Under One Person: The Seeker of the Dao in the Lü Family

Chapter 292 Lü Qian: Do you still recognize these approval slips from the previous manager?

The Nathan Conference concluded with a host of Inhumans in attendance, and the outcome of the conference once again exceeded everyone's expectations.

"A challenger has been issued to the throne of Nathan Island?"

After the meeting, Zhao Fangxu invited Lü Qian to the company. Lü Qian stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "So you all originally thought they were here to freeload, but it turns out they're here to overturn the table?"

Nathan Island has a strict hierarchy, from top to bottom: the Divine Tree, King Nathan, Guardians of the Divine Tree, and ordinary islanders.

Normally, each Nathan King is chosen by the Tree of God from among the islanders, but there are exceptions, such as the assassination of the King.

The succession of King Nathan was not only achieved through the smooth handover of the sacred tree, but also through another, more bloody and barbaric method.

That is the so-called "Breaking the Golden Branch," where challengers, with the approval of the sacred tree, break off a branch of the sacred tree to challenge for the throne of Nathan.

The winner of the two will become the new King Nathan, while the losers will all become nourishment for the divine tree.

"That's right. Nathan Island is now like a den of tigers and wolves, with powerful enemies lurking outside and many hidden dangers within."

Zhao Fangxu poured Lü Qian a cup of tea and continued, "The Western supernatural community's attitude towards Nathan Island is generally not friendly."

"The Emerald Society is Nathan Island's old sworn enemy, Behemoth is a group of opportunistic bandits, and other forces, though not deeply involved, will inevitably change their allegiance depending on the wind."

"Nathan Island is a magical place; everyone born there is an extraordinary being."

"This quality is enough to make other forces covet it, but Nathan Island is not actually powerful; it is more like an autonomous region that relies on the Divine Tree."

"Behemoth is using the guise of justice to help Nathan Island, but in reality, he wants to take the opportunity to destroy Nathan Island's system and provide experimental samples for their research."

Zhao Fangxu took a sip of tea, looked at Lü Qian and said, "I'm afraid we'll need your help this time to bring back the escaped alien from Nathan Island who belongs to our Flower Planting community."

"Because Nathan Island is a lawless place isolated overseas, it has taken in many criminals from all over the world."

"That's easy to explain, because some of the Thirty-Six Thieves of Jia Shen have fled to Nathan Island."

"puff!"

Upon hearing Lü Qian's casual remark, Zhao Fangxu immediately spat out the tea in his mouth. He grabbed a handkerchief, covered his mouth, and stared at Lü Qian in shock.

"What did you say? There are the Thirty-Six Thieves of Jia Shen on Nathan Island?"

"That's right, we can confirm that Nguyen Phong is among them, but we don't know if anyone else has taken the opportunity to infiltrate."

Lu Qian met Zhao Fangxu's somewhat resentful gaze and calmly drank his tea, seemingly unconcerned about the bombshell he had dropped.

"Ruan Feng, who has mastered the Eight Extraordinary Techniques, the Six Treasuries of Immortal Thieves?"

Zhao Fangxu pondered for a moment, recalling information about Ruan Feng in his mind. "Daoist Lü Qian, you must understand that Ruan Feng and his group should not be confused with the likes of Feng Ping and Xu Xin."

"Eight Wonderful Skills!"

"The existence of this thing can be said to be the root cause of the chaos of Jia Shen, and those who have mastered the Eight Extraordinary Techniques will naturally be more deeply involved than others."

"Don't worry, Chairman Zhao, I won't bail out Ruan Feng. On the contrary, I might even give him a ride."

Seeing Zhao Fangxu's worried face, Lü Qian put down his teacup and slowly said, "Chairman Zhao's cultivation is not deep enough, so he may not understand that the Eight Extraordinary Techniques are essentially techniques for creating chaos."

"This doesn't just mean that the Eight Extraordinary Skills caused turmoil, but also that the Eight Extraordinary Skills were practiced incorrectly and their fundamental principles were reversed; they are not good things."

Just as Lü Qian was about to continue his introduction, Zhao Fangxu waved his hand, stopping him from speaking.

"Master Lü Qian understands this himself, there's no need to continue. The less people know about the Eight Extraordinary Techniques, the better."

"Ignorance may be fearless, but what is more frightening is the ulterior motives of those who know, which could cause another disaster."

"Furthermore, we urge Daoist Lü Qian to be careful with his words and actions. It is everyone's common wish that the cholera of the Eight Extraordinary Skills be ended in this world."

"Chairman Zhao is open-minded and a rare, insightful person."

Lu Qian looked at Zhao Fangxu, who was practically covering his ears and ignoring everything, and sighed in admiration, "Please rest assured, company. Although I may act as I please, I have my own limits and will not spread rumors."

