You promised yourself to be a caged bird, but you became the supreme young master?

"This is troublesome."

Upon discovering that even members of the main family were present in the outer courtyard, Lu Heng lowered his head slightly, thinking to himself with a hint of helplessness.

Within the Lu clan's ancestral lands, the rules that govern their branch families may not necessarily govern the main family members who are the masters.

He is now absolutely incapable of contending with any member of the Lord's family.

The original way to avoid conflict was to completely avoid contact.

However, there is a martial arts exercise that must be attended every ten days in the outer courtyard.

Intersections are inevitable.

It was already tiring to focus solely on spiritual practice, but now the thought of having to pay attention to these things makes it even more of a headache.

Fortunately, Lu Heng is currently just an inconspicuous nobody among the many young people from the branch families.

There is absolutely no possibility that any member of the family dislikes him and is trying to suppress him.

But that might not be the case later.

Lu Heng is currently pondering how to reasonably and without arousing suspicion explain the inevitable changes that will occur in him after the first evolution.

Fortunately...

He managed to find the answer, albeit with some difficulty, in one of the books in the library.

………………

But soon, Lu Heng suddenly remembered something: he had heard Lu Jinnian say that Lu Mingze was the number one student in the outer courtyard.

However, at the registration office of the foreign institution, Lu Mingze stated very frankly that he was a member of the family.

How could someone from a branch family become the top student in the Department of Foreign Languages?

Would the family members in the outer courtyard admit it?

Lu Heng knew he had overlooked a very important condition.

However, since the information was ultimately limited, he planned to ask Lu Jinnian later.

As he pondered this, Lu Heng searched for Lu Jinnian's figure.

The dining hall and the martial arts training ground in the outer courtyard are actually open at fixed times, and if you miss them, they won't wait for anyone.

Therefore, Lu Jinnian will definitely come.

As Lu Heng surveyed the cafeteria, he unexpectedly spotted a familiar figure.

It's not Lu Jinnian.

Instead, it was Lu Qingyan, the only girl among the three cultivation geniuses who left a deep impression on him during his time at the martial arts arena, who, according to Lu Jinnian, was also the only granddaughter of the second steward of the branch family.

The other person was an extremely beautiful girl with long, raven-feather-like hair loosely tied up, with a few strands hanging down her neck, making her jawline appear even more fair and delicate.

Her eyes, clear as an autumn pool, had now turned a translucent turquoise, as if they held two pools of water in early spring.

Her eyes were slightly upturned at the corners, yet they held a hint of aloofness and coldness. Her nose was straight and delicate, and her lips were a pale cherry color, naturally red without any makeup.

Her slender figure was wrapped in a plain dress, and she seemed to be surrounded by a layer of cold, snow-like aura. Standing in the crowd, she was like a plum blossom that stood alone in the cold, and she was unforgettable at first glance.

It's obvious that in Lu Heng's previous life, she would have been a goddess-level girl.

Even becoming a cultivator, due to the optimization of one's physique, makes one even more flawless from every angle, with no blemishes to be found on one's body.

What really caught Lu Heng's attention, however, was not the girl's appearance, but rather...

He remembered that during their time at the martial arts training ground, Lu Qingyan's eyes weren't yet blue-green.

It is likely that she awakened the bloodline of the Lu clan after becoming a cultivator.

Moreover, compared to the other young people from the branch families during the martial arts training period, she was still dressed in fine clothes, as if she had no intention of hiding anything.

This is probably because of her grandfather, the Second Deacon, who was at the peak of the Qi Refining Realm and whose official status in the Lu Clan was second only to the elders.

But that's all; none of this had anything to do with him.

Regaining his composure, Lu Heng continued queuing.

The group quickly reached him.

"One serving of medium-grade spiritual food, and five servings of low-grade spiritual food."

Lu Heng handed over five taels of silver. In the outer courtyard dining hall, there was no requirement to finish the spiritual food in front of the servants.

The only rule is that no one is allowed to take spiritual food out of the outer courtyard dining hall; those who disobey will bear the consequences themselves.

The consequences are obvious.

Of course, this restriction only applies to the teenagers who have separated from their families.

Lu Heng witnessed several young men in fine clothes from the main family handing over several wooden boxes to their followers before swaggering out of the outer courtyard's dining hall with them.

The servants guarding the entrance to the canteen ignored this and even bowed and scraped as they saw them off.

Turning his gaze away, Lu Heng was somewhat surprised...

Lu Fengqing, who had been missing for many days, was now with another young man from a branch family.

I happened to pass by him, glanced at the spiritual food in his hand, and then quickly looked away.

"This is a bit troublesome." Taking back what he had done to Lu Fengqing, Lu Heng muttered to himself.

In fact, his impression of Lu Fengqing was not good from the beginning.

On the surface, he was an honest and simple boy with a smile on his face all day, but in reality, he gave people the feeling that he was scheming.

However, since I wasn't familiar enough with Lu Jinnian at the time, saying it would have been a bit too forward for someone I didn't know well.

After the two became friends, Lu Fengqing had stopped following Lu Jinnian around for some time.

Lu Heng, of course, wouldn't ask about this out of boredom.

There's absolutely no need to ask about something so trivial.

Of course, Lu Heng only had a bad feeling, but in the outer courtyard, it was actually difficult for Lu Fengqing to have any impact on him no matter what he did.

At most, it can only disgust him.

By the time he left the outer courtyard, it would be meaningless for Lu Fengqing to do anything.

………………

Lu Heng found a spot, took his spiritual food, and sat down. He then took out a book and began to read it carefully while eating.

Previously, he would not have chosen to wolf down his food unless he was required to finish it in front of the servants.

Now we have a choice.

He naturally chose to eat slowly.

It's worth mentioning that...

The book Lu Heng is currently reading, which he borrowed from the library, is called "Miscellaneous Talks of the Great Qi Dynasty," and it tells a variety of true and interesting stories.

It was from one of the stories in this book that Lu Heng got a clue on how to hide his first evolution.

The story is...

The true story of an ordinary commoner boy who, through a breakthrough in the "Basic Body Refining Method," awakens his ancestral bloodline, successfully discovers his own bloodline talent, and thus rises against all odds to join the imperial court through the martial arts examination, eventually becoming a high-ranking official.

"You're also reading 'Da Qi Miscellaneous Talks'?" A girl's silvery voice sounded in my ear.

Lu Heng looked up and saw that the girl standing next to him was Lu Qingyan.

The girl's alluring fragrance was captivating, and her eyes were as clear as a spring.

And at the same time, he keenly noticed the word "also".

Almost instantly, he started to have a headache.

Despite all my careful planning, I never imagined that reading a book would inexplicably lead me to become connected with someone I had no connection with at all.

Suddenly, he found himself under immense scrutiny again.

However, he couldn't directly choose to offend the young lady of the second steward's family.

He could only nod silently.