Chapter 33: Return, Shock!

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  Five days later, Lu Qing was familiar with the first four forms of Taiyi 36 Hammers and at the same time, he was nourishing the sword yuan in his body. As early as five days ago, he had already been able to release three inches of sword energy, reaching the peak of the Sword Small Heaven position. The help of medicine stones could only help make progress, but using it to break through would likely produce the opposite effect due to being an external force, and even forcibly breaking through after the boundary was unstable, resulting in the consequences of scattered merit and regression.

  Because Lu Qing had just come into contact with the sword path at that time, he paid special attention to the enhancement of his cultivation by taking medicinal stones. So, up until now, this point is still remembered clearly. Therefore, five days ago, Lu Qing deliberately stopped taking Yin Shan and Zi Zhi, and instead focused on polishing his sword skills every day, refining them daily, planning to go to the Hou Shan Chao Yang Cave in two days for a comprehensive closed-door meditation, not only breaking through the middle rank of the sword path but also sorting out what he had learned about the sword path and its methods, preparing for the big competition half a month later.

  Mingyue Pond, Lu Qingzi sat cross-legged on a black boulder in the middle of the pond, allowing the hundred-meter-high waterfall to impact his body. His body did not produce even a hint of light, and it was clear that he was relying solely on his physical strength to withstand it. His face was somewhat pale, and Lu Qing was working hard to circulate the Purple Electric Sword Essence within his body, protecting the meridians throughout his body. He had discovered that this allowed him to better train his control over the sword essence, and the immense pressure could even refine it to some extent.

  However, the time was not long, and the huge impact of a hundred feet high was still not something that Lu Qing could easily bear at this moment. About half a stick of incense later, Lu Qing's body rose up, his foot stepped lightly on the surface of the pond, and instantly crossed a distance of five feet to land on the shore. Without saying a word, he sat down cross-legged on the ground, absorbing the wandering heavenly and earthly primordial energy to recover his sword yuan.

  Half an hour later, Jianyuan had basically recovered and stood up. He casually used the Heart Refining Needle to stun three snow fish, washed them clean, and started a fire on a simple tripod. He picked some berries from a nearby shrub, crushed them, and applied them to the fish. This was something that Pangzi, who loved to eat, had taught him - it could be used as salt, with a faint salty flavor.

  Before long, the snow fish was roasted to a golden yellow, and the thick aroma gradually spread. After smelling it, Lu Qing felt that it was extremely good. He couldn't wait to pick one up and take a bite. Wait, Lu Qing's mind suddenly skipped a beat, and he felt his entire body being completely locked down by a fiery aura.

  Body shape swiftly moves, footstep heavily treads on the ground, horizontally exits several meters into the air.

  Hūn

  Originally where I sat, a withered ginkgo branch was tied above, the force shattered the surrounding land and opened up fine cracks.

  "Good, the young man has a good reaction and has made significant progress." In Lu Qing's eyes, Duan Qingyun wore a strange grey fur cloak that barely covered his stout figure, with a large white cloth bag hanging from his waist, giving off a somewhat vagabondish air.

  Lu Qing looked at his own expression with some weirdness, Duan Qingyun smiled awkwardly and said: "How is it? This set of Xuan Tie Mine Manager's clothes is not bad, right? I had it specially made."

  He looked up and down at Duan Qingyun, a hint of amusement flashing in Lu Qing's eyes as he said, "Yes, your clothes are specially tailored."

  "Ah, ah, don't be like that," Duan Qingyun finally couldn't hold back and his face turned bitter. "I've been laughed at by those ignorant people for a good while now. Kid, we're not bad friends, no need to humiliate me like this. Look, I even left a piece of Xuantie ore for you."

  Shan Qingyun took down the white cloth bag from his waist and pulled out a piece of dark brown iron ore about the size of an infant's head, tossing it to Lu Qing.

  "In this way, you can refine your mind and perhaps increase it by one or two grades!"

  Upon hearing this, Lu Qing also felt a bit moved. He took down a snow fish from the bonfire and handed it to Duan Qingyun. The two sat down and started chatting casually. Lu Qing also learned about Duan Qingyun's journey with Yu Jihua over the past two months. It turned out that they had been assigned to guard and escort the ore of a remote mountain mine ten miles away from Chaoyang City. This was a relatively precious xuan iron mine, although not large, it was still a significant specialty of Chaoyang City. If Duan Qingyun and Yu Jihua were not inner sect disciples of Chaoyang Peak, the Outer Affairs Hall would not have given them this quiet yet lucrative task.

  Two people were sent to serve as the general manager and deputy general manager, who were idle except for one or two routine inspections and a monthly delivery to Chaoyang City. They had subordinates flattering them on the side, constantly offering them benefits, and this Xuan Tie mine was their greatest gain. According to Duan Qingyun, if it weren't too heavy, they could bring back several hundred kilograms, but now they only brought about 180 kilograms, while Lu Qing's piece weighed over 20 kilograms.

  However, Duan Qingyun's days were not easy either. Due to having a lot of free time, he was forced by Yu Jihai to practice diligently every day under the pretext of guidance, which actually made Duan Qingyun, who was lazy in his practice, suffer a bit. So today, as soon as he returned to Chaoyang Peak and completed his task, he escaped alone to Mingyue Pond, it can be seen that he was really scared.

