A week quickly went by.
The thirteen elders soon realized that while the Patriarch said he'd assumed control of the family affairs, he was too engrossed in his martial arts to act.
Inside the Ancestral Hall, Lu Yuan finished another rep of the Eight Trigrams, finally exhaling in comfort.
At least, when it came to the physical form, his synchronization rate had finally reached 100%.
Standing at the center of the Ancestral Hall with a bag of low-grade spirit stones in his hands, Lu Yuan silently issued the command to enter the Taiji Space.
To extract the maximum value from his first time entering the space and the perfect synchronization, Lu Yuan decided to go broke and spend all his fortune.
As the command was issued silently, a black and white domain expanded infinitely from beneath his feet.
The floor was an expansive Tai Chi diagram spinning counterclockwise, while the sky was a mirroring diagram spinning clockwise.
A shadow descended from the sky and overlapped with Lu Yuan. The next moment, he felt inspiration strike.
His mind cleared out, and he felt like a breeze carried by the wind, weaving around a branch and along a green leaf.
The breeze swiftly morphed into a drop of water that sank to the ground, becoming one with the soil.
Soil and rocks gathered into a burning, eternal fire illuminating the night of a civilization.
The feeling was wonderful, and Lu Yuan was immediately immersed.
No day, night, fatigue, thirst, or hunger.
Just a repetitive execution of the Taiji Eight Trigrams. Lu Yuan had no idea how much time had passed when he next opened his eyes in the real world.
Looking at his attribute points, he distributed them all at once to even out his five attributes at 100 points each.
Lu Yuan didn't even feel like calculating how many hours and repetitions he had to go through to earn all those attribute points because the process felt automated.
All he knew was that, with his attributes balanced out at 100 points, he finally felt like he was back at his peak as a Martial Grandmaster.
He also had a premonition that the next qualitative enhancement to each attribute was at 300 points, 500 points, and then 1,000 points.
Moreover, his intuition told him that 1,000 points was the threshold to stand equal with the weakest cultivator at the first layer of Foundation Establishment.
Alas, to earn attribute points he must execute the Taiji Eight Trigrams perfectly within the Taiji Space, and he needed money to enter the space.
A lot of money.
Moreover, the space's value was greater than money could estimate because of its time-stopping ability.
The possibilities were endless.
Feeling the vitality in his robust physique, the strength in his muscles, the clarity of his mind, and the fluidity of his movements, Lu Yuan was more than gratified.
It was time to end his secluded cultivation and worry about finding resources for his next session.
"Someone! Go call for my sons!"
A shadow moved in the background, and not too long later, it returned.
"The Masters are welcoming the Wang family's procession into the compound and are occupied with the formalities."
"Is that so?" Lu Yuan thought for a moment and said, "I'll go ahead and wait for both parties in the Meeting Hall, then."
The Red Martial didn't say anything, silently stepping behind Lu Yuan to follow.
The Red Martials didn't know how or why but their Grandmaster had seemingly recovered.
They thought it had to do with the enlightenment of his Taiji arts.
If his current Taiji was compared to the Taiji he achieved Grandmaster Enlightenment in during his youth, the earlier art can only be considered Simplified Taiji.
In the past few days, all their worries about their lord's health dissipated day by day.
Soon, Lu Yuan entered the Meeting Hall and took the Patriarch's elevated high-back chair.
The servants scurried in a hurry, not having expected the Old Master to come out of seclusion today.
A few servants ran outside in the chaos to report. Lu Yuan noticed all of this with his newfound clarity of mind, but he didn't care.
It's better for his sons and those elders to get notified ASAP, which would make them rush the guests in.
As expected, it didn't take long before the family elders, led by his first son, Lu Yuanchen, entered the Meeting Hall.
Behind them was an elder and a steward from the Wang family, followed by two juniors.
Wang Miao is a beautiful little doll who just turned sixteen. Her natural black hair flowed freely behind her back, and she was already donning the sect robes of the Wandering Clouds Sect.
By her side stood a young man who appeared a little older, his temperament steady yet haughty, and he wore similar robes, although they appeared more ornate.
The three men didn't bow, but Wang Miao hesitated for a moment before bowing her head in greeting.
Lu Yuanchen wanted to say something, but Lu Yuan waved his hand with a smile.
"Let's dispense with the formalities and get to the point. I heard about your visit and I understand that you want to annul the engagement between Wang Miao and Lu Yin, is that right?"
The elder surnamed Wang clasped his fists respectfully while examining the Old Master's condition.
After making his assessment that the Patriarch seemed healthy on the surface, his tone carried more reverence.
Though just a little more.
"The path to immortality is long and arduous, and Xiao Miao's Master already gave orders to sever any connections to the secular world before she arrives at the sect. I hope the Old Master can understand…"
Lu Yuan nodded, though he inwardly found it funny. If she had to cut all secular ties, the Wang family didn't need to accompany her on the trip. Just her apprentice brother would have sufficed.
Lu Yuan stroked his chin, leaned back into the high-back chair, and chuckled.
"That's understandable and all, but neither the child nor his parents are here, so I can't really facilitate a proper annulment…
"I'll be the arbiter for this matter and I can speak on their behalf to null the engagement, on the condition that the bride's prospective dowry be offered to my Lu family. Both goods and jade, shops and territory, and cattle and horses are worth ten thousand gold."
The entire Meeting Hall went silent, and everyone had one thought on their mind.
Is it okay to sell your dignity like this?!
However, it was also obvious that this was the negotiation phase. Though shocked, the Wang family elder quickly calmed down.
As long as this didn't cause a great rift and a bad reputation to their Wang family, anything was negotiable.
This payment could be considered as compensation for Lu Yin and a consolation for Wang Miao's feelings.