"Great! Excellent!" Qin Mu said with a smile.
Qin Mu stood up, remained silent for a moment, and then summarized, saying, "Spiritual energy has caused a tremendous evolution in the medicinal properties of pills. One pill is enough to open up a meridian and increase physical strength by 30%. As for martial artists..."
Huang Sanjian saw Qin Mu looking over and grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. He said happily, "It's no worse than spiritual cultivation! My blood and qi have doubled! In three days, at most three days, I can advance to the rank of advanced martial general."
Qin Mu silently assessed the situation and nodded slightly. Huang Sanjian's condition was as he expected. After all, this was a pill made primarily from the bones and flesh of ferocious beasts, so its effects on qi, blood, and malevolent energy were naturally much better. Based on Huang Sanjian's cultivation level, it should have a noticeable effect on anyone below the top-tier expert level.
"Haha! That's great!" Zhang Yi laughed excitedly. He knew very well that Qin Mu would definitely give them such a good thing.
Qin Mu, of course, was not stingy and took out the bottles to start distributing them. Not only to the generals, but also to two hundred of the most elite constables.
The Bu brothers were also pleased. As Qin Mu's strength increased, the blow to them grew, making them feel inadequate as guards, even becoming a burden. They had initially been in a good mood; even if they couldn't fight, they could still do errands. Now, being able to increase their strength was naturally the best thing.
Huang Sanjian went to guard the camp. Qin Mu thought for a moment, then walked to a more distant place and gathered the three hundred constables who had been following Xi Wen.
Initially, Qin Mu wanted to try and train them into Confucian cultivators, but after teaching for so long, he found the problem extremely difficult. Fang Yi'ai was a special case, unless there was another very simple-minded person whom Qin Mu could infuse with righteous energy.
While these three hundred people were studying literature, their martial arts skills hadn't suffered either, after all, they were also constables of the Six Doors. After Qin Mu gathered them together, he had them sit down and then began his explanation.
They were all very familiar with Qin Mu's explanation and quickly focused their attention, listening attentively.
Qin Mu explained a simplified method of cultivating spiritual energy, and then gave each of them a pill containing righteous energy.
Seeing that everyone's bodies were generating spiritual energy fluctuations, Qin Mu understood that this meant the spiritual energy had successfully circulated within their bodies, and only then did he relax.
"Thank you very much, Brother Qin!" Baili Bing was a little excited. He walked over to Qin Mu, who was drinking tea, sat down next to him, and bowed to express his gratitude.
"Congratulations, Brother Baili!" Qin Mu returned the greeting with a cupped hand, seeing the overwhelming aura emanating from Baili Bing.
Baili Bing's condition is characterized by an abundance of vital energy in his body, with his skin almost completely open and unable to be controlled freely. In other words, he will soon be promoted to the rank of Grand Scholar. Normally, this process of accumulating and opening up vital energy would be a slow and gradual process, but by using elixirs to strengthen his body, he has saved a significant amount of time.
"It's still early! It's still early!" Baili Bing said modestly, but she couldn't hide the smile on her face.
"This bottle of pills! One pill a day should save some time," Qin Mu said, taking out a bottle and placing it in front of Baili Bing.
The bottle contained twenty pills refined using righteous energy. That batch of pills was made using Qin Mu's entire body's righteous energy. Qin Mu had undergone three Heavenly Baptisms, and his cultivation level was higher than Baili Bing's; it could be said that there was a qualitative difference in the righteous energy between the two. Of course! Qin Mu was unaware of this; he simply felt that cultivating with the righteous energy contained in the pills would be far more effective than usual.
It's like a stream! The flow rate is fixed, but if another stream is added, the impact will be greater.
Baili Bing did not refuse. Since she already owed him a favor, she might as well owe him a little more. She took a deep breath, nodded solemnly, and put the money away.
"I am deeply grateful and need not thank you!" Qin Mu understood and smiled, indicating that he didn't need to worry about it.
Everyone who woke up was overjoyed, and without exception, they were radiating spiritual energy or surging blood energy. This was a result of a sudden increase in strength that they had not yet mastered.
They were all practicing their martial arts, feeling the changes in their bodies, and trying to adapt as quickly as possible.
Not long after, a scene that shocked everyone unfolded: more than two hundred constables awoke one after another, their surging blood and energy giving off a fiery feeling—this is what is commonly referred to as youthful vigor. It's just that they are usually able to control their energy freely, so it's not as astonishing as it appears in everyday life.
