The Red Flame Army

"Not good, jump ship!"

Everyone's faces filled with panic as they hurriedly searched for planks, then leaped one after another into the icy river.

"Gulp, gulp, gulp..."

Some martial artists who were poor swimmers felt the freezing river water and could not help but despair.

"This really is an unprovoked disaster. Who would've thought there'd be such a fierce expert aboard..."

None of them even dared harbor the slightest resentment. They could only blame their own rotten luck.

Ye Quan clung to a piece of wood, doing his utmost to control his direction as he slowly swam toward the opposite bank.

His face was full of helplessness.

He secretly swore to himself that, even if it killed him, he would never take a boat with Lu Yun again.

Fortunately, he was a decent swimmer. Otherwise, he would truly have been in trouble.

Lu Yun paid no attention to the remaining lackeys. He casually grabbed a wooden plank and placed it beneath his feet, then leaped into the rushing river.

A powerful current surged toward him. He hurriedly circulated his qi and blood and activated his movement technique, steadying the plank as he shot toward the opposite shore.

He was as swift as an arrow loosed from the bowstring.

At this moment, his minor accomplishment-level mid-grade movement technique displayed its power.

Even in waters like these, it could keep his body steady.

Lu Yun carried his long spear over his shoulder, his body standing as straight as a spear. The wild wind swept up his flowing long hair, lending him an exceptionally carefree air.

In the river, the martial artists watched Lu Yun recede into the distance with awe-filled faces, envy swelling in their hearts.

A true man should be like this!

Clear Distance City.

Afternoon.

Lu Yun gazed at the towering, majestic city walls before him, feeling a little moved.

The walls alone stood over twenty zhang tall, their surface covered in mottled marks, as though time itself had left behind these adornments.

Copper gates over ten meters tall stood on either side, while a squad of soldiers clad in black armor guarded the entrance.

Lu Yun could tell at a glance that these soldiers were all Qi Nurturing martial artists.

Though martial culture flourished in this world, Qi Nurturing martial artists still made up the majority.

Internal Strengthening martial artists could already be considered elites.

Bone Forging martial artists were minor experts, with a certain degree of social standing.

Then, Lu Yun strode into this colossal city, as imposing as a mountain.

He casually found a passerby and asked where the Red Flame Army recruitment office was. Afterward, he headed all the way toward the western part of the city.

Shops lined both sides of the road in neat rows, their various small wares looking quite exquisite.

The streets were crowded with people. Hawkers' cries, along with the laughter and playful shouts of children and women, rang incessantly in his ears.

Before long.

Lu Yun arrived at a vast plaza in the western part of the city.

By now, several hundred martial artists were already standing in the open space.

An elderly clerk dressed in black sat behind a desk, registering information.

"Everyone, register your information first. Then hold up one of those black boulders for three breaths, and you will pass."

"After passing, come collect your identity token. A month later, ranks will be determined based on arena bouts, and the ten centurion positions will also be selected from among you..."

"Registration closes in five days. Maintain order at the site, or your eligibility to register will be revoked."

The elderly clerk pointed with his right hand at the three black boulders in the center of the plaza, his voice sonorous and forceful.

"Good thing I came early. Otherwise, I'd have to wait until next year's recruitment."

Lu Yun secretly counted himself fortunate.

But there truly were many people coming to enlist—over a thousand on the very first day.

Yet no matter how many geniuses there were, he had to secure one of those centurion positions!

Not only that, it would be best if he could obtain the position of first centurion.

The military had always revered the strong. With the title of first centurion, his path to rise would surely become much smoother.

Gathering resources was often like a snowball rolling downhill. Once he had a reputation, resources would naturally come pouring in.

Without a name or title, who would give a damn about you?

At this moment, martial artists began stepping forward one by one to register, then lift the boulders.

People came and went across the grounds in an endless stream.

"Zhang San, passed."

"Li Hao, passed."

The overall pass rate was around eighty percent. After all, these three massive boulders weighed only about a thousand jin each.

Any martial artist who had come to take part surely had some confidence in themselves.

After less than half an hour, it was finally Lu Yun's turn.

"Lu Yun, Chen Family Fort."

Lu Yun calmly reported his information.

He then walked over to the black boulder on the far right.

He bent his legs, wrapped his arms around both sides of the boulder, and with a gentle exertion of force, lifted it over his head.

Only after holding it for five breaths did he set it down.

Such an effortless display made everyone present look at him in a new light.

"Could this man have Inner Fortification strength?"

"I think it's possible, but judging by his clothes, he seems to be from the countryside?"

Quite a few martial artists began whispering among themselves, a hint of peculiarity in their eyes.

Since when had such a figure emerged from the countryside?

Today truly was a rare sight.

As the saying went, the poor pursued scholarship, the rich pursued martial arts. Without a certain amount of family wealth, forget practicing martial arts—even putting food on the table would be a problem.

Even if one forced oneself to train, the result would only be training oneself to death.

Thus, the vast majority of martial artists came from the powerful clans of county towns.

At the very least, they came from well-to-do families; failing that, their ancestors had once been prosperous.

