Immortality begins with exchanging talent attributes.

Zhou Yan never expected that Chief Constable Wang Long would be so generous.

A full ten taels of gold!

That's one hundred taels of silver!

To be honest, Zhou Yan had never seen so much gold in all his life.

"We've won! We've won!"

After a brief moment of excitement, the smile on Zhou Yan's face slowly faded.

There's no reason for that?

It's true that I work for the Black-Clad Guards, but Wang Long is a county constable, so why would he give me so much money?

Zhou Yan tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his mind drifting back to the time when Wang Long had inexplicably come to the prison to cause him trouble.

"Could it be that he was acting on someone's orders? Could he be part of the same group that sent the assassins to kill him?"

He frowned and pondered for a long time, but still couldn't come up with any clues.

"Never mind, I'll wait and find an opportunity to ask Wang Longyao..."

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Zhou Yan memorized the name and then carefully put the bag of gold away.

People may have some problems, but money is innocent.

Besides his lifespan, what he lacks most right now is money.

After putting the gold away, Zhou Yan went into the kitchen.

I cooked a big pot of porridge with various medicinal herbs and brown rice. After thinking for a moment, I also cut up the last bit of cured meat I had at home and put it in.

Before long, the aroma of herbs mixed with the smell of meat began to waft out from the pot.

As Zhou Yan smelled the aroma, his stomach rumbled like thunder.

After merging with the power of nine bulls and two tigers, his appetite increased dramatically.

Ordinary food is no longer enough to fill his stomach.

Without adding medicinal herbs and meat, eating more of it won't do any good.

A moment later, Zhou Yan picked up a large bowl of medicinal porridge and began to eat it heartily.

As the hot porridge entered my stomach, the medicinal effects gradually dissipated.

Deep within his body, it was as if a sleeping beast had gently turned over.

Zhou Yan narrowed his eyes and let out a burp.

Cool!

……

Time flies like an arrow, and more than half a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

In August, Qingzhou County did not become much cooler despite the arrival of autumn; on the contrary, it became even more humid and hot.

The sky was overcast almost every day, but it never rained.

The number of refugees outside the city is also increasing. A few days ago, there was a riot, but it was suppressed by the Black-Clad Guards.

The price of grain in the city changes every day.

If this continues, the county town will soon collapse.

Within the city, since the Blackwater Gang was wiped out, the martial arts forces in Qingzhou City have almost simultaneously retreated.

Other gangs similar to the Fierce Tiger Gang were terrified and stayed hidden in their bases every day, afraid to come out.

They were afraid that the Black-Clad Guards might one day investigate them and eradicate them like the Blackwater Gang.

Several days earlier, Lu Qingshuang had personally led a group to Qingmang Village to visit Mo Yunfeng and retrieve the antidote pills that Mo Yunfeng had refined.

Having cured that group of refugees poisoned by the blood, the Wusheng Sect's plan seemed to have truly failed.

The Black-Clad Guards dispatched a large number of men from the prefectural city to thoroughly search the refugee camps outside the two main city gates, but found no one else infected with the blood poison.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Qingmang Mountain, after failing to capture Gong Changying, Shen Zhongheng and Lu Qingshuang, who had returned, joined forces to search and destroyed two Wusheng Sect strongholds.

It is said that the two strongholds still contain dregs from the refining of blood poison and several undisposed corpses.

Everything seemed to be over.

But Zhou Yan always felt particularly awkward.

Is it really that simple? The Wusheng Sect just casually releases some blood poison, attacks when discovered, and runs away when they can't win?

If he had to describe the Wusheng Sect in one word...

That's what they call "starting strong but ending weak"!

But when he tried several times to ask Lu Qingshuang his questions, she was always too busy to be seen.

But then he thought about it again, and realized that if even he could think of it, how could the Black-Clad Guards not have thought of it?

With that in mind, he temporarily suppressed his doubts.

Zhou Yan has been busy for most of the past month.

Now that there are plenty of medicinal herbs and he has connections with the Black-Clad Guards, he doesn't even need to go to prison anymore.

Aside from occasionally going to Zhu Asan's house for a meal and to play with little Zhu Zhu.

For the rest of the time, he stayed at home practicing martial arts.

The results are also extremely obvious.

He had mastered the third level of the Bronze Body Skill, and his realm naturally advanced to the Third Refinement of the Tendon-Changing Realm.

At the level of Yi Jin Jing (易筋经), one's strength reaches a thousand jin (斤).

