Chapter 132 – The Supreme Surprise, Little Senior Brother

“…The Heavenly Domineering Physique is renowned as the foremost body training technique in the martial arts world.

Unfortunately, later, the Holy Fist Sect fell into internal strife and split into three sects: the Overlord Fist Sect, the Steel Bone Sect, and the Celestial Pole Sect.

A perfectly good legacy was fragmented into pieces.

Now, trying to gather it all together again is extremely difficult.”

Liu Daoyuan casually shared these martial arts secrets, and Lu Yuan made a mental note of the three sects’ names.

Not that he was dead set on mastering this cultivation technique, but if he ever encountered it, it would be good to keep an eye out. Who knows, he might get an opportunity someday?

“From now on, you will cultivate with me in the main hall. Later, we will bring your family over. Liu Si will take care of everything.”

Liu Daoyuan began to arrange Lu Yuan’s future life.

As soon as Lu Yuan heard this, he shook his head immediately: “I’m afraid that won’t work. My family doesn’t even know I’ve been practicing martial arts… well, to this extent.

I need to go back. I can’t get used to living here.”

Indeed, he couldn’t get used to it.

Though the food and lodging were excellent at Linghexuan, Lu Yuan still preferred a more down-to-earth lifestyle.

Visiting occasionally for a few days like a vacation was fine, but settling down here was out of the question.

Lu Yuan hadn’t even mentioned he only had a month left of his summer vacation, and he needed to go back to school.

However, Liu Daoyuan didn’t force him. He pondered and said, “If you don’t want to stay here, that’s fine. I’ll have Xiao Jiu1 arrange everything for you at Jiaoyan. If you need anything in the future, just go to him.

But you must come here at least once a month…”

“Who is Xiao Jiu?”

Lu Yuan instinctively asked but quickly realized Liu Daoyuan was referring to Qin Feng.

After settling this matter, Liu Daoyuan continued: “…Although Lin Zhiqin is rather dull, he did lay a solid foundation for you.

He should have taught you everything he was supposed to.

Next, I’ll have Second Senior Brother and Fourth Senior Brother teach you the remaining crane style cultivation techniques.

Once you’ve learned everything and held the apprenticeship banquet, you can leave if you wish…”

“There’s an apprenticeship banquet too?”

Lu Yuan was a bit surprised.

“If it were just taking a direct disciple, it wouldn’t matter.

But as Celestial Crane of Sky Water, you’re the only True Disciple I’ve ever taken in my lifetime, so naturally, it has to be announced far and wide and celebrated grandly…”

Liu Daoyuan seemed to think of something and sneered, “This apprenticeship banquet marks the strong return of me, Liu Daoyuan, and my Crane Style. It will stir up the martial arts world and be the beginning of our domination!!”

“…”

After chatting for a bit more, it was unclear whether Liu Daoyuan had drunk too much soda and needed to relieve himself, or if he was just tired. He waved his hand, signaling Lu Yuan to leave.

Liu Si, who had brought him here earlier, appeared again from who-knows-where and led him to a new residence.

An entire courtyard.

There were six rooms in total on three sides, with an open space at the entrance for martial arts practice and cultivation.

Lu Yuan had expected that his treatment would improve after passing the assessment, but he hadn’t anticipated such a significant upgrade.

It was like going from a standard double room to a top-tier presidential suite.

“If the Young Sect Master needs anything, just call for us at any time. There will be someone at the gate 24 hours a day,” Liu Si said, bowing so low that his head nearly touched his knees.

Lu Yuan nodded and, just as Liu Si was about to leave, he remembered something and called out to him.

“Did the teacher mention when the apprenticeship banquet would be?”

Liu Si respectfully replied, “The Sect Master said that this matter is up to you, Young Sect Master. It’s best if you inform us early so we, as your servants, can make the necessary arrangements in advance.”

“Got it. I’ll let you know.”

Twenty minutes later, Lu Yuan put down his mobile phone with a thoughtful expression.

He had just finished chatting with Lu Jing, mainly to confirm the specific date of her return to Jiaoyan. Lu Jing mentioned she would probably be back in the latter part of this month.

“Then let’s set the apprenticeship banquet for the middle of the month. The ten days in between will be perfect for completing the Sky Water Stream Crane Style’s martial arts system,” Lu Yuan thought.

He pulled up his professional panel information.

On the [Martial Artist] panel, the advanced professional skills listed were lv3 Spirit Crane Body, lv2 Crane Boxing, and lv1 Crane Power.

Above that, the only skill left was the professional killer move [Crane Shadow Float].

According to Liu Daoyuan, to reach the True Intent Realm, one must first master the three great true skills of the Crane Style.

Then, by combining these three great true skills, one could comprehend the True Intent.