  "Huh? I said, why do I feel like you're a bit different from before?" Duan Qingyun suddenly took a closer look at Lu Qing, her face filled with confusion as she said, "It seems like the entire person's aura has changed, and there's a faintly intimidating air about him that doesn't seem angry, yet is still awe-inspiring."

  A faint smile, Lu Qing said: "It's just that in the past two months of bitter practice, there have been some gains, and there has been some progress."

  She was slightly startled, but Duan Qingyun immediately smiled and said: "Not bad, looking at it this way, you won't need much more time to build your foundation. When the time comes, I'll let Third Brother and Jiuhua protect you, I'm sure you'll be able to successfully build your foundation."

  Lu Qing bowed his head and smiled, but didn't say much more. Some things, if said out loud, would be showing off, especially to friends.

  Then Lu Qing caught a few snow fish, and Duan Qingyun, the gourmet master himself, personally picked more than a dozen kinds of medicinal herbs from the short forest, ground them into fine powder, and evenly applied them to the snow fish. After putting it on the grill, in no time, a fragrance several times thicker than what Lu Qing had grilled before wafted out, even attracting a few birds flying overhead to stand on a nearby rock, staring intently.

  Until the two of them finally ate their fill and got up to leave, Lu Qing was shocked to find that he himself was currently at the peak of his physical growth, and eating ten tails was already a large amount. But Duan Qingyun had eaten nearly twenty tails by himself, leaving Lu Qing to exclaim in admiration that it seemed that not only did one need to constantly accumulate sword energy, but also fat reserves.

  Along the way, as expected, whether it was the inner sect disciples or even the outer sect disciples, when they saw Duan Qingyun standing next to Lu Qingyi, they couldn't help but cover their mouths and stifle a laugh. It wasn't surprising, though - although Duan Qingyun was a bit mischievous on a daily basis, he was actually very affable, so even the outer sect disciples didn't have any fear of him, knowing that he wouldn't really get angry.

  Back to the Purple Bamboo House, as soon as I entered the door, I saw Yu and Hua arranging some wine and food on a bamboo table in the courtyard. Zhao Qianye also came out of her room at the same time and sat quietly beside the bamboo table, silent.

  As soon as Duan Qingyun and the other two entered, they simultaneously turned their gaze over. Yu Jihua's eyes initially revealed a smile, but then he and Zhao Qianye's faces changed at the same time, with a fierce glint in their eyes, staring tightly at Lu Qing. At the same time, Yu Jihua released a sharp aura that pressed towards Lu Qing from afar, causing a gust of wind to rise between them.

  "This——" Duan Qingyun was stunned and bewildered at first, but soon he too was shocked by the scene he saw with his own eyes.

  At this moment, a three-inch-long purple sword energy emerged from Lu Qing's body, with fine lights flowing through it. At the same time, a sharp yet natural aura rose from Lu Qing's body and moved towards Yu Ji Hua.

  Plop!

  A soft sound, Lu Qing took a small step back, his face calm and looking at Zhao Qianye.

  "The sword's minor heavenly position is at its peak, lifting heavily as if lightly, with a pure and refined aura. These two months, you have surprised me."

  Lu Qing listened and didn't show any expression, he simply stretched out his hand to tidy up the collar of his clothes that had just been blown open by the fierce air.

  "What a calm and composed demeanor, with a heart as clear as ice! I must say, I'm greatly surprised. Lu Qing, your mental state has undergone such a huge transformation." Yu Ji Hua opened her eyes wide in surprise, hardly daring to believe what she was seeing, as she spoke to Lu Qing.

  "Hey, wait a minute, I'm really confused," said Duan Qingyun, who had just been forced to retreat from the intense atmosphere of the two people's confrontation. He exaggeratedly opened his mouth and walked over, staring intently at Lu Qing: "Is this what you call 'occasionally gaining something' and 'making some progress'?" His wide-open mouth could probably fit the entire celadon cup on the table.

  Duanyun Qing looked at him with some embarrassment, and Lu Qing could only helplessly say: "You just misunderstood yourself."

  "Uh——" Duan Qingyun suddenly choked on a mouthful of air, and sat down at the bamboo table with a huff. Yu Jihua and Lu Qing exchanged a glance, and burst out laughing together. Even Zhao Qianye, who was sitting, had a smile on his face, teasingly staring at Duan Qingyun without saying a word, until Duan Qingyun's old face turned slightly red.

  The four of them sat down and started drinking the Yu Bing Shao wine that Yu and Hua had brought back from Chao Yang City. Although Lu Qing was only twelve years old and didn't drink often, he had a natural tolerance for alcohol just like his father Lu Yun, and managed to keep up with the other three as they finished off ten jars of wine, getting slightly drunk in the process. During this time, he also briefly told them about his recent experiences, leaving out the mysterious person and the two-ring sword technique that he had figured out on his own. He only mentioned that he had been lucky enough to obtain a beast dan, and had managed to absorb it to become an extraordinary swordsman, using it to successfully build his foundation. However, Lu Qing didn't notice that Zhao Qianye's eyes seemed a bit strange after hearing his story.