Upon hearing Lü Qian's reassuring words, Zhao Fangxu slightly opened his closed eyes. His gaze towards Lü Qian seemed to connect him to another old Taoist priest, and his expression appeared somewhat uneasy.

His hesitant and reluctant manner gave Lü Qian a sudden inspiration, and he also thought of another centenarian Taoist priest, and immediately understood the source of the other party's distrust.

"Haha, Mr. Zhao, don't worry. You can go to Wudang Mountain and ask around. Everyone in the sect knows that I, Lü Qian, am very tight-lipped and would never leak information without reason."

"In this respect, I am different from the old Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain."

Zhao Fangxu breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. "Then thank you very much, Daoist Lü Qian. Regarding the cessation of the Jia Shen Rebellion, if Daoist Lü Qian needs anything, the company will provide assistance to the best of its ability."

"The company will arrange a fleet of ships to Nathan Island in a few days and send personnel. Daoist Lü Qian can accompany them."

"Alright, then I'll wait for news from the company."

As soon as he finished speaking, Lü Qian, who was sitting in front of Zhao Fangxu, suddenly disintegrated, as if a wisp of invisible and formless pure energy had merged into the void and disappeared.

On the table, the teacup he had used was still steaming slightly, proving that all of this was not an illusion.

"The realm of the True Man is beyond human comprehension; he comes and goes without a trace. We can only hope that this young Master Lü will achieve his goal and ascend to immortality."

In the room where Zhao Fangxu was the only one left, he picked up his teacup as if nothing was amiss, and looked around at the empty space with a hint of contemplation. All the plans in his mind turned into helplessness in an instant.

He shook his head, as if shaking off the helplessness from his mind, and a slight smile appeared on his face. "Forget it, let others worry about it. I'm almost at retirement age, so I shouldn't think too much about things that shorten my lifespan."

……

On the other side, Lu Qian, who had just left the company, transformed into a wisp of breeze and ascended to the heavens, reappearing in the misty clouds. A white crane emerged from the clouds and arrived just in time to carry him.

"唳~~"

"Don't worry, you won't go hungry. We have meal tickets that can cover the entire venue."

Lu Qian sat cross-legged on the crane's back, flicked his wrist to drape the whisk over his shoulder, and looked down to search for his robe sleeves, muttering to himself as he searched.

"Let me see, where is that approval slip that Liu Wei from Xiaozhan gave me back then?"

"Found it, it's here!"

A breeze blowing through the clouds brushed past a yellowed approval slip in Lü Qian's hand, and as the paper trembled, the writing on it was clearly visible.

He reached out and dusted off the slightly torn paper, then patted the white crane beneath him with a smile, pointing it in the direction of the inn.

"Let's go find the innkeeper, Mu You, to verify the receipts. They're personally signed and stamped by their head manager; there's no way they can be faked."

"Then I'll have my whole braised pork knuckle feast, and your deep-sea red snapper too."

"唳~~"

Upon receiving the target's message, the white crane let out two clear cries, its bright eyes flashing expectantly before flapping its wings and soaring towards its destination.

The small group is large in scale and has branches in various places, but it operates in a very mysterious way. Outsiders don't know where the small group's real headquarters is, or even if they have a real headquarters.

As the head manager of Xiaozhan and one of the Ten Elders, Mu You, although residing in the city of Beijing, has different whereabouts every year, and his figure may appear in various strongholds all over the country.

Lü Qian led the white crane through the clouds and headed towards Xiaozhan's largest stronghold in Sijiu City. Unlike the other strongholds scattered throughout the city, this stronghold was somewhat remote and not located in the city proper, but rather in the sparsely populated suburbs.

"A son of a wealthy family should not sit under a dangerous roof. Xiao Zhan understands this very well. After all, we can't get too close to strange people. The city is too chaotic."

Looking at the secluded but sizable restaurant nestled in the mountains and forests, Lü Qian nodded, then used his extraordinary skills and the white crane to conceal his presence and landed in front of the restaurant.

Apart from the strange people in the restaurant, none of the ordinary people saw the extraordinary sight of Lü Qian descending on a crane.

"唳~~"

After landing, the white crane flapped its wings twice and chirped softly towards the restaurant, seemingly urging the waiters to come out and greet the guests.

"Don't worry, we've come with the approval slips and receipts, so we're definitely considered honored guests."

Lu Qian swept his whisk, flipped to the ground, and smiled at Mu You and the waiter who were slowly walking out of the restaurant.

"Haha, I never expected to meet Little Lu Zu again so soon after we parted at the Lu family's birthday banquet."

Mu You, leading the inn's staff, closed his folding fan and bowed to Lü Qian, saying, "You've arrived riding a crane, its cry clear and melodious. It seems Daoist Lü Qian has come with refined tastes."

