Early morning.
Lu Xuan slowly opened his eyes.
Beside him, Shen Yuyan was still asleep, her long eyelashes trembling faintly with each breath. Last night, they had once again stayed awake until midnight, leaving her so exhausted that even the morning sunlight filtering through the window couldn’t rouse her.
Lu Xuan turned his head and watched her quietly.
Her veil had slipped off sometime during the night.
Without it, the red spots covering her face were impossible to miss. Her skin, which had appeared smooth as snow and supple as a newborn’s the night before, was once again covered in uneven red marks scattered across her cheeks and forehead like a stubborn rash that refused to disappear.
Yet Lu Xuan didn’t look away.
He had seen her face countless times by now, both with and without the veil. The red spots were no longer something he needed to force himself to overlook. They were simply part of the woman lying beside him.
And once he looked beyond them, he could appreciate the features that most people never bothered to notice.
The high bridge of her nose, her vermilion lips, her eyebrows like strokes of dark ink, and the graceful curve of her jaw. Even the slender line of her neck, disappearing beneath the blanket, possessed a quiet elegance.
She was beautiful.
Devastatingly beautiful.
The only thing hiding that beauty was the layer of red spots left behind by the curse.
Most people recoiled the moment they saw her face, never staying long enough to look closely and discover the breathtaking woman underneath.
Lu Xuan’s gaze softened.
To completely cure these red spots...
Would it really require a Heavenly Mountain Snow Lotus and someone at the Great Grandmaster Realm?
That was an absurd price, he hadn’t heard about the realm yet.
And yet, looking at her sleeping face, Lu Xuan couldn’t help but feel that if he had the ability to cure her someday, no price would be too high.
He watched her quietly for a while before finally getting out of bed.
[Ding! Sleep Cultivation complete.]
[Five Animals Transformation Art progress: 89%.]
[Deer Form: Great Perfection. Tiger Form: Great Perfection. Bear Form: 95%. Crane Form: 85%. Ape Form: 65%.]
[Demon-Subduing Righteous Sun Blade progress: 0%.]
[Current Realm: Martial Apprentice Realm: Perfection.]
Lu Xuan clenched his fists, feeling the faint strength gathering in his fingers.
His excitement rose almost immediately, but he forced himself to relax his hands and take a slow breath.
Martial Apprentice Realm.
Perfection.
He had finally reached the very peak of the realm.
One more night of sleep, and he would have a chance to break through into the Martial Artist Realm.
The thought alone made his heart beat faster.
Once he entered the Martial Artist Realm, he would be able to release True Energy beyond his body and injure opponents from a distance. It was the true threshold into the world of martial experts, the point at which a cultivator’s strength began to transcend the limits of ordinary flesh and blood.
For someone who had once been unable to defend himself, the significance was obvious. He would no longer have to rely entirely on his fists or remain helpless against opponents who possessed superior weapons and techniques.
His thoughts turned to Lu Hao.
That bastard had already reached the second level of the Martial Artist Realm.
Lu Xuan’s eyes narrowed slightly. He remembered Lu Hao’s arrogant expression and the way he had treated him as worthless. The thought of finally standing above him made a cold satisfaction rise in his chest.
A few more days, and Lu Hao would no longer be his match.
However, there was still a considerable distance between him and the Lu Family’s Elders, not to mention his second uncle.
Those people were all Martial Masters of the Spirit Gathering Realm, a realm above the Martial Artist Realm. Their accumulated strength, experience, and influence were far beyond what Lu Xuan possessed now.
Lu Xuan quickly suppressed the excitement in his heart. He lowered his gaze and took a slow breath, reminding himself that a single careless decision could expose everything he had hidden for years.
No rush, stay steady.
He had already endured for more than a decade.
There was no reason to throw everything away now because his strength had finally begun to rise.
Without absolute certainty, he would never take unnecessary risks.
At the same time, at the Lu Family.
Lu Tianhe stood in the main hall, staring down at a corpse laid out on the cold stone floor.
The young man was unquestionably dead, and the condition of his face made it clear that he had suffered a brutal final blow.
A small token lay beside the corpse.
The emblem of Flying Cloud Fortress had been engraved upon it.
Lu Tianhe’s expression darkened.
"Flying Cloud Fortress."
He spoke the name quietly, but the chill in his voice was enough to make the attendants standing nearby lower their heads.
"They kill one of my Lu Family’s people and leave a token behind as a calling card?"
Beside him, Lu Hao stood with his head lowered, carefully avoiding his father’s gaze.
"Father," Lu Hao said cautiously, "Flying Cloud Fortress has indeed been acting arrogantly lately. Last time, we intercepted one of their escort missions, and ten of their men died."
