Enlightenment

The oil lamp in the room cast a dim, yellow light.

Shen Yun held a bowl of still-steaming calming soup, her thin silk nightgown trembling slightly along with it.

"Zhen... Brother Zhen, I saw your lamp was still lit, so I went to the kitchen to make you some soup." Her voice was as faint as a thread, laced with a heavily suppressed shyness.

Lu Zhen sat on a hard wooden chair, unmoving.

He quietly watched Shen Yun.

Undeniably, looking at a beauty under the lamplight, especially a mature woman who had let down her guard, ripe for the picking, was an immense temptation to his Pure Yang Body, which had just entered the "Blood-Qi Like a Furnace" realm.

But the rising heat in his heart was quickly and forcefully suppressed by reason.

The world was too chaotic.

Outside, there were warlord battles and foreign firearms; inside, there were river bandits, local bullies, and feuds between martial artists.

Although he, Lu Zhen, had reached Bright Force, he was still just a slightly stronger ant in front of those true behemoths.

The path of martial arts was like sailing against the current; a moment's distraction meant eternal damnation.

Romance was too extravagant, too heavy, in this chaotic era where human lives were as cheap as grass.

He simply had no inclination for such things right now.

"Sister Shen, thank you for your trouble. Please set the soup down."

"It's late, and the wind is cool outside. You should go back and rest early."

His words were polite, yet they carried a sense of pushing her a thousand miles away.

Shen Yun's hand, holding the soup bowl, suddenly stiffened.

She wasn't a frivolous woman to begin with. Coming here dressed like this tonight had taken the greatest courage of her life, with her elder sister Lu Fang's half-coaxing, half-pushing.

But Lu Zhen's indifferent reaction was like a basin of ice-cold water mixed with shards of ice, doused over her head.

"Oh... Okay."

Shen Yun forced a smile and gently placed the porcelain bowl on the corner of the table.

The hope in her eyes instantly dimmed.

Indeed, she was a widow whose husband had died. Being able to earn a living at the Lu family's place, having a roof over her head, was already a great kindness.

Why would she dare to harbor such unrealistic, infatuated thoughts?

She bit her lower lip tightly, her eyes reddening, not daring to look at Lu Zhen again.

Turning, she lowered her head and fled towards the door as if escaping.

The night wind outside blew in through the gaps.

It made her silk nightgown cling tightly to her body, outlining the astonishingly full curves of her waist and hips.

That unique fragrance of a mature woman, mixed with a hint of sorrow, drilled straight into Lu Zhen's nostrils.

Lu Zhen watched her slightly trembling, slender back.

The surging blood and qi within him, which had just been suppressed, suddenly exploded like a breached dam.

What chaos, what martial arts.

He was a virile martial artist, not a clay bodhisattva in a temple, devoid of emotions and desires!

Seeing Shen Yun's hand already reaching for the bolt.

"Wait."

Lu Zhen suddenly spoke.

Shen Yun's body trembled, and she stopped at the door. She didn't turn back, only her shoulders quivered slightly.

"Has Wan'er slept?"

Lu Zhen asked.

He didn't ask anything else, but specifically asked this.

The atmosphere in the room changed drastically in that instant.

Shen Yun was first stunned, then as if she realized something, a surprising flush spread across her originally pale neck and earlobes.

"Slept... soundly."

The string of reason snapped.

The supreme yang heatwave of "Blood-Qi Like a Furnace" completely overwhelmed the worries of the chaotic world at this moment.

Lu Zhen couldn't hold back anymore.

He abruptly stood up.

"Hoo--!"

Before Shen Yun could even let out a gasp.

A pair of hands, strong as iron pincers, had already wrapped around her curvaceous waist.

Following this, Lu Zhen exerted force with both arms, abruptly hoisting Shen Yun up by her long, shapely legs.

"Bang—!"

The wooden door emitted a dull thud under the immense impact, then was slammed shut and bolted tight.

With the beauty in his arms, she was pressed firmly against the door panel.

The room was filled with a faint fragrance, the candlelight flickering.

The next day.

