Chapter 10: Prominent Family, Rejected

Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Prominent Family, Rejected

After eating, the two continued their sparring session.

[Your former brother-in-law is enjoying the thrill of playing you for a fool. He humiliates you once again, claiming you are worse than a dog.]

[Quest Issued: Desperate Counterattack 2. You must break through Lin Siheng’s defense and land a single blow to show him you are not a piece of trash. Reward: 500 Experience Points. The use of Indomitable Will is strictly prohibited.]

Lu Yuan’s lips curled into a slight smile.

Experience Points. Not bad at all.

"Lu Yuan, you aren’t allowed to fight back," Lin Siheng said. "I’m the only one who gets to hit you. You can’t hit me."

"Are you treating me like a punching bag?" Lu Yuan’s eyes twitched. "I can’t withstand a fierce beating from your little fists."

"Heh heh." Lin Siheng smiled smugly. "You can block with your hands! It’ll help you practice Force Release and Transforming Force."

Lu Yuan grumbled inwardly, "Practicing Force Release and Transforming Force? This little brat is wicked."

He had yet to cultivate Gang Qi.

Without Gang Qi protecting his body, forcefully attempting Force Release or Transforming Force would be excruciatingly painful. It was entirely normal to sustain injuries from doing so.

"We can try, but you are only allowed to use half your strength."

"Deal," Lin Siheng agreed readily.

"Then let’s begin." Lu Yuan spread his hands and assumed a fighting stance.

"Take this!"

BAM BAM BAM!

SMACK!

"Lu Yuan, we agreed you wouldn’t fight back!" Lin Siheng cried out, covering his face.

"And we agreed you’d only use half your strength!" Lu Yuan retorted self-righteously.

"My strength has grown recently! I’ve gotten stronger!" Lin Siheng argued.

"I haven’t mastered my Martial Arts yet, so I lost control a little," Lu Yuan said with a shrug.

"You’re cheating!"

"Are we going to keep going or not?"

"Bring it on! Let’s continue!"

BAM!

SMACK!

"I—"

SMACK!

"You—"

A quarter of an hour later, the two ended their sparring session.

Lin Siheng’s cheeks were red and swollen, and so were Lu Yuan’s hands. Both of them sat on the ground, gasping for air.

"Lu Yuan, you’re so mean! You fight dirty!"

"Nonsense! You’re the one who’s overly cunning! I am as pure as a little white flower."

"My sister will definitely be bullied by you in the future."

"Bullshit! You should say that in the future, I will be the only one who can protect her properly!"

"Does my second sister even need your protection? In less than half a year, I will definitely be able to defeat you!"

"Heh, I’d wait ten years for that."

"Who are you looking down on? Half a year at most! No, three months!"

"The loser has to bark like a dog!"

"Deal!"

[Congratulations on completing the quest. Your reward of 500 Experience Points has been deposited.]

Lu Yuan thought without hesitation, "Put it all into the Cyan Gang Fist!"

Three hundred plus five hundred made a total of eight hundred points. The stronger his Cyan Gang Fist became, the better the effects of tempering his body and True Qi would be, allowing his Cultivation to grow faster.

[Martial Arts: Cyan Gang Fist (Mastery 3059/5000), Wind-Breaking Nine Slashes (Mastery 4834/10000)]

Lu Yuan took a glance and felt very satisfied.

He was only two thousand Experience Points away from reaching full completion with the Cyan Gang Fist. It would only take a few days. Once that happened, everything would change. With the aid of a Pill, he could quickly condense his Gang Qi and break through to the Eighth Grade.

However, a single Pill cost at least several dozen to a hundred taels of silver.

"Go back home and play. I have something to do and need to head out for a bit," Lu Yuan said, standing up and tucking a blade into his waistband.

"To do what? Where are you going?" Lin Siheng hurriedly pressed.

"Kids shouldn’t ask questions they have no business asking." Lu Yuan didn’t even look back.

"Hmph! Just wait until my Martial Arts surpass yours..." Lin Siheng gritted his teeth and returned to the Lin Family.

He was still young now. Once he grew a bit older and his strength improved, he would be able to go out and play by himself.

After leaving the Lu Residence, Lu Yuan headed straight for the East Office of the Demon Suppression Bureau.

The Jade Capital was the central hub of the Daqian Dynasty. While it teemed with countless powerful experts, it was also crawling with demons, monsters, and ghosts. Trying to make a living out there without a Protective Talisman and recklessly drawing attention to oneself was a surefire way to disappear without a trace. Because of this, Lu Yuan wanted to secure a position within the Demon Suppression Bureau to use as his shield.

Although the Demon Suppression Bureau only recruited Martial Artists at the Eighth Grade and above, they were known to make exceptions and nurture those who displayed exceptional talent and potential. However, their standards were incredibly stringent.

