Level Up in Martial World

Chapter 159: War

Lu Zhen nodded his head when he heard this, and as he was about to leave, suddenly he paused, causing Jiang Xue to be stunned.

"Eh, what happened, young master?" she asked. However, Lu Zhen stayed still for a long time before a smirk gradually formed on his face.

"Lu Zhen, prepare for battle. Before we enter the inheritance cave, we are going to destroy the Xia family."

However, Lu Zhen became calm and expressionless again as he looked at Jiang Xue.

"Do you want your Jiang family to live or be exterminated?" he asked emotionlessly.

Jiang Xue hesitated for a moment before her eyes glinted with determination.

"I want my family to live, young master." No matter how she was coerced, she was still the young miss of the Jiang family, with everything given to her by her family. Jiang Xue wasn't an ungrateful person who would childishly hold a grudge. Besides, from her childhood, she was engraved to be loyal to the Jiang family, and nothing could stop her from doing so.

"Very well, then. Do you trust me?"

"No."

Lu Zhen chuckled upon hearing this. "Good, you shouldn't trust someone so easily," he nodded his head, as if admiring Jiang Xue.

"But if your family wants to live, come with all your forces and swear allegiance to me."

Jiang Xue flinched when she heard this.

"Young m…"

"The way you want to convince the family is not my problem. But remember, if you don't come, your family 'might' be destroyed," Lu Zhen said, his expression turning cold. "As for you, you won't die, since you will be my concubine."

With that said, Lu Zhen domineeringly left, leaving a contemplative Jiang Xue behind.

She watched the broad, tall back of Lu Zhen, which provided a sense of safety to her for some reason.

Jiang Xue sighed as she also left the place.

….

"So how is the progress going?" Lu Zhen said as he sat in his carriage, the bald man with a bloated stomach bowing to him.

"According to the intel, young master, we are currently sending small thugs to destroy the merchants under the Jiang family. We are only probing them currently."

"Hmm…" Lu Zhen played around with the low-grade Qi-stones he had just acquired.

"Send these coins and golden brisket to Lu Zhi and Lu Qing and tell them to train the children with all these," he said, pointing at the mortal currency that the gambling stall had amassed.

"Yes, young master."

"Oh, and change your appearance again. It looks ugly and feels weird to see a beauty like that."

The bald man's face and even his body structure changed into Li Nan again, revealing her full naked body.

"Wear clothes and go," Lu Zhen said without a flinch in his emotion. Since his adaptability level had risen, he had gained almost perfect control over his true emotions.

Li Nan quickly changed into her regular attire as she left, feeling a little disappointed that Lu Zhen didn't even flinch when he saw her bare body. After all, regardless of their background, women always took pride in their beauty. Though she had been ferociously trained since childhood, she still somehow retained the concept of beauty and could proudly say that her figure wasn't bad.

"Wait."

Suddenly, she was stopped by Lu Zhen's cold voice, making her pause.

"Did my old man contact you?"

"Yes, young master. But it was only a regular report, and I said exactly what you instructed me to say," Li Nan replied, her feelings mixed as she betrayed her previous master. However, Lu Zhen had basically branded her with the mark, making her completely vulnerable to him.

"Good." Sensing the signal from the mark, Lu Zhen knew that she was not lying, which made him nod with a satisfied expression.

"You can leave now." Lu Zhen beckoned, and Li Nan left, disappearing into the shadows.

Lu Zhen sighed as he felt lonely now. He folded his right sleeve, revealing the mark of the butterfly.

After some time, Lu Zhen had discovered various uses of the mark by now. The first was that he could only bind five people with it. The next was that it reacted to mana, which was in a tiny amount in his heart currently.

The second discovery was that if Lu Zhen fed his mana with his aura, the mark seemed to grow, and its power to sense mana, as well as the binding power of the mark, increased.

His eyes turned golden as he examined the mark.

