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

The next morning.

After getting up, Du Changwei didn't go to training. Instead, he came to Xu Guang's side and asked in a low voice.

"Xiao Guang, have you broken through?"

Xu Guang's suppression of He Nian last night was far too easy. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt, and he couldn't help but ask early this morning.

Xu Guang smiled and nodded.

Du Changwei thought he had broken through to the Tendon Realm, but in fact he had already reached the Bone Realm.

"Hiss~"

You son of a bitch!

Du Changwei was both afraid that Xu Guang would be bullied and also afraid that Xu Guang was too talented and would look down on his sister.

"You must never betray Youniang again!"

Xu Guang: ...

"Brother, instead of worrying about that, you should worry about when you'll finally succeed in finding a partner."

Du Changwei was speechless, and said in a muffled voice, "Then in this year's grand competition, aren't you sure you'll take first place as the top official? You'll get promoted then, and at this rate, my dad will be your subordinate in a few years."

The military corps valued martial prowess and held annual grand competitions, starting with ordinary soldiers and progressing to officers and squad leaders.

Anyone who wins first place in their rank in the grand competition will be promoted one rank.

This year, the garrison troops of Shuozhou returned to the city to garrison, and there were already fewer people. Now that Xu Guang has broken through to the Jin Realm, wouldn't it be a piece of cake for him to take first place in the official ranks?

"Don't worry, if I get first place, I'll definitely promote you to a rank and put you under my command."

"Get lost! Just because you have good aptitude doesn't mean you can be so great! I'm going to practice right now."

Xu Guang laughed heartily.

However, he was also pondering whether he should reveal some of his strength appropriately.

……

Sun Yinglong, the governor of Shuocheng, looked grim as he stared coldly at the deer demon that had suddenly appeared in his home.

"You showed up at my house in the middle of the night. Do you know what the consequences will be if you're discovered?"

The deer demon remained expressionless. "Someone killed two of my brothers outside the manor. Madam would like you to investigate who did it."

Sun Yinglong almost spat out a mouthful of blood.

"What do you mean? You don't suspect I did it, do you?"

His chest heaved violently, as if he were about to spit out blood at any moment.

He was a pathetic governor. In this chaotic world, the lord of a city was like a target. The military governor Sun Ganxuan was his kinsman. Ever since he became the governor of Shuocheng with the help of the clan elders, Sun Ganxuan had been wary of him at all times and even sent his troops to arbitrarily garrison Shuocheng.

Although he had his own garrison and constables, they were nothing more than a rabble in the face of the regular army.

"Then who do you think would dare to attack us?"

"A while ago, a group of yamen soldiers went outside the city. They acted recklessly and I couldn't control them. It's highly likely that they were the ones who did it."

Before the deer demon could speak, Sun Yinglong continued.

"I can send someone to test you; you can identify the murderer yourselves."

Upon hearing this, a fierce glint flashed in the deer demon's eyes.

"I'll tear that person apart alive!"

After a pause, Sun Yinglong did not reply.

The deer demon subconsciously looked over, only to see that Sun Yinglong, who had been so angry at her words that he looked like he was about to vomit blood, was now staring at her with an indifferent gaze, as if he was angry because of what she had said earlier.

Why are you looking at me like that?

Sun Yinglong slowly turned around, expressionless, as if the person who had just experienced such emotional ups and downs was not him at all.

"This is the last time. If there is a next time, the Deer Clan will no longer be among the five tribes outside the city. You can have your wife try to threaten me again."

A chill inexplicably rose in the deer demon's heart.

He recalled what his wife had said when she came, and his voice became much more respectful.

"Rest assured, my lord, the lady says that the Tiger King has agreed to allow your people to enter the temple."

Hearing this, Sun Yinglong remained expressionless, his gaze lingering on the deer demon for a long time. "Remember, this is the last time!"

……

night.

Xu Guang's strength had greatly increased, and he planned to kill some more deer demons. He took Du Changwei's knife and went out.

Under Madam Deer's command, many of the deer demons in the manor have a history of saving people, which is a shortcut to accumulating good karma. Xu Guang plans to slowly kill all the lesser demons, as for Madam Deer…

If you come across it, you can give it a try.

