Chapter 36: Finally, There Are Results

Lu Yan began to consider the truth of what Fu Sheng had said, and ultimately concluded that it was likely true, though not some great secret unknown to the world. After all, the Wei clan had always wanted to destroy the two great noble families of Changfeng City—or, if not destroy, at least weaken them.

In Lian'an County, where the Wei clan held sway, many Marquis-level noble families resided. On the surface, they fell under the Wei clan’s jurisdiction, but in reality, they functioned with complete autonomy. Within their own domains, they possessed the power over life and death, the authority to establish laws, and their only obligation was the annual tribute to the Wei clan.

Very few Marquis-level noble families truly obeyed the Wei clan. The Liu and Wu families of Changfeng City were even more unique: two noble families in one city, mortal rivals in peacetime, constantly vying for resources and territory, each wishing to wipe out the other and claim sole dominion over Changfeng City and its two bloodline veins.

Yet, whenever an external enemy invaded, the two families would immediately unite, fighting side by side. In recent years, both families had grown ever stronger, naturally drawing the Wei clan’s suspicion—a fact the upper echelons of the Liu and Wu families surely understood.

But for the Wei clan to eradicate the Liu and Wu families would not be easy either, for the Wei clan had deadly rivals of its own. Should it lose men in Changfeng City, its enemies would hardly miss the opportunity to strike.

Once these things became clear to him, Lu Yan ceased to dwell on the matter. In these turbulent times, war raged everywhere. Even if he left Changfeng City for another, he would still face chaos and peril—there was simply no escape.

The only thing he could do was to quickly raise his own strength.

Shrouded in the deep of night, Lu Yan hefted three corpses onto his shoulders, found a secluded, abandoned old house, and tossed them down a dry well, settling the matter. Returning home, he washed the bloodstains away and went back to his room to rest.

The next day, as usual, Lu Yan reported for duty with the Scarlet Guards, behaving as though nothing had happened.

Three days passed in the blink of an eye.

The deputy captain of the Linglan Merchant Guild’s escort team had not reported for duty in three days, nor was he at home—anyone could see something had gone wrong.

The chief steward of the Linglan Merchant Guild personally came to Fu Sheng’s home to inquire.

“When did you last see Fu Sheng?” the chief steward asked the butler of Fu Sheng’s household.

“Three evenings ago, sir. The master said he was going out on some business, but to think that once he left, he never returned...” The butler sighed.

“Did he show any unusual behavior before leaving?” asked the chief steward.

“Unusual?” The butler thought carefully for a moment. “If anything was out of the ordinary, it’s that the master took the Scent-Seeking Swallow with him this time. But later, the swallow returned by itself, yet the master did not.”

“The Scent-Seeking Swallow... three days ago...” A figure flashed through the chief steward’s mind—someone who had purchased a hundred catties of Martial Provisions all at once that very day.

With his wealth of experience, the chief steward immediately understood what had transpired.

“Fu Sheng grew greedy and kicked a steel plate.”

“How bold—if everyone in my Linglan Merchant Guild acted like this, how could our business survive?” A killing intent flickered in the chief steward’s eyes. He summoned a subordinate and ordered, “Send men to place Fu Sheng’s family under guard, and then call together every member of the escort team. I’ll execute a public punishment, make an example for all. Let’s see who dares try this again.”

“Yes, sir!” The butler, terrified, broke out in a cold sweat and dared not move a muscle.

“Don’t worry, you’re not Fu Sheng’s kin, I won’t trouble you. Now, where is the Scent-Seeking Swallow?”

“At once, sir, I’ll take you there immediately...” The butler nodded obsequiously and led the way, soon placing the Scent-Seeking Swallow into the chief steward’s hands.

“Fu Sheng deserved death, but he was cowardly and fearful for his life—who knows what secrets he might have spilled to survive? Therefore, we must find the person Fu Sheng was seeking.”

A cold gleam flashed in the chief steward’s eyes. He gently whistled, setting the Scent-Seeking Swallow off to lead the way.

...

“Where did I go wrong? Wait—the Martial Provision Jerky! Why didn’t I think of that?” Patrolling the streets, Lu Yan’s eyes suddenly brightened.

These past days, he’d been puzzling over how Fu Sheng had managed to find him, certain that he hadn’t been followed at the time. The more he thought about it, the more his mind turned to the Martial Provision Jerky.

