From the fusion of Tongbei Quan to the Longevity Martial Saint

After evaluating each of their senior and junior disciples, each challenger would offer their comments.

Fang Wansan's approach was almost entirely encouraging.

Senior Sister Zheng usually provides extra guidance so that each disciple can gain something.

Fang Chulan withdrew her hand and raised her chin at Fang Qing.

"Barely passable!"

"Your skills are quite solid; you must have done a lot of hard labor in the salt fields before."

"To be able to block that punch from me, that's not easy!"

"Unfortunately, your aptitude is too poor and your thinking is too outdated. You spend all day training desperately on objects like wooden dummies. Even if you train for 100 years, you'll only be fighting inanimate objects, which won't improve your combat power at all."

"Furthermore, I just saw that you haven't even mastered the Internal Body Tempering Technique, yet you want to learn a spear fighting skill?!"

"They're utterly fearless. Don't they know that in martial arts cultivation, quality is more important than quantity?"

"Trying to do too much at once is utterly foolish; wanting to practice gunfight techniques is incredibly naive!"

"However, I can understand. As someone who came from the salt slave background of the Fang family's saltworks, it's quite impressive that you've reached this level!"

Fang Qing frowned, but did not refute. Instead, he clasped his hands in a fist salute to Fang Chulan and said:

"Thank you for your feedback, Junior Sister Fang!"

After speaking, without waiting for Fang Chulan's reply, Fang Qing turned around and walked to the back of the group.

As long as he passes the test, Fang Qing will continue to train in Zone C next year and will also receive Zone C resources.

Fang Qing believed that once his cultivation reached the fourth level of Body Tempering after the New Year, he would be able to obtain Grade B resources.

Therefore, Fang Qing was too lazy to waste words with Fang Chulan.

Fang Chulan frowned slightly when she saw Fang Qing calling her "Junior Sister" repeatedly.

Fang Chulan was still very unhappy to be called "Junior Sister" by someone with a lower cultivation level than herself.

At least Xie Yunzhou and the others had already started calling her "Senior Sister".

Fang Chulan snorted coldly, too lazy to even glance at Fang Qing.

……

After the offensive and defensive evaluations are completed at the end of the year, Shanhe Boxing Academy will enter the Chinese New Year holiday.

Fang Qing tidied up his things, put the white wax spear shaft back on the weapon rack, and greeted Xie Yunzhou.

The next moment, he packed up his things and headed back to the Jinsha Saltworks.

It was already noon.

In the afternoon, the last batch of refined salt from the saltworks was ready to be delivered to the salt warehouse.

After this batch of salt is delivered, the entire saltworks can take a break.

When Fang Qing returned to the Jinsha Saltworks, Yang Zhi had already arranged for oxcarts to be loaded with the salt to be delivered.

Fang Qing sat on the oxcart and walked towards a merchant wharf where they would be exchanging salt.

The salt merchants of Lianghuai were divided into salt merchants who produced salt and transport merchants who were responsible for transporting salt to Yangzhou.

After being loaded onto ships in Yangzhou and transported onto the Grand Canal, this batch of salt could be distributed to various parts of the north and south, and delivered to local salt and iron monopoly shops for sale.

Fang Qing and Yang Zhi sat on the oxcart.

Yang Zhi lowered his voice and said:

"Qingzi, news came before noon today that the Zhu Family Village has been completely wiped out by the Salt Patrol Guard."

Upon hearing this, Fang Qing raised an eyebrow.

Gu Changyuan acted swiftly and kept his word.

Fang Qing and Yang Zhi sat on the oxcart.

Yang Zhi looked around and, seeing that no one was paying attention to them, then spoke:

"Lord Gu specifically sent a salt patrol officer to inform us. Most of the people in Zhu Family Village, from top to bottom, have been apprehended. However, it seems that word leaked out, and several high-ranking members of Zhu Family Village, escorted by a True Yuan Realm expert, escaped ahead of time."

Upon hearing this, Fang Qing immediately frowned.

