Chapter 95: Twelve Years Old, Finally Entering the Imperial Prison

Two more years passed by swiftly.

This year, Lu Yang was twelve years old.

For an ordinary child, twelve years was an age when they were still learning about the world, gradually moving beyond the protection of their families and beginning to understand their responsibilities.

For Lu Yang, however, it was somewhat different.

During these two years, his cultivation had progressed steadily.

Outwardly, he had only recently broken through to the Fourth Stage of Body Tempering Realm.

For a twelve year old, this was already quite good.

It suggested that he possessed above average cultivation talent, a stable foundation, and sufficient resources to support his progress.

Wen Fanghong was especially satisfied.

In his eyes, Lu Yang had fulfilled his expectations.

At this rate, reaching the Spirit Awakening Realm before forty was no longer an unrealistic possibility.

Perhaps, with sufficient opportunities, he might even reach it earlier.

Wen Fanghong had no idea that the child he was praising had already reached the peak of the Eighth Stage of Body Tempering Realm.

...

At this moment, Lu Yang sat cross-legged inside his cultivation chamber, or rather, his father’s former cultivation chamber.

The chamber was quiet, and inside it were no training stakes, wooden dummies, or weapons arranged along the walls.

Apart from a cushion and a few pieces of furniture, the chamber contained almost nothing.

Lu Yang slowly opened his eyes, a faint stream of Blood Qi circulating throughout his body before gradually settling down.

His physical body had undergone considerable refinement over the past seven years.

His muscles were dense, his bones were sturdy, and his Blood Qi was abundant and remarkably well controlled.

At the peak of the Eighth Stage Body Tempering Realm, he was already approaching the limits of what this realm could offer his physical body.

Of course, this didn’t mean that every aspect of his cultivation had reached its absolute limit.

There were still differences between ordinary cultivators and those who had cultivated high quality techniques, possessed exceptional talent, and received proper guidance.

Lu Yang belonged to the latter category.

His Azure Spirit Body Tempering Art was of considerably higher quality than ordinary Body Tempering Realm cultivation techniques circulated among cultivators of Great Qian.

Combined with his exceptional talent and accumulated experience from previous lives, it allowed him to build a foundation that was far superior to what his displayed cultivation might suggest.

He estimated that he could reach the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering Realm within another year, perhaps even sooner.

But he wasn’t in a hurry. There was no need to rush merely for the sake of advancing.

He had already learned that cultivation realm was only one part of a cultivator’s strength.

The quality of one’s foundation, control over Blood Qi, mastery of martial techniques, and combat experience were equally important.

A cultivator who had just entered the Ninth Stage of Body Tempering Realm wasn’t necessarily stronger than someone at the peak of the Eighth Stage of Body Tempering Realm with a stronger foundation and powerful martial techniques.

The difference could be enormous.

At the same time, Lu Yang had never been particularly interested in comparing himself with ordinary cultivators.

He knew his own abilities well enough.

Without using any martial techniques or combat arts, he was already confident that he could suppress an absolute pinnacle Ninth Stage Body Tempering cultivator.

Not just one, several ordinary cultivators at that level might not be able to defeat him at all.

Naturally, this was assuming that his opponents possessed no extraordinary techniques, special talent, or other unusual advantages.

He wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that every Ninth Stage Body Tempering cultivator was the same.

The cultivation world was vast, and there were always people who could surpass the limits of their realm.

He was also just one of them.

Still, there was one question he hadn’t yet answered.

Could he fight a genuine Spirit Awakening Realm cultivator, even someone who had only recently broken through?

Lu Yang wasn’t certain.

Body Tempering and Spirit Awakening were fundamentally different realms.

The former focused on tempering the physical body and refining Blood Qi.

The latter involved a transformation that ordinary Body Tempering cultivators couldn’t easily comprehend, merging Spirit Qi into Blood Qi to give it a spiritual quality and birth Divine Sense.

The difference wasn’t merely a matter of strength. There were changes in perception, control over Blood Qi, and the overall quality of a cultivator’s power.

Even a newly advanced Spirit Awakening cultivator could possess advantages that an ordinary Ninth Stage Body Tempering cultivator couldn’t overcome, allowing them to easily overwhelm the latter.

Lu Yang had fought Spirit Awakening cultivators more than once in his past life and understood their strengths.

But his current body was different, and he hadn’t yet reached that realm in this life.

His current foundation was exceptional, but he wasn’t going to assume that it could overcome every difference.

He would only know after testing it.

Until then, there was no need to make unnecessary judgments.

Lu Yang stood up slowly.

He had finished his cultivation for the morning, but he wasn’t done training just yet.

There was still something he wanted to practice.

After stretching for a few moments, Lu Yang raised his right hand and slowly pushed his palm forward.

The movement was simple, almost looking as though he were casually pushing against the air.

Yet, at the moment his palm stopped, the air in front of him trembled faintly.

A moment later, the trembling disappeared.

Lu Yang lowered his hand, closing his eyes as he began to repeat the movement again and again.

