Assessment of the Bodyguard Office

After dinner, Xue Yi did not practice martial arts, but went into the room and read the copy of "Crimson Flame Fierce Strength" that Xiao Qingruo had given him.

He had to study and understand this book well by tomorrow morning when he was going to the Guard Office to fight, otherwise if the issue of the origin of his martial arts was exposed, things would become troublesome.

As a top-grade martial arts manual, Crimson Flame Fierce Strength was not too complicated, but it was not easy to learn.

Fortunately, Xue Yi did not need to master it, he only needed to know the changes when using it. He could use the Vermilion Bird true qi to fake it and fool others.

That night, the two of them got along peacefully. Xue Yi did not bully Xiao Qingruo, and Xiao Qingruo did not deliberately provoke him either.

Soon, the night passed, and the day of the test at the Guard Office arrived.

Xiao Qingruo had also received the mission assigned by the Holy Might Manor two days ago.

In the early morning, Xue Yi got up early to practice martial arts, absorbing the remaining medicinal power of the Purple Gold Holy King's medicine to consolidate his cultivation level.

The thirty-seven Heavenly Sources continuously drew in the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, making his true qi at least ten times thicker than cultivators at the same level.

The maids had just gotten up and were washing up and doing their hair. A group of young girls gathered together, Zi Die was helping Qiu Tang comb her hair, Bi Yun was helping Cui He put on her waistband, playing tricks on each other from time to time, pleasing to the eye.

After a while, the sun rose higher and the temperature gradually became somewhat hot.

"Big brother Xue Yi, what do you want to eat for breakfast? Little Die will go get it for you!" After Zi Die finished washing up, she ran over to ask.

Xue Yi smiled and said, "I won't eat first today. Eating too full is not suitable for fighting."

"Ah? Big brother Xue Yi is going to fight with someone?" Zi Die was curious.

"Many people, I don't know exactly how many either. Anyway, it won't be easy." Xue Yi said, but his tone was still very relaxed.

If he hadn't entered the Heavenly Source realm, he would have likely been beaten to death or at least seriously injured for over ten days.

But he was no longer the Xue Yi of three days ago!

After finishing practicing, he used the towel handed over by the maids to wipe away his sweat, then picked up his saber and headed out the door to the Guard Office.

Before leaving, he did not forget to instruct the maids to prepare breakfast for the young miss, keeping in mind his duty as her personal attendant.

...

Guard Office.

As one of the two major military forces of the Holy Might Manor, it had the largest number of cultivators who were the most obedient.

Although the fighting strength of the guards was generally not at the "expert" level, consisting mainly of Qi Opening and Heavenly Source realms, there were still twenty to thirty at the Heavenly Source realm.

But they were all raised by the Holy Might Manor from childhood and grew up in training, each extremely loyal and obedient!

Of course, though obedient, it didn't mean they had lost their sense of self. Everyone still had their own thoughts, made friends, had conflicts, and competed privately.

When Xue Yi arrived at the Guard Office with his saber in hand after being away for three or four days, naturally there were no changes, everything was the same as before.

"Hey, Xue Yi!"

Someone greeted him from the side.

Glancing over, he saw a slender youth jump out and threw a punch at him.

"Shen Longfei, yo, you've recovered well, is your injury healed?" Xue Yi caught the other's fist with one hand, steady as Mount Tai.

Shen Longfei was surprised and said, "Long healed. You guy, how did you advance to the Heavenly Source realm after not seeing you for a few days? Did the young miss feed you some spiritual elixirs?"

This thin guy entered the Guard Office the same year as Xue Yi. With the strength at the seventh layer of the Qi Opening realm, he had a decent relationship with Xue Yi. He was bitten and injured last month by a cultivating demonic beast when following the second young master, Huo Feixuan, on a hunt, and had just recently recovered.

Xue Yi smiled and said, "Nothing much, just third and fourth rank spiritual medicines, worth about 100,000 taels of silver if sold."

"Damn, big brother you've struck it rich! Don't forget to help out your brothers when you make it big in the future!" Shen Longfei looked at him enviously.

