This day, Third Senior Brother Liuu Ye made a rare appearance at the Martial Arts Hall.
It had been over half a month since his last visit.
After practicing for a while on the training grounds, Liuu Ye invited Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng to a restaurant for a meal.
In the restaurant, Liuu Ye ordered a table full of fine dishes.
Liuu Ye’s cultivation was still at the Blood Forging Third Layer. At twenty-five years old, still being at this level meant that the peak of his lifelong Martial Arts Cultivation was basically in sight.
However, Liuu Ye’s heart wasn’t in Martial Arts anyway.
The Liuu Family was a small family in the Inner City with a reasonably successful business. As the eldest son, Liuu Ye was destined to take it over.
"Second Senior Brother, Little Junior Brother, I’ve come to you this time to discuss a piece of business!" Liuu Ye said, getting straight to the point.
Zhou Feng’s eyes widened. "We’re all martial brothers here, don’t beat around the bush. What is it?"
Seeing that Lu Changfeng was also looking at him curiously, Liuu Ye revealed the details of the "business."
There was a small family in the Inner City known as the Liu Family.
The Liu Family was a Martial Arts Family. Relying on their Patriarch’s Tendon Transformation Realm cultivation, they had cornered a significant portion of the business in the Inner City.
Most of their business was in direct competition with Liuu Ye’s Liuu Family.
The two families had long been at odds with each other.
However, the Liuu Family had old ties to the Wang Family, the number one family in the Inner City, so the Liu Family naturally didn’t dare to go too far.
Compared to the Wang Family, the overlords of Feng City, the Liu Family was nothing.
Even if the Liuu Family only had old ties with them, they were still not someone the Liu Family dared to cross.
But recently, something happened.
「Three days ago.」
The Liuu Family received intelligence through their channels: the Patriarch of the Liu Family had died of natural causes!
Among the Liu Family’s descendants, the strongest was only at the Blood Forging Fifth Layer.
With their Patriarch dead, the Liu Family was now like fish on a chopping block!
"Most importantly, we’ve heard that not long ago, the Liu Family managed to cultivate a new type of Exotic Beast Meat!"
Lu Changfeng had been growing drowsy listening to all the talk of business and family backing.
But the moment the three words "Exotic Beast Meat" were spoken, Lu Changfeng’s eyes lit up!
"The Liu Family has a method for preparing Exotic Beast Meat?"
Liuu Ye nodded affirmatively. "The intelligence is basically confirmed."
Liuu Ye continued.
"If the old man of the Liu Family had lived a few more years, they would have undoubtedly used this Exotic Beast Meat preparation method to become one of Feng City’s elite!"
"But now that he’s dead, those few youngsters are completely incapable of protecting it."
"So, I want to ask Second Senior Brother and you, Junior Brother, to act with me. We’ll pick a day to storm the Liu Family and wipe them out, top to bottom!"
"Our Liuu Family isn’t a Martial Arts Family, so we’re willing to give you the preparation method for the Exotic Beast Meat. In addition, we’ll pay each of you three thousand taels of silver!"
"All the Liuu Family wants is to take over all of the Liu Family’s businesses!"
Liuu Ye had originally wanted to ask their master to handle it.
But after seeing their master’s condition, he had dismissed the idea.
Besides, Zhou Feng had also broken through to the Blood Forging Fifth Layer.
And Little Junior Brother, with his exceptional Talent, had used their master’s Exotic Beast Meat to break through to the Blood Forging Fourth Layer at such a young age.
With the addition of his Liuu Family’s Retainer, who was at the Blood Forging Fifth Layer, annihilating the Liu Family should be no problem at all.
Zhou Feng was still hesitating.
But Lu Changfeng had already nodded in agreement. "I’ll do it. I don’t need the silver, but I must have a copy of the Exotic Beast Meat recipe."
The world was growing more difficult, and Lu Changfeng was increasingly desperate to improve his ability to protect himself.
Reaching the Blood Forging Fourth Layer in just over a year was certainly impressive.
But it wasn’t enough!
At the very least, he had to reach the Tendon Transformation realm and become a true Martial Artist to have a decent chance of survival.
Seeing Lu Changfeng agree, Zhou Feng nodded and agreed as well.