He’d always focused on being followed, overlooking the jerky itself. If something had been done to the jerky to make it traceable—well, on his previous world, Earth, a simple tracking device would suffice. This world didn’t have such advanced technology, but in a world of extraordinary martial arts, it was entirely plausible there were special methods.

Lu Yan promptly found an excuse to consult with Wang Lin, hurried home, and carefully examined the remaining Martial Provision Jerky.

Sure enough, he found something unusual on one piece. It bore a dried patch, as if a thick liquid had been smeared on and allowed to dry. Held to his nose, it exuded a faint, fresh fragrance. None of the other pieces had this mark.

“This is it,” Lu Yan concluded. He drew a small knife, cut away the marked patch along with a piece of jerky, then left his house and threw it into a filthy ditch.

Half an hour later, the chief steward of the Linglan Merchant Guild stood in a daze before the stinking ditch.

...

By the time the hundred catties of Martial Provision Jerky were gone, two months had passed.

His progress with the Diamond Body technique advanced steadily, breaking through barrier after barrier, reaching 92% Mastery—just short of the Pinnacle.

Without the jerky, the Martial Provisions issued by the Scarlet Guards every four days, combined with his infrequent visits to the Martial Guest Hall, were far from enough to sustain his cultivation.

But returning to the Linglan Merchant Guild for more jerky was out of the question. Fu Sheng’s disappearance was bound to alarm the chief steward—an old hand like him would easily deduce Fu Sheng’s greed.

If he went back, wouldn’t he be watched? Even in disguise, it wouldn’t be safe.

Yet without the jerky, his cultivation would crawl like a snail.

He soon thought of a solution.

He had members of the Green Bamboo Gang buy Martial Provision Jerky in small batches from the Linglan Merchant Guild—each person buying just a catty or two at a time, drawing no attention and with little risk of the silver being pocketed by the gang.

In this way, seven days later, his Diamond Body technique finally broke through to the Pinnacle, unlocking 288 secondary meridians.

The meridian locations unlocked by Diamond Body differed from those of Iron Thread Fist or Six Harmonies Kick. The latter focused on the hands or feet, but Diamond Body’s meridians were distributed evenly throughout the body.

As more meridians opened, the rate at which he accumulated vital energy increased—slowly but surely, he drew ever closer to the third breakthrough’s peak.

However, after reaching the Pinnacle, progress slowed dramatically. A single catty of fresh Martial Provisions now only advanced his training by 0.3125%.

To ascend to Transcendence would require over three hundred catties of fresh Martial Provisions, or more than one hundred fifty catties of jerky.

So, two months later, as his silver notes dwindled to nothing, his Diamond Fist technique had only reached 70% of the Pinnacle—still a long way from Transcendence.

All his possessions now amounted to less than three hundred taels, even counting his monthly salary as a Scarlet Guard.

At this point, forget Martial Provision Jerky—he could scarcely afford even a trip to the Martial Guest Hall.

Lu Yan was helpless and could only slow his cultivation.

Fortunately, before long, a sum of money would come in from the Green Bamboo Gang to support him.

Ten more days passed this way, then Li Quan delivered another batch of a dozen or so ancient relics.

Lu Yan had no particular hopes. He picked them up idly to inspect, but suddenly, his face brightened with joy.

At last, the Dao Tome reacted—it flickered and shimmered.

Lu Yan examined each artifact in turn, finally identifying a square, fist-sized bronze block as the source of the Dao Tome’s hunger.

“After all this time, I’ve finally found a Dao Food.”

He was elated. Since taking charge of the Green Bamboo Gang, Li Quan had brought him batches of collected relics each month, but the Dao Tome had never reacted—until now.

“There really is no pattern to it,” Lu Yan mused, scrutinizing the bronze block.

It was carved with ancient patterns—images of some living beings, though time and the elements had rendered them indistinct.

It bore no resemblance to the stone fragment or the round sphere he’d acquired before.

Focusing his mind, he summoned the Dao Tome’s shadow, which devoured the square bronze block, making it vanish.

The Diamond Body avatar immediately began cultivating, its form enveloped in an extraordinary radiance.

The progress bar soared rapidly to 100% Pinnacle, then broke through to the Realm of Transcendence.

It continued rising until reaching 12% of Transcendence, then halted.

“The energy contained is greater than last time’s stone fragment,” Lu Yan estimated.

Though the improvement seemed less than before, the last upgrade had been for a third-rate martial art, while this time it was a second-rate technique, which required many times more energy.