Fang Yun was just about to call out to his grandfather but suddenly stopped himself halfway through. Lou Meng was also about to get up to inform Fang Yang about their circumstances but was stopped by a punch on his back.
"What is it Brother Yun?" Lou Meng asked while covering his back in pain.
"You know, I think it's better if my grandfather stays out of this." Fang Yun said calmly weighing the pros and cons of his current situation.
"You're grandfather is one of the strongest figures in the Fang Clan. He can definitely put whoever trying to kill you in his place." Lou Meng didn't understand his young master's reasoning, since in his mind, there wasn't anything the Fang Clan's Grand Elder couldn't with his influence.
"Do you think an ordinary Cultivator would be able to silently control the populace of Blazing Sun City and give a mere clan servant enough courage to assassinate me in my own residence?
From what we've experienced until now, it's easy to deduce that the only reason the person trying kill me isn't showing himself is because he doesn't want to ruin his image. No matter how powerful the Clan of this hidden enemy is, the guy doesn't want to smear his name with mud by forcefully stopping me from marrying Rinyu publicly.
After knowing all this, do you still want my hotheaded grandfather to look for death by offending this enemy? It's better if we operate on our own for now. By doing it this way we can stay out of their sight and be able to secretly investigate them." Fang Yun didn't have everything planned out but the circumstances right now were a lot favourable than it was moments ago.
After listening to his young master's reasoning, Lou Meng felt a cold chill run down his back. He couldn't believe that the person who was trying to kill his young master was so strong, but after thinking about it a little, Fang Yun's words did make sense. There wasn't anyone who dared to even attempt ordering the assassination of a influential youth of a great clan like the Fang Clan. However, that didn't mean that those who had stronger influence than the Fang Clan didn't exist.
Take the City Lord as an example: Even though he was merely one man, the amount of influence the City Lord had over the masses wasn't something to laugh at. If he truly wished for the destruction of the Fang Clan, it would be quite easy considering the Fang Clan's foundation was of mortal roots.
The Fang Clan may have been able to produce many true Cultivators of powerful Sects over the years, but it didn't have the exceedingly strong foundation ancient Clan would have and couldn't sustain itself without the influence it had in Blazing Sun City.
"Brother Yun, if this enemy is as strong as you believe he is, then investigating without connections to 'those kinds of people' will be meaningless. It will only be a waste of time." Lou Meng didn't hastily agree to his young master's decision as he would be betraying the Fang Clan's Grand Elder if he was to follow Fang Yun without a good plan.
"Then what do you suppose we do then? The hidden enemy will definitely show himself at my wedding ceremony tomorrow and will do anything in his power to stop us from marrying. If I knew who the guy was before the marriage ceremony, then I could at least prepare countermeasures before he arrives to stop the ceremony with his schemes. However, what am I supposed to do when the only thing I know about the enemy is that he's definitely stronger and more influential than even my grandfather? You expect me to just walk towards my grave and drag my grandfather down with me as well?" Fang Yun argued as he really wasn't the type to know how to 'investigate' people in the first place.
In his past life, he only knew how to kill enemies he knew of. There wasn't the least bit of espionage involved as he was just a regular murder machine created to decimate battlefields. The government of the country that his master worked for also wasn't willing to add spy skills to his already full set of skills involving guerrilla warfare.
There was no need to even mention if the previous Fang Yun had the skills to pull off such a plan because other than being the grandson of a wealthy Grand Elder and learning some medical techniques, the man he was before reincarnation was extremely ordinary.
"Hah..." They both sighed at once as they really couldn't come up with a scheme to deal with the terrifying enemy at hand. Lou Meng and Fang Yun felt weak and helpless when they considered they were just two people.
How could two people even think of fighting against an enemy that could go toe-to-toe with their entire Clan? It was just daydreaming to think they even had the slightest chance of changing anything with their pitiful strength.
"Hah... You and Sister Rinyu should just elope or something..." Lou Meng sighed melancholically. It was then that he turned his head to find that his young master was smiling like a tortured soul who found a ray of hope.
"I wasn't serious about that." He tried to persuade him before things got out of control. Why did he have such an unbelievably big mouth on him? Did he have to share such a crazy idea?
"Then what else do you suggest? We become gangsters overnight? I'm sure nobody will suspect two handsome men who stick out like sore thumbs to be suspicious in any way." He voiced sarcastically with vigorous eyes. It was more up his alley to go on a 'rescue mission' instead of some stakeout. He didn't believe he was kidnapping because he would be sure to persuade Chu Rinyu to run away with him before smuggling her out of Blazing Sun City.
Chu Rinyu's parents were quite high-profiled merchants who have practically turned Blazing Sun City into their home-base of operations. They would be easily found by Chu Rinyu's parents if they didn't leave the city.
"I..." Lou Meng wanted to say something but stopped after seeing how lively his young master was becoming. He knew of the dangers outside the city and knew that the Beasts that have been terrorising humanity for thousands of years weren't the dangers that were the scariest when traveling the continent.
