Chapter 43: On the Road (Third Update Seeking Recommendations)

  "Bodyguard mission!"

  The girl's pretty face turned bright red, her beautiful eyes wide open and grasping her small hands tightly: "They are really too much, Qin Yun brother, why don't you appeal to the steward of the hall?"

  If the children of the Tang family are treated unfairly, they can appeal to the executive, but such behavior is often not tolerated and it is difficult to get a truly fair treatment.

  "This cannot be appealed because the escort mission is one of the designated tasks for new disciples."

  Qin Yun shook his head and said: "Moreover, this time I'm not the only one who received the task of protecting the token!"

  The mastermind behind the scenes who intended to deal with Qin Yun did an even better job this time, making it impossible for anyone to say anything within the rules, although everyone knew the reason.

  A bold and upright plot is more difficult to resist than a sinister one. Qin Yun, who has taken on the task of escorting the treasure convoy, must leave Qianchao City once again. Although it won't be for long, by the time he returns, the new assessment will have arrived.

  This means that Qin Yun cannot focus on his cultivation in this most important month.

  However, Qin Yun did not take it too seriously and had expected his opponent's despicable tactics.

  Now, I just came to say goodbye to Qin Mingzhu, so she won't worry.

  "Don't worry, even if it's an external task, I will practice day and night, and won't make a fool of myself when the time comes."

  "Don't be too confident, maybe you have some winning strategy, but Qin Jun is absolutely not an easy opponent!"

  Another beautiful woman beside Qin Mingzhu suddenly said, "I heard that Qin Wenbing gave him a bottle of top-grade Prenatal Dan. A month later, he will definitely be able to advance to the fifth heaven boundary!"

  The woman was Fang Yi of Dan Yao Tang, and Qin Ming Zhu had a very good relationship with her. Therefore, when Qin Yun came to Dan Yao Tang to bid farewell to Qin Ming Zhu, she also accompanied him by his side.

  "Thank you for reminding me, I'll be careful." Qin Yun nodded with a smile.

  Looking at his confident smile, Fang Yi felt a strange feeling in her heart.

  No matter how you look at it, this swordsmanship competition was one that Qin Yun had no chance of winning, but her sharp intuition told her that Qin Yun's confidence was absolutely not blind arrogance!

  She suppressed the emotional fluctuations in her heart, took out two porcelain bottles and handed them to Qin Yun: "This bottle is a medium-grade Pei Yuan Dan, and this bottle is a medium-grade Hui Qi Dan. Consider it a gift from me, I don't want to see Ming Zhu sister disappointed."

  Qin Yun's gaze suddenly froze.

  Zhongpin Peiyuan Dan and Huiqi Dan are good things that can't be bought with money, Fang Yi is indeed a talented dan master of the Dan Medicine Hall, his generosity is astonishing!

  "Thank you for your kindness, but I don't accept payment for nothing, so I'm afraid I must decline."

  Unexpectedly, Qin Yun did not hesitate to refuse.

  He was used to overcoming difficulties through his own efforts and did not rely on elixirs to cultivate, so he didn't want to owe this favor.

  If others were to see Qin Yun refusing the elixir that Fang Yi had given him, who knows how they would react - this was something that many people dreamed of having!

  Fang Wei's expression changed suddenly, and her pretty face immediately turned cold.

  She had never been refused like this before, especially when it was out of kindness.

  She put two bottles of Dan medicine into Qin Mingzhu's hands and said coldly, "I never take back the things I give out. If you don't want them, just throw them away!"

  Qin Mingzhu suddenly became anxious and hastily signaled to Qin Yun with her eyes: "Brother Qin Yun, this is Fang Yi's kind intention, she also means well for me!"

  "If you think it's too expensive and can't accept it, then come back after defeating Qin Jun and use the family's merits to repay Fang Yi's sister."

  Qin Yun rubbed his head and felt that if he refused again, it would be too impolite, so he had no choice but to accept.

  He picked up the medicine bottle and took off the backpack he was carrying with him.

  "Mingzhu sister, this is a green jade fox I brought back from Manglong Mountain, would you mind helping me take care of it for a few days?"

  This time out for a month with a bodyguard is very inconvenient to bring along Xiaoyao, so Qin Yun wants Qin Mingzhu to help feed her.

  Jade Fox Spirit!

  Xiao Yao poked his little head out of the round and bulging backpack.

  Its beauty and loveliness immediately caught the attention of two women, and Fang Yi, who had originally intended not to give Qin Yun a good face, couldn't help but shine with beautiful eyes.

  "Bixi fox spirit, this is a spiritual beast, where did you get it from?" She couldn't help but ask.

  "It came by itself, and I found it interesting so I stayed." Qin Yun replied calmly.

  They came knocking on my door!

  Her forehead, as smooth and white as jade, showed a faint green vein, she was so angry that she wanted to clench her fist and slam it into Qin Yun's face, which looked very punchable - Who do you think you are!

  This is a rare and precious spirit beast, it's not an idiot, how can it deliver itself to be a spirit pet?

  Fang Wei's expression made Qin Yun somewhat perplexed. To be honest, he really didn't understand women's thoughts and only instinctively felt that it was better for him to leave early.

  "Mingzhu sister, I'll leave it to you, wait for me to come back!"

  "Be careful all the way!"

  Qin Mingzhu hugged her backpack and watched Qin Yun's back as he walked away, forcing herself not to let the tears in her eyes fall.

  ………

  Outside of Senri Castle.