He hesitated.
"Could this be retaliation?"
Lu Tianhe slowly raised his head.
"Whether it is or not doesn’t matter."
His gaze hardened, "Anyone who kills my Lu Family’s people must pay the price."
He turned toward Lu Hao, "Go investigate. Find the Flying Cloud Fortress outposts outside the city."
His voice became colder, "Once you find them, report to me."
"Yes."
At Flying Cloud Fortress, Huo Tianba sat on a tiger-skin chair inside the main hall.
Before him lay the corpse of one of his scouts, his face completely caved in by a single punch. The fatal wound was unmistakable.
Beside the corpse, the man’s stiffening hand still clutched a jade pendant bearing the Lu Family’s emblem.
Huo Tianba stared at it, his jaw tightening.
"Lu Tianhe..."
His teeth ground together.
"To kill my Flying Cloud Fortress’s people..."
His second-in-command stepped forward cautiously.
"Fortress Master, the Lu Family isn’t someone we can easily provoke..."
"Not someone we can easily provoke?"
Huo Tianba suddenly slammed his palm against the armrest.
Crack!
The wood split beneath his hand. His eyes burned with fury.
"Is my Flying Cloud Fortress easy to trifle with?"
His voice thundered through the hall.
"Do they think I have no one left?!"
At the Iron Mountain Escort Agency, Lu Xuan sat in the gatehouse, enjoying a rare stretch of peace.
He had originally planned to slack off for a while and perhaps catch some sleep.
After all, every completed sleep cycle brought him closer to breaking through into the Martial Artist Realm.
Unfortunately, his peaceful plan didn’t last long.
Xiao Lin came over again.
"Brother Xuan, have you heard?"
Lu Xuan gave a lazy yawn, "What big thing happened?"
"Your Lu Family’s people killed someone from Flying Cloud Fortress!"
Lu Xuan’s brows furrowed slightly as he looked at Xiao Lin.
Xiao Lin suddenly smiled awkwardly.
"Ah... not your Lu Family."
He quickly corrected himself.
"I mean that bastard Lu Family."
Lu Xuan’s expression remained calm, but inwardly he almost laughed.
"There’s going to be a real show now!"
Lu Xuan casually asked, "What? Have the two sides started fighting?"
"No, no."
Xiao Lin shook his head.
"No news yet. Neither side is easy to provoke, so they’re probably still testing each other out."
Lu Xuan nodded slowly.
"Oh."
His gaze lowered.
So they were still hesitating, then it seemed he needed to add a little more fuel to the fire.
Evening.
Lu Xuan closed the door behind him and walked into the courtyard.
Shen Yuyan was standing beside the stove. The moment she heard him enter, she turned around, and a small smile appeared on her face.
"Husband, you’re back?"
"Mm."
Lu Xuan set aside his things and sat down.
Shen Yuyan quickly brought the food over.
As usual, there was a bowl of brown rice, a plate of vegetables, and a single egg.
She carefully placed the egg into Lu Xuan’s bowl.
"You eat it."
Lu Xuan glanced at the egg, then at her.
"Half each."
Before she could object, he broke the egg apart and placed one half into her bowl.
Shen Yuyan wanted to refuse, but when she saw the look in his eyes, she quietly lowered her head and took a small bite.
Seeing corners of her mouth curled upward, Lu Xuan smiled too.
"Did you go out today?"
Shen Yuyan’s chopsticks paused, "I went to the market."
"Did anything happen?"
There was a hint of concern in Lu Xuan’s voice. He was worried she might have encountered someone from the Lu Family again.
Shen Yuyan lowered her eyes, "No."
She hesitated, "It’s just... I ran into some people from the Shen Family."
Lu Xuan’s expression changed slightly, "People from your Shen Family?"
"Shen Wanqing and Shen Wanrong."
Her voice became softer, "They... said a few things."
"What did they say?"
"Nothing much."
Shen Yuyan looked up and gave him a small smile, "Just some idle gossip. I don’t mind."
Lu Xuan looked at her for a long moment, he knew she minded.
He could see it in the way she held her chopsticks a little too tightly, in the faint tension around her lips, and in the smile that never quite reached her eyes.
But he didn’t press her, if she wanted to tell him, she would.
"Be careful when you go out in the future. Don’t go too far alone."
"Mm."
Shen Yuyan nodded.
After finishing the meal, she went to wash the dishes.
Lu Xuan sat on the threshold and looked toward the tree.
Moonlight filtered through the leaves, shifting gently whenever the night breeze passed through them.
Shen Wanqing.
Shen Wanrong.
Lu Xuan silently carved both names into his memory, right beside all the others.