[Mark of Gu]

[Grade: Intent item]

[Remark: A parasite that can be refined and uses the user's aura to function. Its features are:

1. Can enslave others by connecting the owner's aura to the other person and creating a baby gu, uses: 5.

2. Amplify the power of mana if used properly.

3. Can nurture a poison using corpses to make a potent poison; the higher the power of the corpse when alive, the stronger the poison is. (stackable)

]

Unlike the previous time, all the appraisals given by the mark laid bare to Lu Zhen's eyes.

Lu Zhen was most interested in the poison part. The poison in this world wasn't used often due to its perceived ineffectiveness, as per Lu Zhen's knowledge (explained in the early chapters).

However, the Mark of Gu could potentially create poison without using any resources, which was undoubtedly valuable to Lu Zhen. As for the unorthodox nature of it, he didn't hesitate, especially after his previous slaughter of hundreds of lives in the bandit camp. Although he valued life, he valued his own life even more.

If poison could be made using corpses to protect himself, Lu Zhen didn't have a shred of hesitation in using it.

"I should join in the fun too," Lu Zhen thought as he stopped the carriage.

"Young master, we have arrived at the pharmacy of the Xia family," Yu Bai's age sounded.

Lu Zhen was greeted by a tall building that seemed similar to an ancient Japanese house, with the place crowded by people as he strolled inside.

"Huh, who are you? State your identity," seeing an unidentified man, he hurriedly put his spear forward, blocking Lu Zhen.

Lu Zhen still had a casual expression as he moved forward, even when he was blocked by the spear.

The moment Lu Zhen's body met the spear, a tremendous pressure descended on the man, causing his eyes to widen with horror. Lu Zhen effortlessly made his way past the spear, which bent from the sheer power of his presence. The guard hurriedly let go of his weapon as he couldn't hold the spear against such force.

"You…" he stammered.

Lu Zhen walked forward casually.

"Bastard." The guard drew his sword from his waist and swung it at Lu Zhen.

Shing!

However, instead of Lu Zhen being cut, the sword itself bent, causing the guard's eyes to widen with horror as he fell to the ground, as if he couldn't believe reality itself.

"Monster," he cried out loud, drawing the attention of everyone in the pharmacy.

A servant boy hurriedly rushed up the stairs to inform his master.

Lu Zhen remained amusingly still, standing in the middle of the hall and being stared at by countless individuals.

The hall buzzed with murmurs as the spectators speculated about Lu Zhen.

"Who is this guy? Daring to come to the business of the Xia family? He is simply courting death."

"Might be a foolish young martial artist who gained some strength and immediately decided to show off."

"Youth nowadays."

"Who cares? We are going to watch a good show today."

Such discussions reverberated through the crowd, each person forming their own theories about Lu Zhen's presence.

While those within the building held some status to be present, the four major families were seen as entities with unchallenged authority, akin to heavens. The families controlled the entire area, surrounded by forests and lakes, secluded from the outside world. As a result, the people within this domain had no choice but to abide by the rules set by the four families.

Among them, the Xia family was notorious for its ruthlessness, known to exploit common folks to achieve their goals. Any opposition was met with brutal consequences, often leading to the slaughter of the entire family of the dissenting individual.

Lu Zhen's ears twitched as he overheard the conversations around him, but his expression remained unchanged, waiting patiently.

A loud, commanding footstep disrupted the ongoing discussions, causing an abrupt silence to fall over the room. A man dressed in white entered, exuding a terrifying aura and wearing a disgusted expression on his face.

"It's over for the poor guy, it's Xia Devil, Xia Nie," a hushed whisper barely audible circulated among the onlookers, prompting Lu Zhen's ears to twitch.

A chuckle escaped Lu Zhen's lips as he observed the pretentious white-haired man. The man, upon spotting Lu Zhen, momentarily froze, his expression shifting to one of astonishment.

"Wait, you are…"

"Too late," Lu Zhen laughed, launching himself towards the man.