Lu Yun sat in the Taishi Chair, lifting his head slightly to glance at the eager Xu Fei.
He uncharacteristically agreed. "Reasonable. What you’ve said, young man, is indeed very reasonable."
"Since Master Xu is in such high spirits, why don’t you first join this old man for a cup of hot tea? Afterward, I will indulge you and stretch these old bones."
As he spoke, Lu Yun picked up the Zisha teapot that had been kept warm beside him and refilled his empty cup with hot tea.
Lifting the cup and blowing on the steam, Lu Yun said slowly, "These old bones of mine certainly haven’t been put through their paces like this in a long time. When we do start, if I get carried away in the heat of the moment, I might not be able to hold back properly...
"However, you look quite sturdy. I suppose I won’t have to worry too much. I can let loose a little."
With that, he stopped looking at Xu Fei and began sipping his tea as if lost in his own world.
"Tea?"
Xu Fei’s brow furrowed tightly, his eyes fixed on the steaming cup of tea in Lu Yun’s hand.
Then, his gaze swept over the seemingly ordinary teapot on the table.
To have survived and climbed to his current position, Xu Fei’s greatest assets—aside from his ruthlessness and strength—were a caution and suspicion that far exceeded that of ordinary people.
’The martial world is treacherous. What kind of dirty tricks haven’t I seen?’
’Even if my own father handed me a cup of tea, I, Xu Fei, wouldn’t dare drink it until I was absolutely sure it was safe!’
’Did this old bastard poison the tea?’
At this thought, the forced sneer on Xu Fei’s face vanished completely, replaced by deep vigilance.
"No need, Lord Lu. You’re too kind. I already had breakfast and plenty of tea before coming. I really can’t drink another drop."
He stood his ground, his muscles quietly tensing as he prepared for any sudden developments.
Lu Yun said nothing. He simply took a quiet sip of tea, then gently set the cup down.
The very instant the bottom of the cup touched the table, his right hand, which hung by his side, formed an unadorned sword-finger with his index and middle fingers pressed together.
With Lu Yun’s two fingers as the center, the surrounding air suddenly rippled invisibly!
A stream of "Qi," imperceptible to the naked eye but undeniably real, began to swirl rapidly.
Then, an unbelievable scene unfolded!
The glass lid of the Zisha teapot on the table seemed to be lifted by an invisible hand, gently taken off, and set aside.
The boiling tea inside the pot, as if it had a life of its own, transformed into a translucent, slightly twisting "stream of water" that rose from the spout into the air.
The next moment, the stream of water twisted in mid-air and flowed directly toward the guest’s teacup—already filled to the brim—beside the chair where Xu Fei had been sitting moments before!
SPLASH...
The already-full teacup, hit by this newly poured stream, instantly overflowed. Clear tea spilled over the rim, flowing across the polished mahogany tabletop and quickly spreading into a dark stain.
Just then, Lu Yun slowly withdrew his sword-finger, and the turbulent air around him calmed.
When Xu Fei saw this physics-defying scene of water being controlled from thin air, his mind went completely blank.
His eyes were wide, staring fixedly at the tea as it snaked across the table and dripped onto the floor.
"Hua... Huajin...?"
Manipulating objects from a distance, projecting Qi externally, controlling it with minute precision... Th-this was clearly a technique only a Grandmaster of Huajin could possess!
’Qi leaving the body, controlled as easily as one’s own limbs!’
’What those people said yesterday was true! This old bastard really took that step!!!’
Xu Fei could no longer care about his image or dignity. His legs gave out, and with a loud THUD, he performed an exaggerated sliding kneel, collapsing onto the cold floor!
"A misunderstanding!!!!"
"A huge misunderstanding, Lord Lu!"
"I... I am nothing but a frog in a well, ignorant of the immensity of heaven and earth!"
"How could I possibly be worthy of sparring with a senior like you? Th-that’s not just an honor, that’s a death sentence for me!"
He babbled incoherently, "You, senior, were the top scorer of the old dynasty’s martial examinations, a Martial Champion Scholar personally appointed by the Emperor! And you’re a great figure who held the rank of Assistant General of the River Patrol of Yun Port City."
"In all of Yun Port City, how many people... how many have the right, the sheer fortune, to trade blows with a man of your stature?"
As he spoke, Xu Fei made a vicious vow, "From this day forward! Here in Yun Port City, if anyone dares to show you, Lord Lu, even a hint of disrespect, I, Xu Fei, will be the first to charge in and hack that bastard to death!"
A Huajin Martial Artist, no matter where they were in the Daxia New Country, was worthy of being revered as a Grandmaster of their generation!
Their techniques involved projecting Qi to harm people from a distance. Their methods were unfathomable and impossible to defend against.
Within seven paces, their killing efficiency was faster and more ferocious than a trained gunman pulling a trigger!
Such individuals had, to some extent, stepped into the realm of the "inhuman," standing at the very pinnacle of human martial prowess.
Their senses were unbelievably sharp, and their ability to predict danger far surpassed that of ordinary people.
To them, an ambush by common gunslingers was full of openings. Dodging bullets in advance was as simple as eating or drinking.
Thus, a golden rule circulated in the martial world: Better to provoke an army of thousands than to offend a Grandmaster!
An army could be surrounded and annihilated with numbers and firepower, but a Grandmaster of Huajin could come and go as they pleased, appear and disappear like a ghost, and kill without a trace.
The terror of their retaliation was enough to make any power or person lose sleep and appetite!
Discretion is the better part of valor!
In the face of such an absolute gap in strength, any resistance or wishful thinking was simply courting death.
Xu Fei had no desire to go to bed one night with his head on his shoulders, only to wake up without it.
Without waiting for any reaction from Lu Yun, Xu Fei leaped up from the floor and snatched the still-overflowing teacup from the table.
He paid no mind to the scalding heat, tilted his head back, and in a few big GULPS, GULPS, drained the entire cup of boiling tea in one go, not leaving a single drop!
Xu Fei no longer worried if the tea was poisoned. If a Grandmaster of Huajin wanted to kill him, would they need to resort to such a low-handed trick as poison?
Then, Xu Fei bowed deeply and said urgently, "Lord Lu, my offense against you this time is entirely due to my failure to manage my subordinates and my neglect in their discipline. Rest assured, after I return, I will give you a satisfactory explanation!"
Immediately, he changed his tune and unhesitatingly threw his backer under the bus. "There is another matter I must report to you, Lord Lu!"
"That soulless Fu Jinqian, the one who deals in human trafficking, he’s got his eyes on your family’s Longyuan Bay Pier!"
"Just half a month ago, that animal came to me in private, opening with an offer of one hundred thousand Oceans, saying he wanted to ’lease’ Longyuan Bay Pier for half a year!"
"Lord Lu, wouldn’t you say that animal is delusional?"
"A mere one hundred thousand Oceans to make a move on your property, Lord Lu? I, Xu Fei, may be a crude man, but I still know what honor and reverence mean!"
"At that moment, I wanted nothing more than to break that animal’s legs on the spot and throw him in the river to feed the fish!"
In his agitation, Xu Fei put on a look of righteous indignation, as if he and Fu Jinqian were mortal enemies.
"It’s just... it’s just that the animal is extremely cunning. He’s cozied up to Consul Yamamoto Ichirō of the Wa Country Concession and gained the protection of that Eastern devil.
"On the concession’s territory, there are some things I couldn’t handle directly, which is why... which is why that animal has been allowed to run free for a few more days."

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