Hostility

“Of course it's strange.”

“In the past, when it came to the conflicts between our Thunderfire Hall and the Red Sand Hall, the Golden Gang Sword Hall always sat on the sidelines to watch the tigers fight, never interfering. But this time, Lin Changkong personally stepped into the arena.”

Hearing Lu Qingyan's words, Lu Jin nodded calmly, a trace of coldness flowing across his weathered, aged face.

“What does that fellow want? Our Thunderfire Hall has always been polite to them. Wherever their Golden Gang Sword Hall has a presence, we never encroach upon it, yielding whenever we can,” Lu Jinglei asked in annoyance.

Lu Jin lit his pipe, exhaled a cloud of smoke, and looked at Lu Ming with a gentle smile. “What do you think, Ah Ming?”

Lu Ming thought for a moment and replied seriously, “The Golden Gang Sword Hall's change in attitude is quite obvious. This suggests that some unusual shift must have occurred recently, causing them to alter their stance toward our Thunderfire Hall. As for the shift... I suspect it might have something to do with the Great Golden Crow Hall.”

Lu Jinglei's face instantly darkened. “Are you saying that woman from the Great Golden Crow Hall is behind this? Did she drive Lin Changkong to target our Thunderfire Hall?”

Lu Qingyan was silent for a few breaths before saying, “It is highly probable. Although we don't know what connection Lin Changkong has with the Great Golden Crow Hall, the influence of a Grade 5 Divine Ability Hall is far beyond our imagination. Perhaps that woman only had to say a single word for Lin Changkong to know which choice to make.”

Lu Jinglei gritted his teeth, his eyes dark with rage. That wretched woman had already taken Zhang Yue away and splashed a bucket of undeniable filth onto their Thunderfire Hall, yet she still went as far as to instigate the Golden Gang Sword Hall to hunt them down.

The Golden Gang Sword Hall was no Red Sand Hall. Since its founding, it had always been the strongest Grade 3 Divine Ability Hall in Qingyuan Ward, far surpassing the Thunderfire Hall in terms of overall strength and foundation.

If the Golden Gang Sword Hall truly joined forces with the Red Sand Hall to suppress the Thunderfire Hall in the future, it would indeed place immense pressure on their survival.

That bastard Zhang Yue—rotting meat truly only attracted disgusting vultures.

Lu Jin's aged face remained calm, as he had clearly guessed the reason long ago. “Whether it was instigated by that woman from the Great Golden Crow Hall or not, crushing my Thunderfire Hall won't be that easy.”

“If Lin Changkong truly wants to be the blade in someone else's hand, then this old man can only test whether his Golden Gang Sword is sharper, or my Thunderfire Whip is more ferocious.”

His aged voice was slightly hoarse, but it carried a chilling, murderous aura that surged like violent thunder and fire.

Lin Changkong was in his prime, but he should not underestimate an old man's resolve to protect his home.

Feeling the old man's cold and murderous words, Lu Ming also clenched his fists in silence. He desperately wanted to share the family's burden, but he was still too weak right now. He had to become stronger as quickly as possible.

“Father, that new Ward Master seems to possess quite a grand spirit. He likely has a significant background,” Lu Qingyan said, shifting the topic.

Lu Jin nodded. “It is said that the Yan family of Qingyuan Ward spent a massive fortune trying to secure the position of the new Ward Master. To their surprise, the appointment was abruptly canceled at the last minute. The Yan family must be furious right now... Thus, this new Ward Master definitely has an extraordinary background. He is a formidable dragon crossing the river.”

“As for this Hall Meet, the rewards for the champion hall are extremely generous. Even this old man is tempted. Unfortunately, wresting the champion title from the Golden Gang Sword Hall is simply too difficult.” At this point, he could not help but feel a trace of regret.

If the concentration of the primordial energy of heaven and earth in their Thunderfire Hall could be raised to the high tier, it would become a brilliant, living advertisement. It would attract many newcomers to join the hall and cultivate divine abilities. After all, cultivating in such an environment would yield results slightly better than elsewhere. Though not as obvious as consuming medicinal pills, the cumulative effect over time was an advantage that could not be ignored.

Lu Ming's eyes also shone with eagerness. Putting aside the temptation of raising their hall's primordial energy of heaven and earth to the high tier, just that single Barrier-Breaking Pill called the Lesser Inscription-Transforming Pill held a fatal attraction for any Divine Ability Practitioner.

It could save them a vast amount of precious time that would otherwise be wasted by the Divine Ability Barrier, preventing them from being stuck in a bottleneck and wasting their prime years.

Unfortunately, only the Divine Ability Hall that won the champion hall title would receive this reward.

“Winning the champion hall is too difficult, and we likely cannot compete with the Golden Gang Sword Hall. Therefore, our goal for this Hall Meet is to secure our second-place rank. Our Thunderfire Hall has just undergone a major upheaval, and without Zhang Yue to guard the flag, I fear the Red Sand Hall will not give up the chance to snatch our second-place position.”