Lu Zhen pushed open the heavy jujube-wood courtyard gate and exhaled a long plume of white mist.

The lingering passion of last night had been blown away by the cold morning breeze. Dressed in the black silk training gear of the martial arts hall, he tucked his hands into his sleeves and strode toward the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall.

After crossing two streets, he passed a stall selling hot noodle soup.

At the mouth of the alley ahead stood several burly men.

The leader was a bald man wearing a grey leather vest; his blood and qi were quite vigorous, his skin and flesh taut—he was clearly an expert in the late stage of the Force Refining Realm.

Lu Zhen recognized him.

He was a hall master under the Green Snake Gang in the southern district of Ocean City, known as Zhao Heihu.

He managed all the opium dens and brothels along the streets of the southern district.

Seeing Lu Zhen approach, Zhao Heihu stopped rolling the iron balls in his hand, squeezed a smile onto his face, and walked up to him.

"Brother Lu, morning."

Lu Zhen glanced at him. "Do you have business, Hall Master Zhao?"

Zhao Heihu stepped closer and lowered his voice.

"Brother Lu, you smashed the young master of the Black Dragon Water Stronghold with a single strike of your staff on the river at Soul-Falling Gorge. With such astonishing skill, being a mere Inner Sect disciple at the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall is a waste of your talent."

"The Gu Family Chamber of Commerce is stingy; they only give you pocket change for risking your life. If you are willing to join our Green Snake Gang, I will give you a ten percent cut of the profits from the southern district's venues. I guarantee it will be more than double what the Gu family pays, and there will be no shortage of aged treasure herbs for you every month."

Lu Zhen looked at the smiling Zhao Heihu; his resources for martial arts practice had indeed bottomed out recently.

The Red Scale Treasure Fish and Old Mountain Ginseng were exhausted, and he desperately needed to replenish his internal reserves.

More importantly, after stepping into the Bright Force, he had vaguely sensed the limits of his cultivation technique.

The Coiling Dragon Stake, this stake-standing technique, seemed unable to further strengthen the Bright Force within his body.

Although standing on the Coiling Dragon Stake every day could still slowly increase his strength over time, the fundamental breakthrough that could transform his blood and qi and penetrate his internal organs had completely stalled.

The limit of the Coiling Dragon Stake is likely just the Force Refining Realm, Lu Zhen knew clearly.

To advance further after reaching the Bright Force, he needed more profound internal fist techniques and advanced stake-standing methods.

He wondered if the old master, Yan Tieqiao, had such hidden treasures in his possession at the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall.

If not, for the sake of his martial path, changing his allegiance to a stronger faction was not out of the question.

But this so-called Green Snake Gang was definitely not among his considerations.

This gang might seem to be throwing its weight around in the southern district of Ocean City, but when it came to heritage and top-tier combat power, they were not much stronger than the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall or the wealthy Gu Family.

At best, they were just a gang fighting for scraps in the gutter.

Joining them would only bring endless, sticky trouble, and he would never get his hands on higher-level martial arts techniques.

"Many thanks for the kind offer, Hall Master Zhao."

Lu Zhen's expression remained unchanged.

"It's just that I've grown accustomed to being lazy. Life at the martial arts hall is peaceful, and I have no plans to move for the time being."

Having said that, he ignored the way Zhao Heihu's expression gradually stiffened.

He simply strode past the men and walked quickly toward the end of the street.

Lu Zhen soon arrived outside the Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall.

He keenly sensed that the atmosphere today was very wrong.

At this time of day, the courtyard should have been filled with the dull thuds of hitting the Wooden Dummy and the shouts of lifting stone locks.

But today, it was deathly quiet.

Several Inner Sect disciples were huddled together, not practicing their punches, but exchanging complex glances.

Under the eaves of the main hall.

Yan Tieqiao was still sitting in that grand armchair, holding a purple clay teapot.

However, his weathered old face was currently so gloomy it seemed as if water could drip from it. His cloudy eyes held a suppressed fury.

In a corner of the training ground.

Yan Shanshan, dressed in a tight-fitting training suit, her pretty face taut, was speaking angrily in a small circle in a low voice.

