Chapter 282: Chapter 282: A Hundred Zhang Innate

After Yun Hao’s escape, under the fierce crackdown of the Prefectural Government Office, the once-dominant Hall of Heroes in Xiyin City crumbled to dust.

However, the whereabouts of Yun, the head of the household, had since vanished from everyone’s sight.

The Deng Family father and son accepted fifty taels of Gold from the Judicial Commissioner but didn’t even bother contacting the Divine Doctor, instead idling around Xiyin City all day long.

The Judicial Commissioner could hardly bear it anymore and sent a friend of Deng Lao Er to urge them on, “Are you not doing your job after taking the money?”

Deng Lao Er shot back with a single sentence, “After taking the money, I didn’t bother him anymore… Does that still count as not doing the job?”

Upon hearing this response, the Judicial Commissioner was stunned for a long time before finally sighing deeply, “Today I’ve truly learned what it feels like to have someone renege on a debt.”

Though he had been anxiously claiming he wanted to catch Yun Hao, in reality, he might not have truly wanted to find him.

The relationship between Yun Hao and him was just too complicated, a tangle of gratitude and grudges, making it hard to say who really owed whom.

What he genuinely wanted was to seize the opportunity to curry favor with the Immortal, but unfortunately, the Deng family father and son were too unreliable, taking money without doing the job.

What he didn’t know was that even the messenger secretly took pleasure in his misfortune: serve you right, it’s finally your turn to get a taste of it.

In fact, the Deng father and son were not completely neglectful of their duties; within a few days, they had thoroughly visited every shop of the Gu Family, and to avoid raising suspicions, they even visited many unrelated places.

The Gu Family’s various businesses seemed unaffected on the surface, operating normally, but a closer examination revealed that they were in a state of relaxed exterior but tight internal control.

Deng Lao Da was quite adept at this kind of intelligence-gathering work. After careful analysis, he said to his son, “The Gu Family has lost their will to fight. You can go back to Mount Zhige now; Dad can handle things here.”

Deng Lao Er had considerable confidence in his father, so he took two protectors from the Yongyi Duke Mansion and traveled day and night back to Mount Zhige.

Upon approaching the courtyard gate, he discovered to his astonishment that the place had become somewhat foreign to him.

The unfamiliar part wasn’t the environment, but the people. After his departure, Big Head Zheng had hurried over and temporarily replaced his position. At the same time, Second Young Master Yu, accompanied by a middle-aged man, had also moved into Feng Jun’s courtyard.

Aside from these three, there was one more person in the courtyard—it was none other than Brother Bao from Lord Beiyuan Mansion.

Deng Lao Er was quite perplexed by this and quietly asked his elder brother, “Will all these people be responsible for the Night Patrol?”

Deng Lao Da gave a succinct response, “Even if they don’t do the Night Patrol, there are others to help guard.”

His words were absolutely true. Since Feng had defeated the Yongyi Duke and Lord Beiyuan in battle, the Yu Family swiftly sent more people over. Currently, there were nearly thirty Yu Family Members around Mount Zhige.

Yu Zhengqing hadn’t come, but his orders had: the personnel here were to be directed by Second Young Master Yu.

Before that battle, Second Young Master Yu and Feng Jun had been at odds, but curiously, after the fight was over, he ostentatiously moved into Feng Jun’s courtyard to reside.

This led many to speculate whether the Divine Doctor had received any aid from the Yu Family during that battle.

Regardless, now that Second Young Master Yu was in charge on behalf of the Yu Family, after moving into the courtyard, the Yu Family Members would naturally help strengthen the defenses.

Even the hired High-Rank Martial Masters from the CheMa Trading Company felt somewhat unruly, thinking that if they couldn’t stay in that courtyard, that was fine, but they still had to help patrol it at night. The most frustrating part was having to be deferential to others while helping out.

They even had a quarrel with the Tian Family Disciples over this, as the Tian Family Members said they couldn’t get too close to the courtyard. This sparked a backlash: “We’re helping voluntarily, and you still have complaints? Forget it, I’m not serving you.”

Jianghu men paid a lot of attention to such matters. They didn’t mind hardships or bloodshed, living for the thrill of friendship and enmity.

In the words of Jack Ma, as a laborer, one cannot let their heart be wronged.

Nonetheless, the Tian and Yu Families were after all closely allied, so the Tian Family Disciples didn’t argue with them and simply took them to the riverbank to see the traces left from that day’s battle.

A ton of explosives, still bound by the Immortal Array, left a crater that one could only imagine being about four to five meters deep with a diameter of over fifty meters. Moreover, within two hundred meters of the surroundings, no plant life could survive.

Upon seeing this scene, even the most stubborn Martial Masters had to keep silent.

Brother Bao arrived a bit later and rushed to the scene as soon as he did. After witnessing it, he cried out with a desire to live in Feng Jun’s courtyard, offering to take on all the tasks within, despite them being onerous.

Feng Jun didn’t need him to take over all the chores, but after interacting with Lord Beiyuan, he appreciated how rare a personality like Brother Bao’s was among the nobility.

So, as an exception, the Divine Doctor took Brother Bao in, assigning him to help patrol the courtyard—when it was time for his night shift, he couldn’t expect special treatment, or else he’d have to move out.

