The five Black Armored Guards assigned by Qu Dayou to work under Xu Ning, arrived at the Maple Lane Black Armored Guards Post the next day.

What Xu Ning didn't expect was that one of the five guards to be his roommate, Tao Qingping.

In addition to Tao Qingping, there were also two people from the Song Village, two people from the local county city, but none of them were from the Tan Village.

After looking at the guards before him, Xu Ning had a rough idea of Qu Dayou's intentions.

Over the next few days, the new Maple Lane Black Armored Guards Post had begun to develop. Everything was running in an orderly manner.

Xu Ning suddenly received a letter from back home.

The messenger sent by the Black Armored Guards to the Tao Village did not return immediately after delivering the letters. Only after staying at the Tao Village for one night did the messenger come back with their family letters and some small gifts.

Xu Ning received two replies, one of which was written by his brother-in-law, Tao Yunchuan.

He and Xu Lian asked Xu Ning to take care of himself, follow the higher up's orders, and conduct himself orderly.

Xu Ning did not write in the letter that he was appointed as acting lieutenant. He planned to wait until he became an official lieutenant before he would inform his family about this matter.

Therefore, Tao Yunchuan and Xu Lian did not know about Xu Ning's promotion. Hence, they encouraged Xu Ning to be a model Black Armored Guard.

In addition to the letter, Xu Lian had also sent him a long spring coat. The coat was made and sewn by Xu Lian, and it perfectly fit Xu Ning.

The second letter was written by Guo Ye.

Guo Ye's letter contained only a few jokes. He expressed that he was proud to have a brother in the Black Armored Guards, and he hoped that Xu Ning could be promoted as soon as possible, so that he could brag to his friends.

In addition to the letter, Guo Ye also gave Xu Ning a sealed wooden box.

After Xu Ning opened it, he saw that inside it was a spirit medicine called Wind Jasmine Fruit.

This spirit medicine had similar effects to a Swallowtail Flower; it would help the practice of mortal realm advancements.

The selling price of Wind Jasmine Fruit was around 800 taels, which was quite expensive.

Even for Guo Ye's uncle, Tao Yungang, this was not a small amount of money.

When Xu Ning received it, he felt emotional.

Before leaving the village, Guo Ye and Tao Yungang had already prepared the Wind Jasmine Fruit and asked Xu Ning to take it with him, but Xu Ning refused after thinking for a second.

But in the end, the Wind Jasmine Fruit still ended up in his own hands.

Xu Ning gratefully absorbed the energy in the Wind Jasmine Fruit, which was worth a total of 8 units of energy.

Combined with the 6 units of energy he had before, Xu Ning now had 14 units of energy.

Xu Ning did not intend to use these 14 units to advance his Gale Knife Technique or Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic to the perfection realm.

Instead, he intended to advance his internal skill to the qi realm.

So, it would take some time for him to accumulate the 25 units of energy.

…

Another day went by .

Xu Ning and Tao Qingping left the guard station at the same time.

They ate some dinner by the roadside, but instead of returning to Camp Site Three, they went to the private residential area by Maple Lane.

The lieutenants of the various guard stations all had residences in this area.

These residences were allocated by the Black Armored Guards.

When Chen Ren was a lieutenant, he felt that the lieutenant residences were too shabby, so he never lived there.

But, Xu Ning did not mind these residences. It was closer to Maple Lane, so living here meant that he would not have to travel from Camp Site Three to Maple Lane anymore, making it much more convenient.

After Xu Ning and Tao Qingping discussed this together, they decided to move in together.

The house had a large yard and many rooms. Even after Xu Ning and Tao Qingping chose one room each, there were still a few vacant rooms.

Xu Ning intended to wait for the right time in the future before having his sister and brother-in-law stay here for a while.

Xu Ning and Tao Qingping walked in the alleyways of the residential area.

The alleyways were cramped and small. At certain spots, they would have to turn their body sideways when encountering someone walking towards them.

