Chapter 23: Brother Yuan, Brother Feng

Chapter 23: Chapter 23: Brother Yuan, Brother Feng

"I mean the other men in the Mu family, like Mu Lingyan’s younger brother, for example," Lu Yuan clarified. Mu Lingyan had already made her intentions clear to him.

"There weren’t any." Lin Siyao shook her head. "It was just Sister Mu and two other girls."

"Oh." Lu Yuan breathed a secret sigh of relief. It made sense; it was inappropriate for unmarried women to be in close contact with men outside their families. Unless it was a large-scale event organized by the royal family, there wouldn’t be mixed hunting events.

"Don’t worry, Brother Yuan. My heart only has room for you." Lin Siyao slightly lowered her head.

Lu Yuan chuckled, grabbing Lin Siyao’s hand and squeezing it tightly. "I believe you."

"Yaoyao, ask your parents and your little brother to come over for dinner later! Ayuan joined the Demon Suppression Bureau, so we’re having a celebration," Wei Huiling suddenly called out as she emerged from the kitchen.

"Ah? Brother Yuan joined the Demon Suppression Bureau?" Lin Siyao’s eyes widened in surprise.

Lu Yuan nodded. He had just been about to tell her, but he didn’t expect his mother to beat him to the punch.

"You’re so amazing, Brother Yuan!" Lin Siyao gave him a thumbs-up before looking toward Wei Huiling. "I’ll ask my mother and see if my father can come home a bit early."

For a joint family gathering, the men of both households had to be present, otherwise, it would be considered poor etiquette.

"Alright," Wei Huiling replied, turning back into the kitchen.

"Brother Yuan, how did you manage to join the Demon Suppression Bureau? Tell me!" Lin Siyao was extremely curious. She was quite familiar with the Bureau’s recruitment criteria, and she knew Lu Yuan even better.

"Haha, it was very simple..." Lu Yuan recounted the process once more.

"You’re so smart and incredible, Brother Yuan," Lin Siyao praised again. "But there must be more to it than that, right? Your strength seems to have grown by leaps and bounds..."

She could sense the shift in Lu Yuan’s aura. Even his physique seemed noticeably stronger.

"Yeah. I had an epiphany a couple of days ago, and things just seemed to click." Lu Yuan nodded. He hopped down from the wall and picked up his long saber.

"An epiphany!" Lin Siyao was taken aback.

How had she not known about this? She hadn’t heard a word of it, much less expected it. Still, she fully understood the significance—and the extreme rarity—of such an event.

"Watch!" Lu Yuan held up his saber and abruptly slashed forward with immense force!

SWISH SWISH SWISH—

Dozens of streams of Saber Qi manifested instantly, crisscrossing as they swept across a several-meter radius. The air itself seemed to be sliced open as the Saber Qi wove into a deadly net, leaving a series of deep gashes across the ground. These marks weren’t even made by the direct strikes, but rather plowed by the fierce winds carried along by the Saber Qi. The combination of moves was so profound that if faced head-on by someone with a similar Cultivation level, it would be almost impossible to counter with mere techniques.

Lin Siyao’s pupils slightly contracted. She had felt the change in Lu Yuan’s aura, but she never imagined his strength had skyrocketed to the point where he could unleash a strike like this. Was this Saber Technique even the Lu family’s Wind-Breaking Slash anymore? It was several times more vicious and intricate!

"Is this..."

SWISH—

Lu Yuan sheathed his saber and vaulted back onto the top of the wall. "During my epiphany, I upgraded the Wind-Breaking Slash into the Wind-Breaking Nine Slashes."

"The Wind-Breaking Nine Slashes! You’re amazing, Brother Yuan!" Lin Siyao marveled, her praise entirely genuine. Elevating a Cultivation Technique was no easy feat, let alone improving it by such a vast margin. It seemed this epiphany of his was truly no small matter.

"It’s alright. Once you’re able to cultivate, you’ll definitely be much stronger than me." Lu Yuan felt a bit conflicted. His moment of triumph as a prodigy was, after all, obtained because of Lin Siyao. She deserved credit for this.

"Me? I still have another year or two," Lin Siyao said, the brightness fading from her face.

"You’ll be better before you know it." Lu Yuan patted her hand.

"Mhm."

Lin Siyao stayed for a short while longer before heading home. She needed to ask her mother about dinner at the Lu family’s home.

"Your father isn’t coming back tonight," Song Yumeng replied simply. The implication was obvious: they couldn’t go to the Lu family’s home for dinner.