Zhou Yan, who possesses the talent of "the strength of nine oxen and two tigers", has the strength of three thousand jin without revealing his full strength.

If he were freed from his restraints and returned to his original form, his power would reach a terrifying level. He had never tested the exact extent of his power, but it would certainly be no less than ten thousand jin of force.

However, he was nearing the end of the first three levels of the Bronze Body Technique, and he would still need to ask Lu Qingshuang for the next stage of the technique.

It is worth mentioning that after breaking through to the third level, his lifespan actually increased by more than five years, reaching thirteen years and ten months.

This gave him even more motivation to practice martial arts.

……

[The first three levels of the Copper Body Skill (Mastery), the Heavy Mountain Step (Beginner), the Tiger Subduing Fist (Proficient), the Collarbone Grappling Hand (Perfect), and the Body Tempering Technique (Perfect)]

In the courtyard, Zhou Yan, who had just finished practicing his punches, looked at the martial arts progress on the panel and felt excited.

Zhou Yan finally mastered the Tiger-Taming Fist.

This style of boxing is indeed very suitable for him; it is expansive, powerful, and domineering.

The moment the fist strikes, it carries the intent of subduing tigers and beasts.

Although intermediate-level cultivation techniques are quite difficult, with his current talent, he can say that he is progressing very quickly in learning them.

The main technique is the Chongshan footwork.

He spends the most time each day practicing the Chongshan footwork, but it remains almost unchanged.

"Could this 'Mountain-Climbing Footwork' be a superior martial art?"

Zhou Yan pondered in his heart.

He doesn't know much about the levels of cultivation techniques. He only knows about the lower, middle, and upper levels. He doesn't know anything beyond that.

Qingzhou City is still too small, and there is too little he can understand.

After considering the matter for the past two weeks and discussing it with Zhu Asan several times, Zhou Yan has made a decision.

He decided to follow Lu Qingshuang to the prefectural city and join the Xuanyi Guard.

Whether it's for a longer life or a better life.

He must possess a higher level of martial arts skills.

The Black-Clad Guards are currently the only force he can contact that can provide him with all of this.

Just as Zhou Yan wiped away his sweat and prepared to proceed with the next step of body training,

There was a knock on the courtyard gate.

dong dong dong~

His hand paused. If it were Zhu Asan, he wouldn't knock; he would just call out. Who could it be?

Zhou Yan's gaze fell on the courtyard gate.

He has repaired the gate that was damaged last time, and since he dealt with that assassin, no assassins have come to his door.

He never had a chance to ask about that small wooden sign.

"Who is it!"

As Zhou Yan spoke, he casually grabbed the coat next to him.

A voice soon came from outside the door.

"Is this Zhou Yan's house?"

The voice sounded somewhat familiar.

Zhou Yan put on his clothes and went to open the courtyard gate.

A man dressed in the uniform of a black-clad guard stood outside the door.

It turned out to be an old acquaintance, the very same Black-Clad Guard who had been guarding the gate at the Black-Clad Guard's temporary post.

They met twice more.

"Greetings, sir. May I ask what business you have with me?"

Upon seeing that the newcomer was a member of the Black-Clad Guard, Zhou Yan lowered his guard slightly, but was not completely at ease.

The guard in black smiled, unlike his stern face during their previous meetings.

"Brother Zhou, you're too kind. It's Commander Lu who wants to see you, and he specifically sent me to find you."

Lu Qingshuang is looking for me?

Are you not leaving already?

"Thank you for making this trip, sir."

Zhou Yan politely cupped his hands in greeting.

"Oh, I told you not to be so polite. My name is Li Kun, and I'm a few years older than you. If you don't mind, you can call me Brother Li from now on."

The black-clad guard named Li Kun behaved unusually kindly.

Zhou Yan glanced at the other person, and a white light appeared above their head.

[Speedy Legs (White)]

[The target state is stable; exchanging terms can increase lifespan by five years.]

Speedy!

Do you have a lot of hair on your legs?

He found it somewhat amusing, but showed no sign of it on his face.

Seeing that the other person's face didn't seem fake, he also flashed a row of teeth and said:

"Brother Li, I pay my respects."

"Haha, alright, Brother Zhou, shall we go?"

"please"

The two chatted and laughed as they walked out of the alley.

As Zhou Yan exited the alley, he looked up and glanced around.

Thick clouds hung over Qingzhou City.

It looks like it's going to rain.

……