The fate of those martial artists who went to the Yi Province Militia's headquarters was predictable.
As for those with malicious intentions who wanted to cause trouble in Bo County, they were stopped by hundreds of Militia Private before they had gone very far.
They could either lay down their weapons and surrender, or be captured and interrogated.
If anyone dares to resist, the Militia Private will show no mercy!
These troublemakers from the martial arts world hadn't even reached the First Rate level, and they were powerless against the well-coordinated, leather-armored Militia Private!
After several groups of renowned martial arts figures suffered losses, all the outside martial arts practitioners understood the extent of Wu Shuangren's influence in the local area.
This is a true powerful figure in the province, someone that ordinary martial arts practitioners cannot afford to offend!
As a result, some people with ill intentions could only leave in disappointment, but others, seeing the strength of the Yi Province Militia, were tempted.
"Commander-in-Chief."
In the courtyard, Luo Heng stood beside Wu Shuangren and reported, "Of the twenty-seven martial artists who applied to join the militia a few days ago, eleven have been identified. Only five of them have a clean record; the rest have some kind of criminal record to varying degrees."
Wu Shuangren nodded upon hearing this.
After witnessing the formidable strength of the Yi Province Militia, and with Wu Shuangren, a legendary leader who had supposedly defeated Great Grandmaster, many martial artists who came from afar chose to apply to join the Yi Province Militia.
Wu Shuangren did not refuse, but instead instructed Luo Heng to send people from the Flying Feather Hall to investigate the backgrounds of these individuals.
"Let the five with clean records stay behind and send them to the base for training for a while to see how they fared."
Wu Shuangren instructed, "As for the rest, consider recruiting some into the Flying Feather Hall. The Flying Feather Hall also needs some martial artists from other regions as spies."
Luo Heng nodded. "Understood."
Wu Shuangren: "Is there anything else?"
Luo Heng: "The Flying Feather Hall branch in Shu Province has been initially established, and Deputy Hall Master Hou has applied to go there."
Wu Shuangren thought for a moment and said, "Alright, let him go."
Luo Heng: "The Forged Edge Workshop is already recruiting again. Should I place some people in it?"
After Zhang Da's case was settled, Wu Shuangren sent the Pu Lineage father and son back to Shu Province to prepare for the Forged Edge Workshop.
This was the promise he made to Pu Yuan.
He funded all the expenses needed to reopen the Forged Edge Workshop, and from then on, the Forged Edge Workshop belonged to the Wu family.
Wu Shuangren intends to leverage the reputation and connections of Forged Edge Workshop in Shu Province to build his own power base.
In addition, the Forged Edge Workshop will become his exclusive arsenal.
"We can appropriately deploy some personnel; Flying Feather Hall should use the Forged Edge Workshop to gradually establish itself in Shu Province."
Wu Shuangren said.
"Understood."
After reporting the important intelligence, Luo Heng accepted the order and left.
Shortly after he left, Lin Qian walked into the courtyard carrying a long spear.
"Shall we continue today?"
Lin Qian asked.
Wu Shuangren drew his Fish-Dragon Saber and walked towards his opponent. "Come!"
The two quickly assumed their fighting stances, with Wu Shuangren striking at Lin Qian first.
His internal injuries had not yet healed, so he did not activate his Internal Skill, and his sword speed was not fast.
Lin Qian parried Wu Shuangren's knife with his spear, also without using Internal Skill. He flicked his wrist, deflecting the Fish-Dragon Saber, and then thrust his spear at his opponent.
Neither of them was very fast in their attacks; it was more like they were exchanging blows and countering each other's moves.
Lin Qian's spear thrust was as vast and boundless as the ocean, capable of swallowing everything. All of Wu Shuangren's attacks were silently neutralized and deflected.
Suddenly, a flash of light appeared, abruptly breaking out of Lin Qian's spear stance!
This slash is like the moon's reflection, its image shattering and reforming amidst the surging waves of the sea.
Lin Qian abruptly lowered his gun and held it to his ear, blocking Wu Shuangren's sudden slash.
"How?"
Wu Shuangren asked.
Lin Qian remained silent, seemingly savoring the moment.
He slowly spoke, "Indeed, as you said, this is the ' Escaping One Saber,' which excels at finding the slightest flaw in a seemingly perfect move."
