Without a moment’s hesitation, Zhao Lin answered, "I’ll take the money."

The registrar chuckled in spite of himself. "You’re certainly direct about it. It’s not that I want to hide your contribution, but this bounty is divided into two types: the official price and the ’dark flower’."

’Dark flower?’

Zhao Lin remembered seeing a Hong Kong film in his past life with that exact title.

Seeing his confusion, the registrar briefly explained the difference between the two.

The official price was the bounty amount written on a public notice. Anyone who captured or killed the wanted person could claim the reward.

The authorities would then post another notice, publicizing the deeds of the one who claimed the reward. It was a way to gain both fame and fortune.

A ’dark flower’ was a private bounty posted by an organization other than the government. It wasn’t announced to the public, the payment was higher, but your contribution remained unknown.

In other words, the credit went to the person who posted the ’dark flower’ bounty.

Zhao Lin didn’t care about fame, but out of courtesy, he still asked, "May I ask, Your Honor, how much is the ’dark flower’ bounty?"

The registrar replied, "The official price is one hundred taels of silver. The ’dark flower’ is double that."

"In that case, I’ll choose the ’dark flower’."

The one who posted the ’dark flower’ bounty either had a vendetta against the bandits and wanted to raise the price to encourage martial artists to kill them, or was using money to buy the achievement as a stepping stone for their career.

Zhao Lin wasn’t concerned with who had posted the bounty. He would simply choose whichever paid more. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

A short while later, Zhao Lin walked out of the county yamen with two hundred taels of silver tucked in his robes...

「The next few days passed peacefully.」

It was as if the bandits had suddenly vanished without a trace.

Aside from one or two suspicious individuals occasionally loitering in front of the Liuhe Sect, life was almost no different than before.

The construction of his residence on Shuncheng Street was progressing smoothly. Zhao Lin had checked on it a few times and estimated it would be finished in another ten days or so.

With a large sum of silver on hand, he thought about sending some to his parents and older brother, who were far from home.

However, considering they might not have settled down yet, contacting them rashly could easily bring them danger. After much deliberation, he decided he could only wait for a safer opportunity in the future.

Looking back on the past six months, Zhao Lin felt like he was in a dream.

He had gone from an ordinary farm boy to a martial artist who was "skilled" in the eyes of common people.

He knew very well that while his own efforts were important, the Spirit Beast Scroll was the key.

Without the Spirit Beast Scroll, he might still be toiling in the fields; his family might even have been shattered and its members killed.

So far, he was very satisfied with the three Essence Souls he had absorbed. Strength, speed, and hearing—none of them were expendable.

Through his recent experimentation, Zhao Lin had also gained a new understanding of the Spirit Beast Scroll.

When food entered his stomach, it would quickly generate Primordial Qi, which flowed into the three squares for the bear, the Black-horned Antelope, and the Horseshoe Bat.

At first, he thought the Primordial Qi in the three squares was distributed automatically by the Spirit Beast Scroll, but after numerous experiments, he discovered that wasn’t entirely the case.

First, the bear’s Essence Soul primarily strengthened muscles and bones to increase his strength.

The Black-horned Antelope’s Essence Soul, on the other hand, was used to enhance the toughness of his tendons and fascia.

Zhao Lin ate large amounts of meat every day, which supplemented both aspects, but there were some slight differences.

For example, drinking bone broth or eating ribs would result in a rich abundance of Primordial Qi in the bear’s square.

If he ate more foods like tendons or beef shank, the Primordial Qi in the Black-horned Antelope’s square would increase.

The Horseshoe Bat was very different from the other two: meat had little effect, whereas vegetables, dried fruits, and animal livers could generate a large amount of Primordial Qi in its square.

’Eating more foods rich in vitamins and zinc is good for your hearing.’

Thanks to the public health campaigns in his previous life, Zhao Lin knew a thing or two about nutrition and had a general idea of the nutrients contained in different foods.

He also came to a conclusion: eating more food replenished more Primordial Qi, but if he could supplement nutrients with precision, the efficiency would be much higher.

