Chapter 143 - 131: Strange Noises in the Deep Night_1

Lu Yan purchased ten pounds of second-tier Martial Food and fifty pounds of first-tier Martial Food, then returned to his lodging.

For martial artists like them from other regions, there wasn’t much to do when the monsters and evils weren’t trying to break into the city.

The Zhao Clan was in charge of city patrols.

As foreign martial artists, they were here to assist. If they were also assigned patrol duties, probably some people would have started complaining.

With Martial Food bags in hand, he headed towards the tofu seller’s house.

As he neared the entrance, he saw a beautiful woman walking out from next door to the tofu seller’s house.

The woman was wearing a loose robe that hid her figure, but she had fair and smooth skin like a baby’s, large eyes, a straight nose, and full red lips. Combined, these traits gave her a charming appearance.

Lu Yan couldn’t help but take a few extra glances.

The tofu seller’s house was adjacent to other residences; in fact, they even shared a common wall.

This woman lived right next to the tofu seller’s house.

As the woman walked towards him, she briefly glanced at Lu Yan, then walked past him, leaving behind a faint fragrance.

"She’s definitely the kind of woman that could make a man go wrong," Lu Yan thought to himself.

With a slight smile, Lu Yan entered the gate.

After the gate, the little head of the tofu seller’s daughter appeared. She blinked her eyes and said, "Uncle, don’t mess with that aunt. I heard she is fierce. She rents Uncle Wang’s house next door but drove his family out, occupying such a big house all by herself."

"Alright, I understand," Lu Yan replied with a smile, patting the child’s small head.

"Uncle, my mom has made dinner and was about to invite you for a taste. I couldn’t find you just now, would you like to join us?"

"You better come, or my dad will blame me again..."

The little girl was shy around Lu Yan at first. After interacting with him for a while, she started chattering, which was quite adorable.

"Alright, let me put my stuff down, and I will go with you," Lu Yan responded with a smile.

After returning to his room and placing the Martial Food down, he went to the living room with the tofu seller’s daughter.

There were seven or eight dishes on the table. They included fish and meat, but tofu was the main dish.

Fried tofu, pan-fried tofu, braised tofu...

"Mr. Lu, these are all homemade dishes. If you don’t mind, have a drink," said Zhou Xiang respectfully.

"Please don’t call me ’sir’ anymore. Just call me Brother Lu," said Lu Yan as he sat down.

As his disguised age was in his thirties, he appeared a bit older than Zhou Xiang.

"Then I hope I’m not overstepping. Brother Lu, cheers," Zhou Xiang replied, pouring a bowl of wine for Lu Yan.

"Tofu, you guys should also join us," Lu Yan said, seeing Tofu and her mother standing on the side and gazing at them eagerly.

"Since Brother Lu said so, let’s eat together," Zhou Xiang added.

"Yay!" Tofu was cheered and rapidly climbed onto the bench, her eyes shining at the meat on the plate.

Lu Yan smiled and put several big chunks of meat into Tofu’s bowl.

"Thank you, uncle," Tofu said, her eyes squinting with joy as she swiftly started eating, oil staining her mouth.

Lu Yan picked up a piece of tofu and tasted it.

Without a doubt, Tofu’s mother was a good cook, especially when it came to preparing tofu--she had achieved mastery.

Used to eating Martial Food, Lu Yan found it quite enjoyable to taste such culinary artistry.

After the meal, he became a lot closer to Tofu’s family.

Returning to his room after dinner, Lu Yan started contemplating the direction of his future cultivation, mainly in terms of martial arts.

Since his cultivation level was fundamental, it mustn’t be neglected.

At present, there were three first-class Martial Arts Avatars awaiting enhancement in the Dao Book.

He also had five second-class archery martial arts skills.

After pondering on it, he decided to first enhance his Cloud Walk.

He already possessed three first-class martial arts skills attaining Unity of Man and Martial Arts, plus the Vajra Indestructible Skill served both offense and defense, which was presently sufficient.

Only his body movement skill was a bit lacking.

Compared to average Martial Marquises Level One, his body movement skill was adequate, but as his cultivation level was improving, he would inevitably encounter stronger opponents in the future, possibly Martial Marquises Level Five or even Inner Strength Masters.

The first priority was to ensure he could escape potential danger.

He would first enhance his Cloud Walk, then focus on his archery martial arts, striving to master a first-class archery martial art as soon as possible.

Having set his direction, he began to eat the second-tier Martial Food.

Before long, the avatar for Cloud Walk started to cultivate. It flickered within his sea of consciousness as if walking within the clouds.

The progress of Cloud Walk slowly began to improve.

"This is slow. At this rate, it will take at least ten months to reach Unity of Man and Martial Arts. Dao Food is much more enjoyable. Like last time, when I found a piece of finger bone..." Lu Yan continued to think of the finger bone he found last time. After the Dao Book consumed it, the progress of his first-class martial arts soared like a rocket.

It had reached Unity of Man and Martial Arts in just over a day.

Compared to that, the current speed was as slow as a snail’s pace.

"Lingwang City, a thousand-year-old city, is now full of martial artists. I wonder if there is any Dao Food there," Lu Yan thought, making up his mind to explore and try to sense any presence of Dao Food through the Dao Book.

The night passed without any incidents.

The next morning, when Lu Yan was leaving the house, he encountered the charming woman from next door again.

She swept a glance at Lu Yan before striding away, disappearing down the street.

Lu Yan headed towards East City.

Today, he planned to meet with Zhao Sirong to inquire about the Heart Tempering Decision.

Ming Xiang Mansion, in East City, occupied a large area. It was also quite well-known in East City and thus not difficult to find.

