Once Wei Changqing left, Qu Dayou and Xu Ning were the only ones left behind.

"Master, what is this month's prize?"

Xu Ning asked Qu Dayou.

Qu Dayou smiled. "After being promoted to a lieutenant, in addition to your monthly salary, you will also receive resources."

"Resources?"

Xu Ning realized that this prize was not a monetary reward.

"That's right," Qu Dayou explained, "generally speaking, after being promoted to a lieutenant, you have to spend some time doing tasks, which will affect your martial arts practice."

"In order to reduce the impact on your training, the senior officials of the Black Armored Guards in Yunying City have decided to distribute training resources to the Black Armored Guards at the rank of lieutenant and above."

"As a lieutenant, you will receive three Qi Dans every month."

"Qi Dans?"

This was the first time Xu Ning had heard of this kind of dan medicine.

"A high-level member of the Black Armored Guards in Yunying City commissioned an alchemy master to refine the Qi Dans, so it has many great uses."

"In the Black Armored Guards, any official lieutenant must be at least in the qi realm. Therefore, this prize is appropriately awarded."

Qu Dayou said.

"In other words, the Qi Dans come from Yunying City?"

Xu Ning noticed the key information from Qu Dayou's words.

"Yes, it is a fine product produced in Yunying City."

Qu Dayou smiled and said, "Qi Dans are not very expensive in Yunying City. They're priced at 500 taels each. But in Kangyun County, you can't buy it even for 1000 taels; it's a rare commodity."

"Although its raw materials are not precious, the refining techniques for this dan are extremely demanding, so only experienced alchemists in Yunying City can refine it."

Xu Ning was intrigued when he heard the value of Qi Dans.

For him personally, spirit medicine was more cost-effective than refined dan medicine.

But according to Qu Dayou, Qi Dans were so expensive in Kangyun County that he could sell Qi Dans in order to buy more spirit medicine.

Almost as if Qu Dayou could read Xu Ning's thoughts, Qu Dayou squinted his eyes and said with a smile, "What, the price is so high that you're starting to have second thoughts?"

Xu Ning did not hide his intentions as he explained, "Master, since Qi Dans are so valuable, wouldn't it be better to buy some other type of dans or spirit medicine with the money we get after selling our Qi Dans? Even though Qi Dans are powerful, it may not be suitable for everyone."

"That is the case."

Qu Dayou patiently said, "For some martial artists in the qi realm, the effects of Qi Dan are weak. Like you said, they can sell Qi Dans in exchange for taels, in order to buy more precious resources."

"However, this is strictly forbidden within the Black Armored Guards."

Seeing the confusion on Xu Ning's face, Qu Dayou continued, "Because once Qi Dans are sold, it is impossible to supervise how the money will be used after the sale. Not everyone is willing to continue to endure hardships and practice martial arts. After a person reaches the lieutenant rank, they might lose motivation."

"After selling the Qi Dans for taels, they might use it for personal enjoyment, or even for other purposes, which completely deviates from its original intention. If you do this secretly and get discovered, the punishment is extremely severe. You will be stripped of your Black Armored Guards qualification, and might even suffer other internal penalties."

Qu Dayou's remarks made Xu Ning quite disappointed.

It seemed that it was definitely impossible to obtain more resources by selling Qi Dans.

However, the monthly prize itself was still a bonus.

"Come, let's go to the resource room to get your Qi Dans."

After explaining the nature of the monthly prize to Xu Ning, Qu Dayou personally took Xu Ning to retrieve his Qi Dans.

The Qi Dans were placed in a wooden box, just like other dans.

However, this wooden box was sealed with a Black Armored Guards stamp on it.

Xu Ning didn't open it immediately, instead he planned on absorbing the energy at home.

Because today was assessment day, the newcomers in Camp Site Three were allowed to take a day off, so Xu Ning did not go to the Maple Lane Guard Station.

He wanted to find Tao Qingping, but Tao Qingping had gone out with the other members from the Tao Village.

