Early the next morning.
Lu Changfeng gently lifted Chunzhu’s arm from his chest.
After a quick wash, he changed into his everyday clothes, grabbed his bundle, and headed to the Martial Arts Hall’s main gate.
Zhou Feng was already up, even earlier than him. The two martial brothers exchanged a knowing glance and walked together toward a shop in the Outer City.
"There’s a Grocery Store."
This grocery store, tucked away in a corner of the Outer City, looked simple on the surface, but it was actually a hub for quickly offloading goods.
It was said that the real owner was an important figure from a family in the Inner City.
Therefore, as long as you brought something in to sell, you could easily get rid of it, no questions asked about its origin.
The Shopkeeper of the grocery store was a Martial Artist in the Blood Forging Realm, which alone showed that this was no ordinary establishment.
After entering the shop, Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng stated their purpose and directly took out the jewelry and jade artifacts they had taken from the Golden Lion Vault the previous night.
"I’ll give you a total of one thousand two hundred silver taels. The most valuable piece is this Jade Buddha; I’ll value it at eight hundred taels."
The Shopkeeper had an excellent eye, giving a price after just one look.
Lu Changfeng and his martial brother naturally nodded in agreement.
After leaving the grocery store, the two brothers’ earnings from this venture reached seven thousand taels.
At Zhou Feng’s insistence, Lu Changfeng took four thousand taels, and Zhou Feng took three thousand.
According to Zhou Feng, everything from selecting the target to arranging informants and carrying out the poisoning was Lu Changfeng’s idea.
He deserved to get more.
After a brief, token refusal, Lu Changfeng didn’t object further. After all, he really did need the money more.
Besides, Lu Changfeng had also obtained a Treasure Longsword. A Treasure Artifact was worth at least a thousand silver taels on the market, so Lu Changfeng had actually gotten the better end of the deal by a fair margin.
With the silver taels divided, Lu Changfeng and his martial brother once again headed to the apothecary to buy Exotic Beast Meat.
Zhou Feng hadn’t finished the Exotic Beast Meat he bought last time.
But with prices so unstable, there was no guarantee the channels for buying Exotic Beast Meat wouldn’t disappear one day.
So, Zhou Feng also came to buy a batch of Exotic Beast Meat to stock up in advance.
On the second floor of the apothecary, the manager was very happy to see his regular customers.
The price of Exotic Beast Meat had actually risen a bit, but since Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng were regulars who bought in bulk, he still sold it to them at the previous price.
The two martial brothers bought twenty bundles of Earth Dragon Meat in total, ten bundles each!
It was enough to last them for a very long time.
With these ten bundles of Exotic Beast Meat, plus the portion provided by his master, Lu Changfeng should have enough to break through to the Blood Forging Fourth Layer in one go.
His breakthrough should happen around the turn of spring and summer next year.
...
「Two days later.」
On the morning of New Year’s Eve, Lu Changfeng’s replication interface refreshed again.
Lu Changfeng proceeded to copy Chunzhu’s Low-Grade Lightness Talent.
The two Low-Grade Lightness Talents merged, creating a new Middle Grade Talent: [Light Body Technique].
’This Middle Grade Light Body Technique is good enough for now. For the next few replications, I’ll go find that driver, Li Youtian, and see if I can upgrade my [Swordsmanship] to High-Grade.’
’After that satisfying slaughter at the Golden Lion Gang, I’ve felt like the Gale Swordsmanship has a higher ceiling. Something feels like it’s about to burst forth, but I can never quite grasp it.’
’Perhaps a High-Grade Swordsmanship-type Talent will allow me to find it.’
While Lu Changfeng was lost in thought, Chunzhu slowly raised her head, gazing blankly at the sharp, well-defined angle of his jaw.
This past year had been like a dream for Chunzhu.
She had watched, bit by bit, as the boy she’d known since childhood became a man—and now, just as dreamlike, he had become *her* man.
"Changfeng, I’ve also broken through to the Blood Forging First Layer," Chunzhu said, giving Lu Changfeng a surprise.
Lu Changfeng placed his hand on Chunzhu’s abdomen to test her. Sure enough, her qi and blood were churning. No wonder he’d felt that Chunzhu seemed taller these past few days, her legs even longer.
"Congratulations."
"Later, I’ll let you try some Exotic Beast Meat."
"What’s Exotic Beast Meat?"
