Lu Chuan crossed his arms behind his back with an indifferent expression. He looked at Lu Ming, showing open disdain.
"But, Ming'er…."
Li Ping was about to say something again, but was interrupted by Lu Ming.
"Mother, we don't need to beg him. If we have to move, so be it," said Lu Ming.
"But Ming'er, your injuries have yet to recover. It's already night time, what if you catch a cold?!" said Li Ping concernedly.
Lu Ming stubbornly shook his head. "Mother, I'll be fine, let's move out. But, there'll eventually be a day when we return. The Lord's Residence is where you and father got married, nobody can take it away."
"Alright then," Li Ping sighed, and asked Qiu Yue to pack up their belongings.
Lu Chuan folded his arms behind his back, sneering. He was scanning the surroundings when his eyes suddenly sparkled.
"One moment, you're not allowed to take that sword with you."
Lu Chuan walked towards Li Ping, who was holding a sword in her hands.
Li Ping's face turned white as she unconsciously tightened her grip on the sword. "This sword is the only keepsake left by Ming'er's father. It's for Ming'er to use in the future, you can't take it away!"
"If it's something that the previous Lord left behind, that's all the more reason that you can't take it with you. It is the public property of the Lu Family and must be confiscated. Moreover, Lu Ming can't even cultivate his Essential Qi, what's the point of keeping the sword? To waste it?"
Lu Chuan spoke coolly with a fervent look in his eyes. He could tell that the sword was nothing ordinary, that it was a spiritual weapon.
"You can't, Lu Chuan! I'm begging you!" Li Ping hugged the sword, unwilling to let go of it.
Lu Chuan's eyes turned cold. "You just have to do things the hard way!" he shouted.
"Lu Chuan!"
There was a loud roar.
Lu Ming's eyes were bloodshot, and his fists clenched.
"Lu Chuan. You can take the sword. But remember this, one day, I will personally reclaim what belongs to me, and by then it'll be tenfold, or even hundredfold."
Lu Ming's eyes were cooler than ice, his gaze locked onto Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan's felt cold from Lu Ming's gaze, but he mockingly laughed. "Lu Ming, just you, some trash that can't even awaken a blood meridian? You want me to repay you by tenfold, or even hundredfold? Haha, I'll wait for you."
Every day for the past three years, Lu Yao had spiked Lu Ming's drink with Yama's Pollen, which could suppress blood meridians. Three days ago, Lu Ming had failed to awaken a blood meridian in front of the eyes of the public. It was after his failure that Lu Yao and the First Branch Elder took the opportunity to make a move.
"Mother, give it to him!" said Lu Ming.
As if swayed by the firm look in Lu Ming's eyes, Li Ping reluctantly handed the sword over to Lu Chuan.
After their belongings were packed, Li Ping supported Lu Ming as they walked out of the gates to the Lord's Residence of the Lu Family.
Lu Ming turned his head and glanced at the residence.
"One day, I'll be back."
...
There was a small compound in the East Residence which was supposed to be the living quarters for servants. The compound housed three rooms and a small courtyard. Currently, Lu Ming's trio had moved into the compound
It was the dead of night, cold enough to chill bones.
Lu Ming was sitting in the courtyard, his fists clenched tightly.
"Power. In this world, power dictates everything. It's because I don't have power that Lu Yao and the First Branch Elder could strip me of my blood meridians. It's also because of my lack of power that I couldn't even hold onto the Lord's Residence, and the sword that my father left.""
"In this world, you can only be humiliated without any way to resist if you don't have power. Now, I can feel my blood meridian slowly growing back. Even if the regrown blood meridians are of the lowest grade, as long as I put in ten times the effort of other people, or even a hundred times, I believe that I won't pale in comparison. One day, I will truly be able to control my own fate, and defend my own people."
The sound of footsteps echoed behind him. Li Ping was holding a robe, which she helped Lu Ming slip into. "Ming'er, it's cold outside. The room has been tidied, you should come inside and get some rest."
"Mother, you should rest early too," Lu Ming smiled.
He returned to his room and sat on the bed. Lu Ming still found it hard to sleep.
"When will my blood meridians finally be reborn, and grow?"
Lu Ming pondered, and shifted his mind to his spine.
