CH 2168.3

“I wanted to see you surprised, but I guess I won’t be seeing that today,” Lu Xiaochi chuckled wryly.

“A spirit crystal??” Lu Yun saw a fist-sized, crystalline object at the center of the room.

It can be hard to make great work when its stolen from "pawread dot com".

“That’s right, a spirit crystal!” His uncle nodded. “That’s your grandfather’s most precious treasure and the last wealth of the family.” He paused, recalling what was in the ring that Lu Yun had just offered. “Erm… at least it was before.”

Lu Yun took a deep breath and inclined his head. It was just a lower rank spirit crystal, but it was probable that even the imperial family didn’t have something like it.

“There used to be more in the secret vault, but your grandfather used half of it to save you,” Lu Xiaochi continued.

Lu Yun understood. What the Ouyangs had done to him three months ago was mostly to exhaust the Lu family fortune and Lu Tianling’s nascent soul.

Lu Xiaochi walked up to a rack and took down a box made of jade. He gave it to his nephew.

“This is the inner core of the seventh rank spirit beast Aureate Seraph Bird.”

“A seventh rank spirit beast!” Lu Yun raised an eyebrow. That was the equivalent of a combination cultivator! This inner core would be priceless even in a ninth rank cultivation empire. The Aureate Seraph Bird was a premier existence among seventh rank spirit beasts.

“Your grandfather hunted the bird for you when you were born.” Lu Xiaochi looked meaningfully at Lu Yun.

“What?!” Lu Yun was finally startled. “Grandfather personally hunted down an Aureate Seraph Bird for me?!”

Being a premier existence among seventh rank beasts, it took a tribulation level cultivator to hunt one!

Lu Xiaochi was immensely satisfied to finally see shock and surprise on his nephew’s face.

“Yun’er, it is time to let you learn of some things since you’ve taken an immortal to be your master,” he sighed. “Your grandfather’s true cultivation is indeed tribulation level.

“He was attacked by our enemies when he weathered his tribulation and failed his attempt. But he survived, thanks to an extraordinary treasure on him. He was in similar condition to Bloodbath—he lost all of his cultivation.

“But your grandfather has now returned to latter nascent spirit and can easily take care of combination level spirit beasts. He thinks nothing of these great clans in Darklake,” Lu Xiaochi recounted, lost in recollection.

“Who are our enemies?” Lu Yun frowned. Tribulation level… was a peak powerhouse of the world.

“I don’t know, your grandfather never spoke of it to me,” his uncle smiled ruefully. “The less you know about some things, the better.”

Lu Xiaochi understood Lu Yun’s temper. If the young man knew who the enemy was, he would immediately take action. That would be bad for the current Lu Clan.

Lu Yun inclined his head. If his grandfather could kill a seventh rank spirit beast sixteen years ago, just imagine how strong he’d been in his prime! That also indicated how strong their enemy was.

“Your grandfather once said,” Lu Xiaochi enunciated carefully as he looked into Lu Yun’s eyes. “Is a ninth rank cultivation empire supposed to be strong? That is a title given by others.”

“That, I know.” In Lu Yun’s journeys through the three thousand worlds, though he didn’t spend any of them in this world, he’d gone to the world of immortals and some other worlds associated with this one.

He also knew that in the sealed experience, he’d visited even grander, more magnificent worlds that… made one despair.

“This universe is vast and without end. The world of cultivation is but the tip of the iceberg.”

And it is not the only world.

“Good, so long as you know.” Lu Xiaochi nodded with peace of mind. “Your grandfather exposed his whereabouts when he hunted the beast sixteen years ago, resulting in our enemies coming for us. Your parents died because of it and your grandfather was heavily injured. His cultivation is much less than before.”

