Martial Arts: My talent multiplier increased

Fang Yuan woke up before dawn. He wasn't woken by noise. It was because his shallow dormancy, controlled by the eight-times-multiplied stance training, automatically ended at the preset time.

I opened my eyes. The crack in the ceiling was still there. The moonlight had faded, and the daylight hadn't yet come in. It was all gray and hazy.

Fang Yuan sat up. He opened his right hand. A panel appeared.

Talent Multiplication System.

Root bone: 4 times.

Stance training: 8 times.

Comprehension: 2 times.

Soul: 2 times.

Current savings: 4477 taels of silver.

The threshold for the next increase is 10000 taels.

Temporary increase in points: 5.

Fang Yuan's gaze lingered on the panel for a couple of moments. He closed it.

The items on the table were lined up in the gray light. A patrol captain's iron plaque. A blood-red token. A replica map with seven red dots. Gu Qingluo's two-inch-thick handwritten notes.

Fang Yuan turned to page seventy-eight of the journal. His finger pressed on that line of text.

"Once the altar's activation process begins, it requires at least three hours of preparation. It cannot be interrupted during this period, otherwise all the accumulated essence blood will be wasted."

Three hours.

Shen Youlan's intelligence - activated at midnight.

If the Blood Demon Cult decides to move forward because of Li Jue's tip-off—it could be as early as 5 PM.

From 5 PM to 11 PM. Six two-hour periods.

Fang Yuan closed the note. He stood up and gathered everything on the table into a cloth bag. He then stuffed the bag into a hidden compartment under the bed.

He walked out of the room.

-

Chen Shi (7-9 AM).

Fang Yuanshan's study.

When Fang Yuan pushed open the door, Fang Yuanshan was already dressed in his battle armor. It wasn't the leather armor used for daily training at the Fang family's martial arts school. It was a set of dark blue ring-plate armor. The plates were very thin, but the seams were reinforced with iron rivets.

The long sword lay across the desk. The blade was even brighter than it had been two days ago. Fang Yuanshan lifted his fingers from the scabbard.

"Has the person arrived?" Fang Yuan asked.

"Fang Teng. Late stage of Bone Refining Realm. Arrived." Fang Yuanshan's voice was calm. "Fang Heng. Late stage of Bone Refining Realm. Arrived. Fang Ce. Peak stage of Bone Refining Realm. Just returned from the outpost outside the city this morning."

In addition, Fang Yuanshan himself was at the peak of the Bone Refining Realm.

Four people.

Fang Yuan's doubled comprehension allowed him to create a mental table. The combined combat power of the four members of the Fang family was roughly equivalent to two early-stage Refining Realm cultivators. Not enough to crush the Blood Demon Sect's stronghold. But crushing the stronghold wasn't what Fang Yuan wanted.

He wants to keep quiet.

"There's one person at the back door and one at the side door of the Li family's residence. Two at the main door. When Li Jue goes out—don't stop him. Follow him."

Fang Yuanshan tapped his finger on the scabbard.

"How long will you follow me?"

"Follow him until he leads the Blood Demon Cult members into the city gate."

Fang Yuanshan's fingers stopped.

"After leading them through the city gate?"

Fang Yuan looked into Fang Yuanshan's eyes.

"What does the instructor think?"

Fang Yuanshan's lips tightened into a thin line. He didn't press the matter. He picked up the long sword from the table and tucked it into his waistband.

"The defensive line in the northwest corner of the city—" Fang Yuanshan walked to the window. His gaze swept over the courtyard wall, looking towards the northwest of the city. "Have you made arrangements with Xiao Zhennan?"

"Since yesterday, the city guards have increased patrols at the city gates and along the four main streets. The patrol interval at the northwest corner of the city has been extended from half an hour to an hour."

Fang Yuanshan's temple throbbed.

"Extend it to one hour," he repeated.

Fang Yuan nodded.

"Xiao Zhennan agreed?"

