Martial Repository Pavilion

The Li Family's Martial Artists had two paths, internal and external.

Internally, they could join the Li Family Guard Team and protect the Li Estate.

Or they could become attendants to one of the Li Family's direct descendants, following them at their side.

Externally, the Li Family had established three Martial Artist teams: the Medicine Escort Team, the Ore Escort Team, and the Hunting Team.

Outside the city, the Li Family had reclaimed several thousand mu of medicinal fields, where they cultivated all kinds of herbs.

Thirty percent of Cloudflow County's medicinal herb supply came from the Li Family.

The Li Family had also trained quite a few pharmacists to refine all manner of medicinal powders and pills needed by Martial Artists.

The largest pharmacy in all of Cloudflow County belonged to the Li Family.

Besides the medicinal fields, the Li Family had discovered an iron mine a hundred li from Cloudflow County, with extremely abundant reserves.

Thus, the Ore Escort Team had been established.

The Li Family did not involve itself in blacksmithing, so all the iron ore they mined was put up for sale.

The Hunting Team, meanwhile, specialized in hunting Mutant Beasts for the Li Family.

Of the three teams, the Hunting Team was undoubtedly more dangerous, but its rewards were also greater.

Any Martial Artist with some strength and ambition would take the initiative to join the Hunting Team.

Newly advanced Martial Artists like Chen Xun did not even qualify to apply.

The Medicine Escort Team's base was not at the Li Estate, but near the Li Family's A-Grade Pharmacy, which was also Cloudflow County's largest pharmacy.

Chen Xun and Li Peng arrived at the Medicine Escort Team's base one after the other.

The one responsible for receiving them was a Li Family steward named Xie An.

"Welcome, both of you."

Xie An greeted them warmly.

"Greetings, Uncle Xie."

The moment Li Peng saw Xie An, his eyes lit up, and he hurriedly bowed.

"You are?"

Xie An looked at Li Peng somewhat doubtfully.

Li Peng quickly reminded him, "Uncle Xie, my father is Li Yuan. I visited your home with my father before."

"Oh." Xie An suddenly understood, and the smile on his face became noticeably more genuine. "So you're Li Yuan's son. Like father, like son—who would have thought you had become a Martial Artist too?"

As a result, Xie An also became much warmer toward Chen Xun.

Clearly, he still did not know about the conflict between the two.

Chen Xun did not explain either. Instead, he cheerfully followed Li Peng's lead, calling him Uncle Xie at every turn.

Li Peng's eyelids twitched at the sight, and fury surged within him.

That's my Uncle Xie. How thick is your skin, calling him so affectionately? Disgusting.

Li Peng suppressed the rage in his heart and decided that he would find Xie An alone later to clear things up.

Hmph, with Uncle Xie here, let's see how I deal with you.

Thinking of that, Li Peng's mood improved again.

Next, Xie An took the two around the Medicine Escort Team's base and introduced the team's duties and benefits.

The work was simple: escort the medicinal herbs produced in the Li Family's fields to pharmacies in other counties and towns.

Those pharmacies had all been established by the Li Family in order to expand its business.

Thus, the Li Family had set its sights on the surrounding counties and towns.

Then came the benefits. As members of the Medicine Escort Team, ordinary members could receive a ten percent discount when purchasing Blood-Strength Powder at Li Family pharmacies.

However, they only had one opportunity each month and could only buy one bottle, in order to prevent reselling.

Besides that, they would also have a chance to learn one martial technique for free.

As Martial Artists, what use was strength alone without methods to wield it?

Upon hearing these two benefits, both Chen Xun and Li Peng were quite satisfied.

"Our Medicine Escort Team has four squads in total. You've been assigned to the third squad. Its captain is a Martial Artist at the Blood-Qi Third Transformation—extremely strong and hot-tempered. Do not provoke him lightly,"

Xie An warned.

"Thank you for the reminder, Uncle Xie."

Chen Xun hurriedly said gratefully.

Xie An was very pleased with the polite Chen Xun.

Uncle Xie, don't let him fool you!

Li Peng shouted inwardly, then glared angrily at Chen Xun, only to be completely ignored.

"I'll take you to meet the captain shortly and have him look after the two of you."

"I still have that much face."

Xie An said with a chuckle.

"No, Uncle Xie, I'm not familiar with him. You don't need to look after him so much."

Li Peng wanted to make things clear to Xie An face-to-face.

But before he could speak, Xie An stopped him.

"You two are quite lucky. We just mentioned your captain, and he's already here."

Thus, Xie An led Chen Xun and Li Peng over to a sharp-featured young man.

"This is your future captain, Luo Shan."

"Luo Shan, these are two juniors of mine. One is Chen Xun, and the other is Li Peng. They've both just become Martial Artists and were assigned to the Medicine Escort Team. They'll be working under you from now on, so take care of them."