Lin Siyao felt a twinge of displeasure. "Brother Yuan joined the Demon Suppression Bureau."

Song Yumeng subtly raised an eyebrow. "Oh, that’s not bad. But it doesn’t prove anything."

"Brother Yuan is far more incredible than you imagine!" Lin Siyao grit her teeth.

"I haven’t seen it." Song Yumeng shot Lin Siyao a sidelong glance. "Tell him to prove it to us. Let’s see if he can break through to the Seventh Grade before the age of eighteen, and the Sixth Grade before twenty-five..."

"Didn’t my father only break through to the Sixth Grade when he was nearly thirty? Why are you holding Brother Yuan to such high standards?" Lin Siyao disagreed. After all, breaking through to the Sixth Grade was no simple task. The transition from the Seventh Grade to the Sixth Grade was the ultimate test of one’s comprehension.

"Are you seriously comparing him to your father?" Song Yumeng’s eyes widened slightly in disdain. "Your father is different. He possesses a rare Martial Arts Saint Body and practices a unique Cultivation Technique, which made his initial progress a bit slower. But even when he was at the Seventh Grade, he could suppress many Sixth Grade Martial Artists. Can your Brother Yuan do that?"

"You... well..." Lin Siyao was left speechless.

They really were different. Although she hadn’t started cultivating yet, she was well-read and had a crystal-clear understanding of the various realms of the Martial Dao. The Martial Dao was extraordinarily profound, with countless intricacies. Her father’s constitution was exceptional, and his Cultivation Technique was equally unique. It heavily prioritized foundational building in the early stages, slowing down his advancement, but it granted him strength far surpassing his peers. Furthermore, he would only grow stronger; his later progress would skyrocket unstoppably. In contrast, her Brother Yuan’s innate talent was severely lacking, and his Cultivation Technique was inferior. How could he possibly compare to her father?

"My Brother Yuan is definitely going to become a powerhouse in the future!"

"Mhm, I look forward to it." Song Yumeng remained completely composed. She genuinely wished Lu Yuan could become a powerhouse, but was it realistic? The Sixth Grade would likely be the absolute ceiling of his entire life.

"I’m skipping dinner!" Lin Siyao huffed angrily, spinning on her heel and storming out of the room.

"Heh." Song Yumeng shook her head faintly. Her Brother Feng’s Martial Dao was nearing completion; it wouldn’t be long before his name shook the entire world! As for Lu Yuan, even if he were given a hundred years, he wouldn’t be fit to touch her Brother Feng’s heels.

The Lin family didn’t show up, so the Lu family celebrated on their own. Upon receiving the news, Lu Ming had returned home early.

"Son, joining the Demon Suppression Bureau is insanely badass! You are the pride of Lu Ming, the pride of the Lu family!" Lu Ming was thrilled.

He had always hoped that Lu Yuan might join the Demon Suppression Bureau, but he assumed it would be at least two years from now, once the boy turned eighteen. But now, he wasn’t even sixteen yet... These were two completely different concepts! The implications for his strength and potential were night and day.

"Let’s drink to this!"

"I’m underaged. I can’t drink alcohol." Lu Yuan raised his teacup. "But I’ll join you with this."

"Good, haha!" Lu Ming downed his drink in one gulp. "Our Lu family is moving up in the world! The Lu family is going to produce a formidable powerhouse!"

"Hahaha, this is just the beginning! Your son will only get stronger from here on out. Seventh Grade, Sixth Grade, Fifth Grade... Once your son becomes a Third Grade powerhouse, won’t you be over the moon?" Lu Yuan laughed uproariously.

"Third Grade!" Lu Ming’s eyes bugged out. "If you can become a Third Grade powerhouse, I’ll host a banquet for the entire city for three days! I’ll completely renovate the Lu family’s ancestral graves and expand them tenfold! I’ll dedicate an entire page in the Lu family genealogy book just for you!"

SLAM—

Lu Yuan slapped his hand onto the table, his ambition soaring to the clouds. "One page isn’t enough! I want an entire book dedicated to me!"

"You little brat, you haven’t even become a powerhouse yet and you’re already thinking about splitting the family?" Lu Ming immediately jumped out of his seat.

"Hehe, I’m just joking, just joking." Lu Yuan hurriedly dodged away.

"Can you really joke about the family genealogy book? Be serious!" Lu Ming’s face turned stern, but in the very next second, he propped a foot onto his stool. "I’ll have someone forge it out of solid gold!"

***