The next day.

Maple Lane Guard Station.

Xu Ning walked into the guard station with a rectangular wooden box in his hand.

Feng Sigua walked over.

"Master…" Feng Sigua approached Xu Ning and lowered his voice. "Several Black Armored Guards came to the guard station today, they are all in Lieutenant Chen's study."

"What are they here for?"

Xu Ning asked.

Over the past few days at Maple Lane, Xu Ning had only seen three or four colleagues, not once were they at the guard station at the same time.

Feng Sigua claimed that he did not recognize the several Black Armored Guards that arrived this morning.

"Maybe it is a last-minute meeting…"

Feng Sigua responded.

"They didn't ask for me?"

Xu Ning asked.

Feng Sigua frowned. "No."

Xu Ning smiled. "Then it has nothing to do with me, I'll leave them alone."

Feng Sigua raised his head and glanced at Xu Ning. It seemed like Master Xu Ning had a casual attitude towards Lieutenant Chen and his other colleagues, as if he wasn't emotionally perturbed at all from being left out.

"Come with me."

Xu Ning said to Feng Sigua, "I have to deal with some business, so stand guard outside the door, no one is allowed to come in."

"Even if Lieutenant Chen asks me to go to the meeting, don't disturb me, wait until I'm done."

Xu Ning said as he turned around.

"Okay, master."

Feng Sigua quickly responded.

He felt that Xu Ning looked oddly serious today.

The Maple Lane Guard Station was quite large, but even counting Xu Ning, there were only seven Black Armored Guards, hence everyone's studies were quite spacious, and there was a small courtyard in front of each door.

Xu Ning entered his study, with Feng Sigua standing by the door.

He didn't know what Xu Ning was going to do. He just simply obeyed Master Xu's orders.

Not long after Xu Ning entered his study, a city guard came over.

"Brother Sigua…"

When the city guard saw Feng Sigua at the door, he forced out a smile.

When Feng Sigua saw the city guard's attitude towards him, he was quite satisfied, but he still looked serious on the surface. "Master Xu is working, please do not disturb him."

The city guard cursed in his heart.

The city guard said, "Lieutenant Chen asked Master Xu to participate in the meeting."

"When?"

Feng Sigua raised his eyebrows.

"Now."

The city guard responded.

Feng Sigua had a blank expression on his face. "Understood, I will tell Master Xu."

"Thank you."

The city guard bowed, turned around and left.

After the city guard left, Feng Sigua turned his head and glanced at the study. After thinking about it, he decided to stand still.

Master Xu had already said that he was not to be disturbed, so Feng Sigua decided to keep guarding the entrance instead.

…

In the study.

Xu Ning put the rectangular wooden box on the table and opened it gently.

Six Swallowtail Flowers lined up neatly inside the box.

Last night, Qu Dayou gave the three Qinglu Dans to Xu Ning.

But, Xu Ning did not directly accept the Qinglu Dans, instead he made a request to replace the Qinglu Dans with taels.

Qu Dayou didn't ask any questions and he immediately agreed. He exchanged three Qinglu Dans for 1500 taels of silver from Camp Site Three's material warehouse.

Xu Ning wanted to exchange for Swallowtail Flowers, but it would be difficult to explain why he wanted to exchange dan medicine for spirit medicine. He did not want Qu Dayou to be suspicious, so he exchanged it for taels instead.

This morning, Xu Ning went to another district, found a medicine store that was not operated by Dayuan Trading Company, and replaced the 1500 taels of silver with Swallowtail Flowers.

Because the store saw his Black Armored Guard attire, they gave him a discount. 1500 taels of silver was exchanged for six Swallowtail Flowers, an average of 250 taels of silver per Swallowtail Flower.

Although this price was higher than Guo Ye's family and friends discount, the profit margins at this price were already quite low.

This was one of the intangible benefits of being a Black Armored Guard.

'Six Swallowtail Flowers, after absorbing them, I'll have 18 units of energy…'

Xu Ning looked at the neat Swallowtail Flowers and smiled.

He pinched one of them with his hand, and an energy absorption notification appeared in front of him.

—

Discovered energy: 3 units

Absorb?

Yes/No

—

"Yes!"

Xu Ning did not hesitate.

Xu Ning repeated this process six times.

