Special physiques

Lu Mian had little to pack.

Just some money and the manual for the Five Tigers Soul-Chasing Blade.

As for the Turtle-Snake Boxing Manual, Bookworm Heart had long since turned it into a blank book, and he had already burned it as firewood.

After packing his belongings, Lu Mian did not rest. He began practicing the Tortoise-Snake Fist in his stone house again.

He had not even reached blood-qi perfection yet. He had no right to rest.

Ever since that night, Lu Mian's mindset had changed dramatically.

Most people believed that with an expert from the Sunflame Sect stationed in Thousand Chimes Commandery City, evil entities and supernatural horrors could hardly approach.

That night had proven as much.

It seemed that as long as they stayed in Thousand Chimes City, nothing would ever happen to them.

But was that really true...?

What if the next evil entity or supernatural horror was even stronger and more terrifying than that Sunflame Sect expert?

Lu Mian did not want to entrust his safety to someone else. He only wanted to grow stronger!

In life, he could only rely on himself!

The next day.

Still dressed in the distinctive gray clothes of a corpse collector, Lu Mian headed toward the gate to the outer city with a simple pack on his back and the Demon-Sealing Jade Token hanging at his waist.

The Patrol Guards on duty at the gate gave him a surprised glance, but did not stop him. They watched him stride into the outer city.

"Is that the corpse collector who passed the assessment yesterday?"

"Must be him... the first person from the Dust-Returning Courtyard to join the Guard Hall."

"He doesn't look much different from the other corpse collectors. Just a little bigger."

"I wonder which guard unit he'll join..."

The Patrol Guards whispered among themselves as they watched Lu Mian's retreating figure.

Lu Mian made his way through the outer city and arrived at the Guard Hall once more.

Everyone who had passed yesterday's assessment had already gathered there.

Even after a whole night, the joy on their faces had not faded. They chatted in groups of three or five.

Only Lu Mian stood alone in his gray clothes. No one came over to speak to him, making him look rather lonely.

He did not mind. He simply waited for the next arrangements.

Just then, a gaunt woman in white robes with sunken eyes emerged with several people behind her.

"Everyone, form a single line..."

The gaunt woman spoke listlessly.

Though no one knew who she was, they obediently lined up.

The gaunt woman approached the first person.

"What's your name?"

Her tone was flat.

"Li Yun."

The man answered hurriedly.

The gaunt woman nodded, then suddenly moved.

Her fingers were long and slender, with a faint white glow.

Whoosh!

She seized the man's arm and squeezed hard.

"Aah!"

The man cried out in pain.

"Ordinary physique."

With that, the gaunt woman moved on to the next person.

Is she testing our physiques and innate talents...?

Standing at the very end of the line, Lu Mian watched her movements thoughtfully.

"Ordinary physique."

"Ordinary physique..."

"Below-average physique..."

The gaunt woman tested them quickly.

A single touch of their bones and sinews was usually enough for her to make a judgment.

Then she reached the young man from yesterday's tenth arena.

"Ma'am, my name is Du Tai."

Before she could ask, the young man rubbed his hair with a good-natured smile and introduced himself.

The gaunt woman said nothing. She felt his wrist, and her expression shifted slightly.

Whoosh!

She released his arm and patted his back, including his cervical spine.

"Special physique... mountain-moving."

Hearing this, the young man rubbed his head. "Ma'am, what does mountain-moving mean?"

The gaunt woman's voice was hoarse. "Those with a mountain-moving physique possess boundless strength. They can shake even mountains."

With that, she paid him no further attention and moved on to the next person.

Another string of ordinary physiques followed.

Then she reached the petite woman from the ninth arena.

"What's your name?"

The gaunt woman asked the routine question.

"Lan Yingyue."

The petite woman answered.

"Hmm..."

The gaunt woman felt her bones and sinews, then said softly, "Special physique... willow floss."

Before the petite woman could speak, the gaunt woman explained, "Those with a willow floss physique have keen reflexes and can sense changes in air currents."

After that, she moved on to test the next person.

No more special physiques appeared.

Then came Lu Mian.

He was also the last in line.

The gaunt woman felt his wrist and seemed to hesitate.

Finally, she felt Lu Mian's spine as well, then said in a low voice, "Physique... above average..."

That assessment was only a little better than an ordinary physique. It fell short of a special physique.

Lu Mian felt no stir of emotion.

The original owner of his body had been an ordinary person. His above-average result was probably only thanks to the gluttonous stomach constantly digesting and devouring, nourishing him day and night and changing his bones and sinews. Otherwise, his physique would have been ordinary.

His real trump card was the Ten Thousand Ghost Furnace.

There was no way anyone could discover that just by feeling his bones.

Lu Mian was the last person in line. Without another word, the gaunt woman led her people back inside the Guard Hall building.

Everyone was speechless. All they could do was wait patiently.

Inside a tea room.

An old man with gray hair and a gray beard was drinking tea.

The gaunt woman entered and spoke respectfully. "Reporting to Hall Master Fan: the bone examination is complete."

"Only two special physiques appeared in this assessment."

The old man was surprised. "Two, you say...? What physiques?"

"Mountain-moving and willow floss," the gaunt woman answered.

"Are those two named Du Tai and Lan Yingyue?" the old man asked with a chuckle.

"Yes, those are the two." The gaunt woman nodded.

"Mo Dashan came to see me yesterday. Let Du Tai join his Golden Ox Guard."

"Assign Lan Yingyue to the Jade Rabbit Guard."

"Distribute the others according to each guard unit's staffing needs."

The old man spoke evenly.

Only special physiques could catch his attention. Ordinary physiques meant nothing to him.

"Understood."

The gaunt woman nodded and withdrew.

She returned to her office and quickly assigned everyone on the roster to the Guard Hall's twelve guard units, then notified each unit to collect its people.

Lu Mian and the others continued waiting in the Guard Hall's square.

The gaunt woman did not return. Instead, a burly man with sharply rising eyebrows arrived.

"Du Tai, Liu San, Ge Zhuangzhuang, come with me."

The burly man spoke bluntly.

The three whose names he had called hurriedly stepped out of line and left with him.

After that, one figure after another appeared, taking more people away.

In the blink of an eye, only twenty-odd people remained out of the original hundred.

Lu Mian was among them. No one had called his name yet.

He was in no hurry and waited quietly.

A dozen or so breaths later.

A middle-aged man with a careworn face and graying temples approached.

"Li Yun, Zhao Haoxuan, Xiong Feng, Lu Mian..."

The man called out every remaining name in one go.

"Follow me."

His tone was flat.

Lu Mian and the others followed him, moving swiftly through the Guard Hall's complex of buildings.