This Wasn't Forcing Me to Hit Someone, Was It?

Lu Shui had not waited long before Qi Xi returned, bringing back a stone and a pearl.

"Young Master, one is a Golden Origin Stone, and the other is a Wood Spirit Pearl. The power contained within both is at the Second Tier Peak."

It was difficult to find things that were too poor in quality, so she could only find these.

Lu Shui looked at the two items and nodded.

Qi Xi then knowingly withdrew to outside the courtyard.

Lu Shui paid Qi Xi no mind and picked up the Golden Origin Stone.

When he placed the Golden Origin Stone in his hand, he activated the Active Method. The moment it activated, a Seven-Colored Small Array appeared directly in his palm.

The small array then began absorbing the power within the Golden Origin Stone.

Lu Shui's actions did not draw anyone's attention. Feeling the power being absorbed, he could not help frowning.

"It's slower than expected. Absorbing an entire Golden Origin Stone will probably take a day.

"To reach the Third Tier, even at the fastest, will take seven days."

Lu Shui shook his head. It seemed he could only rely on the Passive Method. Advancement through the Active Method was truly too slow; without a few months, it would be impossible to shake the several big shots in the clan.

Although he could go break off the engagement, that did not mean he could agree to marry someone else.

Heaven knew what sort of person those big shots would find for him.

If he wanted to refuse, he naturally needed the strength to shake them.

When the time came, he would step on the Third Elder, punch the Great Elder, glare the Second Elder into tears, and then ask: who else?

Cough cough.

After putting an end to those meaningless fantasies, Lu Shui began absorbing the Golden Origin Stone's power.

By the way, he continued reading the Heaven and Earth Array Patterns.

It could be said that he was cultivating the Active Method and Passive Method at the same time.

When the sun rose, Dongfang Liyin arrived outside the courtyard.

"Madam," Qi Xi immediately called respectfully.

Dongfang Liyin looked into the courtyard and said,

"What time did young master come out to read?"

Qi Xi immediately answered,

"5:06 AM."

Dongfang Liyin sighed.

"When he ought to put on a show, he refuses to do it properly. Now he only puts on these useless displays."

Would it not have been better to choose a normal cultivation method, then pretend to cultivate it?

That way, even if he achieved nothing, he would at least have worked hard, leaving those Elders in the clan with nothing to say.

But her son simply did not understand how to grasp the key point.

"Go back and rest," Dongfang Liyin said.

"Thank you, Madam," Qi Xi said.

She then backed away and left.

After Qi Xi left, Dongfang Liyin entered the courtyard as well. The moment she went in, Lu Shui looked over.

Seeing his mother arrive, Lu Shui put down the Heaven and Earth Array Patterns and said,

"Mother."

In truth, he did not really like it when his mother came looking for him early in the morning, because nine times out of ten, it meant eating. Worse still, his mother would cook personally.

It tasted awful.

Dongfang Liyin sat to one side and smiled.

"Why are you looking at me like that? As though mother is going to harm you."

Lu Shui could only change the subject.

"Where's Father?"

Dongfang Liyin sighed, looking somewhat forlorn.

"He went down the mountain. He said the town's equipment needed upgrading, so he had to go down and take a look.

"He did not even eat breakfast.

"He hasn't eaten my breakfast for who knew how many years."

Seeing his mother's sighing appearance, Lu Shui felt that his father had gone too far. He hesitated over whether he should be more obedient; after all, his mother was an old person who had lived several half-centuries.

Though she looked like a young girl in her twenties.

But he quickly abandoned the thought, because his mother smiled again in the next instant.

"But it's fine. After all, your father eats the lunch and dinner mother makes herself."

Lu Shui: "..."

He had misunderstood his father. Suddenly, he realized how hard his father had it.

No wonder he sometimes saw his father fighting with his mother over who got to cook.

At this moment, Dongfang Liyin added,

"Alright, since your father isn't here, you can accompany mother for breakfast."

Hearing that, Lu Shui immediately stood up. He grabbed several pastries, stuffed them into his mouth, and said,

"Mother, I'm full. I'll go down the mountain and see how Father's work is going."

