Chapter 141: Another Quest Triggered

By the time Lu Feng finally emerged from his private training building, the sun had already climbed well past its peak, sliding steadily toward the afternoon side of the sky.

He’d pushed through the entire morning much the way he’d spent the previous evening, settling into position the moment he’d finished the meal Han Lin had left for him the night before, and working through round after round of the same grinding, difficult struggle against the Primal Chaos Bead.

This time, mercifully, he hadn’t collapsed outright. His control had held, shaky and imperfect, all the way through to nearly noon, the ravaging presence in his Dantian stirring restlessly beneath the surface without ever quite breaking free to overwhelm him entirely.

It had cost him regardless. His limbs felt heavy in a way that had nothing to do with simple fatigue, a deep, bone level soreness settling through his shoulders and back, and a faint tremor lingered in his hands even now, hours after he’d finally stopped pushing for the day.

He was upright, at least, and conscious, which felt like meaningful progress compared to the seven separate collapses he’d endured the day before.

His first thought, once he’d steadied himself enough to actually think clearly, was of Han Lin.

He found her in the kitchen, exactly where he expected, going over something with Aunt Gao regarding the evening’s meal preparations. She looked up the moment he stepped through the door, her expression shifting instantly from mild concentration to open relief.

"You’re awake properly now," she said, setting down whatever she’d been holding and crossing the room toward him. "How are you feeling?"

"Sore," he admitted, offering her a tired but genuine smile. "But whole. Thank you, Han Lin. For the food, and the blanket. I don’t know what I would’ve done, waking up out there with nothing waiting for me."

Han Lin waved off the thanks with an easy shake of her head, though warmth colored her cheeks at the praise. "You don’t need to thank me for that. Of course I was going to look after you." She paused, then added, almost as an afterthought, "Though I should say, I didn’t do it entirely alone. Chenxue helped me carry everything out and get you settled properly."

That caught him slightly off guard. "Chenxue helped?"

"She did. Saw me heading out with the basket and insisted on coming along." Han Lin shrugged lightly. "I imagine she was as worried as I was, seeing you like that."

Lu Feng turned the thought over for a moment, unable to immediately picture exactly what assistance Ye Chenxue could have offered that Han Lin genuinely needed, carrying a basket and a blanket hardly demanded a second set of hands. But he’d never been one to question gratitude too closely once it was owed, and if she’d taken the time to help, she deserved to hear his thanks for it directly.

"I’ll go find her, then," he said. "Thank you again, Han Lin. Truly."

She smiled and shooed him off with a fond roll of her eyes, already turning back to whatever conversation he’d interrupted with Aunt Gao.

He made his way out across the courtyard, still moving with the slightly stiff, careful gait of a man whose body hadn’t fully forgiven him for the previous day’s abuse, and it was there, near the path leading toward the training grounds, that he crossed paths with Bai Bao.

"Young Master." Bai Bao straightened at his approach, offering a respectful nod. "Good to see you up and about."

"Thank you, Bai Bao." Lu Feng slowed, something in the guard’s posture suggesting he had more to say than a simple greeting. "Is something the matter?"

"Not exactly a matter, no." Bai Bao hesitated briefly before continuing. "Late last night, a messenger arrived from Lin Laifu’s estate. An invitation, for a celebration today, marking his recovery." He paused again, choosing his next words with visible care. "I saw you head into your training building earlier and understood you were in seclusion, working on something important. I didn’t want to interrupt that, so I told the messenger you wouldn’t be able to attend."

Lu Feng exhaled slowly, weighing the information. Technically, Bai Bao’s assessment had been correct. He had been in seclusion, entirely unreachable, consumed by the fight against the Bead.

And now, even freshly emerged and technically available, it was already well past noon. Attending at this hour, after having already declined, would only draw more attention to his absence than simply staying away in the first place.

If anything, Bai Bao had done him a genuine favor, sparing him an afternoon that would otherwise have been consumed entirely by a celebration he’d rather observe from a careful distance anyway.

Bai Bao, watching the complicated series of expressions cross Lu Feng’s face, shifted uncomfortably. "If I overstepped, Young Master, I apologize. I should have found some way to reach you rather than deciding on your behalf."

"You didn’t overstep," Lu Feng said, reaching out to pat the man’s shoulder reassuringly. "It was the right call. I’m grateful for it, honestly. It’s freed up my afternoon rather than tying me to a party I’d rather not be seen attending too eagerly right now."

Relief eased some of the tension from Bai Bao’s shoulders.

"That said," Lu Feng continued, "in the future, if something like this comes up again and I’m unreachable, don’t decide alone. Go to Han Lin or Ye Chenxue instead. Whatever they decide, treat it as though it came from me directly."