Brother Bao rarely experienced such hardships, yet he truly persevered. Generally, when it was his turn for the Night Patrol, his entourage would coordinate from outside the courtyard.

When Deng Lao Er heard this, he suddenly remembered something, “Did Brother Bao bring the ‘Seven-Color Ribbon Grass’ this time?”

“I brought it,” Deng Lao Da laughed, his eyes lighting up, “It’s really… so beautiful.”

“I want to see,” Deng Lao Er stood up and walked towards Feng Jun’s room, “This trip to Xiyin was quite long; ran into some issues… I’ll tell you about it later.”

“Don’t go,” Deng Lao Da grabbed his brother, speaking in a low voice, “The Divine Doctor is in seclusion… You won’t be able to see the seven-colored ribbon grass anymore.”

“What?” Deng Lao Er’s mouth hung open in surprise, staying stunned for a good while before asking incredulously, “Don’t tell me he’s already eaten the ribbon grass?”

“Is it so strange?” Deng Lao Da gazed blankly at his brother, his eyes full of confusion.

“Er,” Deng Lao Er was at a loss for words, wanting to say, don’t you know, it hasn’t been long since the Divine Doctor advanced to High-Rank Martial Master, how could he possibly be challenging the Innate level so soon?

But then he thought about it, that is the Divine Doctor, maybe even an Immortal. When we met him half a year ago, he was only a low-rank Martial Master. Now making a breakthrough to Innate… It seemed somewhat understandable.

Yet, even as he tried to convince himself, the sense of loss he felt was something he couldn’t simply shake off. Was this the disparity? The gap between ordinary people and a peerless genius?

Deng Lao Da noticed that his younger brother’s mood was a bit off, seemingly entering a dangerous mindset, so he quickly gave him a tug, “Lao Er, look.”

Deng Lao Er lifted his head to see Second Young Master Yu and his attendant walking over, looking at Feng Jun’s bedroom in a thoughtful manner.

“This is…” He felt a bit puzzled, about to turn back when he suddenly heard someone outside say, “Open up, it’s me.”

The voice was clearly Brother Bao’s, “I caught a swordfish, weighing sixty jin, enough for us to enjoy a good meal…”

Ever since Feng Jun began his seclusion, Brother Bao had become somewhat restless. He wandered around Mount Zhige, initially wanting to find a good rock but accidentally hunted a fragrant deer and brought it back for everyone to share.

After that, his hunting desire became uncontrollable. He would run around during the day, only returning at dusk.

Today, having caught a large swordfish was quite an achievement. These carnivorous creatures are known for their delicious meat, which is also highly nutritional and considered a precious tonic food by martial artists, the bigger the size, the more valuable.

A sixty-jin swordfish could easily sell for over a dozen silver yuan without any problem.

Hearing this, even Second Young Master Yu’s face showed a hint of a smile — the dish should be very much to Feng Jun’s taste.

Feng Jun was in seclusion recently, but not in complete isolation. If he got hungry, he would come out to eat, then go back to continue his cultivation.

A little disturbance in the courtyard would not bother him.

Before the middle-aged man accompanying the Second Young Master could speak, his eyes widened, and he grabbed him, sprinting out, “Run!”

The Deng Family Brothers didn’t react in time, unaware of what was happening, when they heard a loud “bang” as the roof of Feng Jun’s bedroom suddenly exploded, the bricks and stone flying chaotically.

“Holy shit,” Deng Lao Er stared dumbfounded at the scene, “Another explosion?”

Among the scattered stones, a figure suddenly shot up into the sky, soaring more than three hundred meters high before stabilizing, then began to slowly descend, like an Immortal descending from the heavens.

The Deng Family Brothers were hit on the head by flying stones, disoriented for a moment. The Yu Family members reacted quickly, rushing into the security room and avoiding the blast.

Thankfully, this explosion was directed upwards; only the roof was blown off, with the jade tiles shattered to pieces, while the walls of the jade house remained intact.

So the Yu Family members who took shelter inside the room were mostly unharmed. Still, the glass of the security room was mostly shattered.

Nevertheless, what Yu Changqing cared about wasn’t this. Looking up at the sky in shock, he gasped, “A hundred meters in Innate… Does it really exist?”

When a High-Rank Martial Master breaks through to the Innate level, a powerful gust is known to accompany it. Although this is common knowledge, because the cultivator shouldn’t be disturbed by external forces during the breakthrough, it’s best to use an enclosed room and let it be destroyed during the process.

This powerful gust won’t harm the person breaking through, but it’s something others nearby need to be wary of.

That’s why Martial Cultivators preparing to ascend to the Innate level must take the necessary precautions.

Firstly, they need a protector to prevent disturbances that might cause the breakthrough to fail.

Secondly, once the breakthrough succeeds, protectors must retreat promptly to avoid accidental injury.

However, due to differences in the Dharma practiced, some Martial Cultivators’ gust is directed upwards into the sky when they break through, which is much safer. Many current Cultivation Techniques have methods for directing the gust into the sky.

Yet, for most Martial Cultivators aspiring to reach the Innate level, this secret technique is as useful as a chicken rib—unnecessary and a waste of time and focus. As long as they can break through, what does it matter where the gust is directed?

Within this context, there’s a saying that if the gust is sent upwards, the one breaking through can be swept into the sky, varying in height from several meters to dozens, with the highest recorded being a hundred meters.