  A caravan consisting of a dozen or so horse-drawn carts and scores of pack horses made its way slowly westward along the highway.

  The vermilion banner fluttering in the wind at the forefront of the fleet clearly indicated the identity represented by the merchant fleet.

  Qin Yun and nine other new disciples of Wai ZiTang sat in the horse carriage behind, embarking on a long journey.

  This time's escort mission is to escort this merchant group to Lantian County in the southwest of Dayan.

  Lantian County and Guiyang County are adjacent to each other, but the two counties are separated by a large mountain forest, with no waterway and only land transportation, making it very inconvenient for traffic.

  Although Lantian County is located in a remote area, it is not as prosperous as Guyang County. The local customs are rough and the mountains and rivers are treacherous. However, the famous Lantian jade is well-known throughout the nine provinces. The Qin family has many jade mines there.

  This merchant group is transporting a batch of weapons and elixirs to the Lantian Jade Mine, and then bringing back the collected jade stones.

  Because there were many bandits in the territory of Lantian County, the merchant group was specially equipped with thirty-two guards.

  There were twenty people in the outer courtyard, including ten new disciples such as Qin Yun, and the remaining twelve came from Keqing Hall, led by an executive of Keqing Hall.

  This steward named Lin Dong was a middle-aged man who didn't smile or speak carelessly, his strength at the 9th layer of the Refining stage made him the undisputed leader of the merchant group.

  He was quite considerate of the new young men in the Foreign Affairs Hall, arranging for them to sit in relatively comfortable carriages.

  For young people, going out as a bodyguard is a fresh experience and a rare opportunity for training.

  With the protection of the skilled men from Guest Pavilion, they were not afraid of ordinary thieves and horse bandits at all, so the young masters had a very relaxing journey, chatting and laughing along the way.

  Among the other four disciples, one was a fellow townsman of Qin Yun - Qin Liren.

  Qin Liren is somewhat introverted and weak in character. He doesn't get along well with the Outer Hall, partly because of Qin Haisan's influence, he also keeps a distance from Qin Yun.

  Most of the time, he sat silently in a corner of the carriage, isolated by others.

  Qin Yun was also isolated in the same way.

  Qin Yun offended Qin Wenbing and had to compete with Xing Tangqin in a swordsmanship test during the new promotion assessment, this matter was known by everyone in Muyangdao.

  There may be sympathy, but more people are gloating, everyone thinks Qin Yun is definitely out of luck this time, who dares to get close to him now?

  Others ignored him, but Qin Yun was happy with the peace and quiet.

  During the day when he was on the road, he did not sit in a comfortable carriage with those young men to chat and talk, but instead walked behind the team of horses.

  This is not Qin Yun looking for trouble himself, but rather utilizing the time on the road to practice his Thousand Mile Divine Movement!

  Fangcun, Shibu, Bai Zhang, Qianli and Shenxing are the five levels. Qin Yun has reached the third level, Bai Zhang, where he can jump freely within a hundred feet, but wanting to reach Qianli or Shenxing is not that simple.

  A thousand miles requires a strong foundation of true energy, and needs to be tempered thousands of times. As for the divine movement, it relies even more on the practitioner's wisdom and patience, and is absolutely not something that can be achieved overnight.

  It's precisely because of its difficulty that many cultivators of the Thousand Mile Divine Movement only treat it as a stepping stone for learning more advanced light body techniques, switching to another method after reaching the second or third layer.

  However, Qin Yun firmly remembered the words that Sun Nian had once told him, and he was determined to cultivate the Thousand Mile Divine Movement to the Great Perfection level.

  Although the swift and agile footwork that flashes by like lightning is enviable, it's also necessary to lay a solid foundation step by step.

  At first, looking at Qin Yun falling behind and running wildly, those newcomers mostly looked down on him or even ridiculed him.

  "Haha, didn't expect someone would be willing to eat dust in the back!"

  "He thought that by practicing like this, he would be able to defeat Qin Jun of the Imperial Court?"

  "I think he's trying to show off, I've never heard of anyone practicing qigong like that!"

  ……

  These sarcastic and mocking words were carried into Qin Yun's ears by the wind.

  However, he pretended that he had not heard it and concentrated on his cultivation until the true energy in his dantian was completely exhausted before returning to the carriage to meditate and circulate his breath for recovery.

  The only one who didn't join in the ridicule was Qin Liren, who gazed at Qin Yun, who was sweating profusely behind the carriage, with an unusual glint in his eyes, and wondered what he was thinking.

  During this time, the leader of the merchant group, Lin Dong, had also noticed the commotion at the rear, but after understanding what had happened, he did not express any opinion.

  Traveling by day and camping at night, the merchant group walked for three days on the road, Qin Yun persisted in practicing every day without change.

  The new disciples' sneers and ridicule gradually disappeared, Qin Yun's efforts made them feel a hint of shame.

  Some people, although they can't bring themselves to learn from Qin Yun, no longer waste their time on chatting and conversation, but instead start cultivating their skills.

  However, a horse-drawn carriage is no match for a quiet practice room. The bumps on the road are distracting everywhere, making it extremely difficult to enter a state of meditation.

  On the fourth day of leaving Qianchao City, the merchant team entered a mountainous area with continuous ups and downs.

  The dense human smoke on the plain disappeared, and the originally flat and broad road became a rugged and difficult mountain road. There were few pedestrians and travelers on the road.

  The caravan's advance slowed down immediately, and the experienced guards increased their vigilance, the original relaxed atmosphere vanished in the team.