He wanted to understand the situation of his blood meridians which had yet to grow.
At that moment, there was an itchy sensation on his spine. There was a sudden flash of hazy red. In that red light, there was a silhouette of something resembling a worm, around the size of a finger.
However, it looked illusive, he could not get a clear view of it.
"My blood meridian has yet to fully grow, but it can already be manifested?" Lu Ming was surprised.
Normally, only a fully awakened blood meridian could be manifested.
"Since it can be manifested, then let's see if it can be cultivated like a normal blood meridian." At the thought of that, Lu Ming started to circulate the 'Qi Condensation Art', which was a basic art that was common knowledge in the Lu Family.
The spirit energy in the air immediately gravitated towards the direction of Lu Ming's body.
"This rate of absorbing spirit energy can already be compared to a Second Level blood meridian."
Feeling the density of the spirit energy gathered around him, there were sparks of joy in Lu Ming's heart.
In this land, martial artists were divided into Ordinary Martial Artists and Blood Meridian Martial Artists.
However, the two types of martial artists could not be compared. Blood Meridians Martial Artists had awakened blood meridians. Not only did their power levels spike, but their rate of cultivation was also incomparable to normal martial artists.
Despite that, Blood Meridians Martial Artists were few in number. There was a possibility of nobody awakening a blood meridian in a group of dozens.
And now, Lu Ming's blood meridian, which had not completely finished growing, was able to absorb spirit energy at a rate akin to a Second Level blood meridian. What would happen if it finished growing? What effects would there be?
Lu Ming was looking forward to it very much.
The spirit energy was continuously condensed and absorbed by Lu Ming, seeping into his body.
Two hours later, Lu Ming opened his eyes.
After two hours of cultivating, he felt that his injuries had recovered slightly. His weak and frail body had also improved a little.
"At this rate, it'll only take a few days for my injuries to fully recover. My body will also improve, and when that happens, my rate of cultivation will also increase."
As Lu Ming pondered, his hands involuntarily touched his neck. The bronze pendant had disappeared, leaving only a silk thread on his neck.
"That bronze pendant should have something to do with my ability to regrow my blood meridian. Now that it's gone into my glabella, I wonder if there are any effects?"
As he was thinking, he shifted his mind to his glabella and tried to sense the pendant.
When his mind shifted to his glabella, a halo dispersed from the area which turned into a vortex.
The vortex was increasing in size, surrounding Lu Ming's entire body.
In the next moment, the land shifted in space, and Lu Ming found himself in another place.
Startled, Lu Meng promptly sized up his surroundings.
At that moment, he was standing on a flat stone platform. The platform was ten meters wide and long, surrounded by a field of chaos on three sides.
There was only one side with stone steps leading up, with a total of ninety-nine steps.
After the ninety-nine steps, there was another platform. In front of the platform was another set of stone steps.
Level after level, it was unknown how many levels there were, and on the very top of all the platforms and stairs, there was a palace.
As the distance was too far, Lu Ming was unable to get a clear look. He could only barely make out the open doors of the palace. In the haze, there seemed to be a silhouette sitting cross-legged. The sounds of chanting could be heard coming from the palace.
As the sound of chanting entered his ears, Lu Ming felt refreshed, as if all his worries had dissipated into the air. As if his mind and body fell into a void, his head had never been so clear.
"What's happening? Why am I here? Where is this? Eh, there's a stone tablet there, and a black steel chest."
On the side of the platform he was on, there was a stone tablet and a chest.
There were two words written on the stone tablet. 'Supreme Shrine'.
There was nothing else apart from those two words.
Then, Lu Ming shifted his gaze onto the black steel chest.
The chest was not large. It was not even half a meter wide, nor a meter long.
Lu Ming opened the chest and found three books inside, along with a jade bottle.
Three words were written on the jade bottle. 'Marrow-cleansing Pill'.
"Marrow-cleansing Pills? These are actually Marrow-cleansing Pills?"
Lu Ming was ecstatic, and quickly popped the lid of the jade bottle. Suddenly, a strong fragrance of herbs invaded his nose. There was a fiery red pill in the jade bottle, it's size no bigger than the tip of a finger, and it's body clear as crystal.
