The Military's First Surname

Lu Qingchan's eyes snapped open, her expression one of disbelief.

"Mom, this crystal card... it looks like the Cloud Smoke Steps crystal card, no!"

She thought of something and shook her head repeatedly. "Although it's very similar, it's not Cloud Smoke Steps. It looks exactly like the footwork practiced by my classmate's sister, that little girl named Li Xianyu."

"But Li Xianyu can only manage to split out two or three very stiff illusions, while the mental world of this crystal card splits out dozens or hundreds of illusions. The illusions are graceful, and their movements are varied, making one's head spin."

"This doesn't look like a C-grade martial art at all, but rather like a top-tier B-grade martial art footwork."

"Oh? Is that so?"

Xu Yunyan crouched down, took the crystal card, and saw that the colors of the scenery had faded considerably.

Yang Shen laughed heartily and said, "Little girl, this is a C-grade footwork called Cloud Shadow Steps, not some B-grade martial art, nor is it Cloud Smoke Steps."

"Pay up!"

Xu Yunyan stood up, then took out her Star Dollar Card and swiped it on the card reader at the counter.

260,000 Star Dollars were gone just like that.

"Let's go, Qingchan."

Lu Qingchan "Mm"ed and followed Xu Yunyan out of the shop.

"Take care, come again next time!"

Yang Shen respectfully saw them off from behind.

After leaving the crystal card shop, Xu Yunyan asked, "Qingchan, did that Cloud Shadow Steps crystal card help your Cloud Smoke Steps cultivation?"

"Yes!"

Lu Qingchan nodded. "Is this Cloud Shadow Steps really just a C-grade martial art? It seems to be ninety percent similar to Cloud Smoke Steps, more like an advanced version of Cloud Smoke Steps."

"As long as it's useful to you, it's fine. The shop owner doesn't understand. You should know the definition of a B-grade martial art better than others. If you think this is a B-grade martial art crystal card, then it naturally is a B-grade martial art crystal card."

"Moreover, the martial art in this crystal card, in your eyes, is exactly the same as your classmate's sister. It's clear that the Divine Sense Master who made this crystal card is the same person who taught your classmate's sister her footwork."

"How can an ordinary high school have so many hidden masters?"

Lu Qingchan nodded and asked again, "Mom, you just bought me two sets of Army-Breaking Fist crystal cards, won't that be a waste?"

"If it's useful for your martial arts cultivation, how can it be called a waste?" Xu Yunyan said, "Later, we'll also pick out some spirit herbs for tempering blood and qi for a medicinal bath. Compared to that, two sets of Army-Breaking Fist crystal cards are nothing."

"But my classmates are very frugal when using spirit herbs and crystal cards. They only use one set of a martial art crystal card, and I've never heard of other classmates using spirit herbs for tempering blood and qi."

"Sigh!"

Xu Yunyan looked at Lu Qingchan and suddenly sighed.

"What's wrong, Mom?"

"It's nothing."

Xu Yunyan said wistfully, "Mom is heartbroken for you. To be a direct descendant of the dignified Dongchuan Lu Family, and yet to be reduced to being thrifty in martial arts cultivation."

"Do you know that among your peers in the Lu Family, the children of your uncle and second uncle, after receiving guidance from a famous teacher, use at least a dozen sets of corresponding Psionic Crystal Cards for cultivating a martial art?"

"When they temper their blood and qi, the spirit herbs they use casually cost more Star Dollars than your total expenditure on martial arts cultivation so far."

Lu Qingchan couldn't help but be surprised. "Their martial arts cultivation costs so much?"

"What is this? Your Dongchuan Lu Family is the foremost surname in the military. The martial arts cultivation resources enjoyed by the younger generation of the Lu Family are secondary. More importantly, the direct descendants of the Lu Family can receive guidance from Grandmasters several times a year, which is why these people can advance rapidly in martial arts."

"It's also your father's fault for being infatuated and falling out with your uncles. It's one thing for him to leave the Lu Family, but he also implicated you, preventing you from enjoying the treatment that a direct descendant of the Lu Family should have."

"Otherwise, with your talent, your achievements would not be inferior to Yuan Hao's."

"Fortunately, Mom brought out the Lu Family's betrothal gifts and the Xu Family's dowry from when you married your father. Although you haven't enjoyed the excellent treatment of a direct descendant of the Lu Family, the other resources needed for martial arts cultivation have not been lacking, and your martial arts have not fallen too far behind your Lu Family peers."

Lu Qingchan said, "It's not entirely Dad's fault, my uncles were also quite excessive."

"The youngest among the direct brothers is suppressed by his elder brothers. All the major families in Dongchuan Province are like this. Why couldn't he endure it?"

"He left the Lu Family in a huff, causing you to suffer along with him. What kind of logic is this?"

"Before the winter break, Mom will definitely persuade your father to apologize to your uncles and return to the Lu Family to enjoy the treatment that a direct descendant of the Lu Family should have."

"But before that, you must persevere in tempering your blood and qi, maintaining the purity of your blood and qi. Listen to your mother. If you have the chance, you must get to know this Divine Sense Master who is the same age as you."

"Such a young Divine Sense Master, if you can befriend them, even when you return to the Lu Family, it will be a great help to your martial arts cultivation."

Faced with her mother's painstaking efforts, Lu Qingchan could only nod in agreement.