"What is Zhang Lei? He took our family's precious medicine and then went to flirt with outsiders!"

"Do you really think Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall is a stepping stone for anyone to trample on!?"

Dakui and the other senior disciples beside her exchanged glances, their expressions awkward, none daring to respond easily.

Lu Zhen walked closer, his hearing sharp, and quickly caught wind of the situation.

It turned out something had happened to Zhang Lei.

Yesterday evening, someone saw Zhang Lei dining with the female disciple from the White Family in the east of the city at a high-end Western restaurant in the concession.

The White Family was a major player in Ocean City's medicinal materials business, with immense wealth.

The young lady from the White Family was herself a skilled practitioner at the late stage of Lianli, and most importantly, she was an only child.

The patriarch of the White Family had long ago declared that he would recruit a son-in-law from among the young masters in Ocean City to marry into the White Family.

If this matter had happened to an ordinary martial artist, it would have been a great opportunity, like a carp leaping over the dragon gate.

But for Zhang Lei, it was entirely different.

Yan Tieqiao had just given him the "Earth Dragon Blood Vine" that he had treasured for over a decade, viewing him as the successor to his legacy.

And then, Zhang Lei went to secretly consort with the eldest daughter of the White Family, who was looking for a son-in-law.

He took the martial arts hall's foundation, yet he was suspected of intending to marry into another family.

This action was indeed difficult to judge.

Lu Zhen began to warm up without a word.

After just a few movements.

Gu Yanzhi, fanning himself, quietly approached.

"Brother Lu," he greeted in a low voice.

"Brother Gu, is something the matter?" Lu Zhen stopped his movements.

"Regarding the battle at Soul-Falling Gorge, everyone has seen Brother Lu's strength. Your power is now soaring, and it would be a waste of talent and inappropriate for you to continue the dangerous work of running a boat for money."

Gu Yanzhi's expression became a little more serious.

"My father's intention is to invite Brother Lu to our Gu Family as a guest elder."

Lu Zhen looked at Gu Yanzhi.

He didn't beat around the bush, just paused slightly, and then spoke sincerely.

"Brother Gu, I'll be direct."

"My current realm has reached a bottleneck."

"What I need are internal martial arts techniques that can truly touch upon Dark Force, or even higher realms, as well as a massive amount of high-year-old precious medicines."

Gu Yanzhi was first stunned, then a look of realization dawned on his face.

He wasn't angry, but rather nodded in understanding.

"Brother Lu is forthright."

Gu Yanzhi lowered his voice and leaned closer.

"If Brother Lu truly seeks higher-level cultivation methods, looking at the entire Ocean City, there are probably only two types of places to go."

"One is those top aristocratic families in Ocean City; they definitely possess secret manuals that directly lead to Dark Force."

"The other is some official organizations. They have deep foundations."

Lu Zhen's expression shifted.

"If I were to go to these places, how would I explain it to Master Yan?"

After all, he was still a disciple of the Inner Sect of Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall.

Gu Yanzhi heard this and chuckled.

He turned to look at Yan Tieqiao, whose face was ashen in the main hall, and then looked at Lu Zhen.

"Brother Lu, you worry too much."

"This is not a problem. You are not Zhang Lei."

"Zhang Lei accepted the supreme precious medicine that the master exchanged his life for, and was designated as his successor. The nature of the matter is different. If he were to change his allegiance, it would be betrayal of his master."

Gu Yanzhi pointed outside with his fan.

"But you are different."

"Moreover, if you go to those official organizations or other powerful forces, and you become strong, you will still carry the name of being from our Iron Arm Martial Arts Hall. This would also be helping the martial arts hall."

Gu Yanzhi smiled.

"In the past, our martial arts hall also had some powerful senior disciples who went to other aristocratic families. When the master found out, he was too happy to care."

Lu Zhen heard this and nodded thoughtfully.

Since this was the rule of the martial world, he no longer had any reservations.

Water flows to lower places, and people rise to higher places. The competition in the martial arts is inherently about seizing that sliver of opportunity.