Assignments

Fu Shaoping took stock of his gains.

Ten batches of Blood Qi Powder.

Only the first batch had failed.

The nine successful batches varied in quality.

Among them.

Two portions were Grade C, five were Grade B, and the remaining two had even reached Grade A.

Though the past few days had been exhausting, his accomplishments were remarkable, far exceeding his expectations.

Just then, the codex in his sea of consciousness flashed faintly:

Blood Qi Powder: Proficient (5/100)

Astonishingly.

From his initial grasp of the basics, he had advanced through the beginner stage, breaking through two ranks to reach proficiency.

Once his proficiency reached a hundred, every batch of Blood Qi Powder he refined would be Grade A, which fetched ten more Origin Shells.

He carefully tallied the figures.

Based on their quality, his nine portions of Blood Qi Powder could sell for forty Low-Grade Essence Stones. He had spent ten Low-Grade Essence Stones on clear-sky grass, sunflowers, and the other ingredients, giving him a profit three times his investment:

"No wonder everyone says alchemists have it good!"

How could they not!

He had earned three times his investment in pure profit.

This was skilled work of the most valuable kind.

Fu Shaoping became even more determined to use pill refining to support his progress along the path of cultivation.

He tucked the Blood Qi Powder into his pouch.

Fu Shaoping pushed open the stone door.

Junior Banner Liu, who had been resting on a recliner with his eyes closed, suddenly sat bolt upright.

Instead of the scorched smell that had drifted out before, the bloody scent of Blood Qi Powder assailed his nose. Junior Banner Liu's small eyes widened in disbelief:

"You refined Blood Qi Powder?"

"Thanks to your good fortune, sir, I managed to refine a few batches."

"What did you say?!"

Junior Banner Liu's voice abruptly rose several notches.

In just three short days.

The young man had not only successfully refined Blood Qi Powder, but had produced several batches!

The boy who had come before Fu Shaoping had failed to refine even a single batch in an entire year.

It seemed this lad truly had a talent for pill refining.

Junior Banner Liu's manner grew noticeably warmer:

"Not bad. Now that you can refine Blood Qi Powder, you barely qualify as a Pill-Refining Apprentice."

"If you're willing, I can recommend you to the Pill-Refining Hall. You won't need to go on field duty there. Field missions mean eating in the wind and sleeping beneath the dew, and one careless moment could cost you your life."

"At the Pill-Refining Hall, all you need to do is meet your monthly quota of pills on time. You can also study pill-refining techniques systematically under Master Qiu. Are you interested?"

An opportunity to befriend a future alchemist.

Junior Banner Liu was naturally happy to do him this effortless favor.

However.

Just as he expected Fu Shaoping to kowtow in heartfelt gratitude, he heard a reply that made him think his ears were playing tricks on him:

"Thank you for your kindness, sir, but I joined the Martial Suppression Bureau to carry on my father's dying wish: to vanquish demons, defend the righteous path, and uphold justice."

"Are you serious?"

"Sir, I mean every word."

Fu Shaoping's expression was utterly earnest.

The attributes of his fate dictated that he had to walk an unusual path, at least for now.

"Fine ambition!"

Junior Banner Liu no longer knew what to say. In the end, he could only chalk it up to youthful inexperience. He waved a hand, settled back into his recliner, and continued resting with his eyes closed.

Fu Shaoping left the Hundred Households Office.

When he returned to Wutong Alley on West Street, he found that the courtyard had already been cleared out.

Only then did he remember that today was their agreed moving day. All the neighbors had come to help, though what they felt most was reluctance to part. At last, a golden phoenix had flown out of Poorfolk Alley, yet he was moving away in less than a month.

Amid the crowded throng.

Fu Shaoping smiled faintly at Zhou Pan'er from a distance.

Seeing this, Zhou Pan'er felt the great stone weighing on her heart fall away at once. Many hands made light work, and there was little worth taking from their small courtyard anyway. The whole group headed merrily to their new home on East Street.

They shared a housewarming feast.

Only when dusk arrived.

Did Fu Shaoping finally have some time to himself.

The two slipped into the separate Alchemy Chamber, where Zhou Pan'er finally asked eagerly:

"Shaoping, did you really manage to refine Blood Qi Powder?"

"Yes."

"Then hurry and let me see."

Zhou Pan'er was rather excited.

When she saw five portions of Blood Qi Powder neatly arranged on the table.

Her eyes widened in disbelief:

"Shaoping, did... did you refine all of these?"

"Of course, Sister Pan'er. When have I ever lied to you?"

"Shaoping, you're incredible! I heard Granny Xue say that on your first attempt, if you could get..."

Zhou Pan'er stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence and turned to look at Fu Shaoping.

Fu Shaoping did not ask who this Granny Xue she mentioned was, just as he had not taken out all nine portions of Blood Qi Powder at once. After all, without the Mystic Mandate Codex, five portions would have been his limit.

Seeing that Fu Shaoping did not intend to break the clay pot to get to the very bottom of the matter.

Zhou Pan'er breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked at the Blood Qi Powder for a while, then at Fu Shaoping.

Her eyes shone like stars.

Fu Shaoping divided the Blood Qi Powder on the table into two shares, taking two packets for himself and giving the other three to Zhou Pan'er. Deeply touched, she nevertheless shook her head firmly:

"Shaoping, take my share of the Blood Qi Powder straight to the Black Market and sell it. Buy another batch of ingredients to refine more. Once your success rate improves next time, there'll still be time for me to take it."

She felt she had not been of any help.

So she should not take the Blood Qi Powder either.

But Fu Shaoping smiled and pressed the Blood Qi Powder into her hands:

"I'll find a way to get the Origin Stones for the ingredients. Sister Pan'er, if you hadn't given me the Blood Qi Powder recipe and gone with me to Seven-Mile Mountain to cut clearwood, I couldn't have refined these five portions."

After a round of refusals and insistence.

Zhou Pan'er could not prevail against Fu Shaoping and finally accepted them.

Tomorrow, he would have to report for duty and receive his assignment.

After days of pill refining, he was also utterly exhausted.

Fu Shaoping fell into bed in his new room and was soon fast asleep.

When he got up the next morning.

He discovered that a lavish breakfast had already been prepared in the dining room.

Since his assignment would be decided today, even the bedridden Madam Jiang had Zhou Pan'er support her as she saw Fu Shaoping out of the house.

Everyone was worried.

They did not know which commandant Fu Shaoping would be assigned to.

When Fu Shaoping reached the end of East Street, he looked back and saw that the three of them, including his mother and Zhou Pan'er, were still watching him from afar. Warmth filled his heart, and he quickened his steps toward the Hundred Households Office.

During his time in the rear compound's prison.

He had learned from Old Zhan.

That the entire Hundred Households Office had over thirty commandants, each authorized to command fifty Martial Suppression Guards, putting its established strength at over a thousand. At present, however, none of the commandants had a full complement.

They all wanted to replenish their ranks with fresh blood.

Among this group of Trainee Martial Suppression Guards becoming full members, there were two others besides him.

One was a commandant's son, who would naturally serve under his father.

The other had been sent down from above. Her exact background was unclear, but she was a female Trainee Martial Suppression Guard, a rarity Green Ox Town had hardly seen in decades. She was also about Fu Shaoping's age, only fifteen or sixteen.

When Fu Shaoping arrived at the Personnel Hall.

He found the hall packed with a dense crowd, every one of them wearing a Flying Fish Uniform embroidered with copper thread. They were the commandants who had come to compete for the new recruits.