Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Chapter 71 - 64: Lu Ren’s Great Success and Accusation

Xu Yang remained vigilant for several days, but the situation he worried about never materialized. The people from the Government Office didn’t come to investigate Bai Shi Workshop, and the Cao Family seemed to have done nothing more than issue a bounty.

Having not been to Weiyuan Hall for a long time, he headed there with Wu Yongfeng after leaving the Liu Family’s residence that day.

"You have no idea. With the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon competition approaching, several people have broken through to Qi Gathering Great Success recently," said Wu Yongfeng.

"What about Lu Ren? Has he reached Qi Gathering Great Success?" Xu Yang asked.

According to Lu Ren’s own boasts, he was supposed to reach Qi Gathering Great Success any day now.

Wu Yongfeng shook his head. "No. I heard he’s located his Ren and Du Meridians, but he hasn’t managed to break through them yet."

Xu Yang nodded to himself. ’The Ren and Du Meridians aren’t so easy to break through. Some people try their entire lives and never succeed.’

His own speed was not only due to his Root Bone, but more importantly, because he possessed the pure and potent Vajra True Qi.

’Without the Vajra True Qi, I probably would have been stuck for a long time before breaking through the Ren and Du Meridians myself.’

"Senior Brother Xu, you’re finally here!"

Seeing Xu Yang, Qiu Wenjie walked over with a smile. A young man named Tian Li was by his side. He was a new Inner Courtyard Disciple, and since no one paid him any mind after he entered the Inner Courtyard, Qiu Wenjie had taken the initiative to befriend him. Now, he was considered part of their small group, training and discussing things together.

"I had a lot of family matters to deal with, but I’m more or less done now," Xu Yang said, making up a casual excuse.

Qiu Wenjie chuckled. "If you hadn’t shown up soon, I was going to come looking for you."

As he spoke, he handed five taels of silver to Xu Yang.

By now, everyone knew the Qiu Family was sponsoring Xu Yang’s training, so there was no need to be secretive about it.

Xu Yang accepted it. "Thank Uncle Qiu for me."

Tian Li and Wu Yongfeng both looked on with envy. If only they could get an extra five taels of silver each month.

This was especially true for Wu Yongfeng. He was the first among them to begin Qi Gathering, but to this day, he still hadn’t reached Qi Gathering Minor Achievement.

"Haha... I, Lu Ren, have reached Qi Gathering Great Success!" Suddenly, Lu Ren’s voice rang out.

The bustling Inner Courtyard instantly fell silent. Everyone, no matter what they were doing, turned to look in the direction of the voice.

Lu Ren appeared, radiant with confidence, striding in from the Outer Courtyard.

A powerful aura emanated from his body, stirring the air around him into a fierce wind.

In an instant, many people showed expressions of shock. After all, it had been less than a year, all told, since Lu Ren had started practicing martial arts.

If not for the month he was delayed by an injury, he would have reached Qi Gathering Great Success even sooner.

"Congratulations, Junior Brother Lu Ren!"

"Congratulations, Senior Brother Lu Ren!"

...

Many people stepped out from the pavilions and walked up to Lu Ren to cup their fists in congratulations, their faces filled with envy.

Gu Fang, Jiang Ping, Sun Tao, Zhang Hong, and Zhang Yong all went forward one by one.

Even Zhao Zhifei, who had always harbored the most animosity towards disciples from the Lower Class, didn’t put on airs at this moment and also rose to offer his congratulations.

Someone at Qi Gathering Great Success was considered a major figure in the vast Qingyuan City. The strongest experts of some families were only at this level of Cultivation. Few people would dare to show them disrespect.

"What’s he showing off for? If Senior Brother Xu had his resources, he would have reached Qi Gathering Great Success long ago," Qiu Wenjie muttered under his breath.

But despite his words, a trace of envy still flashed in his eyes.

"It seems hard work really is worthless in the face of talent and money," Wu Yongfeng said, somewhat disheartened.

He had started Qi Gathering even earlier than Lu Ren and knew he had never slacked in his training, yet he had not even reached Minor Achievement while Lu Ren had already achieved Great Success.

Xu Yang remained silent. Lu Ren had reached Qi Gathering Great Success, and he was contemplating whether he should reveal that he had also reached Qi Gathering Great Success in a couple of days.

If it weren’t for the matter with the Cao Family, he wouldn’t hesitate. But now, revealing his Qi Gathering Great Success might attract the Cao Family’s attention.

But not revealing it had its downsides too. The first was money.

The monthly stipend for a Qi Gathering Great Success expert in the Liu Family was twenty taels. If he kept his abilities hidden, he would lose out on ten taels every month.

Furthermore, the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon was less than three months away. If he didn’t say anything now, he wouldn’t be able to hide it then.

