Only Got My Martial Arts Modifier in My Old Age

"I’ve been managing this route for over a year now, and there’s never been an issue."

Hearing this, Tang Dahua immediately stepped forward, clasped his fist to his palm in a salute to Lu Yun, and spoke with brimming confidence.

"Elder Lu! I’ve long heard of your esteemed name! My name is Tang Dahua! You can rest assured, I, Tang Dahua, am famous for being the fastest captain on the Hongjiang River Basin!"

"I’m familiar with every section of the waterway. I know where the water is deep, where the current is swift, and where the shoals are treacherous!"

"I guarantee our journey will be smooth and safe, with absolutely no mishaps!"

Lu Yun sized him up for a moment before giving a slight nod. ’Jingteng has always been reliable; the man he personally selected shouldn’t be a problem.’

"Mm, thank you for your hard work, Captain Tang. But the most important thing is safety first, stability above all."

"Yes, Elder Lu!" Tang Dahua responded loudly.

On this trip, Lu Yun was not alone. He brought fifty gunmen as guards, all meticulously trained and cultivated by the Lu Family.

These gunmen were well-equipped with rifles and pistols. Disciplined and strict, they were the core of the Lu Family’s security forces.

In addition, there was a group of crewmen and laborers responsible for transport, general care, and other tasks.

Over the years, the Lu Family had been secretly amassing power. Besides their public businesses, they had also cultivated a private armed force of considerable size.

In total, they had over seven hundred gunmen and security personnel.

These forces were stationed at the three main piers controlled by the Lu Family, as well as inside the Lu Family’s Old Mansion.

Soon after, a massive wooden sailing ship slowly departed from Hai Cui Bay Pier.

Half a day after Lu Yun’s cargo ship left Yun Port City, as evening was approaching, the Lide Restaurant in the city’s bustling center welcomed a rather conspicuous group of guests.

The group consisted of about thirty men and women. Each one was lean and powerful with a steady gait, clearly all martial arts practitioners.

They swarmed in, occupying six large round tables in the restaurant’s main hall.

Seeing this, the restaurant waiters dared not be negligent. Following the orders they were given, they brought out a stream of various dishes and wines, quickly filling all six tables.

Just then, three more robust men, around forty years old and dressed in practical, black, short martial arts attire, rushed in from outside the restaurant.

Their eyes quickly swept across the main hall before they headed straight for the most central seat at the main table.

At the head of the main table sat a young woman with a beautiful face and a stunningly cold demeanor.

She looked to be only twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old, dressed in a perfectly tailored black long dress that traced her delicate curves, with a matching short shawl over her shoulders.

The three men approached the woman. The one in the lead bowed slightly and reported in a low, excited voice, "Sect Leader, we’ve stumbled upon something! That traitor, Ma Sanlie, should be hiding right here in Yun Port City!"

Hearing this, a sharp glint flashed through the woman’s otherwise cold eyes.

She didn’t speak immediately, merely gesturing with her eyes for him to continue.

The man continued, "We secretly investigated several famous Xingyi Fist martial arts halls in Yun Port City."

"Just now, I personally disguised myself as a visitor wanting to spar and tested the skills of several disciples from the ’Wind-Splitting Falcon Xingyi Fist Martial Arts Hall’."

"The fist techniques they practice have been heavily modified on the surface. They’ve incorporated power-generation techniques from other fist styles, their moves have become faster and fiercer, and they even deliberately imitate the pounce of a ’falcon’ to distinguish themselves from common Xingyi Fist schools..."

"But the fundamental way their energy circulates, some of their core footwork transitions, and certain unique power-generation secrets... are at least seventy to eighty percent similar to our Gong Family’s ’Spiritual Snake Xingyi Fist’!"

At this, a cold arc slowly formed on the woman’s lips.

"Wind-Splitting Falcon Xingyi Fist Martial Arts Hall..."

She repeated the name in a low voice, as if wanting to chew the words to pieces. ’Very good. This... truly fell right into my lap.’

The woman had originally traveled south to Yun Port City on her father’s orders to spread another of the Gong Family’s ultimate techniques, the "Wandering Dragon Eight Trigrams Palm," and to expand the Gong Family’s influence in this great southern port.

’I never expected such an unexpected windfall!’

She immediately looked up and ordered the three men, "The three of you, go to the train station at once! Buy tickets for the fastest train back to the Eastern Province!"

"Tell my father in person that the traitor has been found! He’s right here in Yun Port City, operating under an alias and running the ’Wind-Splitting Falcon Xingyi Fist Martial Arts Hall’! Ask him to come to Yun Port City at once!"

"I, Gong Ning, will kill this traitor with my own hands! I will cleanse our house!"

"Yes, Sect Leader! Your subordinates obey!"

The three men responded in unison. Without the slightest delay, they immediately turned and strode quickly out of the restaurant.

Watching their departing figures, Gong Ning picked up the cup of clear tea before her, took a gentle sip, and a faint smile appeared on her cold face.

That traitor, Ma Sanlie, was originally an Outer Disciple taken in by the Gong Family and possessed considerable talent.

Fifteen years ago, he took advantage of an opportunity when important Gong Family members were away on business. He ambushed them on the road, brutally murdering several of the Gong Family’s top experts, including one of Gong Ning’s uncles, and stole an important item they had unexpectedly obtained during their mission.

The Immortality Crystal!

For fifteen years, the entire Gong Family—especially Gong Ning’s father, the current Gong Family Patriarch, Gong Yuanshan—had never given up the pursuit.

Who would have thought that the traitor Ma Sanlie would vanish as if he had evaporated from the face of the earth, leaving no trace behind.

To think he had actually hidden away in Yun Port City, thousands of miles away, and even changed his identity to open a martial arts hall!

Gong Ning couldn’t help but sneer, "Wind-Splitting Falcon Xingyi Fist? Was that name chosen specifically to counter our Gong Family’s orthodox ’Spiritual Snake Xingyi Fist’?"

"...Truly a frog in a well, indulging in wishful thinking!"

"I’ll let you know that there’s always someone better, and always a higher heaven!"

"Even if we are both at the Peak of Anjin, the gap between us can be as wide as a chasm!"

This wasn’t just empty boasting on her part.

In the path of Martial Arts, while one’s Realm is certainly important, the purity of one’s Cultivation Technique, as well as one’s comprehension and talent for the Martial Arts, are just as crucial.

All of these factors could create an enormous gulf in power between Martial Artists of the same Realm.

Take Lu Yun, for example. Back then, he was stuck at the Peak of Anjin for thirty years, unable to advance, yet his strength was enough to easily crush, or even slaughter, the vast majority of other Martial Artists at the same Realm.

Lu Yun was once privately called a "Half-Step to Huajin" existence by some.

The reason was that during his long bottleneck period, Lu Yun had unexpectedly awakened a portion of an ability that should belong only to a Grandmaster of Huajin: an extraordinary preternatural sense for danger.

Although this perceptive ability was just a "crude version" and its range was far inferior to that of a true Grandmaster of Huajin...

...even so, in actual combat, this ability to sense an opponent’s killing move and predict its attack route a few tenths of a second—or even less—in advance was enough to make him invincible and allow him to effortlessly toy with opponents of the same rank.

As the most outstanding genius of the Gong Family’s younger generation, a true heir to the two ultimate techniques of "Spiritual Snake Xingyi Fist" and "Wandering Dragon Eight Trigrams Palm," Gong Ning’s strength at the Peak of Anjin also far surpassed that of her ordinary peers.

She was confident enough that even if Ma Sanlie had improved over the past fifteen years, she could definitely capture and kill him with her own hands and reclaim the Immortality Crystal!