Each time he absorbed the energy, Xu Ning felt an indescribable sense of satisfaction.

Finally, the six Swallowtail Flowers all became withered.

Xu Ning then chucked the six withered Swallowtail Flowers into the fire stove, and they all disappeared without leaving a trace of evidence.

Xu Ning's Martial Arts Panel refreshed.

—

Name: Xu Ning

Martial Arts:

Spring Breeze Tactic (Mortal realm second stage: muscle bone realm) +

Gale Knife Method (Intermediate)+

Light Feather Bow (elementary)+

Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic: (Beginner)+

Available energy: 24 units

—

'24 units of available energy!'

Xu Ning had never had such plentiful reserves before.

Xu Ning had 6 units of energy saved up before this. He wanted to save up to 12 units, in order to upgrade to inner enrichment mortal realm third stage.

But now, things have changed. Qu Dayou gave him the three Qinglu Dans, which he changed to Swallowtail Flowers, speeding up the process.

Xu Ning did not hesitate. He pressed the "+" button besides his Spring Breeze Tactic.

—

Consume 12 units of energy to level up the Spring Breeze Tactic?

Yes/No

—

"Yes!"

Xu Ning's eyes were full of expectation.

The panel then refreshed.

—

Name: Xu Ning

Martial Arts:

Spring Breeze Tactic (Mortal realm third stage: inner enrichment)+

Gale Knife Method (Intermediate)+

Light Feather Bow (elementary)+

Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic: (Beginner)+

Available energy: 12 units

—

As the panel refreshed, Xu Ning felt the same sensation when he first reached the practice realm, with blood in his body surging.

The tumbling and burning sensation in his body became more intense, as if there were hundreds of flames burning in his body.

But this kind of burning sensation didn't feel painful, in fact, it felt like it was tempering and forging his flesh to be more and more powerful.

Xu Ning resisted the urge to shout. He felt power and energy bursting out of his body. He felt that he could go out and run for 10,000 meters without running out of breath.

'After reaching inner enrichment, all aspects of my physical fitness are improved, reaching the limit of the mortal human body. Strength, speed, agility and endurance are greatly improved. In this state, the strength of the physical body is no longer comparable to normal humans.'

Xu Ning threw out his fist.

He stretched out his body, and the humming sound in his body from being in the muscle bone realm disappeared, it was instead replaced by a soft gurgling sound, as if his blood was boiling in his body.

But the gurgling sound was very quiet. Only when he used his full body strength could Xu Ning faintly hear the sound in his own ears.

'No wonder internal skill is the fundamental strength.'

After feeling the huge change in his body, Xu Ning sighed. 'A master of internal skill, even if he is only in the elementary realm of an external skill, he can easily defeat a master of external skill. This kind of power is not just a difference in physical strength, as a stronger body can also increase lethality.'

'Gale Knife Technique combined with the inner enrichment realm. Among the newcomers, I should now be the strongest…'

Xu Ning was not arrogant.

From Xu Ning's observations, after leveling up through the Martial Arts Panel, whether it is his internal skill or external skill, he would become the top of his respective realm after leveling up.

'It should not be difficult to win a yellow plate during the assessment.'

Xu Ning glanced at the Martial Arts Panel again.

There were 12 units of available energy left.

He did not immediately use these 12 units of energy, instead he clicked the "+" button besides his Spring Breeze Tactic.

—

Consume 25 units of energy to level up the Spring Breeze Tactic?

Yes/No

—

'25 units…'

Xu Ning's eyebrows furrowed.

The energy required to level up to the mortal realm fourth stage increased by more than two fold.

However, Xu Ning also understood that the difference between the fourth and third mortal realm stage was quite large.

For the first three stages of the mortal realm, the main enhancements were regarding the human body. After reaching inner enrichment, the physical body had basically reached its maximum limit.

Even though further level ups would increase the physical body to a certain extent, it would no longer fundamentally change after the mortal realm third stage.

After reaching the mortal realm fourth stage, improvements on internal skill would be focused on internal qi.

Starting from this stage, the technique used to defeat an enemy no longer depended on one's strength and speed, but rather on one's internal energy.

In the Black Armored Guards, reaching the mortal realm fourth stage was regarded as the basic requirement of becoming a lieutenant.