Martial Sage from the Vajra Skill

Weiyuan Hall!

The Inner Courtyard Disciples gathered in small groups.

After Qiu Wenjie joined, Xu Yang’s small group had grown to five members, and they always practiced their fist techniques together.

"Do you guys know why Lu Ren didn’t come today?" Zhang Hong whispered.

Qiu Wenjie asked curiously, "Why?"

Xu Yang’s gaze swept across the Inner Courtyard, and only then did he realize that Lu Ren was indeed nowhere to be seen. A hint of curiosity appeared on his face as well.

Since Zhang Hong was bringing it up, something must have happened to Lu Ren.

"Speaking of which, isn’t Lu Ren supposed to be marrying that young lady from the Huang Family soon? Could he be getting married today?" Wu Yongfeng said.

But as soon as he said it, he felt that couldn’t be right.

If Lu Ren were getting married, even if he didn’t invite them, he would have invited others from the Inner Courtyard. Yet, the senior brothers and sisters who were close to him were all here.

Zhang Hong shook his head. "That young lady of the Huang Family was defiled by Jade Butterfly. How could Lu Ren possibly marry her? But the matter is related to this."

He lowered his voice. "Because Lu Ren was adamant about not marrying her, that young lady from the Huang Family hanged herself a few days ago. And then the Huang Family started feuding with him."

Zhang Yong and Xu Yang, who had both been sponsored by the Huang Family alongside Lu Ren, were momentarily at a loss for words.

You couldn’t exactly call Lu Ren ungrateful for this, because if it were them, they probably wouldn’t have been able to accept marrying someone like that either.

There was no talk of affection; it was just a bond of mutual interest. Where would any real feelings come from?

Zhang Hong continued, "The Huang Family accused Lu Ren of being ungrateful, while Lu Ren accused the Huang Family of disregarding his reputation. After several days of quarreling, they had a complete falling out yesterday. Lu Ren announced he would no longer be a Tributor for the Huang Family and moved out of the courtyard they had given him."

Xu Yang felt a bit wistful.

Back then, the Huang Family had only wanted Lu Ren. Even though the talent he displayed was by no means inferior to Lu Ren’s, the Huang Family had completely ignored him. He never expected this would be the outcome.

It was a situation where both sides lost.

Regardless of the reason, Lu Ren would inevitably be branded as ungrateful, while the Huang Family had lost a genius who could one day achieve the Martial Arts Ascension Dragon.

"So this is the genius you all treated like a priceless treasure? All that effort for nothing, wasn’t it?"

Zhang Yong still harbored resentment over the Huang Family’s unfairness and couldn’t help but feel a sense of schadenfreude.

Xu Yang frowned. "The Huang Family just let him leave like that?"

The great families of Qingyuan County weren’t just wealthy fools who relied solely on Tributor Martial Artists to prop them up. If that were the case, these great families would have been devoured whole by their Tributor Martial Artists long ago. They had their own experts within the clans.

As far as he knew, the Patriarch of the Huang Family was a master who had reached Qi Gathering Great Success. The Liu Family he served also had many experts of its own.

The reasons for hiring Tributor Martial Artists were, one, they didn’t have enough Martial Artists, and two, if you had money, you could pay others to risk their lives for you. Wouldn’t you be an idiot to risk your own life?

The wealthy were all about putting on a show. Other families had peasants risking their lives for them, but your family sent its own people into the fray? No one would even bother doing business with you.

Although Lu Ren was talented, he had yet to reach Great Success in Qi Gathering. If he thought he could just take what he got and leave without consequences, he was mistaken. The Huang Family was no benevolent household.

Zhang Hong said, "He found a backer in advance. He joined the Gu Family, the one Senior Sister Gu Fang belongs to. The Gu Family sent a master at Qi Gathering Great Success to negotiate with the Huang Family. The Huang Family is only just beginning to rise, so even if they were unwilling, they had no choice but to let Lu Ren go.

However, it’s said that he repaid the Huang Family double the value of the resources he received from them, so things didn’t get too ugly."

Xu Yang finally understood how Zhang Hong knew so much. Back when Jade Butterfly had visited the Gu Family, she was besieged by a group of their masters. Although she ultimately escaped with serious injuries, she had also killed some of the Gu Family’s Martial Artists.

