The n all called him "Boss," and Lu Yuan found the sound quite pleasing.
Silver taels were truly a wonderful thing. Whatever you spent them on, you saw results.
Lu Yuan gave an order to a few of his close aides, having them distribute one rifle and ten bullets to each man.
"Of course, Young Nephew." His close aides still addressed Lu Yuan by this honorific. After more than a year, they had long grown accustod to it.
With these few hundred n joining the Zhao Mansion, they beca the new Mansion Guards.
The original Zhao Mansion Guards were promoted to beco Lu Yuan’s close aides. Having been with the Young Nephew for so long, it was only natural they were more valued.
These close aides ford the very first Firearms Team, and they had traveled all over with Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan tasked his close aides with a mission: within one month, they were to train these 280 Wandering House Guards into expert marksn.
If all 280 of these Wandering House Guards could be trained into expert marksn...
As things stood, few Vassal Kings possessed an army that could easily break through the wall of gunfire produced by these several hundred rifles.
Travelers who were skilled with rifles could greatly extend their combat range, ending the era where they had to rely on close-quarters combat.
Even when facing Grand Celestial Masters, Celestial Masters, or Spirit Binders, a Traveler ard with a rifle could find an opportunity to secure a victory.
Lu Yuan had only equipped the Travelers with rifles. This was because Celestial Masters, Grand Celestial Masters, and Spirit Binders specialized in dealing with Xingzi.
Travelers specialized in physical attacks, so they could hold their own against Xingzi that had a physical form.
As for Void Body Practitioners, who were akin to ghosts and ghouls in a soul-like state, Travelers were completely helpless against them.
This was precisely why professions like Celestial Masters and Spirit Binders existed.
Since Void Body Practitioners were the most difficult to handle, the salaries for Celestial Masters and Spirit Binders were naturally quite high.
These professions were already rare, but Lu Yuan had managed to gather all the Celestial Masters and Spirit Binders from several nearby counties.
He had them assemble in the large courtyard of the Martial Hall, where they could spar with one another and improve together.
It was similar to the Southern Town Patrol Departnt, where the Jinyi Guard would spar amongst themselves to identify each other’s strengths and weaknesses in Daoist Skills, making it easier to advance.
The ranks of Celestial Master and Grand Celestial Master were professions certified by authorized Daoist Temples.
Lu Yuan wanted to train his Celestial Masters and help them reach the level of Grand Celestial Master as quickly as possible, but he had no intention of sending them to be recertified. Instead, the Zhao Mansion would conduct its own internal assessnts.
Once they passed the internal assessnt, he would raise their pay to match the standard salary of a Grand Celestial Master.
Of course, if so Celestial Masters felt they had reached the next level and insisted on going to a Daoist Temple for official certification—after all, the title "Grand Celestial Master" had a nice ring to it—that was also understandable. They would simply have to resign their position as a Zhao Mansion Guard.
Lu Yuan’s goal was to conceal his true strength. He wanted to avoid revealing the power of the Mansion Guards he employed as much as possible to prevent attracting unnecessary trouble.
’Besides, with the high salaries I’m offering, I doubt many people would turn their noses up at a pile of silver taels.’
As for the new Mansion Guard Spirit Binders, Lu Yuan planned to have the Grand Celestial Masters and Celestial Masters assist them in finding higher-quality Xingzi to capture, thereby enhancing the Spirit Binders’ own abilities.
Lu Yuan had everything ticulously planned out for the new Mansion Guards at the Martial Hall.
He would also arrange for various benefits down the line, such as acquiring Middle Grade Spirit Capturing Devices, forging new Big Treasure Swords, and so on.
’These people are my trump card, my fallback plan for surviving in the Divine Ling Empire.’
’In the past, I could have taken my one hundred thousand silver taels and lived a comfortable life with Su Liyan as a local tycoon in the countryside.’
’But now, it seems the world at large won’t allow to just ’lie flat’ in so village, enjoying a simple life with a wife, kids, and a warm ho.’
’What can I say? The tide washes the sand away, but gold will always shine through.’
’The gold wants to sink to the bottom, but the waves keep tossing it back onto the shore.’
’I’m a person of interest to the Grand Ancestor Emperor now. For all I know, my portrait is hanging on a wall in the Imperial Study.’
On his way back to the Zhao Mansion from the Martial Hall, the brick-like cell phone Lu Yuan carried began to ring.
Lu Yuan had only ever made a handful of these brick phones, so there were only a few people who could possibly be calling him.
Aunt Zhao, Aunt Song, his wife, his mother-in-law, and Gu Gaoxu (who had taken two of them).
Since Lu Yuan was staying in the Zhao Mansion in Taiping City, he was always near his wife, his aunts, and his mother-in-law.
Therefore, the person calling him right now was, in all likelihood, Gu Gaoxu.
And just as Lu Yuan suspected, the call was from Gu Gaoxu.
Lu Yuan picked up the brick phone, pressed the green button, and answered.
A choppy, slightly panicked voice ca from the other end of the line.
"Oh, sweet mother... I finally got through... Brother Lu, you gotta co save my life! If you don’t... the only thing you’ll see of your little bro is my coffin!"
Lu Yuan recognized Gu Gaoxu’s voice and asked in confusion, "What happened to you?"
’Gu Gaoxu should still be with King Yan on the Northern battlefield right now.’
’He’s so far away. I can hardly believe this is a distress call from Gu Gaoxu.’
The only thing Lu Yuan could guess was, "Is King Yan threatening to tan your hide again? Is that why you called ..."
Gu Gaoxu cut him off. "What are you talkin’ about, Brother Lu? I’m surrounded by the Beastman Race, dammit! So giant damn scorpion popped out of nowhere, scattered the army I was leadin’, and now I’ve only got a few hundred n left with !"
After talking with Gu Gaoxu for a couple of minutes, Lu Yuan got a rough idea of the situation.
Apparently, a few days ago, King Yan’s Army had charged into the Beastman Race’s main camp to wipe out the enemy. However, they encountered the Ancient Poison Scorpion and were forced to retreat.
King Yan’s Army had then trapped the remnants of the Beastman Race’s forces within a range of seven or eight large mountains, opting to surround them without launching a full-scale attack.
Then, the day before yesterday, Gu Gaoxu had led his own two thousand troops, equipped with so firearms, and charged into the mountains.
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