However, Lady Lu was certainly capable of the legendary sorcery, and Xu Guang was still quite in awe of her unknown methods.

After yesterday's dramatic turn of events, the defenses around the manor have become increasingly tight, but what makes Xu Guang frown is that the patrolling people are not deer demons, but... people.

Looking at the people dressed in cloth and holding broken knives.

Xu Guang thought to himself that the deer demon in the manor was cunning.

These deer demons are smarter than the bull demons.

After observing for a while and confirming that there were no lone deer demons and no opportunity to ambush them, Xu Guang turned and left.

He did not return, but instead went back to his secret hideout, the dilapidated temple he had found earlier.

Back home, there were too many people, so he couldn't practice martial arts to his heart's content. He could only practice freely in the dead of night when there were no people around.

Boom!

A gust of wind swept through, causing the entire forest to rustle.

Then, large raindrops began to fall.

Helpless, Xu Guang returned to the dilapidated temple and lit a bonfire.

Fortunately, mountain rain usually comes and goes quickly, and this rain will likely last until dawn.

Orange-red flames leaped up, dispelling the damp chill of the mountains and tearing open the darkness within the dilapidated temple.

The firelight flickered, and the broken statue of the deity appeared and disappeared in turns. The head of the statue, which had fallen to the side, displayed different expressions as the firelight flickered, sometimes ferocious, sometimes compassionate, eerie and terrifying.

If it were an ordinary person, they probably wouldn't be able to stay in this dilapidated temple.

Bored while sitting, Xu Guang took out some dried meat from his pocket, tore it open and put it in his mouth. He then took out a medical book and read it by the light of the campfire.

Since reaching the fourth level of the Dragon Taming Technique, he has enjoyed eating whenever he has a spare moment, but he never gets too full.

The rain outside grew increasingly violent, accompanied by deafening thunder, and rubble occasionally fell from the dilapidated roof of the old temple.

Knock knock knock!

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the temple, as if someone was walking in the rain, their steps uneven.

Xu Guang's ears twitched slightly, his snake senses activated, and one hand instinctively rested on the sword beside him.

A dark figure cast a long shadow that stretched into the darkness, rain streaming down his body, carrying a chilling cold.

Xu Guang raised his head slightly to look at the person who had come. He was wearing a straw raincoat and carrying a large wooden box on his back. He looked like a scholar on the road, but his imposing aura made him seem more like a bandit than a scholar.

When the visitor saw Xu Guang sitting in the temple, a look of joy appeared on his face.

"There's someone here? Young man, it's fate that we meet. It's raining heavily outside, could I borrow a place to take shelter from the rain?"

Xu Guang squinted at the other person, his snake sense activated, an unnatural feeling flowing around him, as if... this person was not a normal person.

He didn't say whether he agreed or not, but instead asked.

"What do you mean by 'brother'?"

The newcomer removed his straw hat, revealing the face of a middle-aged man. His complexion was dark, with deep wrinkles around his eyes and prominent temples, but he lacked the vigorous and masculine aura of a typical bodybuilder.

"I used to hang out in the mountains, now I collect antiques and do some small business in the city."

Xu Guang's gaze swept over the large wooden box placed to the side. "May I take a look?"

The other party generously opened the wooden box, saying, "Take a look. This time, I collected some ancient books in the mountains. It's fate that we met. Brother, if you see anything you like, just ask."

Xu Guang stood up. "Brother, you are truly generous. I wonder if you could..."

"I need to borrow my brother's head!"

The next moment, Xu Guang suddenly drew his sword, his wrist exerting force, and the long sword swept across the campfire, leaving a chilling glint in the air before a sound could even be heard.

The sound of the long sword slicing through the air exploded only after it severed the head of the attacker.

A fierce wind and torrential rain swept through the mountain, surging into the open temple gates, while the bonfire leaped and thrashed about.

He struck successfully, but Xu Guang's expression was extremely solemn.

Because the tip of the knife... had no blood.

There were no murderous warnings in my mind.

This thing is not human!