This batch of constables were the most talented and capable among the earliest group. After careful training and significant investment of effort from Qin Mu and others, their strength had all reached the Martial Master level. Originally, due to their somewhat weak foundation, they were likely destined to remain Martial Masters for life. However, with the help of elixirs, their strength increased dramatically. Most of them advanced to Advanced Martial Master, and a small number even reached the Martial General level. Of course, there were also some who remained only Intermediate Martial Masters.
The small percentage of intermediate martial arts masters are either too old or have too little talent, and there's nothing that can be done about it.
Qin Mu told them to figure it out for themselves, because they were different from the others and needed to practice military formations. Their strength had suddenly increased, so they naturally needed to familiarize themselves with the coordination again.
Gao Kan was dumbfounded. Among this group, he was the strongest, having reached the level of a top expert in one fell swoop with the help of elixirs. He had just excitedly thanked Qin Mu! However, he had never seen anyone cultivate experts in such a large number like Qin Mu. Even an army of ten thousand people didn't have so many core members. And now they had appeared in a department of two thousand people.
"Perhaps only the legendary Night Watchmen have so many skilled fighters," Gao Kan thought to himself. As a member of the Gao family of Bohai, even though the Gao family had declined, it was still a large and powerful family. He had seen many powerful and influential people, but how many were as generous as Qin Mu? It wasn't a matter of whether he could do it or not, but whether he was willing to spend the money.
Putting himself in their shoes, if he had such good resources, he would definitely want to leave them to his family. And then there's Han Chen! After getting to know him over this period, he knows he's from a medical family; being able to refine such excellent pills, one can only imagine what kind of person he will become in the future.
"I must befriend them." This was Gao Kan's constant reminder to himself.
The crowd withdrew their gazes from the departing constables and, without prior arrangement, looked towards another group of constables still absorbing the pills with their eyes closed. Everyone knew this was the group Qin Mu valued most, and had been personally instructing. They were all dressed in flying fish robes, and this group of three hundred, all personally selected by Qin Mu, were studying literature.
Another hour passed before these people gradually got up, but they seemed much more excited than the others. They were constantly discussing their changes, and some were even gesturing.
"They...they..." Baili Bing felt incredibly incredulous. She rubbed her eyes hard, pointed at the crowd, and looked at Qin Mu with a shocked expression, unable to speak.
He felt that today was already surprising enough, but when three hundred ordinary people suddenly became spiritual cultivators with remarkable spiritual energy, it still felt like a dream.
The three hundred people were emanating spiritual energy fluctuations. At first, Baili Bing thought it might be because the pills hadn't been fully digested yet, but when he saw spiritual energy emanating from the fingertips and palms of many people, he knew that this was definitely not an illusion.
Qin Mu was also very happy. He knew that his efforts had not been in vain. He had gained three hundred more spiritual cultivators under his command, although their strength was still low at present! However, he still had another kind of pill! It was enough to increase their strength by a lot.
"Phew! Brother Qin, where did you find so many good seedlings?" Baili Bing asked in one breath. In the end, Baili Bing assumed that these were specially selected by Qin Mu, suitable for cultivation.
In reality, the only reason these people were selected was because they were young and intelligent. However, once they entered the Six Doors, Qin Mu's training for them was quite good; they trained with the other constables every day without fail.
"Hehe!" Qin Mu chuckled but did not reply.
"Huh!" Han Chen suddenly walked over in surprise.
Qin Mu was somewhat confused, but Han Chen went over and asked him a few questions, and then examined the spiritual energy.
"Is there a problem?" Qin Mu walked over and asked.
"They! They cultivate pure Yang energy within their bodies," Han Chen exclaimed in shock.
"Is there a problem with pure Yang energy?" Qin Mu asked, puzzled.
“Of course, no problem! Compared to other spiritual energies, pure yang energy is vigorous and vast... Could it be because they use elixirs to build their foundation?” Han Chen asked with a puzzled look.
"Very likely! Righteous Qi and Pure Yang Qi are very similar in nature. It's not surprising that taking pills can attract similar spiritual energy for foundation building," Qin Mu nodded in agreement.
“Hmm! You’re right, but it should also be related to the time of day,” Han Chen said after a moment of silence.
"Time?"
