Lu Jingteng also chimed in with a wry smile, "Dad, I’m just as dazzled. The techniques of the Huajin level are truly not something people like us can easily grasp."
Lu Yun’s expression was peaceful, showing no hint of impatience. "It’s fine. The path of Martial Arts is all about patient, steady effort—building a solid foundation to one day achieve a breakthrough."
"Watch more, think more, and practice more. If you can’t understand it today, commit it to memory. When you reach the right Realm in the future, your perspective will naturally broaden."
Just then, the old butler, Lu Fu, hurried in from the courtyard gate. He walked to Lu Yun’s side and said in a low voice, "Master, someone is asking to see you."
"Who?" Lu Yun asked.
"It’s... those people from last time. The ones from the Yanjing City Cultural Relics Bureau are back, and they’ve brought a stranger with them."
Lu Yun’s eyes glinted. "Understood. Please show them to the main hall to wait. I’ll be there shortly."
"Yes."
In the Lu Family’s main hall, Lu Yun sat alone on the master’s Taishi Chair, while three people occupied the guest seats below.
It was Advisor Sun and his party, who had rushed straight to the Lu residence after arriving at the train station.
In the seat of honor on the left sat the bald, goateed Advisor Sun.
He was the first to stand, cupping his fist toward Lu Yun in a traditional salute. "Patriarch Lu, I am Sun Niangu, a special advisor for the Yanjing City Cultural Relics Bureau. Please forgive me for this presumptuous visit."
Lu Yun did not rise, merely offering a slight nod. His gaze flickered briefly over Feng Yuan and Gan Wen Yao before returning to Sun Niangu. "So, it is Advisor Sun."
"You’ve come a long way. To what do I owe the honor?"
Sun Niangu seemed not to notice Lu Yun’s coldness. A smile appeared on his face as he adopted the familiar air of an old acquaintance. "Hahahaha, Patriarch Lu, you are my senior by many years."
"I am unworthy, but if you do not object, might I be so bold as to call you Brother Lu?"
Lu Yun’s expression remained unchanged as he replied coolly, "You are too kind, Advisor Sun. I am but a common man and hardly worthy of such a title."
Sun Niangu replied with feigned warmth, "Brother Lu, you are far too humble! I’ve long heard that you broke through to the Grandmaster of Huajin Realm at the age of sixty, a feat that astounded all of Yun Port City. I am truly full of admiration!"
"Mere reputation." Lu Yun picked up his teacup in a measured, unhurried motion, his reply a mere two words.
"Mere reputation?"
The smile on Sun Niangu’s face remained, but in an instant, his gaze turned as sharp as a razor’s edge.
"Whether or not it’s a mere reputation... we’ll have to put that to the test to find out, won’t we, Brother Lu?"
The moment the words left his lips, an incredibly dense Grandmaster’s Qi, like a drawn blade, locked directly onto Lu Yun in the master’s seat!
"Is that so?" Lu Yun set down his teacup, lifted his head, and met Sun Niangu’s gaze with calm eyes.
In the very instant their eyes met!
’This is bad!’
Although Feng Yuan and Gan Wen Yao were not highly skilled in Martial Arts, their instincts for danger were still sharp. Horror-struck, they subconsciously tried to leap from their chairs and flee the explosive situation!
But they were far too slow!
BOOM!!!
A violent storm of invisible Qi erupted in the center of the hall, with Lu Yun and Sun Niangu at its epicenter!
The two men didn’t even see how Lu Yun and Sun Niangu moved—all they saw were two blurry afterimages flashing past!
This was followed by a deafening muffled BOOM and an overwhelming shockwave that swept toward them!
"AHH!"
Feng Yuan and Gan Wen Yao cried out as they were sent flying, chairs and all. The two of them, still in their huanghuali wood chairs, tumbled through the air and slammed into the thick mahogany pillars behind them!
The wooden chairs shattered on impact, and the two men crashed to the floor. Feng Yuan’s already injured left leg was wounded again, and he shrieked like a stuck pig, "OW! My leg! My leg!"
