Breaking Through to the Grandmaster Realm!

At that moment, Prefect Xu saw what had happened and guessed that the two men from the Zhou and Li Families hadn't caught the Veiled Lady's eye.

So he spoke up again. "Miss Shangguan is of noble birth and has seen far more than we have. But this last young woman is a renowned beauty of letters in Baiyue County City, the legitimate daughter of the Lu Family, Lu Wei!"

With that, Lu Wei, dressed in white, rose and bowed to the Veiled Lady.

"This humble one is Lu Wei. Greetings, Miss Shangguan!"

At her words, the Veiled Lady merely gave Lu Wei a couple of glances before looking away.

"For a woman, your strength is quite impressive. If you continue to temper yourself, you may accomplish something in the future."

This time, the Veiled Lady didn't brush her off as she had the others. Instead, she offered a word of praise.

Lu Wei's eyes lit up. She clasped her hands and bowed again. "Thank you for your instruction, Miss Shangguan. I will keep it firmly in mind!"

After the three introductions, Prefect Xu was just about to use the opportunity to steer the conversation toward the Martial Examination when the Veiled Lady spoke.

"Prefect, there seems to be another young man seated below. Why hasn't he been introduced to me?"

Prefect Xu paused briefly, then smiled. "Yes, yes, it was my oversight. You're Lu Feng, aren't you? Come and greet Miss Shangguan."

Lu Feng, who had been sitting in his seat, eating fruit and watching the show, was suddenly called out. He felt a little annoyed.

But Prefect Xu had already spoken, so he had no choice but to put down the fruit, rise, and clasp his hands. "This humble one is Lu Feng of Qinglu County. Greetings, Miss Shangguan!"

Lu Feng's manner was hardly especially respectful, making Prefect Xu furrow his brow.

But the Veiled Lady, seated in the place of honor, looked at him with great interest. "Oh? So your name is Lu Feng. I never expected a place like Baiyue County to produce talent like you. This truly surprises me."

Her words immediately startled everyone. No one had expected the Veiled Lady to praise Lu Feng so highly.

Lu Feng himself, however, felt nothing in particular. He replied calmly, "You flatter me, Miss Shangguan. I'm just a mere martial artist."

The Veiled Lady's lips curled into a smile. "Heh, you're rather interesting."

Seeing that Lu Feng had caught the Veiled Lady's eye, Prefect Xu made a mental note of him.

Zhou Yonghua, Li Yi, and Lu Wei also took another look at Lu Feng.

Once everyone had been introduced, the gathering continued. The rest of it consisted of people trading compliments, which didn't interest Lu Feng.

When the gathering ended and Lu Feng was preparing to leave, the Veiled Lady's female guard suddenly approached him.

"Young Master Lu, this is an invitation from my mistress. Please accept it."

Lu Feng's heart stirred. It seemed the Veiled Lady hadn't come to Baiyue County merely to watch the Martial Examination.

He took the letter and replied, "All right. If there's nothing else, I'll take my leave."

The guard nodded and turned to go.

Lu Feng tucked the letter into his robes, then headed downstairs to the tea stall.

Wang Chen was still sitting there, drinking tea and waiting for him.

"Brother Wang, I'm back!" Lu Feng said with a smile, waving to him.

Wang Chen didn't answer at once. Instead, he looked Lu Feng up and down. "How was it? Did anything happen at the gathering?"

"Nothing happened. It was just a gathering where people chatted about this and that."

"Good! The Youth Elite Competition of the Martial Examination officially begins in ten days. Make good use of this time to prepare. I hope you get a good result," Wang Chen reminded him.

Lu Feng nodded, brimming with confidence. "Brother Wang, just you wait. I'll make the top ten this time."

After that, the two returned to the inn, and Lu Feng took the letter from his robes and read it.

The letter's contents were simple: the Veiled Lady wanted to invite him to become an Attendant of the Shangguan Family. The monthly salary was one hundred taels, with unlimited Exotic Beast Meat and all kinds of cultivation resources.

The terms were incredibly generous. Lu Feng didn't know what Attendants of Noble Families were usually paid, but the Veiled Lady's offer was certainly no small sum.

"Hmm? Why didn't the Veiled Lady invite those three heirs of Noble Families, but instead came to invite me?" Lu Feng wondered, looking puzzled.

From what he'd seen at the gathering, the Veiled Lady seemed capable of seeing through other people's Martial Realms.

If so, it made perfect sense that she'd invited him to become an Attendant.

Although the Veiled Lady's offer was generous, he didn't know her well, and he didn't want to be someone else's hired muscle.

So there was no way he'd accept the position.

"Forget it! No point thinking about this. Cultivation matters most!"

After saying that, Lu Feng burned the letter, then sat cross-legged on the bed and began circulating Peiyuan Gong.

[You circulated Peiyuan Gong once. Proficiency +1]

[You circulated Peiyuan Gong once. Proficiency +1]

...

And just like that, a day passed.

At that moment, his Peiyuan Gong proficiency finally reached 2,500 points.

But this time, there was no prompt that his Martial Realm had advanced.

He only felt that another tiny portion of his meridians had been refined.

Yet he was still just a hair's breadth away from refining all of them.

"Hmm, it seems breaking through to the Grandmaster Realm isn't as simple as I thought. I'll keep cultivating, then. Hopefully I can break through before the Martial Examination begins."

With that, he closed his eyes again and resumed cultivating.

Time flew by, and a week passed in the blink of an eye.

Through his diligent cultivation, his Peiyuan Gong proficiency rose from 2,500 to 4,500 points.

Yet his Martial Realm still hadn't advanced. He remained at the peak of the Ninth-Grade Martial Master stage.

However, he could feel that every meridian in his body had been completely refined.

According to what Lu Yan had said, refining all one's meridians should allow a breakthrough to the Grandmaster Realm. Yet he still hadn't broken through.

Although his Martial Realm hadn't changed, his Internal Force had grown.

Even his physical strength had surpassed ten thousand catties two days earlier!

But his inability to advance his Martial Realm left Lu Feng at a loss. "Could it be that I have to raise Peiyuan Gong to the next level before I can break through to the Grandmaster Realm?"

With only two days left before the Martial Examination officially began, he had enough time to raise his Peiyuan Gong proficiency to 5,000.

With that thought, Lu Feng didn't hesitate. He began circulating Peiyuan Gong again.

On the final day before the Martial Examination, Peiyuan Gong's proficiency finally reached 4,990.

With the technique on the verge of advancing again, Lu Feng stopped cultivating, composed himself, then resumed his practice.

[You circulated Peiyuan Gong once. Proficiency +1]

[You circulated Peiyuan Gong once. Proficiency +1]

...

After the tenth cycle of Peiyuan Gong, two unusual prompts suddenly appeared on the Proficiency Panel.

[Your Peiyuan Gong proficiency has reached 5000. Its proficiency level has advanced from Mastery Realm to Transcendent]

[Your Martial Realm has successfully advanced to First-rank Grandmaster]!