Chapter 37

As soon as Lu Fan left the black market, he immediately had Zhu Ge Qing Ming rush to Shanjin Town to protect Han Zhen's safety.

He instinctively felt that today's affairs were not over. Although Gui Xiansheng had vanished into thin air, that "Sacrificial Grand Ceremony" could actually be considered a success. Not only had the Fifth-Tier Ghost King escaped, but there was also an extra Gui Ying, and with the inexplicably vanished Dark Rune Master, he feared there would be more turmoil in the future.

"Forget it! The Desolate Seal is in hand; even if there is some turmoil in the future, I won't take it to heart!" Lu Fan shook his head slightly and stopped pondering the Skull Society's affairs.

"However, the Sacred Martial Hall has likely noticed me by now, and with that brat Li Qingshan making trouble behind my back, there might truly be some trouble!"

The Sacred Martial Hall was a preeminent power in the Heaven Origin World; even if the Mingyue Empire was not worth mentioning, this branch hall was still quite formidable, and he had to be on guard.

"With insufficient strength, I can only borrow power for now!" Lu Fan's gaze sharpened; he already had an idea. Once the Art Refiner Guild's Preaching Assembly began, the Sacred Martial Hall would certainly come to make trouble, and they would settle old and new scores together.

Although he had told Zu Qing Tan and the others that he would bear it all himself, the situation would be beyond his control when the time came, and the Sacred Martial Hall would certainly point its spearhead at the Art Refiner Guild. That would be the moment for him, Lu Fan, to truly reveal his strength.

Lu Fan smiled slightly, collected his thoughts, and looked around, only then realizing he had arrived at a street market. He had originally intended to find a direction back to the Tianyuan Academy, but suddenly remembered something.

"Chen Dongming's shop should be just ahead! He swindled the original owner of this body out of countless medicinal herbs in the past; today, I'll collect some interest to aid my cultivation!"

He nodded, then walked directly toward the depths of the market, stopping before a small building, his expression turning slightly ugly.

The style of this small building was quite elegant, and the surrounding neighbors were all extraordinary, but for some reason, a group of ragged Jade Pickers was blocking the door, and passersby were pointing and whispering.

"Yuhua Hall? This is the right place, isn't it supposed to deal in gems and jade? Why is a bunch of poor beggars blocking the entrance? Could it be a branch of the famous Beggar Sect?"

In his residual memories, this Chen Dongming was a distant cousin. Before Lu Fan had been abandoned by his family, he had often shielded Chen Dongming and given him many good things.

"This brat is too unpromising; he really disappoints me!"

Ye Fei shook his head slightly, took long strides, squeezed past the crowd at the door, and walked straight inside.

"Clerk! Where is that brat Chen Dongming? Tell him to come out and see me!" As soon as he entered the main hall, he sat casually by a tea table and shouted loudly.

As soon as this voice fell, the clerks didn't come to greet him. However, the Jade Pickers crowded at the door were stirred, and a black-faced man in the lead walked over, smiling and saying, "Little brother, do you know the shopkeeper here?"

Lu Fan glanced at the man slightly, then said nonchalantly, "No need to try to get close to me, you're here to collect a debt, right!"

The black-faced man was slightly stunned, then became embarrassed. He had indeed wanted to probe the youth before him, but he hadn't expected to be seen through at a glance, so he couldn't help but smile sheepishly: "We are workers from the Jade Field. We originally worked for Boss Chen, but several months have passed and we haven't received a single cent, so we were forced into this!"

Lu Fan nodded. Seeing that the other party was quite honest, he nodded and said, "Oh? So it's Chen Dongming, that brat, who is being unrighteous! Wait a moment, I'll call him out!"

As soon as his voice fell, he scanned the scene. The three or five clerks in the hall were all looking lazy, and not a single one had come over to greet him.

"Snap!"

He suddenly waved his palm, and the tea table beside him instantly shattered, turning into powder.

This booming sound instantly shocked the entire hall; everyone was astonished and bewildered, clearly frightened.

The black-faced man also trembled; he hadn't expected this youth, who wasn't very old, to be so formidable—he was clearly a Martial Artist.

Yuhua Hall was frequented by wealthy nobles, and the clerks loved to observe expressions and treat people according to their status.

Originally, seeing Lu Fan in ordinary clothes, they assumed he had no money and wasn't worth greeting. Now that Lu Fan had revealed his Martial Artist strength, these clerks were as excited as if they had been injected with adrenaline.

Martial Artists prioritize cultivation and care little for external things. As long as their strength is formidable, they are all big shots, and they could not afford to neglect him.

Now, they immediately ran over to serve tea and water, asking after him in low voices, and the lead clerk quietly slipped into the backyard, presumably to find the shopkeeper.

"Who is shouting outside? Don't tell me it's another half-baked Martial Cultivator; our Yuhua Hall doesn't want useless people." Chen Dongming, wearing a brocade hat and fur coat, walked slowly into the hall with a sleepy look on his face.

The group of Jade Pickers were stirred upon seeing Chen Dongming, but they seemed to have other concerns; they looked at each other, and no one dared to step forward.

The black-faced man gritted his teeth, seemingly having made up his mind, and said, "Boss Chen, we have worked in the Jade Field for quite some time now, can the wages..."

Before he could finish speaking, Chen Dongming flew into a rage and said, "Wages? You really are daydreaming. What kind of trash is produced from that field of yours? You actually want to scam me? Do you really think I, Chen Dongming, am easy to bully?"

As he spoke, he rolled up his sleeves and shook his arms; he was actually a Second-Rank Martial Warrior. The group of Jade Pickers were just poor people who only knew how to use crude strength and were no match for him at all; in three moves and two strikes, he knocked a large group of them down.

