Chapter 18: Frequent Madness
"Miss Xia Yu, are you here to claim the reward again?"

At the Fu'an Marquis Mansion, Old Zhang from the warehouse was joking with Xia Yu who was walking towards them.

"Uncle Zhang, how could you not be said to have extraordinary powers? Who wouldn't be terrified by your ability to predict the future?"

Xia Yu smiled slightly and responded.

After saying that, he handed the note written by the Marquis to Lao Zhang.

In today's life, it is different from what is shown in movies and TV dramas where people often give gifts on the spot.

People only have two hands, how can they carry so many things?

When the owner gives a reward, he usually gives a note and asks the recipient to go to the warehouse to collect it himself.

"You really are here to claim your reward!"

Old Zhang took the note in surprise, examined it carefully and made sure it was not forged.

Then he took out the key from his belt.

"Miss Xia Yu, among the four attendants, you are the most frequent. Your attendance is almost as frequent as the other two combined. It seems that among the four attendants, you will be the latest to make a breakthrough and achieve a first-class realm!"

There was a hint of sigh in Old Zhang's tone.

There was a hint of flattery and envy in the sigh.

Just by looking at the frequency with which Xia Yu received rewards, Old Zhang knew that Xia Yu was highly valued by the Marquis, and as long as he was valued by the Marquis, there would be hope of achieving a first-class level.

Gaoyao is a shining example.

General Zhao Xinghan has excellent physique and the support of the Zhao family. Even without the resources of the Fu'an Marquis' Mansion, the probability of him achieving a first-class realm is very high, at most a few years later.

But Gao Yao is different.

After so many years of getting along, everyone in the Marquis' Mansion knew that Gao Yao was originally just an ordinary eunuch in the palace, with poor roots, and was the one left after being selected by the East Factory.

Everyone knows that the best eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty were all in the East Factory!
Among the new eunuchs, those with good physiques are also given priority by the East Factory.

However, although Gao Yao was abandoned by the East Factory, he gradually rose to prominence after being noticed by Marquis Fu'an.

Marquis Fu'an provided Gao Yao with resources and skills!
And Manager Gao Yao lived up to expectations and successfully broke through a year and a half ago, achieving first-class level.

He became one of the three heroes of Houfu and was as famous as General Zhao Xinghan.

Marquis Fu'an is not only a martial arts fanatic himself, he also likes to train martial artists.

While training General Manager Gao, he also discovered many talented people with excellent aptitudes in the fiefdom!
The four great attendants are one of the products of this.

In recent years, as the Fu'an Marquis Mansion has grown stronger and more resources have become available, this group of potential seeds with superior roots have gradually demonstrated their strength.

Old Zhang was originally a martial arts talent with great potential. When Zhu Chengwu was first conferred the title, he was even the second best in the imperial guard team and Zhao Xinghan's deputy.

But during a fight, one of his legs was broken, which greatly reduced his strength.

As a result, he was forced to quit the guard team, retreat to the second line, and become the guard of the warehouse in the marquis's mansion.

Old Zhang has always been envious of the four great attendants who are potential talents in martial arts.

"Among the sisters, Chunhua has the best talent, Dongxue practices the hardest, and Qiuyue has the support of her clansmen. I have nothing, so I can only work harder, get things done, and ask the Marquis for some rewards to live on!"

Xia Yu said in a brisk tone.

Although it was self-deprecating, Xia Yu's light tone gave people a sense of ease and grace.

"Everyone has their own destiny! And in the Marquis' Mansion, doing the Marquis's work well is more important than anything else!"

"Miss Xia Yu, I have high hopes for you! I believe that among the attendants, you will be the first to achieve the first-class realm!"

Old man Zhang opened the warehouse door, checked the items one by one according to what was written on the note, and handed them to Xia Yu.

"Uncle Zhang, I'll borrow your good words!"

Xia Yu smiled and took the silver and medicine.

Xia Yu turned around and found Chunhua standing not far behind him.

Two people walked past each other and nodded slightly.

Polite but discreet.

There was no communication throughout the whole process.

It was completely different from the familiarity he showed in front of Zhu Chengwu.

"You slutty bitch, you actually want to climb into the Marquis' bed!"

"A flatterer who only knows how to please the Marquis!"

The two of them cursed each other in their hearts.

……

"Uncle Zhang, I haven't received my share for this month yet. I'm here to claim it..."

Chunhua walked up to Old Zhang.

"Miss Chunhua, please wait a moment! Let me do a pair first!"

Old Zhang took out the account book, checked it and said, "Yes, you haven't received your share for this month yet. The total is five taels of silver and three portions of martial arts medicine powder. Right?"

"Yes!"

Chunhua nodded, indicating that it was correct!
The income of Fu'an Houfu is limited, and there are many people practicing martial arts! Even for the potential seeds like the four close attendants, the monthly quota is only five taels of silver and three portions of martial arts medicine powder.

It is equivalent to about eleven taels of silver.

This configuration is definitely far inferior to the treatment Zhu Chengwu received when he first started learning martial arts.

But it is a burden that ordinary people cannot bear!
……

"Hahaha! From today on, I will no longer be afraid of anyone below the Grandmaster!"

At this moment, a loud laughter that resounded through the sky covered the entire Fu'an Marquis Mansion.

Chunhua, Xiayu and Old Zhang are all very familiar with this laughter!
And there was only one person who dared to laugh so wildly in the Marquis' Mansion.

The old people in the Marquis’ Mansion all knew that Marquis Fu’an was usually calm and collected, but sometimes he would “go crazy”!
Once the Marquis goes crazy, it means that the strength of the entire Marquisate will be taken to a new level.

Old Zhang remembered that the first time the Marquis had a "frenzy" was seven years ago, when the Marquis had achieved a first-class level. From that time on, facing the challengers who came to the door, the Fu'an Marquis Mansion began to have the confidence.

