Chapter 235 - 210, Yes, I am Heartless_1

After the Wei Family was besieged by the joint efforts of the Qiu Family and the Ouyang Family, apart from Wei Changkong, all of the Grandmasters died and very few Martial Marquises survived.

And Wei Changkong died in the battle at Kunwu Mountain.

Now, the Wei Family only existed in name.

Without a Grandmaster in charge, they couldn’t be considered a Grandmaster-level Feudal Lord, and naturally, they couldn’t occupy the second-level Blood Land Vein.

If they were to insist on doing so, they would only bring calamity upon themselves, leading to the extermination of their clan and death.

And the Wei Family, located within Li’an County, couldn’t be left alone while the other Feudal Lords were expanding. So, Lu Yan waited patiently.

He was waiting for the Wei Family to voluntarily submit.

If they didn’t submit within a week or a half, he wouldn’t mind initiating an attack.

Fortunately, the people of the Wei Family were not foolish and understood their predicament.

Surrendering to Lu Yan was better than facing extinction.

Unless they were willing to give up Li’an County, take over the First-Level Blood Land Vein, and resume being Martial Marquis-Level Feudal Lords.

But the Wei Family had many enemies due to their previous hegemony.

If they chose this path, they’d likely face endless retaliation.

Rather than this, it would be better for them to surrender Li’an City to Lu Yan and align themselves with him.

After all, Lu Yan had saved them and they owed him a favor.

"Since you have invited me sincerely, and I intend to return the favor, let it be so. Tomorrow, we leave for Li’an City," Lu Yan said.

"Yes, I pay my respects to the city lord," replied Wei’s ten Martial Marquises, officially joining Lu Yan’s command.

The next day, Lu Yan, along with Li Quan and Wen Yuan, and two hundred martial soldiers, set out for Li’an City.

Li’an City was previously occupied by the Qiu Family and the Ouyang Family. However, now, both clans had withdrawn their troops, leaving behind the Wei Family’s martial soldiers who had surrendered to them in Li’an City.

Before Lu Yan and the others arrived in Li’an City, a team of Wei Family’s martial soldiers, led by an officer, came to meet Lu Yan.

He introduced himself as Wei Feng, with a cultivation level of Martial Marquis Level Four.

"Wei Feng, how many martial soldiers are there in Li’an City?" Lu Yan asked.

"More than two thousand, to be precise, two thousand and sixty-seven," replied Wei Feng.

"That’s nearly half of what we had at its peak," Lu Yan said to himself.

During the Wei Family’s peak period, they boasted having four thousand martial soldiers. But after years of warfare, their numbers had significantly reduced. After the last ambush by the Qiu Family and the Ouyang Family, nearly a thousand had died in battle.

"We could send orders to recall those who fled into the mountains and forests," suggested Wei Feng.

Lu Yan nodded.

Those who fled into the mountains or became outlaws were the ones unwilling to surrender to the Qiu Family and the Ouyang family.

They were considered to number in the hundreds.

Then, Lu Yan inquired about the martial chefs and the exotic beast breeders. The situation was not optimistic, their numbers had significantly reduced since Wei Family’s peak period.

Especially the alien beasts, which had been massively slaughtered by the Qiu Family and the Ouyang Family for cooking Martial Food.

"The Qiu Family and the Ouyang Family dare to lay their hands on my resources. They are seeking death," Lu Yan said, a glint of coldness flashing in his eyes.

...

On the second day after arriving in Li’an City, Lu Yan began a major overhaul.

All institutions were restructured according to the model of Changfeng City.

Lu Yan changed the former residence of the Wei Family into the City Lord’s Mansion.

Lu Yan personally assumed the position of City Lord of Li’an City.

He completely dismantled the various departments of the Wei Family and incorporated them into the Six Bureaus.

As a century-old Feudal Lord, the Wei Family had deep roots and completely dismantling and restructuring it was not easy. There would be many obstacles.

But under the strong martial suppression of Lu Yan, these difficulties were overcome.

Those who disobeyed the orders were directly executed.

In just ten days, Li’an City was well-organized.

Wen Yuan retained his position as the deputy head of the Military Bureau and the commander of the martial soldiers in Li’an City.

