Seeing the three before him gradually adapt to the nascent power within their bodies, Lu Yun slowly rose to his feet.
"Ah Fu, how many men has the Lu Family recruited recently? Have they all trained with guns?"
Hearing this, Lu Fu immediately stepped forward and bowed. "Master, we’ve recruited a total of five hundred eighty-eight men."
"They were all hand-picked from the villages and towns surrounding Yun Port City, just as you instructed. Every one of them has a clean family background, and we’ve vetted them thoroughly. No spies from any other factions have managed to slip in."
He paused for a moment before adding, "Once they were all recruited, I personally supervised their firearms training for a full half-month."
"While this group may not be crack shots who never miss, they are all proficient in loading, aiming, and firing. They’ll be more than capable when things get rough."
Five hundred eighty-eight men.
Lu Yun repeated the number to himself.
Combined with the skilled fighters the Lu Family had gathered over the years, the total manpower they could now mobilize numbered over a thousand.
Over a thousand men and over a thousand guns. Lu Yun knew better than anyone what these numbers meant for Yun Port City.
Currently, there were three main official armed forces in Yun Port City. The first was the city’s garrison, numbering over one hundred thirty thousand strong, though most were stationed outside the city walls, with only a small portion scattered at various posts within.
The second was the patrolmen and foreign soldiers of the various international concessions, along with their guards.
The Lu Family’s thousand men might not seem like much in comparison, but their greatest strength was their absolute loyalty. They answered only to the Lu Family, and only to him, Lu Yun.
Now, forget about petty crooks causing trouble. Even in the face of a large-scale gang war, or if some foolhardy faction got ideas about targeting the Lu Family...
...this force of over a thousand guns would be enough to make them pay a heavy price.
Lu Yun gave a slight nod, a few of his worries finally put to rest.
This was for the best. The business he had to attend to on his trip was no small matter. After all, securing the position of Military Governor would require him to make some personal moves.
If his home base, the Lu Family, wasn’t secure, Lu Yun wouldn’t be able to rest easy, even if he possessed world-shaking power.
The White Cloud Sect’s estate in the northern part of the city spanned dozens of acres. It was constantly bustling with people, its gates thronged with visitors year-round.
An endless stream of young people hoping to become disciples lined the wide, bluestone-paved steps, forming a long, orderly queue before the entrance.
Through the main gates, one could see hundreds of young men training in unison on the practice grounds. Their thunderous shouts could be heard from half a street away.
But no fool ever dared to cause trouble here. After all, in the Martial Arts World of Yun Port City, the name "White Cloud Sect" was synonymous with being the undisputed leader.
The sect boasted over a thousand disciples, including hundreds of Mingjin Martial Artists and even seventy to eighty Dark Force experts.
And the foundation of it all was the Sect Leader, Bai Longfei.
At that moment, Bai Longfei was seated on the seat of honor in the grand hall. With his snow-white hair and beard, he wore a matching long, white robe.
He appeared to be in his seventies or eighties, yet his eyes were remarkably clear and bright, free of the murkiness that came with age.
Seated in places of lesser honor were five men. The one at their head was in his fifties, with features that bore some resemblance to Bai Longfei. This was none other than Bai Longfei’s eldest son, Bai Chongli, the man who now ran the day-to-day affairs of the White Cloud Sect.
The other four were of similar age, all in their early thirties. Some were tall, others short; some stout, others lean. All were personal disciples whom Bai Chongli had trained himself.
The four of them sat ramrod straight, their gazes fixed forward, the very picture of perfect decorum.
After three rounds of tea, Bai Chongli could no longer hold his tongue. He set down his teacup and was the first to speak.
"Father, that Lu Yun has been surprisingly quiet since his return to Yun Port City."
"And yet, a few days ago, the papers were all abuzz, hailing him as the future Military Governor of Yun Port City."
Hearing this, Bai Longfei did not respond. Instead, he unhurriedly lifted his teacup and took a sip.
Seeing his father’s silence, Bai Chongli’s resentment toward Lu Yun flared. He continued, "Hmph. He’s just a newly minted Grandmaster of Huajin. To hear people talk, you’d think he was already a Grandmaster of Divine Intent, a realm above Huajin!"
He grew more agitated as he spoke, eventually rising to his feet and pacing back and forth in the hall. "As long as you are here, Father, the title of number one in Yun Port City’s Martial Arts should forever belong to our Bai Family."
"That old codger just barely broke through to Huajin, and he already dares to parade himself in the papers, letting those reporters praise him to the high heavens?"
The four disciples at his side nodded in agreement, chiming in, "Master is right! When it comes to Martial Arts, our Grand Master is the true number one in Yun Port City!"
"He might be a Grandmaster of Huajin, but that depends on who he’s compared to. Our Grand Master is the absolute pinnacle of that realm!"
Hearing his disciples’ chorus of agreement, Bai Chongli suddenly sighed, his expression shifting to one of self-reproach.
"I suppose it is my fault, for being an unfilial son. Father, you are above the pursuit of fame and fortune and have never cared for such empty titles. That’s what allowed this Advisor Lu to take advantage of the situation."
"Otherwise, the man in that photograph should have been you, Father."
’On what grounds?’
’On what grounds could a mere Grandmaster of Huajin steal the show at such an important event?’
’Why wasn’t my father the one the President himself was toasting?’
’Why were the papers hyping him up as the future Military Governor of Yun Port City?’
The more Bai Chongli thought about it, the angrier he became, and the flames of jealousy in his heart burned ever brighter.
’That’s right. This was nothing but pure, unadulterated envy! I’m fifty years old and still haven’t broken through to become a Grandmaster of Huajin.’
’And now some sixty-year-old geezer with failing vitality, already past his prime, had beaten me to it? Wasn’t that just a blatant testament to my own incompetence?’
Outsiders only knew that his father, Bai Longfei, was the publicly acknowledged number one in the Martial Arts of Yun Port City, but they had no idea what that title of "number one" truly signified.

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