Starting as a centurion, he fought his way through the chaos of the world.

Chapter 9 Rout
The next morning, Lu Ming walked out of the house feeling refreshed.

Li Xirou was still resting, so I didn't disturb her.

As soon as I arrived at the front yard, I saw that a lot of people had already gathered.

"Greetings, Centurion!"

Zhang Meng and Zhang Xun were the first to step forward and bow.

With the money, the two men regained their spirits.

Even his voice is full of energy.

"Sir, what are we doing today?" Zhang Meng, who had become quite familiar with Lu Ming, was the first to ask.

"Go out and collect taxes."

Lu Ming tightened his grip on the sword at his waist and spoke.

Then he walked towards the door, and the others exchanged glances and followed.

Since the adults gave them money and told them what to do, they naturally wouldn't dare to slack off.

Sun Tian led three crossbows, while Zhang Meng and Zhang Xun each led more than thirty men.

They took to the streets in a mighty procession.

Seeing that Changsheng Casino was still closed, Lu Ming's lips curled up.

It seems the Zhang family has really backed down; he can probably guess what they're thinking.

In that case, we should seize this opportunity even more. When the enemy retreats, we should advance and use this time to strengthen our power.

As for the rest, we’ll talk about it later.

Then, they continued walking forward.

The street where Changsheng Casino is located is almost entirely lined with gambling dens and brothels.

It is also one of the Zhang family's largest businesses.

After arriving at the center of the long street, Lu Ming glanced around and said in an unfriendly tone, "Find all the shopkeepers on this street and tell them that starting today, all businesses must pay half of the commercial tax!"

His subordinates naturally carried out his orders without hesitation.

Moments later, a noisy commotion filled the street.

Then, dozens of shopkeepers, along with their thugs, surrounded them.

The soldiers from the Hundred Households' Garrison also retreated, clearly indicating that a small-scale conflict had just occurred, but it was limited to pushing and shoving.

They didn't actually take any action.

"My lord, are you really going to take things this far?" Li He, whom I saw yesterday, appeared again.

"Isn't it a matter of course for the imperial court to collect taxes? Are you trying to defy the laws of the imperial court?"

Lu Ming said casually.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

But the next moment, the crossbow bolt shot through the air.

Lu Ming had instructed before he arrived that if they saw any experts from the Zhang family, they should aim and fire the crossbows without waiting for orders.

A flash of cold light appeared.

Li He's body was nailed to the ground.

"Form ranks and charge!" Zhang Xun shouted, leading his men to attack the Zhang family's thugs.

Although he was skilled with a knife, he was equally formidable with a spear.

Zhang Meng was not to be outdone and led his men to charge forward.

In an instant, shouts of killing filled the streets.

Pedestrians quickly stepped back.

Lu Ming didn't stand still either; he drew his long sword and rushed out.

As soon as one of Zhang's thugs got close, he slashed him across the neck with a single blow.

"Splat!" Blood splattered.

His body was stained with blood.

Lu Ming didn't care at all and continued to slash and kill. With the armor-piercing crossbow to deal with experts, his late-stage Body Tempering cultivation allowed him to move freely among the crowd.

[Congratulations, host! You have earned 2000 points.]

[Congratulations, host! You have earned 500 points.]

[Congratulations, host! You have earned 300 points.]

The voice kept echoing in my mind.

Lu Ming became even more engrossed in killing.

After an unknown amount of time, the Zhang family fled in a panic.

Dozens of corpses lay on the ground.

At the Hundred Household Office, quite a few people were also injured.

"Seize the Zhang family's shops and return to the Hundred Households Office!" Lu Ming ordered immediately after glancing around.

Zhang Meng responded breathlessly and then led the remaining men rushing towards the shops on both sides of the street.

Before long, one silver box after another was carried out.

Led by Lu Ming, they returned to the Hundred Household Office.

Everyone was exhausted as soon as they entered the courtyard.

Zhang Xun walked over cautiously and said, "Sir, we have injured eighteen men, but none of them are seriously injured. They can be treated with bandaging." "Go and fetch a doctor to come and examine the brothers' injuries."

"Yes, sir!" Zhang Xun replied and then withdrew.

Then, Lu Ming looked at Zhang Meng beside him and said, "Go to the blacksmith and have him send over some weapons, longswords, spearheads, as many as you can get, and pay him for them all at once."

"I'm going right now!" Zhang Meng hurriedly ran outside.

He also knew that he had done something very important today.

The Zhang family will definitely not let this go.

Then, Lu Ming ordered his men to carry the silver to the backyard.

After dismissing his soldiers, he began to have Li Xirou count the silver.

As for him, he started checking the data panel.

He was very satisfied with the points he earned this time, bringing his total to a full 8,300 points, including those from the past.

Without hesitation, Lu Ming spent 1,000 points to exchange for two armor-piercing crossbows.

Then, their gaze fell upon the Body Tempering Pill.

After directly exchanging one.

He began cultivating in the backyard, and after a short while, he felt every pore on his body open up.

My skin felt hot.

And it feels more compact.

"call!"

After an unknown amount of time, Lu Ming let out a long breath.

A strange light flashed in his eyes.

As expected of a medicine that only scions of powerful families can take, he has now reached the peak of the late stage of Body Tempering and the first level of the Golden Bell Shield.

I pulled hard on the skin of my arm.

My body is stronger and more resilient than yesterday.

If he could lift 500 pounds yesterday, he can lift 1,000 pounds today.

One thousand jin—that's the limit for the Body Tempering Realm.

In other words, he will soon reach the Bone Forging Realm.

"My lord, the silver has been counted, and it totals thirteen thousand taels."

Li Xirou said incredulously.

However, it was indeed tiring to take inventory.

Even if someone helps.

Her pretty face was also covered in sweat.

However, the excitement in his eyes was undeniable.

"Looks like I'll have to find an accountant from now on," Lu Ming thought to himself.

Then, he smiled and said, "Not bad. The hard times ahead are finally over."

"Yes, I knew my husband could do it!" Li Xirou nodded firmly.

"You stay in the backyard, I'll go check out the front."

"Mmm," Li Xirou responded.

Lu Ming then walked towards the front yard.

It was already dark when a doctor carrying a medicine box was busy at work.

The blacksmith and a few of his men stood in the yard, pushing their carts, clearly having been waiting for a while.

However, he didn't show any impatience; on the contrary, he seemed quite flustered.

As Lu Ming approached, the blacksmith said tremblingly, "Sir, there are a total of thirty-two steel knives and one hundred and thirty spearheads."

"How much silver?"

"A longsword is three taels of silver, and a spearhead is ten taels of silver for you," the blacksmith said with a fawning smile.

This is a big business opportunity. It's just that times have changed and there are more people buying weapons now, so he stockpiled some.

In the past, we wouldn't have been able to come up with so much.

"Here are one hundred and ten taels of silver." Lu Ming tossed a bag of silver into the blacksmith's arms.

Then, looking at Zhang Meng, he said, "Unload all the weapons and let the brothers choose for themselves."

"Yes, sir," Zhang Meng said excitedly.

Then, they began disarming the weapons.

Lu Ming continued, "Sun Tian, ​​come with me to the storeroom in the backyard. There are two armor-piercing crossbows there. Bring them out. If anyone comes tonight, kill them."

After Lu Ming finished speaking, he walked towards the backyard.

Sun Tian and his men followed behind.

After pulling out the armor-piercing crossbow, assembly began.

Lu Ming went back into the house and reopened the online store; he still had several thousand points left.

Having done such a big thing today, the Zhang family must be fed up. Let's see what else they have that can help us improve our strength as soon as possible.

(End of this chapter)