Chapter 240 - 215: Second-rank Master, Cold Magic Palm_1

After occupying the Fang Family, Lu Yan halted his expansion.

The territory they hold now is enough for them to digest and incorporate for a while.

The Ding Family’s siege of the Bai Clan was not that easy, as the battle lasted for three months.

In the end, the Ding Family exhausted the Bai Clan’s Refined Corpses and their will to resist, breached the Bai Clan’s main city, killed the remaining master of the Bai Clan, and incorporated the Bai Clan into their lands.

At this time, news came from the Li Family.

Li Wenxin had broken through to the level of a Master.

He invited Lu Yan to attend a grand banquet.

Lu Yan quickly learned that the Heart Orb of the Li Family had matured. They found a Martial Chef Grandmaster in the Ding Family and cooked the Ink Jade Heart Bead, allowing Li Wenxin to step into the level of a master.

Lu Yan prepared a hefty gift and attended the banquet personally.

The Zhao Clan and the Ding Family also sent people to congratulate him.

Three days later, Lu Yan returned to Li’an City and devoted himself to cultivation.

Now that Lu Wenxuan was able to cook third-grade martial food, it could barely meet Lu Yan’s cultivation needs.

The situation in Lingdong had also completely entered a peaceful period.

Nowadays, the remaining families of Master Level are the Zhao Clan, the Ding Family, the Li Family, and the Gao Family, along with Lu Yan’s forces.

However, the Gao Family, surrounded by the Li Family, maintained a quiet existence primarily by defense.

The Li Family consistently undercut the Martial Marquis-level forces of the Gao Family, slowly whittling down the strength of the Gao Family.

Spring went and autumn came, with the days growing hot and cold in turns, and in a blink of an eye, two years had passed.

After two years of intensive cultivation and ingesting over ten thousand kilograms of third-grade Martial Food.

Many of the third-grade Alien Beasts that died in the Battle of Kunwu Mountain were sold, miscooked, or consumed by Lu Yan. Not that much remain now.

Lu Yan’s cultivation level had finally reached the peak of a First-level Master.

In the practice room of the city lord’s mansion in Li’an City.

Lu Yan sat cross-legged, adjusted his state to its peak, and then eleven streaks of inner strength converged in the heart, rushing towards the liver.

This step was not as dangerous as when he first broke through to the Master level.

Because the inner strength can be rigid or soft, reconciling both in harmony and being controlled at will.

Moreover, after breaking through to the Master level, inner strength not only continuously refines the flesh and bones but also refines the internal organs.

Although the heart has the greatest enhancement at the First-level Master, the other internal organs also get a significant upgrade, which is much stronger than in the Martial Marquis stage. As a result, the danger level of breaking through the minor levels within the Master level is greatly reduced.

Eleven streaks of inner strength rushed into the liver and began to vibrate at a specific frequency.

Sometime later...

Boom!

A powerful pulsation erupted deep within the liver.

The Liver Origin Spring was opened, and eleven streaks of inner strength were sucked into it. They merged and transformed with the power inside the Liver Origin Spring.

Before long, the transformed inner strengths swam out one by one.

Clearly, every thread of inner strength was three times stronger than before.

One by one, all eleven streaks of inner strength appeared and scattered into tiny threads that permeated the entire body.

Lu Yan’s body underwent another transformation.

This transformation was very intense, and not long after, Lu Yan felt that his body was stronger than before.

The internal organs became more robust and powerful.

Especially the heart and liver, it seemed that his life span had increased somewhat.

Upon reaching the peak of the Master Level, after one’s internal organs are fully developed, one’s lifespan could reach 240 years.

And once one breaks through the Master Level to reach the True Body, the lifespan immediately doubles and even more, one could live up to 500 years.

Lu Yan stood up, operating his inner strength, and felt his body filled with power.

It seemed he could blast a mountain with a single punch.

