Fire Kiln Lu Estate: Many Benefits, Rumors, and an Unexpected Setback!

"Why are you shouting? So early in the morning—what sort of behavior is this?"

Duan Chenzhou calmly pressed down the blade, then waved a hand at Ji Xiu, whose eyes were full of apology.

"Go with Lu Yu."

"Come back when you have time."

"I'll teach you how to use blood to forge your tendons."

As though chasing them away, he drove the two of them out.

Then he bolted the door.

Not long after.

His once-upright body

suddenly slumped down. He sat on a stone stool and pondered in silence for a long while.

"What a saber-path 'genius.'"

"If it's him, once he reaches the threshold, perhaps he really can inherit the legacy of my line."

"Only..."

"If I take him in..."

"When he leaves this five-hundred-li Anning County in the future..."

"Wouldn't I be harming him?"

"But if I don't take him in, then the Secret Martial Path of my line—if it is not handed over cheaply to the sect—will... die out."

"Teach him, or not?"

For once, confusion appeared in Duan Chenzhou's eyes.

As well as

a faint trace of unwillingness.

"Junior Brother, amazing—you're seriously amazing!"

After leaving the Duan Residence,

Lu Yu held up a thumbs-up while sighing with feeling.

"You've practiced the saber for only a month, yet you dared to swing it at the old man."

"No wonder he thinks so highly of you."

"Such courage isn't something ordinary people possess!"

"At that angle just now, I nearly thought you'd finished Master Duan with one stroke. You scared your senior brother so badly that I thought I hadn't woken up properly this morning."

Ji Xiu felt deeply ashamed at those words.

"Kill my master...?"

"Heh."

Recalling what had just happened, Ji Xiu could only smile bitterly.

The gap between them was far too vast. It merely looked terrifying to outsiders.

Just then,

when he came back to his senses from the special state of Ten Steps, One Kill,

he discovered that the perfected Heaven River Saber he had unleashed after building power over ten steps

had been lightly caught between those two fingers!

It was like a stone sinking into the sea, vanishing without a trace.

No matter how much force he exerted, he could neither move it nor advance it by even an inch.

For one moment, Ji Xiu could not help but wonder.

Was this really something a yamen constable chief could achieve?

A yamen constable chief was highly skilled in martial arts, and the three shifts of runners were basically all trained by him.

In terms of status and strength, he was not far below the owners of ordinary boxing halls and martial halls. All were experts of the Tempering Bones Realm.

Even within the county, they were people of some standing.

But could someone in the Tempering Bones Realm

really be so overwhelmingly powerful?

Especially after what Gu Baichuan had said before leaving.

It had thoroughly shattered Ji Xiu's original impression and speculation of Duan Chenzhou.

An ordinary constable chief could not possibly command the young master of Fire Kiln Lu Estate.

"Who would have thought that a careless remark from Qin Biao, back when I was a groom at the Lin Residence, would benefit me so greatly today?"

"If I hadn't entered Master Duan's school, then even if I had luckily joined another Toughening Tendons Realm martial artist, my Slave Status could never have been lifted so smoothly."

"By rights, since I can practice martial arts, I should properly thank him. It's just a pity..."

He recalled how he had whipped the steward, only for Qin Biao and the guards to swarm him. At the time, it had seemed as though he were destined to be crushed into the dust, with more danger than hope.

Ji Xiu lowered his eyes and sighed softly.

He was someone who remembered kindness.

The fact that he had not punched Qin Biao in the face already counted as him remembering old ties.

As for the magnanimity of "meeting with a smile and letting old grudges vanish,"

Ji Xiu knew he could not manage it.

Fire Kiln, Lu Manor.

The manor lord, Lu Chengfeng, had entered Jiangyin Prefecture in his early years. It was said that he had even apprenticed himself to some renowned boxing master, learned a full set of martial skills, and roamed the world for ten years.

Only after he came to Anning County with his Skin Refinement skills, having once been a River Dragon, settling down and establishing his livelihood,

did the name "Fire Kiln Lu" gradually spread, making it one of Anning County's three great families.

Though they were merely local strongmen and could not stand upon the grand stage, they were more than capable of dominating five hundred li of Anning County.

They kept three hundred retainers under their command, every one of them having Entered Force.

More than thirty alone carried blades and weapons. Their power was considerable, no weaker than the Three Great Gangs, the Four Great Halls, and the other two local strongman families running their own businesses.

Lu Chengfeng had one son, one daughter, and one disciple who had inherited his legacy.