Lu Yuan wasn’t entirely confident, so he decided to come over first to gather some information. If he could find an NPC to farm some Experience Points from, that would be even better.

The East Office of the Demon Suppression Bureau wasn’t far from the Lu Family, only about seven or eight miles away.

Traveling on foot, it took Lu Yuan less than half an hour to arrive.

It was a sprawling, undulating complex of cyan-black buildings stretching hundreds of meters in every direction, resembling a massive, man-eating beast. The main entrance was towering and majestic.

Naturally, Lu Yuan certainly didn’t have the qualifications to enter through the main gates.

"Hyah! Hyah! Get out of the way!"

Suddenly, a luxurious carriage careened around the intersection and charged aggressively straight toward the main gates. Everyone scrambled to step aside.

SWISH!

Lu Yuan was naturally no exception.

"Mu!"

Lu Yuan caught sight of the clan emblem emblazoned on the carriage. It belonged to the Mu Family, the lineage of the Marquis Weiyuan of Dongzhen—one of the Eight Great Marquis’s Mansions! The Mu Family was indisputably one of the top-tier noble clans in the Daqian Dynasty.

Lu Yuan thought, "Someone from the Mu Family is in the East Office of the Demon Suppression Bureau."

His eyes flickered as he watched a teenager step down from the carriage and stride through the main gates. Just from a brief profile view, the boy’s spirit and vitality felt entirely different from ordinary people.

Lu Yuan judged, "He is at least an Eighth Grade!"

A fourteen or fifteen-year-old at the Eighth Grade was considered powerful even among the wealthy noble clans; he was an absolute prodigy.

Lu Yuan didn’t stare for long and quickly made his way to the east side gate.

The courtyard walls here were over ten feet high, and the heavy doors were tightly shut.

KNOCK KNOCK!

Lu Yuan stepped forward and rapped on the wood.

"Who is it? At this hour?" an elderly voice called out, laced with a hint of impatience.

CREAK.

The gate cracked open, revealing a grizzled head that barely reached the height of the latch.

The man appeared to be in his sixties. He had a goatee tied at the end with a thin string, and his gray hair was combed impeccably. His overall appearance was very plain and neat. Upon closer inspection, one would realize that while the proportions of his upper body were normal, he abruptly lacked anything below his knees.

"Who are you?"

The legless old man stared blankly at Lu Yuan before his eyebrows instantly shot up in a fierce scowl. "Do you have any idea what this place is? How dare you knock on our door so casually?"

He had assumed it was some little brat trying to be slick and take a shortcut, only to find an unfamiliar young man standing there.

"My name is Lu Yuan. I’m the son of Lu Ming, the Chief Constable of the Zhenq Area Government Office. I came here today because I want to participate in the assessment and join the Demon Suppression Bureau," Lu Yuan hurriedly introduced himself and stated his purpose.

"Today isn’t a recruitment assessment day, so why are you here causing a mess? Besides, your Cultivation hasn’t even reached the Eighth Grade! What are you joining the fun for? Get lost, get lost, get lost!"

The old man’s scowl deepened as he directly shooed him away, before forcefully slamming the gate shut with a loud BANG.

Lu Yuan was left speechless. He already knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he hadn’t expected to be rejected so bluntly.

The man hadn’t even given him a chance to prove himself.

Still, the blame lay with Old Lu’s incompetence; the reputation of a Six Gates Chief Constable was simply too insignificant. If Old Lu were a Marquis...

[It’s easy to enjoy the shade under a great tree, and it’s easier to cultivate within the Six Gates. To rise to power quickly, you must join a major faction.]

[Quest Issued: Re-enter the Demon Suppression Bureau. Start from the bottom as a lowly foot soldier. Reward: 5 points of Root Bone and 3000 Experience Points.]

Lu Yuan thought in surprise, "Five points of Root Bone! Three thousand Experience Points!"

The rewards were remarkably generous, and it was a double bounty at that. The difficulty level clearly wouldn’t be low.

But how was he supposed to join the Demon Suppression Bureau?

At present, Lu Yuan’s Cultivation was insufficient; he couldn’t meet the basic requirements. He would have to resort to alternative methods.

One approach would be to drop the name of his prospective father-in-law, Lin Qingfeng, a Fifth-Grade Captain. That might earn him a little preferential treatment.

But it could just as easily invite trouble. Since the Demon Suppression Bureau and the Demon-slaying Bureau shared many overlapping grey areas, conflicts between the two were frequent. It was highly possible he might run into one of Lin Qingfeng’s rivals or enemies, which would ultimately backfire and ruin his plans.

The other approach was to catch the eye of an important figure within the Demon Suppression Bureau itself.

However, he didn’t know a single person inside the Bureau.

Wait, no. There was one...