Begin your practice with the crane-shaped stance.

As soon as Zhao Ting finished speaking, the atmosphere in the waterside pavilion paused subtly for a moment.

Xia Dong put down his wine glass almost without hesitation, stood up, and bowed deeply to Zhao Ting with a solemn expression: "Thank you for your guidance, brother. I will follow your arrangements."

He knew very well that making excuses or playing dumb at this time would only backfire.

Since Zhao Ting has extended this olive branch, it means that I must show enough "ambition" and obedience.

In this vortex of intertwined interests, only by becoming "one of our own" can we obtain the greatest safety.

"Haha, brother, please sit down. It's all thanks to the court's cultivation; I'm just going with the flow." Zhao Ting was extremely satisfied with Xia Dong's tact. He smiled and waved his hand, gesturing for Xia Dong to sit down.

Once Xia Dong was seated again, Zhao Ting picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and casually got to the point: "Brother, these batches of Wind-Controlling Talismans are hot commodities in our Eagle Wolf Guard and the prefectural city. However, releasing only Wind-Controlling Talismans is a bit too conspicuous; some people at the Thousand Household Office have already started gossiping. I'm thinking it's safer to vary our offerings. I wonder if you have any other sought-after items behind your back?"

Xia Dong understood.

Although the Wind-Controlling Talisman sells well, its use is ultimately limited.

Zhao Ting was probing him, trying to see just how many tricks his "channels" could pull out.

Xia Dong hesitated for a moment, but did not rule out the possibility of anything. Instead, he took the initiative and said, "That depends on what kind of supplies my brother needs most right now."

Upon hearing this, a glint flashed in Zhao Ting's eyes.

Instead of saying "go ask the higher-ups," Xia Dong directly asked "what do you need?" This confidence made Zhao Ting even more certain that the power behind Xia Dong was unfathomable.

He lowered his voice, his tone becoming much more serious: "Linyuan Prefecture has been suffering from a severe drought for years, and in recent months, there's been a resurgence of disease. The Wusheng Sect is using the guise of healing with talismanic water to aggressively recruit followers in the countryside. The prefectural city's Thousand-Household Office means that we must not only use swords to suppress the bandits, but also nip their ambitions in the bud. If we could obtain a large quantity of talismans for 'exorcising evil and curing diseases'..."

Xia Dong nodded calmly: "Understood. I'll figure something out."

Zhao Ting was overjoyed: "Brother, you are truly resourceful! I wonder how long it will take to receive this first batch of goods?"

Xia Dong silently calculated his current spiritual strength and talisman-making speed, and confidently gave a number: "Half a month."

……

In fact, healing with talisman water was originally the specialty of the rogue cultivator Zhang Ping from a thousand years ago.

The introductory chapter of the Taiping Yinfu Jing contains extremely detailed records of these low-level talismans used to expel epidemics and ward off evil spirits.

During this period of dedicated cultivation, Xia Dong has learned how to make disease-curing talismans in his spare time.

He didn't produce them in large quantities because low-level talismans easily lose their spiritual energy and are not easy to preserve for a long time.

...

...

Xia Dong returned to the Changchun Medical Clinic and immediately began making talismans.

The process of making talismans is itself a tempering of one's divine consciousness.

Every stroke of the brush, every outline of the spiritual pattern, requires the resonance of divine consciousness with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. In this process of extreme exertion and recovery, Xia Dong's divine consciousness not only becomes more resilient and solid, but also, imperceptibly, promotes the circulation of the "Eternal Spring Qi Circulation Technique" within his body.

Concentrate your mind to create talismans, replenish your Qi and blood, and use the Everlasting Spring Qi Circulation Technique to cleanse and refine your bones and bones.

Instead of slowing down his cultivation progress, making talismans became a complementary and helpful method.

half a month later.

As promised, Xia Dong arrived once again at the Eagle Wolf Guard's back hall with two hundred newly drawn "disease-curing talismans" that exuded a restrained spiritual aura.

Zhao Ting took the stack of talismans, personally drew out a few, and felt the pure and gentle spiritual energy fluctuations on them. He couldn't hide the joy on his face, thinking to himself:

"Excellent stuff! Truly excellent stuff! With this batch of disease-curing talismans, we can not only solve the immediate crisis of the epidemic, but also make a great contribution to the Thousand Households Office!"

Zhao Ting knew that this batch of talismans was the foundation for him to firmly secure his position as a centurion and even climb further up the ranks.

He immediately pulled out a secret letter from his pocket, stamped with the official seal of the Eagle Wolf Guard, and showed it to Xia Dong.

"Brother, this is a letter of recommendation for promotion written by my own hand. Tomorrow I will set off for the prefectural city to present these talismans and the letter of recommendation to the commander. You can rest assured and wait in the county. In half a month to a month, your 'General Banner' certificate and official robes will surely be returned!"

Xia Dong bowed and said, "Thank you for your guidance, sir."

When working, you should of course use your job title.

Xia Dong was very courteous.

Zhao Ting laughed heartily: "Brother, when I get back, I have another surprise for you."

Xia Dong smiled slightly: "Then I thank you in advance, brother."

He guessed that the surprise was probably the Purple Blood Infused Pill that Zhao Ting had mentioned before.

Since that conversation, Zhao Ting had never mentioned it again. But given his displayed martial arts talent, Zhao Ting was certain he knew what he needed most right now.

Zhao Ting didn't mention it directly, just to be on the safe side. If he couldn't bring her back, he could compensate Xia Dong with other benefits without losing face.

...

...

Xia Dong then bid farewell to Zhao Ting and returned to the Changchun Medical Clinic.

For him, the official position of "Chief Banner Officer" of the Eagle Wolf Guard was not a particularly tempting offer. What truly enticed him was the real power that came with the position.

According to the regulations of the Great You Dynasty, a fully staffed centurion's garrison should have five captains under its command, each leading fifty elite guards. However, in reality, Zhao Ting, the newly appointed centurion, currently only has the captains he originally brought with him.

The remaining four banner units were all empty shells. The imperial court only provided the positions and titles, but did not allocate sufficient military pay and training resources.

If Zhao Ting wants to become a true centurion, he must find a way to generate revenue, build up the framework of these four empty banners, recruit soldiers, and provide resources.

This is the fundamental reason why Zhao Ting spared no effort to win over Xia Dong, and was even willing to give her a powerful position as the chief commander.

With over a hundred households, Lao Zhao clearly needed to rely even more on Xia Dong as a source of income.

On the other hand, only when Xia Dong's interests are completely tied to Zhao Ting's can both sides truly feel at ease.

And this is exactly the result Xia Dong wanted.

On a deeper level, once Xia Dong became the commander-in-chief, he would have relatively independent authority over affairs and finances. He could legitimately recruit people in Pingyang County and use the resources at his disposal to cultivate a loyal following who would be completely devoted to him.

Moreover, the imperial court's influence was not deep in Lin Yuan Prefecture. The Eagle Wolf Guards here were practically "far from the emperor's reach," possessing a great deal of autonomy and freedom.

In the capital or in the prefectures firmly controlled by the central government, even if the captains of the Eagle Wolf Guard earned a lot of resources, they would not dare to secretly intercept them or develop their own power.

However, in Lin Yuan Prefecture, as long as one could deliver the required "tribute" to the higher-ups on time, many things could be overlooked.

Moreover, his later collaboration with Wan'er was made much easier with this cover.

...

...

Inside the main hall of Guyue Peak, Qixia Mountain.

A beautiful woman with graceful bearing sternly rebuked Qin Wan:

"Junior Sister Qin, how dare you open the secret vault behind Master's back and resell supplies! What is your punishment?"