While they were walking, Xu Ning and Tao Qingping saw a girl with braids and a thin coat walking towards them.

She looked about 17 to 18 years old, with delicate skin and a petite figure. She looked at Xu Ning with a timid expression.

Perhaps it was because they were wearing their Black Armored Guards uniform. When the little girl passed the two men, her footsteps began to sped up, before she quickly walked by and disappeared into the end of the alleyway.

"What are you looking at?"

Xu Ning slapped Tao Qingping on the back of his head and smiled.

Tao Qingping stared at the corner where the girl disappeared with a reluctant face.

"Stop…"

Tao Qingping was a little embarrassed.

Although inside the guard station, Tao Qingping was a subordinate of Xu Ning's, outside the guard station, these two were good friends.

"If you really like her, you can go ask about her."

Xu Ning said to Tao Qingping.

Tao Qingping and Xu Ning were about 18 years old, so they were already of marriageable age in this world.

"I've already asked about her…"

As he was talking about this, Tao Qingping suddenly felt a little lonely. "She lives in the house behind our back yard, with her parents and a younger brother."

"In addition to this, she also has a childhood sweetheart that lives across from her house."

Tao Qingping continued, "However, her childhood sweetheart seems to have a weak body, and requires to take medicine. The two are in love with each other, but her parents do not agree with their marriage."

"You are quite inquisitive."

Xu Ning praised Tao Qingping's ability to obtain information.

"If her parents are not satisfied with her childhood sweetheart, then won't you have a chance?"

Xu Ning said.

Tao Qingping was now a Black Armored Guard. With that alone, he stood out among his peers in terms of his status.

"Forget about it, if she has someone else in mind, I won't force it."

Tao Qingping said.

"You…"

Xu Ning shook his head and said nothing more.

…

Time flew by quickly.

Another month and a half went by.

Kangyun County had returned to its original peace.

The shops owned by Dayuan Trading Company in Maple Lane were gradually replaced with new owners.

Maple Lane had returned to its former prosperous self.

Kangyun County was once again a comfortable place to live in.

However, while the people in the county lived and worked in peace, there was a nervous atmosphere in Camp Site Three.

It was because the once every three months assessment evaluation was about to begin.

This time, the assessment would be personally supervised by Master Wei Changqing. Everyone's skill level and talent potential would be witnessed by him.

In addition, this assessment was related to the allocation of resources for the next three months, so almost everyone in the camp was nervous.

Except for Xu Ning, of course.

Xu Ning was relaxed, because he had already accumulated 25 units of energy and raised his internal skill to the qi realm!

Xu Ning had saved up 14 energy points, and combined with the past two months of salary and subsidies, he had two Swallowtail Flowers and 500 taels of silver.

With the 500 taels of silver, Xu Ning bought two more Swallowtail Flowers.

Four Swallowtail Flowers converted to a total of 12 units of energy, combined with the previous 14 units, he had a total of 26 units of energy.

Even after Xu Ning advanced to the mortal realm fourth stage qi realm, he still had one unit of energy left.

"Xu Ning!"

Tao Qingyuan's voice came from outside the door.

Because tomorrow was the assessment day, Xu Ning and Tao Qingping had moved back to the camp for tonight.

"Qingyuan."

Xu Ning opened the door and saw Tao Qingyuan, whom he hadn't seen for a long time.

Tao Qingyuan now had a much more stable aura when compared to his previous self. Xu Ning could tell that Tao Qingyuan had made progress in his Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic.

While Xu Ning was observing Tao Qingyuan, Tao Qingyuan was also observing Xu Ning.

In the past, Tao Qingyuan felt that Xu Ning gave off a strong sense of oppression.

But now, Tao Qingyuan felt like Xu Ning was unpredictable.

"It's been a long time since I saw you."

Tao Qingyuan walked into the room and greeted Tao Qingping.

Afterwards, Tao Qingyuan sat down and asked, "How's it going? Have you thought about which yellow plate holder you are going to challenge tomorrow?"