parentshiftbook Chapter 71 Departure, Dongyang Sect
Chapter 71 Departure, Dongyang Sect
Absorb vital energy?
Lu Cheng suddenly thought of something.
After the initial shock, my heart began to pound uncontrollably.
When the bone and tendon measurements were taken, he had already absorbed vital energy into his body.
But just as the vital energy flowed through his chest, it suddenly disappeared.
Even now, Lu Cheng still believes that he was born with a deficiency of vital energy and blood, which prevented him from interacting with the primordial energy of heaven and earth.
But now I'm being told that all of this might have been a misunderstanding caused by this piece of metal?
I don't have any congenital deficiency of qi and blood.
Yes, it must be.
When my muscles and bones were measured, that piece of black iron was indeed placed on my chest!
Lu Cheng forced himself to calm down and said "Interesting" twice.
Without any apparent reaction, he tossed the black iron sheet into the sack he was carrying.
The lieutenant didn't take it seriously.
In their eyes, this thing was just made of special material, and it wasn't even as good as a Qi-replenishing pill.
At least pills are easy to carry and have a long shelf life.
At this moment, Lu Cheng's bag already contained three items.
One is a luminous pearl the size of a pigeon egg.
Although small, the light it emitted in the darkness was no less than that of an oil lamp.
There was also a mask as thin as a cicada's wing, which could fit the face at will, with plain features and no distinguishing characteristics.
A green gourd, about half a foot tall and as thick as a fist.
This gourd is also peculiar; it can keep the items inside from rotting for a long time.
Even without wax sealing, the medicinal effects of elixirs can be fully preserved.
Zhao Cheng browsed around and picked out a few trinkets.
In the end, the two had nothing left to take, so they each took two bottles of Lesser Rejuvenating Pills.
This refers to the healing pill that Zhang Rensheng gave to Lu Cheng when he was fighting Yang Xiong.
Even after all that searching, they were still short four hundred taels.
With a thought, Lu Cheng asked the deputy captain about the prescription.
From the Lesser Rejuvenating Pill in my hand to the Qi Condensation Pill that helped me break through to the Body Refining Realm.
Now that he has a share of the profits from selling the blood-activating powder in Lijia Village, he is no longer short of money.
The other two families also provided one thousand doses of each of the four types of Body Refinement Realm pills, which should be enough for their needs.
The key is the Qi Condensation Pill.
But the result was somewhat disappointing.
The pills used by Zhenwu Camp were all distributed by the imperial court, and there was no need for them to be refined, so they never kept any pill formulas.
Furthermore, the imperial court also prohibited local Zhenwu Battalions from privately refining medicines.
Lu Cheng did not insist.
Having obtained the black iron piece and learned about one possibility regarding myself, that is more than enough.
As for the others, such as the Blood Burning Secret Technique and the Frost Star Halberd, they were unexpected gains.
Other items that were not really needed were replaced with silver.
……
Back at the escort agency, they saw a stone platform in the center of the training ground.
It is the same formation used to measure tendons and bones.
According to the timeline, Changfeng Escort Agency should have started recruiting apprentices again ten days ago.
It was only because of this competition that it was delayed until now.
In three months, fewer than ten out of more than one hundred disciples had developed internal strength.
Unfortunately, Liu Chang'an, the chubby boy, and the three Hu brothers were all unable to develop internal strength.
This means that all five of them will be leaving the escort agency.
Inside the dormitory, the chubby boy was rather optimistic:
"Hey, we already know how to do stance training, so practicing at home is the same thing."
Lu Cheng nodded.
Not developing strength in three months doesn't mean you're doomed to martial arts.
For example, Hu Guang is still young, and it is still possible for him to have more vitality and energy in two years.
Feng Zhan also said that if one can develop internal strength within a year, one can return to Changfeng Escort Agency.
But those over fifteen years old don't have this opportunity.
Even if they cultivate their inner strength, they will never reach the Body Refinement Realm.
"As for you, Lu Cheng, you can't disown me once you're at the Dongyang Sect. I need you to reclaim my position as clan leader!"
Liu Chang'an smiled and shook his head without saying anything.
Silence fell over the room for a moment.
Although the chubby boy was joking, it wasn't entirely impossible.
Martial artists and ordinary people live in two different worlds.
……
At midnight, when the rooster crowed, Lu Cheng got up and went to the courtyard.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, Lu Cheng stood on it.
He then placed his right hand on the stone ball on the right.
Streams of vital energy rapidly flowed into Lu Cheng's body, circulating swiftly along his meridians.
In the blink of an eye, wisps of white mist appeared inside the stone sphere.
