Liyang Dao City, Changfeng Guard City

"The eighth of next month?"

Lu He slowed his steps.

Ever since learning about the window period, aside from necessary rest and the farmwork he had to do each day, he had not dared waste even a moment.

Yet despite racing against time, the outcome he feared most had still arrived.

Today was already the twenty-eighth.

"So there are only ten days left, at most?"

He murmured inwardly, a grave look appearing on his face.

Too little. The time left for him was truly too little!

During this time, aside from cultivation, Lu He had also been asking around about the competition for window-period slots in previous years.

There were one hundred and three stewards in charge of managing the spirit fields in the herb garden. Their strengths varied, and naturally, so did the amount of spirit fields they managed.

The capable ones, like Steward Liu, managed several thousand mu and reaped enormous gains during the window period.

It could even be said that once one obtained his slot, there would be no need to worry about cultivation resources for the coming year.

The lesser ones managed only a few dozen mu. Whether they could earn any resources during the entire window period depended entirely on luck.

Thus, the intensity of competition differed vastly depending on the steward's slot.

But... even the weakest steward's slot would not be easy to compete for. After all, no matter how small a mosquito's leg was, it was still meat. Mid-stage Body-Shedding Realm cultivation was the minimum threshold.

At that thought—

"Mid-stage Body-Shedding Realm..."

Lu He unconsciously rubbed the jar of braised meat with his fingertips. The cool sensation calmed him somewhat.

Originally, the Body-Shedding Realm had no distinctions in level.

After all, this realm was a stage in which a cultivator's body transformed toward the immortal creature depicted in their Visualization Diagram. Move one part, and the whole body was affected.

There could not possibly be some fixed sequence like refining blood first and marrow afterward, as in the novels of his past life.

The early, middle, and late stages of the Body-Shedding Realm—

Were merely classifications privately devised by the many cultivating tenant farmers in the herb garden, based on differences in strength.

Over time, they had become a kind of consensus.

Even some stewards unconsciously used this division of realms.

The standard behind it was simple and crude—

Strength!

Less than five hundred jin in one arm meant early-stage Body-Shedding Realm; five hundred to one thousand jin meant middle stage; the limit of one thousand to three thousand jin meant late stage.

The mark of completing the Body-Shedding Realm—

Was breaking through the three-thousand-jin limit of flesh and blood, becoming wholly inhuman.

"My current one-arm strength is around three hundred jin. With the White Ape Dao Diagram and Scarlet Horned Dragon True Intent boosting me, and disregarding injuries, I can unleash seven hundred jin of force for a short time, but I can't sustain it."

"If I want to secure a slot, I'll probably have to choose the right steward and wait for the right opportunity before I have any chance of picking up scraps."

Lu He pondered silently.

Through his coarse cloth robe, he unconsciously touched the money pouch tucked against his chest.

Inside were his last two taels of silver, along with the remaining four leaf talismans.

These were all of Lu He's remaining assets.

If he sold the leaf talismans for silver and cultivated with everything he had over the final ten days, he could probably just barely reach the middle stage of the Body-Shedding Realm.

With all his trump cards revealed, he would have a fairly good chance of obtaining a slot from one of the lowest-ranked stewards.

But in that case, there was also a considerable possibility that all his efforts would yield nothing. After all, according to the rules, he would still have to give sixty percent of his harvest to the steward.

His thoughts shifted.

Lu He could not help recalling the sensation of his cultivation efficiency surging after he had activated the complete True Intent rune.

If he used these leaf talismans to comprehend the Scarlet Horned-Dragon True-Origin Visualization Diagram, perhaps he could raise the True Intent rune another level and attain even greater cultivation efficiency.

By then, simply cultivating while eating flatbread might match the effect of cultivating with braised meat at the beginning.

That was undoubtedly more worthwhile than obtaining the slot of a lowest-ranked steward.

Of course, after comprehending the Scarlet Horned-Dragon True-Origin Visualization Diagram to the fourth level, the difficulty had abruptly increased severalfold.

Lu He was not sure whether the remaining four leaf talismans could cause that complete True Intent rune within his consciousness to transform once more.

"Should I sell the leaf talismans for silver, buy braised meat, cultivate, and fight for a slot? Or should I... use them to comprehend the Scarlet Horned-Dragon True-Origin Visualization Diagram and proceed steadily?"

