Breakthrough to Grandmaster Realm!

At this moment, Prefect Xu, seated off to the side, saw this and guessed that the two from the Zhou and Li families had not caught the Veiled Lady's eye.

So he spoke up again, "Miss Shangguan is of noble status, and her insight is beyond what we can match. However, this last one is a renowned talented woman of Baiyue County City, Lu Wei, the legitimate daughter of the Lu Family!"

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

"This Humble One, Lu Wei, greets Miss Shangguan!"

The Veiled Lady, upon hearing this, merely glanced at Lu Wei a couple of times before looking away.

"For a woman to have this level of strength is already commendable. With more training, you might achieve something in the future."

This time, the Veiled Lady did not brush her off as before but offered a comment.

Lu Wei's eyes lit up after hearing this, and she bowed again, "Thank you for your guidance, Miss Shangguan. This Humble One will surely keep it in mind!"

After the three were introduced, Prefect Xu was about to steer the conversation toward the Martial Examination when the Veiled Lady spoke.

"Prefect, there seems to be a young man sitting below who hasn't been introduced to me."

Prefect Xu paused briefly, then smiled and said, "Right, right, this official overlooked it. You're called 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 and felt a bit annoyed.

But since Prefect Xu had already spoken, he had no choice but to put down the fruit, stand up, and bow, "This Humble One, Lu Feng of Qinglu County, greets Miss Shangguan!"

Lu Feng's tone wasn't particularly respectful, which made Prefect Xu frown slightly.

But the Veiled Lady, seated in the main position, looked at him with great interest and said, "Oh?! So you're Lu Feng. I didn't expect someone like you to appear in a place like Baiyue County. That truly surprises me."

The Veiled Lady's words startled everyone present; they hadn't expected her to praise Lu Feng so highly.

However, Lu Feng himself didn't feel much about it and replied flatly, "Miss Shangguan flatters me. This Humble One is just a mere martial artist."

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

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

Meanwhile, Zhou Yonghua, Li Yi, and Lu Wei all began to reassess Lu Feng as well.

With the introductions done, the gathering continued, but the rest was just mutual flattery, which didn't interest Lu Feng.

When the gathering ended and Lu Feng was about to leave, the Veiled Lady's female guard suddenly came before him and said.

"Young Master Lu, this is my lady's invitation letter. Please accept it."

Lu Feng's heart stirred slightly. It seemed the Veiled Lady's visit to Baiyue County wasn't just to observe the Martial Examination.

He took the letter and replied, "Mm. If there's nothing else, this Humble One will take his leave."

The guard nodded and turned away.

Lu Feng tucked the letter into his chest and went down to the tea stall below.

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

"Brother Wang, I'm back." Lu Feng smiled and waved.

Wang Chen didn't respond immediately but looked him up and down. "How was it? Nothing happened at the gathering?"

"Nothing happened. Just a gathering of idle chatter."

"Mm, good! The Youth Elite Competition of the Martial Examination starts in ten days. Use this time to prepare well. I hope you'll achieve a good result." Wang Chen reminded him.

Lu Feng nodded slightly, his face full of confidence. "Brother Wang, just wait and see. I'll definitely make it into the top ten."

With that, the two returned to the inn, and Lu Feng took out the letter to read.

The letter was simple: the Veiled Lady wanted to invite him to become a retainer of the Shangguan Family, with a monthly salary of one hundred taels, plus Exotic Beast Meat and various cultivation resources in abundance.

This offer was extremely generous. Although Lu Feng didn't know the standard treatment for noble family retainers, what the Veiled Lady offered him was certainly not low.

"Hm?! Why didn't the Veiled Lady invite those three noble family heirs instead of coming to me?" Lu Feng looked puzzled.

From the gathering earlier, it seemed the Veiled Lady had the ability to see through others' Martial Realm levels.

If that were the case, it made perfect sense for her to invite him as a retainer.

Even though the offer was good, he didn't know this woman, and he didn't want to become someone else's hired thug.

So agreeing to be a retainer was out of the question.

"Ah, forget it! I won't dwell on this. Cultivation is what matters most!"

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

[You circulate Peiyuan Gong once, proficiency +1]

[You circulate Peiyuan Gong once, proficiency +1]

And so, a day quickly passed.

By now, his Peiyuan Gong proficiency had finally reached two thousand five hundred points.

But this time, there was no notification of a Martial Realm breakthrough.

He only felt another tiny portion of the meridians inside his body being refined.

But there was still the last little bit left before all meridians were fully refined.

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

With that, he closed his eyes again and continued his cultivation.

Time passed, and a week slipped by unnoticed.

Through his diligent cultivation, Peiyuan Gong's proficiency had risen from two thousand five hundred to four thousand five hundred points.

Yet his Martial Realm remained stagnant, stuck at the peak of Ninth-Grade Martial Master.

However, he could sense that all the meridians in his body had been completely refined.

According to what Lu Yan had said earlier, once all meridians were refined, he should break through to the Grandmaster Realm—but that hadn't happened.

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

Even his physical strength had broken through the Ten Thousand Jin mark two days ago!

But being unable to advance his Martial Realm left Lu Feng somewhat at a loss. "Could it be that I need to push Peiyuan Gong to the next level before I can break through to the Grandmaster Realm?"

There were only two days left before the Martial Examination officially began. Two days were enough for him to train Peiyuan Gong's proficiency to five thousand points.

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

By the time the day before the Martial Examination arrived, Peiyuan Gong's proficiency had finally reached four thousand nine hundred and ninety points.

Seeing that this Cultivation Method was about to break through again, Lu Feng stopped cultivating, steadied his mindset, and then resumed his practice.

[You circulate Peiyuan Gong once, proficiency +1]

[You circulate Peiyuan Gong once, proficiency +1]

When the tenth cycle of Peiyuan Gong ended, two different notifications suddenly appeared on the Proficiency Panel.

[Your Peiyuan Gong proficiency has reached 5000. The skill level of this technique has been promoted from Mastery Realm to Transcendent.]

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