"He thought the suggestion made sense." Fang Yuan's tone was devoid of any emotion. "The northwest corner of the city is where lower-level martial artists live, so it's the least valuable area. Concentrating our limited forces on the main street and the city gates—from a defensive efficiency standpoint—is reasonable."

Fang Yuanshan turned around and looked at Fang Yuan. Fang Yuan had seen that look in his eyes many times before—Fang Yuanshan was internally making a judgment about the nature of a matter.

The northwest corner of the city—a gathering place for lower-level martial artists—is the least valuable.

From a military perspective, this statement is correct.

From the perspective of human life—Fang Yuan mentally scanned the few households huddled in the corners of that area, with tables and chairs propped up behind their doors.

Fang Yuan wasn't unaware of this.

But if the Blood Demon Cult isn't given a "seemingly best direction to break through"—they'll choose their own. And their chosen direction is uncontrollable. All the traps Fang Yuan set up will be wasted.

Use a patrol interval as a window of opportunity to gain a controllable battlefield.

Fang Yuan has already calculated this.

"Those few households in the northwest corner of the city—" Fang Yuanshan's voice trailed off.

"I had Tie Meng knock on every door last night," Fang Yuan said. "I told them to move to the temporary shelter in the east of the city tonight. The reason is that the city guards are going to conduct a nighttime sweeping drill in the northwest of the city."

Fang Yuanshan's lips moved slightly.

Fang Yuan waited for a moment.

"How many households did you visit?"

"Eleven households. Nine have left." Fang Yuan's voice remained unchanged. "Two households refused to leave. One was an old man paralyzed in bed, with only a granddaughter at home, who couldn't carry him. Tie Meng carried the old man to the east of the city. The other household—"

Fang Yuan paused for a moment.

"The other household was occupied by a drunkard. He was completely drunk. Tie Meng dragged him out, blanket and all, and threw him at the alley entrance."

Fang Yuanshan's lips curved slightly. The curve was very subtle. It wasn't a smile. It was the release of a momentary tension in his muscles.

Fang Yuan evacuated everyone. There would be no civilians in the trap area.

"You've thought things through more thoroughly than I have," Fang Yuanshan said.

Fang Yuan didn't respond to that. He walked to the study door.

"What about Fang Ce?"

"I've already spoken to him," Fang Yuanshan said, gathering the official documents on his desk. "He has a problem with you."

Fang Yuan stopped.

"What's your opinion?"

He said, "It's against the rules for a junior under twenty to be directing a group of old men."

Fang Yuan's lips twitched.

"Has he ever killed any heretical cultivators?"

Fang Yuanshan remained silent for a moment.

"no."

Fang Yuan stepped out of the threshold and into the courtyard. He turned back.

"Tell Fang Ce—rules are not as important as life. He'll follow orders tonight. If he doesn't want to—send him to the resettlement site in the east of the city to guard the old man."

Fang Yuanshan leaned against the window frame, watching Fang Yuan's back as he walked across the courtyard.

He stood by the window for five breaths. His fingers rested on the hilt of the knife. The pad of his thumb traced a half-circle along the rope pattern on the hilt.

Fang Yuanshan served as the head of the Fang family for thirty years. During those thirty years, he made countless decisions for the family. Before each decision, he would sit in his study for at least two hours, weighing, strategizing, and deliberating repeatedly.

Fang Yuan's decision-making speed is ten times faster than his.

Moreover—Fang Yuanshan's finger stopped on the hilt of the knife—Fang Yuan, while calculating the "battlefield," also included the eleven households in the northwest corner of the city.

Nine households evacuated. Only two remained. One household consisted of an elderly person and a child—Tie Meng carried them out. The other household consisted of a drunkard—Tie Meng dragged him out.

They've all been withdrawn.

It wasn't about remedial measures after the fact. It was about advance planning. For example, Fang Yuanshan thought of this problem a day earlier.

Fang Yuanshan loosened his fingers from the hilt of the knife.

"Fang Ce."

A response came from outside the courtyard.

"I'll do as you say."