Among them, his daughter Lu Hongyu was said to be valiant and dashing, with willow-leaf brows and a serpent waist, highly accomplished in martial arts. Yet despite being over twenty, she had still not married.

Many retainers, even the disciple who had inherited the legacy, coveted both her beauty and the prospects she offered, all wishing to become the live-in son-in-law of Great Arms Lord Lu.

Yet it was said that every one of them had been turned away by Miss Lu.

Rumor had it that her standards for choosing a spouse were rather high. Even Great Manor Lord Lu had been left speechless by her, and over time, he simply let her have her way.

Following Lu Yu, Ji Xiu pondered the rumors about Lu Manor that he had heard over the past few days.

Very soon, they crossed Fire Kiln's bustling market district and passed through a stone archway in its center, carved with the character "Lu."

This was Lu Manor.

Looking out, he saw a vast stone altar in the center, carved with dragons and phoenixes. It seemed to be where Lu Manor held its ceremonies.

All around it stood rows upon rows of orderly courtyards, blue brick and stone tiles, neat and clean. They were likely the residences of the retainers.

And here,

there was no such thing as a "gate" at all!

Or rather, it simply did not need one.

Within this manor, aside from the servants in blue robes responsible for sweeping and cleaning,

every person dressed in fitted martial attire or ordinary clothes was, without exception, a martial artist who had Entered Force.

Idlers would neither come near nor dare approach this manor.

It could be said that

this was the center of all the smelting, forging, firing, and countless other businesses large and small in Fire Kiln.

The silver earned by those businesses had to be taxed and handed over to Lu Manor!

That was why these martial artist retainers stood above the stewards employed by the shopkeepers!

Those stewards were merely outer-circle "thugs."

The retainers of Lu Manor

were the true "government runners" of Fire Kiln!

As for those who occasionally passed by wearing swords or sabers,

they were even the "trusted confidants" among the "government runners"!

"Junior Brother, once we enter the manor, don't speak carelessly. Whatever rumors you hear, let them pass by your ears like the wind."

"You only need to listen to your senior brother and stay quiet. Once I bring you to see the old man and we swallow the benefits into our bellies, this matter will be settled."

"Stay close to me."

Ji Xiu was still taking in the appearance of Lu Manor.

At his side,

Lu Yu had already patted his shoulder and spoken in a low voice.

Ji Xiu could not help but freeze, then faintly furrowed his brow.

Could it be

that the position Senior Brother Lu had sought for him had encountered another complication?

But wasn't he Lu Manor's legitimate son?

Just as doubts rose in Ji Xiu's heart,

the hushed whispers of many martial artists—some practicing, some chatting, all dressed in fitted martial attire—drifted over.

"Is that the young master? Tsk... The one behind him is the 'Mad Slave' from the Lin Residence?"

"Whipping a steward is one thing. I heard that steward was also arrogant, insisting on lashing a martial artist like him with a whip. Wasn't that just asking for trouble?"

"But..."

"This kid doesn't know what's good for him. Leaving aside the fact that the master of the Lin Residence, Lin Zhenhai, is an expert at the peak of the Tempering Bones Realm—within all of Lu Manor, aside from the manor lord, no one can claim to overpower him."

"For such a figure to offer to take him as an adopted son was already showing him great favor. Yet this kid publicly slapped that man's face."

"That would have been one thing before."

"But now, I hear the eldest miss of the Lin Family has returned home after nine years away, having completed her studies. She's even more formidable than her father, and her backing reaches the heavens."

"This time, the young manor lord has brought back a 'hornet's nest.'"

Martial artists had sharp ears and keen eyes.

As one voice after another entered his ears,

Ji Xiu immediately thought, Just as expected.

Things truly were not as simple as he had imagined.

No wonder Lu Yu had spoken that way.

If this was how people viewed him,

then it would be perfectly understandable even if Lu Manor did not wish to take him in.

Watching Lu Yu before him walk on in silence, head lowered, merely blocking the way ahead and leading him onward, Ji Xiu could not help but feel moved.

He had to admit, this senior brother of his was truly dependable. When trouble came, he really stepped forward.

No wonder he had become the only apprentice studying martial arts under Master Duan.

However, sometimes,

it was not as though trouble would simply stay away because you did not want to cause it or seek it out.

As a shadow blocked the only path forward,

Ji Xiu's heart suddenly sank.

"Xiao Yu, you're bringing trouble upon the manor and upon Master."