In chaotic times, one can become a martial immortal.

Lu Yuan has been in the county town for half a year, and naturally he has some understanding of martial arts families such as the Cui, Xie and Qiao families.

As far as he knew, the royal family of the Great Zhou Dynasty was now in decline. Apart from having some control over the capital, their control over other prefectures was practically nonexistent.

It can be said that imperial power did not extend beyond the household.

The true rulers of each prefecture have basically become clans that have dominated their respective prefectures for many years, making them veritable local emperors.

If it weren't for the fact that the old sword saint of the royal family was still alive, intimidating all the major sects, the entire Great Zhou might have been completely transformed, who knows?

The counties and prefectures under each prefecture have been almost entirely divided up by major aristocratic families and top forces such as Mingyue Manor, Jinqian Gang, and Heyi Alliance.

Therefore, it is impossible to expect the government to play any role in today's situation.

To truly contend with the Cui family, Lu Yuan either needs to join another powerful family and leverage their strength, or he can only rely on his own power to contend with such a behemoth.

However, neither the Xie family nor the Qiao family would likely stand against the Cui family for his sake.

As for his own strength, although he has successfully advanced to the sixth rank and stepped into the middle third rank after more than a month of training, he has also cultivated his two filth and condensed the essence of wood and the essence of fire. However, he is still not strong enough to truly contend with the Cui family.

"Lu Yuan, although you displayed the cultivation level of Golden Skin and Eighth Grade during the freshman assessment, to my Cui Clan, you are still nothing more than a lowly peasant who cannot be brought to the table."

Cui Yunhao frowned slightly and said coldly, "It is already a great honor for you to be my guard commander. Don't be ungrateful."

Upon hearing this, Zheng Shuang and Zhang Yida's expressions immediately became even more unpleasant.

They are the ones who harmed Brother Yuan. If they had known this would happen, they would never have come to the county town.

"Brother Yuan, maybe... we should just forget about it!"

Zheng Shuang sighed helplessly and whispered to Lu Yuan.

"This is the Cui family!"

Zhang Yida shook his head with a helpless, bitter smile.

If it were just the Iron Palm Gang, perhaps the Zheng, Zhang, and Qian families could unite to fight against them.

But they are now facing a behemoth like the Cui family, and there is absolutely no way they can resist it.

"Young Brother Lu Yuan, it is an honor for you to be favored by Second Master Cui. I advise you not to refuse, lest you invite trouble!"

He Qing then turned his gaze to Lu Yuan and offered his advice.

"Cui Yunhao, you're so awesome!"

Just then, several more figures walked in.

The two leading figures were Bai Xiaotang and Jiang Ying, followed by Zheng Xu and Zhang Hu.

Clearly, Zheng Xu and Zhang Hu were worried about something going wrong, so they had Jiang Ying invite Bai Xiaotang over.

Upon seeing Bai Xiaotang's appearance, Qian Rou couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Although Bai Xiaotang is not from a prestigious family like Cui Yunhao, the He Yi Alliance behind her is in no way inferior to the Cui family.

"It's a promise, if anyone bullies us, we'll fight back together!"

Jiang Ying walked directly to Lu Yuan's side, smiling and revealing her little tiger teeth.

"good!"

Lu Yuan smiled and nodded, saying nothing more, nor was there any need for further words.

In fact, even if Jiang Ying hadn't brought Bai Xiaotang along, he wouldn't have been without a chance of escaping unscathed today.

It was absolutely impossible for him to agree to become Cui Yunhao's bodyguard commander.

To put it nicely, he was a guard commander, but in reality, he was nothing more than a high-ranking lackey.

It should be noted that when Murong Jue's Bright Moon Society and Jin Wuming's Money Society invited him, the conditions they offered were at least that he be a core member, and that he could even directly enter the upper echelons of Bright Moon Manor and Money Gang in the future.

Clearly, Cui Yunhao didn't really value him; he was just humiliating him.