“Grandfather is injured?” Lu Yun’s frown deepened. “He’s in closed door cultivation now, trying to refine all of the effects of the Violet Orchid Ganoderma. Ah, no wonder…”

“The enemy has infiltrated the great clans of Darklake. The Ouyang, Yuwen, and Ling Clan biding their time in the shadows have become their pawns. They are the shears with which to clip your grandfather’s wings.” This was when Lu Xiaochi looked oddly at Lu Yun. “Your grandfather and I both know about this, but there’s nothing we can do if the other only grasps you in their hand and does nothing.”

Lu Yun coughed awkwardly. His grandfather had once grounded him for a period of time, saying something about enemies of the family. However, he’d resisted in a very violent fashion and even protested by fasting.

In his eyes, Lu Tianling was the strongest in the capital and his greatest backer. All enemies would be reduced to dust in the face of his grandfather’s invincible might!

Lu Tianling doted on his grandson and could do nothing but give way. He had to watch as Lu Yun gradually wasted the accumulation of family strength that he’d built over one hundred years.

“What you’ve done recently is earthshaking enough. Although the world of cultivation has its rules, preventing the enemy from taking direct action against you, you should keep a lower profile. Otherwise, they will stop at nothing to kill the last heir of the Lus,” a solemn Lu Xiaochi concluded with a note of warning.

“Why should I keep a low profile?” Lu Yun asked with surprise. “Would I be me if I kept a low profile?”

Stop at nothing? Let’s see who stops less at nothing! I am the biggest prodigal now, not the saint of the past—hang on. What saint? Why do I think I’m a saint?

Lu Yun shook his head fiercely while his uncle stared dumbly at him.

“Don’t worry, second uncle, I know what I’m doing. Plus, I have master,” he chuckled.

“Your master? An immortal?” Lu Xiaochi chuckled ruefully. “Immortals are also restricted in the world of cultivation.

Lu Yun shrugged. Immortals were, but not the heavenly dao. Not to mention, he had a senior brother, the sky!

“Alright, alright, I know I can’t keep you in check.” A resigned Lu Xiaochi gave the inner core to Lu Yun. “You’re at foundation establishment now and as such, a perfect time to refine the five elements. Don’t waste this inner core, make sure to consolidate your foundations with it.”

Lu Yun solemnly received it and carefully put it into his storage ring. There was too much associated with this inner core.

……..

Uncle and nephew met the stern Lu Jiu when they emerged aboveground. The elder was bouncing around like a happy gardener, merrily placing treasures on the shelves.

“Second master, young master, you’ve come out.” Lu Jiu gleefully hopped over to them. “Young master, where did you get all this? This sum of wealth is much more than what we had in our prime!”

“Haha, would the elder believe me if I said I robbed all of it from someone else?” Lu Yun roared with laughter.

Lu Jiu nodded emphatically. “When shall we commit another robbery?”

Lu Xiaochi: ……

……

Lu Yun kept to himself over the next month, not doing anything out of bounds.

Although the Ouyang trading headquarters robbery raised some waves, nothing else happened after that. The Ouyang Clan swiftly recalled some of their members and a tense atmosphere settled over the great family.

But apart from those actions, they didn’t seem inclined to pursue things further. Everyone could tell that they were planning to just let it go.

Lu Yun understood their frame of mind. They couldn’t hide that Bloodbath had escaped, followed shortly by their trading headquarters being attacked. Although they said that the Lu young master was responsible, who would believe that?

The Ouyang Clan couldn’t endure revenge from Bloodbath, so an investigation? That would be courting death. Bloodbath wouldn’t care about rules set by ninth rank empires if he started killing.

……

Dark City quieted down on this cloudy night.

Rumble!

An enormous disturbance rang from the city’s western front. The center of the Ling residence exploded.

“Who are you and how dare you touch our family treasure?!” A furious roar split the air as endless rays of sword light shot at the intruder.

“Hmph! You wish for death!” came a frosty response.

The clouds in the sky abruptly parted and revealed a bright, pristine moon. A fey young man dressed in long ivory robes and hair as dark as night stood in the air. He raised his arms and embraced the moon in the sky, summoning endless rays of moonlight into his hands.