When Lu Jing'an returned to Lu Mansion, dusk had fallen.
The lanterns beneath the eaves swayed gently in the evening breeze.
Lu Jing'an went straight to the study.
Closed his eyes and went over the information he had gathered that day, piece by piece.
The Li Family had openly brought forty people this time.
They hadn't brought many firearms.
Only a dozen or so in all.
But in these troubled times, firearms were the easiest thing to get hold of.
There was no need to go elsewhere. The Lin Family had them.
Among the forty people,
only two cultivators had openly revealed themselves.
One was the Listening Cultivator Lu Jing'an had just "met."
The other was Lawrence.
According to the information the Lu Family had obtained,
this Lawrence
was a New Martial Arts Martial Cultivator who had mastered Battle Qi.
Lu Jing'an truly hadn't expected
that he'd only just asked around about New Martial Arts,
and already he'd run into a master with Battle Qi.
Apart from those two cultivators who had shown themselves,
Lu Jing'an had also discovered four others.
The biggest difference between cultivators and ordinary people
was their heartbeat.
It didn't matter whether they were Martial Cultivators or not.
As long as someone became a cultivator,
their physical abilities would surely improve by a great deal.
If they weren't a Martial Cultivator,
there usually wasn't much to tell from their appearance.
But their heartbeat would be much slower than an ordinary person's.
An ordinary person might have a heart rate of seventy or eighty beats a minute.
A cultivator's would be much slower.
And if they were a Great Martial Cultivator,
their heart might beat only five or six times a minute,
or even less.
That was how Lu Jing'an distinguished ordinary people from cultivators.
As for what kinds of cultivators those four who hadn't revealed themselves were,
he would have to listen in and find out over time.
In any case, his [Karma Sound-Tracing] was more useful than a Listening Cultivator's ability.
At least when he didn't deliberately eavesdrop on Chen Xuan,
Chen Xuan couldn't detect him.
So long as he was careful and didn't actively probe for more, he had nothing to worry about.
After going over everything for a while,
Lu Jing'an summoned one of his subordinates into the study.
Then he whispered a few words to him.
The subordinate nodded repeatedly before leaving.
The study fell quiet again, lit only by the warm glow of the electric lamp overhead.
Lu Jing'an rubbed the smooth jade ornament in his hand.
Then he suddenly chuckled and muttered to himself,
"Turning Battle Qi into a horse... I really would like to see that with my own eyes."
The days passed, one after another.
Before long, seven days had gone by.
Word of the Li Family coming to marry Lin Qingyi
had spread through every street and alley in Yinshan County.
Some people were simply there for the spectacle, while others snickered in secret.
Quite a few eyes were also fixed on the Lu Family,
waiting to see how this former local power would respond.
Those hoping to see how the Lu Family would handle things were disappointed.
The only one who came out to deal with it was Lu Jing'an.
And his way of dealing with it was simple and direct.
If someone rubbed him the wrong way, he beat them.
If someone said something he didn't like, he beat them.
Afterward, he dumped them all at the Lin Family's front gate.
That crude and simple approach
disappointed those who had hoped to see the Lu Family's methods.
It was far too rough.
To them, such crudeness
was a sign of helplessness.
It looked like nothing but powerless venting.
For a time, the Lu Family's reputation among Yinshan County's upper crust plummeted.
But while the Lu Family's reputation sank,
another power lurking behind the Lin Family unexpectedly came to light.
The Qian Family!
A local family in Yinshan County, they controlled the county's purse strings.
As for why the Qian Family had stood behind the Lin Family, helping the Li Family go after the Lu Family,
the logic was very simple.
Lu Huaichuan had already reached into their territory.
The Qian Family controlled the money.
But half of the silver flowing through Yinshan County was tied to Lu Huaichuan.
How could the Qian Family put up with that?
The reason the Qian Family dared to show themselves now was that Li Jinglin had publicly declared:
The Young Master Li would personally come to Yinshan to fetch his bride.
It was no different from slapping the Lu Family across the face in front of everyone.