Lu He pondered in silence, but in the end, it became a helpless sigh.

"Damn it, I'm so poor~"

Before dawn.

"The herb garden closes at the hour of the Rooster. Don't forget."

By the main gate, a burly guard glanced at Lu He, took the slip from his hand, tore off a corner, then returned it to him with a bland warning.

"Got it."

Lu He put away the slip, then quickly passed through the herb garden gates and headed outside.

A faint trace of anticipation showed on his face.

In nearly five months since transmigrating here, this was his first time leaving the Azurehold Herb Garden and seeing the outside world.

Before him stretched a bluestone road five or six zhang wide, extending straight into the distance.

Walls and lush trees lined both sides.

At the end of the bluestone road, a vast cluster of buildings could vaguely be seen. Pavilions and towers stretched in succession, while lofty spires rose directly into the clouds, imposing and majestic.

After walking for two hours straight.

Noisy sounds gradually began reaching Lu He's ears.

People thronged within his sight. Carriages flowed endlessly down the center of the road, alongside ox carts piled high with goods. Restaurants and shops of every kind stood along both sides.

Not far away, a seven-story pavilion was especially eye-catching. Colored ribbons and glazed tiles covered its exterior, while lantern light cast brilliant radiance high into the sky. From time to time, strains of decadent music drifted out.

Through the doors and windows, the graceful figures of fairy-like women appeared and vanished...

Prosperous. Bustling.

That was Lu He's first impression of the city district, utterly unlike the Azurehold Herb Garden.

"What an enormous city!"

He silently marveled.

With Lu He's current walking speed, he had covered a full fifty li in two hours, yet he had not even left Sicha Ward, where the Azurehold Herb Garden was located.

Along the way, he had seen countless residential quarters and streets, with a great many people coming and going. By rough estimate alone, the population numbered several hundred thousand.

And Sicha Ward, as Lu He understood it, was not even considered large among Changfeng City's twenty-seven wards.

"Changfeng City was built against the Abundant Source Spirit Vein. It lies thirty thousand li west of Liyang Dao City in the Great Thunder Marsh, is famed for producing spirit plants and immortal grain, and is one of Liyang Dao City's five hundred guard cities..."

Lu He could not help recalling the various records he had read in the Changfeng Gazetteer at the school.

A look of astonishment rose in his eyes.

"Thirty thousand li to the west—then what about the other directions?

"But then again... can a city thirty thousand li away still be called a guard city?"

A strange expression appeared on Lu He's face. For a moment, he felt that the territory under Liyang Dao City's jurisdiction was likely beyond imagination.

"As expected of a world with immortals and gods. It truly is boundlessly vast!"

Coming back to himself, he forcefully exhaled a breath of stale air, checked the time, and suddenly quickened his pace.

He had to return to the herb garden by the hour of the Rooster. There was no time to waste.

Not long after.

Inside a certain weaponsmith's shop.

"Feel free to look around, sir. We have every kind of saber, spear, sword, and halberd here. As for quality, we rank among the best in Sicha Ward!"

As the shop assistant led Lu He farther inside, he introduced the place loudly and proudly.

Lu He's gaze swept rapidly across the weapons displayed on the counters to either side.

He could not help nodding.

He did not yet know how good these weapons truly were, but they certainly looked impressive.

He picked up a large saber and weighed it in his hand, only for a flash of disappointment to pass through his eyes.

"These are all too light. Do you have anything heavier in the shop?"

Lu He called directly to the assistant walking ahead.

At his words, the assistant turned and glanced back. His gaze drifted from the saber in Lu He's hand to Lu He's somewhat slender frame, and surprise appeared on his face.

As an assistant in a weaponsmith's shop, even if he was not a blacksmith, he knew a little about weapons.

With one look, he could tell that this large saber weighed at least seventeen or eighteen jin.

For an ordinary person, it already counted as a heavy weapon.

"You think this saber is light, sir?" the assistant could not help asking.

Lu He nodded.

Looks like he's a martial artist.

The assistant thought so to himself, and a trace of respect suddenly appeared in his eyes.

"Please wait a moment, sir. I'll call the shopkeeper right away."

The assistant replied quietly. Before his words had fully faded, his figure had already disappeared into the rear courtyard.

Only several dozen breaths later.

A vigorous, wiry old man hurried out.