On the day of Zhang Desheng’s funeral.
All the disciples of Changle Martial Arts Hall were present.
Some had only trained at the hall for a few months, while others had been cultivating there continuously.
There were even some who had left to join other martial arts halls.
This showed that Zhang Desheng was a man of fine character, as all his disciples thought of him fondly.
The funeral procession, clad in white, numbered in the hundreds.
The procession stretched for a great distance.
Among them were nearly a hundred Martial Artists of the Blood Forging Realm.
It was a grand and impressive sight.
Lu Changfeng, Zhou Feng, and Liuu Ye were at the head of the procession, carrying the coffin out of the city.
The major powers of the Outer City also showed them great respect.
Perhaps they were reminded that they too would one day face their end.
They all voluntarily sent men to ensure the funeral route remained peaceful.
And so, Zhang Desheng’s body was laid to rest without incident in Tomb Mountain, outside the city.
The funeral procession dispersed.
Only the three of them remained before the grave.
The land the martial arts hall stood on was acquired by a power from Cyan Mountain Prefecture. It was said they also planned to open a martial arts hall.
The martial arts hall’s servants, including Hua’Er, whom Lu Changfeng had brought back, were all dismissed.
With Zhang Desheng gone, the three of them truly had no place to gather anymore.
"I’m planning to go try my luck in Jiangnan Prefecture," Zhou Feng said, breaking the silence.
Upon hearing this, Lu Changfeng and Liuu Ye both wished him good luck.
Zhou Feng offered a cup of wine at his master’s grave, then shouldered his pack, took his horse’s reins, and departed.
With the Celestial Silkworm Seed, he might one day be able to break through to the Tendon Transformation Realm and restore the prestige of their martial arts hall.
"Junior Brother, why don’t you come serve my Liuu Family as a Retainer? I can guarantee the compensation will be excellent," Liuu Ye said, turning to Lu Changfeng with the offer.
After annexing the Liu Family’s assets, the Liuu Family could afford to hire another Retainer.
This was especially true for Lu Changfeng, who was not only a fellow disciple and a known quantity, but also possessed immense Talent and a bright future.
Having Lu Changfeng as a Retainer for the Liuu Family would be the best possible outcome.
Lu Changfeng declined Liuu Ye’s kind offer. "I don’t have any plans for that at the moment."
"I want to focus on secluded cultivation for a while."
Liuu Ye nodded in understanding. Their master, Zhang Desheng, had no heirs, so he had divided his assets among his three Direct Disciples before he died.
’With those assets and Lu Changfeng’s Talent,’ he thought, ’he might be able to reach a higher level very quickly.’
And so, Lu Changfeng and Liuu Ye also parted ways before the grave.
Lu Changfeng returned to his small courtyard.
And began his life of secluded cultivation.
...
Spring passed into autumn, and Lu Changfeng remained immersed in his cultivation.
In the blink of an eye, a year and a half had gone by.
In that time, Lu Changfeng turned eighteen.
It was another clear, bright summer.
Unexpectedly, Feng City remained peaceful.
Three months into Lu Changfeng’s seclusion, the Profound Nether Sect from the neighboring Cyan Mountain Prefecture had suddenly organized a large army, sweeping south to launch a surprise attack on Jiangnan Prefecture, conquering two cities in succession.
The Jiangnan Prefecture Lord was furious and organized a counterattack, but it failed. Instead, the Profound Nether Sect managed to capture yet another city.
Rumor had it that the Sect Leader of the Profound Nether Sect, Lii Tianxing, had reached a level of power making him the strongest leader in the sect’s history.
In a private duel, he had severely wounded the Jiangnan Prefecture Lord!
The Jiangnan Prefecture Lord sent a messenger to Yunyang Prefecture to plead for aid.
However, the Mansion Master of Yunyang Prefecture’s response was ambiguous. He verbally agreed to dispatch troops but kept delaying, using the excuse that mobilizing grain and supplies would take time.
The situation dragged on until the Jiangnan Prefecture Lord was forced to hold a martial arts assembly, calling on all aspiring heroes in the Jiangnan region to unite against the great enemy from Cyan Mountain Prefecture.
However, with the world in chaos, the various martial arts powers of Jiangnan saw the sects in other prefectures rising in rebellion and began to harbor their own ambitions.
Thus, despite the formidable strength of Jiangnan’s martial world, the assembly seemed to have little effect.
