Chapter 71: Terrifying Investment

"Straightforward."

The two parties thus reached a pleasant cooperation. In truth, this was merely a superficial benefit; the most crucial point was that the relationship between Xu Feng and the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion would be pushed a step further. If he needed their help with anything in the future, the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion would certainly not refuse, given the existing goodwill between them.

After acquiring the items, Xu Feng took the intelligence and left the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion. He could not afford to slack off in the coming period and had to enhance his strength within the shortest possible time.

This upcoming battle was allowed only to succeed, not to fail. If he could not manage to leave his opponent dead in Gusu, the items given to him by the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion would be nothing more than money thrown down the drain. Only by decapitating his opponent with a single sword could he reverse the losing streak of recent times. If he truly allowed the opponent to keep winning, it would deal a heavy blow to everyone's morale, leading to consequences too dreadful to contemplate. One could only say that the opponent's overt plot was far from simple.

"Accompanied by beauties at the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion, I thought you wouldn't be coming back tonight. How is it that you've returned to the garrison so early? Could it be that your purse is feeling light?"

The moment Xu Feng stepped back into the Embroidered Uniform Guard garrison, he ran right into Red Lotus, naturally drawing another round of teasing and banter from her.

However, after the teasing, Red Lotus felt somewhat curious as to why the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion had sought out Xu Feng at this particular juncture. Logically speaking, they should have had no reason to be concerned about the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Facing Red Lotus, Xu Feng did not hide anything and told her the exact intentions behind the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion's summons. Red Lotus seemed to have anticipated this and did not appear surprised, suggesting she possessed a certain understanding of the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion.

"Do you know the background of the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion? Who exactly is behind them?" Xu Feng remained curious about this. To Red Lotus, it should hardly be a secret; in all likelihood, she knew who backed the pavilion.

Yet even Red Lotus seemed to harbor some taboos, mumbling and reluctant to speak the plain truth.

"I cannot tell you that. The background of the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion is indeed massive, but you don't need to worry too much; in certain aspects, the pavilion remains trustworthy."

"Those Japanese swordsmen are not so simple. In the past, they frequently sent people over to challenge us, and their strength grew significantly with each successive challenger. This implies that every time they sent someone, they harbored the intent to observe and learn our techniques."

Having spent a long time in the capital previously, Red Lotus had certainly had contact with the Japanese and held a certain understanding of them.

It was entirely normal to feel a sense of concern, but Xu Feng possessed absolute confidence in his own strength and did not believe his opponent would surpass him in this regard.

"Rest assured. Since I dared to accept this, it means there will be no problem with the challenge. Otherwise, I certainly wouldn't have risked my life."

Seeing how confident Xu Feng was, Red Lotus truly ceased trying to persuade him otherwise. Xu Feng always acted with a sense of proportion; had he lacked certainty, he would never have agreed to the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion and would have simply refused them outright.

"In that case, you don't need to worry about other matters during this period. Just focus entirely on elevating your strength. I will keep an eye on all the affairs in the city and ensure nothing goes wrong."

"Many thanks."

Upon returning home, Xu Feng could not wait to take one of the pills. His strength had not seen any major breakthroughs for quite a long time.

The souls of those at the same realm could only offer him limited improvement, unless the Human Emperor Banner could absorb the souls of individuals higher in cultivation than himself. Such opportunities were rare in Gusu City, yet the Ten-Perfection Pill offered improvements to one's realm that shared the same miraculous effect as the Human Emperor Banner. In a sense, the Human Emperor Banner was simply another form of the Ten-Perfection Grand Pill.

The moment he finished swallowing the pill, Xu Feng immediately felt a warm current surge through every part of his body, akin to taking a hot bath. Simultaneously, his cultivation realm, which had remained stagnant for a long time, finally showed signs of movement.

The efficacy of the pill was truly remarkable, as evident immediately after consumption.

Regrettably, this item was only useful to Grandmasters, and the quantity was limited. Otherwise, one could mass-produce top-tier powerhouses in a short span of time. But that was how it should be; if not, wouldn't the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion be able to manufacture Grandmaster experts in batches?

"A single pill can elevate my realm to the maximum possible extent within a short time, but they cannot be taken consecutively. After each consumption, a period of time is required for absorption."

"The interval between each dose should be about three days."

After swallowing the first pill, Xu Feng made a rough calculation in his mind. On the premise of not wasting the medicinal potency, taking one pill every three days was just right—allowing for complete absorption without waste.

Finishing all the pills would take exactly one month. It seemed the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion had thoroughly considered this aspect beforehand.

Regardless, whatever was being enhanced was his own strength, so there was no need to dwell on such matters.

"Next, let's see if this form-fitting soft armor fits properly."

Although Miss Rong had praised the form-fitting soft armor to the skies, Xu Feng decided he needed to test it personally to have peace of mind. After all, it concerned his own life, and no amount of caution was excessive.

He picked up the long sword in his hand and thrust it forward with force. Surprisingly, it left not a single trace on the soft armor, let alone piercing through it. This meant Miss Rong had not deceived him in the slightest; whether in material or overall performance, the soft armor provided by the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion completely surpassed the one issued by the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

His previous soft armor could now be discarded. Over the next few days, Xu Feng handed all his routine tasks over to Red Lotus.

In any case, the general direction had already been set, requiring no further arrangements; they simply needed to proceed step by step. There were no longer any forces in the city capable of threatening the Embroidered Uniform Guard, and with Red Lotus at the helm, nothing would go wrong. Xu Feng only needed to focus on dealing with the challenge from the Japanese.

The Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion's investment in Xu Feng was immense. Neither the Ten-Perfection Grand Pill nor the form-fitting soft armor were ordinary treasures; ordinary people might struggle to catch a glimpse of them in a lifetime.

Perhaps the Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion harbored hidden motives toward him, but Xu Feng was unconcerned about this. No matter what schemes or ulterior motives they had, they were of no consequence.

As long as his own strength grew fast enough, he could completely shake them off. When that time came, whatever thoughts they might harbor toward him could be directly rebuffed.

The Human Emperor Banner was the fundamental foundation upon which he established himself. They had no inkling of where Xu Feng's true confidence lay; so-called innate talent and aptitude were mere floating clouds to him.

As long as there were sufficient souls, he could achieve breakthroughs in the shortest possible time without limit.

And the most terrifying part was that this advancement had no upper limit whatsoever.

When others cultivated, they would inevitably encounter bottlenecks to a greater or lesser degree, and some might even remain stuck at a major realm for half their lives without the slightest improvement. But Xu Feng was different; he had no need to consider such constraints.

As long as he had enough souls, he could break through indefinitely. That was the truly heaven-defying aspect of the Human Emperor Banner.