Zhong Lin walked out of the hall expressionlessly, looked at Yun Ye waiting in the yard, and then turned to the large copper vat filled with water, burying his face directly into it.
Yun Ye in the center of the yard twitched the corner of his mouth upon seeing this scene, looked at Zhong Lin with a hint of pity, and then stepped forward.
"The Second Young Master just has a unique hobby, you..."
Zhong Lin shook his head, indicating he was fine.
Yun Ye took out a porcelain bottle and handed it over: "This is a reward from the Second Young Master."
Merely glancing at the words "Bone Strengthening Pill" on the bottle lifted Zhong Lin’s once gloomy mood a little.
Damn, I thought getting summoned here in the middle of the night by the Du family’s young master was something serious, who would’ve thought it was for drawing erotic art.
And it was to be drawn live, with the main characters being that Du Second Young Master and the two maids beside him.
He wasn’t satisfied with just one piece and wanted several, each with different poses.
Zhong Lin felt as if he had grown a sty.
Yun Ye suggested: "I see you have good skills, would you be willing to join our Du family, become one of our guardians?"
"All the Du family guardians are graded martial artists. Ninth Grade martial artists are third-class guardians, Eighth Grade martial artists are second-class guardians, and Seventh Grade martial artists can become first-class guardians. With your martial arts cultivation, you could be a second-class guardian, with a monthly salary of twenty taels of silver, and with the Du family as backing, no one would dare trouble you when you buy medicine at the black market."
Zhong Lin’s mind was racing; the offer seemed good, but Zhong Lin was very reluctant. His goal was to go to Tianyang County to learn alchemy, and he had no interest in becoming someone else’s brute.
After taking a deep breath, he replied solemnly: "Thank you, Mr. Yun, for your appreciation, but I’m afraid I must decline your kind offer. I am but a painter and don’t enjoy fighting. I just want a peaceful life."
Yun Ye’s expression was clearly displeased upon hearing Zhong Lin’s refusal and waved for Zhong Lin to leave.
"Hmph! Shortsighted fool. Don’t you know that to advance beyond the Middle Third Grades and to cultivate Qi-Blood, you need a Blood Refining Skill, which only noble families have?" Yun Ye said coldly.
In his heart, Zhong Lin was a talented martial arts junior whom he was willing to offer a hand to for advancement but didn’t expect a refusal.
It’s not his loss, but Zhong Lin’s. Missing this opportunity would likely mean he would spend his life stuck in the Lower Third Grades, wasting away his years.
On the other side, Zhong Lin, having already walked far away, hadn’t heard Yun Ye’s words, but even if he had, he probably wouldn’t have cared.
"Tsk, tsk, as expected of a noble family member. This commission turned out to be ten Bone Strengthening Pills."
By the moonlight, Zhong Lin opened the porcelain bottle, which contained a total of ten round Bone Strengthening Pills, worth three hundred taels of silver in total if you counted thirty taels per pill, the most valuable commission Zhong Lin had received since becoming a painter.
"Dong Yan contributed five Bone Strengthening Pills, I bought five myself, and along with these ten, combined with max-level experience for elixir absorption, this should be enough for me to advance to the Seventh Grade."
Max-level "Iron Mountain Skill" allowed Zhong Lin to comprehend the skill at a creator’s level, maximizing the use of the elixir’s power. Ordinary people needed two pills, while he required just one.
He quickened his pace, swiftly returning to the county seat.
"Second Brother, wow! What a big rooster; can we eat meat tomorrow?"
Little Stone, who was waiting for Zhong Lin to come home, immediately awoke from sleepiness upon seeing the big rooster in his brother’s hand, especially excited about the thought of eating meat.
"Always thinking about food, find a rope to tie it up, else it might run and there won’t be anything for you to eat tomorrow," Zhong Lin teased.
Little Stone got up from the bed, put on his shoes, and excitedly found a hemp rope from the corner to tie one end to the rooster’s leg and the other to the table leg.
"Are you hungry? I also bought some eggs to boil for you."
At that moment, Zhong Lin wasn’t sleepy either. The two of them went straight to the kitchen, filled a pot with water and put in two eggs, setting it to a high boil.
Before long, the water was boiling, and they let it sit a bit longer before taking the eggs out and shocking them in cold water.
"Second Brother, I want this one."
Little Stone pointed to a relatively pointed egg.
Even though they’d been cooled in water, the eggs were still hot to the touch. Little Stone kept juggling it in his hands while puffing on it to cool it down.
Neither of them ate immediately but looked at each other.
"One, two, three, smash."
"One, two, three, smash."
With a crack, the eggs collided, but Little Stone’s was intact while the one in Zhong Lin’s hand had a dented corner.
"Oh, oh! I won, I won."
Little Stone shouted excitedly, holding up his egg as if he were a victorious general.
Zhong Lin watched with a smile, thinking the egg... smelled delicious!
And just like that, seven days passed. Every night during these seven days, Zhong Lin still went to the black market to sell medicine. Part of the silver was used to buy essential supplies, while the other part was used to buy Bone Strengthening Pills.
During the day, he hid at home to practice. The Bone Strengthening Pill, no doubt, is specifically for post-Eighth Rank Muscle Strengthening Realm belonging, with its vast power targeting the bones specifically.
Swallowing a pill, Zhong Lin swung his fists in the yard, every breath feeling the thick power applied to his bones.
The bones of the human body seem hard but are actually quite fragile, requiring years of tempering.
The Bone Strengthening Pill accelerated this process, but every time his bones were tempered, Zhong Lin could feel a stinging pain.
The max-level "Iron Mountain Skill" made Zhong Lin’s bone tempering very efficient, yet tempering all at once would take time, as the human body has many bones that need thorough tempering over time.
Two hours later, Zhong Lin felt a bit tired and stopped.
Feeling the power in his body, Zhong Lin nodded with satisfaction.
"Although I haven’t yet entered the Seventh Grade Bone Forging Realm, I can clearly feel that my power, defense, and endurance have greatly increased, far beyond the Muscle Strengthening Realm. I’ve already tempered most bones in my body, with only small areas left. In three days at most, I will definitely step into the Seventh Grade."
After washing his face and tidying up a bit, he shouted into the house: "Stone, are you ready? It’s time to go."
Today was moving day. Old Xu had the house rented, prepared for several days. If Zhong Lin didn’t move soon, the Xu family would probably come too.
Things were getting messier outside. The affair with the bandit Guo Yanhuai couldn’t be concealed and had spread for a long time; countless nearby refugees had already fled to the county town seeking refuge.
With more people, resources became even more scarce, and there were more vagrants and beggars everywhere. The whole of Black Mountain County felt to Zhong Lin like a giant powder keg, needing just a final spark.