Chapter 26: Senior Marshal

Luo Yuan was delighted to discover that his golden finger still allowed him to pick up proficiency in secret techniques. It seemed he would no longer have to worry about the difficulty of mastering them in the future.

“By the way, Captain Gao, I wanted to ask—are there many warriors here who practice the Ninefold Thunder Blade?” Luo Yuan sought out Gao Feng and posed his question.

Gao Feng set aside his training equipment, pondered briefly, and looked at Luo Yuan. “Luo Yuan, don’t tell me you’re also cultivating the Ninefold Thunder Blade?”

Luo Yuan nodded.

“Haha, then you’ve come to the right place. The Ninefold Thunder Blade is expensive, requires a certain contribution score, and is notoriously difficult to master. Yet its power is immense, growing even stronger in later stages. Typically, warriors aren’t qualified to purchase and train in it, but we warlords, after accumulating enough time hunting monsters, can manage to obtain it—though most can only acquire the first four layers, which is already impressive.

See that man meditating with a blade? He’s one of our veteran warriors, nicknamed Old Huang. He’s practiced the Ninefold Thunder Blade for nearly ten years, though he’s only reached the second layer. Even so, with his primary warlord strength, he can slay mid-level beast commanders and even hold his own against high-level ones for a while.

Those two over there also practice the Ninefold Thunder Blade; they’ve been at it for five or six years and are at the first layer. If you wish to find more advanced practitioners, you can venture to the higher floors—there are many here training in this blade technique,” Gao Feng patiently explained.

After thanking Gao Feng, Luo Yuan resumed picking up attributes. He paid special attention to those warriors practicing the Ninefold Thunder Blade, collecting their dropped attributes at the first opportunity. He worked his way from the tenth floor up to the nineteenth, so that nearly all warlords in the Extreme Pavilion were aware of his presence. Their attitudes remained friendly; after all, no one wished to offend a genius.

To Luo Yuan’s surprise, nearly a third of the warlords here trained in the Ninefold Thunder Blade, especially among the intermediate and advanced ranks.

And so, Luo Yuan spent his days picking up attributes in the warlords’ training halls, and his nights fusing them, cultivating, or browsing information on the warrior forums—all fulfilling and enjoyable. The woman who had once slept with him, Wang Qian, seemed to be away on a mission in the wilderness and hadn’t been seen since, which suited Luo Yuan just fine.

Time passed swiftly, and before he knew it, the calendar had turned to August 28th, the day the members of the Fire Hammer Squad finished their break. Today was their departure for a mission in the wilderness—Luo Yuan’s first time leaving the base city to explore the monster-occupied territories. He felt a twinge of nervousness; after all, no one could predict what level of monster they might encounter.

Luo Yuan took another look at his personal attribute panel:

Name: Luo Yuan
Level: Apprentice (Advanced Warlord)
Strength: 35,000 kg
Speed: 219 m/s
Defense: 35,000 kg
Spirit: 21,000 kg
Evasion Technique: Subtle Level
Cultivation Methods: Five Hearts to Heaven Method, Guiding Technique ‘Ninefold Origin’ (First Layer)
Skills: Movement Technique ‘Streamlight’ (First Layer); Blade Technique ‘Thunder Blade’ (First Layer)

Examining his stats, Luo Yuan felt more at ease. With his advanced warlord strength, a bit of caution would suffice to keep him alive. He could now unleash the first hidden force of the Ninefold Thunder Blade—enough to handle beast commander-level monsters for the time being.

In the training hall, Luo Yuan donned his black-and-gold D9 combat suit, securing six black-and-gold Series 9 throwing knives at his waist, slipped on matching alloy combat boots, and wore protective wrist guards. The rest of his body was enveloped in nano-metal fiber armor—comfortable, breathable, and offering no hindrance to movement. Over it all, he wore a gold-trimmed black cloak with a hood, warding off dust, water, and fire, lending him an air of mystery and power.

He slung a premium warrior backpack and a B6 shuttle-shaped shield over his back, and sheathed an A9 black-and-gold Blood Shadow combat blade at his side. A high-grade communication watch was fixed to his right wrist guard, and his backpack contained water and high-energy food.

When Luo Yuan stepped out of his villa, his gear nearly dazzled Chen Gu, Luo Feng, and Zhang Ke, who were waiting at the door.

“Senior Luo Yuan, your outfit is just too cool! Compared to you, mine looks like it’s picked up from a street stall,” Luo Feng exclaimed with envy.

“Haha, not just cool—Luo Yuan’s gear has enough defense and firepower to take on lord-level monsters. Look at that A9 Blood Shadow blade, B6 shield, D9 combat suit—wow, the whole set must cost several billion, plus you need high contribution points to get it,” Chen Gu commented, stroking his chin.

“Ahem, don’t get the wrong idea. This was all bought with a two-hundred-million reimbursement from Supervisor Zhuge—I could never afford this myself,” Luo Yuan explained.

“Two hundred million?” Luo Feng and the others were stunned, a storm of emotions swirling inside. Clearly, Supervisor Zhuge valued Luo Yuan highly—even Luo Feng only had a one-hundred-million allowance.

“All right, let’s go. We four are heading to the HR Alliance Mall to meet up with the captain and the others, then set out for the wilderness.”

“Yes, Brother Chen.”

The four boarded the Extreme Pavilion’s special vehicle and departed swiftly.

Jiangnan Base City—one of the six great base cities of Huaxia—was immensely prosperous. In its main district stood a skyscraper with eighty-eight floors, its walls emblazoned with the dazzling letters ‘HR’. At the tower’s base was a beautiful plaza and the largest fountain in the city, surrounded by over a thousand heavily armed soldiers patrolling and barring entry to outsiders.

“Beep!”

An electronic sound rang out. The guards immediately stepped aside as a military SUV bearing the ‘HR’ insignia rolled in and parked at the lobby entrance. With a flourish, the doors opened, and Luo Yuan and his companions emerged.

“Gentlemen, please come in,” the lobby’s attendant greeted them respectfully.

Inside, the lobby’s floors gleamed like mirrors, and even the simplest decorations were extraordinary. The attendants—handsome men and graceful women—wore smiles warm as a spring breeze.

Luo Yuan’s entrance drew many glances, his gear radiating the aura of a tycoon. Some female warriors batted their eyes at him, but Luo Yuan appeared oblivious, settling into a seat with Luo Feng and the others.

“Gentlemen, what would you like to drink?” the attendant asked, bowing slightly.

“Iron Goddess,”

“Pu’er tea, with a hint of jasmine,”

“I’ll have some Dahongpao, thank you.”

Chen Gu, Zhang Ke, and Luo Yuan spoke in turn.

PS: Dear gods, please reward, vote, and add to your collection—Luo Yuan is deeply grateful.