New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve.

The streets of Inner City were swept by waves of icy wind, yet pedestrians still came and went, exchanging New Year's greetings.

The security and the wealth of Inner City's residents were worlds apart from the scene in Outer City.

At the center of Inner City stood the Wang Family Hall of Worship.

The Wang Family's treatment was quite generous. In the main hall of the Hall of Worship, they had laid out a lavish flowing feast to entertain more than thirty Attendants.

More than thirty Attendants sat around three long tables.

The Attendants drank and ate with their close colleagues, chatting merrily. They were having quite a good time.

Lu Changfeng also sat beside one of the long tables. Black Ox was eating heartily on his left, while Old Luo was drinking with great gusto on his right.

Halfway through the meal, the current Wang Family Head, Wang Shou, arrived with several of his children to offer New Year's greetings.

This was Lu Changfeng's first close encounter with Wang Shou, the Wang Family Head.

When Wang Shou came over to toast him, Lu Changfeng hurriedly opened the interface to inspect Wang Shou's bone structure and talent.

Name: Wang Shou

Bone Structure: Grade A Mid

Talent: None

Wang Shou's bone structure was the outstanding Grade A Mid, just like Wang Yue's.

But he had no talent.

Compared with ordinary people, this bone structure was quite good.

But for a family head, such talent was somewhat lacking.

The Wang Family Head was probably not the most outstanding person in the Wang Family.

"Attendant Lu, Happy New Year!" After Wang Shou finished toasting him, a young girl stepped out from behind him and raised her cup toward Lu Changfeng.

Lu Changfeng looked over. It was Sixth Miss Wang Yue.

After the first Attendant mission, Wang Yue had specifically requested Lu Changfeng's participation in several similar missions.

After half a year, they could be considered old acquaintances.

"Happy New Year, Sixth Miss!"

Lu Changfeng raised his cup and drained it in one gulp. Unfortunately, he still hadn't seen the Wang Family's number-one prodigy today—the Wang Family's Second Young Master.

For the Wang Family's Second Young Master to be hailed as the Wang Family's number-one prodigy, he was very likely a genius with a bone structure of Grade A Upper or higher.

If Lu Changfeng could copy a Grade A Upper bone structure, the time needed to fuse it into a Heroic Bone Structure could be shortened to one year.

But that beautiful possibility was something Lu Changfeng could only think about.

The Wang Family's Second Young Master was sure to be under tight protection. If Lu Changfeng rashly approached him and made physical contact, the Wang Family might immediately decide that he harbored ulterior motives and launch a killing attack.

"Attendant Lu, what are you looking at?" Wang Yue did not leave. She pulled over a chair and sat down beside Lu Changfeng, while Black Ox tactfully shifted aside to make room.

Lu Changfeng withdrew his gaze. "Nothing. It's just my first time seeing so many members of the Wang Family gathered together. The Wang Family's children really are all geniuses."

Wang Yue smiled. "Of course. But our Wang Family's most formidable genius, my second brother, isn't here."

"The Wang Family's Second Young Master is famous far and wide, but since I came to the prefecture to serve as an Attendant, I've never met the Second Young Master." Lu Changfeng probed.

"My second brother..."

Wang Yue hesitated. "Let's not talk about him. Attendant Lu, would you be willing to accompany me to Luocheng after spring begins?"

Luocheng was one of the twenty-three cities in Yunyang Prefecture.

It lay to the right of Fengcheng.

It took five or six days to reach on foot, or two days on horseback.

"If there's a mission, I naturally wouldn't dare refuse," Lu Changfeng replied.

Wang Yue frowned slightly. "What if it's a personal request from me?"

Lu Changfeng thought carefully. "Then Sixth Miss, you'll have to tell me the full purpose of this trip and let me consider it."

"Fengcheng belongs to our Wang Family. Then do you know who stands behind Luocheng?"

"Who stands behind Luocheng? Isn't it the Xuanyuan Sword Sect, one of the four great sects of Yunyang Prefecture?" Old Luo answered from the side.

Wang Yue glanced at him and smiled. "So it's Attendant Luo. What you said is correct. The Xuanyuan Sword Sect is indeed behind Luocheng."