Once the Liu Family discovered he had reached Qi Gathering Great Success long ago but kept it a secret, they might suspect him of having ulterior motives, which would be another troublesome matter.

After thinking it over, he decided to report it to the Liu Family in a few days. The Liu Family wouldn’t necessarily publicize the matter.

As long as the Liu Family didn’t announce it, there shouldn’t be much of a problem. He didn’t need to worry about the Martial Arts Hall. If anyone asked, he would just ignore them—unless his master asked.

But the possibility of Lin Cheng asking was almost zero.

In the center of the yard, Lu Ren, brimming with confidence, cupped his fists and said, "Fellow Senior and Junior Brothers, I have arranged a celebratory banquet at Fulin Building. I hope you will all join me tonight."

"Of course, of course!"

"I’ll definitely be at Senior Brother Lu’s banquet."

...

Many people voiced their acceptance.

"How naive. Lu Ren is just being polite. He didn’t personally invite you. If you actually go to the banquet tonight, you’ll probably just end up humiliating yourself."

Qiu Wenjie muttered under his breath, believing that Lu Ren didn’t truly intend to invite everyone.

Wu Yongfeng nodded in agreement. The way Lu Ren looked down his nose at people, how could he possibly spend money to treat a bunch of unimportant people to a meal? It was just for show.

Just then, Lu Ren’s gaze shifted in their direction. Qiu Wenjie jumped, thinking Lu Ren had overheard him and was going to hold him accountable.

"Junior Brother Xu Yang, given our relationship, you’d better be on time for the banquet tonight, okay?"

Lu Ren’s eyes fell on Xu Yang, a hint of smugness in them, as if to say, ’I’ve reached Qi Gathering Great Success. And you?’

Instantly, everyone’s gaze turned to Xu Yang as well.

"You and I entered on the same day. Master never said you were my senior brother. It would be better if you just called me by my name," Xu Yang said, his face devoid of expression.

’Lu Ren is trying to step on me to show off his own talent.’

Lu Ren chuckled. "We may have entered on the same day, but in the Martial Dao, the stronger one leads the way. So naturally, I am the senior brother."

"A temporary lead means nothing. The one who laughs last is the real winner."

Xu Yang showed no emotional fluctuation. He wouldn’t say he could kill Lu Ren in a single move, but he was confident he could finish him within three. He didn’t care about Lu Ren’s provocations.

Hearing this, Lu Ren burst out laughing. "Are you saying you’ll be the one to laugh last? Haha... you’re really good at posturing. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you’ve already reached Qi Gathering Great Success."

"Not as good as you. You’re throwing a banquet just for breaking through to Qi Gathering Great Success. Anyone who didn’t know better would think you reached Marrow Cleansing. Look at all the disciples in Weiyuan Hall. Who else throws a banquet for reaching Qi Gathering Great Success?

You jumped from the Huang Family to the Gu Family, used so many of their resources, and it still took you nearly a year to reach Qi Gathering Great Success. I really don’t know what you have to be so proud of.

Of all the people in our batch, you were the most useless. Everyone else relied on their own abilities, while you got where you are by being treacherous and disloyal."

Even a clay doll has a bit of fire. Faced with Lu Ren’s repeated provocations, Xu Yang started airing his dirty laundry.

A dead silence fell over the area. Everyone wore a strange expression.

Everyone knew Lu Ren had abandoned the Huang Family, but no one had ever said it out loud, afraid of offending him.

They never expected that today, when Lu Ren was showing off his Qi Gathering Great Success in front of Xu Yang, Xu Yang would call him out so bluntly.

"You..."

Lu Ren’s face flushed red with anger. He felt that everyone’s gaze was now filled with contempt.

"You’d better not participate in the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon. And don’t you dare run into me on the stage."

In the end, he didn’t dare to make a move in Weiyuan Hall and could only leave a harsh threat.

As for the celebratory banquet, after being so thoroughly exposed by Xu Yang, he was too embarrassed to go through with it. The joyous occasion of his breakthrough to Qi Gathering Great Success had turned into a joke.

"What a coward. They didn’t even fight."

On the other side of the wall, Lin Cheng’s face was full of disappointment.

"Father, are you talking about Xu Yang or Lu Ren?"

Lin Wei asked curiously. This master actually wanted his own disciples to fight.

"Both of them are cowards. Lu Ren reached Qi Gathering Great Success, but he didn’t even dare to make a move after being so thoroughly angered and publicly humiliated by Xu Yang. He’s a total waste," Lin Cheng cursed.

Lin Wei nodded. Lu Ren was indeed a coward.

He had already reached Qi Gathering Great Success, yet he didn’t dare to fight back after being publicly shamed, afraid of this and that.

