Lu Manor.
Lu Sheng sat before a painting of green pines and black crows, the image solemn and imposing behind him. A cup of tea rested in his hand, its fragrance drifting through the guest hall and infusing the room with quiet gravitas.
“Kneel!”
Shang Qinglong struck the back of Yang Yundu’s knee, forcing him down before Lu Sheng.
Yang Yundu said nothing. He struggled briefly, attempting to rise, but a second kick drove him back into a kneeling position. Only then did he stop resisting, his expression tight with humiliation.
Lu Sheng studied the handsome young scholar—calm on the outside, but clearly shaken. His thoughts drifted, then settled.
“Have you thought it through?”
Yang Yundu let out a pathetic laugh. “Who would’ve thought all my years hiding in the shadows would end because of this? Tell me… what would you do if I denied everything?”
Lu Sheng glanced at him, unamused. “Divorce your current wife and officially marry Lu Yingying with the proper betrothal gift. Or your entire family dies. Which will it be?”
Yang Yundu froze. Lu Sheng’s tone carried no exaggeration; he meant every word.
He had been trained by a mysterious expert since childhood, cultivating a forbidden art that grew stronger by the day. Yet even after reaching his current level, he had been exposed so easily.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll run?” he asked quietly.
“If you run, I’ll kill your whole family,” Lu Sheng replied without even looking at him.
A vein pulsed at Yang Yundu’s temple. “…What if I mistreat Lu Yingying in the future?”
“If you mistreat her, I’ll kill your whole family too,” Lu Sheng said just as casually.
Yang Yundu opened his mouth… then closed it again. Speaking to this man was utterly pointless. Was he—an Intent Proficiency expert, a refined and talented young master—truly being coerced into marriage like this?
He couldn’t swallow the indignity.
Lu Sheng’s gaze sharpened. “Any more questions?”
Yang Yundu hesitated. “You’ll… really trust me? Trust that I’ll spend my life with Lu Yingying?”
Lu Sheng answered plainly. “I don’t. But I trust the saber in my hand.”
A pained expression twisted across Yang Yundu’s features.
The man before Yang Yundu clearly did not care in the slightest whether he had been a flower-culler or a saint. Lu Sheng’s attitude was simple and brutal: good or bad, I’ll shove you in a cage and hold a blade to your throat—then you’ll behave.
Crude as it was, the method worked.
Before long, Yang Yundu relented. His strength wasn’t even enough to move a single finger of Lu Sheng’s, and who knew how many experts were stationed around the manor? Even if he fled, the entire Northern Lands lay under the Crimson Whale Sect’s dominion.
There was nowhere he could run.
After settling Yang Yundu’s matter, Lu Sheng instructed Jade Lotus on several other affairs before returning to Lu Manor to attend a gathering with the younger members of the household.
Autumn arrived quietly, painting the leaves in shades of gold and red.
…………
A few days later, in the small garden of Lu Manor, Lu Sheng sat with Lu Tianyang and Lu Yiyi, chatting leisurely about family matters, Yiyi’s studies in another city, and even a bit of her schoolwork.
All the younger members of the Lu Family were present.
Even Lu Hongying—eldest uncle’s son and Lu Sheng’s cousin—had returned to Mountain-Edge City with his father after training in martial arts elsewhere. Suave and handsome, with a striking beard despite his youth, his tall and muscular frame lent him a natural air of steadiness among the younger generation.
Lu Tianyang, in contrast, looked much the same as always—slightly haggard, with dark circles marking his fondness for late nights with wine and women.
Lu Yiyi, on the other hand, had matured noticeably. Once a sheltered rich girl, she now carried herself with quiet independence and decisiveness. Combined with her attractive looks and graceful figure, she naturally drew attention among the youths.
Then there was Zhang Xiuxiu. She deliberately sat close enough for her shoulder to brush Lu Sheng’s, dressed in a black, low-cut single-piece outfit that highlighted her lively charm. Her movements were purposeful, each subtle touch an attempt to catch his attention. She came from Lu Sheng’s maternal grandfather’s brother’s branch—too distant to hold real status in the family. Her intentions to climb the family ladder were clear, and Lu Sheng understood them well enough.
The last girl was one he rarely saw: Sun Ruoqing.
She was Lu Sheng’s cousin, the daughter of his mother’s younger brother—much like Lu Yiyi’s relation to him. Lu Yiyi was born of Lu Sheng’s maternal aunt, Sun Zining, and Lu Dian, who was not of the direct Lu bloodline, making her considered part of Sun Zining’s side. Simply put, Yiyi was the daughter of Lu Sheng’s youngest aunt.
Several more distant relatives were gathered around as well, more than a dozen young men and women, all orbiting naturally around Lu Sheng as the center.
Laughter filled the pavilion as they chatted under the dappled shade, the atmosphere light and harmonious.
Amidst the cheerful voices, a black-robed man stepped quietly beside Lu Sheng and murmured in his ear.
A flicker of surprise crossed Lu Sheng’s face.
“I have something to attend to. Please continue without me. As for Hongying and Yiyi, I’ll make arrangements later.”
Lu Hongying stood up politely. “Eldest Brother, you’re busy while we’re idle. We’re just relaxing—don’t let us delay you.”
Lu Sheng nodded. “Mm. If anything comes up, send a letter to the Golden Jade Greenhouse. I’ll take my leave first.”
Everyone rose to see him off as he stepped out of the garden.
Lu Sheng left Lu Manor immediately. Outside the gates, a carriage waited. He climbed in and found Jade Lotus seated inside, awaiting his arrival.
“Sect Master,” Jade Lotus greeted with a bow.
