Martial Dao: I Can Enhance My Talents

Just as the group of six, seething with resentment, were lost in the vicious plan born of their despair—

BANG!

A dull, heavy bang echoed from the courtyard gate!

The heavy wooden door was suddenly blasted open from the outside with immense force. Amidst a shower of flying splinters, figures flooded silently into the courtyard like phantoms, instantly surrounding the small space until it was completely sealed off.

The two men leading them were none other than the grim-faced Elder Fang Yuan and the cold-eyed Fang Han!

Behind them were more than twenty elite Fang Family Martial Artists, their gazes sharp and their hands gripping their weapons.

Fang Han’s gaze, like two daggers of ice, instantly locked onto the six Lin Family members in the courtyard, their faces draining of color.

"Elder Lin Yuan, it’s been a while. I’m afraid you won’t have a chance to carry out your plan."

Fang Han’s voice was calm and devoid of ripples, yet it carried a bone-chilling coldness.

"Fang Han! Fang Yuan!"

Lin Yuan’s pupils shrank, the blood instantly draining from his face in utter terror.

’He had never imagined the Fang Family would find this place so quickly!’

Lin Jiao, Lin Ao, and the other three were scared witless, retreating instinctively to huddle together, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.

"Kill them! Leave no one alive!"

Fang Yuan wasted no words. Beneath his graying brows, his gaze was as sharp as an eagle’s as he gave the direct order.

Like cheetahs pouncing on their prey, the Fang Family Martial Artists instantly charged, moving in for the kill against the six Lin Family members.

"We’ll fight them to the death!"

Knowing he had no chance of survival, a desperate madness flashed in Lin Yuan’s eyes. With a roar, his Late Stage Ninth Grade Inner Qi erupted as he lunged at Elder Fang Yuan with a palm strike.

Lin Jiao, Lin Ao, and the others also screamed in despair as they tried to fight back.

However, the difference in their strength was too vast.

Fang Yuan was an Eighth Grade Martial Artist, giving him an absolute advantage against Lin Yuan, who was at the Late Stage of the Ninth Grade.

Within just a few moves, he shattered Lin Yuan’s defense with one palm and landed another heavily on his chest.

Lin Yuan spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and staggered backward, his eyes filled with horror.

Fang Han didn’t even make a move, merely watching the battlefield with cold detachment.

The Fang Family’s elite martial artists cut down Lin Jiao and the other four disciples—none of whom had surpassed the Bone Refining Realm—as easily as slicing through melons.

A series of screams rang out. Lin Jiao, Lin Hu, Lin Feng, and Lin Qing were cut down almost the instant the fight began.

Relying on a desperate ferocity, Lin Ao managed to dodge a slash, only to be run through the back of the heart by another Fang Family Martial Artist’s sword. He collapsed, dead.

Soon, only the heavily wounded Lin Yuan remained.

He stared at the five disciples who had been killed in an instant, his eyes brimming with despair and venomous hatred as he roared.

"Fang Family, I’ll be waiting for you in hell!"

A cold glint flashed in Fang Yuan’s eyes. Giving him no further chances, he flickered forward and precisely struck a vital point on his throat with one finger.

CRACK!

With a sharp crack, Lin Yuan’s roar was cut short. The light in his eyes rapidly faded, and his body slumped to the ground.

A dead silence swiftly descended upon the courtyard, leaving only the thick stench of blood to fill the air.

Fang Han slowly scanned the six corpses on the ground, including Lin Yuan’s. His expression was placid. The last lingering trace of worry in his heart had finally, completely vanished.

With the death of these last six Lin Family remnants, the hidden threat surrounding Zhao Qianjun’s death was now truly buried.

As the scent of blood hung in the air, Elder Fang Yuan’s gaze swept over the six corpses. His graying brows relaxed as he gave an order.

"Search the entire area carefully. The fortune the Lin Family moved should be hidden here."

The Fang Family guards answered in unison and immediately spread out, beginning to comb through the residence with meticulous care.

They tossed open chests and cabinets, tapped on walls, and inspected floor tiles... their movements swift and methodical.

After about the time it takes an incense stick to burn, a guard hurried out of the study in the Inner Hall. He came before Fang Yuan and Fang Han, cupped his fist, and reported.

