Chapter 407: Chapter 407

Three days later, outside Longxi City, at Noble Manor.

Inside the pavilion by the lake, Lu Zhanming stood with his hands clasped behind his back, and a burly middle-aged man stood behind him.

The middle-aged man's eyes sparkled, and his temples bulged slightly, clearly marking him as a person whose cultivation of inner strength was considerable.

"Patriarch, the ancestor has become muddled; are you muddled as well? Do you realize how much changing the cultivation technique will affect the Lu Family? To learn a new technique, one must dissolve the cultivation within their body. Must everyone in the Lu Family start their cultivation from scratch?"

"Lu Zhanyun... how can you question the ancestor …" Lu Zhanming turned to look at the burly middle-aged man.

Lu Zhanyun did not answer but continued, "Patriarch, our Dejiang Lu Family is a great family of the Ancient Martial World. Our status today is the result of several generations of our Lu ancestors fighting for it... Even if we can overlook our current status in the Ancient Martial World, what about our enemies that the Lu Family has made over the years? How could they possibly let us off the hook... Patriarch, do you really want to watch the demise of our Lu Family?"

Lu Zhanming didn't scold Lu Zhanyun this time; his brows were tightly furrowed. Indeed, what Lu Zhanyun had said was something he had worried about before.

"Patriarch, and to let a youngster barely in his twenties modify the cultivation technique... that's just too unreliable. Modifying a technique is harder than creating one. Even if that young man has an exceptional understanding, it's impossible for him to have penetrated our martial arts tome, which has been passed down for more than a hundred years, in just a few days," Lu Zhanyun said, continuing his argument.

"Lao Jiu, this matter has already been decided by the ancestor..."

Before Lu Zhanming could finish, Lu Zhanyun interrupted him. "Patriarch, the ancestor really has grown old; otherwise, why would she let a twenty-something youngster become her junior brother, bringing shame to the Lu Family's disciples? If others found out that our esteemed Dejiang Lu Family had to call such a young man an uncle master... it's a disgrace!"

"Lao Jiu! You've said enough..."

Just as Lu Zhanming was about to reprimand Lu Zhanyun, a Lu Family disciple hurriedly ran over from the outside.

"Patriarch, the uncle ancestor has already arrived at the front gate; the ancestor asked for you to personally lead the way to greet him," said the Lu Family disciple respectfully.

"What uncle ancestor! You don't have any uncle ancestor!" Lu Zhanyun, seeing the disciple repeatedly calling for the uncle ancestor, felt extremely annoyed.

The Lu Family disciple dared not respond. As Lu Zhanyun was of the same generation as the patriarch, the younger disciple truly didn't dare to contradict him.

"Alright, you may go. Tell the ancestor I'll be there shortly," Lu Zhanming told the disciple.

"Yes!" The disciple, relieved, quickly stepped down.

"Patriarch, you're in your fifties. Are you really willing to call a young man in his early twenties your 'uncle master'?"

"Lao Jiu, the uncle master is someone who has received the legacy of Hermit of the Horizon. If it hadn't been for the uncle master back then, our Lu Family line might have been decimated by that Saber-Toothed Wolf." Lu Zhanming said, "I'm now going to greet the uncle ancestor, and you must not act rashly!"

Lu Zhanyun curled his lip. "I didn't see this uncle master the last time I was out. Fine, I'll accompany you to greet this uncle master. I want to see for myself what abilities he actually has."

Lu Zhanming looked towards Lu Zhanyun. "Lao Jiu, the uncle master is a distinguished guest of our ancestor. You really must not displease the ancestor."

"I know, I'm not a three or four-year-old. I know very well what I'm doing," Lu Zhanyun retorted.

Lu Zhanming glanced at Lu Zhanyun beside him, his eyebrows furrowed slightly, but in the end, he said nothing.

With that, the two men left the pavilion, followed by a group of disciples, forming an impressive procession to welcome Ding Fan.

Seeing such a grand welcome, Lu Zhanyun felt even more displeased. In his opinion, for the Dejiang Lu Family to welcome a young man in his early twenties with such a large entourage was a slap in the face, should word get out.

'I really want to see what's so impressive about this uncle master that the ancestor and the patriarch respect him so much,' Lu Zhanyun thought to himself.

The group soon reached the entrance of the manor; as the gates opened, Ding Fan's somewhat slender figure appeared before everyone.

"Greet the uncle master."

"Greet the grand uncle master!"

Lu Zhanming led the greeting with the martial artist's salute, followed by the Lu Family disciples joining in one after another.

Faced with the grand gesture of respect, Ding Fan calmly accepted it.

In the Cultivation World, the lineage and teachings of one's masters were of utmost importance. Since Ding Fan was now their uncle master, and indeed had done what an uncle master was supposed to do, such as modifying the cultivation technique...

It was within reason to accept the great respect from the younger generation.

"I, Lu Zhanyun, have met the uncle master. I was traveling abroad and am fortunate to meet the uncle master here today," Lu Zhanyun stepped forward and spoke at that moment.

Lu Zhanyun's words were polite, but his eyes were filled with disdain, unable to believe that Ding Fan in front of him had the capability to be their uncle master.

