One Dao Fruit a day, starting with the Dragon Taming Technique.

Three days later.

At the entrance of the South Street camp, a large group of soldiers in armor stood outside, with gray cloaks draped behind them.

The selection of soldiers was extremely rigorous. Each soldier was at least 1.75 meters tall, well-equipped, with gleaming armor and cold-blooded longswords, clearly a battle-hardened army.

There looked like a lot of people, but in reality, there were only 120.

All the passersby who witnessed this scene couldn't help but take a second look.

When a woman occasionally passes by, her eyes are glued to her.

Xu Guang stood in the crowd, with Du Changwei standing beside him, looking serious.

The leader of this expedition was Wang Gan, the head of the Sandu tribe, who had a relatively close relationship with Du Zhong.

With Wang Gan's order, the convoy loaded with supplies rumbled out of the city gate and slowly drove along the gray official road towards the outside of the city.

Outside Shuocheng, a vast expanse of land stretched out, divided into neatly plotted fields, where one could see lean tenant farmers in the distance.

Fields stretched out one after another, and interestingly, the closer to the mountains and the farther from the city, the stronger and healthier the people working in the fields seemed to be.

These are the fields of the prefectural army. The landowners are mostly prefectural soldiers. As the only army under the governor's office, the governor's office naturally would not mistreat its prefectural soldiers.

Some of the garrison soldiers stood in the fields watching the passing military officers with envy in their eyes.

Ultimately, those who join the army and risk their lives are seeking wealth and status, but the pay and benefits of the elite troops are truly enviable.

They were watching the yamen soldiers, and Xu Guang was also watching them.

The relationship between the governor's office and the military garrison is becoming increasingly tense. These garrison soldiers may have to don their armor and enter the city at any time, and they may become mortal enemies.

"Where is our medicinal herb field?"

"Two-Ben, who was next to Du Changwei, asked in a low voice."

Yang Zhen, a seasoned veteran, was already familiar with these matters. He smiled and said, "It's right at the foot of the mountain, almost next to the fields that were allocated to us."

The government troops were all allocated land, and the military officers were also allocated land, which was almost adjacent to the medicinal herb fields. They were responsible for protecting the medicinal herb fields. The military officers' fields were adjacent to the medicinal herb fields, and their relatives could also go to the medicinal herb fields to help with the work, which was also a source of income.

In addition, the government troops, auxiliary troops, and slave troops are stationed here year-round.

"You young people didn't experience the chaos of the Six Borders, and you don't know how precious food was back then. I bet you haven't even seen the fields allocated to you, have you?"

Yang Zhen said with a smile.

Du Changwei retorted, his neck stiff, "I've been there!"

Hearing this, everyone burst into laughter. Yang Zhen pointed to the distant field ridges and asked, "Then tell me, what's planted in the fields now, this season?"

A smile appeared on Xu Guang's lips, but his eyes were constantly looking around.

Not all fields outside the city are suitable for farming; there are also small hills and woodlands. These hills hold many things: temples, Taoist monasteries, fortified villages, and bandit camps…

According to what Bai Yue had mentioned earlier, the manor built by Madam Lu was located in this area.

He planned to familiarize himself with the terrain and find a way to inquire about it when he had time.

It would be even better if we were lucky enough to encounter a lone deer demon.

……

Military Governor Sun Ganxuan owned more than 4,000 mu of medicinal fields outside Shuocheng, a continuous expanse planted with all kinds of medicinal herbs. The closer to the center, the more precious the medicinal herbs were.

There are many earthen houses and some camps built in the medicinal herb fields.

The world changes, and demons appear, but not all creatures in the mountains can become demons. In addition to demons, some animals become ancient monsters due to bloodlines and other reasons, such as the legendary mountain goblin.

Qian Yue sent his troops to guard the medicinal fields because, as winter approached, many strange creatures in the mountains began to descend. In particular, some time ago, a human-faced ghost bear came down and killed many farmers who were cultivating medicinal fields, and destroyed nearly thirty acres of medicinal fields.