The Imperial Race in the Capital Region continued to sit idly by, watching the world descend into chaos. However, everyone could see their weakness; they no longer had the power to alter the course of events.
With the Profound Nether Sect and Jiangnan Prefecture at war, the cities on the border between Yunyang and Cyan Mountain Prefectures benefited the most, and that included Feng City.
There had been rumors that the Profound Nether Sect was planning to move against Yunyang Prefecture.
But now that they were at war with Jiangnan, the shadow of conflict hanging over Feng City naturally dissipated.
Feng City even regained some of its vitality. The nobles of the Inner City went so far as to use their funds to round up vagrants from the Outer City and conscript them into the City Defense Army.
Six months into his secluded cultivation, Lu Changfeng successfully broke through to the Blood Forging Fifth Layer.
During that time, he successfully cultivated the [Le Mountain Angry Vajra] to the Perfection Realm, which increased his cultivation speed yet again.
Combined with the nourishment from the Celestial Silkworm Seed, Lu Changfeng broke through again after another year, his cultivation reaching the Blood Forging Sixth Layer!
At this moment, the blood coursing through Lu Changfeng’s body was as vast and powerful as a mountain range!
Lu Changfeng could sense his blood beginning to condense into another form of power—Inner Strength!
However, the transformation from the Blood Forging Realm to the Tendon Transformation Realm was an irreversible process.
Since Lu Changfeng was only eighteen, he wanted to continue advancing in the Blood Forging Realm before breaking through to the Tendon Transformation Realm.
It was common knowledge that the higher one’s level in the Blood Forging Realm, the stronger their foundation would be after advancing to the Tendon Transformation Realm.
Furthermore, while his master Zhang Desheng had left him a Tendon Transformation Skill, Lu Changfeng felt its grade was too low. Finding a more suitable Tendon Transformation Skill had become a pressing matter.
Tendon Transformation Skills could be judged by the number of meridians they transformed during the initial breakthrough.
The human body contained countless meridians.
A Tendon Transformation Skill worked by selecting a specific set of meridians to form a route for a ’Circulation of Heaven.’ Establishing this circuit was what constituted the breakthrough.
Subsequent cultivation would then focus on expanding this circuit to include more meridians, thereby increasing the quantity and quality of one’s Inner Strength.
His master’s technique required one to refine eighteen meridians to form the initial circuit. In terms of meridian count, this was considered lower-middle tier.
Still, the Tendon Transformation Skill itself was classified as Middle Grade.
However, from what Lu Changfeng understood, some High-Grade Tendon Transformation Skills established an initial circuit of twenty or even thirty meridians. Of course, techniques of this level had strict requirements for one’s Root Bone and were incredibly difficult to cultivate.
But Lu Changfeng was extremely confident in his own Root Bone.
Besides, a High-Grade Tendon Transformation Skill would produce far stronger Inner Strength.
Therefore, Lu Changfeng had no intention of giving up on finding a High-Grade Tendon Transformation Skill.
During that year and a half, Lu Changfeng hadn’t wasted his dozen or so opportunities to copy Talents either.
Now, both Lu Changfeng’s status screen and his personal strength had undergone earth-shattering changes.
Name: Lu Changfeng
Root Bone: Upper A-Class
Talent: High-Grade Talent [Swordsman], High-Grade Talent [Flying Swallow], High-Grade Talent [Fist Martial Arts], High-Grade Talent [Saber Extremity], Low-Grade Palm Technique.
Realm: Blood Forging Sixth Layer
Blood Forging Technique: [Le Mountain Angry Vajra] (Perfection)
Martial Arts: [Gale Swordsmanship] (Perfection), [Blood Burst Step] (Perfection), [Antelope Leaping Skill] (Perfection), [Falling Leaves Saber Technique] (Perfection).
Martial Arts Insights: Gale Sword Intent (Basic Sword Intent) (Increases Swordsmanship power by 50%)
Copy Interval: 31 days.
Only after the ’human stick’ Liu Hong, under Lu Changfeng’s ’careful tending,’ helped Lu Changfeng’s Saber Technique Talent break through to High-Grade did Lu Changfeng finally allow his soul to return home.
As for the remaining copy opportunities, Lu Changfeng wasn’t picky. He directly copied from Chunzhu and Hei Niu, raising his Fist Technique Talent to [Fist Martial Arts] and his Lightweight Skill Talent to [Flying Swallow].