Chapter 176: Enemies

It is precisely because of this that everyone's attitude toward him, a person who had some connection with that young man, was exceptionally friendly.

Therefore, he was truly curious in his heart about what kind of status that young man actually held in the Zhai.

"Are you talking about Lu?" the young woman asked.

"That's right, it's him." The old man nodded in confirmation. "I noticed that you all follow his every word; is his status in the Zhai especially high?"

Hearing this, the two women couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"W... what's wrong? Did I say something wrong?" The old man was left at a loss by their laughter.

"Grandpa, Lu is quite formidable in our Lu Family Fort." As the young woman spoke, she gave a thumbs-up.

"Is he the boss?" The old man's mouth hung open in surprise, his face filled with disbelief.

"If that's how you understand it, you aren't wrong," the young woman said, suppressing her laughter.

"Thanks to Lu, we were able to escape from the hands of those bad guys led by Li Meng. If it weren't for him, it's hard to say whether we two could be standing here talking to you right now," the older woman sighed with emotion.

"What on earth happened?" The old man felt as if thousands of ants were crawling in his heart; his curiosity had been completely piqued.

He cautiously looked outside the room, then lowered his voice and said, "Tell me about it. Don't worry, I don't have many virtues, but I am tight-lipped and will absolutely not go around blabbing to others."

"There's nothing that can't be said; it's not some massive secret, everyone in the Zhai knows," the older woman said with a smile, and then recounted everything that had happened previously from start to finish.

After listening, the old man gasped, his eyeballs nearly popping out of their sockets.

Good heavens, he had always thought he had gotten a great bargain, but now he realized that the young man had been hiding his strength all along, playing the pig to eat the tiger.

Recalling what everyone said when he first entered the Zhai, he became even more certain that the young man was clearly the In-Jin Martial Artist he had mentioned, and the person he said was going to Yongan City was definitely not some elder of his.

Heavens, to become an In-Jin Martial Artist at such a young age, how astonishing must this talent be?

No wonder he knew the Secret Manuals he got from him were incomplete, yet he still studied them tirelessly.

Presumably, he relied on his extremely high talent to comprehend quite a lot from those incomplete Secret Manuals.

Oh my, he had been far too careless!

Thinking of this, the old man slapped his right thigh in frustration, only to wince in pain.

"Grandpa, a... are you alright?" Seeing this, the young woman panicked.

"Grandpa, you really shouldn't let your imagination run wild. It's just a broken leg; it will get better with proper rest."

"No, I'm fine." The old man waved his hand and said, "Alright, you two go out first; I want to be quiet for a while."

The two women exchanged a glance and nodded.

"Alright, Grandpa, we're heading out. If you need anything later, just shout, and we'll be here immediately."

"Mm." The old man responded, his mood quite complicated.

After a long while, he smiled bitterly and consoled himself: "Forget it, at least it shows that my eye for people isn't too bad, picking out the most formidable person in the Zhai right off the bat."

"Yes, that's right!" Thinking of this, a look of smugness couldn't help but appear on his face. "With that young man as my backer, let's see who in the Zhai dares to bully me in the future!"

At the same time.

On the martial arts training ground, everyone was sweating profusely as they practiced their martial arts diligently.

In the room next to the Warehouse.

"I really didn't expect that in just three or four years, the Martial Arts Association would develop so quickly, and that so many Pulse Refining Realm Martial Artists would actually appear?" Wang Liang's face was full of astonishment.

"Yes, I heard from the President that above the Pulse Refining Realm, there is the True Essence Realm. Besides the Headquarters President, two other martial artists have reached the True Essence Realm."

As Lu Yu spoke, he tentatively asked, "Uncle Wang, are you also a member of the Martial Arts Association?"

"That's right."

Wang Liang gave a bitter smile and said slowly, "When I joined the Branch, the President was Song Tian.

But at that time, the entire Association only had a few Pulse Refining Realm Martial Artists, and the Branch didn't even have a single one.

So back then, not only the others in the Branch, but even I myself was skeptical about this Realm."

Hearing this, Lu Yu couldn't help but recall what Wang Liang had told him before; at the time, Wang Liang had indeed mentioned the rumors of martial artists who could cultivate True Qi within their bodies.

Looking at it this way, the development momentum of the Martial Arts Association over these few years had indeed been rapid. Given time, perhaps it really could compete with the Awakened Association.

"Xiao Yu, you just said that there are only seven or eight In-Jin Martial Artists in the Branch now, including yourself?" Wang Liang frowned slightly.

"Mm, that's what the President said. Excluding him and Lin Hui, and counting me, there are only six in total," Lu Yu answered truthfully.

"Hiss..." Wang Liang drew a sharp breath.

"I remember that four years ago when I joined the Martial Arts Association, there were over thirty In-Jin Martial Artists at that time."

"Over thirty?"

"Yes, I was only a Ming-Jin Martial Artist back then, and my strength was at the bottom among the Branch's In-Jin Martial Artists. At that time, there were more than five Transformation Energy Martial Artists alone.

Even later, when I was hunted down and rescued by your father and the others, the number of In-Jin Martial Artists in the Association was still over twenty."

"Hunted down?" Lu Yu's heart stirred, and he guessed, "Uncle Wang, you weren't hunted down by people from the Shengda Merchant Guild, were you?"

"Ah!" Wang Liang opened his mouth in surprise, staring at Lu Yu. "Y... how did you know?"

He had always worried that his affairs would bring trouble to the people in the Zhai, so he had kept his mouth shut and never mentioned it to anyone.

How did Lu Yu know about this?

"No evidence, I guessed. Uncle Wang, the President warned me before to be careful of people from the Shengda Merchant Guild.

After all, besides Awakened, those with the strength to hunt down an In-Jin Martial Artist are likely In-Jin Martial Artists themselves, right?"

"That's right." Wang Liang was silent for a moment, then said slowly, "It seems the conflict between the Shengda Merchant Guild and the Branch is becoming increasingly intense.

When I was still at the Branch, people were constantly leaving to defect to the Shengda Merchant Guild.

Soon, the number of Internal Strength Martial Artists in the Shengda Merchant Guild was on par with ours.

From then on, both sides would break out into conflicts in the wilderness every few days. Until one time..."

A look of pain flashed in Wang Liang's eyes. "A friend and I went to the wilderness to hunt an Intermediate-level Fierce Beast, but we were targeted by them."

My friend was struck in the head on the spot by several bullets from a sniper rifle and lost his life.

Although I was not hit in a vital spot, I was also severely wounded and could only flee for my life. As for what happened later, you are already clear on that."