Bai Bao nodded firmly, filing the instruction away. "Understood, Young Master."

With that settled, Lu Feng continued on, resuming his search for Ye Chenxue, and found her eventually in one of the more obvious places he probably should have thought to check first, perched easily on the wide windowsill of her own room, eyes closed, humming some quiet, unfamiliar tune under her breath.

She sensed him before he’d said a word, her eyes opening as he approached, a faint knowing curve touching her mouth. "You’ve been looking for me. I can tell by the way your face lit up just now."

"Guilty," he admitted, allowing himself a small laugh despite the lingering ache through his body. "I wanted to thank you. Han Lin told me you helped her last night, bringing the food and the blanket out to me."

"It was nothing worth thanking me for," Ye Chenxue said, though something soft flickered briefly behind her sharp eyes at the acknowledgment regardless.

"I’ll decide that for myself," Lu Feng said, smiling. He shifted the subject then, remembering the other piece of news waiting to be shared. "There’s something else. Lin Laifu is holding a celebration today, for his recovery. I suspect it’s not purely for show, either. A gathering like that draws a wide net of guests, and I imagine he’s watching closely for anyone whose curiosity runs a little too deep."

"Looking for suspects among well wishers," Ye Chenxue said, nodding slowly, clearly following the logic without needing it spelled out further. "How did you learn about it?"

"Bai Bao told me. A messenger came late last night with the invitation, and since he saw me in seclusion, he made the decision to decline on my behalf rather than interrupt me." He gave her the brief summary Bai Bao had provided, watching her expression shift through mild surprise into something closer to approval by the end of it.

"A sound decision," she said. "Better you stay a step removed from that gathering for now, given the timing."

"That’s what I thought as well." He hesitated, then asked, "How is your own progress coming, by the way? Any further movement since yesterday?"

"It is steady," she said simply. "There’s been nothing dramatic yet. I should probably give it time."

He nodded, satisfied with that, and let the conversation settle into comfortable quiet for a moment before straightening. "I should get back to planning. The strategy against Iron Fang is roughly half formed in my mind so far. I’d like to have it fully worked out sooner rather than later."

"Go, then," Ye Chenxue said, waving him off with an easy, teasing smile. "I’ll enjoy what’s left of my afternoon while you disappear into your notes again."

He left her there, still perched comfortably on her windowsill, and made his way back toward his own quarters, settling in behind his desk with fresh paper and renewed focus.

His goal wasn’t total annihilation. He had no illusions about wiping Iron Fang out entirely, not yet, not with the resources currently at his disposal. What he wanted was simpler, sharper, a message delivered with enough precision that it couldn’t be misread.

They had crossed a line going after Han Lin in broad daylight, dragging an innocent woman into a fight that had nothing to do with her directly. That alone deserved an answer they wouldn’t soon forget.

It was that exact resolve, settling firm and cold in his chest, that seemed to trigger something within the quiet, familiar hum of his system.

A faint shimmer of translucent text unfolded in the air before him, unseen by anyone but himself, the way it always appeared.

[New Quest Triggered!]

[Quest Objective: Shake The Foundations of Crimson Vale!]

[Reward: 2x low tier Mortal Grade Martial Art Techniques, 100x Essence Crystals, Next Heroine Slot unlocked.]

Lu Feng stared at the panel for a long moment, turning the objective over in his mind. Shake the foundations of Crimson Vale. Vague enough to cover a wide range of possible interpretations, specific enough to make clear the system expected something significant, something that reached well beyond a single quiet strike against a single hired thug’s supply line.

He didn’t know yet exactly how he’d accomplish something that broad. But he had a starting point, at least, a thread to begin pulling. Iron Fang. Whatever this quest ultimately demanded of him, striking at the group actively threatening his household seemed as reasonable a first step as any.

The reward, more than anything else, told him plainly enough that the road ahead was going to be difficult. The system rarely offered anything this substantial for a task it considered simple.

Two low tier Mortal Grade martial techniques alone would have been worth chasing on their own merits. A hundred Essence Crystals on top of that was no small sum either, given how his own cultivation requirements would soon soar once he could finally cultivate without his Dantian fighting with him.

And then there was the last line. Another Heroine Slot, unlocked.

He thought of Ye Chenxue, of the investment multiplier he’d used on her cultivation, still barely scratched compared to its full potential, and of exactly how far that single decision had already carried them both.

If a second slot promised anything close to that same kind of transformation, waiting somewhere out there for whoever eventually filled it, he found himself smiling faintly despite the ache still lingering through his body.

Rough road ahead or not, it was more than worth walking.

He pulled a fresh sheet of paper toward himself, dipped his brush, and got to work.