Martial Arts: My talent multiplier increased

Fang Yuanshan personally delivered the temporary captain's order from the City Lord's Mansion to the first-class courtyard.

He didn't send someone to deliver it. He walked over himself.

When Fang Yuan opened the door, Fang Yuanshan was standing under the porch, holding an iron plaque in his hand. The plaque was small, about the size of a palm, with the words "City Patrol Captain" engraved on the front and the bronze seal of the City Lord's Mansion stamped on the back.

Fang Yuanshan handed over the iron plate.

Fang Yuan took it and flipped it over. The impression of the copper seal was very shallow, and there was a corner that wasn't stamped properly—the person who stamped it had a rather unsteady hand, or perhaps they hadn't been careful at all.

"Xiao Zhennan approved it very quickly," Fang Yuanshan said in a deep voice. "Too fast to be normal."

Fang Yuan gripped the iron plaque in his hand and weighed it in his hand. It was very light. Lighter than the student plaques of the Fang Family Martial Arts School.

"He'd love for someone to clear the way for him," Fang Yuan said.

Fang Yuanshan glanced at him.

"It's good that you know."

Fang Yuanshan's hand rested on the door frame. His knuckles bulged, and the veins stood out.

"This captain's command only grants him the authority to patrol the four main streets in the west of the city and the surrounding alleys at night. You can't mobilize the city guards, and you can't access the files in the city lord's mansion. If something happens, the city lord's mansion will not take responsibility."

His voice was muffled.

"To put it bluntly, he's just cannon fodder."

Fang Yuan put the iron plaque into his pocket.

"What I need is cannon fodder."

Fang Yuanshan's pupils contracted slightly.

He stared at Fang Yuan for two breaths. His gaze wasn't that of an elder scrutinizing a junior—it was that of an old hunter reassessing another beast whose temperament he thought he had mastered.

Fang Yuanshan didn't say anything more. He turned and left.

The sound of footsteps faded into the distance on the bluestone path.

Fang Yuan closed the door. He took the iron plate out of his pocket and placed it on the table.

City patrol captain. Temporary. Four main streets in the west of the city. Night.

The permissions Xiao Zhennan granted were in an awkward position—enough for you to legally move around in the west of the city, but not enough for you to find anything of significance.

It's been found; the credit belongs to the City Lord's Mansion.

Unable to find out, you're dead. The city lord's mansion sighed and removed your name from the temporary staff. No compensation will be paid.

Fang Yuan's finger slowly traced the four characters "Patrol Captain" on the iron plaque.

The engraving is very rough. There are burrs at the turns of the horizontal, vertical, and diagonal strokes.

It's even rougher than the student badges at Fangjia Martial Arts School.

Fang Yuan's lips curved slightly.

It wasn't a wry smile. It was the kind of certainty that comes after confirming something.

He walked to the window and pushed it open halfway.

In the courtyard, Fang Ying was squatting under the old locust tree, poking ants with a twig. Two crooked little tufts of hair swayed on top of her head. Fang Lin stood two steps away, holding a bowl of warm water, ready to hand it to her at any moment.

Fang Yuan's gaze lingered on Fang Ying for a moment.

Take it back.

He closed the window. Turned and sat down at the table. He opened his right hand. A translucent panel appeared.

Current savings: 4077 taels of silver.

Four thousand seventy-seven.

There are 5,923 taels of silver needed to reach the 10,000-tael threshold for the next increase.

As they approached the second fragment—Fang Yuan's gaze shifted from the numbers to the patrol captain's token on the table.

He took out the faded, blood-red token from his inner pocket and placed it next to the iron plaque.

Two signs. One with a grayish-white bat motif. The other with rough iron lettering.

One point points to the prey. Another point allows him to legally approach the prey.

Fang Yuan closed the panel.

-

The news spread faster than Fang Yuan had anticipated.

The next morning, when Fang Yuan left the Class A courtyard, there was a person standing at the alley entrance.

Fang Teng.

A direct descendant of the Fang family. Second in the Talent Record. The one who was completely overshadowed by Fang Yuan in the Hundred Beast Cave Secret Realm.

He wore a gray military uniform in the Fang family's style, with the Fang family's emblem embroidered on the collar. A short knife was tucked at his waist, the lacquer on the scabbard gleaming.

