After a great battle, the Han Residence was in a deplorable state, with bloodstains, corpses, and charred houses everywhere.
When the alarm sounded, all the Protectors joined the battle, and those who were not Martial Cultivators barely escaped, with no one putting out the fires.
As a result, the fires, which were not severe initially, destroyed many houses due to the lack of timely control.
After the servants cleaned up, as Lu Yu walked along the road, he could still smell a faint scent of blood and the burnt air.
Arriving at the logistics courtyard, today was the day to receive the monthly allowance, and there should have been a long queue to receive it.
But now, there were fewer people at the entrance of the logistics courtyard than usual, and there was no need to queue at all.
Lu Yu walked straight up and said he was there to collect this month's allowance.
Although he hadn't worked at the Han Residence for a full month, as long as he became an official Protector, he could receive this month's allowance within the stipulated time, even if he had just become a Protector like Wang Can.
"Name?"
"Lu Yu."
The account manager quickly found Lu Yu's information, "Lu Yu, Outer Courtyard Protector, Body Refinement Stage One. Monthly allowance: 30 Gold Coins and 20 Marching Pills."
After that, he took two bags from the cabinet behind him and placed them in front of Lu Yu.
He picked up the small cloth bag, feeling the flat objects inside, which should be Gold Coins. The other bag felt round and spherical, like Marching Pills.
"Next." called the account manager.
Seeing Lu Yu still standing there, the account manager said, "Why are you still here? Is there a problem?"
"No, no problem." Lu Yu quietly put the items into his backpack and continued, "I have some other things I would like to collect."
"The Steward Zhang said that within a month, I can collect one Body Refining Pill a day, so I would like to collect them all at once now."
"Wait a moment." The account manager quickly flipped through the account book and found the record he was referring to.
"Hmm, there is indeed such a record, but it states one pill a day. Although this is the case, I can't give you all at once; it's against the rules."
Just as Lu Yu was about to persuade the account manager, Wang Qiang walked out from the courtyard inside.
Seeing Lu Yu standing at the door, Wang Qiang was pleasantly surprised, saying, "You're okay? That's great, I thought something happened to you!"
"What could happen to me? After the alarm was blown, I hid. I got lucky and wasn't hurt."
"But why are you here? Haven't you already entered the Inner Courtyard?" Lu Yu asked curiously.
"Well, the original account manager was killed, so they brought in a new one, and I was sent to manage the logistics courtyard temporarily. After all, I just entered the Inner Courtyard and am still familiar with the Outer Courtyard, so they dispatched me."
"Why are you at the logistics courtyard?" Wang Qiang asked. Seeing a few people lined up behind Lu Yu, he patted his forehead, suddenly realizing.
"So today is the day to collect the monthly allowance. I've been so busy that I forgot; you're here to receive the allowance, right?" He glanced at the account manager and said, "Bring Lu Yu's monthly allowance."
The account manager seemed helpless, explaining, "I've already given it to him."
Lu Yu explained his desire to take all the Body Refining Pills promised by the Steward Zhang at once to Wang Qiang.
Wang Qiang waved his hand, "No problem, go and bring out Lu Yu's Body Refining Pills, I'll take responsibility if anything happens."
He knew how much Steward Zhang valued Lu Yu, and this was just a small issue. Steward Zhang wouldn't blame him.
After all, those things belonged to Lu Yu in the first place, he was just giving them to him in advance.
Lu Yu stopped the account manager who was about to get the items, saying, "Wait a moment."
Thought for a moment, he decided to reveal some of his strength, saying, "I'm already close to reaching Body Refinement Stage Three, so the Body Refining Pills aren't as effective for me. I want to exchange them for equivalent Qi Blood Pills, is that okay?"
Wang Qiang was very surprised to hear this, not expecting Lu Yu's strength to improve so quickly, advancing to Body Refinement Stage Two close to Stage Three in such a short time.
After a moment of hesitation, Wang Qiang decisively said, "Exchange the Body Refining Pills for equivalent Qi Blood Pills, I'll bear all the consequences."
He had thought it through, the stronger Lu Yu's talent, the greater Steward Zhang's expectations for him, and the more he valued him.
The account manager, seeing him say this, didn't object and went to the warehouse to get the items.
"According to the account book, you still have 16 Body Refining Pills to be collected; the value of one Qi Blood Pill is equivalent to 8 Body Refining Pills, just right for two Qi Blood Pills."
The account manager handed the porcelain bottle containing two Qi Blood Pills to Lu Yu, who opened it to see two light red pills inside.
After securing it, he said to Wang Qiang, "Thanks, if you need anything in the future, you can ask for my help."
Lu Yu clearly understood Wang Qiang's intentions in taking the risk to help him; their relationship wasn't that close, so Lu Yu simply made things clear.
He helped him this time, and Lu Yu owed him a favor.
Wang Qiang smiled upon hearing this, saying, "Alright."
After obtaining the Qi Blood Pills, Lu Yu left the logistics courtyard, as the people queued up behind would get angry if he didn't leave soon.
In the game store, a Qi Blood Pill costs 600 points, and a Body Refining Pill costs 100 points. Calculating like this, the Qi Blood Pill in the store is a bit cheaper.
Lu Yu thought as he walked, but he had no intention to pay money to buy the Qi Blood Pill. This game was not something he could afford to spend on.
He took out a Gold Coin, which was about the size of a one-yuan coin, but it probably wasn't pure gold.
Because it was very hard, and now Lu Yu's strength far exceeded that of ordinary people, yet he still couldn't leave a mark on the Gold Coin.