"Elder, Young Master Han, there’s a wall in the study that sounds strange when tapped. It seems to be hollow, but we haven’t found any obvious mechanism."

Fang Yuan and Fang Han exchanged a glance, both seeing a spark of understanding in the other’s eyes.

"Let’s go see."

Fang Yuan led the way, with Fang Han following close behind as they entered the study.

The study was sparsely furnished, containing only a bookshelf, a desk, a chair, and a daybed.

The guard was standing before a plastered wall on the west side. Seeing them enter, he pointed to the wall and said, "It’s right here."

Elder Fang Yuan stepped forward, bent his fingers, and gently tapped various spots on the wall, leaning in to listen.

When he tapped a spot near the bookshelf, the sound was indeed somewhat hollow and muffled, distinctly different from the solid wall around it.

He carefully inspected the wall and its surroundings but found no protrusions, indentations, or rotatable ornaments that might be part of a mechanism.

"It seems the mechanism isn’t on the surface, or it’s extremely well-hidden."

Fang Yuan muttered thoughtfully, then his gaze sharpened.

"If we can’t find it, then there’s no need to search. We’ll just break it open!"

He motioned for the guard to step back, took a shallow breath, and circulated the powerful Inner Qi of his Eighth Grade Inner Qi Realm. A faint glow enveloped his right palm as he lightly pressed it against the hollow-sounding spot on the wall.

THUD!

With a muffled thud, the wall trembled slightly, and dust trickled down, but it didn’t crack.

Elder Fang Yuan’s brow furrowed slightly as he increased his Palm Force.

CRACK... BOOM!

The wall finally gave way. Cracks spiderwebbed out from the point of impact before the section caved inward, revealing a pitch-black opening.

A stale, musty odor wafted out from within.

A guard immediately fetched and lit an oil lamp. Its dim, yellow light pierced the opening, illuminating the scene inside.

It was a cramped secret chamber, large enough for only a few people to stand in. The floor was thick with dust, and there were no lavish decorations. In the very center of the chamber sat two wooden chests, one large and one small, placed neatly side by side.

The large chest was made of ordinary camphor wood, about three feet long and two feet wide and high, with a brass lock hanging from its hasp.

The smaller chest was crafted from red sandalwood, its workmanship far more exquisite. It was no more than a foot square and was also fastened with a small copper lock.

"Bring them out."

Elder Fang Yuan ordered.

Two guards stepped forward and carefully carried the two chests out of the secret chamber, placing them on the study floor.

"Open them."

Elder Fang Yuan said succinctly.

A guard swung his blade, precisely slicing off the brass lock, and lifted the lid of the larger camphor wood chest.

Instantly, a dazzling gleam of jewels and treasures filled their vision!

Neatly stacked inside the chest were gold and silver ingots, pearls of every color, and ornaments of agate and jadeite, all of which refracted the lamplight with a tempting gleam.

However, as Elder Fang Yuan and Fang Han scanned the valuables, they showed no signs of joy. Instead, their brows furrowed even tighter.

While the amount of gold and jewels was considerable, a rough estimate placed its value at around thirty to forty thousand taels of silver.

But this was a far cry from the great fortune the Lin Family was known to have spirited away.

’The assets the Lin Family moved couldn’t have been just this.’

Fang Han’s gaze then fell upon the smaller red sandalwood chest.

Understanding his unspoken command, the guard stepped forward, broke open the small lock in the same manner, and lifted the lid.

There was no dazzling gleam of jewels inside, only a thick, neatly arranged stack of paper documents.

Fang Han reached in, took one out, and unfolded it. His pupils constricted slightly.

This was no ordinary document, but a meticulously formatted land deed, stamped with the red seal of the Government Office and the seals of both parties involved!

The property it described was not in Liangshui City, but a three-courtyard residence in the west market of Celestial Wind City!

He quickly sifted through the documents beneath. One after another, they were all land deeds!

Shops, residences, warehouses, and even two small manors on the city’s outskirts... All told, there were more than twenty deeds. Without exception, the owners were listed as members of the Lin Family, and the purchase dates were all concentrated within the last six months.