"Exotic Beast Meat? Well, there are many kinds..."
Lu Changfeng’s hand slowly began to wander downwards...
...
After a second round, Lu Changfeng had fallen back asleep, only to be awakened by shouts of alarm from outside.
He threw on an outer robe.
Lu Changfeng hurried to the main hall of the Martial Arts Hall.
There, he saw Zhang Yong lying on a stretcher, devoid of breath, and Sima Ming, who had lost an arm.
The wandering son had returned from his adventures, but his life was lost forever.
The mountain-like Zhang Desheng’s eyes were uncharacteristically clouded. His mind reeled from the shock, and he staggered, nearly falling.
Zhou Feng and Lu Changfeng immediately rushed forward, supporting Zhang Desheng from either side.
"Tell me. Who did you run afoul of?"
Sima Ming’s eyes were bloodshot as he slowly began to explain.
The killer was the old ancestor of a Martial Arts Family in Jiangnan Prefecture.
After hearing this, Zhang Desheng returned to his room. When he emerged again, he was wearing a pair of Treasure Artifact Gloves that glinted with a cold light.
"Master, I’ll go with you!" Zhou Feng stepped forward.
Lu Changfeng also took a step forward.
"You will stay at the Martial Arts Hall."
"A son’s vengeance should be taken by his father," Zhang Desheng said softly, his tone leaving no room for argument.
His figure flickered, and Zhang Desheng quickly vanished from everyone’s sight.
Snowflakes began to drift down from the sky. Lu Changfeng’s first New Year’s Eve since he transmigrated was not going smoothly.
Zhang Desheng left during the day. The martial brothers waited in the hall, and their Third Senior Brother, Liuu Ye, also arrived.
Looking at the breathless Zhang Yong, his face was also filled with sorrow.
In the dead of night, Zhang Desheng’s figure reappeared in the Martial Arts Hall’s main hall.
"Zhou Feng, you will handle all of Zhang Yong’s funeral arrangements. Liuu Ye and Changfeng, you two will assist. Get the silver coins from me."
"Sima Ming, focus on healing your wounds. There are plenty of powerful one-armed Martial Artists in this world."
"*Cough, cough*."
Zhang Desheng gave a dry cough. Though he covered his mouth with his palm, Lu Changfeng still saw a few startling specks of crimson.
Moreover, this was clearly not the set of clothes Zhang Desheng had been wearing when he left.
Zhang Desheng was injured, and not lightly.
For an elderly Martial Artist, this was a fatal blow.
Zhang Desheng returned to his room to rest and recuperate. The several martial brothers conferred for a while before going their separate ways to get to work.
Early the next morning.
New Year’s Day.
With the help of the Named Disciples and servants, the entire Changle Martial Arts Hall was adorned with white flowers.
Lu Changfeng and the other Disciples, all dressed in white mourning clothes, escorted Zhang Yong to Tomb Mountain outside the city for burial.
As the new year began, Zhang Desheng’s body and face aged at a visible rate.
First Senior Brother Sima Ming’s eyes were also full of lifelessness. Not long after, he disappeared from Feng City.
The fate of Zhang Yong and Sima Ming served as a warning bell for Lu Changfeng. ’From now on, I have to be even more careful.’
In the blink of an eye, winter turned to spring, and spring gave way to summer.
On this day, the cicadas hummed in the summer heat.
Lu Changfeng arrived outside an Escort Agency.
He was here to find Li Youtian.
Several months had passed. Lu Changfeng’s cultivation had long since broken through to the Blood Forging Fourth Layer, and he had also made great progress in his Martial Arts.
Name: Lu Changfeng
Root Bone: Upper A Class
Talent: Middle Grade Talent [Swordsmanship] x3, Middle Grade Talent [Light Body Technique]
Realm: Blood Forging Fourth Layer
Blood Forging Technique: [Le Mountain Angry Vajra] (Minor Achievement)
Martial Arts: [Gale Swordsmanship] (Perfection), [Blood Burst Step] (Great Success), [Antelope Leaping Skill] (Great Success)
Replication Interval: 0 days.
Today was the day his replication interval refreshed. The reason Lu Changfeng came looking for Li Youtian was precisely to copy his [Swordsmanship] Talent.
Lu Changfeng had already copied it from Li Youtian twice before. Just one more time, and he would be able to synthesize a High-Grade Swordsmanship-type Talent.