Time Flies

After returning to the city, Lu Yuan headed straight for the armory. With all the necessary arrangements now in place, his subordinates simply needed to follow the military drills, leaving him free to focus on his own cultivation.

He currently had about a thousand taels of silver on hand, consisting of his own salary and the remainder from his previous medicinal purchases.

He intended to buy some bone-tempering medicine to take home for his training.

Upon arriving at the armory and seeing the dazzling array of goods, Lu Yuan was momentarily unsure of what to choose. He turned to a nearby official and asked, "Do you have any recommended pills for the Bone-Tempering Realm?"

The official, who had been flipping through a ledger, frowned with a hint of impatience. However, upon seeing it was Lu Yuan, he immediately put on a smiling face. "Ah, it's Officer Lu. For the Bone-Tempering Realm, people generally take Bone-Tempering Pills, which cost one hundred taels a bottle."

"If you need something better, there is the Black Jade Bone-Tempering Pill."

"It is said to be refined from the bones of a mysterious tiger mixed with black jade powder. It is significantly better than a standard Bone-Tempering Pill and costs three hundred taels a bottle."

As he spoke, he brought out a medicine vial.

He then leaned in toward Lu Yuan and whispered, "This pill offers excellent value. Its efficacy is seven or eight times that of a standard Bone-Tempering Pill, yet the price is only three times higher. It's only this cheap because it's the military rate; the price outside has long since skyrocketed."

"Give me three bottles."

Lu Yuan spoke, then produced a stack of silver notes, each worth one hundred taels.

He now had only a little over two hundred taels left on him.

For normal expenses, that was certainly enough.

"Right away, I'll pack them up for you."

The official chuckled as he retrieved three bottles of pills and handed them to Lu Yuan.

After taking them, Lu Yuan walked out of the armory and headed toward his home.

When he returned to his courtyard, the stove had not yet gone out and still held some warmth.

The house was not cold.

Lu Yuan took out his supplies, preparing to cook.

However, just as he opened the rice jar, he heard a sound from outside. Xiao Hua had appeared at his doorstep, though he hadn't noticed when she arrived.

"Brother Yuan, come eat at my place. I saw you were out all afternoon, so you probably haven't prepared any food." Xiao Hua was wearing a red cloth dress today, her straight, slender legs particularly eye-catching.

Above that were her undulating curves; though he didn't know her exact age, her figure was truly excellent.

Coupled with a face that was both pure and possessed a hint of nobility, she was a beautiful sight to behold standing there.

Lu Yuan didn't stand on ceremony and nodded. "Alright, I'll eat at your place today."

Xiao Hua pursed her lips and smiled.

She turned to lead the way, and Lu Yuan followed.

When they arrived next door, Mrs. Xiao was still lying in bed. "Ah Yuan, thanks to you this time, otherwise I'm afraid I really wouldn't have made it through."

As she spoke, a look of lingering fear appeared in her eyes.

It wasn't that she feared death, but rather that if something had truly happened to her, she didn't know what her daughter would do here, and it would have caused so many subsequent troubles.

"Auntie, why are you being so formal with me? As the saying goes, a distant relative is not as good as a close neighbor. We are family, so please don't be so polite," Lu Yuan said with a chuckle.

Xiao Hua went into the inner room and began bringing out dishes.

There was plenty of meat today, including a small pot of roe deer meat and a stewed rabbit.

As for vegetables, there were wild greens.

With the weather gradually warming up, many wild greens had sprouted on the wasteland, their vibrant green color perfect for accompanying a meal.

Besides these, there was a basin of noodles.

Lu Yuan was truly hungry now, so he sat down and began to feast.

Xiao Hua sat beside him, constantly adding food to his bowl.

Watching the two of them, Mrs. Xiao's gaze grew increasingly gentle.

After the meal, Lu Yuan returned to his own residence.

He stripped off his armor and outer shirt, then swallowed a Black Jade Bone-Tempering Pill.

This pill was indeed far more effective than a standard Bone-Tempering Pill. As soon as Lu Yuan swallowed it, he could feel a surge of energy moving toward his bones.

Then, his entire body began to heat up.

