At this critical juncture, the previously unconscious Lu Jingteng snapped his eyes open and stared fixedly at Lu Yun, his mouth twisting into an eerie grin.
’Danger!’
The keen intuition of a Grandmaster of Huajin had Lu Yun pulling back in an instant.
At almost the exact same moment, Lu Jingteng snapped the ropes, a pale hand raking past Lu Yun’s face.
"Such audacity!"
A cold glint flashed in Lu Yun’s eyes. His right hand shot out like an iron pincer, clamping down hard on the wrist as it struck again.
Holding nothing back, Lu Yun unleashed the vast Qi of a Grandmaster of Huajin. It surged through Lu Jingteng’s meridians, driving straight for the mass of cold, sinister energy coiled around his heart.
The two forces collided inside Lu Jingteng’s body with a deafening roar. The cold, sinister energy writhed and thrashed as if it were alive.
In the end, it could not withstand the onslaught of Lu Yun’s tempestuous Qi and began to disintegrate.
The instant the cold energy dissipated, an inhuman, piercing shriek erupted in the room, only to vanish a moment later.
Lu Jingteng’s body went limp as he fell unconscious once more. Seeing this, Lu Yun slowly released his son’s wrist.
His expression was grim. ’So it really is those "unclean things" causing trouble...’
Lu Yun had encountered similar malevolent spirits in his youth; he knew how tenacious these unclean things could be.
They were formless and incorporeal; ordinary attacks were completely useless against them.
If he hadn’t just broken through to the Realm of a Grandmaster of Huajin and used Huajin to forcibly expel the baleful presence, he would have had to bury his own son.
Just then, the door was thrown open with a BANG. Shen Luoying rushed in, a panicked look on her face. "Father! Are you all right? That sound... what was that?"
Before she could finish, her eyes fell on the snapped ropes and the unconscious Lu Jingteng on the bed.
Shen Luoying hurried over to Lu Yun, about to say more.
Lu Yun held up a hand. "Luo Ying, Jingteng will be fine. He just caught a chill. He’ll make a full recovery after some rest."
With that, he turned to the doorway and called out, "Ah Fu."
A man with salt-and-pepper hair and a ramrod-straight back entered at the call. It was Ah Fu, the loyal servant who had followed Lu Yun for decades.
He was childless, and one of the few experts in the Lu Family to have reached the Anjin Realm.
"Go to Ren’an Hospital and ask Mr. Gu to make a trip here."
Lu Yun’s voice was grave. "Tell him that I, Lu Yun, sent you."
"Yes, Master."
Ah Fu bowed and accepted the order. As he turned to leave, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes. He had the vague sense that something about his master had changed.
His presence felt vastly different from before.
Lu Yun was about to offer a few more words of comfort to his daughter-in-law when he felt a sudden twitch between his brows.
Without showing any outward change, he focused his mind inward. On the deep blue panel that appeared in his thoughts, the modified value had changed.
[Extreme Blue Martial Arts Modifier]
Name: Lu Yun
Gender: Male
Realm: Grandmaster of Huajin (Early Stage)
Cultivation Technique: Mountain-Breaking Inch Force Fist Layer 1 (Entry) - Modifiable
Modified Value: 4
’What! How did it suddenly become 4 points?’
Lu Yun was inwardly shaken. ’Just by eliminating that malevolent spirit, I gained 4 modified value points?’
’This reward is far more generous than I ever imagined.’
Lu Yun immediately suppressed his inner turmoil and instructed Shen Luoying, "Luo Ying, you stay here and watch over Jingteng."
"Yes, Father," Shen Luoying replied with a quick nod.
After leaving the room, Lu Yun walked directly into the adjacent one, the room belonging to his grandson, Lu Mingli.
Because of what had happened to Lu Jingteng, his six grandchildren had been taken by the servants to play on the other side of the estate.
Closing the door behind him, Lu Yun hesitated no longer. With a mere thought, he consented to the modification.
[Modified Value: 4→1]
The familiar warm current surged through him once more as the Qi in his Dantian began to climb steadily.
The profound mysteries of the fist technique were seared into the depths of Lu Yun’s soul, as if he himself had spent a thousand years honing the Mountain-Breaking Inch Force Fist.
[Extreme Blue Martial Arts Modifier]
Name: Lu Yun
Gender: Male
Realm: Grandmaster of Huajin (Early Stage)
Cultivation Technique: Mountain-Breaking Inch Force Fist Layer 1 (Mastery)
Modified Value: 1
Although his fist technique had broken through to the first layer of Mastery, his Realm remained at the early stage of a Grandmaster of Huajin.
Lu Yun felt a tinge of regret, but then he noticed the Qi in his Dantian was far more condensed and profound. He was much stronger than he had been just moments ago.
In the ground-floor drawing room, Lu Yun sat on a Western-style sofa, a "Daxia Brand" national cigarette pinched between his fingers.
It was the finest cigarette in the Daxia New Country. Compared to the imported foreign brands, he preferred the mellow yet crisp taste of this domestic smoke.