Martial artists who could carve their way out of the countryside were almost nonexistent—one might appear only once every few years.

"Lu Yun of Chen Family Fort, passed. The barracks dormitories are behind the square. Take your token..."

The old man tossed out a token and placed a soldier's handbook on the table.

"Thank you."

Lu Yun smiled faintly, picked up the two items, and turned to leave.

From this moment on, he had officially become a proud soldier of the Red Flame Army.

Just as Lu Yun joined the Red Flame Army, at the Canal Gang's Combat Hall—

Hall Master Zhou Haichen sat sprawled imposingly in a tiger-hide chair, though his expression was somewhat ugly.

"You're saying someone killed my men over ten taels of silver, and even sank the treasure ship?"

"That joke isn't funny at all."

His tone was icy, killing intent bursting from his eyes.

"Every word is true. According to those who swam back, this man was extremely arrogant. He wanted to ride for free, and after Zhou Yong refused..."

Below the hall, a man in black knelt on the ground, trembling as he recounted the grievance.

"This subordinate also learned that this man has joined the Red Flame Army."

"According to several martial artists who were aboard the ship, there seems to be something wrong with his head? He acts without any taboos, recognizing only fists and violence."

After all, no normal person could do something like that.

To cause such a commotion over a mere ten taels of silver.

"I don't care whether he's truly mad or only pretending to be. Keep a close eye on him. If he becomes a centurion a month from now, prepare a generous gift and win him over."

"If he fails to make the cut, hehe..."

Zhou Haichen gave a cold laugh.

To him, profit came before all else. The dead gang members could bring no value, and offending a centurion over them was not worth it.

But if the other party was merely all show and no substance, then there was nothing more to say.

The Canal Gang was not so easy to offend.

Though they could not make a move openly, there was still plenty of room to operate in the shadows.

After taking a lap around the marketplace in the city, Lu Yun followed the number on his token to his dormitory.

It was a house built from piled stone, and from the outside, it looked somewhat shabby.

He pushed open the door and walked in.

Inside stood eight beds arranged in neat rows, the conditions rather spartan.

At this moment, seven of the beds were already occupied, leaving only one by the door.

"Oh... Brother Lu is here. What a coincidence."

Ye Quan's eyes lit up when he saw Lu Yun. He had not expected the two of them to be assigned to the same dormitory.

Seeing this, he immediately climbed off his bed with an eager look. "Let me make Brother Lu's bed for you. How could I let you handle such a trivial matter?"

As he spoke, he promptly snatched up the bedding and began laying it out.

Seeing that Lu Yun did not refuse, he actually felt a little excited inside.

Being able to forge even the slightest connection with such a big shot would bring endless benefits.

This man was a ruthless figure capable of contending for centurion.

If he did not cling to this thigh now, it would be too late once the other man rose to prominence.

This scene left the other six dorm mates completely baffled.

"Just what is this country bumpkin warrior's background?"

"Ye Quan is at least a warrior from the county town. He's really disgracing them."

Ou Dewen and Yang Tianxiao were both rather puzzled.

The two came from prominent county-town families, so they had formed two small cliques in the dormitory.

All six of the others followed their lead.

Although they looked down on Ye Quan's behavior, they could not be bothered to concern themselves with it. They merely drew a line between themselves and the pair in their hearts.

Over the next few days, Lu Yun familiarized himself with life in the military camp and read through the soldier's handbook.

Ordinary soldiers received the lowest pay—just one Origin Stone a month.

A squad leader received two, a ten-man leader four, a company leader six, while a centurion's pay rose to ten.

It could be said that military rank determined every warrior's treatment. The difference in every respect was as vast as heaven and earth.

A centurion could have a private little courtyard instead of squeezing into an eight-man communal bunkroom.

Even their weapons and armor were entirely different. Centurions could use high-grade ordinary weapons, while ordinary soldiers could only use low-grade ordinary weapons—the gap was immense.

Weapons were divided into: ordinary weapons, treasure weapons, spirit weapons...

Each grade was further divided into low, middle, high, and supreme grades.

Over the past few days, Ou Dewen, Yang Tianxiao, and the others had completely excluded Lu Yun and Ye Quan from their group.

Aside from the occasional greeting, the two sides rarely interacted.

Ye Quan remained delighted by this, looking every bit the lackey.

The more the others ostracized him, the happier he became.

Did that not mean he was even closer to the big shot? Their actions were practically divine assistance.

He could not be bothered to explain things to those six fools. When the time came, some of them would have regrets.

Lu Yun cared even less about what these people thought.

These days, all he wanted was to make money.

He had been somewhat short on spiritual items lately. Having grown accustomed to rapidly allocating points to improve himself, cultivating slowly on his own was simply torture.

Since the Red Flame Army only required morning drills, his time was quite free.

He was also considering how to get hold of another batch of resources.

Otherwise, it would not truly be certain that he could seize the title of number one centurion.

This batch of recruits numbered more than six thousand.

There were also quite a few experts at the peak of Internal Strengthening. If he wanted to sweep through everyone, his current mid-stage Internal Strengthening strength might not be enough.

He urgently needed a large quantity of resources.