"Unifying the Six Harmonies, strength without limit! So that was what it meant!"
Lu Sui stood in the alley, breathing slowly in and out.
His muscles and sinews shook violently, his bones grinding and knocking against one another.
His whole body gave off the creaking of bowstrings being wound tight!
It was as though several powerful bows drawn into full moons lay hidden inside him, holding tremendous destructive force!
"Strengthen Qi and Blood within, train the limbs without. Unite the inner and outer, and mastery is achieved."
Lu Sui lowered his eyelids and closed his fingers into a fist, pondering earnestly.
If they fought again, one punch from him would probably shatter Deng Yun's skull and send his brains splattering.
Compared to before, the circulation of Qi and Blood within Lu Sui had become even smoother, seamlessly natural.
His hands and feet, elbows and knees, shoulders and hips were all interconnected. Where his intent went, his Qi followed, moving his body through Qi!
Simply put, his punches were stronger, his reactions sharper, and his movements more agile.
His basic attributes had all received tremendous boosts!
[Seeing you overcome a formidable foe and win a resounding victory, the "Panwu Great Strength True Art" lavished you with praise!] [Scorching Qi and Blood washed through every bone, like throwing a hundred punches, tempering sinews and forging bones...]
"Fuck..."
Sweat instantly broke out on Lu Sui's forehead, as though he had a high fever.
The "feedback" provided by the "Panwu Great Strength True Art" came surging in!
In his daze, he heard his blood rushing with a roar.
An intensely vigorous surge of vital blood Qi billowed out like gusts of wind and rolling thunder.
It drove his marrow to release waves of heat, nourishing his sinews, muscles, skin, and membranes.
In just a dozen or so breaths, Lu Sui seemed to have shed his mortal frame and changed his bones.
The calluses worn into his skin through his recent arduous training vanished, leaving his skin fair and smooth again.
His hair seemed to have grown longer too, falling to his waist, every strand jet-black and glossy as satin.
Then saliva welled beneath his tongue, filling his mouth with a clear sweetness, while his exhalations grew longer and steadier.
Even his two rows of teeth became lustrous, making a sound like gold striking jade when they lightly touched.
Finally, his fingertips tingled faintly, and the crescents of his nails took on a jade hue.
"Uncle Wen said that abundant blood makes Qi flourish, abundant flesh moistens the tongue, abundant bone hardens the teeth, and abundant sinew brightens the nails. These are the changes in the body's four extremities."
Lu Sui closed his eyes to feel the changes and saw that the stick of incense before the shrine had burned down a segment.
The majestic phantom of the entwined tortoise and snake grew slightly more solid.
"I never expected progress in the 'Panwu Great Strength True Art' to give me a 'blood renewal' along the way."
Lu Sui watched the tiny tadpole-like characters flash across his vision, the corners of his mouth twitching.
[Seeing you achieve Unifying the Six Harmonies, the "Panwu Great Strength True Art" believed your bearing matched its own: both possessed the air of a grandmaster!] [A segment of incense burned away, adding several more measures of insight...]
"Quite the narcissist."
Lu Sui skipped the other martial arts' "logs," intending to read them later.
He looked down at Deng Yun, who had died with his eyes still open, and thought:
Borrowing your life to solidify my foundations and send my martial path soaring to the heavens-worth it!
He stepped over the corpse and out of the narrow alley.
The downpour was like an aging man: once that burst of vigor passed, it gradually subsided.
Lu Sui cupped his fist.
"Thank you for watching my back, Master Chai."
Without a Half-Step Fetus Embracing master present, he would never have taken the initiative to risk pursuing Deng Yun.
"Such profound comprehension, young master. Such extraordinary sinews and bones."
Chai Sanjin looked as though he were meeting Lu Sui for the first time, amazement and unfamiliarity flashing through his eyes.
"A while ago, Old Dou said you were listening to opera, singing tunes, and visiting the opera gardens to put on a show for your father, acting out of spite. I didn't quite believe him.
"Now I see that Old Dou has a sharper eye than I do. He spotted your exceptional qualities early on, young master."
Was that how it was?
Lu Sui gave no direct answer, merely smiling faintly and leaving Master Chai ample room to fill in the blanks.
"Heiwa, go get a donkey cart and haul this corpse back to the Lu residence."
"Oh... yes, young master!"
Heiwa froze for a moment before responding, then took off toward the nearest cart business.
The violent scene of Lu Sui unleashing a chain of kicks and kicking Deng Yun to death kept replaying in his head.
How long has it even been since the young master recovered... Master Chai was right. He used to hide his talents, deliberately refusing to practice martial arts to spite his father.
Now the young master has stopped pretending and laid his cards on the table, revealing his martial talent!
The Lu residence, outer study.
Knock, knock, knock!
Knocking sounded outside.
Lu Yulin, who was leafing through a stack of account books, looked up.
"Come in."
Lu Sui pushed the door open and entered, first offering a proper bow.
"Father, I have something to report."
Lu Yulin put down the account books. This was the first time Lu Sui had entered this study of his own accord.
He felt rather gratified. Did this mean the ice was beginning to thaw in their previously distant relationship?