Luo Shan did not agree right away. Instead, he looked the two up and down.

When his sharp gaze fell upon them, both felt as if they were being watched by a fierce tiger, the pressure immense.

Chen Xun's expression remained calm. He coolly met Luo Shan's gaze, as though he had felt none of Luo Shan's pressure.

Li Peng, however, went pale. Cold sweat appeared on his forehead, his legs trembled slightly, and he did not dare meet Luo Shan's eyes.

"This one isn't bad."

Luo Shan patted Chen Xun's shoulder approvingly.

"As for this one, he's a little too timid. He needs to be taken out and tempered more."

Luo Shan looked at Li Peng with some disdain.

"Still, for Old Xie's sake, I'll take extra care of both of them."

"Then thanks."

Xie An chatted with Luo Shan for a while longer, then left Chen Xun and Li Peng in his care before turning to his own affairs.

"You two, follow me."

After Xie An left, Luo Shan's expression turned indifferent. After saying that, he walked off on his own.

Chen Xun and Li Peng exchanged a glance, then Li Peng immediately turned his head away.

Neither dared delay, and they quickly followed Luo Shan to his office.

Seated in a grandmaster's chair, Luo Shan spoke to the two standing before him. "Since I promised Old Xie I'd look after you a little, I will never go back on my word."

"You've just become Martial Artists, so I presume you haven't learned any martial techniques yet."

"How about this? I'll list the martial techniques I know, and you can see which one you want to learn."

"With me guiding you through the basics, I believe you'll master them proficiently very soon."

Luo Shan then listed five martial techniques in succession: Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique, Charging Bull Step, Iron Cloth Shirt, Berserk Ox Fist, and Python-Locking Grappling Hand.

Luo Shan had cultivated all five of these martial techniques to Minor Accomplishment or even beyond, enough to qualify him to teach newcomers.

After thinking it over, Xie An chose the Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique. It was the safest choice and the one that could improve strength the fastest.

Chen Xun, on the other hand, chose Iron Cloth Shirt.

"Are you sure?"

Luo Shan frowned at Chen Xun. "This is your only chance to obtain a martial technique for free."

"If you want more martial techniques later, you'll have to spend money to buy them, and they won't come cheap."

"I'm sure."

Chen Xun nodded firmly.

He already knew the Mountain-Splitting Saber Technique and Charging Bull Step, and his proficiency in both was nearly at the mastery level.

He was not particularly interested in Berserk Ox Fist or Python-Locking Grappling Hand. Instead, Iron Cloth Shirt, a martial art that could improve the body's defensive ability, intrigued him greatly.

"Fine."

Seeing Chen Xun persist in his decision, Luo Shan no longer tried to persuade him. However, the look he gave Chen Xun had already turned much colder, and his previous appreciation was gone.

At the side, Li Peng secretly rejoiced. Haha, Chen Xun, you fool. Instead of choosing a saber technique, you chose some hard martial art. What a joke.

Afterward, Luo Shan gave each of them a Hidden Martial Token, allowing them to choose one low-grade martial technique in the Martial Repository Tower. He then dismissed them and told them to go to the Li Estate's Martial Repository Pavilion to select the martial arts they wanted.

After choosing, they were to practice on their own first. If there was anything they did not understand, they could come directly to ask him.

As for missions, because the third squad had just completed a mission two days ago, they could rest for quite a long time—more than enough for Chen Xun and Li Peng to gain an initial grasp of their chosen martial techniques.

"Chen Xun, you're too shameless! Who gave you permission to call him Uncle Xie?"

"Do you even know Uncle Xie? How dare you call him that so casually?"

Once there was no one around, Li Peng, who had been holding it in all along, pointed at Chen Xun and vented his anger.

Before he could finish, Chen Xun strode away.

"Hey, don't go! I'm not done talking yet!"

When Li Peng angrily chased after him, he found that Chen Xun had long since vanished.

"Why did he run so fast? Is he rushing to reincarnate?"

"No, I have to tell Uncle Xie the truth."

"Once Uncle Xie knows the truth, he'll definitely help me deal with that mud-legged peasant Chen Xun."

Thinking of this, Li Peng was filled with excitement and hurried off to find Xie An.

But contrary to what he had imagined, Xie An not only did not come to despise Chen Xun as he had expected.

Instead, Xie An gave him a stern lesson, telling him to build a good relationship with Chen Xun and not act on impulse.

This infuriated Li Peng.

Yet he did not dare argue with Xie An. He could only force down his anger and displeasure, stiffly nodding in agreement.

I will never be friends with that mud-legged peasant.

After leaving the Medicine Escort Team's base, Li Peng roared inwardly.

Meanwhile, Chen Xun had already returned to the Xie Estate, entered the Martial Repository Pavilion, and begun selecting a martial technique.