Meanwhile, Chen Lie returned home and went to his family's training room to practice the Basic Body Tempering Technique, digesting the nutrients from the Spirit Herb Beast Meat Meal.

At this moment, he felt that his blood and qi value had increased again, but not by much. There was no instrument at home to measure it.

During dinner, Chen Lie's family of three sat together.

Feng Yuelan said, "Your second uncle called again today, asking how we've considered it."

"And I said, have your dad come home for a visit, so our two families can get together."

Chen Xingyao asked, "What's going on? Mom, what does my second uncle want? Why does he need Dad to come back?"

"It's your second uncle's son, Chen Ye. His blood and qi have progressed too quickly, causing them to be unstable. He wants your dad to use his military merits to exchange for a Blood Mist Flower for Chen Ye to stabilize his blood and qi."

"What? That arrogant guy Chen Ye has unstable blood and qi? He deserves it!

Also, how come I didn't know Dad had military merits that could be exchanged for a Blood Mist Flower?"

Chen Xingyao asked, confused.

"Your dad has saved up his military merits for over a decade, mainly wanting to save them for you and your brother," Feng Yuelan said.

"Your second uncle's family is so snobbish. Now that they need something from us, we definitely can't agree to it easily!

But Blood Mist Flower? What a strange name, Blood Mist Flower, Blood Mist Flower..."

Chen Xingyao put down her chopsticks, picked up her communicator, and searched on the Martial Arts Commerce official website. She was immediately shocked.

"Blood Mist Flower, sixty-nine million Star Dollars per bloom! It's classified as a Martial Arts Rare Treasure, and it's currently out of stock on the Martial Arts Commerce website?"

Chen Xingyao looked up and asked, "Mom, are Dad's military merits that valuable? Can they be exchanged for rare treasures worth tens of millions of Star Dollars?"

Feng Yuelan nodded. "Otherwise, why would it be called the merit your dad saved for you for over a decade? He himself couldn't bear to use it."

"Outrageous! How could they have the nerve to ask for something so precious? They're so shameless!"

Chen Xingyao said indignantly, "Mom, you and Dad absolutely cannot agree to their request."

"We won't agree, but it's not good to refuse directly. It would be best to have some reason," Feng Yuelan said.

Chen Lie said, "Just stall them for now. A reason will come up."

He knew his parents were too thin-skinned. They were relatives, and they couldn't bring themselves to refuse directly. Otherwise, this matter wouldn't have happened in his previous life.

Chen Xingyao snorted, "They had the nerve to ask, so why shouldn't we have the nerve to refuse?

If you ask me, we should refuse them directly and ask Second Uncle and Second Aunt if Chen Ye is worth tens of millions of Star Dollars?

Did he not know his energy and strength were below standard when he was cultivating? Now that his blood and qi are unstable, he's starting to covet Dad's military merits.

It usually takes a very long time for ordinary people to cause unstable blood and qi, right? Chen Ye must have known at the time; he just wanted to cut corners in martial arts.

Even if such a person stabilizes his blood and qi with a Blood Mist Flower, he will definitely encounter various problems in the future and won't achieve much."

Chen Lie looked at his sister in surprise, somewhat taken aback that she could say something so profound.

It was only now that he realized that in his previous life, he had been childish. Compared to his sister, he was far behind. It was no wonder his sister always treated him with annoyance and impatience; it was because she found him immature.

"What are you looking at me for? I said we should refuse Second Uncle and the others directly. Are you unhappy about that?

I remember your relationship with Chen Ye isn't that great, right?"

Chen Xingyao said as Chen Lie looked at her.

"It's nothing," Chen Lie shook his head.

"Mom, listen to me, let's do it this way. If you and Dad feel embarrassed, next time Second Uncle calls or visits our house, let me talk to him,"

Chen Xingyao looked at Feng Yuelan.

"Alright, it's none of your business. Even if something really happens, you can't say anything rash. Your Dad and I will handle it," Feng Yuelan cautioned Chen Xingyao.

Chen Xingyao pouted and picked up her chopsticks to continue eating.

The next morning, Chen Lie did not go to school. Instead, he went to the Martial Artist Market in the provincial capital again.

Now that he had a huge sum of 800,000 Star Dollars, he naturally had to consider purchasing the martial arts resources he needed.

However, after browsing the Martial Artist Market for most of the day, he couldn't find any martial arts resources that met his needs.

After walking out of the last shop, Chen Lie saw that he had reached the end of the market street. He couldn't help but ponder, "Dongchuan Province, is the martial arts resources really this barren? Why is there nothing?"

Logically speaking, even if Dongchuan Province, as a province of Blue Star, had barren resources, it shouldn't be so bad that he couldn't even find a decent martial arts resource.

Could it be that he couldn't access the purchasing channels for the martial arts resources of the powerful and wealthy class?

But this problem was unsolvable for Chen Lie. The martial arts society of Blue Star was strictly hierarchical. Upper-class individuals would almost never appear in the same frame as commoners from the lower class.

Take the key high school in Dongchuan Province where Chen Lie was located, for example. In his previous life, he was just a student in an ordinary class. For three full years, he barely saw the school leaders a few times.

The Elite Class and the ordinary class were separated by a wall, but elite students rarely interacted with the martial arts students from the ordinary class.

This was a class barrier that was difficult to break.