"But Xu Yang disappoints me even more. He possesses Wind and Thunder Strength, which allows the weak to defeat the strong. With Lu Ren provoking him like that, if he had jumped out and defeated him with Wind and Thunder Strength, he would have shot to fame.

Even if he couldn’t win, it was still a chance to make a name for himself. But he didn’t even have the guts to make a move. Another piece of trash." Lin Cheng was even more displeased with Xu Yang.

Lin Wei shook her head. "But he didn’t need to fight. He shut Lu Ren down with just a few words. Why would he need to break the rules by fighting?"

Lin Cheng glared at her. "For Martial Artists, what matters is whose fist is bigger, not whose tongue is sharper."

...

The Inner Courtyard returned to calm. Everyone went back to what they were doing. Lu Ren’s character had nothing to do with them, and most of them wouldn’t have a chance to befriend him anyway.

Xu Yang went with Qiu Wenjie and the others to their usual training spot, took his stance, and began practicing the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture.

"Why haven’t you been practicing your fist techniques lately?" Wu Yongfeng asked with a slight frown.

He spent the most time with Xu Yang and had noticed something strange about him recently.

"My Pile Skill is a bit lacking, so I’ve been focusing on practicing the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture lately," Xu Yang said.

He had already reached Great Success in the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist. Since he used the Vajra Skill to temper his Physique and cultivate his True Qi, he didn’t really need to practice the fist form anymore.

The Turtle and Snake Grand Posture was a method for accumulating and nurturing qi and blood; even after reaching Great Success, he couldn’t afford to neglect it.

Frustrated, Wu Yongfeng walked away. With Xu Yang practicing his Pile Skill, there was no one for him to spar with using the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist.

Time passed slowly. As dusk fell, only a few people were left in the Inner Courtyard; most had already left.

Xu Yang finished his Pile Skill practice and was about to leave when he saw Zhang Yong and Zhang Hong walking toward him. The three of them started walking out together.

"You shouldn’t have spoken to Lu Ren like that today," said Zhang Yong.

Xu Yang raised an eyebrow. "Are you here to speak on his behalf?"

’Do people really change this fast? The human heart is truly hard to fathom.’

He had only been hanging out with Lu Ren, Jiang Ping, and the others for a little over a month, and now he was criticizing him on Lu Ren’s behalf. It was completely unexpected.

Zhang Hong’s expression was a little unnatural as he shook his head. "No, as friends, we came to warn you. The Gu Family and the Jiang Family have joined forces. They’ve formed a group to achieve high rankings in the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon.

They’re very powerful. Most of the senior brothers at the Martial Arts Hall have allied with them, and people from other martial arts halls have joined as well.

Lu Ren is one of them. If he decides to target you, the others won’t just stand by. You might not face Lu Ren during the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon, but you will definitely run into members of his group, and they will surely come after you."

Xu Yang looked at the two of them. Zhang Hong and Zhang Yong might have truly been warning him out of goodwill, but subconsciously, they were already leaning toward Lu Ren and the gradually forming alliance of the Gu and Jiang Families. They just hadn’t realized it themselves yet.

They still believed they were warning him out of friendship.

"In the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon, isn’t everyone a competitor except for yourself? Besides, I’m not ambitious. If I can’t win, I’ll just admit defeat," Xu Yang said.

"In the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon, you are responsible for your own life and death. It’s not as simple as just losing," Zhang Yong said meaningfully.

Xu Yang shook his head. "But I can’t just let him walk all over me."

He hadn’t been the one to start today’s incident. It was mainly Lu Ren who, puffed up with pride after reaching Qi Gathering Great Success, wanted to step on him to show off.

At these words, both Zhang Hong and Zhang Yong fell silent. They seemed to have just remembered that today’s conflict started because Lu Ren had provoked Xu Yang first.

...

For the next few days, Xu Yang’s life returned to a state of calm. He practiced the Vajra Skill at the Liu Family’s residence and the Turtle and Snake Grand Posture at Weiyuan Hall.

Only when he returned home did he practice the Mountain-Shaking Bear Fist, tempering his Physique with Mixed Element Strength.

At night, he would go into the mountains to practice the Flying Swallow Skill.

His progress with the Flying Swallow Skill was rapid. He had now reached the Entry Level, and it felt as if his entire body had become much lighter. When he sprinted, it was as if he were about to float.

Several more days passed, and Xu Yang still hadn’t gone to the Liu Family to report that he had reached Qi Gathering Great Success.

One day, while he was laughing and talking with Qiu Wenjie and the others in the Inner Courtyard, he saw someone run in frantically from the Outer Courtyard, shouting, "Latest news! Kong Yu from Gale Hall has reached Qi Gathering Great Success!"