Chapter Thirty-Four: Blood Demon of Jade

  The way of self-cultivation is a process of relaxation and tension, it can't be rushed. Although I don't have a famous teacher to guide me, I still understand this principle.

  After disappearing for three or four days, Yu Zhen gathered his disciples to hold a meeting and ask about the events of the past seven days. As it turned out, nothing major had happened, and everything was now back on track, with all things safe and sound.

  In fact, this meeting is not about the content, but about the form, to hint at one's own identity as a big shot, so that one doesn't disappear for too long and some people forget.

  The meeting was over, and Yu Ze Cheng was also a bit hungry. He hadn't eaten for several days, although his true yuan had circulated to the point where he wouldn't starve to death, but this growling stomach feeling was really hard to bear. At this time, a delicious food aroma wafted from the room, instantly attracting Yu Ze Cheng.

  Yu Ze Cheng walked back to the room, and saw that on the table were four dishes and one soup, arranged neatly, with two meat and two vegetarian dishes. Next to them was a large bowl of white rice, along with some millet wine to aid digestion. The aroma was already very fragrant, making people's fingers move with eagerness to eat.

  Yu then sat down and started eating, finally finishing all the dishes, which was enough for four people. After eating, his stomach was 80% full, feeling very comfortable, and he let out a satisfied burp. He nodded and asked:

  "Who prepared this?"

  A timid voice next to him replied:

  "It was I who prepared it."

  It was precisely Liu's little sister, Yu Zecheng nodded and said:

  "Thank you, by the way, how's your brother?"

  Liu Shiyun replied:

  "My brother still needs to rest for about half a year, but he's basically fine now."

  Yu Ze Cheng said:

  Don't blame me for being heartless, sometimes some things have to be done.

  Liu Shiyun lowered her head and said:

  "I understand."

  Yu nodded and said:

  "Wait until he's recovered from his injuries, I'll take him to Shi Jia Zhuang to find a job, it should be enough to support your whole family."

  Liu Shiyun's eyes lit up when she heard this, and the Shi family's rouge tower wasn't somewhere that just anyone could enter.

  Yu Zhen smiled and said:

  "You're one of us now, so take care of your family too. Remember, if anyone bullies you in the future, report to me, bullying you is like bullying me, I'll chop him off."

  After finishing speaking, he stood up and left. Liu Shiyun looked at the distant figure of Yu Ze Cheng, and couldn't help but shed tears. From a young age, she was different from others in her beauty and bearing, which brought endless trouble to those around her. Although her father and brother sacrificed themselves to protect her, they also suffered greatly. Her brother joined the underworld, but his abilities were limited, and after the incident, people from various brothels in Shanzhu City came to their neighborhood, casting a dark shadow over their future.

  This is also the reason why she voluntarily sold herself. Rather than being trampled by a bad person in the future, it's better to make her own choice, which can protect her family and be worthy of their love for her.

  She had originally prepared herself to accept everything, but who would have thought that the legendary Blood Demon Evil Man would treat her like this? Not only did he give her silver, but he also helped her family and was able to protect her. As she watched his distant figure, she unknowingly felt a giant growing in her heart.

  Yu Ze Cheng walked out of the main hall, and Gao Feng came over to greet him, handing over a precious sword. The original Frost Snow Treasure Sword had shattered, this was a new weapon that Yu Ze Cheng had ordered from the Tie family.

  Gao Feng said:

  "This wasn't made in Tie's house. Since you changed the tax system of the free market, business has been booming there and countless people are setting up stalls to sell things. This was bought from someone who found it on Mount Tai, for 100 taels of silver, my own money, not public funds."

  After finishing, he handed the sword to Yu Zecheng. This one hundred taels of silver was actually equivalent to a bribe. Gao Feng, as the master, had the most power on the land except for Yu Zecheng, and there were countless ways to make money. Now that Yu Zecheng's authority is rising, even his uncle, Gao Feng, has to think of ways to bribe him.

  Yu Ze Cheng just smiled, took over the treasure sword, pressed the scabbard, pulled out the long sword, and suddenly "Cang..."

