Chapter 19 - 18: Cause and Effect Following Sound

Chapter 19: Chapter 18: Cause and Effect Following Sound

[Refining Complete]

[Acquired Green entry: Cause and Effect Following Sound]

[Acquired Energy Points: 2]

Looking at the newly refined entry, Lu Jing’an immediately inspected it.

With a flicker of his thoughts, information about the new entry flooded his mind.

[Cause and Effect Following Sound] (Green)

[Note]: This entry can capture sounds connected to you based on the law of causality.

The listening range is determined by your personal strength, and the duration is determined by the strength of your Spiritual Power.

Pairing it with a Martial Arts Skill that enhances hearing will yield even better results.

After Lu Jing’an read the description, he felt his gamble this time had paid off.

The entry’s ability was a massive upgrade compared to the phonograph.

The way to use it was essentially the same.

However, besides setting a name, the entry could also be set to an event.

He could even set his own name, "Lu Jing’an," as the core cause.

By doing so,

anyone who mentioned his name within his range of perception

would have their conversations completely exposed to him.

And he could even hear the dialogue.

Its power had definitely been elevated by more than just one level.

After checking it,

Lu Jing’an immediately began to experiment.

Lu Jing’an set his own name as the [Cause].

The moment this [Cause] was set,

he felt his Spiritual Power spread out like a silent, expanding spiderweb.

In an instant,

voices from all over the Lu Mansion discussing him came rushing in like a tide:

"The Young Master was Practicing Boxing until Midnight again today..."

"Does this count as the Young Master turning over a new leaf...?"

"I heard the Li Family’s marriage proposal delegation arrives tomorrow..."

"Those people from the Lin Family really don’t know what’s good for them..."

The massive influx of information instantly overwhelmed his senses.

Lu Jing’an felt his temples throb violently.

Two warm streams trickled from his nose.

He hastily severed the connection.

The mirror reflected his pale face.

Lu Jing’an realized that the ability was indeed powerful.

But without the corresponding physical body and Spiritual Power to support it,

he couldn’t wield even the strongest of abilities.

His first attempt was, all things considered, a failure.

After resting for a while, Lu Jing’an began his second attempt.

This time, Lu Jing’an was much more careful.

He didn’t try to listen to everything being said about him directly.

Instead, Lu Jing’an performed targeted listening.

Chen Xuan.

Lu Jing’an decided to target his master.

After all, the people the Li Family would be sending were also Martial Arts experts, and he would need to listen in on them.

Lu Jing’an had to test if his entry’s ability could be detected by a Martial Arts expert.

Once he had chosen his target,

his Divine Thought spread out and quickly located Chen Xuan.

Through this, Lu Jing’an discovered that the ability seemed to be pretty good for finding people as well.

Of course, the prerequisite was that the person had to be within his detection range.

If they were out of range, there was nothing he could do.

Lu Jing’an quickly found himself in Chen Xuan’s private courtyard.

Through the strange field of vision constructed from sound waves,

Lu Jing’an "saw" his master lying down, still fully clothed.

This profound experience of seeing with his ears

made Lu Jing’an hold his breath.

He cautiously spied from a distance of about ten feet.

Only after confirming that Chen Xuan’s long, steady breaths indicated he was asleep

did he dare to slowly approach.

However, when he got to about a foot away,

Chen Xuan’s eyes snapped open!

In the dark of the night, Chen Xuan’s eyes truly shot out a sharp glint.

Moreover, he was looking directly in Lu Jing’an’s direction.

This gave Lu Jing’an a real scare.

The next moment, a silent burst of Powerful Qi erupted.

It cut everything off instantly.

Just like that, Chen Xuan vanished from Lu Jing’an’s hearing.

To be precise,

it wasn’t a complete disappearance.

After all, not all sound was blocked.

So, Lu Jing’an could still vaguely see Chen Xuan.

Sensing his master move, Lu Jing’an hastily severed the connection.

Right before he lost contact completely,

Lu Jing’an "saw" his master burst through the window like a goshawk,

swooping straight toward his location!

After cutting off the connection, Lu Jing’an immediately lay down on his bed, calming his breath and resting.

’If this ability gets exposed, there’s no way I can explain it.’

’So the best way is to not expose it at all.’

About ten seconds later,

Lu Jing’an heard Chen Xuan’s approaching footsteps.

Evidently, Chen Xuan wasn’t deliberately silencing his steps, intending for Lu Jing’an to hear him.

Lu Jing’an played along and immediately sprang up from his bed.

He then went to the door and pulled it open.

"Master, is something the matter? Why are you looking for me so late?" Lu Jing’an asked, feigning surprise.

Chen Xuan glanced at Lu Jing’an, and only after confirming he was all right did he say,

"I just sensed that someone was listening in on me."

