in a recliner. Hearing the voice, he slowly opened his eyes.
With a casual flick of his fingers, dozens of mission slips fluttered over to Lu Li.
Lu Li hurriedly caught them. "Why are there so many missions this time?"
He leafed through them one by one. When he saw the names, he immediately understood.
Huang Rongyue, eldest daughter of the Huang Family, an Organ-Refining Realm martial artist, on the verge of breaking through to the Blood-Exchange Realm. Bounty: 1,500 taels.
Huang He, head of the Huang Family, an Organ-Refining Realm martial artist. Bounty: 2,000 taels.
Wang Yu, eldest son of the Wang Family, an Organ-Refining Realm martial artist. Bounty: 1,000 taels.
Core figures from both sides had bounties on their heads.
Lu Li vaguely suspected that the county magistrate's efforts to control the two families weren't just about lining his pockets.
By using up the strength of both families, he showed himself to be a man with grand designs.
Still, his goal surely wasn't merely to blunt the two families' claws.
What it really was, Lu Li couldn't yet guess.
Seeing Lu Li lost in thought, Elder Qing spoke up as well. "Blood Ghost, you're from Changfeng County too, right?"
"You've struck it rich this time. The two great families are at war in Changfeng County, and there are bounties on plenty of people. Make sure you seize the opportunity."
He offered the reminder in good faith.
Lu Li nodded.
This time, they'd hired assassins. That proved the two great families were serious about fighting.
But the people on the Huang Family's side weren't thinking about that at all. They were lax and unfocused. They were bound to suffer for it.
Lu Li shook his head inwardly. After scanning the papers for a moment, he finally picked eight. They were all members of the Wang Family.
Once he had chosen, Lu Li took his leave.
Elder Qing picked up the papers again. His leisurely expression froze. He watched Lu Li's departing figure for a long while, then looked at him in surprise.
"That boy's got something about him."
After returning, Lu Li first practiced his martial arts.
With time pressing, he devoted most of it to the Flying Swallow Step.
He planned to use the next two days to train the Flying Swallow Step to perfection.
He practiced at home until dusk, then moved into the apothecary he had been assigned to guard.
Lu Li didn't slack off there, either.
The medicinal garden covered a vast area, almost as large as a mansion.
There was even a herb garden inside.
Rows of medicinal herbs grew there, filling the courtyard with their fragrance.
At first, Lu Li had wondered what there was to guard at a mere apothecary.
Now he understood.
Since hardly anyone came to the herb garden, Lu Li continued practicing the Flying Swallow Step there.
By the time the sky was as black as ink, he had finally mastered the Flying Swallow Step.
[Martial Art: Flying Swallow Step (Perfect)...]
Lu Li lightly tapped his toes and shot into the air, like a flying swallow gliding swiftly and gracefully over the entire herb garden.
He controlled his body as it descended slowly, light as a feather, drifting gently through the air.
At last, his eyes settled on a herb shaped like a lettuce. He slowly landed on one of its leaves.
The whole time, the air remained still and silent. The herb didn't stir in the slightest.
Even when Lu Li's toe touched the leaf, the plant remained perfectly motionless.
It was as if Lu Li were air, almost without substance.
A single leaf had held up his entire body.
In his past life, if word of this had gotten out, it would have been unthinkable!
But this was a world where martial arts could reach the divine. Lu Li felt no pride at all.
His heart as still as water, he tapped the leaf again with his toe and landed steadily on the ground.
The leaf still hadn't moved at all.
Everything came to him as naturally as breathing, as if he had been born knowing this peerless lightness skill.
Lu Li gave a slight nod. "Not a sound, not the slightest disturbance. This is what it means to master a lightness skill!"
"Still, even though I've mastered the Flying Swallow Step, this world has even more profound lightness skills. Mastering the Flying Swallow Step isn't much to boast about. I can't let myself grow complacent!"
After finishing his training, Lu Li saw that it was already late and called it a night.
Soon, it was deep into the night. The moon was hidden, the wind fierce, and not even a hand could be seen before one's eyes.
Suddenly, a fierce blaze appeared in the distance, shining far and wide like a beam of light piercing the darkness and falling upon Lu Li and the others.
Lu Li, Li Qing, and the others hurriedly got dressed and went to the front courtyard. They stared at the raging fire in the distance, their hearts turning cold.
Li Qing's eyes widened. He raised a hand to his brow to peer into the distance. "Th-this group said they wouldn't actually fight, just put on a show like before. What's going on?"
"With everything burning like that, it doesn't look like a show."
"Brother Li, wh-what do we do?" His two lackeys stared at the fire in the distance, trembling with fear.
Strictly speaking, they hadn't even entered the ranks of martial artists. If a real fight broke out, they'd be the lowest of the low.
No wonder they were afraid.
Li Qing swallowed, easing his anxiety a little, then gritted his teeth. "What are you afraid of? The front line hasn't fallen yet. We're safe."
"Right. Let's hide. If the enemy shows up, we can catch them off guard." A sudden idea struck Li Qing. He hurriedly led his lackeys inside.
Lu Li, however, quietly slipped away. He changed into his black robe and Blood Mask, then used the Flying Swallow Step and vanished in an instant.
On the roof of a pavilion in the Huang Family compound.
The pavilion stood very high. From its roof, one could look out over all of Changfeng County.
Huang Rongyue stared fixedly at the fire before her, fists clenched so tightly her knuckles had turned white.
Her face flushed with anger. Unable to hold back, she urgently asked Huang He beside her, "Father, what do we do? Are we really just going to stand here and watch?"
In just one night, the Huang Family had lost two streets. Ten businesses had been seized by the enemy, and some had even been burned to the ground.
These were all hard-won gains, accumulated bit by bit through the blood and sweat of generations of the Huang Family!
Although she disapproved of the Huang Family's actions and held a sincere, upright heart, she was still one of them.
Watching the Huang Family fall step by step hurt her, too.
Huang He shook his head.
His eyes were filled with fire, his thoughts a tangled mess.
But his mind remained clear. He said calmly, "I know what our Huang Family's martial artists are like. Even if we lost, we wouldn't lose this badly."
"Do you think the enemy is just the Huang Family?"
"There's probably more to this than meets the eye."
Huang He narrowed his eyes further and said gravely, "This must be the county magistrate's doing. That old bastard deserves to die!"
He let out a long breath, suppressing the surging anger in his heart. "Rongyue, stay calm. If we act rashly, we'll fall straight into the enemy's encirclement."
"Only by holding our ground can we keep our losses to a minimum."
Huang Rongyue gave a bitter laugh. She might still be inexperienced when it came to making friends, but she had roamed the martial world at a young age and stayed alive until now. She wasn't a fool.
She understood all of this.
But hiding away was a slow death, too. It was no different from waiting to die!
"What should I do?" Her mind was utterly blank.
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