The Star River Era! The Dimensional Freedom Demon

"Alright everyone, I, Lu, am not some vicious villain. I came here today solely to settle a past grievance. Now that this matter is settled, we should return to our camp and not bother you any longer."

Ji Chen stepped on Tiger's corpse, using the guy's strong body to stand even higher, so that most people in the grass market could see his speech.

His words were mainly addressed to the wealthy families who had fled the city to escape the war.

"However, since you all came here seeking peace of mind, how about this: you pay a protection fee to my men every month, and I will personally guarantee your safety."

Since Ji Chen has said so, what else can they say?

The title of "jinx" carried enough weight, and the wealthy families who fled the city and tried to hide in the lake to escape the war had no choice but to accept it.

Moreover, having paid homage to the "jinx" Lu Xiao at the dock, aside from anything else, the White Sun Sect's chaotic soldiers would probably not dare to easily attack this place, and they could live more peacefully here.

The twenty-odd men that Ji Chen brought back were all beaming with joy as they went to collect protection money according to Ji Chen's instructions.

Half an hour later, Ji Chen took stock of the harvest.

Tiger's inheritance—no, the property he left with Tiger is about three hundred taels of silver.

There are more than forty wealthy families in this area, mostly from Changjiang, Shimen and Cili counties, as well as other areas affected by the Baiyang Sect, and some even fled from the prefecture.

Ji Chen collected ten taels of silver from each household per month, plus other individual households, totaling more than six hundred taels of silver.

This amounts to nearly a thousand taels of silver.

Looking at the scattered valuables, the soldiers brought by Ji Chen were extremely envious, but due to Ji Chen's intimidation, they only dared to look and fantasize.

Ji Chen smiled slightly and said:

"My brothers, you've all worked hard coming out with me. Without you guys, I couldn't have controlled the situation by myself. How about this..."

Ji Chen pondered to himself how much silver he should give them.

"Zhang will take two hundred taels, the rest of you will each take twenty taels, and the rest is mine. You have no objections, right?"

Zhang Shunwu was startled. "Two hundred taels?! No, no, that's too much. Lu Core, you should keep it yourself."

He thought Ji Chen would only give him a small amount, but he didn't expect Ji Chen to give him two hundred taels directly. Even a protector couldn't earn two hundred taels in a whole year.

He's missing one hand; even if you give him two hundred taels, he'll probably get a cut from the top.

The remaining soldiers were initially delighted, but then became terrified.

They weren't any proper soldiers or officers; they were just ordinary people before. They'd never seen so much money before. Twenty taels of silver—they might have the life to take it, but they wouldn't have the life to spend it!

The military camp is in such chaos. If word gets out, he might get beaten up and his money stolen one day.

So they all refused.

A kind-hearted man voiced his concerns, which immediately reminded Ji Chen, a guy from a highly developed society, of the "skinny monkey's" experience, making him feel a little ashamed.

This society doesn't have many rules; it's often a dog-eat-dog world where the strong prey on the weak. Without force, you can't protect your money at all.

Even wealthy families who fled were accompanied by martial arts guards.

"Alright then, Captain Zhang will still get two hundred taels. Don't worry, if anyone tries to take advantage of your injuries, come to me. If they dare to take even one tael from you, I'll get ten taels back for you!"

"And you, I'll hold onto your twenty taels of silver for now. I'll give you five taels this time, and you can come to me every month to withdraw the remaining five taels. Alright, that's settled. Anyone who tries to make excuses is disrespecting me, Lu Xiao!"

Zhang Shunwu felt a warmth in his heart. He hadn't expected that Ji Chen, who was supposed to have some disagreements with him, would actually protect him so much.

He had never met anyone like this before, with such magnanimity and breadth of mind.

Zhang Shunwu rubbed his eyes, feeling that there was sand in them, and they were a little red.

The other twenty-odd people were also deeply moved by Ji Chen's actions.

In all their lives, they had never met such a great person as Ji Chen, who always put their needs first. Compared to what Ji Chen gave them, the benefits they had received in the past were nothing.

From that moment on, they made a firm decision in their hearts that from now on, they would not lose out even if they sold their lives to Ji Chen.

On their way here, these soldiers, if not annoyed, were at least filled with trepidation.

But when they returned, everyone was all smiles and walked with a light step.

Back in the county town, seeing everyone in high spirits, Ji Chen went to a restaurant and ordered a table of delicious food, spending the whole night with them.

However, even though he wanted to enjoy himself with his subordinates, he only showed his face briefly in the main room, offered a few toasts, and then turned around and led Zhang Shunwu and his team into the inner room to eat.

In the military, the hierarchy must never be disrupted in the slightest.

If he loses his composure now, his orders will likely be compromised when he actually gets to the battlefield, and any slight mistake could cause him to miss the opportunity to win the battle.

Although Ji Chen was a novice in leading troops, his knowledge, which was ahead of its time and had been bombarded with information, still allowed him to make appropriate decisions.

After the excitement subsided, Ji Chen saw them off and then practiced martial arts in his room until he was exhausted before finally going to sleep.

This continued for three days in a row.

Ji Chen practices Qingyang Guyuan Zhuang in the morning and Zhentian Wuji Zhang at noon and in the evening.

Perhaps Ji Chen was nearing his limit. Although his progress in the Qingyang Solidifying Pillar was extremely rapid, his attributes were stuck at the threshold of the second transformation of Qi and Blood. Apart from the Energy column jumping up and down, the other attributes remained unchanged, which almost made him jump up and down in anger.

Isn't this a waste of his dimension points?

And his vital energy and blood-nourishing medicine.

If I had known this would happen, I should have saved up the dimensional points and qi-blood medicine, leaving more start-up capital for the next batch of apostles.

But it was too late for regrets, and he could only continue practicing martial arts with a depressed mood.

Consider it a chance to experience what it feels like to hit a bottleneck.

Ji Chen comforted himself.

He practiced diligently without ceasing, and although his progress in martial arts was slow, he gained many indescribable insights due to this invisible bottleneck in his aptitude.

He was only freed from his ascetic practice when Instructor Chen summoned him to the former county government office, now the council hall of the Baiyang Sect, for a meeting.

. . . . . .

"Currently, Master Lu and the masters of various branches of our Baiyang Sect are all in the capital region, confronting the experts of the imperial court. This has attracted all the experts of the Qing court. There are few experts at the third level of Qi and Blood in the southern states. We should do our best to seize this opportunity and capture a few more cities."

Chen Xianli stood in front of a map and began to speak eloquently.

"Moreover, the Qing court's Green Standard Army is scattered, intending to suppress us, the people of the Nine Provinces, with its vast network. However, the people of my White Sun Sect respond with overwhelming support, and they can organize tens of thousands of militiamen with just one uprising. This has instead hindered the Qing court from gathering its forces, leaving Jingzhou, Shuzhou, and Liangzhou defenseless. It is precisely the time for my White Sun Sect to advance with unstoppable momentum and conquer cities and territories!"