Chapter 134: Du Yuan, Full of Doubts

Ignoring Ling Tianyu outside, Zhang Xuan continued to ponder the acupoints needed to open in the Acupoint Opening realm.

After a night of effort, pressing forward without letup, he opened another thirty acupoints, bringing the total number of opened acupoints to as many as fifty.

His true qi power also reached a full seventy ding.

If combined with his physical strength of ninety ding, he could easily unleash a formidable power of one hundred sixty ding—enough to easily defeat not only peak Acupoint Opening experts but even early Tongxuan realm experts.

The Tongxuan realm opens the most important Tongxuan meridian in the body, connecting all the power throughout the body. Even at the early stage, one can possess a hundred ding of immense strength; the mid stage has two hundred ding, and so on, with the peak having four hundred ding.

Zhang Xuan's total combined power reached one hundred sixty ding, placing him between the early and mid Tongxuan stages.

Such progress was already terrifying; if word got out, it would surely scare a great many people to death.

Everyone knew there was a huge gap between the Acupoint Opening realm and the Tongxuan realm. Someone at the peak of Acupoint Opening who could defeat a Tongxuan expert—the entire Tianxuan Kingdom probably couldn't find a second such person.

Stretching lazily, Zhang Xuan stood up, pushed open the door, and walked out.

“Master, Lord Ling has been waiting outside all night,” Sun Qiang stepped forward and said.

“Waited all night?”

He had been so focused on cultivation that he had forgotten about this fellow.

“Then…” Zhang Xuan raised a finger, pondering as he was about to speak.

Seeing his master's attitude, Sun Qiang expected him to let Lord Ling in, and looked over expectantly, only to hear him say calmly: “Let's… eat breakfast first!”

Sun Qiang stumbled and fell to the ground.

The owner of Tianyu Trading Company, a billionaire, had waited outside all night, and his master still wanted to eat first…

But as a servant, he dared not say much and immediately had the meal prepared.

He had to admit, the maids and servants this fellow had hired were quite good; the dishes they prepared were very sumptuous and tasty.

After finishing breakfast, Zhang Xuan strolled around the courtyard for a while, and only when it was about ten o'clock did he have Sun Qiang open the gate.

…

Du Yuan was the young master of the Du family, one of the four great clans in Tianxuan Royal City. He was always idle and extremely dissolute.

On ordinary days, he just walked his dog, played with his birds, and roamed around the pleasure quarters.

At twenty-four, he was only at the third level of martial artist, the early True Qi stage—among the children of noble families, he was considered the worst of the worst.

However, it wasn't that he wanted to be dissolute; he had no choice!

His father had originally been the hottest candidate for clan head, but somehow, ten years ago, he suddenly fell seriously ill, damaging his meridians and blocking his acupoints, causing his strength to plummet from the Acupoint Opening realm to that of a cripple.

His former rivals all took the opportunity to kick him when he was down, oppressing their branch of the family.

Originally, he had inherited his father's talent and was quite promising, with the qualifications to compete. Unfortunately, his branch had been so oppressed that if he showed any real ability, he would surely be persecuted.

Forced into a corner, he could only pretend to be a wastrel, living a carefree life day by day.

Today, he slept until the sun was high, then took his beloved dog and swaggered out the door, strolling slowly along the street.

“Huh? Isn't that… Lord Ling Tianyu of Tianyu Trading Company?”

He suddenly stopped in his tracks.

Before him appeared someone he recognized.

Ling Tianyu was a prominent figure throughout Tianxuan Royal City, a billionaire with an overbearing aura and commanding presence.

Although he was a wastrel, he was still a member of the four great clans and moved in high circles. He had long seen this Ling Tianyu, who had considerable business dealings with the Du family.

This man was on the same level as his grandfather—so why was he now standing by the roadside, covered in dew, looking very disheveled, as if he hadn't been home all night?

“Whose courtyard is this?”

Soon he sensed something was off.

This big shot Ling Tianyu seemed to be standing in front of a mansion, waiting for the door to open.

He often strolled along this street, and this mansion had been empty for a long time. He had never heard of anyone living there. Besides, even if someone did live there, what status would they have to make Lord Ling wait here?

“I heard that Lord Ling has been waiting here since dark last night!”

“Yeah, I saw it with my own eyes. It seems Lord Ling wanted to see the owner of this mansion, but the owner didn't even acknowledge him. Only a steward came out and said either keep waiting or never come again…”

“Holy shit, really? Who is this? Making Lord Ling Tianyu wait all night? How arrogant!”

“I don't know either… So I came early this morning to have a look. I didn't expect he really waited all night…”

…

Just as he was puzzled, he heard a conversation not far away.

“Waited all night?”

Du Yuan gasped.

Only those who moved in high circles knew the influence of Ling Tianyu.

Although he was just a merchant, he was on good terms with the heads of all four great clans, associated with nobles and royalty, and even made annual donations to the national treasury. Even Emperor Shen Zhui regarded him as a cash cow and did not lightly offend him.

A man of such status actually stood outside someone else's courtyard waiting all night…

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes and only heard it from others, he definitely wouldn't have believed it.

Really?

Who was it? So awesome?

“Do you know who the owner of this house is?”

Du Yuan couldn't help but walk over to the people who were talking.

“No idea. It seems they moved in just the day before yesterday.”

“Quite a big show. They only moved in the day before yesterday, and already hired dozens of guards and servants!”

“I've seen the owner of this house. He looks like a middle-aged man, around forty, somewhat sallow and emaciated. I've never seen him before.”

Several people in the know said.

“Middle-aged man? Hired dozens of guards and servants?”

Du Yuan was completely baffled.

“Look, the door is opening…”

Just as he was full of doubts, he saw the tightly closed gate in front of him creak open slowly, and a fat man walked out with his belly protruding.

“Sun Qiang?”

Seeing the fat man, he recognized him.

This fellow ran a house rental center at Tianyu Trading Company. He himself had once rented a house from him to keep a mistress. After learning his identity, Sun Qiang had been all fawning and obsequious, a typical snobbish street peddler.

What was this guy doing here?

Could he be working as a servant here?

Just as he was wondering, he saw this Sun Qiang, whom he knew, wave his hand grandly and say: “Lord Ling, my master asks you to come in!”

His tone showed no politeness at all, as if he didn't take the other party seriously at all.

A petty trader from Tianyu Trading Company, talking to his boss like that?

He expected Ling Tianyu to get angry, but instead saw him breathe a sigh of relief. There was no anger in his eyes, only gratitude. He stepped forward and handed over a pile of things: “Thank you for your kind words, Brother Sun. This is a small token of my appreciation. Please take it first; I will surely repay you handsomely later!”

“Ah?”

Du Yuan's eyes nearly popped out.

Fuck… Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?

What he saw today exceeded his understanding; it was as if the whole world had turned upside down.