Seeing this scene, Lu Fan's expression turned cold. The slight favorable impression he had held for Chen Dongming in his residual memories had now completely dissipated.

"Hmph! Chen Dongming, you've grown quite capable!"

He let out a cold snort, and his large hand suddenly waved, a True Qi palm shadow locking onto Chen Dongming.

Chen Dongming was in the middle of his beating when he heard this, and his heart turned cold. Feeling somewhat bewildered, he was just about to turn his head when the True Qi palm shadow slammed into his back.

"Bang!"

An irresistible force erupted, and Chen Dongming, who had been imposing just a moment ago, now tumbled toward the door like a wild dog.

"Snap!"

Lu Fan stepped on Chen Dongming's face, his expression slightly gloomy, and said, "You don't pay your debts, you've certainly got some nerve!"

Chen Dongming felt as if his whole body were shattering, but more than that, he felt bewildered and deeply aggrieved. He hadn't provoked these powerful Martial Artists; why had they come to his door to seek revenge?

Only then did he have the time to stare at Lu Fan—a youth's face, looking about sixteen or seventeen, which seemed somewhat familiar.

"Are you... Cousin Lu Fan?"

Chen Dongming's face looked ugly, as if he had seen a ghost. In his mind, Lu Fan was a Martial Dao waste who had long been abandoned by the Lu Family; how could he be so powerful?

He was also a Second-Rank Martial Warrior, and this time he honestly took another look at Lu Fan. A Tendon Refining Realm Martial Master, actually even more powerful than himself—how could this be possible?

The group of Jade Pickers was stunned. They had originally thought Lu Fan was a pure-hearted youth who hated evil, had learned great martial arts, and was eliminating harm for the people.

Now it seemed that not only was he eliminating harm for the people, but he also seemed to be destroying his own kin for the sake of righteousness!

Lu Fan's gaze turned cold, and he sneered, "You seem very surprised, cousin?"

He lifted his foot, grabbed Chen Dongming by the collar, swung him through the air, and threw him directly onto the chairs in the hall.

He then flashed to the side, sat down, picked up a warm teacup, and sipped it carefully. Even his expression calmed down, as if what had happened before was just an illusion, and the two were enjoying a pleasant host-guest relationship. Chen Dongming was filled with astonishment and shock, unable to speak. Lu Fan's Tendon Refining Realm cultivation was something he couldn't understand, and even his way of handling things was so unfathomable, looking just like those big shots. He kept his joy and anger hidden, making him impossible to read.

"Cousin, I haven't seen you for several years, are you doing well?"

He rubbed his face, trying his best to act as if nothing had happened. He would have to endure Lu Fan's humiliation today for now and seek to regain his face in the future.

Lu Fan put down the teacup, narrowed his eyes, and his expression turned cold again as he said, "Am I doing well? Do you really not know?"

A hint of chill suddenly filled the entire hall, and several of the frail Jade Pickers shivered and began to tremble.

Chen Dongming broke out in a cold sweat, trembling, and couldn't help but stand up, bowing his body in a submissive manner.

He was extremely conflicted inside; Lu Fan was clearly just a little brat. But in the span of a few words, he couldn't bring himself to be tough, as if he had met some incredible big shot from the Imperial Capital, and he was just a step away from kneeling to listen to a decree.

"Hmph! We'll settle our business later. First, pay these Jade Pickers their wages!"

The appearance of Lu Ran had put Lu Fan's handling of the Lu Family's troubles on the agenda. This Chen Dongming was the stepping stone, the first step for Lu Fan to figure out the strangeness of the Lu Family.

Upon hearing this, Chen Dongming wore a crying face and wanted to argue with Lu Fan a few times. But he was scared into silence by a single look from him and could only summon the accountant to settle the accounts on the spot.

After a short while, all the Jade Pickers had received their wages and bowed to Lu Fan repeatedly, their faces full of gratitude.

"Little brother! Thank you so much this time. We have nothing to repay you with; this piece of Seed Jade was dug up recently, please accept it, little brother!"

The black-faced man took out a grayish-white stone, placed it on the table beside Ye Fei, bowed again, and left with the group of Jade Pickers.

"Cousin! Those people are all liars; that Jade Field of theirs is full of trash, and this is just a broken stone!"

Chen Dongming could only vent his pent-up anger on the Jade Pickers to gain some verbal satisfaction.

Lu Fan's expression was calm; he slowly picked up the grayish-white stone, his Spiritual Power subconsciously probing it, and then he was stunned.

This grayish-white stone looked ordinary, but it clearly contained a piece of lustrous crystal inside, with mist swirling around it—it was actually an Origin Stone.

Origin Stones are naturally born ores containing abundant Heaven and Earth Origin Qi. They are natural aids for Martial Artists' cultivation and Sorcerers' practice. Just this small piece was worth a thousand gold, and it was priceless.

"Was this stone produced in your Jade Field?"

Lu Fan's gaze sharpened as he shouted the question at Chen Dongming.

Chen Dongming had still been grumbling, but upon hearing Lu Fan's question, he hurriedly collected his thoughts, nodded with a crying face, and said, "Cousin, those people really are all liars! That broken field isn't even mine; it was discovered by these Jade Pickers themselves, and they insisted on contracting it to me—it's ruined me!"

"Oh? It seems you've suffered quite a few grievances!" Lu Fan narrowed his eyes and chuckled, "And you seem somewhat unwilling about my handling of things just now?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Dongming wanted to nod, but remembering Lu Fan's previous methods, he panicked and hurriedly shook his head to say no.

"Hmm! Then continue the contract! Bring me your account books from these past few years so I can take a look!"