159: Chapter 160 Qualitative Reward: Bright Moon Set

Day ten.

The number of Mercenaries at the Bronze Rank surpassed ten thousand.

When Lei Lie took the statistics to see Zhou Yun, his pace was much faster than usual.

"City Lord, the number of Bronze Rank Mercenaries has reached ten thousand three hundred. And this number is still growing—people are having a Breakthrough every day."

Zhou Yun sat in the courtyard, holding a cup of tea in his hand, and nodded after listening.

"So many at the Bronze Rank now!" He smiled, put down his teacup, and said, "In that case, continuing to use the Crimson Series is no longer appropriate."

Lei Lie was stunned.

Zhou Yun stood up.

"Let's go find Nuan Nuan."

...

The Granary.

Nuan Nuan was counting the Spirit Medicine in storage. Seeing Zhou Yun and Lei Lie arrive together, she hurriedly put down the ledger in her hand.

"City Lord—"

"Nuan Nuan, how much stock of the Bronze Rank Flowing Cloud Set is left?"

Nuan Nuan flipped through two pages of the ledger: "Flowing Cloud Set... if it's the full set, the current inventory is twenty-two thousand sets."

Zhou Yun nodded.

"Allocate them and distribute them to the Mercenaries who have achieved a Breakthrough to the Bronze Rank."

Nuan Nuan's pen paused for a moment, then she carefully made a note in the ledger.

Zhou Yun then said to Lei Lie: "In addition, Professionals at the Bronze Rank can now Cultivate Silver Rank Cultivation Techniques. I have the Silver Rank 'Green Spirit Creation Art' here; distribute it as well."

Lei Lie's breathing became heavier.

Silver Rank Cultivation Technique.

Previously, the entire Flower City was Cultivating the Bronze Rank 'Green Wood Art'. Now, those who had achieved a Breakthrough to Bronze Rank could directly jump to a Silver Rank Cultivation Technique—this meant their growth ceiling had been pushed even higher!

"Also—" Zhou Yun looked at Lei Lie, his tone as casual as if he were talking about a trivial matter, "You and Strategist Zhu Ge are at the Silver Rank. Silver Rank can Cultivate Gold Rank Cultivation Techniques. 'Jianmu Heaven-Connecting Canon', one copy for each of you."

Lei Lie's body stiffened.

Gold Rank.

He opened his mouth, "City Lord—"

"Just take it and Cultivate," Zhou Yun smiled.

Lei Lie didn't say anything more; he knelt on one knee and received the Cultivation Technique with both hands.

"This general... thanks the City Lord!"

[Ding! You successfully bestowed 'Jianmu Heaven-Connecting Canon' (Gold Rank) x1, triggering a 100,000,000x critical return, obtaining a qualitative change reward—'Azure King Heaven-Patrolling Book' (Platinum Rank) x1!]

...

On the day the equipment and Cultivation Techniques were distributed, the hall of the Mercenary Guild was packed once again.

More than ten thousand Mercenaries who had achieved a Breakthrough to the Bronze Rank lined up, stretching from the hall all the way to the street.

Nuan Nuan stood behind the distribution counter, with crates upon crates of the Flowing Cloud Set stacked beside her. Each set was wrapped in cloth. Once opened, the cyan metallic luster jumped out immediately—it was more than one grade brighter than the dark red of the Crimson Series.

When the first Mercenary received the set from Nuan Nuan, his hands were trembling.

He opened the cloth wrapping, revealing a full Bronze Rank Flowing Cloud Set—breastplate, bracers, greaves, and combat boots, each piece emitting a faint fluctuation of spiritual power.

He held the breastplate up and looked at it against the light.

Water-like patterns were slowly flowing on the surface of the armor; those were the traces of spiritual power inscriptions.

"Is... is this really for me?"

Nuan Nuan smiled and put a checkmark on the ledger: "Next."

The Mercenary held the set and stepped aside, starting to change on the spot.

The Black Iron Rank leather armor from the Crimson Series was taken off and folded neatly at his feet—he didn't throw it away; he couldn't bear to.

That was an old companion!

But the moment he put on the new Flowing Cloud Set, his expression changed.

Spiritual power flowed over the armor's surface, resonating with the spiritual power in his body, and a warm force spread from his chest to his limbs.

"Whoa—"

Everyone waiting to receive their equipment nearby saw his change—his aura settled, his stance became steady, and his whole person seemed to be shrouded in a faint layer of light.

"So cool!"

"Hurry, hurry! Is it my turn yet?"

"Don't push! Get in line!"

...

Zhou Yun stood in the distance and watched for a while.

The scene of over ten thousand people changing equipment was quite a spectacle.

During the process of replacing the old equipment with the new, the entire atmosphere of the Mercenary Guild was changing—the dark red was gradually replaced by cyan, like a forest walking from autumn into spring.

At the same time, that familiar voice sounded in his mind.

[Ding! You successfully gifted 'Flowing Cloud Sword' (Bronze Rank) x1, triggering a 1000x critical reward, obtaining 'Flowing Cloud Sword' (Bronze Rank) x1000!]

[Ding! You successfully gifted 'Flowing Cloud Staff' (Bronze Rank) x1, triggering a 10000x critical reward, obtaining 'Flowing Cloud Staff' (Bronze Rank) x10000!]

[Ding! You successfully gifted 'Flowing Cloud Dagger' (Bronze Rank) x1, triggering a 1000x critical reward, obtaining 'Flowing Cloud Dagger' (Bronze Rank) x1000!]

[Ding! You successfully gifted 'Flowing Cloud Leather Armor' (Bronze Rank) x1, triggering a 100,000,000x critical reward, obtaining a qualitative change reward—'Moonlit Leather Armor' (Gold Rank) x10!]

[Ding! You successfully gifted 'Flowing Cloud Belt' (Bronze Rank) x1, triggering a 100,000,000x critical reward, obtaining a qualitative change reward—'Moonlit Belt' (Gold Rank) x10!]

...

Zhou Yun nodded inwardly.

Gold Rank.

Moonlit Set.

Good stuff.

But Flower City currently had no one at the Gold Rank.

It was temporarily useless.

Thinking carefully, apart from Cultivation Techniques and equipment, Flower City didn't seem to have any other urgent needs?

Even for equipment, Tie Shan had approached him and proposed the idea of self-sufficiency; it would probably be implemented soon.

In that case...

Flower City had everything now?

All kinds of resources, so many warehouses that they couldn't fit everything.

No, it seemed like one thing was still missing.

Mounts!

Forty thousand Mercenaries running dozens of miles on their own two legs every day—the efficiency had already reached its limit.

If they had horses—even ordinary horses—their range of activity could at least double.

But horses were living creatures.

The System did not return living creatures.

However...

As soon as Minister Wang Fugui established the trade channels, this problem should be solved soon.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yun smiled.

He didn't understand business.

But that didn't matter.

Just leave it to those who do.

He had confidence in Minister Wang Fugui, the former Wang Half-City.