Around that time, Zhang Hong had just successfully achieved Qi Gathering. Through Sun Tao’s arrangements, Zhang Hong became a Tributor Martial Artist for the Gu Family.

Xu Yang wasn’t in a position to judge the affair between Lu Ren and the Huang Family. He only knew the outcome, not the details of how things had unfolded.

But no matter what, Lu Ren had been sponsored by the Huang Family. Others would only see it as him wronging the Huang Family, and his reputation would surely suffer in the future.

’Lu Ren had probably long since intended to leave the Huang Family anyway; this incident was likely just the fuse.

After all, even for someone like him with an unpromising Root Bone, the Liu Family had been willing to offer such generous terms to entice him to marry into their family. The Huang Family only gave Lu Ren a stipend of fifteen taels. Lu Ren must have been dissatisfied for a long time.

The signs had been there for a while, visible in some of Lu Ren’s actions.

Although Luo Dehu had failed and left long ago, his influence on Lu Ren remained.’

Xu Yang had thought this matter had nothing to do with him. Unexpectedly, as dusk fell, his cousin Zhou Xia came looking for him. She summoned him to their uncle Zhou Shunchang’s house, where the matter of the Huang Family marrying their daughter to him was brought up once again.

Unlike last time, however, the Huang Family wasn’t trying to get something for nothing. As long as he was willing to marry her, the Huang Family would provide him with a monthly stipend of ten taels of silver to support his martial arts training.

Zhou Shunchang took a long drag from his dry pipe. After a moment of thought, Xu Yang said to him, "Uncle, please relay a message to the Huang Family for me. I am unwilling to form a marriage alliance, and I have no desire to get married at this time.

If the Huang Family requires my services, I can leave the Liu Family and become a Tributor for the Huang Family."

’He roughly understood the Huang Family’s intentions. Now that Lu Ren is gone, they want to turn around and bet on me instead.

But I’m already a Tributor for the Liu Family. They can’t afford to provoke a great family like the Liu Family by blatantly poaching me, so they can only try to establish a connection through marriage first.

That way, even if I leave the Liu Family in the future, the Liu Family won’t have a good excuse to make trouble for the Huang Family.’ So, he simply kicked the ball back into the Huang Family’s court to see if they dared to offend the Liu Family.

Zhou Shunchang nodded. "Alright!"

Xu Yang stayed and chatted with Zhou Shunchang for a while longer before heading home under the cover of night. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Not long after he left, Huang Jin emerged from the adjacent room.

"Fifth Master, you heard what Ah Yang said," Zhou Shunchang said in a low voice, continuing to smoke his pipe.

Huang Jin sighed. "I always felt that Lu Ren was arrogant and untamable. I feared he would be difficult for our Huang Family to control in the future. Unfortunately, Second Brother wouldn’t listen to my advice, and we needlessly missed out on Ah Yang."

Xu Yang was unwilling to marry into the family, and the Huang Family didn’t dare to poach someone from the Liu Family at this moment.

He had been optimistic about Xu Yang from the start, but had given up on him based on Huang Ping’s analysis.

"Let’s drop this matter. Please tell Ah Yang for me that it is my Huang Family that has wronged him."

After speaking, he turned and walked out into the wind and snow, his figure cutting a somewhat lonely silhouette.

...

’The heavy snow is about to seal the mountain!’

Xu Yang walked through the open wilderness. The snow falling between heaven and earth grew heavier, already reaching nearly to his calves.

It was currently the Hour of Xu, approaching the Hour of Hai, but because the snow was so thick, there was still a bright glow in his field of vision.

He circulated his blood and qi, resisting the cold wind, and a cloud of hot steam rose from his body as if he were a steamer basket.

Though he wore only a single layer of clothing, he didn’t feel the cold. At his current level of cultivation, while he wasn’t yet impervious to heat and cold, withstanding the wind and snow for a while was not a problem.

"Hm?"

He suddenly sensed something strange—the faint sound of a heartbeat.

’Someone is nearby, and they’re extremely close.

Otherwise, even with my senses enhanced by reaching Qi Gathering Minor Achievement, it would be difficult to hear another person’s heartbeat under normal circumstances.

I can only hear a heartbeat, but no breathing. It can’t be someone who collapsed in the storm and was covered by the snow. It has to be an ambush; they’re holding their breath.’

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Xu Yang’s steps faltered slightly, and the snow beside him exploded with a BANG.