“So one of the spots has been found? Has it been verified?” Lu Sheng asked in a low voice.
He had not expected a result from Li Shunxi’s map so soon.
“It’s been verified. We can confirm with absolute certainty that it’s there—but the place is dangerous,” Jade Lotus whispered. “The first confirmed herb is Soul Condensing Grass. Two stalks. Rumor says a hunter and an herb-gatherer once spotted them from afar, but the area was shrouded in thick mist, making harvest impossible. And it seems ferocious beasts guard the site.”
Lu Sheng nodded slightly.
“As long as its authenticity is confirmed.” With one location verified, the likelihood that the rest of the map’s listed herbs were real increased greatly.
These precious herbs would be invaluable to him. Some could significantly reduce his Yin Qi consumption, allowing him to upgrade martial techniques purely through their effects when combined with his Yin Yang Jade Crane Skill—all without harming his body.
And this was merely one of the more ordinary herbs.
“I’ll need to enter solitary cultivation once we return,” Lu Sheng said after a moment of thought. “In five days, assemble a team of crossbowmen.”
“Understood!”
“Also, arrange some relaxed positions for the younger ones in my family—Lu Hongying and Lu Yiyi. Nothing important, just leisurely posts so they’re provided for and have something to do.”
“Yes, sir.”
With his orders delivered, Lu Sheng made a brief visit to his fiancée, Chen Yunxi, before heading back to the Crimson Whale Sect.
The massive apparatus of the sect operated efficiently under its upper echelons; most affairs no longer required direct intervention from him. Only major crises or long-term strategic decisions demanded his personal attention.
This allowed him ample time to digest the trophies he had gained from his recent journey.
…………
In his private sanctuary, Lu Sheng sat cross-legged. Several tins of Golden Fragrance Ointment were arranged nearby, along with two steaming tubs of specially prepared medicinal broth.
He inhaled deeply.
“Deep Blue.”
The Modifier—which he had not checked in some time—materialized before his eyes.
His gaze locked onto the Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill amid the long, cluttered list of techniques.
‘I haven’t fully exhausted the Yin Qi I obtained from the Tea Sect. Maybe this time, I can reach the opposite—Yin Extreme Mode.’
Yang Extreme Mode had been achieved through perfecting countless hard-body skills. Lu Sheng sensed that there was now a real chance of pushing Yin Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi into its Yin counterpart.
He organized his thoughts.
‘Everything I’ve cultivated falls into two broad categories: body and inner Qi.’
‘Only with a strong enough body can inner Qi be liquefied. And only with increasingly liquefied inner Qi can I deal greater damage to Noblemen… to demons… and to ghosts.’
His eyes drifted over the chaotic assortment of hard-body skills he had mastered.
‘I’ve trained too many of these—yet none overlap. The Yang Extreme Mode was only possible because I fused everything together.’
‘If I merge all the tempering and strengthening methods from these skills… I may be able to treat them as one grand martial art.’
The thought had only just surfaced when the Modifier’s display flickered. The list of hard-body skills blurred, and row after row vanished. Then, in their place, a single new entry appeared.
“Unknown martial art: Yang Extreme Realm. Special Effect(s): Augmented Strength Level Six, Anti-Tremor Level Three, Penetrative Force Level Three, Reinforced Defence Level Three…”
A long cascade of special effects followed, stretching across the menu.
‘Oh? That actually works?’ Lu Sheng couldn’t help the amused spark in his eyes.
The Modifier’s slots were limited, and he had been concerned that he might eventually run out of space for new techniques. He never expected they could be merged so elegantly.
‘Since this technique fuses all my hard body skills and enables Yang Extreme Mode, it should be considered the strongest hard body art I possess. I’ll name it… Yang Extreme Dao.’
The moment the thought formed, the “unknown martial art” on the Modifier shifted, the characters morphing cleanly into “Yang Extreme Dao.”
With the countless hard body skills now consolidated, the Modifier appeared far cleaner—orderly, uncluttered.
Lu Sheng’s gaze returned to Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill and Yin Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi.
‘I should upgrade Yang Extreme Dao first and strengthen my body.’
He had spent about thirty units of Yin Qi earlier; he wasn’t sure how much remained. Without precise numbers, he could only judge based on the sensations of movement and depletion within his meridians.
He examined the upgrade button beside Yang Extreme Dao. There was still enough Yin Qi to proceed.
In recent days, he had also studied the Thousand Trees Burning Heart Palm, and thanks to his profound achievements in hard body cultivation—as well as the palm technique’s Yang nature—he progressed rapidly. It too had already been integrated into Yang Extreme Dao.
‘Upgrade Yang Extreme Dao by one level.’
Buzz!!
The Modifier trembled violently, its display blurring as if shaken by an unseen force.
This upgrade was nothing like the ones before.
Because Yang Extreme Dao was the fusion of many hard body techniques, advancing it by a single level meant raising every one of those hard body skills simultaneously.
Lu Sheng felt the sudden, enormous drain—and instantly regretted spending so much at once…
A massive torrent of Yin Qi surged out of him, consumed in an instant like a beast gone mad. Lu Sheng’s entire body flushed red, his skin turning the color of steamed crab. Countless hairline tremors rippled across him, threading through his flesh again and again.
These were neither inner Qi nor tangible substances. They were countless threads of pure convulsion—each as thin as a strand of hair—racing through every meridian and sinew.
They hammered at him relentlessly, tempering his body at a terrifying pace.
For an ordinary martial artist to reach this stage, he would have to individually extrapolate every single hard body technique, break through each of them, then merge them one by one and upgrade them all simultaneously. Only then could such a transformation occur.
Without the Modifier, even Lu Sheng would have required more than a hundred years to reach this point.
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