A person whose hair had not yet fully grown believing he would help the Dejiang Lu Family modify its cultivation technique...

To Lu Zhanyun, this was utterly ludicrous!

Lu Zhanyun took a couple of steps and then pretended to slip, falling directly towards Ding Fan's embrace.

Lu Zhanyun seemed to lose his footing; in fact, it was a feigned stumble. He had secretly amassed a tremendous force between his hands, intending to slap Ding Fan away in front of the Lu Family Disciples. He wanted to show the disciples of the Lu Family, and their venerable Patriarch, what a joke their Uncle Master really was.

Lu Zhanming, standing nearby, understood Lu Zhanyun's intentions and did not intervene. He was not the least bit worried that Ding Fan would fall for Lu Zhanyun's ploy.

After all, who was Ding Fan? He was the man who had slain Qi Yuanzheng singlehandedly.

At the auction, Qi Yuanzheng himself had slain five Earth Level Experts simultaneously. Such an impressive figure, such an Evil Supreme, was killed directly by Ding Fan alone.

If Ding Fan could kill a man capable of slaying Qi Yuanzheng, how could he fall for Lu Zhanyun's trickery?

The moment Lu Zhanyun stepped forward, Ding Fan detected something amiss; when the man fell toward him, Ding Fan instantly understood the other's intention.

However, Ding Fan remained unflustered, appearing completely unconcerned.

"Uncle Master..." Lu Zhanyun called out, but a smug smile crossed his lips.

Lu Zhanyun's hands were about to strike Ding Fan, who seemed utterly unaware. Lu Zhanyun thought he could already see Ding Fan being blown away by his palms.

What occurred next, however, left Lu Zhanyun utterly dumbfounded. Follow current novels on 𝖓𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖑~𝖋𝖎𝖗𝖾~𝖓𝖊𝖙

Contrary to what he had envisioned, Ding Fan was not sent flying. Instead, Ding Fan extended one hand and effortlessly steadied him. The thousand pounds of force that Lu Zhanyun had harbored in his hands seemed to dissipate as if striking cotton and vanished without a trace.

The scene looked as though Lu Zhanyun had not secured his footing, and Ding Fan simply helped him up. Nothing more.

'How is this possible...' Lu Zhanyun thought, confused. The force he had just exerted could split rocks and break steles, yet it was ineffectual against Ding Fan?

Could it be that the other man could dissolve such a tremendous force?

Could it be that he knew witchcraft?

"Be more careful when you walk in the future." While Lu Zhanyun was still lost in his thoughts, Ding Fan had already steadied him.

"Lao Jiu, you should thank your Uncle Master. If it weren't for him, you could have taken quite the fall just now," said Lu Zhanming from the side.

The implied meaning behind Lu Zhanming's words was clear only to Lu Zhanyun.

Neutralizing force was an exceedingly profound skill; the ability to neutralize his thousand pounds of force showed that Ding Fan possessed prowess many times more terrifying than that force.

If Ding Fan had not utilized neutralizing technique but had instead used Inner Strength to directly send Lu Zhanyun flying, Lu Zhanyun would have completely lost face in front of so many Lu Family Disciples.

Lu Zhanyun's face turned slightly red, and he promptly cupped his fists towards Ding Fan, saying, "Thank you, Uncle Master."

Ding Fan gave a faint smile to Lu Zhanyun but said nothing more.

"Uncle Master, our revered ancestor is already waiting inside. Allow me to accompany you," interjected Lu Zhanming, eager to smooth things over.

Ding Fan nodded and then, surrounded by a host of Lu Family Disciples, proceeded towards the Noble Manor.

"Lao Jiu, now you realize how formidable your Uncle Master is. Don't test him again, or you'll only embarrass yourself," Lu Zhanming said, finding a moment to speak to Lu Zhanyun.

"What good is his Inner Strength if he's so old? Having a kid who's barely twenty overhauling the Cultivation Technique passed down through the centuries of the Dejiang Lu Family—I'm not convinced!" Lu Zhanyun retorted.

Lu Zhanming glanced at Lu Zhanyun and slightly shook his head before walking away without another word.

For someone as stubborn as Lu Zhanyun, no amount of reasoning could penetrate his obstinance. The only way to deal with such people was to let them hit the wall hard. Only when they crashed into the wall would they feel the pain and realize the foolishness of their actions.

The group escorted Ding Fan to the main hall of the manor's villa.

By that time, nearly all the disciples of the Lu Family were already gathered there, accompanying the great ancestor.

The Lu Family Disciples stood arrayed inside the hall, while the great ancestor, Ren Susu, was seated at the front on a wooden chair.

"Greetings, Senior Sister..." As Ding Fan entered the hall, he bowed and saluted Ren Susu.

Ren Susu nodded, "Junior Brother, how is your research on the Cultivation Technique progressing?"

"I've modified the deficiencies in the 'Martial Arts Tome.' Now, cultivation should proceed without any hindrance," replied Ding Fan.

"Great Ancestor, I believe this to be inappropriate!"

No sooner had Ding Fan finished speaking than Lu Zhanyun stood up abruptly...