"Every breakthrough in the Master Level increases power by three times, how exaggerating."

"This way, my combat power should be considered quite high among the masters."

A hint of a smile appeared on Lu Yan’s face.

Soon, Lu Yan rode the Blood Slaughter towards Kunwu Mountain.

No other reason but the fact that he ran out of Alien Beast meat, he was going to bring back some more.

"There’s not much meat from the third-grade Alien Beasts left in Kunwu Mountain. Even when not all of them were killed in battle, there’s not much left. After using them up, I could only buy from the grand families outside of Lingdong."

"Or, maybe it’s time for me to head to the Mansion of King Ming."

Lu Yan pondered.

Kunwu Mountain.

"Lu Yan, after much thought, I’ve decided to pass down my top martial art technique, the Cold Magic Palm, to you."

Upon seeing Lu Yan, Guan Shan said so directly.

"Can the top martial art, Cold Magic Palm, really be passed down to me?"

Lu Yan was extremely surprised.

He knew that Guan Shan practiced a top martial art, but he had never thought that Guan Shan would pass it on to him.

Because practicing Top Martial Arts also required a Divine Intent Diagram.

He believed Chu Chenzhou and Guan Shan learned from the Mansion of King Ming.

To cultivate Top Martial Arts to the Unity of Man and Martial Arts is much harder than cultivating first-tier martial arts.

Not to mention the Unity of Man and Martial Arts, even for initial learning, only those with exceptional talent could manage it.

Given Chu Chenzhou’s level of cultivation, the chances of him cultivating Top Martial Arts into the Unity of Man and Martial Arts were slim.

Therefore, Lu Yan always assumed that either Chu Chenzhou or Guan Shan didn’t possess a Divine Intent Diagram, and consequently, he did not covet this top-tier martial art.

"Hmm."

Guan Shan nodded and said, "Cold Magic Palm is a unique martial art of the master, not belonging to the Mansion of King Ming."

"The master initially practiced the top martial art of the Mansion of King Ming, but progress was slow. Until one day, during an expedition, he unintentionally acquired the Cold Magic Palm. Unexpectedly, it suited him exceptionally well and after cultivation, the progress was astonishingly rapid. Henceforth, the master focused primarily on the Cold Magic Palm and passed it on to me."

"Originally, seeing as you also practiced a top-tier martial art, which is difficult and better honed with quality rather than quantity, I didn’t intend to teach you. However, the situation has changed."

Lu Yan didn’t interrupt, he merely listened attentively as if seeking advice.

"Given your talent, if you join the Mansion of King Ming, you will surely be enlisted in the bodyguards of King Ming. However, the Mansion of King Ming exercises very strict control over its bodyguards. The background of every person who joins the bodyguards of King Ming is thoroughly investigated to prevent infiltration by enemy forces."

"Therefore, once you join the bodyguards of King Ming, they will definitely send people to the six provinces of Lingdong to investigate your identity. Your mastery of eleven Bone Strengths yet being able to breakthrough to a Master level will inevitably lead the Mansion of King Ming to scrutinize+"

"Furthermore, your rise has been too rapid. The son of a hunter, later joining a Martial Marquis-level Feudal Lord, yet in just a few years under the conditions of having only eleven times the Qi-blood of an average person, stepping into a Master level is too abnormal and too fast."

"Even if you have an iron will and benefitted from an undisclosed Hidden Blood Land Vein, it was still too quick and the Mansion of King Ming may inevitably hold suspicions."

"You didn’t have these concerns before breaking through to a Master level, but now that you have, these have to be taken into consideration."

"Therefore, you need a strong supporter behind you. If you are a disciple of the master, secretly taken under his wing, with his full support for your rapid improvement, then it all makes sense."

Guan Shan explained.

"So, you want to pass on the Cold Magic Palm to me, so I can impersonate as Master Chu’s disciple?"

Lu Yan speculated.

