Chapter Eighty-four: Suspicion, Lu Qing's Change

  "But, Master Shu, why did you let that demon woman go? The blood sacrifices, it's clear now that she was gathering enough blood to set up an array and drive the spiritual beasts to launch this hundred-year-long Beast Calamity, which has taken the lives of nearly a million clan members!"

  "A thousand paths cannot be without courtesy!" Lu Qianfeng's face turned solemn.

  "No, let him speak. It is a blessing for our sect to have an elder who dares to speak the truth," said the old man with a wave of his hand.

  Xun Qianjing was taken aback at first, but then his face became even more determined. "Master Uncle," he said, "the foundation of our sect is the people who support it. Currently, there are over 200 million people in the Purple Mist Sect's domain. According to statistics from each city 100 years ago, there were a total of 223 million people. Although the offerings to our sect are not high, every household has enough food and clothing. In the past 100 years, nearly 10,000 babies have been born each year, and among them, almost 100 people have successfully built their foundation to become sword cultivators."

  He paused, and a hint of resentment appeared on Xun Qian's face. "However, since the Beast Calamity erupted a hundred years ago, every five years, the losses in various buildings and guardian forces have not been less than 100 million Purple Jade Coins. This is almost half of my clan's offerings for five years. Among them, dozens of swordsmen and above high-ranking officials die each year due to infighting or other reasons. This is almost equivalent to half of the children born with the qualifications of a swordsman every year. The casualties during the Beast Calamity are even greater."

  However, the fact is that due to the riots that occur every five years, the people of Luoshen City and its surrounding towns and villages are in a state of panic. Many people have been displaced and migrated to other places, resulting in the population of Luoshen City being less than half of the other four main cities. The number of swordsmen has also decreased by two-thirds compared to a hundred years ago. In total, over the past hundred years, including those who grew up and passed away, the number of swordsmen maintained by my Zixia Sect has actually decreased even further.

  The four people of Luojifeng heard this and their eyes also became serious, even Lu Qing on the side knew what such a number represented. The current Zixia Sect was exceptionally prosperous, with just the number of inner sect disciples exceeding 2,000 people. Adding those stationed in the five major main cities and some outer peaks, mines, etc., it's likely that there were nearly 3,000 names. This is one layer less than before, which means that about 300 or so sword holders have been lost in this hundred years.

  What a huge number, it's hard to imagine. For a sect, the number of sword holders is often the basic measure of a sect's martial power. In this hundred years, other sects may have had significant growth, while Zixia Sect not only didn't grow but also regressed. This has invisibly widened the gap between sects, just like Qingyu and Fuyun Sects, whose number of sword holders may have increased a lot in these hundred years.

  After listening to Xun Qianjing's account, the atmosphere here became heavy for a while.

  After a long time, the old man finally sighed and said: "These things don't need to be mentioned again. The Beast Ruins incident won't happen again in the future. You can all forget about this woman's matter. It was our Zixia Sect that owed her back then."

  Owe?

  Lu Qianfeng and several others, including Lu Qing, were stunned for a moment. Then Lu Qianfeng spoke up: "Uncle Master, can you please tell us what this is all about? Why do we have to use the lives of nearly 100,000 people from our sect as compensation?"

  Lu Qing was also tense and anxious, he really wanted to know what kind of grudge the white-haired woman had against his Lu family.

  However, the old man obviously didn't want to mention past events again. He shook his head and sighed: "You don't need to ask anymore, but you can know that there's still not enough repayment for the past hundred years."

  The old man paused for a moment, then continued: "However, you can rest assured that this woman will not appear again within my domain's borders. The matter of Beast Burial Ground has also come to an end. Let everything return to dust and earth."

  Xun Qianjing still wanted to say something, but seeing the old man turn around, he could only let out a long sigh.

  Lu Qing on the other side also smiled wryly, it seemed that he himself wanted to know about the grudge between his Lu family and that white-haired woman was impossible.

  "What's that, young one? You want to know about the grudge between that madwoman and your Lujia family?" Suddenly, Ye Lao's voice, which had been silent for a while, once again entered Lu Qing's mind.

  "Does Ye Lao also know about the Lu family?" Lu Qing was taken aback, and then asked anxiously: "Please tell me, Ye Lao, what grudge does this woman have against my Lu family?"

  It's no wonder that Lu Qing is so anxious, if any family in the Zixia Sect knew that they had been remembered by a Sword Emperor, it would be a big deal enough to destroy the entire clan. Lu Qing clearly knows his family's strength, and he fears that the woman's casual sword aura could flatten them.

  "I'm not telling you now—"

  "Why?" Lu Qing asked in puzzlement.

  "It's not the right time," Ye Lao's voice fell silent for a moment before continuing, "Telling you now would only become a burden to you, likely making your mental state unstable and affecting your future breakthrough. Moreover, based on my perception, there are already one or two burdens in your heart that you're carrying; adding more to it with your current mental state is not enough."