They wanted to ask Xu Ning to come, but Xu Ning declined.

Xu Ning only wanted to find out how much energy was stored in the Qi Dans.

…

Xu Ning walked quickly in the alleyways of the Maple Lane Residential District.

Just when he was about to get home, a person walked out of the corner of the alley and almost ran into Xu Ning.

Xu Ning reacted quickly and easily avoided the person, but the person seemed to be taken aback.

She looked up and instantly recognized Xu Ning.

She was the girl Tao Qingping was talking about before.

"Sorry, master…"

The young girl looked a little panicked when she saw Xu Ning's uniform.

Xu Ning waved his hand, indicating that it was fine.

But when the girl was about to leave, Xu Ning stopped her.

"Wait a second."

"Master."

The girl looked a little nervous.

"What's the matter with your injury?"

Xu Ning glanced at her and saw several signs of swellings on her face and some bruises on her exposed neck.

If this was an ordinary stranger, Xu Ning wouldn't have bothered.

But because of Tao Qingping, Xu Ning recognized this person.

"This… this is…"

The girl quickly covered her neck with her blouse and lowered her head. "It was… I accidentally fell…"

"Accidentally fell?"

Xu Ning obviously didn't believe her.

From what he could tell, she was obviously beaten by someone.

"Yes…"

The girl was embarrassed.

After seeing this, Xu Ning frowned and did not say anything else.

Since she didn't want to talk about it, he shouldn't intervene with other people's business.

"If you need help, you can ask the city guards."

Xu Ning reminded.

"Understood, master."

After the girl whispered, she walked away quickly and disappeared into the end of the alley.

Xu Ning shook his head lightly, walked a few steps quickly, and went back home.

After entering the house, Xu Ning looked at the empty front yard and the empty rooms. Xu Ning intended to return to the Tao Village to pick up his sister's family.

After closing the door, Xu Ning went to his room.

He couldn't wait to remove the seal and open the wooden box.

Inside the box, three pure white dans were neatly placed, giving off a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Xu Ning saw the Black Armored Guards logo carved on the surface of the white dan medicine.

"They even carved a logo…" Xu Ning thought to himself, 'If someone sells this, it can easily be traced.'

Xu Ning no longer hesitated, and he picked up a Qi Dan with his hand.

—

Discovered energy: 5 units

Absorb?

Yes/No

—

"5 units?"

Xu Ning was happy after hearing the prompt.

According to Qu Dayou, in Yunying City, where the Qi Dan was produced, each Qi Dan cost 500 taels.

500 taels for 5 units of energy was not a bad deal for Xu Ning.

"Captain Qu said that the raw materials of the Qi Dan are not precious, but even so, it is worth 5 energy points. It seems like the Source Faction alchemists are quite competent."

Xu Ning sighed and pressed yes.

Soon after, the three Qi Dans were absorbed by Xu Ning.

—

Name: Xu Ning

Martial Arts:

Spring Breeze Tactic (Mortal realm fourth stage: qi realm) +

Gale Knife Technique (Intermediate) +

Source Breath Bodybuilding Tactic: (intermediate)+

Light Feather Bow Technique (elementary) +

Available energy: 16 units

—

After the last series of advancements, Xu Ning only had 1 unit of energy left.

Now with the additional 15 units, he had saved up a small amount of energy units.

'It seems like I have made the right decision to participate in the Black Armored Guards assessment.'

Xu Ning thought to himself.

If he was in the Tao Village, even if he went into Yunze Mountains everyday, he wouldn't be able to collect this many resources.

Even if his strength increased, he wouldn't be able to find precious spirit medicine everyday.

Now that he joined the Black Armored Guards and was promoted to the lieutenant rank, he now received his monthly salary, the newcomer's allowance, and the lieutenant's monthly prize. His income was quite substantial.

In the future, he wouldn't need to use all his silver taels to buy spirit medicine. He could instead use part of it to increase his quality of life.