Fang Teng's expression was not good. To be precise, his expression hadn't been good ever since he returned from the Hundred Beast Cave.

Fang Yuan walked to the alley entrance. He didn't stop walking.

Fang Teng stepped to the side, blocking the road.

"A patrol captain?"

Fang Teng's voice squeezed out from his nasal cavity, carrying a sour smell that he had been holding back for a long time.

"Fang Yuan, what exactly are you trying to do?"

Fang Yuan stopped in his tracks.

It wasn't because Fang Teng was blocking the way. It was because there were two energy signals three zhang behind Fang Teng at the corner. Late stage of the Flesh Refining Realm. People from the Fang family.

Fang Teng didn't come alone. He brought two followers with him.

However, in Fang Yuan's eyes, his two followers, who were at the late stage of the Body Refining Realm, were not even considered background figures.

Fang Yuan's gaze fell on Fang Teng's face.

Fang Teng's jaw was clenched, and a vein throbbed on his temple. His fists were clenched tightly at his sides, but he didn't raise them.

After the Hundred Beast Cave incident, Fang Teng's status within the Fang family slipped. He still held the title of second in the Talent Record, but everyone's gaze towards him had changed. He went from being "the leader of the younger generation of the Fang family" to "the one after Fang Yuan."

He couldn't swallow this insult. But he didn't dare to openly confront Fang Yuan.

And so it turned into what it is now—blocking the alley entrance and making sarcastic remarks.

Fang Yuan's gaze lingered on Fang Teng's face for a moment.

"Get out of the way."

Two words. No explanation. No response to Fang Teng's question.

Fang Teng's face turned red.

"Fang Yuan! I'm asking you a question! You dare to interfere in the affairs of the city guards? You think you can just because you have a temporary captain's order—"

Fang Yuan took a step.

It's not a detour. It's going straight ahead.

Fang Teng stood in the middle of the road. Fang Yuan's shoulder brushed past Fang Teng's shoulder.

Enhanced by eight times the standing meditation technique, Fang Yuan's shoulder applied a precise force the instant it made contact with Fang Teng's shoulder. Not much. Roughly equivalent to the effect of a peak-stage Body Refinement Realm martial artist pushing with all their might.

Fang Teng staggered two steps to the side.

His heel hit the edge of the stone steps at the alley entrance, and he almost lost his balance.

It wasn't serious. It wouldn't cause injury. But to onlookers—Fang Teng being bumped away by Fang Yuan's shoulder was no different than pushing aside a door blocking his way.

The blood and qi fluctuations of the two henchmen at the corner suddenly tightened.

Fang Teng steadied himself, and the color in his face turned from red to white.

Fang Yuan had already walked five steps away. He didn't look back.

Fang Teng stood there, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white. His lips trembled slightly.

He didn't say anything.

The two henchmen around the corner exchanged a glance. One of them opened his mouth, then closed it again.

Fang Yuan's figure disappeared at the end of the alley.

Fang Teng stared at the direction where the figure disappeared, standing there for a long time.

Then he loosened his fist. He turned and walked back. His steps were quick. As if he were fleeing.

-

afternoon.

Fang Yuan led Tie Meng along the four main streets in the west of the city.

It wasn't an inspection. It was a reconnaissance mission.

The patrol captain's iron badge hung at his waist as he walked down the street. Several patrol squads of the city guards from the west side saw him but didn't react much. Two squad leaders glanced in his direction a couple of times before looking away.

Fang Yuan was very familiar with that look.

It only happens when you look at someone who's not worth noting—you glance at them to make sure they're not a threat, and then you act like they don't exist.

Fang Yuan stopped at the intersection of the third and fourth main streets.

His doubled spiritual perception spread out within a range of twenty-five zhang.

There was a tea stall on the southeast corner of the intersection. Behind the tea stall sat three people. They were at the early stage of the Skin Refining Realm to the Flesh Refining Realm—low-level martial artists. They were speaking in hushed tones.

Fang Yuan's eight-fold standing meditation technique pushed the precision of his hearing to its limit.

"...The fourth one...from the Fang family..."

"...The city guards don't care..."

"...I'm moving...I'm not living in the west of the city anymore..."

The fourth victim was a member of the Fang family.