All the properties listed on the deeds were located in or near Celestial Wind City!

"So that’s how it is..."

Fang Han slowly set down the deed, a flash of understanding in his eyes as he looked toward Elder Fang Yuan.

"The vast fortune that vanished from the Lin Family... this must be where it went."

Fang Yuan picked up several deeds and examined them carefully. His graying beard trembled slightly as he spoke in a solemn voice.

"To purchase so much property in Celestial Wind City... The Lin Family was preparing for a rainy day. They were ready to abandon their foundations in Liangshui City at a moment’s notice and move the entire clan to Celestial Wind City!"

Considering the Lin Family’s escalating conflicts with the Fang Family over the past year, and the fact that Lin Yuan and the other five had been sent away ahead of time, everything now made sense.

The Lin Family must have sensed the crisis long ago and had been secretly converting large amounts of liquid capital into real estate in Celestial Wind City in case of emergency.

If estimated at market value, this box of deeds was worth far more than the chest of gold and jewels—at least six to seven hundred thousand taels of silver!

Elder Fang Yuan pondered for a moment before looking at Fang Han.

"Fang Han, what do you make of these deeds?"

Fang Han considered for a moment before speaking.

"Elder Yuan, the Xiao Family’s help was crucial for us to successfully find Lin Yuan and his group. Both sentiment and logic dictate that we should show our appreciation."

"I propose we select a portion of these deeds to gift to the Xiao Family as thanks. The rest can be taken back to Liangshui City for the Patriarch to decide what to do with them."

Hearing this, Elder Fang Yuan stroked his beard and nodded.

"The Xiao Family’s favor must indeed be repaid generously. We’ll do as you say. Select a portion of the deeds as a thank-you gift."

The two immediately selected five deeds for large, well-located shops, their value accounting for about twenty percent of the total. They placed these in a wooden box they found, and the remaining deeds were carefully put back into the red sandalwood chest.

Naturally, they took the chest of gold and jewels as well.

After settling matters at the residence and ordering the guards to do a quick cleanup of the courtyard, the group returned to their inn to rest.

The next morning, Fang Han and Elder Fang Yuan visited the Xiao Mansion once again.

Inside the drawing room, the aroma of fragrant tea filled the air.

Upon hearing of their visit, Xiao Tiannan quickly appeared, a pleasant smile on his face.

"Nephew Fang, Elder Fang, did everything go smoothly yesterday?"

"Thank you for your concern, Patriarch Xiao. The Lin Family remnants have all been eliminated."

Fang Yuan said, cupping his fist.

"If not for Uncle Xiao’s generous assistance, we likely would have returned empty-handed, or even missed our opportunity altogether. The Fang Family will not forget this kindness."

Fang Han chimed in, his expression sincere.

As he spoke, he took the wooden box from a guard behind him and presented it with both hands.

"These are some land deeds we found at the Lin Family’s hideout, for properties here in Celestial Wind City. It’s just a small token to express our gratitude. I do hope Uncle Xiao won’t refuse it."

Xiao Tiannan’s gaze fell upon the wooden box, and a sharp, almost imperceptible glint flashed in his eyes.

With the Xiao Family’s power and intelligence network in Celestial Wind City, he naturally already knew that the Lin Family had recently been buying up property on a massive scale.

After helping the Fang Family locate their targets yesterday, he had anticipated they might make such a discovery.

What he valued at this moment was not the intrinsic worth of the deeds, but the Fang Family’s attitude in handling the matter.

If the Fang Family had found the deeds and then failed to mention his assistance or offer any gesture of thanks, while he wouldn’t have turned on them immediately, he would have certainly been disappointed. In the future, his dealings with the Fang Family would have become strictly business, and he might even have secretly distanced himself from them.

A family that doesn’t understand reciprocity and how to share the spoils is not one worth cultivating a deep relationship with.

But now, Fang Han and Elder Fang Yuan had come of their own accord, presenting valuable deeds as a thank-you gift. This tactful, sensible approach left him feeling quite satisfied.

The smile on his face grew more sincere. He didn’t reach for the box, but said instead,

"Oh? This... Nephew Fang, you’re too kind. The Xiao Family merely lent a small hand. There’s no need for such a generous gift."