The Wang family's reckoning arrived swiftly.
Within the first three years, issues with their businesses and in the areas under their official jurisdiction kept popping up.
Demotions in ranks, failed deals, commercial isolation… Their enemies geared up, beating them when they're down.
The Wang family tried to reach out to the Lu family for help, especially since a new martial arts dojo had opened in Liang City and was gaining traction.
It was the Taiji Hall, a martial arts dojo opened by Lu Yuan where he started accepting disciples with good physical qualities yet lacking spiritual roots.
He taught them the same Simplified Taiji he imparted to the Lu family juniors.
After comprehending the Eight Trigrams, Lu Yuan made adjustments to the Simplified Taiji, consisting of four fundamental forms.
Wind, fire, earth, and water.
Regardless, the Simplified Taiji was enough to reach the half-step Martial Grandmaster level, just a little bit shy of achieving peak human potential.
The various forces in Liang City recognized this as the Lu family's sincerity in seeking investments and connections, so they sent some of their peripheral members to join and test the waters.
Over the following months, seeing the feedback being so good and their youngsters advancing with the Martial Dao, some started sending their main descendants to learn and grow.
Quickly, the Lu family distanced themselves from the Wang family's umbrella and started to build an original social network of connections revolving around Lu Yuan as a foundation.
It seemed that the Wang family wasn't full of blind fools. After all this time, they realized their mistake and tried to make amends.
After spending lots of gifts and other hidden transactions, the suppression they faced from all sides eased considerably, at least they could survive in Liang City and the surrounding region.
However, they can forget about expanding their influence anytime soon, and if Wang Miao's cultivation speed doesn't catch up quickly, the family might fall out of grace for a period of time.
However, with that girl's existence, at least the Wang family won't be destroyed and devoured.
Lu Yuan sent away the family servant with a perfunctory letter to dismiss the envoy from the Wang family.
"How shameless can they be? They're calling out old favors as if I owe them anything. How ridiculous." Lu Yuan shook his head and sighed.
The various dojo disciples looked up at Lu Yuan who was seated on the elevated platform curiously.
Most of them were from renowned families and knew bits and pieces about what was going on.
There was also a letter from Lu Yuanyu, the second son.
Lu Yuan opened the letter and began to read it carefully.
The court is shuffling a lot of grain and iron to the Western Frontier, causing a gradual increase in prices. This is the omen of an upcoming war, and depending on the scale of the war, the Empire might call on martial artists. This is a chance to climb through military ranks!
After finishing the letter, Lu Yuan brought a matchstick and burned it.
Watching the ashes scatter into the air, he began to think.
He didn't care for the military rank, but military contributions can be exchanged for spirit stones.
Acting frugally with his surplus wealth, he could afford ten to twenty low-grade spirit stones a month.
That's far from sufficient for his sessions in the Taiji Space.
The secular world deals with gold and silver, only cultivators have the luxury of using spirit stones as currency.
However, the court was very strict on families who had dealings with the Jianghu Sects, limiting trade between the secular and the mystical worlds.
Hopefully, the situation of the war will blur the lines once again and facilitate trade between the two factions, allowing Lu Yuan to harvest a little fortune.
As he was contemplating, a line of text appeared in front of him.
Under your guidance, someone completed a perfect Taiji cycle. +1 Attribute Points.
Lu Yuan blinked, somewhat shocked.
This was too sudden.
Did this mean that outside the Taiji Space, when someone performs the Simplified Taiji derived from the Taiji Eight Trigrams, they provide feedback on attribute points?
But why can't he earn them while performing outside the space? Is it a balancing mechanism?
While thinking, his gaze moved to the Red Martial who was demonstrating the Simplified Taiji, and clearly, he entered a state of epiphany.
Even the young students had noticed, let alone Lu Yuan.
The middle-aged man swiftly went through the four forms representing the four elements.
Fierceness of fire, flexibility of water, steadiness of earth, and swiftness of wind.
The more he moved, the more in tune he was with each form. Lu Yuan watched silently for a moment before he gestured with his hand, commanding the students to move back and provide ample space.
He watched with expectation, a thought taking root in his mind.
The four armaments of the military, namely the spears, swords, shields, and arrows are very compatible with the Simplified Taiji's four forms.
Perhaps he could take office during the war to not only earn merits but also spread his new understanding of the Taiji School through practical combat.
Soldiers who walked through fire and blood don't lack in mental resilience and discipline, making them prime candidates to learn the new school of Taiji.
The more he thought about it, the more the idea seemed feasible.
Moreover, with a new Martial Grandmaster holding down the fort in the dojo, and with everyone having witnessed the possibility of achieving the Grandmaster rank through Simplified Taiji, this Taiji Hall was practically self-sufficient at the moment.
Having made up his mind, Lu Yuan quickly got up and entered deep into the dojo and waited quietly for his guard to finish his breakthrough and come over.
Soon, the guard quickly arrived, clearly overwhelmed with excitement.
"Grandmaster Lu!" The guard knelt respectfully.
Lu Yuan smiled. "No need to be so formal, we're both peers as Grandmasters now, Yan Zhi."
"Impossible," Yan Zhi quickly shook his head and said respectfully, "Grandmaster Lu's kindness and breadth of mind know no bounds, selflessly sharing your enlightenment with the world. In my heart, you are always my senior."
Lu Yuan smiled, but he wasn't too bothered.
Taiji placed great emphasis on the state of mind and the clarity of the heart. Anyone malicious, scheming, or with a guilty conscience can never achieve enlightenment and become a Grandmaster in Taiji.
Only those with a righteous heart can reach that level.
This is also why Lu Yuan never cared whether his teachings were stolen or referenced, so he taught boldly.
Lu Yuan smiled. "It's good that you think this way. Always remember our motto…"
"Proud in poverty, humble in wealth, always striving for a clear conscience!" Yan Zhi completed the sentence, his eyes sincere.
"I'm glad that you've advanced, and you can now share my burden. If nothing unexpected happens, I will enlist in the army if and when the next war on the Western Frontier breaks out."
Lu Yuan's words shocked Yan Zhi, who quickly calmed down from the high of breaking through his limits.
He frowned, worry evident on his brow.