Although Wen Yuan’s cultivation level was not high, being only a Martial Marquis Level Two, he was Lu Yan’s direct disciple.

With this status, no one dared to disobey him.

"It’s still top-heavy, the factions’ strengths are imbalanced, it’s hard for them to check each other. I’m here now, but in the future, if I have to leave, I’m afraid things will become unsteady, and one faction could dominate," Lu Yan thought to himself.

Currently, there were mainly two factions under his command.

One was naturally the faction from Changfeng City, all of which were old followers of Lu Yan.

Wang Lin, Li Quan, Zhang Jun, Cao Hu, along with Wen Yuan’s disciples from the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall, and the people from the Zhou Clan, led by Zhou Zhengkong. They made up one faction.

And the other faction was naturally the Wei Family.

After all, the Wei Family had deep roots here, and their strength was much stronger than the faction from Changfeng City.

"I still need to add a few more factions to balance each other. But it’s not urgent, I’ll wait for some time," Lu Yan thought to himself.

"And now that I’ve mastered the basics of the God Blade Eight Styles, I ought to gather more martial arts to create Martial Arts Avatars and find Elder Guan Shan to obtain an Immortal Bone or two," Lu Yan began to plan.

Once he had the idea, Lu Yan immediately summoned Blood Slaughter and rode on its back. With Blood Slaughter’s wings stretched out, they disappeared into the sky.

Having a flying Beast King to travel on was really convenient. After using it a few times, Lu Yan appreciated its value. After the battle on Kunwu Mountain, Lu Yan asked Guan Shan if he could borrow it for some time, and Guan Shan readily agreed.

And after seeing Lu Yan’s combat capabilities, Blood Slaughter became obedient and compliant.

The first stop was the Qiu Family.

There was no choice, since the Qiu Family was the closest.

Seeing Lu Yan’s arrival, the members of the Qiu Family were nervous. The Qiu Family’s two Grandmasters courteously welcomed their guest.

"Lord Lu, what brings you to Yunfeng City today? We are honored by your visit. Please come in, come in. Servant, prepare wine and Martial Food," one of the Grandmasters said, instructing his servant.

"No need for food and drink. I have been practicing martial arts recently and have encountered some bottlenecks. I wanted to borrow some top-notch martial arts for reference and see if I could gain any insights. I’ve heard of the Qiu Family’s extensive collection, may I borrow them?"

Lu Yan didn’t bother with pleasantries and got straight to the point.

"Borrow a first-rate martial art?"

The two grandmasters from the Qiu family slightly knitted their brows.

One of them revealed a troubled expression and said, "Lord Lu, our family’s first-rate martial arts were not easy to come by. They were accumulated over many generations, and our ancestors have instructed us not to casually teach them to outsiders..."

"Oh, if you don’t want to lend it, then I’ll just get it myself."

"Of course, if I borrow it, I’ll definitely return it, but if I take it myself, well..."

Lu Yan sneered, and after speaking, strode towards the inner part of the Qiu family’s residence. No one dared to stop him.

"Wait, Lord Lu, hold on."

"Lord Lu."

The two grandmasters from the Qiu family hurriedly called out.

"What is it?"

Lu Yan frowned.

"It’s just borrowing a first-rate martial arts, a small matter, a very small matter. Why is there a need for Lord Lu to go personally? We can fetch it for you."

"Exactly, Lord Lu’s talent is heaven-defying. A first-rate martial arts in your hands would truly find its rightful master and can shine brilliantly."

The two grandmasters from the Qiu family hastily said.

Lately, the rumors about Lu Yan’s deeds have gotten more and more mysterious and his strength more elusive.

However, one point has been acknowledged by all—that he can kill a first-level master with a single move.

The two grandmasters from the Qiu family didn’t dare to object.

"No need, lead me to the Weapon Collection Pavilion of the Qiu family. I’ll choose myself."

Lu Yan said.

The two of them had no choice but to obediently lead Lu Yan to the Weapon Collection Pavilion of the Qiu Family.

The Weapon Collection Pavilion of the Qiu family also had a collection of over a dozen first-rate martial arts.

They involved all kinds of categories and were extremely comprehensive.