Although Lu Yuan had to admit that he couldn't truly contend with the entire Cui family on his own, he didn't need to do so at all, because even though Cui Yunhao was the second young master of the Cui family, he might not represent the entire Cui family.

After more than a month of training, he has not only mastered the liver and heart organs, but also successfully condensed the essence of wood and the essence of fire, and can perfectly integrate these two essences with his internal energy.

And this is precisely the greatest advantage of the Five Elements Vajra Body.

Because most cultivation methods can only condense one type of essence.

Even top-tier geniuses, with the help of precious medicines like the Crimson Sun Flower, can successfully condense two or more types of essence, but due to limitations in their cultivation methods and physical constitution, it is almost impossible for them to perfectly integrate these energies with their internal strength.

They might even clash and restrain each other, resulting in either significant loss of strength or, in severe cases, demonic possession.

Lu Yuan, however, had no need to worry about this problem at all. Not only could he ignore the limitations of his physical constitution and condense five kinds of essence, but he could also perfectly integrate them into his internal energy by relying on the Five Elements Vajra Body.

It can be said that the internal force that combines these two kinds of energy is much stronger than ordinary internal force, and if the corresponding techniques are activated, its power will be multiplied.

In addition, Lu Yuan has not only mastered the Thunderclap Sword Technique and the Great Sun Sword Technique, but has also successfully comprehended one-tenth of the Fire Sword Intent.

As for the sword intent of thunder, it has already reached 50%. If it is unleashed at full power, its power is more than twice as strong as when it is at 30%.

It can be said that with his current cultivation level of Rank 6, Level 2, plus his many trump cards, he is fully capable of fighting against ordinary Rank 5 or even Rank 4 masters.

Even when facing a top-tier expert of the third rank, he might not be able to escape unscathed.

In short, if Lu Yuan were to fully reveal his abilities now, although he might not be able to contend with the entire Cui family, he would certainly be capable of fighting them to the death.

At least including Cui Yunhao in front of him, he could severely damage the Cui family.

The Cui family has been able to survive for hundreds of years, so there must be many intelligent people among them who would never allow things to really develop to this point.

Of course, Lu Yuan would not easily perish along with the Cui family unless there was no other way out.

Moreover, Jiang Ying has now brought Bai Xiaotang with her. If nothing unexpected happens, he should be able to resolve today's matter without revealing himself.

"Bai Xiaotang, what do you mean by this?"

Cui Yunhao's expression turned somewhat grim as he spoke in a deep voice.

"It's nothing special, I just came to join in the fun!"

Bai Xiaotang simply smiled and said directly, "However, if a fight is necessary, I don't mind."

"Just you wait!"

Cui Yunhao's cold gaze swept over Bai Xiaotang, Qian Rou, and Lu Yuan before he turned and walked away.

He Qing and the others naturally did not dare to hesitate and hurriedly left.

"How did you end up with him?"

Bai Xiaotang looked at Lu Yuan and asked with some curiosity.

Lu Yuan didn't mince words and simply explained the whole story.

"No big deal. From now on, their three caravans can simply fly the flag of our Unity Alliance. Anyone who dares to touch them, we'll wipe them out!"

After hearing this, Bai Xiaotang patted her chest and said in a rather hearty manner.

"Consider this a favor I owe you!"

Lu Yuan looked up at Bai Xiaotang and said.

"Forget about favors!"

Bai Xiaotang smiled and waved her hand, not feeling that she needed Lu Yuan's favor, nor did she think that she would need his help in any way in the future.

……

After leaving Haitong Inn, Lu Yuan headed towards Tianqing Mountain.

He frowned slightly as soon as he entered the mountain range.

Because he had already realized that someone was following him.

The person following him not only seemed to be extremely skilled at concealing their presence, but their cultivation level must also be quite high; otherwise, he wouldn't have only discovered them now.

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Yuan suddenly accelerated, traversing through the dense forest.

……