After hearing Cheng Zongyang’s request, Li Lu thought for a moment and said, "Can do. I’ll go ask around for you this afternoon."

Next, Cheng Zongyang continued asking about the Thirteen Royal Families.

He had been quite curious ever since learning that a power greater than the Gate Valves existed—the so-called Royal Families.

A family that could grow to be called a Royal Family—so powerful that even the ruling Royal Family was reluctant to offend them—was truly formidable!

Unfortunately, Li Lu couldn’t dig up any more details about the Royal Families, much to Cheng Zongyang’s disappointment.

’If my family could reach that level in the future... I can hardly imagine what that would be like.’

’But I have the Wilderness World. All I lack is time. As long as I have enough time, coupled with the items and resources I get from the Wilderness World, it’s only a matter of time!’

"As for the war, that’s hard to say." Then, Li Lu moved on to the next topic.

"You know as well as I do that there are almost no outsiders in the County Town these days. The County Magistrate is the only one with access to real information, and I can’t exactly go and ask him about the situation.

To stabilize the county, the County Magistrate will spin bad news into good. Who can believe a word he says? The only thing that’s relatively clear is the situation up north. The Jin Kingdom has invaded Haining and Ji Yun, and the National Capital has gathered an army of three hundred thousand to resist them.

As for the Thirteen Royal Families, they’ve mostly been mobilizing their Martial Artists to fight back. Oh, right, the Court is also recruiting Independent Martial Artists. I almost forgot about that."

Cheng Zongyang was taken aback. "Recruitment drive? What recruitment drive?"

"It means ’hiring and conscription.’ The County Magistrate is planning to post a notice tomorrow or the day after; it’s a new official order from on high. The Court is hiring Independent Martial Artists from the general populace to join the army. The compensation includes not only money but also High Tier Martial Arts Techniques and Martial Arts Elixirs. If they perform meritoriously, they can join the Court, receive a salary and official status—it might even be possible for them to join the Six Paths Bureau or the Reincarnation Bureau."

"Although the Magistrate has arrested most of the Martial Artists in the county, he still hopes some Independent Martial Artists will sign up. That way, there will be fewer unstable elements in town."

After Li Lu’s explanation, Cheng Zongyang understood the situation.

With no civilian Martial Artists left in Jade Peak County, the Magistrate’s control over the County Town would be much stronger.

But if the war reached Jade Peak County, they would have no strength to resist.

’Then again, if even the Commandery City of Qianye Prefecture couldn’t hold out, there would be no point in this County Town resisting. A meaningless struggle.’

Cheng Zongyang fell silent for a moment, piecing together a general understanding of the past two months’ events in his mind.

"By the way, the Martial Artists in the jail... can you take care of them?" Cheng Zongyang asked in a low voice.

Over the past two or three months, he had earned a total of more than sixty thousand Points from killing fish. After deducting for his Cultivation in the Cultivation Room, purchasing items from the item bar, and spending Five Thousand Points on six Soul Crystal Stones...

The Crystal Stones had long since been fully charged at the Chaotic Burial Mound.

Now, all he needed were the corpses of twelve Martial Artists.

When Li Lu heard this, his eyes lit up.

The medicinal powder Cheng Zongyang had given him was the main reason he had been able to advance to the Eighth Grade in just two or three short months.

To him, the only "side effect" wasn’t a side effect at all. So, hearing Cheng Zongyang ask for more corpses, he assumed his master wanted to make more of that medicinal powder.

Although he couldn’t understand what corpses had to do with the powder.

"Is this about the powder?" Li Lu asked in a low voice.

Cheng Zongyang knew Li Lu was mistaken, but he was happy to let him believe it, as it saved him the trouble of explaining. He nodded and said:

"The current powder can only help us reach the Eighth Grade, at most. To advance to the Seventh Grade, we’ll have to rely on our own Cultivation. Or, we can wait for my master to research a new formula. Once he develops it, Uncle Li will certainly get his share. So, twelve corpses, the stronger the better. Can you get them?"

Hearing this, Li Lu’s expression turned serious. He nodded. "I can!"

’As long as it helps me reach the Seventh Grade, I don’t care if they’re Martial Artists with no background—even those with connections will have to die!’

’I could even find an excuse to deal with some civilian Martial Artists! After all, the County Magistrate wants a stable County Town.’

’Martial Artists are the biggest source of instability. Haven’t you seen how the Thirteen Royal Families united, with nearly a hundred thousand Martial Artists, to conquer two prefectures, sweeping through everything in their path?’

’The common people don’t need Martial Artists!’

"So, same as last time, all right?" Cheng Zongyang asked again.

Li Lu thought for a moment. "Shouldn’t be a problem."

"Done!"

After that, Cheng Zongyang and Li Lu fell into casual conversation, with Li Lu talking about various matters in the County Town.

He also asked about where the Medicinal Materials were being stored.

The plague had been dealt with, so the County Town naturally no longer needed such a large supply of Medicinal Materials.

Around noon, after lunch, Cheng Zongyang took his leave and returned to his residence to wait for Li Lu to visit that evening.

There wasn’t much to do in the County Town these days, so after heading into his inner room, he entered the Wilderness World.

He had already cleared out the newly refreshed item and acquisition tabs yesterday, so there was naturally nothing for him to do today.

After Shielding the prompts that appeared from killing fish, Cheng Zongyang summoned his interface to take a look.

——

Name: Cheng Zongyang

Age: 15

Lifespan: 15/98 Years

Realm: Seventh Grade (Bone Forging)

Points: 590

Skills: Archery (11756/20000, Specialization); Medicine (865/1000, Beginner Level)

Cultivation Techniques:

Body Refining Skill (2620/6000, Seventh Grade)

Martial Arts:

Basic Saber Technique (4931/5000, Adept)

Wind-Stepping Step (1199/7000, Refined and Masterful)

Great Strength Vajra Palm (3081/5000, Adept)

——

The bulk of the sixty-thousand-plus Points he had accumulated over the past few months—minus the items he purchased every three days—had gone toward his Cultivation. That was how he’d reached his current Realm.

Looking at his Points, Cheng Zongyang did a quick calculation, and his brow furrowed. ’How do I only have just over five hundred Points left?’