Chapter 8 - 7: The Eight Trigrams Furnace Proves Its Worth

Chapter 8: Chapter 7: The Eight Trigrams Furnace Proves Its Worth

After listening to Lu Huaichuan, Lu Huaiqian’s face abruptly darkened. He unconsciously tapped his knuckles on the desk a couple of times.

In recent days, he had already considered several possible suspects.

But he had never once included the Lin Family among them.

Lu Huaiqian felt he had treated the Lin Family generously.

If not for the Lu Family’s support, both overt and covert, the Lin Family could never have amassed such wealth in Yin Mountain County.

And it was for this very reason that the Lin Family had been relentlessly pursuing the shortcut of a marriage alliance.

It was just that Lu Jing’an had little interest in that Miss Lin.

That daughter of the Lin Family, who had returned from studying abroad, had also repeatedly refused.

So Lu Huaiqian had never agreed.

Though no marriage was formed, he had never once lessened the support he provided them.

Who would have thought that what he got in return was a knife in the back.

He was silent for a long moment, a cold light flickering in his eyes. Finally, he said in a low voice, "The Lin Family... For now, we do nothing.

On their own, they couldn’t have caused such a stir.

We’ll wait for the true mastermind to reveal themselves."

Lu Huaichuan understood and nodded solemnly. "Understood, Brother."

...

The sun shone brightly in the courtyard.

Lu Jing’an meticulously completed the discipleship ceremony.

In his hand was an extra piece of Soft Armor, cool to the touch, and he could hardly contain his joy.

After the servants cleared away the incense table and other items, Chen Xuan asked in a gentle voice:

"Young Master, your Pile Skill has already reached the Entry Level. It’s time to practice some moves.

I wonder if there’s anything in particular you’d like to learn, Young Master?"

Lu Jing’an’s mind stirred. He suppressed his delight and replied respectfully, "I will leave it all to you, Teacher."

Chen Xuan pondered for a moment, then said, "I have some experience with Fist Skills. Let me teach you that first."

Hearing this, Lu Jing’an’s heart warmed.

For Chen Xuan to say this meant he truly saw him as a disciple and intended to teach him everything he knew.

As for the phrase "some experience," it was merely a humble expression.

He had personally seen the red entry [Master of Boxing]. How could that be just "some experience"?

Though he was excited, his expression remained calm. He only replied steadily, "Yes. Jing’an will listen to you, Teacher."

"Rest for today, Young Master. I will go and make some preparations.

We will officially begin Practicing Boxing tomorrow morning."

"Alright."

Lu Jing’an nodded, then added,

"Master, you watched me grow up. From now on, just call me Jing’an."

But Chen Xuan still shook his head slightly, saying, "It is more appropriate to call you Young Master."

Lu Jing’an knew this was his personality, so he didn’t insist.

’It’s just a title. The sentiment is what matters.’

Returning to his room, he dismissed his attendants.

Only then did Lu Jing’an eagerly begin to study the previous notification.

After some exploring, he finally understood.

The notification was about the long-silent Eight Trigrams Furnace.

With a thought, the golden thread Soft Armor in his hands vanished into thin air.

The next moment, he could clearly see it floating quietly inside the Eight Trigrams Furnace in his consciousness.

Two options appeared with it: [Refining] or [Repair].

If he chose Refining, the physical item would disappear.

It would be converted into the entry it contained.

If it had no entry, it would be converted into pure [Energy Points].

And if he chose Repair,

he would need to gather the required materials according to the prompt.

Then, with the help of Energy Points, he could restore the item to its original state, or even make it better than before.

For example, this Soft Armor required a five-foot-long piece of Centennial Python Skin and ten feet of golden thread to be repaired.

After a successful repair, its defensive power would double.

Right now, Refining was out of the question. He urgently needed this Soft Armor for protection.

As for repairing it, he lacked the materials, so he could only put the idea aside for now.

’Why didn’t the Eight Trigrams Furnace react when I consumed the Centennial Wild Ginseng before?’

After a moment’s thought, Lu Jing’an figured it out.

He hadn’t used a whole root at the time.

’Verifying it would be simple.’

Centennial Wild Ginseng was rare, but for the Lu Family, obtaining it was not a difficult task.

Lu Jing’an immediately got up and went straight to find his father, Lu Huaiqian.

Inside the study, both Lu Huaiqian and Lu Huaichuan were present.

After greeting them with a bow, Lu Jing’an stated his purpose directly.

The excuse was naturally that he needed it as a supplement for his martial arts training, which wasn’t a complete lie.

Before Lu Huaiqian could speak, Lu Huaichuan readily agreed:

"That’s easy. I’ll have someone send one to you later."

