Super Family, Core-Embracing Ancestor?

"This is Lidu?"

On the carriage at the center of the caravan, Lu Fan looked up at the city walls towering dozens of zhang high, a trace of shock appearing on his face.

This was the holy land of martial artists, Lidu.

Bright Force practitioners were as common as dogs, and Dark Force practitioners roamed everywhere.

Even Transformation Grandmasters could be seen at every turn.

The queue waiting to enter the city stretched for a hundred zhang.

Among those waiting were quite a few Transformation Force martial artists.

Several hours later, everyone finally entered Lidu. The caravan leader looked at Lu Fan.

"Old Lu, are you sure you know someone in Lidu?"

"Yes. Thank you, Leader. This is far enough."

"Alright then. Be careful, Old Lu. If your relatives refuse to take you in, remember to come to the Yuncheng Trading Association. With your skills, earning a hundred taels of silver a month won't be a problem."

After the people from the Yuncheng caravan had gone far away, the smile on Lu Fan's face gradually vanished.

Now that he had entered Lidu, judging from what had happened in the carriage earlier, Qin Yaxin had likely taken Zhang Yao and the others to seek refuge with the Qin Household.

If he went over to meet them directly, it would be far too abrupt and would likely arouse Zhang Yao and the others' suspicions.

So he planned to first find work in the kitchen of an inn near the Qin Household. After working for two days, he would look for an opportunity to pretend they had met by accident.

That way, even someone as meticulous as Qin Yaxin would not connect him to Chen Liu, who had secretly escorted them out of Chi City.

The identity of Chen Liu had to be discarded completely. Otherwise, it would bring trouble to Zhang Yao and the others.

The Blood Furnace organization was far more massive than he had imagined. Even Luo Qingshuang, a true disciple of the Haotian Sect, had warned him not to reveal his identity lightly.

Naturally, he could not let Zhang Yao and the others fall under the Blood Furnace's watch.

As for going to the Haotian Sect to get pills from Luo Qingshuang, he could consider that after settling down.

Besides, these next few days would be perfect for learning more about Lidu. It would be even better if he could get his hands on a few combat techniques.

Having made up his mind, Lu Fan first headed toward the crowded parts of the city.

Lidu's streets were far broader than those of Chi City, and there were far more people—especially martial artists.

Medicine shops, pill towers, weapon stores, inns, and all manner of businesses stood in tangled rows along both sides of the streets. At a glance, there was no end in sight.

Outside many large medicine shops and pill towers, martial artists with blades stood guard, clearly serving as the shops' protectors.

After all, wherever there were more martial artists, there would also be more chaos and trouble.

Lu Fan suppressed his aura, carried that old pot on his back, and walked close to the edge of the street, trying not to draw anyone's attention.

In a bustling place like this, the more inconspicuous one was, the safer one became. That was a lesson he had learned over decades.

Not even robbers would target a decrepit old man carrying a broken pot.

After passing through several major districts, Lu Fan had roughly figured out Lidu's layout.

From the passersby, he also learned the location of the Qin Household.

At the easternmost edge of Lidu.

Before long, he arrived before the Qin Estate.

The sprawling, interconnected mansions and courtyards that stretched beyond sight were enough to show just how enormous the Qin Estate was.

Even the old man guarding the gate was a Dark Force martial artist.

As though he had sensed Lu Fan's probing gaze, the Dark Force elder guarding the gate cast a distant glance at him.

But after discovering that Lu Fan was merely an ordinary person without any inner force, he immediately withdrew his gaze.

Lu Fan did not look any longer either. He turned and headed toward Green Willow Street, not far from the Qin Estate.

On Green Willow Street, he found an inn called Fortune Hall.

The inn happened to be hiring kitchen hands.

Perhaps because this was the holy land of martial artists, whether rich or poor, people's first choice of profession was martial arts. As a result, almost no one knew how to do kitchen work.

Even so, when the hiring steward first saw Lu Fan's age, he had not intended to employ him.

But after seeing Lu Fan's practiced, nimble movements and tasting the sliced meat he stir-fried, he hired him on the spot without another word.

And when he heard that Lu Fan had no one to rely on and nowhere to stay in Lidu, the steward voluntarily cleared out a space in the inn's storeroom for him to live in.

After all, there were too many people like Lu Fan. The steward had long since grown accustomed to it.

Although Lidu was the holy land of martial artists, a place where countless young people chased their dreams, those who truly fulfilled those dreams were few and far between.

After working in Fortune Hall's kitchen for two days, Lu Fan had grown familiar with the people there.

He took the opportunity to learn some things about the Qin Household from the others.

The Qin Household was a super family in Lidu, controlling nearly a third of the city's pill trade.

Recently, however, the Qin Household's situation had grown increasingly tense. The reason was simple: something had happened to the Qin Household's ancestor.

There was only one reason a super family could gain a firm foothold in this holy land of martial artists: an absolute powerhouse standing guard.

And the Qin Household's absolute powerhouse was its ancestor of the Core-Embracing Realm.

But it was said that the Qin ancestor had already lived for more than a hundred years, and his end was approaching.

One could imagine that once the Qin ancestor rode a crane westward, the Qin Household would be swallowed whole and gnawed clean by Lidu's other families and factions.

This was the cruelest and most merciless aspect of Lidu.

A family could rise because of one absolute powerhouse, but it could just as easily decline because of that powerhouse's death.

In Lidu, even a super family with a hundred years of history could vanish just like that.

"Hey, Old Lu. The Qin Estate ordered a table full of dishes. They need to be delivered. There's no one else right now, so once you finish making them, take them over yourself."

The steward came to the kitchen and spoke to Lu Fan.

"But Steward, if I leave, then the kitchen..."

"Ah, it's fine. We're closing early today. A distinguished guest has arrived at the main building on Central Street and booked out the entire place. Those of us from the branch inns were urgently called over to serve that guest."

"You're fine, though. The main building isn't short one cook."

"Alright."

After hearing the steward's words, Lu Fan turned and began preparing the dishes.

Once everything was ready, he brought the food to the Qin Estate.

Naturally, he was stopped at the Qin Estate gates. Only the food was allowed inside.

And since it was being put on the account, he did not even have an excuse to linger at the gate for a few extra breaths.

Under the somewhat warning gaze of the old gatekeeper, Lu Fan quickly returned to Fortune Hall.

Not long after he left, the Qin Estate's gates opened from within, and a graceful figure walked out.

"Uncle Sun, I heard the table of dishes I ordered has arrived?"

"Ah, Third Miss, why did you come in person?"

When Sun Lianshan saw her, a look of delighted surprise bloomed across his aged face.

"Yes, I'm an outsider myself. It wouldn't be good to trouble others too much."

Qin Yaxin explained with a smile.