A person needed sufficient strength and wisdom to survive the world outside a clan. Those who were able to live outside clans and become powerful are littered all over the continent. The amount of hidden dragons and crouching tigers outside a second-class city like theirs were uncountable.
Though many would be unwilling to leave their homes in search of opportunities, he wasn't one of those optimistic few. As one who cultivated the Dao of Metal, his belief was that adversity only made one stronger. This was quite similar to Fang Yun's current thought process that loved to look for strong opponents to increase his mastery over his martial arts.
"I'll leave a letter for my grandfather to inform him that I'm alive and well. A half-assed reason like I wanted to go adventuring the world with Rinyu should be enough to stop him from worrying. Brother Meng, you can just go prepare a cart so we can get out of the city gates. I'll be there in two to three hours from now." Fang Yun practically ordered Lou Meng before drying his body and leaving the bathhouse. He didn't even give Lou Meng the chance to persuade him as he wasn't the type to change his mind after making a resolute decision.
Lou Meng could only reluctantly give in to his young master after seeing the confidence in Fang Yun's eyes as he left. He knew his young master wasn't a foolish individual that did things without forethought, so after thinking it over for a bit, he decided to just believe in Fang Yun's wisdom. The young master he now served was a little different than before, so perhaps it was for the best that he trusted his ability.
Even if his young master was to fail, the worst outcome would just be that their marriage would be revoked by Chu Rinyu's parents. The hidden enemy would then have no need to act against his young master if that was the case.
"I hope you succeed..." Lou Meng muttered to himself as he also left.
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After writing a detailed letter about his future plans and a few sentences to apologise for his sudden departure. He left the letter with the bathhouse and requested that they send it to the Fang Clan the next morning. Once all that was done, he walked along the empty streets of Blazing Sun City with a spring in his step. A nostalgic light appeared in his eyes as circulated the Chakra of his Soul Force within him.
Of the four forms of the ancient Chaotic Dragon's Demonic Horn style, the Demon form was the one he used to earn his nickname as Blood Shadow. It may not be the strongest martial art when it came to close-combat, but it was the most stealthy form he used to assassinate many enemy commanders.
The practitioners of this ancient style's Demon form had taken lessons from Grandmaster level martial artists of Ninjutsu and improved this form by making it more 'formless'. Unlike the other styles that had multiple stances for various situations, the Demon form only had a set of techniques that were used to deal with variables in actions.
The practitioners of the Demon form could be called the most cowardly under normal situations, but on a battlefield where life and death hanged on a thread, 'cowardice' was a virtue.
There was no use for 'fairness' in war!
Although it took Alex a few attempts to familiarise with his Demon form, a few laps around the city allowed his reflexes to remember their training. As he allowed the form to etch itself into his body, he found that although the Chaotic Primordial's Spirit Tempering circulation technique didn't harden his flesh like the modernised version, it did allow him access various advantages.
The great advantage he had by circulating the technique while in his Demon form is the ability to hide from Spiritual Perceptions. Even his own Spiritual Perception was no exception as the Chakra needed to maintain the ability was greater than the Spiritual Perception ability he gain hours ago.
It's a good thing that he reached a kind of 'Soul Perfection' realm which was similar to the Physique Perfection realm because now he had an incredible amount of stored Chakra within his tempered Soul Force. It was too bad that he didn't know how to control his Dao of Lightning without the use of Internal Qi since he could have improved this ability using it.
Even though he unlocked such an advantageous ability, he didn't immediately head towards Chu Rinyu's residence in Blazing Sun City. Instead he circulated the Harmonic Deity's Bone Cleansing technique in order to fuse the hybridised martial art style with his inherited ancient martial arts.
As the creator of the Harmonic Deity's Bone Cleansing technique, he was well aware that circulation of both Chakra and Ki at the same time wouldn't cause his body to explode. He deduced instinctively after feeling the strength flowing through his veins that the modernised Chaotic Primordial's Flesh Tempering wouldn't have complimented his personalised circulation technique so easily due to the Ki circulations added into it.
Two Ki circulation techniques would cause detrimental harm to his body but one Chakra circulation technique and one Ki circulation technique would do the opposite. The Harmonic Deity's Bone Cleansing technique improved his strength by hardening his physique in order to take strong blows while not interrupting his flow of Chakra.
It was in that instant he felt his Chakra and Ki merging into a whole, the Daos within them affecting both his body and soul. He couldn't help but feel excited as he gained a revelation towards how he'd continue his path. If he wanted to become a Cultivator, it was essential for him to find two other circulation technique for his mind and heart. While it would be extremely difficult for him to succeed in finding such high-level techniques, he had the patience to look for it tirelessly.
'I better get going now.' He wasn't certain how long it would be before Chu Rinyu's parents would awaken to prepare their residence for the wedding ceremony but he knew that he couldn't waste his time familiarising himself with his past life's martial art anymore.