If they didn't stop him, the Lu Family would lose both face and standing.
All of Lu Jing'an's retaliation these past few days would become a laughingstock.
But if they did stop him—
did the Lu Family really have the guts?
The strength?
If they really had that kind of strength,
Lu Jing'an wouldn't have been ambushed in broad daylight.
That was exactly why
the Qian Family had dared to step out and curry favor.
Outside, the Lu Family's and Lu Jing'an's reputations grew worse by the day.
Everyone craned their necks, waiting to see the Lu Family make a fool of themselves.
Inside the Lu Family, though, everything was calm.
Aside from beating people every day and going out for drinks with courtesans every night,
Lu Jing'an spent the rest of his time in the courtyard sparring with Situ Yiyun and Chen Heqing.
Watching Lu Jing'an face them seriously every day and improve with each passing day,
the two men couldn't help comparing it with all the talk outside about the Lu Family and Lu Jing'an.
A chill ran down both their spines.
[First Blood Transformation achieved. 100 hours of fist training achieved. Affix acquired: Fist Master (Red)]
That day, just after sparring with Situ Yiyun,
Lu Jing'an had finally met the requirements to obtain a red affix.
The moment he got his hands on the red affix,
Lu Jing'an couldn't wait to equip it.
As soon as the affix was equipped,
Lu Jing'an realized that his Tongbei Fist had broken through.
And it wasn't a minor breakthrough.
It had jumped straight from Beginner to Mastery.
Feeling that dramatic change in his fist technique,
Lu Jing'an could hardly contain his delight.
It wasn't just his fist technique that had improved.
Lu Jing'an could clearly feel that his blood and qi had also risen by a significant amount.
He should only need one medicinal bath to reach the Second Blood Transformation.
[Name: Lu Jing'an]
[Attack: 7]
[Defense: 7]
[Agility: 5]
[Spirit: 4]
[Techniques: Standing Stake (Beginner) (Attack +1+1, Defense +1+1, Spirit +1+1), Tongbei Fist (Mastery) (Attack +8+10)]
[Affixes: Clear as Fire (Green), Extraordinary Physique (Green) (Attack +2, Defense +2), Fist Master (Red) (Fist Technique +10), Karma Sound-Tracing (White), Ghost Shadow Lost Track (Orange) (Agility +3)]
After quickly checking his status panel, Lu Jing'an couldn't help reflecting,
"Red affixes really are something else!"
He looked up at the [Combat Supremacy] affix floating above Situ Yiyun's head.
Lu Jing'an felt the time was right.
With the red affix, his attack power had increased by fifteen points in one fell swoop.
It had nearly tripled.
Lu Jing'an thought he could claim that affix now.
He drank some medicinal tea prepared by Cui Jieyi.
Once his blood and qi and stamina had fully recovered,
Lu Jing'an stopped Chen Heqing as he was about to get up. "Director Chen, please wait a moment."
Chen Heqing didn't understand.
Lu Jing'an turned to Situ Yiyun and said,
"Director Situ, I just had a few new insights into fist techniques.
I'd like to ask you to give me some pointers."
Situ Yiyun readily agreed.
As he passed Chen Heqing, he couldn't resist showing off.
The meaning was clear: See? New Martial Arts is better.
Young Master Lu clearly favors New Martial Arts.
Chen Heqing gritted his teeth, but there was nothing he could do.
Over these past few days,
Chen Heqing had also noticed
that although Lu Jing'an treated him with respect
and paid him no less than he paid Situ Yiyun,
he still sparred with Situ Yiyun more often.
That had left Chen Heqing feeling somewhat uncomfortable.
Now Lu Jing'an had gone straight past him and was going to spar with Situ Yiyun again.
The two men took their places in the courtyard once more.
Night had just begun to fall. The lantern light beneath the eaves stretched their shadows long, then short.
Lu Jing'an slowly settled into his fighting stance, his aura sinking with it.
Lu Jing'an spoke first. "Director Situ, please don't hold back."
Before you continue