"The Xuanyuan Sword Sect is a sect with a legacy spanning thousands of years. Experts are as common as clouds within its ranks, and every one of them possesses astonishing swordsmanship. I want my younger brother to enter the Xuanyuan Sword Sect."

"Your younger brother?"

Wang Yue nodded and gave him a brief introduction.

Her younger brother was named Wang Shao. They shared the same father and mother, but because his bone structure was not very good, the family did not value him.

However, Wang Shao had considerable talent in swordsmanship.

Thus, Wang Yue wanted to send her younger brother to the Xuanyuan Sword Sect to give it a try.

If he remained in Fengcheng, Wang Shao had no future.

"It will take at most half a month. After half a month, whether it succeeds or fails, we'll return."

After Wang Yue finished speaking, Old Luo on the other side drained his cup. A sharp glint flashed briefly through his eyes. "Sixth Miss, how about this old man accompanies you there?"

Wang Yue was slightly stunned. If Old Luo was willing to go, that would naturally be ideal.

After all, although Old Luo was slovenly, he was a genuine Muscle Tendon Realm expert.

Protecting her and Wang Shao would be more than enough.

The other Muscle Tendon Realm Attendants in the Hall of Worship, however, would not lift a finger without profit.

Even though she was Sixth Miss, without orders from the family head and the steward of the Hall of Worship, she could not command a Muscle Tendon Realm Attendant.

For Wang Yue to command an Attendant, she had to follow the family's internal procedures.

And following the normal procedures, the family head certainly would not be willing to dispatch many Attendants for a mere Wang Shao. At most, he would send a few guards.

That was simply how realistic martial arts families were. Only someone with outstanding talent, like Wang Yue, could receive attention. Those with poor talent were destined to become part of the Collateral Branch and receive no regard within the family.

Wang Shou had a harem of wives and concubines and nearly a hundred children. More than half had no talent, and even if he wanted to manage them, he could not handle them all.

Take Wang Yue, for example. In name, she was Sixth Miss, but in truth, the title had not been determined by birth order.

To put it plainly, Sixth Miss meant "the sixth child in the Wang Family with excellent talent."

"Sixth Miss has always treated me well. Since this is for your younger brother, I'll accompany you as well." Before Wang Yue could respond, Lu Changfeng spoke up from the side.

The Xuanyuan Sword Sect was a famous sect in the Song Kingdom.

It might possess even stronger bone structures and talents. Accompanying Wang Yue there openly and legitimately would do no harm.

Moreover, with the hidden "swordsmanship expert" Old Luo present, their safety along the way would be assured.

Besides, Lu Changfeng's own strength was by no means weak.

Although his realm was still Blood Tempering Sixth Level, Lu Changfeng felt that after cultivating the Heavenly Body Tempering Blade Technique, his strength, speed, and explosive power far exceeded those of others at the same level.

Wang Yue was overjoyed. "Haha, with two Attendants helping, this trip will be safe and sound!"

"When will we leave?" Lu Changfeng asked.

"Hmm, three days from now, on the third day of the New Year. How about that?"

Lu Changfeng and Old Luo both nodded to show that they had no objections.

With that, Wang Yue left happily.

Lu Changfeng watched her depart.

He poured himself a cup of wine, came before Old Luo, and clinked cups with him.

"What? Do you have an old connection with the Xuanyuan Sword Sect?"

Old Luo glanced at the young man beside him. At first, he had thought the kid's approach was driven by some ulterior motive.

But after half a year, the kid had only occasionally sought him out to drink and play chess. Gradually, Old Luo understood that Lu Changfeng perhaps had no other purpose and was simply looking for someone to pass the time with.

"Yes! I might as well take this opportunity to go see some people." Old Luo rose unsteadily. "We're making a long journey in three days, so I'll head back first to recuperate."

Looking at the drunken appearance of this "swordsmanship expert," Lu Changfeng secretly shook his head.

Lu Changfeng gazed up at the pitch-black, freezing night sky. Once today passed, he would be nineteen.

Would he perhaps be able to touch upon immortality in his lifetime?

Tomorrow, he would go sweep his master's grave.