The one in charge of the Punishment Hall is Han Yaotong, the Patriarch's younger brother.
Han Yaotong looks much younger than Han Yaozu, even though they're about the same age.
"You must be Lu Yu." Han Yaotong glanced at Lu Yu a few times and said, "The alarm was sounded very timely this time. Thanks to you, the intruders didn't cause much damage to the inner courtyard."
"The Pavilion Master flatters me; this is just the duty of us Protectors."
"Humility is good! Humility leads to progress, but sometimes you shouldn't be too low-key. Some resources can only be accessed by talents." Han Yaotong said somewhat wistfully.
Changing the topic, he suddenly asked, "You've reached the third level of Body Refinement?"
Lu Yu was shocked, how did he know? He secretly glanced at Han Yaotong's face, confirming this was his first meeting with him.
Besides, he had just recently broken through to the third level of Body Refinement, how could he know?
Upon hearing Han Yaotong's words, Zhang Lun was very surprised. Just over ten days ago, Lu Yu was an ordinary person who had never touched cultivation, and in just ten days he advanced to the third level of Body Refinement. This was unbelievable.
As far as he knew, it took the young master over a month to go from starting cultivation to breaking through the third level of Body Refinement.
So, Lu Yu's talent is stronger than the young master!
Zhang Lun carefully examined Lu Yu, thinking: No wonder uncle pays so much attention to him.
As for whether Han Yaotong might be mistaken, Zhang Lun didn't think that would be the case. From what he understood, Han Yaotong was the strongest person in the Han residence.
It's very likely he's already broken through to the Qi Cultivation stage.
But Zhang Lun had never seen Han Yaotong in action, so he wasn't sure if he had reached the Qi Manipulation stage.
"Hmm, I broke through when I faced danger last night." Seeing his level noticed, Lu Yu simply admitted.
However, Lu Yu was a bit curious, how could one know another's level (realm) without taking action; could this be a passive skill of higher realm Martial Cultivators?
"Hahaha~" Seeing him so honest, Han Yaotong laughed and said, "Outstanding talent and great achievements; letting you remain in the outer courtyard would only bury your talent."
"How about this, I'll make the decision, you move into the inner courtyard now. Zhang Lun, remember to take him to register later."
"Yes," Zhang Lun responded.
Han Yaotong extended his right hand, and without any noticeable movement, a cultivation technique with a blue cover, two bottles of pills, and a small cloth bag appeared in his hand.
Noticing the obsidian-colored ring on Han Yaotong's finger, Lu Yu guessed it must be a Storage Ring.
Zhang Lun, looking at the ring, showed an envious expression. Storage treasures were very rare, probably only Han Yaozu and Han Yaotong possessed them.
Seeing the small cloth bag, Lu Yu's eyes lit up; this bag was just like the one he received from the logistics courtyard, used to hold money. It was probably filled with money too.
His mind immediately became active: Could he afford a recharge now?
Seeing his gaze attracted by the money bag, Han Yaotong was somewhat amused and exasperated; others would go to great lengths to obtain a cultivation technique, yet with the technique and money placed together, Lu Yu didn't even glance at the technique.
"Take it, this cultivation technique is the Flowing Water Rock-Breaking Fist, capable of reaching the peak of the Body Refinement stage. The Han residence also has advanced Spiritual-grade cultivation techniques. The two bottles of pills include one Body Tempering Pill and one Qi Blood Pill, with 200 Gold Coins in the bag. You can buy a suitable weapon."
Receiving the items, Lu Yu hesitated for a moment before returning the cultivation technique to Han Yaotong.
"What, not satisfied?" Han Yaotong's tone turned cold, surprised that Lu Yu was still not contented.
Lu Yu shook his head, explaining, "No, I'm very satisfied with the rewards from the Han residence."
"But in this recent battle, I discovered fists are at a disadvantage when facing weapons, so I'd like to exchange for a blade or sword technique."
He added, "Any ordinary blade or sword technique will do."
Han Yaotong's expression eased, smiling once more, "Alright! In fact, after advancing to the Qi Cultivation stage, the difference between fist techniques and blade techniques isn't as big as you think."
"But if you want to exchange, I'll let you. Let me look for it... Found it, this blade technique I obtained during my travels years ago, though it's only half complete, reaching the Body Refinement peak is no problem."
Han Yaotong put away the Flowing Water Rock-Breaking Fist cultivation technique and handed a tattered cloth to Lu Yu, containing the first half of a blade technique, while the second half was torn off.
"I don't even know the name of this blade technique, so let's just call it the Nameless Blade Technique," Han Yaozu said.
Lu Yu was slightly speechless, but still thanked him for fulfilling his wish.
"Thank you, Pavilion Master, for granting my request."
"As long as you know the Han residence is on your side, there's no need to thank me," Han Yaotong waved his hand and said.
"Zhang Lun, take him to register," Han Yaotong said, heading to the second floor of the Punishment Hall.
"Yes," Zhang Lun took Lu Yu away, and after registering with the inner courtyard steward, he helped Lu Yu pack up and move into the inner courtyard.
The courtyard assigned to Lu Yu in the inner courtyard was much larger than the outer one; the inner courtyard was a true courtyard, whereas the one in the outer courtyard was merely a corridor for drying clothes.
The courtyard housed a green tree thicker than Lu Yu's waist, with one planted in each courtyard, varying only in height.
Seeing Lu Yu looking at the green trees in the courtyard, Zhang Lun said, "This is a variant of the Spiritual Tree - the Convergence Tree. The Spiritual Tree is a rare tree species planted in some major families and the Official Academy, capable of increasing the concentration of Spiritual Qi in the surrounding environment, enhancing cultivation effects."
