Chapter 51 Clearing Misunderstandings and Seeking Guidance on the Martial Way

"Where have we met before?" Lu Wu asked, looking somewhat puzzled.

The General of the Northern Guard was one of the twelve core military commanders wielding real power in the State of Wu, standing almost at the very pinnacle of the Wu military establishment. Given his lofty position and immense authority, there was simply no reason for him to be so courteous to a stranger.

Furthermore, this man possessed a thoroughly refined and potent inner breath. In Lu Wu's perception, faint wisps of inner breath extended from the surface of the man's body like microscopic tentacles, faintly resonating with the heaven and earth. He was clearly a powerhouse of the Xiantian realm.

During the upheaval in Songjing, Lu Wu had encountered a few Xiantian masters, but after leaving the city, he hadn't even laid eyes on a single fourth-rank inner breath practitioner along the entire journey. This clearly showed that Xiantian experts were not as common as cabbages.

For such a personage to be so polite to him, there had to be a reason.

"The General's divine might is peerless. I was swept off my horse by the General's halberd that day, so it is hardly surprising that the General does not remember me," Tong Zhi said with a bitter smile.

He felt a twinge of frustration—after all this time, the other person didn't even have the slightest impression of him.

Yet it was understandable. At the time, this formidable warrior had charged head-on through the main street: An Lian, the royal court's retainer, had unleashed a full-power strike with a sword driven by his inner breath; Shi Lie had charged forward fearlessly with a shield, showing a measure of impressive gallantry.

Only he himself, after Shi Lie had been blasted into a mist of blood, had failed to withstand even a casual sweep of the man's halberd and had to resort to playing dead to survive. With a performance like that, what qualification did he have to demand that anyone remember him?

"General Lu is a busy man prone to forgetfulness. When I formerly commanded the Golden Guards, I once crossed paths with you on the Heavenly Avenue."

Tong Zhi didn't even dare to phrase it as "the two of us exchanged blows."

Because it hadn't been an exchange of blows at all; he had simply been crushed with a casual wave of the hand.

"Ah, so you are an old acquaintance. Why did General Tong block my path today?"

One does not strike a smiling person. Although Lu Wu still had no recollection of who this was, out of politeness, he pretended to recognize him.

"General Lu, it is truly a misunderstanding. A few days ago, scouts reported that remnants of Lord Jiu's faction were hidden within this caravan, very likely Lord Jiu's son, Ke Shou, attempting to flee to the State of Chu. However, since General Lu is here, it is surely a false report."

Others might not know, but Tong Zhi had seen with his own eyes when Lu Wu fought the grandmasters of Chu, severed Lord Jiu's head, and strode away. Who in the State of Wu might help Lord Shou escape, but this man certainly would not.

"So that's how it is. No wonder General Tong came personally," Lu Wu nodded. "Very well, since it is your duty, just have your men search the place."

"How could this subordinate dare to offend General Lu's majestic presence?" Tong Zhi hastily waved his hands.

"It is nothing, merely your duty. Li Shi, you will take General Tong to inspect the caravan. If there are any misunderstandings, you can explain them to him."

Overjoyed, Li Shi scurried over eagerly. First, he bowed deeply to Lu Wu, then turned to Tong Zhi and said, "General Tong, my humble self is truly wronged in this matter. Would General Tong care to have men inspect the caravan first, and then allow me to make my statement?"

Seeing that Lu Wu was relatively reasonable, Tong Zhi breathed a sigh of relief.

He waved his hand, signaling the nearby personal guard to retreat so as not to be an eyesore. At the same time, he summoned a dozen trusted guards, ordering them to inspect the carriages and verify whether anyone was hiding among the travelers and luggage.

As for himself, he remained by Lu Wu's side, listening to Li Shi recount the inner details of the matter while intentionally or unintentionally flattering Lu Wu from time to time.

After a thorough inspection by the guards, no trace of Ke Shou's whereabouts was found, finally clearing the Li family caravan of suspicion.