This was the advantage of being in a prominent family.

Resources were readily available, saving him countless troubles.

"Thank you, Second Uncle." Lu Jing’an expressed his gratitude, then took the opportunity to ask about the progress of the assassination case.

Lu Huaichuan glanced at his elder brother and saw that he had no intention of stopping him.

So he recounted the current situation in detail to Lu Jing’an, including their suspicions about the Lin Family.

Finally, he asked tentatively, "Jing’an, out of consideration for Miss Lin, should we...?"

"The Lin Family?"

The image of a woman in foreign-style clothes, who always mentioned Europe and had a hint of arrogance in her eyes, immediately appeared in Lu Jing’an’s mind.

Lu Jing’an hadn’t liked that kind of person before, and he didn’t like her now.

Therefore, his Second Uncle’s question about letting the Lin Family off the hook was a non-starter for him.

"Second Uncle, there must be someone else backing the Lin Family. We can let them be for now."

"As for the reason for letting them go, we can do as you suggested. Say that I’m temporarily sparing the Lin Family for Miss Lin’s sake."

"That way, they’re bound to lower their guard."

"And the more relaxed they are, the more likely they are to expose themselves."

After hearing this, Lu Huaichuan nodded again and again.

"Brother, Jing’an is becoming more and more capable of standing on his own," Lu Huaichuan said excitedly to Lu Huaiqian.

Lu Huaiqian’s expression remained stern. He didn’t respond to the comment, only saying to Lu Jing’an in a deep voice:

"Now that you have a master, you must respect him and your training. Work hard and don’t be lazy."

"I will remember your teachings, Father."

Lu Jing’an replied respectfully, then added:

"Father, if that Nine-fingered Yama is killed or captured, can I go see him?"

Lu Huaiqian assumed he was driven by hatred from the assassination attempt and wanted to see his enemy brought to justice with his own eyes, so he gave it little thought and nodded his approval.

That night, a complete, high-quality Centennial Wild Ginseng was delivered to Lu Jing’an’s room.

Holding the whole ginseng root, the familiar notification indeed appeared again.

This time, Lu Jing’an looked closely at the [Repair] conditions.

Lu Jing’an was somewhat surprised.

The repair condition was that it required another Centennial Wild Ginseng.

It also required Spiritual Spring Water and Five-Colored Soil.

"Using one Centennial Wild Ginseng to repair another Centennial Wild Ginseng... that’s pretty abstract."

Just as Lu Jing’an finished muttering to himself, he froze.

’No, that’s not right. This repair isn’t about making it more perfect.’

’It’s a qualitative upgrade.’

’So after the repair, it’s highly likely a Centennial Wild Ginseng will become a two-hundred-year-old wild ginseng!’

’If that’s the case, the significance is completely different.’

’This isn’t just about adding another hundred years.’

’The increase in medicinal efficacy definitely won’t be just double.’

The more Lu Jing’an thought about it, the more he felt his speculation was correct.

If that were true, the increase in value would be far more than double!

The medicinal effects would be worlds apart.

It’s just that he’d never heard of Spiritual Spring or Five-Colored Soil, so he could only search for them slowly in the future.

For now, Lu Jing’an decided to try [Refining] first.

With a thought, the wild ginseng in his hand suddenly disappeared.

[Refining. Estimated time to completion: 1 hour.]

An hour later, with a clear "DING," a new notification appeared:

[Refining complete. Obtained Energy Point: 1.]

When he checked his attribute panel again, it had indeed changed.

Plus signs had appeared after Attack, Defense, and Spirit.

In the Cultivation Technique section, a plus sign had also appeared after Earth Posture.

This meant Lu Jing’an could use this Energy Point directly on his Cultivation Technique.

What Lu Jing’an found most incredible was that a plus sign had also appeared after the entry.

This Energy Point could also be used on an entry to directly change its quality.

However, the plus sign after the entry was currently grayed out.

This meant that 1 Energy Point was not enough to change the entry’s quality.

He would need more.

Although he couldn’t improve the quality right away, Lu Jing’an was extremely satisfied with this discovery.

"I thought you’d be the most useless, but you turned out to be the most promising."

The Eight Trigrams Furnace had been silent all this time.

’Based on experience, I originally guessed that the Eight Trigrams Furnace was probably for refining the energy from various foods or something similar.’

’Now it seems I’ve still underestimated its full potential.’

Lu Jing’an wasn’t in a hurry to assign his point.

There was no life-or-death crisis at the moment.

Nor had he reached a bottleneck in his Martial Arts.

So, he would definitely save up his Energy Points for now and use them only when he truly needed to.