  The sword hummed as it was unsheathed, its length about three feet, with a color like white jade. The blade had the large seal characters "Gang Yu" engraved on it.

  Gao Feng said:

  "The sword seller didn't know his goods, I bought it back and after grinding and repairing, the sword was restored to normal. This sword is made of top-grade jade steel, extremely sharp, pale blue like jade, rather be a broken jade than an intact tile."

  Yu Ze then grasped the sword, circulating his blood energy, and suddenly had a strange feeling. The sword seemed to be able to contain his own blood energy, and instantly it was as if he had an extra limb, flexible and free.

  Yu then lightly danced with his sword, and indeed there was an indescribable refreshing feeling, it was a good sword.

  Yu Zhen then sheathed his sword and said:

  "Thank you, Master, I'm eternally grateful."

  Gao Feng burst out laughing and said:

  "Alright then, I see you don't know any martial arts moves. Why don't you find a couple of secret manuals to practice with?"

  In the past, Gao Feng would deliberately call Yu Ze the leader to increase his authority among the crowd. Now that Yu Ze has become sharp and powerful, Gao Feng reverses his approach, calling him "Ze" instead, which is actually a subtle retreat, hoping to rely on their previous relationship to make Yu Ze nostalgic and take care of himself. This change is the result of Yu Ze's continuous growth, and slowly, the people around him are paying attention to his emotions and guessing his psychology, unknowingly making Yu Ze the true leader.

  Yu then nodded, the Five Tigers Broken Gate knife he had chosen at the beginning had yet to be looked at even once, it seemed that it was time to learn some martial arts moves.

  Yu Ze Cheng said:

  "Then I'll have to trouble you, Master. I also need some light skill manuals, let's find them together."

  Gao Feng nodded to show he understood, then left. Yu Zecheng shouted for Dou You and others to come over, and they began patrolling their own territory, strolling around the three streets, chatting casually with various shop owners to show off their presence. This was like a tiger marking its territory by urinating - same principle.

  Yu Ze Cheng turned around in a circle, and finally ended up at the Rouge Building. This was a place of beauty and pleasure. Under the guidance of Shi Tian Long and Yu Die, Yu Ze Cheng became very fond of this place.

  Drinking, having fun, relaxing, and returning to the base at midnight, in the Rouge Building, countless red card girls are vying to accompany him. Firstly, he is young and handsome, secondly, he holds great power, thirdly, he is absolutely generous with money, young and rich, with infinite potential for the future, so Yu Ze Cheng is the most welcome guest.

  Yu Ze Cheng is just playing along, and among these girls, there's no longer the heart-pounding feeling of Yu Die. It's nothing more than a consumer relationship where everyone enjoys themselves.

  Returning to the base, Yu Ze Cheng sat on the rooftop, contemplating under the moonlight. The immortal carrying Xu Xiao Ya said that the energy sphere could make him enter the fetal breathing state, but he had only undergone four transformations and exhausted the energy sphere.

  Here is the translation:

  Firstly, my Blood Seal Art and the immortal's Qi Ball attribute don't match, so the Qi Ball collapsed prematurely. Secondly, cultivating the Blood Seal Art requires consuming a large amount of True Essence, but the immortal doesn't know his own cultivation secret method, so he misjudged the form. Thirdly, I'm afraid that my Five Elements Spiritual Root is really low-grade, every time someone mentions spiritual roots, they all have a look of regret. Those good spiritual root cultivators can achieve something with one part of their strength, but I probably need to use five parts.

  It's all good, the fifth transformation is already halfway done under the influence of the air mass, and it's just a matter of time before it's completed. With the thousand-year-old ginseng to consume, becoming a fifth-transformation being shouldn't be a problem. This way, I'll enter the middle level of the Qi-refining realm, and next, I'll be able to cultivate the Blood Refining Technique, refine my bones into immortal bones. At that time, I'll be able to learn and use the several beginner-level immortal techniques recorded in the Blood Refining Scripture.