His demeanor was measured and appropriate, neither overly cold nor overly enthusiastic, as if he were welcoming a guest who had come from afar.

Such a polite and measured attitude is not annoying, but rather quite endearing. After all, the business that Xiaozhan is involved in does not allow them to openly exhibit bias.

In the original novel, during the meeting of the Ten Elders regarding Zhang Zhiwei's descent from the mountain, although it was a charade staged by all parties, Mu You directly confessed to killing the Old Celestial Master, playing the role of an upright and righteous person.

Moreover, in the world of supernatural beings, Mu You is known for his upright and selfless character, and can be considered a model among the Ten Elders. This kind of behavior has earned Xiaozhan a lot of goodwill.

Lu Qian returned the greeting to Mu You, then handed the approval slip in his hand to Mu You and asked, "Greetings, Manager Mu You. I have an approval slip here; I wonder if the inn will recognize it?"

Mu You took the somewhat yellowed and worn-out approval slip and saw Liu Wei's signature first. His expression became more serious as he carefully looked at the contents of the slip, but the more he looked, the stranger his expression became.

"Lu Qian of the Lu family is hereby specially granted the title of VIP of the inn, entitled to all free services provided by the inn. Upon arrival, he shall be personally greeted by the innkeeper. This voucher is valid indefinitely and shall not be disobeyed by any descendant of the innkeeper."

"Approved by: Liu Wei, manager of the inn."

Upon reaching the end, Mu You's eyes twitched. As he reread the contents, he murmured incredulously to himself.

Confirming that he wasn't seeing things, and that the handwriting and signature on the approval slip matched the records left by Liu Wei a century ago, Mu You blinked, lifted his gaze from the paper in his hand, looked at Lü Qian, and seemed to understand something in a flash.

"So, does Manager Mu admit it?"

"Yes, we acknowledge these receipts."

Having figured something out, Mu You smiled and nodded, handing the tickets back to Lü Qian and turning to make way for this distinguished guest.

"Please come, esteemed guest!"

At this moment, his attitude was no longer the initial proper and formal one. The coldness and restraint mixed with enthusiasm had dissipated somewhat, and he seemed more approachable.

"Thank you for your hospitality."

Lu Qian took the approval slip, folded it a few times, and put it back into his sleeve. Then, leading Bai He, he followed Mu You into the restaurant.

"First, give me a few top-quality sea bream for my mount, then prepare a feast of braised pork knuckles. Thank you, Manager Mu You."

"I'm a little curious and would like to confirm with Daoist Lü Qian whether that approval slip was personally handed to you by Manager Liu Wei?"

"Of course, it's all in black and white. Would you like to take another look?"

"No need, no need, my little inn will still honor this debt."

In the back-and-forth questioning, Mu You became even more certain of his guess. At this moment, he smiled more enthusiastically and lost the airs of a small innkeeper, as if he had become a waiter, serving Lü Qian, this distinguished guest.

Although some myths and legends may seem absurd and bizarre, for a long-established and well-connected organization like their small inn, they are not just unfounded stories, but real history that they have witnessed.

Bamboo slips, writing tools, and black ink on white paper—for an ordinary person whose life is only a hundred years, these represent the condensed and manifested marks of time.

But for a place like Xiaozhan, which spans history and has the long years as its foundation, these are the marks of time themselves.

"Then, if I may ask another question out of curiosity, how high is Daoist Lü Qian's cultivation level, and when will he ascend to immortality?"

While the dishes were being served, Mu You pressed for more information, his words suggesting that Lü Qian's future definitely lay elsewhere.

Faced with these questions, Lü Qian didn't hide anything. He openly compared the heights and cracked his knuckles, seemingly genuinely estimating the distance and length.

"In terms of cultivation level, I would say something like, 'Standing on the nine earths, only three feet and three inches from the sky.'"

"When will you ascend to immortality? When the time comes, you will naturally ascend to immortality."

These two seemingly casual remarks echoed in the private room, and Mu You didn't show much surprise, as if he had expected it.

"Then I would like to congratulate Daoist Lü Qian on his success in his Daoist practice. I will definitely come to offer my congratulations when the time comes."

The atmosphere was lively and everyone enjoyed themselves. The waiters from the inn carried various dishes in and out of the private rooms, and before the food could even stay for a moment, only empty plates remained.

Lu Qian's movements were not fast, but rather slow and deliberate, yet he seemed to have no need to digest them, and he had already finished two rounds while chatting and laughing with Mu You.

After eating his fill of the total amount of Quanxing's accounts that he had settled for Xiaozhan when he went down the mountain years ago, Lü Qian finally stopped his bottomless eating.

"Alright, the old score is settled. Thank you for your hospitality."

------------