This is how it usually was for master-level feudal lords. The first-rate martial arts they collected weren’t many, but they were diverse.

They were for their clan members to choose from.

Lu Yan looked over them once.

Body Refining Martial Arts, one technique.

Speed category Martial Arts, one technique.

Knife Technique, one too.

There were also other techniques, such as fist, palm, sword, spear, and hook techniques.

Still, there was no Archery Martial Arts.

Lu Yan chose five techniques.

Body Refining Martial Arts, Speed category Martial Arts, and Knife Technique were compulsory.

He also chose a fist technique and a palm technique.

"I’ll return them to you within a few months."

Lu Yan left a word, took the Divine Intent Diagram and the secret books, and rode on Blood Slaughter into the sky.

The two grandmasters of the Qiu family sighed.

Even if Lu Yan didn’t return them, what could they do?

Fortunately, to them, the loss of a first-rate martial art was not irreplaceable.

If Lu Yan didn’t return them, they could simply get a few more from those Martial Marquis level feudal lords.

After returning to Li’an City, Lu Yan began to comprehend right away.

First was the Body Refining Martial Art.

Now he had already cultivated four branches of the Body Refining Martial Arts to the stage of Unity of Man and Martial Arts. According to his experience with knife techniques, he would need five more to be able to merge them into a Top Martial Arts.

Naturally, Body Refining was prioritized.

With his familiar process, it took less than ten days for him to enter the door and condense a Martial Arts Avatar.

Then it was the Speed category Martial Arts. Similarly, in less than ten days, he condensed a Martial Arts Avatar.

After comprehending these two branches of Martial Arts, Lu Yan temporarily stopped and rode on Blood Slaughter to visit other feudal lords again.

He planned to focus on finding Body Refining Martial Arts and Speed category Martial Arts, concentrate on comprehending those few branches first, and after he had gathered nine in total, he would then comprehend the others.

The Fang Family, Ouyang Family, Bai Clan, Gao Family, and even the Li Family, Zhao Clan, Ding Family, he visited each of them one by one.

After half a month, he finally gathered enough Body Refining Martial Arts and Speed category Martial Arts.

Including those he had already mastered, he had nine branches for each type.

"I have the martial arts now, but while comprehending the martial arts, I can’t neglect my cultivation level. The three-level martial food has been eaten up, it’s time to make a trip to Kunwu Mountain."

After sending the martial art secret books and the Divine Intent Diagram back to Li’an City, Lu Yan got on Blood Slaughter again and arrived at Kunwu Mountain.

"Lu Yan, there is something I’ve always been curious about. How did you manage to break through?"

Guan Shan curiously asked.

For this question, Lu Yan was prepared in advance.

After all, to break through with more than ten bone strengths just with the help of Phoenix Blood Heart Protective Soup and the Ink Jade Heart Bead, how could it be easy?

"Senior, I was born with an extraordinarily strong and durable heart, and that’s why I was able to withstand the pressure of breaking through."

Lu Yan recited the excuse he had thought up beforehand.

He definitely couldn’t reveal the fact that he had cultivated the Heart Tempering Decision to the eighth level.

He could only attribute it to his exceptional natural talent.

Even if someone could examine his heart, he wasn’t afraid.

The heart cultivated by the Heart Tempering Decision didn’t have any special anomalies, it was just stronger and more durable than ordinary hearts.

He claimed it was a natural talent, so who could tell?

"A naturally strong and durable heart, is it the legendary ’Iron Heart’?"

Guan Shan murmured.

"Iron Heart?"

Lu Yan was speechless.

What kind of ridiculous name was that?

"Yes, it’s a figurative term. In this world, there are people who are born with strong and durable hearts. For these people, it’s much easier for them to break through to the master level than others. They don’t even need the help of martial food to break through. Such hearts are called ’Iron Hearts.’" Guan Shan explained.

Lu Yan nodded and said, "That’s right, I should have an Iron Heart."

Guan Shan was also convinced that this was the case, otherwise there was no way to explain how Lu Yan managed to break through to the master level with just the Phoenix Blood Heart Protective Soup and the Ink Jade Heart Bead.

"By the way, when do you plan to go to the Mansion of King Ming?"

Guan Shan asked again.