Bone Forging Complete! Strength Advances Again!

The next morning, early at dawn.

Qin Jue sent someone to deliver the rewards to Lu Yun's private little pavilion.

Ever since the competition ended yesterday, Lu Yun had been assigned a quiet small courtyard with a pavilion in the eastern part of the city.

The Red Flame Army guarded all entrances and exits here, making it extremely safe. It was one of the benefits reserved for mid-ranking officers and above.

Of course, Lu Yun had made an exception and moved in here by virtue of his status as the First Centurion.

Ordinary centurions did not receive such treatment.

Lu Yun sat upright in his chair, looking at the great heap of spiritual treasures on the ground. They gleamed brilliantly, filling him with delight.

"Brother Qin is truly generous. He honored his promise that very day."

On the left was a small pile of one thousand origin stones. On the right were a golden tiger-head battle armor and a blood-red gilded spear.

Both pieces of equipment gave off a faint golden radiance. One glance was enough to tell that they were extraordinarily valuable.

"Top-grade mortal weapons?"

Lu Yun stepped closer, picked up the long spear, and gave it a light shake.

Buzz...

The spear gleamed as killing intent burst forth from it.

"Just as I thought. Only a top-grade mortal weapon could allow blood and qi to flow so smoothly."

This truly surprised Lu Yun.

According to the soldier's manual, ordinary centurions were generally equipped only with high-grade mortal weapons.

Not only did Lu Yun possess a top-grade spear, he even had a piece of treasure armor.

"Is this the privilege of the First Centurion?"

His all-out effort to seize this position had not been in vain.

Before long, Lu Yun put on the tiger-head helmet and chainmail lying on the ground.

Clad in gilded armor and holding a golden spear, he stood in the open space.

Clothes made the man, and a saddle made the horse. This immediately raised his imposing aura by a whole level.

Then, he began absorbing the origin stones on the ground.

[Lifespan +30 days, Lifespan +30 days...]

Before long, every origin stone on the ground had been completely absorbed.

His remaining lifespan increased by a little over eighty-two years.

His total lifespan once more exceeded ninety years.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Yun immediately added points to the [Marrow Cleansing Art].

[Lifespan -1, Lifespan -1...]

As his lifespan burned away frantically, his cultivation began rising steadily, as though it had no limit.

Late Bone Forging.

Bone Forging Complete.

Only after a total of forty years of lifespan had been consumed did it finally stop.

After so many breakthroughs, Lu Yun had grasped a trace of the pattern.

From early Qi Nurturing to completion required ten years.

From early Internal Strengthening to completion required twenty. By Bone Forging, it had become forty years, with the consumption doubling each time.

As for breaking through to the next major realm, he would need four times as much lifespan to deduce the cultivation technique.

In other words, breaking through to Blood Exchange would require one hundred and sixty years of deduction?

Skills were the same. A low-grade skill took five years, while a mid-grade one took ten years to reach completion.

A high-grade skill should require twenty years from minor mastery to completion.

However, now that Black Rock was gathering spiritual treasures day and night beneath the river, resources worth one hundred and sixty years could be collected in just a few months.

Once Black Rock grew stronger and explored the seabed in the future, the gains would likely become far greater.

Lu Yun checked the increase in his strength again. It had risen from four thousand jin to five thousand jin.

One must not underestimate an increase of one thousand jin. After being amplified by skills, the change in combat power was extremely obvious.

As long as martial artists had not achieved the Transcendent realm, the higher their strength rose, the harder it became to improve.

This was because a mortal body would always have its limits. Naturally, the closer one came to that limit, the greater the difficulty.

He discovered that every time he broke through a major realm, or advanced from the middle stage to completion, his strength increased by roughly one thousand jin.

Seeing that he still had fifty years of lifespan left, Lu Yun did not hesitate. He immediately added points to his spear technique and movement technique.

As his lifespan burned away once more, another round of improvement began.

It was as though he had entered a mysterious space, where countless insights into spear techniques and movement techniques surged toward him.

In the blink of an eye, the improvements were complete.

The [Indestructible Vajra Body] and [Snow-Treading Without Trace] had both reached completion, consuming a total of forty years of lifespan.

Twenty years for each technique at completion, exactly as Lu Yun had guessed.

At the same time, the spear technique's multiplier rose from 1.4 to 1.8.

Combined with his five thousand jin of base strength, his maximum burst could reach a terrifying nine thousand jin.

Before his breakthrough, his maximum burst had been roughly five thousand six hundred jin.

By that calculation, his attack power alone had increased by more than three thousand four hundred jin.

Next, he tested the changes in his speed.

He found that [Snow-Treading Without Trace] at completion was about fifty percent faster than at minor mastery.