“So, the three great true skills are prerequisites for the True Intent. Once the prerequisite skill levels are met, the subsequent derived skills can be unlocked with skill points. At that point, comprehending the True Intent of the crane style might become very easy for me…”

“Of course, this is assuming the levels of the three great true skills are high enough.”

Lu Yuan glanced at the panel and noticed that the small note next to [Crane Shadow Float] indicating (temporarily cannot upgrade) had not yet disappeared.

This indicated that the prerequisite skills related to [Crane Shadow Float] had not yet reached the necessary standards.

“Lv3 is likely a watershed. Once crane boxing reaches Lv3, I should be able to use skill points to upgrade [Crane Shadow Float],” Lu Yuan speculated.

Next was the distribution of attribute points and skill points.

Lu Yuan’s current Four Attributes were [15, 16, 17, 15].

With ongoing body training, constitution points and agility points were not a concern.

This left the decision between strength points and intelligence points.

After some thought, Lu Yuan decided to allocate 1 attribute point to intelligence and 1 skill point to [special exertion].

This way, he could balance both aspects.

The 1 attribute point added to intelligence instantly raised his intelligence points from 15 to 16.

Lu Yuan braced himself for the usual “drill-like headache” that typically came with such upgrades.

To his surprise, this time the process was remarkably smooth.

It felt as if a spring had opened up in his mind, with clear spring water continuously flowing out, bringing a refreshing and soothing sensation to his entire brain.

Lu Yuan then clearly felt his Mental Power increasing, extending outward…

It quickly surpassed fifteen meters, then twenty meters.

His Mental Power reached beyond the large room, “clearly” seeing the scene at the doorway.

A girl wearing a servant’s outfit from Linghexuan stood at the door, secretly taking a selfie with her mobile phone against the backdrop of the carved wooden window.

Lu Yuan could even see the caption she posted on Moments after taking the photo—”Working hard, keep going! (Sun) (Sun)…”

“The detection range of my Mental Power has doubled, and the detected scenes are much more detailed and clear…”

If Lu Yuan’s initial awakening of Mental Power could be likened to a “720-degree holographic image” with two million pixels, then step by step, it improved to three million, five million, eight million…

And now, it had reached ten million high-definition quality.

“This is much more advanced than any night vision device, infrared camera, or radar.

It’s especially useful against opponents hiding behind obstacles with hot weapons, allowing me to avoid most sneak attacks.”

Lu Yuan was experiencing the various enhancements brought by having 16 intelligence points.

Suddenly, various images began to flash in his mind.

Crows, the full moon, the Styx, Red Spider Lilies, white cranes, a sea of clouds…

“Again?!”

This time, he didn’t simultaneously use [death energy entanglement] and [Crane Shadow Float], yet the sense of the two types of imagery blending was becoming stronger and stronger.

And it was continuously developing towards the dark, gloomy direction of the Crow Dreamscape.

“Is the Crow Dreamscape going to swallow my [Crane Shadow Float]?!”

Lu Yuan frowned deeply, unsure if this evolution was good or bad for him.

The main issue was that he couldn’t do anything about it; he could only let this change take place.

When he closed his eyes, various images would automatically emerge in his mind, unstoppable.

He didn’t know how much time had passed.

Finally, the flashing images in his mind ceased.

“Phew. “

Lu Yuan exhaled lightly and pulled up his professional panel to check.

The [martial artist] panel showed no response.

But when he looked at the [Death Messenger (extraordinary)] panel, he couldn’t help but be slightly stirred.

“A new skill…”

Lu Yuan blinked.

More accurately, it was a new skill waiting to be unlocked.

A grey light spot had appeared on the [Death Messenger (extraordinary)] panel.

Just like when he first comprehended [Crane Shadow Float], the skill was waiting to be unlocked but couldn’t be directly unlocked with skill points due to a lack of prerequisites.

“The position is so high…”

What truly amazed Lu Yuan was the position of this grey light spot on the [Death Messenger (extraordinary)] panel.

It was almost at the top.

Compared to the [martial artist] panel, it was even higher than the Professional Killer Move [Crane Shadow Float].

What could be more advanced than a Professional Killer Move?

Lu Yuan didn’t know.

But he was sure of one thing.

This skill waiting to be unlocked was definitely very powerful!

Extremely powerful!

Once unlocked, it might surpass all his current trump cards and become a supreme ace in the hole!

“[Crane Shadow Float] and [death energy entanglement] have already produced some sort of wonderful chemical reaction…

And intelligence points, to a certain extent, represent inspiration and comprehension. With the increase in intelligence points, it seems to have accelerated the generation of this reaction.

It looks like I’ll need to focus on adding intelligence points in the coming period…”

Lu Yuan’s eyes brightened, as if discovering a new continent full of treasures.

