The Feng Household's Invitation

The next day, Lu Fan returned to the streets.

He could see large numbers of people in Thunder Martial Hall uniforms walking along the main roads.

And when he took on Chen Liu's appearance and walked through the streets, he could clearly feel countless pairs of eyes fixed on him.

So he did not head straight to Shen Yuniang's shop. Instead, he circled the streets several times before secretly catching one of the people tailing him.

That person was a Thunder Martial Hall disciple. After a little intimidation, he spilled everything.

It turned out Li Xiao had sent people to investigate him.

And according to that disciple, Li Xiao was not the only one looking for him. The Feng Household was searching for him as well.

In other words, those two groups had clearly begun treating him as a threat.

Sure enough, he had to step into Transformation Force as soon as possible.

After knocking out that Thunder Martial Hall disciple, Lu Fan made sure no one else was following him before silently heading to Shen Yuniang's shop.

By the time he arrived, Shen Yuniang had already handed over all the Qi-Replenishing Pills she had gathered through her connections over the past two days.

There were not many—only two bottles.

"I'm terribly sorry, Senior Chen. The Feng Household has recently begun tightening its grip on the pill market. These two bottles are already the limit of what I can do."

Shen Yuniang looked at Lu Fan nervously, afraid she might provoke his dissatisfaction.

"Enough."

Lu Fan took out the remaining two thousand taels' worth of silver notes from his robe and placed them on the table.

"Senior Chen, no, no need."

Shen Yuniang hurriedly tried to refuse them.

She naturally understood that helping Old Chen now meant helping herself. Of course she could not take his money again.

"Take it."

Lu Fan spoke only two words, but they carried an unmistakable air of command.

Seeing this, Shen Yuniang stopped refusing and immediately accepted them.

After she took the silver notes, Lu Fan picked up the Qi-Replenishing Pills and was about to leave when he seemed to recall something and turned around.

Shen Yuniang thought Senior Chen before her was angry again. A flush crossed her mature face, while her hand moved to her collar.

But the next moment, Lu Fan spoke.

"Bring your daughter here. Don't go out recently."

"Huh? Senior Chen, you mean..."

Shen Yuniang blinked. Confusion appeared on her face, but it was quickly replaced by anxiety.

"Is something truly terrible about to happen?"

Lu Fan did not answer her question and simply left.

Shen Yuniang remained where she was, her expression changing again and again. In the end, she gritted her teeth and made up her mind.

She had already placed everything on Old Chen. Now, all she could do was trust him.

After leaving Shen Yuniang's shop, Lu Fan slipped into the narrow lanes. He twisted and turned through them before finally following an alley toward the slum street where he lived.

But before he had gone far, he stopped.

He was being followed again, and this time, the person tailing him was a Dark Force martial artist.

"Do you want me to invite you out?"

Lu Fan turned around, his gaze blazing like a torch as he stared directly at the shadow beneath a distant eave.

The next moment, someone leisurely emerged from that shadow.

"You do have some skill. No wonder Master Feng specifically named me to make this trip myself."

He was a short, withered-looking man. Half his face seemed to have been scalded, leaving behind a horrifying scar that made one's heart shudder.

But the dense aura emanating from him made Lu Fan raise his guard.

Late Dark Force.

"Something you need?"

Lu Fan remained unmoved as he asked indifferently.

"My name is Ma Sheng. I am an Attendant of the Feng Household."

"I came this time because Master Feng wishes to invite you over for a talk."

"A talk?"

Lu Fan raised a brow, a trace of puzzlement appearing beneath his mask.

Not long ago, at the Qin Household banquet, he had fought Li Xiao fiercely. In a sense, he had offended the Feng Household as well.

And now the Feng Household's master was taking the initiative to invite him over?

Who would believe there was no trick hidden within this?

"You think I'd believe that?"

"Well, Master Feng said he is always very tolerant toward experts. He does not care about what happened that night at all."

"And he is inviting you over merely to have a proper talk. He absolutely bears no ill intentions."

"This is a small gesture of apology from Master Feng."

"Even if you do not go, you need not return it."

As Ma Sheng spoke, he tossed a brocade box to Lu Fan.

Lu Fan inspected it first. Only after confirming there were no mechanisms did he open it.

Inside the brocade box was a pill with a lustrous sheen, brimming with surging vitality and blood.

The dense vitality contained within it far surpassed that of a Qi-Replenishing Pill.

Even ten Qi-Replenishing Pills likely could not compare to this one.

"What does this mean?"

Lu Fan's expression darkened slightly as he looked up at Ma Sheng.

"This is sincerity. Even if you do not go, you need not return it."

"Of course, you can choose not to accept it."

Ma Sheng shrugged, wearing an utterly indifferent expression.

"So, it is time for you to give me your answer."

Ma Sheng narrowed his eyes and stared straight at Lu Fan.

"I'm not going."

Lu Fan refused without the slightest hesitation.

There was no reason for him to step into an invitation that might be a trap.

"Hm, just as expected."

Ma Sheng let out a snickering laugh, mockery filling his somewhat terrifying face.

"I told Master Feng long ago that this was nothing but a waste of effort."

"Oh, right. Master Feng also said he could help you step into Transformation Force."

"As long as you change your mind, you may seek him out anytime."

As Ma Sheng spoke, his eyes remained fixed on Lu Fan, as though he wanted to read something from his face.

But Lu Fan wore a mask, and even the one eye exposed outside it showed not the slightest emotional ripple.

"Boring."

Lu Fan spat out only two words before striding away.

Ma Sheng, left where he was, immediately put away his earlier smile.

"What an idiot. He actually refused an opportunity to step into Transformation Force."

After saying that, Ma Sheng licked his lips, greed surfacing in his eyes.

"It is good that this old bastard refused. That means the opportunity to step into Transformation Force is mine!"

"That old Feng bastard has no other choice."

"Hehehe."

A heart-chilling, eerie laugh echoed above the alley.

Meanwhile, after leaving the alley, Lu Fan did not immediately return to his residence. He wandered around outside for a while longer, only heading back after confirming that Ma Sheng was no longer following him.

After closing the door, he removed his mask and placed the brocade box from earlier on the table, his gaze settling on the pill inside.

"Is this thing also a Qi-Replenishing Pill?"

"The vitality contained within it is clearly far denser than that of a Qi-Replenishing Pill."

After pondering for a moment, Lu Fan still decided to swallow it directly.

After all, martial artists possessed great resistance to toxins. Even if this pill really had been poisoned, he could immediately mobilize his vitality and blood to force it out of his body.