Zhou Feng had followed Lu Changfeng’s lead several times before and trusted his little junior brother’s judgment.
"Good! Then we move tonight!"
"There’s no time to waste. The news of the Liu Family’s patriarch’s death hasn’t spread yet. If it gets out, the Liuu Family might not be the first to devour them!"
"My two martial brothers, do you have any other concerns?"
Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng shook their heads.
"Then let’s head into the city! My family’s Blood Forging Fifth Layer Retainer will be joining us. It’ll be a good chance for you all to get acquainted!"
...
Entering the Inner City required a recommendation.
On top of that, one had to pay an entrance fee.
Two cents per person, per day.
The Liuu Family naturally had plenty of recommendations to spare.
Liuu Ye used two of the Liuu Family’s recommendation slots and generously paid half a year’s worth of entrance fees for Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng.
By dinnertime, Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng were already seated at the Liuu Family’s dinner table.
The Liuu Family Patriarch, Liuu Kui, a man in his early fifties, was Liuu Ye’s father.
Liuu Kui was not a Martial Artist but a shrewd businessman. In his youth, he had served as a Scholar’s Attendant for several years, accompanying a noble from the Wang Family.
Leveraging this connection, Liuu Kui’s business ventures had been smooth sailing ever since he left the Wang Family, allowing him to accumulate a vast fortune.
"You are both Liuu Ye’s martial brothers. This old man offers you a toast. Thank you for taking care of Liuu Ye at the Martial Arts Hall!" Liuu Kui raised his cup and drained it in one go.
As they had important business to attend to that night, Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng used tea in place of wine and returned Elder Liuu’s toast.
Seated across from them was a middle-aged man of about forty.
This was the Retainer supported by the Liuu Family. His surname was Xu, and he usually handled the Liuu Family’s less-than-savory affairs.
Lu Changfeng saw Retainer Xu’s Root Bone: B Class+. His Talent was ’None’.
In his current state, Retainer Xu was a prime example of an elite among ordinary Martial Artists.
Lu Changfeng, Zhou Feng, and Retainer Xu—the three of them were the team assigned to annihilate the Liu Family tonight.
Liuu Ye was also extremely meticulous.
After the meal, Liuu Ye gathered them in the study.
Liuu Ye produced a layout map of the Liu Mansion’s inner courtyard from an unknown source, marking the locations of key personnel and potential storerooms.
To know the Liu Family’s layout in such detail, it was clear the Liuu Family had been plotting against them for a long time, planting who knows how many spies within their ranks.
On the Liu Family’s side, the primary enemy was the eldest son, Liu Hong, whose cultivation was at the Blood Forging Fifth Layer.
The second son was at the Blood Forging Third Layer, the fourth son at the Blood Forging Third Layer, the fifth son at the Second Layer, and the eldest grandson at the Third Layer.
This constituted the entirety of the Liu Family’s Combat Power.
A strategy was quickly formulated.
After entering the Liu Mansion, Retainer Xu would engage Liu Hong, while Lu Changfeng and Zhou Feng would eliminate the other members of the Liu Family.
Finally, they would converge to kill Liu Hong.
Their treasure was their crime. The Liu Family’s doom was inescapable...
...
「That night.」
The night was dark, the wind high.
Dressed in black with their faces covered, Lu Changfeng and the other two scaled the wall and entered the Liu Mansion’s estate.
The three of them headed straight for the central courtyard, where the direct descendants of the Liu Family resided.
CREAK.
A door opened.
A young man appeared, looking like he was heading out to relieve himself.
As the first Liu Family descendant appeared, Retainer Xu stepped forward, raised his short club, and brought it down on the man’s head.
The Liu Family member collapsed without a sound.
The three continued on, this time proactively opening doors and killing the occupants within—slitting throats and lopping off heads.
After Lu Changfeng had killed several people, someone outside shouted, "Enemy attack! Everyone, wake up! Someone is attacking the Liu—"
The voice was cut short, likely by Zhou Feng or Retainer Xu slitting the man’s throat.
Lu Changfeng stepped out of the room. As expected, the central courtyard had erupted into chaos, and the awakened Liu Family disciples had begun to fight back.
A tall, bald man was already locked in combat with Retainer Xu. It was none other than the Liu Family’s eldest son, Liu Hong!