Chapter 34 Targeted

The Diamond Body differed from the martial arts Lu Yan had previously practiced—it was a form of hardening technique. Once mastered, the entire body became unyielding. Naturally, those parts already tough would become even more so. From head to toe, one resembled a being of diamond and iron; not only did one’s defense soar, but strength multiplied as well—a martial discipline that united offense and defense in one. The drawback, however, was its extreme difficulty to master. The threshold was high, and advancing to greater depths was even harder.

“This truly suits me,” Lu Yan mused.

He possessed the Daoist Tome; as long as he could enter the discipline, he feared no challenge in cultivation. Without delay, he began to train with eagerness.

After his ordeal on Giant Fang Mountain, he understood the importance of defense all too well. His current weakness was his frail defenses. Had it not been for the armor he wore that day, Liu Xingren’s palm would have been unstoppable. Back then, if Sun Xiang’s defense had been higher, he wouldn’t have fallen prey to Lu Yan’s hidden dart, which pierced between his ribs, crippling his strength and leading to his death.

Second-tier martial arts were much harder to practice than third-tier ones. With Lu Yan’s current level, he could master a third-tier technique in less than five days. But the Diamond Body took him a full month to enter its threshold.

Upon attaining entry, the Daoist Tome once again condensed a Diamond Body avatar. But Lu Yan soon discovered that ordinary meat no longer had any effect on the Diamond Body. Even at the entry level, it was useless.

He felt somewhat speechless—ordinary meat could henceforth only serve to fill his belly and provide basic nourishment. In truth, after his third breakthrough, the efficacy of common meat had plummeted; it could still build up his vital energy, but at a snail’s pace.

He could only rely on martial provisions to advance now. One pound of martial provisions would enhance the Diamond Body’s entry stage progress by ten percent; a pound of dried martial provisions, by twenty percent. Of course, this only applied if he did not train or build up vital energy at the same time—if he did, the progress was halved.

The next day, after disguising himself, Lu Yan went to the Linglan Trading House and bought ten pounds of dried martial provisions. Fresh provisions alone were far from enough. Every few days, he would dine at the Warrior’s Lodge, but as a twice-broken limit Red-Garbed Guard, eating martial provisions once every four days was barely a morsel. To progress quickly, he had to rely mainly on dried provisions—costly, but unavoidable. All such resources were controlled by the great families.

“If only I could control a bloodline vein, raise a herd of exotic beasts, and hire a few martial chefs to prepare martial provisions for me—what bliss that would be, cultivating while lying down,” he mused wistfully. But he was not yet strong enough for that.

Training at a rate of two pounds of dried martial provisions a day, Lu Yan finished his ten pounds in five days. Disguising himself again, he returned to the Linglan Trading House, this time purchasing twenty pounds at once.

By the time he finished those twenty pounds, his Diamond Body had stepped into the third level—Mastery. When he activated the technique, his skin glowed with a faint golden hue, as though cast from metal; his strength and defense had both risen significantly.

“Time to buy more dried martial provisions—might as well stock up this time.”

Lu Yan thought to himself as he tucked a stack of silver notes into his chest and headed for the Linglan Trading House. This time, he bought a hundred pounds of dried martial provisions in one go, nearly emptying their stock. It cost him three thousand taels of silver. With these recent purchases, most of his silver was now gone.

He slung the dried provisions over his back and, taking a winding route home—doubling back through seven or eight alleys—ensured he wasn’t being followed before returning home. With a hundred pounds of dried martial provisions, he could last two months if he was frugal, sparing him frequent trips to the Trading House.

...

Not long after Lu Yan left the Linglan Trading House, a figure emerged from within and met with two middle-aged men in a guest room at a tavern.

“Fusheng, you called us—do you have a ‘target’?” asked one, a man with a goatee and narrow, triangular eyes.

“That’s right. This man just bought a hundred pounds of dried martial provisions in one go,” Fusheng replied.

“A hundred pounds...” The triangular-eyed man’s gaze lit up. That haul was worth three thousand taels.

“Who is he? Be careful not to pick a fight with someone too tough,” said the other man, who seemed more cautious. In Changfeng City, not many could spend three thousand taels at once on martial provisions.

“I don’t know. He disguised himself, altered his appearance, but from my experience he’s not very old. Once we find where he lives and make some discreet inquiries, if the situation allows, we move in,” said Fusheng.

“Did you have someone tail him?” the triangular-eyed man pressed.

Fusheng shook his head. “He’s very cautious. If we sent someone after him, we’d only alert him.”

“Then how will you find his residence?”

“As vice-captain of the Linglan Trading House’s guards, how could I lack means? I’ve smeared the dried provisions with the Scented Swallow’s saliva. As long as he’s in Changfeng City, he won’t escape the swallow’s tracking,” Fusheng said with pride.

“You’re vice-captain of the Trading House’s guards and still you betray them? If they found out, you’d be finished,” the triangular-eyed man sneered.

“As long as we’re thorough and leave no witnesses, who would ever know?” Fusheng replied, though he felt a trace of worry in his heart. If the target had only bought ten or twenty pounds, he could have restrained himself, not daring to risk exposure. But a hundred pounds at once—such a fortune made him covetous. Anyone who could spend so much likely had more money on hand. If they succeeded, he could fund his cultivation for some time.

Martial training was ruinously expensive; his salary as a guard was nowhere near enough. He had no fear that these two would betray him—they were notorious bandits, known as the Twin Fiends of Woye, from Woye City in Qingfeng Commandery. If he exposed them, they’d be doomed. They were all in the same boat.

“When do we make our move?” asked the other man.

“Tonight. Delay could bring complications,” Fusheng replied.

“Good.”

...

That night, Fusheng met the Twin Fiends of Woye in a secluded alley, all three masked in black, revealing only their eyes and mouths. In Fusheng’s palm perched a small bird, closely resembling a swallow.

This was the Scented Swallow, a special breed of bird. If its saliva was smeared on an object, the swallow could scent it from far away and seek it out unerringly.

Fusheng gave a soft whistle, and the swallow took flight, heading in a certain direction. Half an hour later, they arrived outside Lu Yan’s residence.

The three exchanged glances. The house did not look like that of some great master; they had feared the buyer might be a fivefold-breakthrough expert in disguise. If he were, they would have abandoned the idea. But seeing the house, their worries eased.

“Well? Shall we?” asked the triangular-eyed man.

“There are many beggars around here—they must know the resident’s background. Grab one and ask; you two keep watch, I’ll be back soon,” said Fusheng, slipping away. He seized a beggar nearby and interrogated him, then broke his neck and tossed the corpse into a gutter. For caution’s sake, he questioned another beggar elsewhere and did the same, then returned swiftly.

“Did you find out who lives here?” the triangular-eyed man asked.

Fusheng nodded. “Yes, he’s a Red-Garbed Guard, about fifteen or sixteen years old, moved here about a year ago.”

“A Red-Garbed Guard that young, yet with so much silver?” the triangular-eyed man remarked.

“He probably had some lucky encounter and came into a windfall,” said the other Fiend.

“Let’s do it,” Fusheng whispered, his eyes burning. If he dared not act against a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old Red-Garbed Guard, he might as well give up the trade.

Silently, the three vaulted over the wall into the courtyard. Although they hadn’t learned Lu Yan’s martial rank, how strong could a Red-Garbed Guard of fifteen or sixteen possibly be? No wonder he had been so cautious and disguised himself when buying provisions.