  After hearing Ye Lao's words, Lu Qing slowly calmed down and said: "When will the timing be known? If that woman goes to destroy my Lu family now, I'm afraid no one can withstand it."

  "You don't have to worry about this, since she hasn't made a move in the hundred years she's been in this Beast Ruins, she won't go and destroy your Lu family now. And in the over a hundred years I've been tracked by her, I've come to understand some things - she can't take action against your Lu family unless you fall into her hands like before. As for when all of this will be told to you, that depends on when you'll be able to suddenly enlighten and become a Sword Soul strongman."

  "Jianhun Realm!" Lu Qing's heart skipped a beat, despite having many accomplishments, he still had too much admiration for the Jianhun Realm. After all, so many predecessors had not broken through, and in his Zixia Sect of over 200 million people, only five people, including his master Xuanqing, had achieved it in the past 200 years. This showed how high the difficulty was, with only one person succeeding out of 500,000. Lu Qing had no confidence at all.

  However, Ye Lao paused for a moment and said: "This may not be enough. You must at least refine the Purple Emperor Sword to the eighth level and advance to the Sword Sect in order to have complete confidence in keeping your own life."

  Lu Qing's heart skipped a beat as he heard the words, it seemed that his Lu family was still hiding many secrets unknown to others, but now it seemed that this ancestor of his knew quite a few.

  Thinking of this, Lu Qing couldn't help but raise his head to look at the old man again. However, the old man was now clearly immersed in some memories of the past and seemed not to have noticed his gaze, without any reaction at all.

  "Lu Qing, now tell us about your previous experience. What exactly happened in there?" The five Xuanqing people obviously still had some doubts, and they involuntarily shifted their gaze to Lu Qing's face due to the old man's silence.

  Here comes

  Facing Master Xuanqing's inquiry and the gaze of five Sword Soul Realm swordsmen, Lu Qing said that having no pressure was impossible. However, fortunately, he had experienced so much by now, and his state of mind was no longer that of a naive young man as before. After calming himself down, Lu Qing slowly recounted his experiences.

  Everything was pushed onto the Qingyu small sword hidden by Ye Lao, and as for the absorption of the Blood Slaughter Sword's yuan liquid, he didn't have any concealment. Otherwise, the change in his sword yuan would definitely make Xuanqing and others suspicious. After all, a person who had been blood-sacrificed, without suffering major internal injuries but instead having abundant vital energy and improved cultivation, was clearly unreasonable.

  As for Lu Qing's narrative, the five Xuan Qing obviously believed it after listening to it, but also secretly sighed at Lu Qing's good fortune. Such a wonderful thing that turned danger into safety and broke through to establish a new beginning had all happened to him, making people envy him even more. Especially that Blood Slasher Sword Essence, it was clear that the five of them had some understanding of it. Xun Qianjing's face, which was not good at hiding emotions, also revealed deep envy. This made Lu Qing also feel a shock in his heart. What kind of level could something that made even a Sword Soul Realm master deeply envious be?

  Lu Qing finished speaking, and Lu Qianfeng pondered for a moment before taking out a crystal clear stone with ten silver parallel stripes from his bosom. The stone was roughly the size of a palm. He said to Lu Qing, "Put your hand on it and take a look."

  This stone, Lu Qing also recognized, is a thing called Yuanqi Stone. It doesn't have any use, at most it can only be considered as a relatively beautiful and rare stone, but it has a special ability, which is to test a person's innate talent, that is, the degree of natural possession of heaven and earth yuanqi. According to the level from one to ten, the Yuanqi Stone will emit white light filling several lines.

  At the age of nine, when Lu Qing first came into contact with the sword path, he had done such a test. At that time, the yuanqi stone emitted more than four lines, close to five lines of white light. At this moment, Lu Qing also had some expectations. The Purple Emperor Sword had already undergone the first layer of cultivation, and his physique had undergone a qualitative change. According to the above description, every time he refined a layer, there would be some improvement, especially the first layer, which was the foundation of building the foundation, and the improvement was the most significant.

  Under the gaze of the five people from Luojian Peak, Lu Qing put his right hand up without any reaction. The five people from Luojian Peak didn't seem to be in a hurry, apparently anticipating this change. Sure enough, after two breaths, the Yuanqi Stone suddenly shot out dazzling white light, illuminating an area of over ten zhang around them.

  Under the gaze of Lu Qing and Lak Thousand Peak's five people, a white light began to surge upwards from one stripe, reaching four stripes in just an instant. After that, the speed slowed down slightly, but it still broke through the fifth stripe without hesitation, all the way up to break through the sixth stripe. In the midst of Lu Qing's shock and Lak Thousand Peak's five people's solemn gaze, it approached the seventh stripe, at which point the speed had already slowed down, but the white light was still advancing at a visible rate.