In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 175 Promotion
Lu Zhao remained silent for a moment.

He didn't ask immediately, perhaps out of some kind of vigilance, or perhaps because his master's teachings were effective.

The first thought that popped into his mind wasn't asking his master for help to repair his supernatural powers, but rather that he couldn't bring himself to ask.

The person who makes the first demands inevitably finds themselves at a disadvantage, as those who follow often make demands of the first.

My master usually doesn't beat around the bush when making requests; it can only be things I don't really want to do.

Maybe I'm overthinking it.

There was a silence that lasted for three seconds.

The old Taoist priest didn't continue speaking, and Lu Zhao didn't speak either; the master and disciple looked at each other.

"You've already learned three-tenths of my skills."

The old Taoist priest broke the silence first, his tone filled with satisfaction and pride.

If a student learns well, it means that the teacher is highly skilled.

Even a righteous and upright person like Lu Zhao gradually developed an instinctive reaction to power politics under his tutelage.

This is undoubtedly a good start. As long as Lu Zhao changes little by little, he will eventually understand his master and gradually submit to him.

"Repairing the Horned Dragon Bow isn't difficult; you just need to kill a fifth-tier monster."

Lu Zhao said speechlessly, "Master, a single sneeze from a giant beast could kill me. Why don't you possess my body again and go directly to the Water Beast Cave to kill one?"

Regardless of what his master was planning, this condition was a bit too difficult.

The old Taoist priest shook his head and said, "As I have said, I cannot act arbitrarily. You can use your authority to guide the court to hunt down the giant beast."

Lu Zhao said, "I am just a minor official, I do not have such great authority."

"Using minimal force to achieve maximum effect, as long as you can maintain contact with key figures, there will always be opportunities. Once you arrive in Cangwu, I will teach you how to set up traps step by step."

The old Taoist priest, seeing that his disciple was beginning to resist, changed his approach: "No matter what, the death of a giant beast is a matter of benefit to the country and its people."

Lu Zhao frowned slightly and could only nod in agreement.

Because regardless of whether he agrees or not, his master might have ways to orchestrate things. It's better to take the initiative and at least find out some information.

If it really just involves hunting giant beasts, Lu Zhao is willing to help.

The grace of being reborn is as heavy as Mount Tai.

"good."

The old Taoist priest nodded in satisfaction.

This is why I have a special fondness for Lu Zhao; he is a very loyal and principled person who values ​​principles above all else.

Not doing evil is a principle, and being grateful is also a principle; good and bad are relative.

"Before that, perhaps we can try to make use of the dragon energy of the Horned Dragon Bow."

Lu Zhao asked, "Master, how do I use it?"

"Please allow me to think about it some more."

The old Taoist priest sometimes looked thoughtful, sometimes calculated with his fingers, and sometimes frowned.

The fact that he wasn't as nonchalant about his spiritual practice this time also reflects that the old Taoist priest took it very seriously.

After all, if you want a horse to run well, you have to feed it more grass.

An old Taoist priest once thought of a way to use the primordial yang of a virgin to make up for the deficiencies of the Horned Dragon Bow over the past thousand years.

Dragon energy and primordial yang belong to the same category and can complement each other.

The problem was that he was not a virgin at the time.

By verifying and combining the many ingenious methods in my mind, a feasible method finally emerges.

"I have come up with a method, but it is risky and quite torturous."

A smile appeared on the old Taoist priest's lips.

Lu Zhao immediately had a bad feeling; every time his master smiled, it meant he was up to no good.

"Dragon energy can prevent the loss of primordial yang, and conversely, primordial yang can also replenish dragon energy; the two are mutually reinforcing. However, once primordial yang leaves the body, it is considered impure, so I can absorb dragon energy into your body."

"You are asked to use your primordial yang to nurture the dragon's energy, which, to be precise, consumes your life force."

Lu Zhao asked, "Are there any side effects to this method?"

"First, after using this method, the Horned Dragon Bow will never be able to return to its peak performance."

Before Lu Zhao could ask, the old Taoist priest explained, "Because the remaining dragon energy has entered your body, only you can unleash its full power."

Lu Zhao hesitated and said, "This supernatural power does not belong to me personally."

The old Taoist priest said, "Only I can repair it. If you don't use it, no one else can either. Besides, the Horned Dragon Bow can only be separated after you die."

After a moment's thought, Lu Zhao realized that it made sense.

This method can only be used by the master, and to be honest, it is not legally owned by an individual; in reality, it belongs to Lu Zhao.

Life Bone and Supernatural Power are both transformations of the same thing. After the owner dies, the bones become life bones, and absorbing life bones transforms them into supernatural powers.

Today, Lu Zhao no longer adheres to conventions, and he no longer considers many laws to be reasonable.

He nodded slightly and said, "Master is right."

"You're really a huge problem."

The old Taoist priest spoke with a helpless tone, but he was already used to it.

Having enjoyed the kindness shown to Lu Zhao, one must naturally also tolerate his personality and not just think about enjoying the benefits.

"The second side effect is that the dragon's energy will arouse your desires, but you cannot lose your virginity until the Horned Dragon Bow is fully nurtured. This is like experiencing both ice and fire, not to mention you've only been married for a short time." The old Taoist priest teased, "What a pity for Miss Lin, she'll probably be spending her days alone."

