Starting as The Young Master of A Pharmacy, He Trained Swordsmanship in Seclusion For Twenty Years - Chapter 4

Earning attribute points had never been easy.

Lu Xuan knew this better than anyone. Yet now, out of nowhere, he’d gained ten points in less time than it took to burn a stick of incense.

To put that into perspective—over twenty years, he’d only accumulated around twenty points total.

And that was with the backing of the Lu family, owners of the largest medicinal shop in the county.

Since beginning martial training, Lu Xuan had consumed enough rare herbs to bankrupt a small noble house. Each tonic cost a fortune.

Frankly, he was the Lu family’s single biggest expense.

By his estimate, he’d burned through a quarter of the family’s resources—and that was with restraint.

If he’d gone all out? The entire Lu fortune wouldn’t have been enough to feed his cultivation.

Only his status as the eldest son and heir made such extravagance possible.

Yet now, in mere moments, he’d gained the equivalent of half his lifetime’s accumulation.

Hiss—

Even Lu Xuan’s ironclad composure cracked as he sucked in a sharp breath.

How?

His gaze snapped to the pulverized remains staining the courtyard stones.

Was it… them?

The supernatural?

A realization ignited in his mind like kindling catching flame.

It must be!

Those corpses no longer carried that unsettling aura he’d sensed earlier—the one that had set his Blood Refinement instincts on edge.

That’s it!

Whatever that energy was—something so sinister it unsettled even a peak Blood Refinement expert—it must have triggered the system’s sudden windfall.

Yin energy?

For now, Lu Xuan decided to call it that—the taint left by those otherworldly horrors.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

His ears twitched at approaching footsteps—dozens, moving in disorganized haste.

In one fluid motion, his right hand flashed to his waist.

Steel sang as he drew his saber.

Muscles corded along his forearm like steel cables as he gripped the hilt.

Then—slash!

Golden streaks split the air, each arc erupting into searing flames mid-flight.

Instantly, multiple patches of the courtyard whooshed into roaring bonfires—precisely where the corpses lay.

Mastered Blazing Saber Technique:

The ability to conjure fire from nothingness, unleashing blade energies hot enough to melt stone.

This wasn’t martial arts.

This was sorcery.

Of course, reaching such heights wasn’t simple. Most practitioners would never achieve this level in their lifetime.

But twenty years of relentless training had honed Lu Xuan’s edge to perfection.

And this?

This wasn’t even his limit.

System—

Evolve!

As flames consumed the remains, the rear gate burst open.

Thirty armed men poured in, led by Lu Jiahe.

Worry lined the older man’s face—until he saw Lu Xuan standing unscathed amidst the inferno.

Only a few dried bloodstains marred his clothes.

“Xuan’er! You’re unharmed? And this—?”

Lu Jiahe’s voice faltered as he eyed the pyres. “Where are Yun’an and the others?”

His shoulders sagged. He already knew.

“Those are them.”

Lu Xuan’s flat confirmation made Lu Jiahe age a decade in seconds.

“Yun’an… it’s my fault. I never should’ve taken him. I failed him…”

Grief thickened his words. A simple herb-gathering trip had cost his nephew everything—

—even the dignity of an intact corpse.

Seeing his father’s devastation, Lu Xuan stepped closer. “No one could’ve predicted this. Don’t blame yourself.”

“Uncle Jiaqing won’t hold you responsible.”

“Father, elder brother’s right,” the other sons chimed in. “You’ve done nothing but try to save Yun’an these past days.”

The fact that anyone had returned alive from encountering such horrors was a miracle.

Their words eased some of Lu Jiahe’s guilt.

He looked up at Lu Xuan—taller than him now—with bittersweet pride.

He never thought he’d live to hear this son offer comfort.

Not since Lu Xuan’s mother died fifteen years ago, leaving him silent as a tomb.

Day after day, year after year, he’d trained in isolation, cutting himself off from the world.

Lu Jiahe had once dreamed of passing his medical arts to his firstborn.

But when Lu Xuan showed prodigious talent for the blade instead, he’d reluctantly shifted those hopes to his other sons.

“Young Master… did you do all this?”

The question came from a broad-shouldered man at Lu Jiahe’s side—Li Mingzhong, captain of the Lu family guards.

A Flesh Refinement expert, his tanned face now paled as he pointed.

Every eye followed his gesture.

Footprints embedded in solid stone.

Craters with spiderweb fractures.

A gaping hole in the wall, as though a raging beast had smashed through.

Only an idiot wouldn’t recognize the sheer terror required to leave such scars.