Gan Wen Yao was also left completely dazed by the fall, the gash on his face splitting open and bleeding profusely.
The lightning-fast exchange had been initiated by Sun Niangu, who had gathered Qi in his palms and struck at Lu Yun with incredible speed and from a cunning angle.
But Lu Yun had reacted even faster. Though he moved second, he struck first, his fists precisely intercepting Sun Niangu’s palms.
Now, the two appeared to be merely standing face to face, but in reality, an incredibly condensed Huajin was still clashing between their fists and palms in a silent struggle for dominance.
’He really is a Grandmaster of Huajin! And his power is incredibly profound!’
Sun Niangu was secretly alarmed. From that single exchange, he had confirmed Lu Yun’s strength and even felt that his opponent’s power was so vast and dense that it was faintly superior to his own!
He had intended to strike once and immediately retreat, content with having tested his opponent.
However, Lu Yun’s brow furrowed. He was quite displeased with Sun Niangu’s abrupt provocation.
"Hmph!"
A light snort escaped Lu Yun, and his fists, which had seemed to be merely blocking, suddenly surged with explosive power.
THUD, THUD, THUD!
Sun Niangu felt an incomparably ferocious power surge from his opponent’s fists, and the Qi protecting his palms was instantly shattered!
With a muffled grunt, he was involuntarily forced back several steps, only managing to regain his footing after his feet stamped shallow imprints into the bluestone floor.
As the Qi and blood in his chest churned, a look of unconcealable shock finally appeared on Sun Niangu’s face.
’This man... he’s not just a new Grandmaster. His power is just like mine, on the verge of the Mid-stage Grandmaster of Huajin Realm!’
The thought shocked Sun Niangu. He himself had been a Huajin practitioner for nearly three years and was only a hair’s breadth away from the mid-stage.
He had assumed he would have a clear advantage over Lu Yun, a newly minted Grandmaster of Huajin, yet he had come out on the losing end of their very first exchange.
Of course, what he didn’t know was that Lu Yun’s cultivation was at the Late-stage Grandmaster of Huajin, and he had only used forty percent of his power just now.
If Lu Yun had attacked with his full strength, Sun Niangu wouldn’t have gotten off so easily with just a few steps back.
’So strong!’
Sun Niangu suppressed his shock and steadied himself. The way he looked at Lu Yun had now completely changed.
Lu Yun pulled back his fists and clasped his hands behind his back, his expression once again calm. "What was the meaning of that, Advisor Sun? Are you trying to bully a frail old man like myself?"
Sun Niangu took a deep breath, forcing a smile back onto his face. "Brother Lu, you truly live up to your reputation! I was impolite. Please forgive my offense."
He paused, then dropped the pretense and said with a serious expression, "Brother Lu, let’s speak plainly. I have come today on orders from my superiors."
Lu Yun, still standing with his hands clasped behind his back, replied, "If you have something to say, Advisor Sun, please speak freely."
Sun Niangu stared intently into Lu Yun’s eyes and asked slowly, "Brother Lu, do you know why our Cultural Relics Bureau is going to such great lengths, sparing no expense, to track down relics from the Zulong Dynasty?"
Lu Yun didn’t respond, simply watching him in silence, waiting for him to continue.
Sun Niangu again marveled internally at Patriarch Lu’s steady temperament and profound composure.
’To possess such strength and presence right after becoming a Grandmaster of Huajin... As expected of the last top-ranked Martial Scholar of the Yin Dynasty. His reputation is clearly well-deserved.’
He didn’t keep him in suspense any longer. "Because... we need to find the item that Emperor Zulong had his envoys bring back from the Overseas Immortal Island... the Elixir of Immortality!"
The Elixir of Immortality!
The moment those words were spoken, even with Lu Yun’s iron will, his pupils constricted the instant he heard those three words!
An indescribable tremor surged up from the very depths of his heart.
Eternal life! Immortality!

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