In less than five breaths, the stone sphere was half full, and it continued to fill up.
"Just as I thought."
As Lu Cheng watched the mist inside the stone sphere quickly dissipate without a trace, he suddenly lost all interest in it and put his hand down before the mist stopped.
Standing on the stone platform was merely to verify something.
Even if the outcome remains the same tonight, Lu Cheng will not have any other thoughts.
Even the greatest talent cannot compare to a fraction of destiny.
After stepping down from the stone platform, Lu Cheng turned and left.
……
The next day, the five chubby boys left one after another.
Before the security escort agency even had a chance to empty out, a long queue had already formed at the entrance.
This time, there were one-third fewer people than last time.
Come to think of it, Changfeng Escort Agency has already recruited disciples four times.
In the entire Yangcheng and surrounding villages and towns, these are basically the only people who can practice martial arts.
Since the rest can't come, it's unlikely they'll be able to in the future either.
In less than a day, the new disciples had completed their tests.
The best one was only about as talented as Zhuang Xing.
As usual, Feng Qi and the other two gave a warning about the rules of the sect.
The day of accepting apprentices has come to an end.
As evening approached, six large carts stopped in front of the security escort agency.
The team was led by Li Wei of Zhenwu Camp, who was transporting the prizes for the competition from the Chen and Lin families and the thirteen families.
Lu Cheng took 8,000 taels of the 20,000 taels of silver, while Zhao Cheng received 2,000 taels.
Even Zhuang Xing received five hundred taels.
Each of them also received five hundred doses of blood-activating powder.
These blood-activating powders are enough for the two of them until they reach the peak of their internal energy cultivation.
As for the four types of pills for the Body Refinement stage, Lu Cheng collected one hundred doses of each as expected.
If there's not enough left, we can sell it for money. If it's not enough, we can write to the escort agency to ask for more.
These pills, along with the silver, were exchanged for receipts by Lu Cheng and the Zhenwu Camp.
After arriving in Dongyang County, you can go to Zhenwu Army to collect it.
Everything is ready, and we're just waiting for Cuiyun Temple to send us off.
Dongyang Prefecture covers an area of one million square kilometers and administers nearly one hundred counties.
It will take ten days to reach Dongyang County, even if we travel day and night.
Originally, Feng Qi and Feng Ji planned to personally escort Lu Cheng there, but the three old Taoists of Cuiyun Temple, Xuanming, Xuanyun and Xuanyuan, planned to personally lead their three disciples to Dongyang Sect.
Lu Cheng can go with him.
"By the way, Du Ruo has already entered the Body Refinement Realm."
Outside the basement of Changfeng Escort Agency, Feng Qi told Lu Cheng this news.
Lu Cheng was greatly surprised after hearing this.
Du Ruo broke through?
"When?"
Feng Qi shook his head:
"I just broke through recently and am currently in the stage of consolidating my cultivation."
"The Dongyang Sect will hold an apprenticeship ceremony in two months."
"The three of them went together this time to escort Du Ruo's parents to the apprenticeship ceremony."
Lu Cheng nodded, his expression unchanged.
Aside from surprise, I had no other thoughts.
If he had wanted to, he could have broken through a month and a half ago.
To break through from the Refining Strength realm to the Refining Body realm, one needs to temper the physical body by refining the Qi and Blood of Heaven and Earth.
The step of guiding qi into the body is of utmost importance.
The level of the cultivation technique will greatly affect the effect and progress of body tempering.
The "Mysterious Eagle Force" of Changfeng Escort Agency is only of the lower grade of the Human rank. Since we can go to Dongyang Sect to choose a better technique, we should not be in a hurry.
Feng Qi also knew these things, and continued:
"The Dongyang Sect's most treasured cultivation technique is the 'Purple Qi Spirit Guiding Technique,' which is a low-grade Heaven-rank technique. I'm afraid it won't be taught to you."
"But the Earth-rank cultivation techniques within their sect should be made available to you."
"Given your condition, the better the cultivation method, the better it might be able to replenish your deficient Qi and blood."
"If you can reach the mid-stage of Body Refinement within a year, perhaps the Dongyang Sect can find you a cultivation technique to restore your original Qi and blood."
Lu Cheng opened his mouth, but swallowed the truth.
Firstly, the matter of the black iron sheet cannot be explained.
Secondly, there's the issue of identity.
If he had been able to join the Dongyang Sect from the beginning, Lu Cheng would have shown all his talents without hesitation.
As for now, since it's impossible for him to be truly accepted into the Dongyang Sect, keeping a low profile isn't a bad thing.
……
Three days later, Lu Cheng left Yangcheng County.