Given Gu Changyuan's decisive and efficient style, the fact that the news leaked out beforehand suggests that there must be some shady dealings within his team as well.

We just don't know who the mole is.

Fang Qing's brows furrowed even more when he heard that the Zhu Family Village actually had a True Yuan Realm expert.

This feeling of leaving things unresolved and causing future trouble made Fang Qing very uncomfortable.

It seems we need to be extra careful during this period.

Fang Qing was thinking about how to quickly complete the fusion of the three forms of the Breaking Army Returning Dragon Thrust.

At least leave yourself a trump card, so you have a final chance to fight back.

"My cultivation level is still too low. Otherwise, when facing a master like the True Essence Realm, I would be trembling with fear and on guard everywhere."

I must raise my cultivation to the fourth level of Body Tempering tomorrow.

Yang Zhi's voice then came:

"Lord Gu specifically mentioned to me that he will have the salt patrol guards keep an eye on the perimeter of the Jinsha Saltworks in the near future. Also, that True Yuan Realm expert fought Lord Gu head-on and was injured, so he shouldn't be out and about for the time being."

Hearing this, Fang Qing finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

As they talked, the two arrived at the ferry crossing where the salt was to be delivered.

After the salt is delivered, it will not be stored locally, but will be directly loaded onto ships and transported to Yangzhou.

At this time, a long line of oxcarts carrying salt had formed at the ferry crossing.

As the year draws to a close, the salt fields in Lianghuai will be rushing to deliver their last batch of salt for the year.

The bustling ferry crossing gradually developed into a business area.

There are vendors selling melon seeds, tea eggs, and various snacks by the roadside.

Similarly, some books are also sold there.

Fang Qing jumped off the oxcart, picked up a few books from the book stall, gave them a few coins, and then returned to the oxcart.

This last batch of goods at the end of the year must be delivered in full.

If anything goes wrong, Fang Qing, the cook, will be held responsible and may also implicate Yang Zhi.

Fang Qing dared not be careless about this last batch of salt, and he was almost always sitting on the oxcart.

Fang Qing bought several small books, one of which introduced the local customs and culture of the Great Qian Dynasty.

Fang Qing glanced through it briefly and still gained a lot of knowledge.

The other book is a small rectangular booklet.

The booklet was densely covered with text.

It looks just like a modern newspaper.

The first page contains a news article.

Bandits rose up everywhere in the Jiangnan region.

Fang Qing noticed that the salt bandits in the Huaihe River region were the most vicious.

The local government mobilized most of its forces, but suffered heavy losses and returned defeated.

Finally, the salt patrol guards were dispatched to defeat these salt bandits one by one.

Fang Qing continued reading the other messages.

A new batch of fine weapons arrived at the Treasure Pavilion, attracting a frenzy of bidding from powerful clans from all directions.

Fang Qing remembered that the wooden dummy that Shanhe Boxing Academy purchased last time for its training ground in Zone A was purchased from a branch of Zhenbaoge.

"I wonder if this treasure pavilion has the spear I need?"

The white waxwood spear from the Shanhe Boxing Academy was still a bit too light for Fang Qing.

It's fine for practice, but for real combat, Fang Qing plans to buy his own gun.

Fang Qing even saw news about the Fang family, the salt merchants, in a local news article below.

Since the passing of the Fang family's patriarch two months ago, the infighting between the eldest and second branches of the family has intensified.

The stewards and managers of the Fang family's various salt fields also took sides.

Currently, judging from the number of salt fields, the Fang family's main branch seems to have the upper hand.

Fang Qing frowned as he looked at the news, recalling some rumors he had heard from the Shanhe Boxing Academy recently.

Fang Qing also sighed helplessly.

However, the infighting among the Fang family's high-ranking members had little to do with Fang Qing.

Now he is only focused on his martial arts training.

Once his cultivation level improves, even if the Fang family is completely destroyed, it will have nothing to do with Fang Qing.

As long as Fang Qing can pass the martial arts examination, I don't care if I have to give up this kitchen job...

……