Wu Shuangren nodded. "But you still managed to block it so easily, which means I haven't mastered it yet."
During his recovery period, Lin Qian stayed by Wu Shuangren's side at all times, fearing that Wu Shuangren would be assassinated.
Wu Shuangren would spar with Lin Qian every day, and together they would work on the newly mastered "Escaping One Saber" technique.
Wu Shuangren could only fully utilize this sword technique when facing Lu Yulin, with the aid of the Traits.
When he sparred with Lin Qian, he could only display a portion of the power of his swordsmanship.
However, Lin Qian was only half a step away from becoming Great Grandmaster. With him as his sparring partner, Wu Shuangren's understanding of the Escaping One Saber deepened day by day.
Similarly, Lin Qian also benefited from this.
After all, this sword technique is a true Grandmaster- level sword technique. Even if Lin Qian only glimpses a small part of it, it will still benefit him in breaking through his bottleneck.
"This sword technique requires Internal Skill to be truly mastered. Let's spar again after your internal injuries have healed; the outcome might be different then."
Lin Qian said to Wu Shuangren.
Wu Shuangren nodded. "It will probably take several months for my internal injuries to fully heal, but I plan to go to Shu Province first, and I'll have to trouble Brother Lin to accompany me."
Lin Qian was taken aback. "What's wrong? Has something happened in Shu Province?"
Wu Shuangren shook his head. "Nothing happened, but there are some things I need to handle personally."
"Good."
Lin Qian didn't ask any more questions.
Shu Province.
About twenty li outside the city, there is a manor, which is the barracks of the Forged Edge Workshop.
The Forged Edge Workshop previously had over a thousand people, making it a large operation. It was involved in blacksmithing, charcoal production, and transporting iron ore, which was very inconvenient within the state capital.
Therefore, Forged Edge Workshop bought a piece of land outside the city and built this manor.
After Feilong and his Forged Edge Workshop, the place was abandoned for a time. Because so many people died, no one dared to approach it.
Now that Zhang Da, Feilong, and others are dead, the Pu Lineage father and son have returned here to rebuild Forged Edge Workshop.
At Wu Shuangren's request, the father and son spent money to buy several plots of land in the surrounding area and carried out large-scale construction, expanding the original estate to more than three times its original size!
The manor is now complete, and all the equipment and materials needed for iron smelting and knife forging are readily available.
Forged Edge Workshop is recruiting again.
With its reputation built over the past few decades, and the current Forged Edge Workshop is backed by Xu Cheng, the newly appointed deputy general of Shu Province, many people are applying for the job.
However, the recruitment announcement for the Forged Edge Workshop this time was somewhat different from what the outside world expected—
"What do you mean, 'I want to be an apprentice or a servant'?"
"Being an apprentice means learning blacksmithing and forging swords; later you'll be a crew member on the Forged Edge Workshop. Being a servant means taking up arms and receiving training; later you'll be a guard on the Forged Edge Workshop."
But I...
"Don't rush, let me finish. Both the waiter and the servant are provided with food and lodging, but their monthly wages are different. The waiter only earns fifty coins a month, while the servant earns one hundred and twenty coins a month, plus various extra bonuses."
"Ah, well... I'll think about it some more."
"..."
Everyone who came to apply had two options.
In the village, Wu Shuangren and the Pu Lineage father and son stood together, looking at the crowd queuing in the distance.
"Militia Commander Wu."
Pu Yuan turned to look at Wu Shuangren, hesitated for a moment, but couldn't help asking, "Did we recruit too many people this time?"
"Is it a lot? I don't think so."
Wu Shuangren smiled.
Pu Yuan: "But... at its peak, the Forged Edge Workshop had just over a thousand men in total, including all the masters and staff. Yet Militia Commander Wu wants to recruit three thousand this time... this..."
Wu Shuangren looked at him. "The Forged Edge Workshop suffered such a tragedy before because of its insufficient guards. Now that the Forged Edge Workshop is being rebuilt, it's only reasonable to recruit more guards, isn't it?"
"..."
Pu Yuan felt something was off. "So, how many guards does Militia Commander Wu plan to recruit?"
Wu Shuangren looked ahead, his hands behind his back:
"The more guards, the better."