"What are you shouting about? So annoying!" At this time, an impatient voice came from the side.

Xue Yi looked over, "Oh, isn't this little Zhao, has the swelling on your face gone down?"

The speaker was Zhao Xuan who had previously "volunteered" to replace him. He was also with several third-rank guards at the Dragon and Tiger realm.

"You bastard...you'll get what's coming today!"

Having his sore spot poked, Zhao Xuan gritted his teeth and glared fiercely at him before turning around and heading to the martial arena.

Seeing this, Shen Longfei quietly reminded Xue Yi, "Xue Yi, Zhao Xuan has resented you for a long time. Today is the day for your assessment, Leader He will definitely select some people to deal with you later, to test your combat abilities. I reckon Zhao Xuan will eagerly volunteer himself and gather a group to go all out against you. You must be careful!"

Xue Yi nodded slightly, "Don't worry, with his bit of skill he's not worth me paying attention to."

"Zhao Xuan is nothing much, but his uncle Zhao Ancheng is not someone to be trifled with. He's at the fifth layer of the Heavenly Source realm, you definitely can't beat him now." Shen Longfei was somewhat worried.

Xue Yi smiled, "Zhao Ancheng? We'll see if he can even get out of bed."

Then he casually walked towards the martial arena.

"Can't get out of bed? What happened? Did he get drained by women?" Shen Longfei jogged to catch up and asked.

The Guard Office was divided into four major groups, Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding, and each group was further divided into six small teams, led by six first-rank guards, with 30-35 people per team, totaling over 800 men.

The four major groups Jia, Yi, Bing, Ding all had their respective duties, for example, group Jia was responsible for guarding the Library Pavilion, group Yi safeguarded the warehouses, group Bing conducted patrols, group Ding guarded the gates, and so on.

The various tasks rotated every three days.

The six teams within each group worked in shifts according to time, with different duties having different shift durations. Patrols were the most tiring, while guarding the warehouses and Library Pavilion were the most relaxing, since no one dared trespass.

At the moment, at least two teams from each group were out on duty.

However, there were even more who remained at the Guard Office!

Because all those not on duty had morning practice at this time, with over five hundred people training on the martial arena.

"Ha!"

"Hah!"

"Hoi!"

Punches and kicks, movements fluid, hundreds practicing in unison, looking a bit silly, but they were actually very practical basic skills, great for fighting.

At the very front of the formation, a middle-aged man stood bare-chested on a platform made from molten steel, observing whether the guards were slacking.

This middle-aged man had straight features, sideburns, and bright, dignified eyes, giving off an awe-inspiring air.

He was called He Haoshan, the Chief Commander of the Holy Might Manor's guards, at the second layer of the Long Life realm, one of the high level experts of the manor.

"Commander, Xue Yi reporting in!"

Xue Yi stepped forward and announced his name in a loud voice.

Shen Longfei entered the ranks to train with the others.

He Haoshan glanced at him and raised a hand.

"Halt!"

Everyone immediately stopped practicing.

"Xue Yi, up here." He Haoshan said.

"Yes!"

Xue Yi leapt onto the platform in two strides.

The platform was 6 meters in diameter and over 2 meters tall, entirely cast from steel and molten iron, weighing over 100,000 catties.

The red and black patches on the steel platform were not rust stains, but instead the hardened bloodstains from countless people dying here over many years without permitting the platform to be cleaned.

He Haoshan looked Xue Yi up and down with satisfaction and nodded, "Not bad, advancing to the Heavenly Source realm in just a few days. It seems the young miss attaches great importance to you and bestowed spirit medicines."

"The Commander sees all, it is indeed the young miss who granted medicines for me to successfully break through!" Xue Yi cupped his fists respectfully in reply. His attitude was deferential.

Although he had risen to become the young miss's personal guard, in name he was still a guard, and still needed to obey orders from He Haoshan the Chief Commander when necessary.

Moreover, if he failed today's assessment, he would not be anyone's personal guard, just...a corpse!