His movements remained consistent, with each palm strike appearing ordinary, but the force behind them was controlled with extraordinary precision.

He was cultivating the Surging Waves Palm, a late stage Body Tempering Realm martial technique.

It had been his signature martial technique during his second life, when he was a top outer disciple of the Azure Spirit Sect.

The technique focused on the continuous transmission of force.

Rather than concentrating all of one’s strength into a single explosive strike, the cultivator would send successive waves of force through the opponent’s body.

The first wave weakened their defense, the second penetrated deeper, and the third followed before the previous force had completely dissipated.

When mastered sufficiently, the successive waves could overlap and amplify one another, allowing a seemingly ordinary palm strike to unleash terrifying destructive power.

It was particularly effective against opponents who relied on their physical bodies to resist attacks.

Of course, there were limitations as well.

The technique required precise control over Blood Qi and the transmission of force.

If the cultivator couldn’t properly coordinate the successive waves, much of the power would dissipate before reaching the target, and if they attempted to force too many waves together without sufficient control, the technique could even damage their own body.

For ordinary cultivators, mastering it was difficult.

For Lu Yang, however, it was familiar territory.

He had cultivated the Surging Waves Palm in his second life, using it against countless opponents while refining it through actual combat and understing its principles.

In this life, he had spent the past seven years gradually recovering that familiarity.

At present, his mastery had already reached major achievement.

It wasn’t yet perfection, but he wasn’t far away.

Lu Yang raised his palm again.

This time, he moved slightly faster.

*Whoosh!*

The air trembled slightly as a second wave of force followed the first, followed by a third.

The three waves overlapped at the end of the movement, producing a faint, muffled sound.

Lu Yang finally stopped and examined his hand for a moment, nodding in satisfaction.

Not bad.

The Surging Waves Palm was the sixth martial technique or combat art he had cultivated in this life.

Over the past seven years, he had already brought more than five techniques from his previous cultivation lives back to perfection.

The Surging Waves Palm was the only one among them that hadn’t yet reached that level, but that was only a matter of time.

His comprehension was excellent and his physical foundation was far superior to what he had possessed when he first learned the technique.

He could even make some minor adjustments to better suit his current body.

However, he had no intention of creating a completely new version of the technique as there was simply no need.

The original Surging Waves Palm was already sufficient for his current cultivation.

Besides, he still needed to conceal his abilities.

If he displayed martial techniques at a level far beyond his apparent cultivation, someone might eventually become suspicious.

That would be troublesome.

This was also why he only cultivated these methods of his past lives when home alone.

Aunt Lin wasn’t a cultivator, his father and stepmother both lived away, and his grandfather had duties, so no one would see him cultivate these.

In his past life in the Lu Family, there were too many prying eyes on him, which was why he had no choice but to abandon his second life’s cultivation techniques and martial arts.

Now, however, he had no such restrictions.

Besides these few martial techniques and combat arts, he had also learned some other martial arts taught by Lu Hai and Wen Fanghong to put on a show.

Lu Yang lowered his hand.

He had practiced enough for today.

...

There was another reason why this year was important.

At twelve years old, he was finally eligible to officially work in the Imperial Prison.

Great Qian’s laws restricted children under twelve from working for government offices, even as errand runners.

Naturally, there were exceptions for certain aristocratic families and special circumstances, but the Imperial Prison generally followed these regulations.

Previously, Lu Yang had only accompanied his grandfather, observing the prisoners, becoming familiar with the guards and other officials, and learning how the Imperial Prison operated, but he wasn’t a part of the Imperial Prison.

Now, that would change.

Lu Hai had already arranged everything.

Lu Yang would formally enter the Imperial Prison and begin learning its operations from the inside.

He wouldn’t immediately be given an important position, obviously, as that would be inappropriate for a twelve year old child.

Instead, he would start by learning the basic procedures, observing how the guards handled prisoners, and familiarizing himself with the rules governing the Imperial Prison.

He would have an official reason to remain in the Imperial Capital, have access to the Imperial Prison’s resources and information, and also be able to observe the various people who passed through its gates.

He could cultivate quietly while learning about the world. It was precisely the life he wanted.

Lu Yang looked towards the door.

Aunt Lin was waiting outside.

He walked over and opened it.

"Aunt Lin."

She turned around.

"Young master, you’ve finished cultivating?"

Lu Yang nodded, "Yes."

Aunt Lin looked at him with a smile.

"Then you should go. The old master sent someone to remind you that you need to arrive at the Imperial Prison before noon."

Lu Yang nodded again.

"I understand."

He returned to his room and changed his clothes.

There was nothing particularly special about what he wore, just appearing neat and tidy.

His face wasn’t as handsome as his past life, but it was still above average, combined with the baby fat on his skin, it made him look somewhat cute.

After checking that everything was in order, he walked towards the entrance of the residence, with Aunt Lin following him.

Lu Yang bid her farewell at the entrance and left the residence, heading towards the Imperial Prison.