Without waiting for Dongfang Liyin to respond, Lu Shui ran out.

Watching her son act like that, Dongfang Liyin shook her head and smiled.

"Foolish Son, if your father does not eat breakfast, your mother definitely will not cook personally.

"Whenever your mother cooks, it is for your father. You are only incidental."

Lu Shui walked out of the Lu Family, but just as he did, Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling appeared before him.

Zhen Wu said respectfully,

"Young Master, the Third Elder has ordered that before we set off to break off the engagement, we cannot let young master suffer any mishap or accident."

Lu Shui said nothing and simply continued forward. Were they afraid he would run away?

Breaking off an engagement was such an interesting thing. Why would he run?

Were they worried that he would seek out demons again and court death?

But none of that mattered.

He merely wanted to see whether the foot of the mountain had kept pace with the times.

After all, the Third Elder had promised him.

As he went down the mountain, Lu Shui held the Golden Origin Stone in one hand and read the Heaven and Earth Array Patterns with the other.

He looked like a diligent scholar.

Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling inwardly sighed as they watched. Was young master putting on a show for them?

But was this not a little too exaggerated?

No matter how diligent one was, one could not be this diligent.

Yesterday, they had felt that their young master had become better at pretending, so much so that they had been startled for a time. Now it seemed that yesterday had merely been an exceptional performance.

After some time, Lu Shui arrived at Qiuyun Town.

"Where is my father?" Lu Shui asked.

Zhen Wu immediately replied,

"The clan leader is in the West District of the Town."

Lu Shui nodded and headed toward the West District of the Town. But after taking only a few steps, he suddenly sensed something flying toward him.

The instant the object came crashing over, Lu Shui stepped back slightly. The object then fell directly to the ground in front of him.

It was an apple with a bite taken out of it.

"Well, if it isn't the Young Master of the Lu Family, Lu Shui? It's been so many years that I nearly failed to recognize you." A strange, mocking voice suddenly came from Lu Shui's front right.

Lu Shui turned to look. It was a young man he did not recognize.

Seeing Lu Shui look over, the young man spoke again.

"Young Master Lu, my apple didn't hit you, did it?"

Lu Shui glanced at him and said,

"Slap his mouth."

The moment Lu Shui's Voice sounded, Zhen Wu moved.

Crisp slapping sounds immediately rang out.

The young man was slapped straight to the ground. Honestly, he was completely bewildered. Why had they started hitting him right away?

Lu Shui looked at the man and said,

"Speak properly, or you'll make me feel that you're very mentally deficient."

Speaking in that mocking, yin-yang tone—was he not delivering himself to be beaten?

Left with no choice, Lu Shui could only cooperate a little.

The young man covered his face as he got to his feet and angrily said to Lu Shui,

"Lu Shui, you've gone too far."

Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling stood ready to act at any moment.

If Lu Shui gave an order now, they had to obey it.

To outsiders, if they did not listen to Lu Shui, people would mock their young master for being unable to command the Lu Family's people.

What did it mean to be unable to command the Lu Family's people?

No matter how useless Lu Shui was, he was still a young master of the Lu Family. Refusing to give him face was refusing to give the Lu Family face.

If Lu Shui ordered them to slap someone's mouth and they remained unmoved, Zhen Wu and Zhen Ling would be the first to die, because they would have made the Lu Family lose face.

Lu Shui looked at this person, not particularly wanting to bother with him.

At this moment, several more people rushed over. They came to the young man's side and said,

"Young Master, are you alright?"

"Young Master, he is the Second Young Master of Qiao Family, Qiao Gan.

"He seems to be here to see the Third Elder.

"I heard that the person leading them is an old senior on the same level as the Third Elder." Worried that Lu Shui would act recklessly, Zhen Ling warned him in advance.

She hoped Lu Shui would not foolishly clash with them.

After all, the other side was not weak. If it escalated into a matter between juniors, the juniors would settle it themselves, and the one who lost face would still be Lu Shui.