The days slipped by unnoticed. In the blink of an eye, the mountain forests had recovered to forty percent of their state before the fire.

After the spring planting outside the city, time seemed to quicken its pace, as if swept along by a silent spring breeze.

Although the Wilderness Rice in the fields wasn’t cultivated with rotted-flesh soil, it never stopped growing, fed by the fertile land left by the fire and an abundant water supply. It now stood as high as a person’s calf.

The rice stalks swayed gracefully in the gentle spring wind. The farmers, with persistent smiles on their faces, busied themselves in the fields, personally pulling out the weeds that had taken root to compete for nutrients, as if they were weeding out the hardships of the future.

Here, at the edge of the fields, time itself seemed to have a life of its own, subtly changing everything in every corner, at every moment. It melted away the people’s former despair, dissolving into the playful shouts of children in the fields and the long, rambling conversations of the elderly.

In mid-March, under the shade of a tree near the border of the sizable new village and the fields, Cheng Zongyang was sitting cross-legged, practicing the Cultivation of his Breath-holding Technique. He then heard an excited voice calling out, growing closer and closer from the distance.

"My lord!"

"My lord! They’re back!"

But before they could get close, they were stopped by Li Xian.

"Gang Leader Zhao, his lordship is in the middle of his Cultivation. He can’t be disturbed."

Not far away, the low murmur of conversation from Li Xian reached Cheng Zongyang’s ears clearly.

"It’s fine. Let them come over," Cheng Zongyang said, slowly opening his eyes.

Nearly twenty days had passed, and his Breath-holding Technique had now reached the Beginner level. He no longer needed to deliberately practice his exhalations.

His breathing rhythm had almost become a habit. Except when sleeping, he would speak, walk, and do everything with a unique cadence.

This meant his Cultivation was now taking place at all times.

Soon, Zhao the Seventh and Li Xian came before Cheng Zongyang, one after the other.

"My lord!" Zhao the Seventh said with a joyful expression, cupping his hands. "Lord Li is back! He entered through South City and has already returned to the County Magistrate’s Office."

Hearing this, Cheng Zongyang also smiled. "He’s been gone for over twenty days. It’s good he’s finally back. Let’s go."

On the way, Zhao the Seventh gave Cheng Zongyang a vivid report of the supplies Li Lu had brought back.

Medicinal Materials, grain, and something locked away in several large chests.

Half an hour later, the group of three returned to the County Magistrate’s Office.

In the rear courtyard of the County Magistrate’s Office, Cheng Zongyang saw Li Lu, who looked travel-worn and had a more weathered air about him.

"Hahaha, Younger Brother Cheng." Li Lu was also very happy to see Cheng Zongyang. He said, "Fortunately, I didn’t fail my mission. I made a circuit of the towns around Jade Peak County and brought back everything I could."

"Old Brother, there’s no rush for that. Zhao the Seventh, go and make arrangements immediately. We need to hold a welcome feast for Old Brother," Cheng Zongyang said with a smile.

"Ah, yes, yes, yes! I’ll go arrange it at once." Zhao the Seventh was also excited, nodding repeatedly.

Two hours later, only Cheng Zongyang and Li Lu were in the main hall of the rear courtyard. Zhao the Seventh and the others had gone to arrange things for their subordinates.

On the table were fish, meat, vegetables, soup, and wine.

The spread wasn’t lavish, but in a County Town where food was scarce, it was a rare treat.

Of course, some of the vegetables and fresh meat were things Cheng Zongyang had brought from the Wilderness World and kept at his residence for his own consumption.

He had simply sent someone to fetch some of it from his quarters.

After a few rounds of drinks, Li Lu finally began to tell Cheng Zongyang about the expedition. Cheng Zongyang listened intently.

When he learned that almost all the towns had become ghost towns, he sighed with great sorrow. However, it had also given Li Lu and his men a good opportunity to gather Medicinal Materials.

From the rest of the story, he gathered that they had only brought back a little over five thousand *jin* of grain, as most of it had been consumed on the road.

However, they had brought back three to four thousand *jin* of the Medicinal Materials on the prescription list, and including other herbs, the grand total was five to six thousand *jin*.

Along the way, they had gathered some common folk and collected many flatbed carts and wheelbarrows, which gave them enough manpower to transport everything back to the County Town.

Of course, they had encountered dangers, but with an Eighth Grade Martial Artist like Li Lu present, those dangers were averted.

In the Xiangyang region these days, almost all the Martial Artists had fled; they certainly wouldn’t stick around to suffer.

All in all, the journey had its scares but no real danger, so it could be considered a success.

"Brother Cheng, come over here. I want to show you something good. I collected these especially for you."

With that, Li Lu put down his chopsticks and walked over to the three large, locked chests on the side.

Li Lu twisted off the locks on two of the chests, one after the other. After lifting the lids, Cheng Zongyang saw ingots of silver neatly arranged inside.

It wasn’t dazzlingly bright, but the visual impact was still powerful.

Seeing this, Cheng Zongyang’s heart gave a violent tremor. The first thought that flashed through his mind was—’The Wilderness World can finally be expanded!’

He looked at the excited Li Lu and asked, "How much money is this?"

Li Lu chuckled. "Aren’t you curious where it came from?"

Seeing his expression, Cheng Zongyang smiled. "They’re all of a uniform standard. They must be from either the Government Office or a merchant family’s hoard, right?"

As he spoke, he walked over, picked up an ingot, and examined it.

A few words were engraved on the bottom: "Official silver, thirty taels."

This meant it was official silver, weighing thirty taels. This was a standard engraving; even if it were privately recast, the inscription had to be included.

"Hahaha, it’s from a merchant family, of course! The officials’ money was long ago plundered by the Foreign Race. We found this underground in the residence of a clan that was wiped out.

"After counting, this one large chest holds five thousand and four hundred taels of patterned silver. The two chests together make ten thousand and eight hundred taels.

"Brother Cheng, it’s truly unbelievable that a single family in a town could possess so much silver. But now, it’s all ours! Hahaha!"