Due to the mutation on the [Death Messenger (extraordinary)] panel, Lu Yuan almost couldn’t resist allocating his 1 skill point to [A Moment of Inspiration].

But after careful consideration, he realized that although [A Moment of Inspiration] had helped him several times, it was ultimately just an auxiliary skill.

Using 1 skill point to slightly increase an unpredictable trigger probability wasn’t wise at all.

Skill points were too precious.

Lu Yuan had too many important skills on his various professional panels eagerly waiting for skill points.

Every time this happened, Lu Yuan couldn’t help but think of the time he foolishly spent 1 skill point on [basic grappling] to save some time and effort.

It was heart-wrenching.

How many times had he woken up in the middle of the night, driven by the urge to pee, and suddenly thought of this?

He’d want to slap himself hard and then pray for a chance to reset his skill points.

“From now on, I’ll rely on my own understanding. I definitely won’t use skill points for that.

If my comprehension isn’t enough, adding a few more attribute points to intelligence is still better than wasting skill points!”

Lu Yuan made a firm decision in his heart.

Then, he allocated the newly acquired skill point to [special exertion].

Originally at Lv2, [special exertion] was upgraded to Lv3.

Lu Yuan gently closed his eyes, his muscles slowly writhing and swelling, gradually turning a dark blue-black.

Thick veins bulged, and his stringy and blocky muscles undulated like dark tides in the night.

New insights and techniques fused into his body.

A deeper realm was unlocked.

Lu Yuan’s increasingly deep voice softly echoed in the large room.

“Palace of Flesh… What a fitting and melodious name…”

…

The setting sun cast its slanted rays.

The golden afterglow of the sunset spilled over the bluish-green eaves, casting a golden hue in the courtyard.

In the small courtyard paved with bluestone bricks, two figures were clashing rapidly.

“Bang!”

A stout leg, as thick as a twenty-year-old tree stump, kicked out fiercely.

The terrifying force wrapped around the leg tore through the air, leaving visible white streaks, and the sound of it breaking the air was like ripping fine silk.

“Boom!”

The leg directly shattered the small stone table in the middle of the courtyard, and amidst the scattered fragments, it continued its momentum, kicking the short-haired woman’s crossed forearms.

“Bang!”

The short-haired woman was sent stumbling backward by the kick.

With each step back, a clear footprint several centimeters deep appeared beneath her.

After several steps, the short-haired woman’s expression seemed to calm down.

Just as she was about to recover fully, her face suddenly changed.

An inexplicable, terrifying force abruptly exploded within her.

She let out a muffled groan and staggered back again.

This time, she couldn’t control it as well as before.

The bluestone brick ground beneath her feet shattered, leaving large cracks wherever she stepped.

“Whew. “

After retreating five or six steps, the short-haired woman finally steadied herself completely.

Her smooth, wrinkle-free face showed a hint of recognition and seriousness as she looked at the handsome young man in front of her, whose body was cracking back to its normal state. She said earnestly, “If Little Senior Brother’s inner strength were a bit stronger, I probably wouldn’t be able to match you…”

Just having exited the [special exertion] state, Lu Yuan shook his head at these words and said, “Aunt Zhuang, you’re joking. You haven’t even used your true skill, and you’ve only used less than half of your inner strength. You were holding back—I could feel it…”

Lu Yuan had become Liu Daoyuan’s sole True Disciple, elevating his status to the highest within the Crane Style, second only to Liu Daoyuan.

All other direct disciples became his junior brothers and sisters and had to call him “Little Senior Brother.”

Lu Yuan found it awkward to call them “junior brother” or “junior sister,” so he simply referred to them as “aunt2” or “uncle,” aligning each person with their respective titles.

Just like the Fourth Direct Disciple in front of him, who was specifically assigned by Liu Daoyuan to teach him leg techniques, named Zhuang Xiujie.

Lu Yuan called her Aunt Zhuang.

“You’re already quite impressive…”

Zhuang Xiujie’s face showed a complex expression as she sighed softly, “After all, this isn’t a life-and-death struggle; there’s no need to use every trick in the book.”

After she finished speaking, she called in the servant to clean up and repair the mess in the courtyard.

Footnote:

• Xiao Jiu(小九): The Ninth Disciple.

• Aunt or Uncle(阿姨或叔叔): In this context, the terms “uncle” (叔叔, shū shu) and “aunt” (阿姨, ā yí) are used as respectful and affectionate titles for older adults who are not blood relatives. It’s common in Chinese culture to address family friends, neighbors, and other older acquaintances this way, similar to how some cultures use “Mr.” or “Ms.” followed by a first name. It’s a way to show respect and create a sense of familial closeness, even when there is no actual family connection.