It felt as if flames were truly tempering him from within.

He pushed his Crouching Tiger Stance to the limit.

One had to realize that the efficacy of this Black Jade Bone-Tempering Pill was several times that of an ordinary pill.

Coupled with the fact that Lu Yuan could absorb the full medicinal potency due to his system, the effect of the pill was even more intense.

"Crack, crack!"

He could even hear his bones emitting sharp, grinding sounds.

A large amount of sweat broke out on his forehead.

After about two hours, Lu Yuan finally ceased his cultivation.

He then stepped out into the courtyard, wielding the Tiger-Head Heaven-Swallowing Blade under the moonlight. As he moved with the blade, a phantom of a white tiger seemed to leap and roar around his body.

Lu Yuan's figure was almost impossible to track.

With a blade length of nearly three meters including the hilt, the small courtyard was completely blanketed by the shadows of the weapon.

After practicing his blade techniques several times, he began to practice archery.

In short, Lu Yuan did not remain idle for a single moment before going to sleep that night.

He understood in his heart that since the Manyan Tribe had deployed elite cavalry, Ice Plain City would likely order him to head into battle.

Only by improving his strength as quickly as possible could he ensure his safety in the wilderness.

For the period that followed, Lu Yuan began his training before dawn every day and did not stop until it was time to sleep at night.

Although he was exhausted, he could clearly feel his body growing stronger with each passing day.

This was especially true with the aid of medicinal pills.

He had possessed thirty Black Jade Bone-Tempering Pills in total; for an ordinary person, this would have been enough to last at least half a year, if not a full year.

Yet, Lu Yuan had consumed every single one of them within half a month.

On this day, just as he had finished lunch and was preparing to resume his training:

"Bang!"

The gate was pushed open, and Zhou He walked in.

After the incident with Wu Han, he had become much closer to Lu Yuan and visited frequently, never bothering to knock.

As he put it, he would only consider knocking once Lu Yuan had taken a wife.

Seeing him, Lu Yuan stared and asked, "Why are you in such a panic? Is something the matter?"

"There is indeed something. The Captain wants to see you," Zhou He said hurriedly.

Lu Yuan nodded, threw on his coat, and headed toward the Captain's Mansion.

On the way, Zhou He cautiously reminded him, "You haven't left the city for a while, but outside the frontier cities, it's practically become the Northern Barbarians' domain. The elite scouts of the Manyan Tribe have killed so many that no one dares to leave the three frontier cities anymore.

"It's said that the elite forces organized by Yellow Sand City and Tiger Hill City have already gone out, and I suspect our Captain is preparing to send you out as well.

"This battle is quite critical. A caravan belonging to the Imperial Clan was robbed, and the matter has reached the Imperial City, so the higher-ups have made a firm decision.

"Whoever can kill this elite Northern Barbarian unit will be awarded triple the military merit!"

Zhou He's words caused Lu Yuan to raise an eyebrow; triple the military merit was truly a significant amount.

If he added this to his past military merits, successfully completing this mission should bring his total to over five hundred points.

At his current rate of venturing outside the city, it wouldn't be long before he could be promoted to a Thousand-Man Commander.

Once he reached that rank, he would be considered high-level leadership within Ice Plain City.

Above him, only Zhou Hongling would remain.

Most importantly, he had heard that upon reaching the rank of Thousand-Man Commander, one could exchange for higher-level cultivation resources and would also receive a chance to claim a new cultivation technique.

He would have a thousand City Guard soldiers under his command, and if he included garrison troops, the total number of men he could mobilize would reach several thousand.

With a Principal Seventh Rank official position, he would only need one more step to be on par with his second uncle.

After all, the rank above Thousand-Man Commander was Captain, which was a Principal Sixth Rank position.

That would be even higher than the rank held by Zhang He of the Zhang family's second branch.

As the two spoke, they arrived outside the Captain's Mansion.

While waiting for the guards to go in and announce his arrival, Lu Yuan opened his data panel.

Regardless of anything else, venturing deep into the wilderness to fight the elite forces of the Manyan Tribe was a dangerous affair.

He needed to see exactly how much his cultivation had grown over these past ten-plus days before giving his answer.