Then he suppressed his feelings and gave a single, indifferent word.
"Speak."
"When I left the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School today, I was attacked by Deng Yun, a fellow inner courtyard disciple. He intended to do me harm, so I killed him on the spot."
Lu Sui weighed his words as he spoke slowly.
From his dealings with Lu Yulin, this bargain-bin father of his was meticulous and possessed fiery eyes that could see through anything.
The slightest flaw would invite speculation and suspicion.
With something like the evil calamity, bringing it up rashly without a reasonable pretext would inevitably lead to questioning.
Lu Yulin's eyelids twitched slightly.
"Deng Yun? The one from Deng's Shop, the weapons forge?"
Lu Sui nodded.
"Yes."
Lu Yulin pinched his brow as though nursing a headache, then said:
"I knew it. There was no need to cut off their iron supplies as a warning... Sending his entire family to heaven would have been cleanest."
Lu Sui's face twitched as he inwardly grumbled:
Haven't we gone legitimate? You're a proper trade association chairman, and you still do things like slaughtering whole families?
Lu Yulin set the account books aside and asked with concern:
"Zhan'ao, are you all right? Were you injured? With Master Chai protecting you, that Deng boy shouldn't have been able to stir up any waves.
"This was my fault. I thought that since you'd finally returned from the gates of hell, I ought to do good deeds and accumulate virtue, shed less blood..."
Hearing Lu Yulin's rare rambling, Lu Sui felt a complicated mix of feelings and said softly:
"I'm unharmed. It's just... there was something very strange about Deng Yun.
"His face was deathly pale, his cheeks sunken, and he looked like a dried corpse. His strength had also surged, giving him tremendous brute force.
"I'm worried he might have provoked an evil calamity?"
Lu Yulin mused:
"There has indeed been an evil calamity in Changle County lately. It's lasted over a month and brought disaster upon the Zhenyuan Escort Agency. There are still no leads.
"The martial trade dug three feet into the ground and still couldn't find a Calamity Artifact in the Lin Family mansion..."
Lu Yulin had not paid much attention to the matter.
His attention had been drawn away by the surviving scion of the Yu Family. Besides, the land beyond the pass was prone to calamities, so an occasional outbreak was nothing strange.
In any case, they could raise a generous bounty and go to Shaqing Pass to ask an expert from inside the sects to take action.
"I heard Master Tan mention it. This evil calamity is strange. Its victims' flesh and blood shrivel up, and they burn upon exposure to light, turning into drifting ash. Hardly any traces remain.
"That's why they still haven't found the source..."
Lu Yulin looked at his son and said:
"Tomorrow, I'll take the lead in discussing it with the chairmen of the other trades. We'll post a bounty and invite someone capable from inside the sects to eliminate the calamity."
To think the Land Beyond the Pass even had a "profession" dedicated to handling various disasters.
Lu Sui's thoughts turned. He was always hearing Uncle Wen, his father, and others mention "people from inside the sects."
He wondered just what they were like.
"You've only been at the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School a short while, yet you could turn the tables and kill that Deng boy. It seems even Uncle Wen calling your martial talent one in a hundred was conservative."
Lu Yulin had weathered great winds and waves. Unfrightened by the evil calamity, he continued:
"From now on, whatever you need for training-medicinal ingredients, weapons, anything that costs silver-you may draw freely from the accounts without asking."
Lu Sui's heart gave a sudden leap.
His credit score had finally been built up. Now he could "swipe his card" at will!
This was treatment reserved for the heir apparent!
He was another great step closer to inheriting the treasures passed down in the Lu Family!
Lu Sui firmly suppressed his delight and said solemnly:
"Thank you, Father."
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Lu Yulin and reporting his recent training progress, Lu Sui made to take his leave.
At the door, he suddenly paused, as though remembering something.
"Oh, right, Father. Once, I saw Deng Yun having a very pleasant conversation with Zhou Qing from the brokerage's Zhou Family. They seemed quite close, like old acquaintances.
"It was after that meeting that Deng Yun stopped coming to the Hundred Victories Martial Arts School."
The brokerage? The Zhou Family?
Lu Yulin's eyes suddenly lit up, and he looked at Lu Sui again.
But the latter merely lowered his head, cupped his hands, and withdrew from the outer study.
Once the door closed, Lu Yulin curled his fingers and tapped the large desk, his tone full of intrigue.
"Zhan'ao is growing cleverer and cleverer, and more and more like me.
"He passed me the knife so naturally, just in time to ease the worry on my mind."
If someone in the Zhou Family had provoked an evil calamity, their warding object should not have remained utterly unresponsive-unless someone was secretly at work, concealing everything.
Whatever the truth, Lu Yulin could reap benefits as long as he used the matter as leverage.
At the least, he could make the brokerage's Zhou Family contribute money and manpower. At most...
He might even be able to bring that "Shi Gandang" back for the Lu Family to enshrine.
Lu Yulin's mind raced, instinctively coming up with seven or eight approaches.
A moment later, he picked up the account books again and thought:
The things Great-Great-Grandfather left behind... the generations after him lacked the affinity. Perhaps Zhan'ao has a chance?
But once that stick of incense is lit, there's no turning back...