The front of the Gold Coin had the portrait of the current emperor, and the back featured a crossed X formed by a battle spear and battle flag, symbolizing the strongest army of the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The craftsmanship was very exquisite, and even the patterns on the battle flag, Lu Yu could see clearly.
[Detected that the player holds 30 Gold Coins, would you like to recharge?]
[Tip: 1 Gold Coin = 10 points]
Lu Yu was very surprised, Gold Coins could also be used to recharge points?
After opening the recharge button in the store, Lu Yu confirmed that, besides RMB, the in-game currency could also be used to recharge points, but the minimum starting point was Gold Coins.
Silver Coins and Copper Coins could not be used to recharge points.
Hesitating for a moment, Lu Yu put away the Gold Coins and did not choose to recharge, as the cheapest item in the store also required 100 points, which equaled 10 Gold Coins.
Recharging less than 10 Gold Coins wouldn't buy you a single item.
Although Lu Yu really wanted a Long-Distance Communication Talisman, he only had 30 Gold Coins on hand, which would only buy him three Long-Distance Communication Talismans, enough for just three messages to Su Peng.
After thinking about it, Lu Yu decided against it.
After so many days, he wasn't as eager to know the secrets of the game as he initially was, knowing he'd find out eventually.
The money could be used for other things while he kept it on him, and points could be recharged anytime.
Lu Yu put away the Gold Coins and walked towards his courtyard, bumping into a familiar face.
"Lu Yu, just the person I was looking for, come with me." The speaker was Zhang Lun, the very person who had put Lu Yu through the patrol test, a true patrolling Protector at the west courtyard's side gate.
"Looking for me? Is there something you need?" Lu Yu asked with some curiosity. Why would he be looking for him?
"You're the one who sounded the alarm this time, right? Luckily, you sounded it on time. Otherwise, those guys in black would have breached the inner courtyard, and who knows what might have happened," Zhang Lun said.
"I'm looking for you for two reasons: one is to take you to receive the reward from the Patriarch for sounding the alarm timely, and the other is to assign a new task to you."
The two of them walked towards the inner courtyard, chatting as they went.
"I heard this time the Patriarch intends to reward you with a top-grade ordinary level cultivation technique, the kind that allows you to cultivate to the peak of the Body Refinement realm."
"Moreover, once you become an honored guest, as long as you achieve enough merits, you can obtain the corresponding advanced spirit-level cultivation techniques and martial arts in the Han Mansion."
"A top-grade ordinary level cultivation technique? Advanced spirit-level cultivation techniques? Brother Zhang, could you tell me more about these things? I'm not familiar with them," Lu Yu said.
"Oh, I forgot you haven't learned the relevant knowledge." Zhang Lun cleared his throat and said, "Then let me tell you some basic cultivation knowledge."
"First is the cultivation realm. The Body Refinement realm focuses on cultivating Qi Blood, strengthening the physique. The Qi Cultivation realm cultivates Spiritual Qi, enhancing mental focus. The Controlling Qi realm involves projecting Spiritual Qi to wield spirit weapons. Each realm consists of nine levels."
"Then there are the cultivation techniques, which are divided into the ordinary level and spirit level. Most of the widely circulated fist techniques, leg techniques, and knife techniques belong to the ordinary level, which only allows cultivation to the peak of the Body Refinement realm."
"To break through the Body Refinement realm and become a Martial Cultivator in the Qi Cultivation realm, you'd need a spirit-level technique, even the lowest first-grade spirit-level technique would do, or else you'd only remain at the peak of the Body Refinement realm."
"Spirit-level techniques are divided into nine grades, ordinary level techniques have no grades, but habitually, some techniques that can cultivate to the peak of the Body Refinement realm are referred to as top-grade ordinary level techniques."
"It's important to know, not all ordinary level techniques can cultivate to the peak of the Body Refinement realm."
"Also, follow-up techniques can't just be cultivated haphazardly. At the very least, the second technique you cultivate can't contradict the techniques you've already practiced."
"Otherwise, at best, your cultivation progress will plummet, making it difficult to advance further. At worst, you'll suffer from a deviation, with Qi Blood reversing flow and dying from an internal explosion."
"Cultivation techniques with great similarities to ordinary level techniques, which are not only safe to cultivate afterward but also yield better results with less effort, are called advanced spirit-level techniques of ordinary level techniques. Of course, there are some exceptionally talented predecessors who directly deduced spirit-level techniques from ordinary level techniques."
"However, such techniques are extremely rare and not something we can afford to hope for."
"Martial arts, pills, weapons, those are external objects for cultivation. You'll understand this later, so I'll briefly explain them to you now."
"Martial arts, in fact, the vast majority of ordinary level techniques are both techniques and martial arts. It's hard to say precisely which belong to techniques or martial arts. But spiritual-level martial arts and techniques are greatly different, and you'll understand this once you become a Martial Cultivator in the Qi Cultivation realm."
"Spirit-level martial arts are divided into nine grades. Pills are also categorized into ordinary level and spirit level. The ordinary level has no grades, whereas the spirit level is divided into nine grades. Spirit-level pills are also called Spirit Pills. Body Refining Pills, Body Tempering Pills, and Qi Blood Pills are ordinary level pills, which is why they don't have grades."
"Weapons are divided into ordinary weapons and spirit weapons. Ordinary weapons are further divided into regular weapons and hundred-tempered weapons, while spirit weapons are divided into nine grades."
"These are the basic bits of knowledge, and you'll naturally come to understand them in detail later. I don't need to go into too much detail."
After saying this, Zhang Lun stopped and said, "Here we are, this is the Rewards and Punishments Pavilion of the inner courtyard."
Lu Yu looked up and saw a plaque that read "Rewards and Punishments Pavilion" hanging above.