Legends told that the Marrow-cleansing Pill was able to cleanse the spirit and renew one's marrow, allowing someone to be reborn anew, and massively strengthening the body of a martial artist. It was a spiritual pill that not even money could buy. In the Fiery Wind City, it had only appeared a few times in the last thousand years. In the history of a thousand years in the Fiery Wind City, it had only appeared a few times.
"With the Marrow-cleansing Pull, the problems from my frail and weak body, as well as my blocked meridians will see a huge improvement."
Lu Ming felt extremely fervent and excited.
He took a deep breath and shut the jade bottle. He carefully placed it aside and grabbed the three books to take a look.
They were three books about martial arts techniques.
The True War Dragon Technique, the Flame Dragon Fist, and the Dragon Serpent Steps.
Lu Ming flipped open the 'True War Dragon Technique' first.
The 'True War Dragon Technique' was a Divine Level martial arts technique. Cultivating it to the highest level would grant you the might of a war dragon, allowing you to be unparalleled and dominate the land.
"D-divine Level technique?"
Lu Ming's eyes widened as his breathing stiffened.
Martial arts techniques were usually categorized in five levels. Celestial, Land, Mystical, Yellow, and Unqualified.
And for every level, there were also Inferior and Superior qualities.
The Celestial Level was the highest level. The Unqualified Level, as the name suggested, was the lowest level.
But there was actually another level above the Celestial Level; the Divine Level.
But the Divine Level was merely a legend. Lu Ming had never heard of anyone who possessed a Divine Level martial arts technique.
To his knowledge, the highest level of technique that the Lu Family owned was only of Superior Yellow Level.
Now, with a book containing a Divine Level cultivation method in front of Lu Ming, how could he not be surprised? How could he not be excited?
However, it was a pity that the True War Dragon Technique only had the First Stage of the cultivation method, which would only allow him to get to the state of opening his meridian. The next realm of cultivation would require the Second Stage of the cultivation method.
The Second Stage of the cultivation method was on the second platform, past the ninety-nine steps. There was also another chest there.
Lu Ming flipped through the pages. On the final page, he noticed a row of words.
"If one wishes to cultivate the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique, one must open up three divine meridians. Forcibly cultivating the Second Stage without doing so will unquestionably result in death by meridian explosion."
Lu Ming took a sharp breath, weren't the requirements for this cultivation a little too high?
Martial artists' cultivation were categorized into Novice Realm, Warrior Realm, Master Realm, Grandmaster Realm, Leader Realm, and King Realm.
Novice Realm was the basics of cultivation for martial artists, it was also the easiest.
The human body had nine meridians and eighty-one acupuncture points.
The first three meridians were called the Man Meridians, the next three meridians were called the Land Meridians, while the last three meridians were called the Sky Meridians.
When a martial artist opens up all nine meridians of the Man, Sky, and Land Meridians, they would be able to step into the next realm, Warrior Realm, and become a true martial artist.
But there were another three meridians above the nine meridians, called the Divine Meridians.
The number of people who could manage to open up all Divine Meridians was ridiculously low.
Lu Yao, who had only opened up one Divine Meridian, had shaken the entire Fiery Wind City. The Elder Council immediately approved her to be the Lord of the Lu Family. This was evidence enough.
"I must open up all three Divine Meridians for the Divine Level cultivation technique."
Lu Ming clenched his fists for a moment, and started to go through the other two manuals.
For the other two books, one of them was a fist art, which was of Inferior Yellow Level. The other book was a body art, which was also of Inferior Yellow Level.
Although they were just Inferior Yellow Level martial arts techniques, it would still be hard to find something similar, even for the Lu Family.
Setting the manuals down, Lu Ming picked up the Marrow-cleansing Pills again. He popped the lid open, and swallowed the Marrow-cleansing Pill in one go.
The strong effects of the medicine dissolved in his body and seeped into Lu Ming's muscles, skeleton, and organs. It started to slowly improve Lu Ming's body.
Lu Ming could hear even the slight vibrations emitting from his skeleton, as well as the squirming of his muscles. His body was heating up as black strands of impurities were expelled from his body.
His body continuously grew stronger. His meridians that were once blocked and withered were now active and lively.