"This is the hour of Zi (11 PM - 1 AM), the beginning of the day, and also the middle of the night, when Yin is at its peak and Yang is at its decline! Within the extreme Yin, there must be pure Yang!" Han Chen's eyes lit up, and he explained to Qin Mu with slight excitement.
“You’re right! Then these people are in your hands to teach.” Qin Mu nodded.
"Leave it to me? What am I supposed to teach them? Medicine?" Han Chen asked, puzzled.
"As you know, I haven't been cultivating for very long. I can teach some basic exercises, but when it comes to cultivation itself, I'm far behind you. So I can only entrust these people to you! As for what to teach, you can decide. They suddenly became cultivators and are basically clueless. There's so much for them to learn," Qin Mu said, spreading his hands.
Han Chen thought about it and agreed. Among the Six Doors, he was currently the only one suitable to teach, so he could only nod silently.
"Brother Han, don't worry! I know you've worked hard. I'll find someone to come to the Six Doors as a guest advisor to assist you in managing the Diaoyin Six Doors," Qin Mu said with a smile.
"Cough cough!" Baili Bing rolled her eyes at Qin Mu, looking at her own sister, and suddenly felt like her own cabbage had been eaten by a pig.
She was so cuddly and affectionate! Baili Bing couldn't remember when his sister had ever acted like this before. That blushing, clinging-to-her-clothes-sleeves-as-you-want-to-leave-but-reluctant-to-part feeling infuriated him.
"Let's go! Let's go! We need to celebrate properly today!" Qin Mu said with a smile, putting his arm around Baili Bing's shoulder.
As soon as Qin Mu gave the order, the camp became lively. Regardless of that it was still the middle of the night, they started grilling meat and cooking again.
"Prefect! I suggest we speed up our exploration! Otherwise, we don't know how much longer we'll be wasting here. Didn't you say you were going to attend an exchange meeting outside the pass?" Gao Kan said.
"Hmm! You make a good point. We have ten days left. How about this: starting tomorrow, General Gao will arrange for more people to explore the secret realm once."
"Keep hunting those big guys in the forest. If we find a more worthwhile target, we'll talk about it then. In any case, leave immediately after ten days," Qin Mu agreed.
"Understood!" Gao Kan said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.
"Brother Qin! I wonder what your plans are for the ownership of the secret realm?" Baili Bing asked. This was the first time he had asked so openly, and everyone else looked over curiously.
"Shouldn't this be a matter for the imperial court to consider? My opinion doesn't count," Qin Mu said, somewhat bewildered.
“That is true, but Brother Qin, don’t you have any thoughts about the secret realm?” Baili Bing asked again.
"Of course I have the idea! But what's the use? I'm the chief constable of the Six Doors in Shuozhou. I can't stay in Tianshui forever, can I?" Qin Mu sighed.
The development of the secret realm depends mainly on the resources inside. As more people enter, the spiritual energy inside will gradually become indistinguishable from the outside, so the initial stage focuses on exploration. The reason the four major families aren't in a hurry is that this is their stronghold; no one can force them out. Qin Mu actually just wants to make a quick profit and leave.
"How could the imperial court be at ease?" Baili Bing shook his head with a wry smile. Originally, he also thought that the imperial court would choose to develop the secret realm together with the aristocratic families, but after witnessing Qin Mu's actions, no one would give up a place that could cultivate experts on a large scale.
Qin Mu didn't think so. While ferocious beasts combined with medicinal herbs could indeed cultivate experts, this method of alchemy was an experimental creation of him and Han Chen; ordinary pills wouldn't have such a powerful effect. Furthermore, there was the Moon Pearl! This item was currently unique.
"Actually, it's not impossible! As long as you don't try to monopolize it, the imperial court can't do anything to you! In the end, you'll still have to cooperate. The imperial court needs experts, but it doesn't necessarily have to train them itself!" Qin Mu said.
Baili Bing understood Qin Mu's meaning: the court needed to see sincerity. If the four major families still wanted to remain independent of the court as before, then the secret realm would likely have little to do with them. However, if they surrendered to the court, then giving them to them would be no problem.
In fact, this was also an opportunity for them. While independence had its advantages, completely pledging allegiance to the imperial court wouldn't be bad either. Given the court's current powerful position, surrendering sooner would actually give them an advantage. The only thing that troubled Baili Bing was whether those stubborn old fogies in her family would agree to change their centuries-old stance.
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