"Gentlemen, I am a friend of Miss Sirong and I would like to discuss something with her. Could you please let her know I’m here?" Lu Yan cupped his fists towards the two gatekeepers.

"Are you Lu Ren?"

"Are you the guard on duty?"

"Indeed."

Lu Yan nodded.

"So, it’s you, Lord Lu Ren. Our lady gave instructions yesterday. If Lord Lu Ren comes, there’s no need to announce his arrival. I’ll take you to her right away."

The guard said respectfully.

Zhao Sirong had already warned them. Lu Ren was a powerful Martial Marquis, and they did not dare to slack off.

If it was an ordinary Limit Breaking Warrior, they could possibly be arrogant, not giving the opponent the time of day.

But not a Martial Marquis.

A Martial Marquis held a high-status position; they couldn’t afford to be disrespectful.

If they offended him, even their backing from the Zhao Clan couldn’t save them.

One of the guards led Lu Yan, and soon, they met Zhao Sirong.

"Brother Lu, I was planning on looking for you myself. As it turns out, you’ve taken the initiative."

Zhao Sirong said with a laugh.

"You were looking for me? Is there something up?"

Lu Yan was startled.

"I told you last time that for those two monsters you killed, I’d report the truth. You deserve merits, and now they’re here. The merits for hunting monsters are several times higher than for demons."

"This is your Meritorious Service Token."

After saying that, Zhao Sirong handed over an iron merit token to Lu Yan.

Lu Yan took it and found the words ’Lu Ren’ carved on it.

Next to it was a small number: ninety.

The number ninety was etched with a unique gloss. Lu Yan guessed that the Zhao Clan had marked it with special ink to determine its authenticity.

"Ninety merits? How was this calculated?"

Lu Yan asked curiously.

"The merit for hunting normal monsters and demons at the Limit Breaking Stage is minor, so I won’t go into detail. The main point is hunting the monster and demon Grandmasters."

"Hunting a Level One Martial Marquis monster gives you ten merits. For a Level Two monster, twenty merits, Level Three is thirty, and Level Four gives forty."

"But for Level Five, the rewards are even more, as much as a hundred."

"The monsters, being more difficult to hunt, as such have triple the merit points at the same level as demons. The day you hunted a Level One and Level Two monster, the total was ninety."

"Ninety merit points can be exchanged for two levels of Martial Food, four hundred and fifty catties in weight. One merit point can be exchanged for five catties of second-level Martial Food."

Zhao Sirong explained.

Lu Yan nodded.

Killing a Level One monster yields fifty catties of second-level Martial Food, equivalent to two thousand and five hundred taels of silver.

To be honest, it wasn’t high.

But it was still pretty good.

Since there were so many invading monsters and demons, even if the Zhao Clan had the financial wherewithal to offer such huge rewards, it still wouldn’t be easy. It’d be a strenuous effort.

Lu Yan pocketed the merit token.

"Speaking of which, Brother Lu, did you come to me today for a reason?"

Asked Zhao Sirong.

"Indeed. There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask Miss Sirong. Have you ever heard of the Heart Tempering Decision?"

Lu Yan questioned.

"The Heart Tempering Decision?"

Zhao Sirong looked lost and eventually shook her head.

"I read about it in an ancient book. It said that in the six provinces of Lingdong, perhaps only the Zhao Clan has recorded the Heart Tempering Decision. It’s a special martial arts technique with extremely stringent cultivation requirements. I would like to ask Miss Sirong to inquire about it."

Said Lu Yan.

"Indeed, the Weapon Collection Pavilion of the Zhao Clan has collated a great number of martial arts techniques and classics. It’s normal that I haven’t heard of it. Alright, I’ll look into it today. Brother Lu, please come find me again tomorrow at noon, I’ll have an answer for you."

Zhao Sirong responded.

"Thanks, Miss Sirong."

Lu Yan bowed in thanks.

"You’re being too polite, Brother Lu. You saved my life, this is a small thing compared to that."

Zhao Sirong stated.

The two chatted for a while longer, after which Lu Yan took his leave.

He didn’t exchange his Meritorious Service Token for Martial Food.

It might come in handy later, so he decided to save his merits.

After leaving Ming Xiang Mansion, Lu Yan went to the Zhao Martial Arts House to buy ten catties of second-level Martial Food.

The stuff he bought yesterday was already finished.

Late at night, there was no wind.

After finishing his martial arts practice, Lu Yan was ready to go to bed.

But when he laid down, he heard strange noises.

The sound came from the house next door, belonging to the gorgeous woman.

Lu Yan’s bedroom was already near the house of the attractive woman, separated by just a wall.

The sound seemed low and suppressed, like pain yet joy.

It was complicated.

Lu Yan tried to ignore it with his eyes closed, but the noise kept finding its way into his ears.

He had cultivated the Acquired Martial Body many times, making his body strong and his senses sharp. His hearing was certainly more powerful now, and he could hear more clearly in the quiet of the night, making it hard for him to sleep.

"What are they doing at this time of night? I have to see what’s going on."

Lu Yan got up, opened his bedroom door, leapt onto the roof without a sound, and came to the house next door.

The sound was coming from one of the bedrooms. Lu Yan came quietly outside that room.

The room was very close to his bedroom, which was why he could hear so clearly.

The bedroom window was slightly ajar, and through the gap, one could clearly see what was happening inside.

Upon looking, Lu Yan’s eyes lit up.

On the bed, two shadows.

A man and a woman, doing indescribable things.

The woman, with an explosive figure and astonishing curves, made one’s blood boil.

This woman turned out to be the gorgeous woman next door.

On normal days, she wore loose robes and her astonishing figure wasn’t noticeable.