“We must do our utmost to keep the second-place rank. If we lose it, it will severely damage the Thunderfire Hall's reputation, and the number of disciples joining us will plummet. Without this major source of income, it will be very difficult to maintain Ah Ming's cultivation resources hereafter.” At this point, Lu Jin's expression grew much sharper.

Beside him, Lu Ming pursed his lips. Having grown up in the Thunderfire Hall, he was naturally familiar with the rules of the Hall Meet. Every Hall Meet would determine the rankings of the Divine Ability Halls in Qingyuan Ward.

The strongest Divine Ability Hall, crowned with the glory of the champion hall, would become the most popular, attracting countless new disciples to strengthen the hall's gates.

When the Hall Meet began, all the Divine Ability Halls in Qingyuan Ward would set up platforms, known as Duel Platforms.

Three Divine Ability Flags would be erected on the platform.

The three flags were guarded respectively by the Hall Master, the Grand Divine Ability Practitioners, and the Divine Ability Practitioners of each hall, and these roles could not be bypassed.

According to the rules of the Hall Meet, when a Divine Ability Hall faced a challenge from another hall, if they lost two out of the three flags, their rank would be directly replaced by the challenger.

In the past, when Zhang Yue was here, he, Lu Qingyan, and Lu Jinglei guarded a flag together. Let alone the Red Sand Hall, even if the Grand Divine Ability Practitioners of the Golden Gang Sword Hall wanted to seize their flag, they would have to carefully consider whether they might end up losing their own flag in the process.

But now... Zhang Yue was gone.

Thus, only Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei remained to stand as the Grand Divine Ability Practitioners of the Thunderfire Hall.

As for the third flag, it would depend on the Divine Ability Practitioners within the Thunderfire Hall—disciples like Gao Yu and Yuan Da who had completed their third bone-refining... Could they guard the Divine Ability Flag?

Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei's expressions also turned solemn. They exchanged a look and gritted their teeth, saying, “Don't worry, Father. Even if we have to risk our lives, we won't let anyone take our flag!”

Lu Jin fell silent for a brief moment before saying calmly, “If someone truly pushes us too far when the time comes, then perhaps this old man's bones can get some exercise as well.”

Hearing this, both Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei were startled. Generally speaking, the duels and challenges during the Hall Meet were fought by members below the rank of Hall Master. Those of the Hall Master level served as the anchors of their respective halls and would not easily make a move unless under exceptional circumstances.

After all, a Divine Ability Master was considered a top-tier figure in Qingyuan Ward. How could they easily show their faces to fight and bicker? Doing so would only damage their prestige.

But Lu Jin could not afford to care about that now. The Thunderfire Hall was the source of income and the foundation of their Lu family. If the Thunderfire Hall suffered, it would directly affect Lu Ming's cultivation resources. Although Lu Ming could still make progress relying on his Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone even under scarce resources, that would be overdrawing his potential, a debt that would have to be repaid at a much greater cost in the future.

Lu Jin viewed Lu Ming as the Divine Ability Child who could lead the Lu family's bloodline out of that cursed abyss!

Lu Ming also bore the heritage accumulated by the blood and bones of the Lu family's ancestors. Therefore, no matter what, Lu Jin had to guarantee Lu Ming's cultivation resources.

Lu Ming could naturally feel Lu Jin's painstaking care. Moved, he volunteered, “Grandfather, when the time comes, let me also contribute to guarding the third Divine Ability Flag.”

Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei working together to guard their flag was not entirely secure. Therefore, to ensure they did not lose two flags, the Thunderfire Hall had to make sure nothing went wrong with the flag guarded by the Divine Ability Practitioners.

Hearing this, Lu Jin hesitated slightly. There was only about a month left until the Hall Meet. Currently, Lu Ming had not even completed his second bone-refining, and it was uncertain what level he could reach by the time the Hall Meet began.

Although Lu Ming possessed a Sub-Heaven-grade Divine Ability Bone, he had only just begun cultivating divine abilities. On the other hand, people like Gao Yu and Yuan Da had not only completed their third bone-refining long ago, but they had also mastered more than one Lower Divine Ability to the stage of Great Success, and were even beginning to dabble in Mid Divine Abilities.

Although Lu Ming had suppressed everyone in the Primordial Energy Pavilion today and even lasted until the very end alongside Wang Chen of the Golden Gang Sword Hall, that had ultimately been a matter of cleverness. On the other hand, the Hall Meet would involve real clashes of divine abilities and a pure competition of combat strength.

However, Lu Jin did not want to dampen Lu Ming's enthusiasm. He immediately smiled and nodded, offering a playful word of encouragement, “Very well. Perhaps when the time comes, our Thunderfire Hall will have to rely on you, Ah Ming, to turn the tide.”

Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei also laughed, both reaching out to ruffle Lu Ming's hair in encouragement.

Lu Ming curled his lips helplessly at this treatment, which was exactly how they treated Lu Mengmeng.

It seemed he would have to redouble his efforts in cultivation during this upcoming period, so he could give them a massive surprise at the Hall Meet.