In truth, someone had been watching the caravan for quite some time, and the individuals within it had been accounted for down to the last person. Conducting a search now was merely a precaution in case someone had disguised themselves as a woman to slip past. Since Li He was a genuine woman, she was naturally let off without issue.

A person's upbringing and environment determine their perspective on the world.

Lu Wu hailed from a merchant family. Although their social standing in the State of Wu was not exceptionally high, within his own household, his every whim had been indulged, allowing him to act entirely as he pleased. Combined with the perspective gained from his previous lifetime, he had developed a mindset that regarded all people under heaven as nothing.

Even the Queen Dowager of Wu held no weight in his eyes.

Tong Zhi, born into a military lineage, attached immense importance to hierarchy and protocol; otherwise, the late King of Wu would never have entrusted him with such heavy responsibilities.

Given Tong Zhi's lofty status as the General of the Northern Guard, he originally had no need to be so courteous to a young man like Lu Wu.

However, firstly, he genuinely could not defeat him, and he feared this reckless youth might resort to violence without a second thought. Tong Zhi still valued his own life dearly and had no wish to waste it on such petty disputes.

The State of Wu had not produced a martial combat general for a century. As a martial practitioner of the military strategist path, lowering his head to a combat general was no humiliation.
(When Tong Zhi called Lu Wu "General," it was not because Lu Wu held an official military rank; rather, the term "General" originally designated one who had mastered the military arts—a grand strategist was one who had mastered the strategic intellect of the military path, while a combat general was one who had mastered the martial prowess of the military path.)

Secondly, this General Lu was the pivotal figure who had enabled King Wu Ketu to stage his comeback. Even to avoid accusations of ingratitude, King Wu Ketu would never permit a large army to hunt this man down. Befriending him now, however, might well yield future benefits.

With Tong Zhi stepping in, Lu Wu and his companions naturally no longer needed to stay in an inn that evening. Tong Zhi directly ordered his guards to requisition the residence of a prominent local family to accommodate Lu Wu's entourage.

In the evening, Tong Zhi hosted a banquet to welcome Lu Wu.

After three rounds of drinks and tasting various dishes, having exchanged some casual pleasantries, Tong Zhi could no longer hold back and asked, "General Lu, I also practice the martial arts of the military path, but I have been stuck at the threshold of harmony between heaven and man for three years now. Might I ask General Lu for some guidance?"

Reaching the Xiantian realm meant one was already a master among masters.

Leaving aside the fact that under normal circumstances, Tong Zhi might not have been able to lower his face to ask others for advice, even if he did, it would be difficult to find someone qualified to teach him.

Physical strength could be cultivated through sheer hard work, and inner breath could be refined through persistent daily effort. Only the alchemy-of-spirit stage of Xiantian martial arts remained elusive and ethereal.

Xiantian martial arts were divided into three ranks: the third rank required sensing the heaven and earth, the second rank required the harmony of heaven and man, and the first rank required externalizing the inner landscape.

None of these stages could be resolved through diligent practice alone; breaking through felt more like relying on a stroke of sheer fortune.

If it were not for the general consensus in the State of Wu that Lu Wu was a supreme powerhouse who had broken through the first rank of externalizing the inner landscape and stepped into the unfathomable realm of combat generals, Tong Zhi would never have brought up this question.

"What harmony between heaven and man? How could someone of your meager cultivation be stuck at the threshold of the harmony of heaven and man?" Lu Wu asked in astonishment.

Lu Wu was not very familiar with the martial arts realm classifications of this world.

When he practiced martial arts as a child, it was merely an excuse to train his body, and he had never taken the retainers sent by Lady Lu seriously.

Yet, in his previous world, speaking of the harmony of heaven and man required, at the very least, condensing malignant energies and refining primordial qi, forging a single pellet of golden elixir, and then using that golden elixir as the pivot to make the inner microcosm and the external macrocosm reflect one another—only then could one begin to speak of the harmony of heaven and man.

At present, Lu Wu himself had no idea how far he was from the harmony of heaven and man. How could this mediocre fellow before him dare claim he was stuck at that threshold?