Ignoring the sarcastic tone, Lu Zhao said, "This disciple can also tolerate it."

"Alright, I'll help you draw in the dragon energy when you go out later."

The old Taoist priest then explained in detail the various precautions and possible changes.

Because this is not a specific technique, nor is it something that has been tried by predecessors.

However, all methods originate from the same source, and with the old Taoist's level of skill, his judgment would not be too far off.

Nurturing dragon energy is not a simple consumption, but rather a process in which one's own life force and dragon energy reach a certain cycle, ultimately condensing into a flawless body.

It is roughly divided into five stages, which correspond to breaking through five barriers.

First, the heart contains fire, which draws the dragon's energy to the heart area, where it is nurtured.

It will strengthen the heart to a certain extent, but the effects are more noticeable on the skin. Lu Zhao's skin will be strengthened to some extent, and will be able to resist burning to a certain degree.

The old Taoist priest smiled and said, "If my calculations are correct, this will greatly slow down the aging process, allowing you to maintain your current appearance even when you are in your forties or fifties."

"This is of utmost importance, as it concerns the fate of the nation and should not be underestimated."

"..."

Lu Zhao noticed that the old man's recent aggression seemed a bit too strong.

Back to the real world.

Lu Zhao opened his eyes and suddenly felt a heat coming from the horned dragon bow he was holding in his hands. The dragon scale patterns on the bow moved towards his arms again.

My whole body started to feel hot, and I broke out in a light sweat. Many desires flashed through my mind.

After an unknown amount of time, the heat in my body gradually subsided, and the desires in my mind stopped coming incessantly.

Lu Zhao opened his eyes, and the bloodshot veins in them slowly faded, eventually returning to calm.

Looking at the large bow in his hand again, the bow had long lost its luster, but as soon as he circulated his Qi, the dragon scale patterns reappeared.

The most essential part of the Horned Dragon Bow is already inside him; only he can unleash the full power of this bow.

Lu Zhao then felt a deficiency in his body and tested it with a blood analyzer, finding that his vitality had decreased by 0.3, just as his teacher had said.

He needs to expend his life force to nurture the dragon's energy.

For an ordinary person, this level of depletion cannot be sustained, otherwise their vitality will decrease until they are completely drained.

However, Lu Zhao's life development speed is very fast, and he can recover this amount of energy in a day. Besides, he hasn't yet refined one of the Five Elements Pills to break through the mental barrier, so he's not in a hurry at all.

At this moment, Lu Zhao suddenly understood.

This is the method to restore the Horned Dragon Bow. There is no need to kill the giant beast at all. It was Master who wanted to hunt the giant beast to refine the Five Elements Pill.

He saw through it, but he didn't expose it.

No matter what his master wanted to do, as long as it didn't violate his principles, Lu Zhao felt he should help.

This is a tacit understanding.

--------------

December 10th.

Lu Zhao received a promotion notice. Starting next February, he will take over as the captain of a branch of the Confederate Special Counter-Strike Force.

Over the next three months, he will complete the handover process, transferring all his original positions to Zhang Like.

Normally, leaders would be parachuted in to prevent nepotism and the formation of factions. But in the current Federation, the absence of factions is actually abnormal.

After becoming the top local official with real power, there was one sentence that resonated with Lu Zhao deeply.

If I don't practice nepotism, am I supposed to practice favoritism based on personal relationships? It would be better if all my subordinates opposed me.

Given the problems with the entire bureaucracy, it was impossible for Lu Zhao to find a capable assistant through proper procedures.

At the routine meeting, after Lu Zhao announced the promotion, the entire leadership of the Border Garrison Corps was not surprised, as they had known the news long ago.

Their leader is incredibly resourceful and has already taken care of the succession arrangements long ago.

There will be no new leaders parachuted in from now on; it will be the same team as before. Everyone can continue working with peace of mind and doesn't need to worry about anything else.

Lu Zhao said, "Old Zhang, I'm handing over all my work to you from now on."

"No, you're just giving up like this?"

Zhang Like said speechlessly, "This handover is not a transfer of power. You have to let me get used to it slowly."

Lu Zhao asked doubtfully, "You've been doing this for so many years, aren't you familiar with it enough?"

"Uh...you've done most of the work over the years, while I've spent most of my time drinking tea."

Zhang Like is very frank, even somewhat shameless.

But he also had something to say: aside from special periods, there isn't actually much work to be done on the border. If Lu Zhao does the work, then the others don't need to do it, or they can just copy his work.

This time, Lu Zhao didn't take on everything as he had before, and said, "That's just right, it's a test for you."

Zhang Like understood Lu Zhao's meaning and said, "Alright, I'll ask you again if I don't understand later."

At 2 PM, Lu Zhao finished handing over all his work and returned to his room to focus on cultivating his dragon energy.

Since I can't break through the mental barrier anyway, my daily cultivation is just to replenish my life force to feed the dragon energy. As long as it can increase my chances of advancing to the Martial Marquis level, it's all worth it.

It wasn't until the end of the month that the Nankaido Patriotic War Memorial Day project office called.

"Comrade Lu Zhao, in recognition of your outstanding achievements, we have specially invited you to speak as a representative of the military."

(End of this chapter)