"The Spiritual Tree is too rare, and the Han family doesn't have a single one. However, the Convergence Tree, which has a weaker effect, is planted all over the inner courtyard of the Han family."
"Although its effect is much weaker, having it is better than not having it. At least it can increase some greenery. Seeing the thriving Convergence Tree makes one's mood better."
Lu Yu nodded, agreeing with his words. Taking a look at plants indeed helps to maintain a good mood.
Lu Yu previously thought the trees in the inner courtyard were planted for beautification purposes. He didn't expect them to have such a function.
However, Lu Yu indeed didn't feel any difference between the area around the Convergence Tree and the outer courtyard. The air wasn't fresher at all; he couldn't feel the Spiritual Qi Zhang Lun talked about.
After helping Lu Yu move in, Zhang Lun said, "Now that you are a Protector of the inner courtyard, you don't need to continue patrolling the outer courtyard. Moreover, due to the invasion of the men in black, many Protectors in the inner courtyard were injured or killed."
"So, there is a shortage of personnel in some critical places. Steward Zhang's intention is to have you go to Windmill Town to oversee the safety of the Han family's shops in the town and assist Steward Zhang."
"Going to the town?" Lu Yu looked at Zhang Lun, slightly excited, as he could finally leave the Han family to see the outside world.
It was the first time he stayed in Novice Village for such a long period.
Lu Yu waited for Zhang Lun's notice in his new home, as he wasn't the only one going to the town.
He evaluated the goods he received today: a total of 10 Body Tempering Pills, 12 Qi Blood Pills, 230 Gold Coins, and a fragmented unnamed blade technique manual.
The main value lay in the pills and the unnamed blade technique, vastly exceeding the monetary gain.
Lu Yu used the system marketplace's scanning function to search for the unnamed blade technique and found that he could indeed purchase its follow-up cultivation technique.
Since he already had a part of the blade technique, the total price was discounted by 30%, requiring 700,000 Points.
The system marketplace displayed that the true name of the unnamed blade technique was - Bladeless Blade Technique, a third-grade spiritual blade technique that was more powerful than many fourth-grade spiritual blade techniques.
Its classification as third-grade spiritual instead of fourth-grade spiritual is because the cultivation direction of this blade technique is too extreme.
The essence of the Bladeless Blade Technique lies in one word - weight.
The blade must be heavy, the strength must be heavy, advancing unstoppable, one force breaking ten thousand techniques.
The creator firmly believed that attack is the best defense, so there are no defensive moves in the Bladeless Blade Technique. The entire blade technique teaches how to unleash maximum strength.
The entire blade technique contains only one move - Celestial Collapse.
The first half of the blade technique teaches how to cultivate Qi Blood, using Qi Blood to unleash the strongest strike, while the latter half teaches how to cultivate Spiritual Qi, combining Spiritual Qi with Qi Blood to unleash the strongest strike.
The Bladeless Blade Technique overly pursues explosive power, hence it ranks as a third-grade spiritual cultivation technique, comparable in power to fourth-grade spiritual techniques.
Maybe one day, once he accumulates 70,000 Gold Coins, he can purchase the latter half of the Bladeless Blade Technique.
However, for now, it's best not to think so far ahead; he is only at Body Refinement Level 3, far from reaching the Qi Cultivation realm.
Choosing to learn the first half of the Bladeless Blade Technique, Lu Yu swiftly completed loading the cultivation technique.
[New cultivation technique acquired - Bladeless Blade Technique (Layer 1)]
[New skill acquired - Bladeless Swordsmanship - Celestial Collapse (Novice)]
Glancing at the experience required to upgrade the Bladeless Blade Technique, leveling up one layer requires 1000 experience points, while upgrading the Bladeless Swordsmanship requires 2000 experience points.
Lu Yu was discouraged on the spot, wishing to directly level up the cultivation technique to boost his strength. However, his experience points were insufficient.
As for the Bladeless Blade Technique skill, Lu Yu couldn't even attempt to perform it.
The novice level was insufficient to allow him to unleash the power of Celestial Collapse; forcing it might not even be as effective as the Fierce Tiger Fist.
Looking at his current 837 experience points, Lu Yu hesitated for a moment before deciding not to use them. He wished to wait and see if an opportunity arises to gather 1000 experience points to upgrade the Bladeless Blade Technique.
Having finished learning the Bladeless Blade Technique, without Zhang Lun arriving, Lu Yu continued cultivating the Fierce Tiger Fist in his courtyard.
Without a blade that meets the requirements, he couldn't begin cultivating the Bladeless Blade Technique and could only focus on the Fierce Tiger Fist.
In any case, training the Fierce Tiger Fist up to the seventh level of the Body Refinement realm still contributed to Qi Blood growth.
Cultivating beneath the Convergence Tree, Lu Yu found that his Qi Blood seemed more active than in previous training sessions, and its growth rate accelerated slightly.
"Looks like this Convergence Tree really has some use."
When Zhang Lun arrived with news to the courtyard, seeing Lu Yu practicing even during his wait, he couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration.
Silently thinking: It seems his rapid progress to Body Refinement Level 3 isn't without reason; his talent surpasses others, and he also works harder in cultivation.
I must learn from him, treasure every minute of cultivation time!
After conducting a bit of self-mentoring, Zhang Lun waited for Lu Yu to finish a set of fist techniques before entering to tell him to get ready for departure.