  Yu Ze Cheng had thus set his goal and started his cultivation career, but who knew that thinking was easy, doing it was hard. Only then did he realize how precious the ball of true energy given by the immortal was. Yu Ze Cheng used the remaining thousand-year-old ginseng to brew a nourishing soup, using this soup to impact the fifth transformation. Although there were some improvements every day, after a month had passed and all the ginseng was consumed, he still hadn't achieved the fifth transformation. Despite being unable to break through for a long time, in reality, it was just a thin layer of window paper that separated him from success, but this tiny obstacle made it impossible for him to break through.

  In November, the protection fee was collected in full for one day. Yu Ze Cheng's reputation spread far and wide, and no one dared to offend him. Gradually, Yu Ze Cheng earned a nickname "Blood Demon" on the road, which began to echo throughout the southern region of Tangguo.

  It's almost the end of the year, and I don't have much time to cultivate anymore. I started dealing with various New Year's affairs in the temple, distributing all kinds of benefits to my disciples, visiting various shops, and preparing for the new year.

  On the twenty-third day of the twelfth lunar month, Yu Ze Cheng took all his disciples to celebrate at the Rouge Tower, and then took Gao Feng and others back to Shanzhu City to prepare for the New Year's celebration at home.

  This year was spent in great fanfare, with countless relatives visiting their home. Previously, none of these people had come to visit, but now Yu Ze's reputation had spread far and wide, and suddenly the visitors trampled on the doorstep. This is truly a case of being poor in a bustling city with no one asking after you, while being rich in a remote mountain with distant relatives coming to visit.

  On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Yu Ze Cheng began his New Year's visitation journey. He visited Ma Tang Zhu, Cui Tang Zhu, Chen Que Zi, his uncle at home, various dock masters, Shan Zhu Cheng Shi Tian Long Da Ge, Shi Tian Yun Zhu master, Liu Hu Zi, Gao Feng, and the merchants on the ground floor to collect their gifts, and so on and so forth. He was busy for six whole days before he could finally consider everything done.

  These days, Yu Zhen's time for cultivation was very short. These social engagements had to be attended, which made him have a thought in his heart to get rid of these entanglements and focus on his cultivation. However, it's easier said than done. As a person in the world, he couldn't control his own body.

  On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, our family can finally have dinner together. In fact, Yu Ze Cheng could have moved his family to Shanzhu City, but with Tan Er Lang still being a major threat, Yu Ze Cheng doesn't want his family to be in Shanzhu City for now.

  Mother ate this meal very strangely, tears streaming down her face, saying:

  "Son, today your uncle Yu Tianming came and brought news that you will return to the Yu family on the 15th of the Lantern Festival to pay respects to your ancestors."

  As soon as this was said, Yu Ze Cheng suddenly became stunned. Yu Ze Cheng's father, Yu Tian Gao, was originally a direct disciple of the Yu family, and the Yu family was one of the six major families in Lin Hai, controlling foreign trade transactions with the state of Mu, with extremely great power.

  My father was kicked out of the house for falling in love with my mother. As for my grandfather and uncles, I never had any feelings for them, they never helped me or our family. When my father passed away, no relatives came to pay their respects. Now, it's unbelievable that they're inviting me back to the Yu family clan to celebrate the Lantern Festival.

  According to Yu Ze Cheng's temper, he would rather die than let it go, but his mother said with tears in her eyes:

  "Returning to the Yu family home, we will be recognized and pay respects to our ancestors. This is your father's greatest wish, so it must come true. On the 15th day of the Lantern Festival, you must return and bring your father's memorial tablet back to the Yu family ancestral hall, restoring him to the ancestral records. Can you do this?"

  Yu Ze Cheng looked at the wrinkles on his mother's face, originally his mother was also in her prime, with countless pursuers, but for the sake of this family, his mother overworked and passed away early, looking at the tears that flowed from the corners of his mother's eyes from time to time, thinking of his father's sighs of regret every festive season, Yu Ze Cheng couldn't help but nod and say:

  "I'm going, I'm going."

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