Xu Guang was also quite curious about the alien species, wondering if killing them would bring about karmic consequences.

Wang Gan assigned the encampment area to each team. Xu Guang and the others were assigned a pretty good location, with a watchtower built next to it.

"Everyone, please bear with us. From now on, two people will be on duty at the watchtower each day, three shifts a day, while the rest of you will train as usual."

Xu Guang stood on the observation platform, looked at the nine people below, and spoke loudly.

The previous challenge was scheduled for a certain year, and Xu Guang had made a lot of money with his men during this time. With Du Changwei as one of their own, the atmosphere in his team was quite good, and no one had any objections to his orders.

In the afternoon, Wang Gan sent a messenger to order three men from each squad to go up the mountain to guard the workers cutting down trees, so that they could light bonfires at night to deal with the alien species.

This kind of thing probably happens quite often, so luckily we can all take turns going.

Thus, during the day, everyone practiced battle formations together. Each group consisted of ten people, including archers, heavy shield bearers, sword and shield bearers, and spearmen, each with their own role.

In the afternoon, three people went into the mountains to cut down trees and store firewood.

It is worth mentioning that after Du Changwei learned that there were many wild animals in the nearby mountains, he took the initiative to go up the mountain every day.

He was the archer in the school, and his archery skills were outstanding. Naturally, no one objected, since they would eat the game together anyway.

In the evenings, we would sit around the campfire together, bragging, sparring, and practicing our skills.

Life gradually settled down.

Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.

A single thought can be good or evil; good results cultivate character, while evil results hone one's skills.

[6 lives lost, 7 lives saved; current order: Good (receive one good deed reward daily)]

[Bad consequences (226), good consequences (15)]

[Sex: Iron Body Skill (Level 3+)]

[Skills: Dragon Taming (Level 3+), Ghost Step (Level 3+)]

It takes 50 good fruits to upgrade Iron Body Skill to level 4, and I've only managed to reduce it by one fruit in the past few days of practice. Upgrading... seems a bit far off.

Xu Guang closed the panel and sighed silently.

……

late at night.

Xu Guang slowly rose, slung his long sword over his shoulder, wore only inner armor and an outer garment, and quietly left.

Ghost Step is not a form of light-footed skill, but it focuses on precise control of the leg muscles, so Xu Guang landed almost silently.

Having encountered demons twice, he guessed that demons might be very sensitive to human scents, so he sprinkled a lot of things on himself before going out, making his body smell very mixed.

Xu Guang wasn't sure if it would work, but he decided to give it a try first.

Xu Guang arrived at the manor where Madam Lu lived in silence.

He was very familiar with the surrounding terrain and easily found his way to a high point, where he quietly waited.

This was his fourth time here, but he had not encountered any deer demons yet. He could only see many human people through the lights of the manor, most of whom were emaciated and pale.

Time passed by, second by second.

Gradually, Xu Guang's breath almost completely disappeared.

……

"Who do you think came today? Madam didn't order us to patrol."

"Why waste so much time talking? I heard you're from the Demon Capital. Madam has always wanted to expand her business there. If only Madam could break through a hundred years of cultivation."

"From the Demon Capital? I've heard that people there can eat each other at will, and some even send people over from time to time. Could you sell them there, Madam?"

"You don't understand. Our lady is incredibly shrewd. Who else has so many young men?"

In the forest, two rather large humanoid creatures walked slowly, carrying lanterns.

Upon closer inspection, one can discover that both animals possess a pair of antlers resembling coral.

These are actually two deer demons!

The deer demon was not as large as the bull demon, and its human form did not seem to be fully evolved. Its entire body was leaning forward, and its head was leaning forward even more, relying on a short tail to maintain its balance.

Along the mountain path, two deer demons with black and yellow fur, wearing fur waistcoats, walked and talked.

In the darkness, Xu Guang suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the two deer demons dozens of meters away!

Finally... I found it!