Reward

After organizing all the essence blood, Lu Feng got up and left the cave. He flew dozens of miles out of the city and found a deserted place where he threw Zhao Long's and the four demon monks' storage bags far into a deep ravine.

After doing all this, he returned to the Demon-Slaying Bureau and headed straight for the Merit Hall.

He exchanged all the excess essence blood he had for a total of 58,000 merit points. Adding this to what he had left over, he now had a little over 80,000 Merit Points.

Then, at the monster blood exchange point in the Merit Hall, he replenished all sixty-eight kinds of third-tier monster blood in one go.

At this point, all the materials needed for the third level of the Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art are complete.

Lu Feng did not immediately return to break through.

He went to the armory and tried out the third and fourth-tier longswords one by one.

They all felt too light.

Finding nothing suitable, Lu Feng returned to the secret room.

Back in the secret room, Lu Feng sat cross-legged on the futon.

Strangely enough, after throwing away those storage bags, the faint odor in the room did dissipate, and breathing became refreshing, even making my cultivation much smoother.

He didn't delay any longer, and his consciousness sank into the system.

"System, upgrade the Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art to the third level!"

[Ding! The conditions for upgrading the third level of the Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art have been met. Do you wish to consume 100,000 Demon Points to upgrade?]

"Promote!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lu Feng felt his muscles, bones, and meridians all begin to heat up simultaneously.

A violent force surged from the depths of his limbs and bones, as if countless invisible hands were simultaneously pounding his body.

Every inch of flesh and blood was repeatedly compressed, broken, and reassembled.

The feeling was like having your entire body reforged; it was painful and lengthy, but you could also clearly feel the surge in power after each tempering.

What seemed like a long time had passed was actually just a moment.

[Ding! Hundred Beasts Body Tempering Art (Level 3)]

Lu Feng slowly opened his eyes.

I looked down at my hands; the surface of the skin was still smooth, but the texture inside was completely different.

Lu Feng took out a third-tier longsword from his storage bag and swung it forcefully at his forearm.

"When!"

The sound of metal clashing echoed in the secret chamber.

Where the blade passed, only a very shallow white mark was left, without even breaking the skin.

Lu Feng nodded in satisfaction, then activated the Immeasurable Golden Body Art, causing a layer of pale golden light to rise around his body.

With the two defenses combined, his physical strength has now reached a level that even he himself finds somewhat outrageous.

"Even ordinary Grandmaster would find it difficult to harm me in the slightest now!"

The surge in physical strength brings not only an increase in defense, but also a comprehensive leap in strength, speed, and explosiveness.

But the rapid increase in strength also had side effects; he became less adept at controlling his body.

The same movements require different adjustments in force, timing, and rhythm.

For the next seven days, Lu Feng didn't go anywhere; he stayed in the secret room, repeatedly working on the adjustments.

Swinging the sword, sheathing it, dodging, changing direction—each movement is broken down and practiced again until the new power is completely integrated into muscle memory.

Seven days later, the token at his waist suddenly began to vibrate.

Lu Feng stopped cultivating, took out the token, and channeled his Nei Jin. A message appeared before his eyes.

Qin Shuang returned and told him to go to the council hall of Commandant Su's residence.

Lu Feng changed into clean clothes and walked towards the council hall.

The council chamber was already quite crowded.

Zhou Si, Luo Fang, and a dozen other demon-slaying envoys stood on either side, dressed in dark-colored attire, listening to Qin Shuang was at the head of the table, say something.

The moment Lu Feng walked in, everyone's eyes turned to him.

Zhou Si and Luo Fang nodded at him with kind smiles on their faces.

Others were also looking at him, their eyes filled with curiosity and enthusiasm.

When Qin Shuang saw Lu Feng arrive, she waved for everyone to leave.

As Lu Feng brushed past the crowd, several whispered voices reached his ears.

"He's Lu Feng? He's the one who discovered the Origin Crystal mine in Azure Wolf Ridge?"

"I heard the reward alone was three Origin Crystal and one hundred thousand Merit Points!"

"More than that, the monthly salary of the entire Su Prefecture has increased by 20%, all thanks to him."

Lu Feng then understood why everyone was looking at him like that.

He walked to the front of the hall without changing his expression and bowed to Qin Shuang.

"Your subordinate, Lu Feng, greets Your Excellency."

"You're here, please have a seat."

Qin Shuang waited until he was seated before continuing, her tone more serious than usual:

"The matter of the Azure Wolf Ridge Origin Crystal Mine has been decided. The Su Commander's office will receive half of the mining rights."

"As the discoverer of the mineral vein, your contribution is indispensable. The department has decided to reward you with three Origin Crystal and one hundred thousand merit points!"

Three Origin Crystal, ten thousand Merit Points.

This number was even larger than Lu Feng had anticipated.

Zhao Long, a Grandmaster, had a total fortune of only 1,200 Origin Crystal.

Qin Shuang's opening statement was more than twice his amount.

"Thank you, sir," Lu Feng said, bowing.

Qin Shuang took a storage bag from her sleeve and tossed it over.

Lu Feng caught it with both hands, and saw that there were three thousand Origin Crystal inside the bag.

He then took out his token and handed it over. Qin Shuang took it, ran her fingers over the token, and 100,000 merit points were credited to her account.

After doing all this, Qin Shuang didn't let Lu Feng leave. Instead, her smile faded, and her expression became more serious.

"Zhao Long is dead. Did you know that?"

Lu Feng's expression remained completely unchanged.

"Ah? How did he die? I've been in seclusion for some time and know nothing about it."

Qin Shuang glanced at him and simply nodded.

"I don't know the specifics either; it was the Deputy Si Zheng personally informed me. With Zhao Long dead, Captain Zhao's command is leaderless, and the higher-ups are considering abolishing or merging it."

Lu Feng remained silent.

Whether there was a connection or not, Zhao Long is dead, that's a fact.

The fact that Qin Shuang didn't pursue the matter indicates that the higher-ups also didn't intend to investigate further.

"Miss will be out of seclusion in a few days. The Five-City Grand Competition is just around the corner, so prepare well."

Qin Shuang's tone softened again.

"If you need anything during this time, just let me know."

Lu Feng was waiting for these words.

He scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Since you put it that way, sir, I do indeed have two matters I would like to ask for your assistance with."

"Go ahead and say it. Anything that can help you improve your strength is fine."

"First, I need a heavy sword. All the swords in the armory are too light and uncomfortable to use."

"Secondly, I would like to inquire about a material called Bone-Tempering Sand."

"Bone-Tempering Sand?"

Qin Shuang frowned slightly, paced back and forth in front of the hall a couple of times, and finally shook her head.

"Never heard of the heavy sword incident. I can help you think of a solution."

"Thank you, sir."

Lu Feng didn't ask any further questions.

Qin Shuang had never even heard of Bone-Tempering Sand before. It was either an extremely rare natural treasure or a forbidden item that could only be accessed through certain specific channels.

It seems I'll have to find the Bone-Tempering Sand needed for the fourth level slowly.