He was currently in the Bone Training Stage, and after figuring this out, he deliberately increased his intake of calcium-rich foods like milk, ribs, lean meat, fish, and shrimp.

Not many people in this era drank milk. The poor couldn’t afford it, and the rich disliked its gamey taste.

But Zhao Lin knew that milk was the fastest and most effective way to supplement calcium. He drank a pound of boiled milk every morning, noon, and night, practically treating it like water.

After persisting for many days, the effects were remarkable.

The changes in his body became more and more obvious: his muscles would tingle and itch, his joints would ache and swell, and from time to time, they would make soft popping sounds.

The day of his breakthrough was not far off.

"Younger Brother Zhao, got a moment? Let’s spar for a bit."

In the front courtyard of the Liuhe Sect, Zhao Lin was using an iron-sand bag for his bone training when an apprentice of average height and a mature-looking face walked up to him.

This person’s name was Xu Xian. He had been at the Liuhe Sect longer than any other apprentice and was the only one who had reached the Muscle Training Stage.

He had always been the top apprentice, but recently, Zhao Lin had stolen all his thunder.

Zhao Lin had completed his skin training in just over four months, placed in the top three in the last two Fist Skill competitions, and none of the apprentices in the Bone Training Stage were his match.

That alone would have been one thing, but what infuriated Xu Xian the most was that Sect Leader Zhu Huaishan had broken tradition to accept Zhao Lin as his disciple.

Xu Xian had been stuck in the Power Realm for years, unable to break through to the Qi Realm. When he heard this news, he was filled with indignation and couldn’t focus on his training for days.

’He just finished his skin training a few months faster, that’s all. It’s a whole other matter whether he can break through the Bone and Muscle Training stages!’

Whenever he saw Zhao Lin training with such focus, he felt a surge of impatience and irritation.

Today, he finally couldn’t hold it in any longer and came to challenge Zhao Lin to a match.

He had already made up his mind to be heavy-handed and humiliate Zhao Lin, just to show everyone else who the real genius among the apprentices was.

Zhao Lin was taken aback. At that moment, his joints were vibrating continuously, a phenomenon that matched Yuan Cheng’s description of what happens right before completing the Bone Training Stage. Naturally, he didn’t want to stop.

"Senior Brother Xu, how about later? I think I’m at a bottleneck."

After speaking, Zhao Lin lowered his head and continued his training.

"No rush. I can wait."

Xu Xian said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, sneering inwardly, ’A bottleneck? You only finished your skin training two months ago. What kind of bottleneck could you possibly be at? Don’t tell me it’s for the Bone Training Stage.’

Of course, Zhao Lin had no idea his Senior Brother Xu had such a rich inner monologue. He swung the iron-sand bag, striking his whole body, and repeatedly chanted the six-syllable mantra: "Xu, he, hu, si, chui, xi..."

After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Zhao Lin suddenly felt his muscles rapidly swell and fill with blood. A low hum emanated from his joints, and the remaining Primordial Qi in the Spirit Beast Scroll was released like water from an opened floodgate.

’It’s coming!’

Sensing what was happening, Zhao Lin increased the force of his strikes, his breathing gradually becoming more rapid.

The sounds from his joints grew louder and louder. At first, it was a hum, then it sounded like branches snapping, and finally, it was like a string of firecrackers, popping and cracking nonstop.

The apprentices training in the courtyard were all startled. They stopped what they were doing and stared blankly at Zhao Lin.

One of the apprentices froze for a moment, then turned and ran toward the rear courtyard.

Xu Xian’s face changed, his mouth hanging open in astonishment as he screamed internally, ’This... how is this possible!’

Zhao Lin took advantage of his rapidly circulating Qi and Blood, tossed aside the iron-sand bag, and began to perform the Six Harmonies Fist.

He threw punches and kicks, his fists and feet generating wind, each of his joints letting out a crisp crack.

From head to toe, one pop, two pops, three pops...

The sounds echoed throughout his entire body—a total of two hundred and six pops.