Guan Shan nodded and said, "After all, people from the six provinces of Lingdong assume that you have a profound connection with Kunwu Mountain. So when investigators from the Mansion of King Ming arrive, everything will fall into place, and your swift rise will not appear abrupt."

Guan Shan knew that there must be astonishing secrets about Lu Yan.

Otherwise, how could a hunter’s son rise so rapidly?

If it had been a hundred years ago, he might have been interested.

But now, he is old and has long lost his young ambitions.

Now his wish is to return to the Mansion of King Ming and take Chu Chenzhou’s tomb tablet back to its root.

Lu Yan is his hope.

Far from unearthing Lu Yan’s secrets, he will rather try every possible way to help Lu Yan conceal them.

"Since the Cold Magic Palm originates from Master Chu Chenzhou, and you intend to pass it on to me, I shall accept it with the etiquette of a disciple."

Lu Yan solemnly nodded, went to Chu Chenzhou’s tomb, and performed the ritual of kowtowing three times and knocking nine times on the ground.

Guan Shan was extremely satisfied with this.

After the ritual, Guan Shan took Lu Yan into a cave and handed him an iron box.

Inside the box were the Divine Intent Diagram and the secret scrolls of the Cold Magic Palm.

"Take it and study it. If there’s anything you don’t understand, come and ask me."

Guan Shan advised.

"Thank you, senior."

With the iron box, Lu Yan went inside a cave to meticulously study the secret scroll.

After memorizing the entire content of the scroll, he opened the Divine Intent Diagram.

The Diagram depicted a silhouette standing on a snow mountain.

Lu Yan stared intently at the Diagram, for a while, and then the figure on the Diagram started to move, striking palm after palm, making Lu Yan feel an wave of cold coming toward him.

Lu Yan devoted himself fully to understanding the Cold Magic Palm.

Compared to first-rate martial art, the cultivation difficulty of top-tier martial art is way more. Lu Yan, when making effort to understanding first-rate martial art, could become a novice without needing ten days.

But while trying to comprehend the Cold Magic Palm, he encountered many difficulties and was required to seek guidance from Guan Shan frequently.

Thus, it took Lu Yan a full three months to grasp the initial understanding of the Cold Magic Palm and form the Martial Arts Avatar.

"The improvement of top-tier martial art actually depends on third-level Martial Food. Second-level Martial Food has lost its effect."

Although he had anticipated this, Lu Yan still sighed.

Unfortunately, the Immortal Bone was no longer there, and he had to rely on Martial Food to accumulate slowly.

Meanwhile, a messenger arrived from Li’an City reporting a matter of urgency.

Lu Yan instantly rode back to Li’an City on Blood Slaughter.

The conference hall.

"Li Quan, what happened?"

Lu Yan asked.

"My lord, in recent months, the area around Changfeng City has experienced a severe drought. It hasn’t rained for three months, vegetation has withered, the people have no harvest and are in a state of anxiety."

"Furthermore, the drought has a tendency to spread outwards, many people have already run out of food. If this continues, it will result in a large number of refugees."

"The most serious thing is that the Energy of the Earth Blood in the Blood Land Vein is also dissipating slowly, showing signs of exhaustion. We don’t know how to deal with it, we need you to make a decision."

Li Quan reported.

"A drought? Blood Land Vein drying up?"

Lu Yan’s face changed.

He thought of Lu Qingshan’s hometown, the area around Woye City in Qingfeng County.

Back then, they also suffered from a severe drought, vegetation withered, countless people died of starvation, and they themselves became refugees, traveling a long distance to Changfeng City.

Today, a severe drought had also struck around Changfeng City.

Such a coincidence?

"Dispatch relief food for the disaster relief, we must not let the people starve, I’ll go and take a look myself."

Lu Yan ordered.

After issuing a series of orders, Lu Yan rode Blood Slaughter to Changfeng City.

The sight within a hundred miles around Changfeng City surprised him.