I'll write a manual called the Sunflower Manual, and the entire martial arts world will turn in

Unexpected benefits always make people feel uneasy.

He was penniless, had only just started training, and was a man... so there was really nothing for him to gain.

Although Xie An wanted these expensive resources, he declined them out of caution: "Boss, I just patrolled as usual yesterday and did nothing. I feel really guilty accepting this reward..."

Before Xie An could finish speaking, Zhou Wu shoved several items into Xie An's hands, feigning seriousness, and said, "You are a temporary auxiliary soldier registered in my river and lake administration. As an official, I am always fair in my dealings. If I say you have meritorious service, then you have it. Take these for now, practice your swordsmanship, and come ask me again if you have any questions later."

After saying this, Zhou Wu made an excuse to leave, giving Xie An no chance to refuse.

Watching Zhou Wu's departing figure, and then looking at the five taels of silver, a Qi-Blood Powder, and a copy of the Crimson Sun Saber Technique in his hand...

Xie An fell into deep thought.

"I feel uneasy about receiving this benefit. Could it be related to Senior Sister Li?"

Although Xie An was uncertain, considering the deaths of Lei Ming and Liu Ji yesterday, and Zhou Fu's request for Li Shengnan to invite Senior Brother Wei Xiang...

Xie An also vaguely realized something.

He took three items and left the courtyard, then found Li Shengnan and explained the situation.

After hearing this, Li Shengnan muttered to herself, "This Zhou Fu is quite resourceful. Knowing that I don't take any benefits, he's starting with my junior brother..."

After a pause, Li Shengnan looked Xie An up and down. "Since Clerk Zhou said you've performed meritorious service, you can take it. Consider it your travel expenses for coming to the River and Lake Bureau."

Everything went pretty much as Xie An had predicted.

Zhou Fu wanted to befriend Yong Sheng Martial Arts School, but Li Shengnan was too strong-willed to accept any benefits, so the benefits ended up falling into Zhou Fu's lap.

"Senior sister, should we inform our eldest brother about this?"

Li Shengnan laughed: "Senior Brother is already a Ming Jin martial artist, he doesn't need these few small gifts. You are now a formal disciple of the martial arts school, so just take it. Besides, if Zhou Fu wants to be on good terms with our Yong Sheng Martial Arts School, he will naturally give Senior Brother a generous gift. This is just a scrap, so there's no need for you to feel pressured."

"Since Senior Sister Li has said so, then I will accept it." Xie An felt no psychological pressure accepting these rewards. He simply didn't want to create any rift between himself and Senior Sister Li over such a small amount of money, which is why he made it clear.

"Zhou Limu just came to see me. Let's go inspect Yingyuan Village. It's almost time, let's set off."

"Yes."

After inspecting Yingyuan Village, they found no bandits or thieves.

The three of them chatted idly by the river to pass the time.

Xie An took the opportunity to take the Qi and Blood Powder and practiced the Bajiquan Dragon Subduing Form.

After a morning, the effects of the medicine had mostly worn off.

The progress of the Dragon Subduing Technique increased by five points, reaching a total of 20. Compared to the initial increase of seven points from the first use of the Qi and Blood Powder, the effect was slightly less.

It seems that the difficulty increased as the progress went on. It's also possible that the effects of the Qi and Blood Powder started to decline, and the body developed something similar to drug resistance.

After eating dry rations, I made my usual rounds of inspections in the afternoon.

Then there was nothing to do.

Xie An simply sat on the shore and opened the book of the Crimson Sun Saber Manual.

The cover has four large characters: Crimson Sun Blade Technique!

After a quick look, I found that the Crimson Sun Saber Technique consists of thirteen movements, divided into four styles: Crouching Tiger Stance, Sinking Press Stance, Pushing Mountain Stance, and Crimson Sun Stance.

The training method involves repeatedly performing these four moves, swinging the sword tens of thousands of times, until its power becomes apparent.

Simple and direct, emphasizing maximum effort.

In addition, it is paired with unique body techniques that enable body coordination and accurate power generation.

After turning the last page, Xie An became interested and immediately picked up his sword and began to practice according to the contents of the book.

Xie An already had a solid foundation in martial arts, so mastering weapons wasn't too difficult for him.

He raised his hand and slashed out with his sword.

The strike was swift and powerful.

Weapons are weapons; their power cannot be compared to that of fist techniques.

There are thirteen basic sword techniques: chopping, slashing, cutting, slashing, hooking, wiping, stabbing, thrusting, parrying, pushing, twisting, snapping, and intercepting.

Each movement is coordinated with corresponding breathing and body posture, showing great attention to detail.

Fortunately, Xie An had mastered the art of skin training, resulting in a strong and healthy body with good hand-eye coordination and accurate power exertion. Now that he had focused on his studies, he was making rapid progress.

Practicing swordsmanship was always tedious and boring, but Xie An persevered despite his gritting teeth.