Although the Marquis is not certain to win the competition, he is no longer a weakling who can be approached by anyone to improve his reputation.

The second time was 5 years ago. Few people in the Marquis’ Mansion knew the specific reason, but Old Zhang vaguely heard the Marquis laugh and then say, “I’m about to become a triangular warrior!”
The third time was four years ago. After laughing, the Marquis said, "I am finally no longer a weakling in a martial arts competition with strong inner strength but poor skills!"
From that time on, when facing challengers, the Marquis started to win more games than lose, and gained a reputation as a martial arts master!
It was also from that time that the word "weak chicken" began to spread in the Marquis' Mansion.

The fourth time was two years ago. No one knew the reason at that time. Later, people found out that the reason why the Marquis went "crazy" was that General Zhao Xinghan successfully achieved a first-class realm.

From then on, the Fu'an Marquis Mansion had a second first-class person.

The fifth time was a year and a half ago, when General Manager Gao Yao successfully achieved the first-class realm.

After General Zhao and Chief Steward Gao successively achieved first-class realm, the power of the Fu'an Marquisate became even more powerful.

In the past, the Marquis of Fu'an Mansion was the only first-class man, and it was impossible for the Marquis to lead the troops every time and fight for his life in person. Many forces in Xuzhou showed respect to the Marquis of Fu'an Mansion on the surface, but secretly disobeyed it.

But as General Zhao and Chief Steward Gao successively achieved first-class status.

The Fu'an Marquis Mansion can attack or defend, and no one dares to ignore it anymore.

A single first-class master and multiple first-class masters are completely different for a force.

This time, if Old Zhang remembered correctly, it was the sixth time that the Marquis had gone crazy!
I can only say that Old Zhang is worthy of being the elder of the Marquis' Mansion!

Knowing some things like the back of your hand.

……

The backyard of the Hou Mansion.

"So close to the end of the world!"

As the internal force in his body circulated, Zhu Chengwu took a step forward and his body moved dozens of meters in an instant and was already out of the backyard.

"So fast!"

“Much faster than before!”

Zhu Chengwu was also surprised at his own speed.

One step of tens of meters and the previous step of nearly ten meters are two completely different concepts.

One is the extreme speed in the first-class realm.

But one has already surpassed the limits of the first-class realm.

In order to test the ability of "A World Away (Jade)" after his breakthrough, Zhu Chengwu suddenly got inspired and started walking around the mansion.

Taking a step forward may seem slow, but in fact it is like teleporting dozens of meters in an instant.

For a moment, Zhu Chengwu's figure was everywhere in the Marquis' Mansion.

One moment in the backyard, the next moment on the roof, the next moment in the front yard...

This gave everyone in the Marquis' Mansion a fright.

But after a few steps, Zhu Chengwu had to stop.

"The speed is very fast, but the consumption is also becoming extremely huge!" Zhu Chengwu frowned and sensed the remaining internal energy in his body.

After walking less than twenty steps, Zhu Chengwu's rich internal energy was consumed by nearly 60%.

The consumption is nearly 10 times greater than that of "A World Away (Jade)" before the breakthrough.

The moving distance increased by about five times, but the consumption increased by nearly 10 times.

It seems like the loss outweighs the gain, but in fact the improvement is huge.

After all, the time Zhu Chengwu takes to take a step is the same, which means a huge improvement in speed and rate!
"It seems that this can only be an unconventional method! In normal fights, we should be more cautious and use the minor-level "A World Away (Jade)"!"

Zhu Chengwu thought secretly.

Martial arts skills, abbreviated as martial arts, can be roughly divided into four levels: entry, minor success, major success, and perfection.

In the entry-level stage, which is the initial learning stage, one can exert about 1%-3% of the power of martial arts.

Minor success means that one has made some progress in that martial art and can exert about 5%-15% of the power of the martial art.

Under normal circumstances, great success is the highest achievement of a martial artist in a martial art, which can exert about 50%-80% of the power of the martial art.

As for perfection, it is almost impossible for anyone to achieve it except the founder of a martial art, and can 100% exert the power of a martial art.

Everyone has different heights and habits, so the way they use a martial art will also be different.

Each martial art is created by the founder based on his own characteristics and habits, so it is naturally difficult for later generations to reach 100% of the level through practice.

Unless the characteristics and habits of the latecomers are highly consistent with those of the founders.

Or maybe later practitioners fine-tuned the martial arts according to their own characteristics and habits to make the martial arts suitable for the user.

In fact, above perfection, there is another realm called breaking the limit, which means breaking the limit!

But once a martial art breaks its limit, it can be said to be a new martial art.

Therefore, Zhu Chengwu did not regard breaking limits as a realm.

As a divine skill, “A World Away (Jade)” has a very high upper limit.

Reaching great success means that although Zhu Chengwu's internal strength is only at the first-rate level, his body movements have reached the master level.

Zhu Chengwu's master of body movements is slightly stronger than a master without master-level body movements, but slightly weaker than a master with master-level body movements.

"Congratulations, Lord Hou, for making another breakthrough in strength!"

After a while, Chunhua and Xiayu found Zhu Chengwu who had stopped.

Congratulations sincerely.

Although each of them is not accustomed to it!
But Chunhua and Xiayu would never show their dislike in front of Zhu Chengwu.

And this time they really had the same idea.

Because Zhu Chengwu's strength has increased, it means that the strength of the Marquis' Mansion has been further improved, which means that their treatment and status may be improved again!
The world is in turmoil, all for the sake of profit!
　PS: Kexiao has decided to promote traditional culture and will add one more chapter for each of the 24 solar terms.

　　It’s very cold today, so I’ll add another chapter.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)