"The direction it came from was over here."

"So I came to check on the situation."

Hearing the word "listening," Lu Jing’an’s expression immediately turned serious.

"Who would dare to spy on Master in my Lu Family’s own courtyard?"

"Was it someone from the Lin Family?"

"Or an expert sent ahead by the Li Family?"

Chen Xuan glanced at Jing’an again, then shook his head. "I’m not sure."

"After I detected them, they fled immediately."

"By the time I chased them to your area, I couldn’t sense anything at all."

’Thank goodness I cut the connection so decisively.’

’Any later, and Chen Xuan might have traced it back to me.’

"They must have realized you detected them, Master, which is why they fled so quickly," Lu Jing’an analyzed with a straight face.

Chen Xuan didn’t dwell on the issue.

He just told Lu Jing’an to go out less for the next few days.

Then, he turned and left.

After confirming his master had departed,

Lu Jing’an finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Back on his bed,

Lu Jing’an began to analyze the precautions he should take for his official eavesdropping.

’When listening in on an expert, I must maintain a safe distance.’

’It’s better to monitor the person they’re talking to instead.’

’That will greatly reduce the chances of being discovered.’

As he pondered, a wave of exhaustion washed over him.

The continuous listening,

coupled with the recent scare from Chen Xuan,

had left Lu Jing’an truly exhausted.

「The next day, at the first light of dawn.」

Lu Jing’an got up punctually once again.

He skipped neither his horse stance nor his Fist Skill practice.

By now, the Lu Family had grown accustomed to their young master’s diligence.

If anyone now dared to call Lu Jing’an a decadent heir,

they would definitely have a strong rebuttal for them.

What kind of decadent heir starts practicing martial arts before dawn?

And practices until the web between his thumb and forefinger splits and bleeds?

Lu Jing’an had breakfast with Chen Xuan again.

Chen Xuan didn’t bring up last night’s incident.

It was unclear whether he had been fooled by Lu Jing’an

or if he simply felt there was no need to pursue the matter since the culprit had already fled.

Lu Jing’an had just finished breakfast

when Chen Heqing and Situ Yiyun arrived together.

To be precise,

the two had arrived long ago.

They had simply been waiting for Lu Jing’an to finish his breakfast

before having someone announce their presence.

Upon seeing Lu Jing’an, Situ Yiyun immediately declared,

"Young Master Lu, I went back and thought about it carefully yesterday. I feel there are still some areas that can be improved and enhanced."

"Situ Yiyun, how can you be so shameless?" Chen Heqing was incensed by Situ Yiyun’s behavior.

Lu Jing’an interrupted Situ Yiyun, "Director Situ, we can talk about your improvements later. Today is indeed Director Chen’s turn."

Situ Yiyun had no choice but to retreat awkwardly.

The rest of the time was filled with Chen Heqing’s non-stop explanations for Lu Jing’an.

Chen Heqing’s lecture was just as meticulous.

One could say that Chen Heqing was truly teaching him his Burning Technique with no reservations.

Lu Jing’an also listened with great concentration.

Unfortunately,

no entry appeared from Chen Heqing.

Lu Jing’an analyzed this situation.

’There were two likely reasons why no entry appeared from Chen Heqing.’

’First, Chen Heqing might not have any real area of expertise.’

’Second, the entry on Chen Heqing might be similar to the one from Chen Xuan.’

’But its quality isn’t as high as Chen Xuan’s.’

’Since I’ve already obtained a high-quality version,’

’a lower-quality one naturally wouldn’t appear again.’

Although there were no entries to "loot,"

Lu Jing’an was still extremely serious during their exchange.

This was real combat experience, which an entry couldn’t completely replace.

After all that commotion,

it was already noon.

Lu Jing’an once again had the butler give Chen Heqing five hundred silver coins.

To Chen Heqing, these five hundred silver coins were far more important than they were to Situ Yiyun.

After all, Situ Yiyun had more disciples.

He didn’t have as many disciples as Situ Yiyun.

On top of that, Chen Heqing was also teaching two promising Ancient Martial Arts seedlings for free, and he had invested a considerable amount of medicinal herbs in them.

This made Chen Heqing’s financial situation even more precarious.

While Lu Jing’an was having lunch,

someone came in and whispered a few words in his ear.

Everyone present was a Martial Cultivator.

Although the voice was quiet, both Chen Heqing and Situ Yiyun still heard it.

The message was nothing else:

it was just to inform Lu Jing’an.

The Li Family’s betrothal gift delegation had already entered Yin Mountain County.

Seeing Lu Jing’an’s face darken,

Situ Yiyun and Chen Heqing both pretended not to have seen or heard a thing.