Time passed slowly, and before we knew it, it was late afternoon.

【Red Sun Blade Technique (Tiger Subduing Stance): 2/100】

"Junior brother, it's time. Let's go back."

……

For the next seven days, Xie An accompanied Li Shengnan and Liu Wei on patrols of Yingyuan Village every day.

Forget about suppressing the bandits, we didn't even see a single bandit's shadow.

Life was incredibly boring.

But Xie An quite enjoyed this ordinary life.

Just like how he slacked off at work in his past life, he would patrol a little, and spend the rest of his time practicing martial arts like crazy on the banks of the Huai River. He was completely immersed in his senior sister, wielding both Bajiquan and Chiyang Saber techniques.

After days of intense practice, Xie An's progress in the Bajiquan Dragon Subduing Stance reached level 30. His progress in the Chiyang Saber Technique Tiger Subduing Stance also reached level 18.

After his daily patrols, Xie An would chat with Ah Shui for a bit, and buy a crucian carp to make soup. The two gradually became acquainted.

Xie An was able to learn about some things happening in the surrounding area from A Shui, especially what was happening along the Huai River.

As for the water monster, Senior Brother Wei Xiang did go to the Inner Cave twice, but didn't find it. The matter was eventually dropped. It's estimated that the river and lake administration spent a considerable amount of money to get Wei Xiang to make those two trips.

Seven days later, the water monster incident subsided, and Xie An's patrols were changed to once every two days.

That gives me extra time to practice martial arts at Yong Sheng Martial Arts School.

That day, Xie An arrived at the front yard of the martial arts school. As soon as he entered, Lin Chong excitedly approached him. "You've made something of yourself, kid. I heard you're doing well at the river police station and have even earned merit. I just successfully completed my skin-training. Come on, tonight I'll treat you to a pleasure boat and find a couple of prostitutes for you to enjoy."

"Forget about prostitutes. A meal will do." Xie An was still burdened with a huge debt of forty taels of silver and had no time to go looking for prostitutes.

"Okay, let's eat then."

……

Another month has passed in the blink of an eye, and it's September.

As winter sets in, the weather grows increasingly cold, and a thick layer of frost covers the ground.

Xie An continued his routine of going back and forth between three points. On this day, after inspecting Yingyuan Village, he had just returned to the martial arts school when he heard a group of people gathered together, talking loudly, and vaguely calling out Wei Dian's name.

"Lin Chong, what's going on inside?" Xie An called out to Lin Chong when he saw him.

Lin Chong hurried over, a hint of disappointment on his face. "It's Wei Dian. He actually broke through the Tendon Training Barrier. Logically speaking, he and you were at about the same level in terms of Skin Training, but unexpectedly, he broke through the Tendon Training Barrier in less than two months. He's already started working with weapons. Such speed. Liu Jiang, Mai Qiuyan, and Pang Tong also started their Tendon Training about half a month ago."

Is this what they call tendon training?

Xie An's heart skipped a beat as he looked at Wei Dian, who was surrounded by the crowd. Wei Dian also saw Xie An, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.

Although Xie An was insightful and didn't care much about these things.

But seeing the look in Wei Dian's eyes, he felt a little uneasy.

You have to understand, I've worked quite hard over the past month. Even with the blessing of completing the first level of the Sunflower Manual, my progress on the Dragon Subduing Stance is only 90%. My progress on the Crimson Sun Blade Technique's Tiger Subduing Stance is 78%.

As for Mai Qiuyan, Liu Jiang, and Pang Tong, they broke through the skin-refining stage as soon as they entered the sect. Coupled with their abundant family resources and daily drug use, it was not surprising that they broke through the tendon-refining stage.

Only Wei Dian's progress is simply too incredible.

Lin Chong lowered his voice and said, "I heard that Wei Dian caught a treasure fish near the inner cave. That's how he opened up his muscles and bones, improved his foundation, and broke through the training barrier. Hey, this guy was originally a poor kid, but now his future is limitless. Some people even say he has the potential to be taken in as a personal disciple by the master... The master is a martial arts master famous throughout the surrounding area. If he were to take him as a disciple, wouldn't that be incredible?"

Treasure fish?

Xie An's heart skipped a beat.

Is the effect of Baoyu really that outrageous?

The Inner Cave was once haunted by a water monster. Experts like Lei Ming and Liu Ji died there. Yet Wei Dian dared to go to such a place to catch a treasure fish. He's a ruthless character.

Just then, the panel started to move.

Xie An opened the panel and took a look.

A line of striking handwriting appeared before my eyes.

Chen Lutang's Sunflower Manual, Level 1: 100/100

After more than two months of hard work, Chen Lutang finally mastered the first level of the Sunflower Manual.

That means... I can spread the second level of the Sunflower Manual?

Before Xie An could think further, a line of text appeared on the panel.

[The repository owner has successfully copied a martial arts manual for posterity for the first time; reward is being calculated...]

What?

Are there any extra rewards?