Before long, footsteps echoed from the staircase. An elderly physician in a white coat, his hair and beard completely white, slowly descended, flanked by several young doctors.
Lu Yun started to rise but was gently pushed back down by the man, who had quickened his pace.
"Lord Lu, there’s no need for such formalities."
The old physician waved his hand. "Jingteng is out of danger. It was merely an invasion of cold air that depleted some of his vital energy. I’ve prescribed a few warming and restorative medicines. He should make a full recovery after a month or so of rest."
"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Gu," Lu Yun said with a nod.
The physician’s expression immediately turned solemn. "Lord Lu, you praise me too highly. If not for your righteous intervention all those years ago, these old bones of mine would never have lived to see the founding of the Daxia New Country."
This was Gu Chuanjian, a senior physician at Yun Port City’s Ren’an Hospital. His medical skills were so superb that his reputation extended beyond Yun Port to several surrounding provinces.
He was not only well-connected among the high-ranking officials of Yun Port City, but was also highly respected by the leaders of the foreign concessions.
Hearing this, the three young doctors behind Gu Chuanjian were secretly astonished. The gazes of the two men among them settled on Lu Yun with a newfound layer of awe.
The young woman, however, who had a neat bob, was not so reserved. Her bright eyes sized up Lu Yun with unabashed curiosity.
Lu Yun simply returned her gaze with a small smile and a nod.
Seeing this, Gu Chuanjian quickly shifted to block her from view and clasped his hands. "My apologies, Lord Lu. This is my daughter, Yue Xi. She has a flighty personality and lacks proper etiquette."
He shot his daughter a mild glare before turning back to Lu Yun. "Lord Lu, if there is nothing else, I shall take my leave. I’ve already explained the prescription to Miss Luo Ying."
"Very well," Lu Yun called out. "Ah Fu, please see Mr. Gu and his party out."
"Yes."
The old servant Ah Fu, who was waiting by the door, bowed and led Gu Chuanjian’s group out.
From outside, the young woman’s clear voice drifted back. "Father, that Lord Lu has such a powerful presence! He’s even more imposing than those bigwigs we see at the hospital."
"Yue Xi, hold your tongue!"
Then, Gu Chuanjian’s chiding voice came, lowered, "Lord Lu was a Former Martial Scholar in the old dynasty. He once held the official post of Yun Port City Harbor Guard General."
"The only reason I have what I have today is because Lord Lu saved my life. He is not someone an ordinary person can simply associate with."
Hearing this, the young woman just laughed dismissively. "The Yin Dynasty fell thirty years ago, Father. Why are you still clinging to the past?"
As he settled into the back seat of the waiting Western automobile, Gu Chuanjian nearly choked on his daughter’s words.
He sighed, rubbing his temples. If he weren’t a relatively open-minded man, any other father would have likely berated the girl for her insolence right then and there.
Back inside the villa, Ah Fu approached quickly and whispered, "Master, Young Master Jingwu has arrived."
"Let him in."
Lu Jingwu was the only son of Lu Yun’s younger brother, Lu Changfeng, and was just four years younger than Lu Jingteng.
Lu Yun had arranged for him to work at the Lu Family’s import-export business, where he assisted Lu Jingteng.
Unlike Lu Jingteng, who had no love for Martial Arts, this nephew of his had been obsessed with training since he was a boy.
Furthermore, he had studied the Heart-Breaking Fist under Lu Yun for many years and had reached the Peak of Mingjin at the young age of twenty-five.
Because of this, Lu Jingwu respected his uncle, Lu Yun, even more than he did his own father.
A moment later, a powerfully built young man in a sharp, three-piece suit strode in.
He walked directly up to Lu Yun and bowed low, asking urgently, "Uncle, is Cousin Jingteng any better?"
"I just came from the firm. I gave those useless bastards a harsh lesson. They couldn’t even protect Cousin Jingteng—what good are they!"
Lu Jingwu lifted his head, a cold light glinting in his eyes. "If anything had actually happened to Cousin Jingteng, I would never have let them off."
Seeing his nephew’s forced casualness, Lu Yun’s brow furrowed. "Stop beating around the bush. Tell me what happened at the firm."
Lu Jingwu paused, then scratched his head with a grin. "Right. I can never hide anything from you, Uncle."
"Some reckless gang of thugs has been causing trouble at the Lu Family Pier. They were supposed to negotiate with Jingteng at the Tonghe Pavilion."
"But don’t worry, Uncle. Jingteng doesn’t need to get involved. I can take a few men and handle those wastes of space myself."
"I doubt it’s that simple," Lu Yun cut in flatly, his gaze shifting to Ah Fu, who stood waiting at his side.
Ah Fu bowed. "Your insight is keen, Master. The Young Master mentioned before that he suspected Yishun Hall was behind it."
"Yishun Hall..."
Lu Yun’s expression remained unchanged. He slowly rose to his feet. "Get the car. I’ll pay them a visit myself."

Comments

Loading...