Chen Yuan, dressed in a yamen runner's uniform with a long saber at his waist, walked out of the small courtyard. People greeted him from time to time, and Chen Yuan simply nodded slightly in response.

These neighbors were both familiar and unfamiliar to the current Chen Yuan, and he didn't want to be too enthusiastic, lest it seemed something was amiss. The identity of a yamen runner was already a significant one to the local residents.

In his memories, the original Chen Yuan had always maintained this composure.

"Brother Yuan, heading to the county yamen?"

Passing by a steamed bun shop, a fair-skinned, handsome woman called out to Chen Yuan.

"Yes, give me two meat buns."

Chen Yuan placed four copper coins on the table. A large meat bun cost two copper coins.

The girl, swinging her thick braid, took out two meat buns from the steamer. Then, taking advantage of her father's inattention, she slipped an egg to Chen Yuan.

Her face was flushed, as if she were a little shy.

Chen Yuan glanced down, understood, and said with a smile:

"Thanks."

The girl smiled bashfully. Chen Yuan casually tossed a copper coin into the money box and laughed:

"I'll be going now."

"Be careful."

Chen Yuan took a bite of the meat bun. The taste was decent, and he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

The young Fang of the past had a thick and long braid.

The young Fang of later years wanted both a car and a house.

......

Before long, Chen Yuan arrived at the county yamen.

Several yamen runners were gathered together, whispering. Chen Yuan walked past not far away, occasionally hearing words like "brothel."

"Kid, this time you've been commended by both the County Magistrate and the County Commandant. You've got to celebrate properly..." someone joked.

"Definitely, definitely."

A smile spread across Chen Yuan's face.

Although it was a coincidence that he killed Tie Shou (Iron Hand), it happened in broad daylight. The chief constable wouldn't embezzle his credit. Moreover, the County Magistrate was very angry about the Tie Shou case.

Now that it was solved, there would naturally be rewards.

Otherwise, who would risk their lives for the yamen in the future?

The county yamen's armed forces relied entirely on the yamen runners. The military equipment had long been neglected. As for the unpaid laborers, they were just a type of corvée labor.

They were on a rotation system and unwilling to die for the yamen at all.

They were just ordinary people, unable to practice even the most basic body refinement techniques.

This was a perk only the yamen runners had.

"Oh, right, the chief constable instructed that if you returned, you should go to his office immediately."

"Okay, thank you."

Chen Yuan cupped his fist in salute, then, with his long saber at his waist, turned and headed in a certain direction.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Chen Yuan stood in front of the door and reached out to knock.

"Come in!"

Huang Xing's deep voice came from inside the room.

Chen Yuan entered the office with a calm expression. He glanced at Huang Xing's rugged face and quickly lowered his head:

"This subordinate greets the Chief Constable."

Seeing it was Chen Yuan, Huang Xing nodded:

"Mm."

"This subordinate doesn't know why the Chief Constable summoned me."

"Naturally, it's because of your contribution. The County Magistrate and County Commandant have personally inquired about this matter."

"Killing Tie Shou was all due to the Chief Constable's merit. This subordinate only helped with some insignificant tasks. Without the Chief Constable, this subordinate would never be a match for Tie Shou."

Chen Yuan said in a low voice.

Huang Xing smiled with satisfaction:

"What's yours is yours. Would this official embezzle it?"

"This subordinate wouldn't dare."

"This time, you've done a great service in killing Tie Shou. This official and the County Commandant have both seen it. Twenty taels of silver, plus a saber technique, how's that?"

Huang Xing said casually.

Chen Yuan was overjoyed. Twenty taels of silver was more than a year's salary for him. He had never had such a large sum of money!

And a saber technique!

Chen Yuan had been in the county yamen for over a year, but his merits were very low. Usually, only veteran yamen runners were rewarded with a saber technique.

Even an ordinary saber technique was not something ordinary people could possess.

In Peace County (Ping An County), there were many people who relied on a saber technique or a fist technique to open martial arts schools and teach others martial arts. From this, it could be seen that a saber technique was enough to be a family heirloom for an ordinary family.

However, the cultivation methods bestowed by the court could not be passed on. Otherwise, once discovered, one would be wanted.

In essence, the court did not want everyone to be martial, because chivalry violated the law with martial arts. A person who practiced martial arts would become an unstable factor.

However, anyone with some knowledge would pursue martial arts.

Because it could bring power, status, and money...

In this extraordinary world, only powerful martial force could protect everything.

In Peace County, every martial arts school would write a line:

All other professions are inferior, only martial arts are superior!

From this, one could see how important 'martial arts' actually were.

"Thank you, Chief Constable!" Chen Yuan bowed, expressing his excitement to Huang Xing.

Looking at Chen Yuan's expression, Huang Xing's lips curled into a smile.

"Chief Constable... could this subordinate exchange the silver for... Tiger Bone Pills?"

Chen Yuan suddenly said.

"You can..." Huang Xing glanced at Chen Yuan with interest.

Twenty taels of silver was enough to marry a wife, but Chen Yuan exchanged it for pills. What a pity. With this kind of character, if his aptitude weren't so poor, Huang Xing would have liked to nurture him.

"Thank you, Chief Constable."

Tiger Bone Pills were one of the most suitable body refinement pills for the Foundation Establishment Realm (Zhu Ji Jing). After Chen Yuan learned about them, he had always wanted to exchange for them, but unfortunately, he was short of funds and couldn't come up with so much silver.

The price of one Tiger Bone Pill was worth ten taels of silver. This was still the internal price of the court. On the black market, one Tiger Bone Pill could sometimes exceed twelve taels of silver.

Don't look at the fact that Chen Yuan's monthly salary plus extra income could be nearly two taels of silver, but the expenses were high, and it was difficult to save money. People who practice martial arts needed to nourish themselves regularly, otherwise they couldn't withstand daily training.

Chen Yuan had previously counted his assets. Not counting real estate, he only had a meager eight taels of silver, plus some copper coins, not even enough to buy a Tiger Bone Pill.

"Here are two Tiger Bone Pills," Huang Xing took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms and threw it to Chen Yuan.

Chen Yuan quickly caught it and put it into his arms.

"In the county yamen, there are currently three saber techniques: the Stone Splitting Saber Technique (Zhan Shi Dao Fa), the Gale Saber Technique (Kuang Feng Dao Fa), and the Drawing Saber Skill (Ba Dao Shu). Which one do you want to learn?" Huang Xing picked up his teacup and took a sip.

He had no intention of introducing them in detail.

However, Chen Yuan didn't need him to introduce them. Veteran yamen runners had practiced all three saber techniques. The most popular was the Gale Saber Technique, which was very fierce.

But after weighing it, Chen Yuan still chose the Drawing Saber Skill.

This was a killing saber technique, with only one move.

In the original Chen Yuan's memory, he had seen the jailer guarding the prison cell use this saber technique, splitting his opponent in half with one slash. It had a great impact on Chen Yuan.

However, this saber technique also had flaws. If this one slash didn't kill the opponent, the opponent would be on guard, and he would have to use other saber techniques to fight.

However, this was what Chen Yuan believed in.

Fancy saber techniques were really not as powerful as this kind of saber technique refined into one move.

With one slash, it was life or death!