His maximum speed had risen from twenty-four meters per second to a full thirty-six meters per second.

Even among experts at Blood Exchange Completion, such speed could be called astonishing.

Remaining lifespan: 10 years.

This improvement had greatly increased his strength.

It could be said that at the Bone Forging stage, Lu Yun had achieved true invincibility.

Even if he faced an expert tainted by demon blood, he would not fear them in the Bone Forging stage.

Just then, footsteps suddenly sounded outside the courtyard ahead.

An armored personal guard walked in.

"Reporting to Lord Lu, Thousand Commander Qin requests your presence for assembly."

The young man kept his head lowered, his face full of respect.

"Lead the way."

Lu Yun waved his hand, then followed him out of the courtyard.

When Lu Yun arrived at the central training ground, Qin Jue was already waiting with three centurions and a group of soldiers.

At the sight of Lu Yun's arrival, Qin Jue and the three centurions all smiled.

"You really brought honor to this old brother of yours."

Qin Jue laughed heartily and stepped forward to pat Lu Yun on the chest.

Since yesterday, the smile had not left his face. He bragged about Lu Yun every time he met someone.

"Come, let me introduce these three centurions to you. They are all capable officers under my command."

With that, Qin Jue pulled Lu Yun over.

"My name is Lu Yun. Greetings, brothers."

Lu Yun cupped his hands with a humble expression.

"Chang Qing, Pang Dalong, Wan Quxing."

The three men likewise smiled and cupped their hands, their faces full of curiosity.

Over the past two days, they had heard the First Centurion's name like thunder rolling in their ears.

Now that they saw him in person, he truly lived up to his reputation.

Judging by his aura alone, he was no weaker than the three of them. One had to know that they had cultivated for more than thirty years.

"A few other centurions have gone out on missions. I'll introduce you to them next time."

Qin Jue smiled.

"Today, we're mainly here to assign soldiers under your command."

"There are two hundred in total. You must familiarize yourself with the battle formation as soon as possible..."

"Two hundred?"

Lu Yun's expression froze.

Ordinary centurions commanded only one hundred men. Was this also a privilege of the First Centurion?

"That's right. The First Centurion is assigned an additional hundred soldiers. This is also customary."

Qin Jue explained with a smile.

Chang Qing, Pang Dalong, and Wan Quxing all wore looks of envy.

With an extra hundred men, along with the support of a battle formation, one's strength would increase greatly.

However, only the First Centurion of each term could enjoy such treatment.

Lu Yun was delighted as well.

He had not expected the First Centurion to possess so many privileges.

"The God of War Tower and the Heaven-Piercing Bridge in the center of the training ground are covered in the recruit manual, so I won't explain them further. These recruits are yours as well."

Qin Jue pointed at the two towering structures in the center of the training ground.

Lu Yun followed his gaze.

Two golden buildings stood in the open space, looking utterly extraordinary.

He had long heard of the special nature of these two buildings. They were said to be imitations of two spiritual artifacts within the imperial dynasty.

Each stage passed in the God of War Tower and the Heaven-Piercing Bridge could earn one quite a few origin stones.

Of course, clearing the stages was no easy task.

Aside from these two, there were many other things. Lu Yun planned to slowly explore them when he had the time.

His most urgent task was to take command of his soldiers.

These people would be the foundation upon which Lu Yun established himself in the future.

"All of you, step forward."

Lu Yun swept his authoritative gaze across the entire field.

Swish, swish...

Two hundred soldiers clad in red armor stepped out of formation, looking at Lu Yun with reverence.

"Greetings, Lord Lu!"

The crowd shouted in unison, their ringing voices echoing across the entire training ground.

Among the crowd, Ye Quan, Ou Dewen, and the others had excitement in their eyes.

They had all been assigned under Lu Yun's command.

"Work hard."

Qin Jue smiled and patted Lu Yun on the shoulder, then left the training ground with the three centurions.

Looking at the two hundred soldiers under his command, Lu Yun felt a little moved.

"With fists comes power."

A centurion was a Principal Eighth Rank military officer in the imperial dynasty, and wielded no small amount of authority.

Inspecting the realm and cleansing it of demons and evil spirits were all their responsibilities.

Even a Principal Seventh Rank county magistrate had to show a centurion great respect.

Such was the might of the Red Flame Army.

"Everyone, depart with me. Our destination is the Combat Hall of the Canal Gang."

Lu Yun waved his hand, then carried his spear over his shoulder and strode forward.

Now that he had this official status, it was time to probe the Canal Gang's depths.

"Your subordinates obey."

Two hundred men followed close behind.

The group surged forth in a mighty procession toward the Canal Gang.