His face looked to be that of a man in his late forties, in the prime of his life, with his vitality and spirit at their absolute zenith.
Lu Yun stared at his reflection in the mirror, silent for a long, long time.
’Horizontal Training can actually change a person’s appearance?’
He knew that cultivating Martial Arts to a high enough level could extend one’s lifespan and slow the aging process.
But he had never heard of anyone breaking the rule that one’s appearance was irreversible.
Wrinkles could fade, but not vanish. The growth of white hair could be slowed, but it couldn’t turn black. The last time, Lu Yun had merely grown new black hair; his existing white hairs hadn’t turned dark.
This was an iron law of life itself, one that not even a Grandmaster of Huajin—or those beyond that Realm—could defy.
’Unless...’ He recalled the old legends.
Stories of reaching the realm of celestial transformation, or myths about gathering the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth and absorbing the essence of the sun and moon.
Those were the methods of Immortals, Divine Techniques possessed only by the legendary Cultivators.
But he had only practiced a form of Horizontal Training.
Lu Yun looked away and closed his eyes. Then he froze. There was another change.
It wasn’t in his physical body, but something deeper, more hidden, almost indescribable—something on the profound level of the soul.
He could feel a faint, almost imperceptible barrier deep within his consciousness.
Lu Yun couldn’t yet fathom the barrier’s purpose, but he could vaguely sense that it could block something—a force that even physical defenses could not stop.
’Curses? Dark arts? Or perhaps the insidious soul attacks used by monsters and malevolent spirits?’
’This is definitely not something a Grandmaster of Huajin should possess. Is it a power from beyond the Grandmaster Realm?’
The light outside the window grew brighter. A new day had arrived.
Lu Yun stood at the window, watching the bustling activity gradually return to the street below.
He wasn’t in a hurry to find the members of the Yellow Heaven Corps. First, he needed to get to the bottom of what happened with the monster from last night.
According to the friendly Brother Song, Nanfu City had many Yellow Heaven Corps halls, large and small, scattered both inside and outside the city walls.
And the monster from last night, dressed in the uniform of the Yellow Turban Warriors, must have come from somewhere nearby.
Near Shuangfeng Gorge, there was only one Yellow Heaven Corps Incense Hall: the Yellow Heaven Incense Hall in East City.
Lu Yun’s only worry now was that the Yellow Heaven Corps monster was just an isolated incident.
If the monster was an anomaly, he would have to give up.
He would just spend a few days peacefully browsing the medicinal herb markets in Nanfu City, stock up on things like the Centennial Ginseng King and top-grade Lingzhi, and then take a boat back to Yun Port.
It couldn’t be helped. The Daxia New Country was already in chaos. In the north, President Yuan wanted to become Emperor. In the south, the Southern Provinces were divided by warlords. On top of that, various foreign powers were watching like hungry tigers, and the concessions were filled with all sorts of monsters and fiends.
Add to that sinister organizations like the Yellow Heaven Corps, and those strange monsters he couldn’t even identify...
’This world is getting more and more interesting. I can’t always be there to protect the Lu Family.’
’So they need the power to protect themselves, even if this Immortal Flesh seems a bit strange.’
But if the Yellow Heaven Corps had more of those things... then they couldn’t blame him for being merciless.
’However many there are, that’s how many I’ll kill. After all, a person can never have too much modified value.’
The sky darkened once more. Lu Yun, who had been sitting all day, picked up his Wisteria Spirit Staff and left.
The Yellow Heaven Incense Hall in East City.
It was a courtyard of green bricks and gray tiles, looking somewhat out of place in this remote neighborhood of East City.
The courtyard gate stood open, flanked by two bright yellow banners that snapped in the night wind.
Embroidered on the banners was that all-too-familiar slogan: "The Blue Sky is dead, the Yellow Sky shall rise!"
Standing guard at the entrance were two young men in coarse, simple tunics. They stood with their arms crossed, an air of indifference about them.
The two men glanced at the approaching Lu Yun. Seeing only an older man leaning on a staff, dressed in ordinary clothes and looking unremarkable, they couldn’t be bothered to give him a second look. They went back to standing there, bored out of their minds.
Only when Lu Yun was right in front of them did one of them lazily speak up. "Hey, what do you want?"
Lu Yun paid no mind to their attitude and simply said, "I admire the heroes of the Yellow Heaven Corps and have come to offer some incense money to the Tiangong General."
The moment he said the words "incense money," the two men’s expressions changed instantly.
The two men who had just been looking down their noses at him immediately became deferential. Plastering obsequious smiles on their faces, they hurried forward. "Oh! So you’ve come to offer incense! You should have said so earlier, old sir! Please, come in, come in!"
"We were rude. Please don’t take offense!"
One of them stepped aside to let him pass. "Old sir, our Incense Master happened to take most of the brothers to the British Concession on business tonight, so he isn’t in the hall."
"But one of the Yellow Turban Warriors is here overseeing things. You can speak directly with her!"
The courtyard was larger than it appeared from the outside. Across a small, open area was the main hall.
In the center of the main hall stood a gilded clay statue with wide, angry eyes and an imposing aura. This was the so-called "Tiangong General" of the Yellow Heaven Corps’ legends.
Incense smoke curled up from an altar table, where candles flickered.
Lu Yun’s gaze lingered on the statue for a moment before turning to a closed wooden door on one side of the hall.
It was the door to the inner hall. Without hesitating, he walked forward and pushed it open.
"How dare you!!!"
An explosive roar echoed from deep within the inner hall, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps.
"Who dares to trespass in the Incense Hall of my Yellow Heaven Corps!"
The words had barely faded when a tall figure in yellow lunged from the left, a massive fist whistling through the air straight for Lu Yun’s face!

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