N To 9
Blood Meridians Reborn
The sky was aglow with the setting sun.
On the Emerald Cloud Summit outside of Fiery Wind City, there was a stone table and a stone bench, where a young couple were nestled together.
The youth had a slim build. He was pale in complexion, but had good looks.
Meanwhile, the maiden donned a pure white dress. Her skin was as smooth as jade, her looks were stunningly beautiful.
The maiden’s head was resting on the shoulders of the youth.?Bathed in the light of the setting sun, they looked like perfect lovers.
“Yao’er, how I wish we could continue on like this forever!” Said the youth gently, the smile on his face revealing his happiness.
“Brother Ming, of course we can! We said that we would be together for all our lives!”
A happy smile formed on the maiden’s face.
The youth’s name was Lu Ming, whereas the girl was called Lu Yao.
Looking at the smile on Lu Yao’s face, Lu Ming’s gaze turned even more tender as he held her delicate hand and said, “Yao’er, although I currently can’t gather my Essential Qi due to my blocked meridians, if I can awaken my blood meridian, the Elder Council will buy me some elixirs and mediate my meridians for me. Then, I’ll be able to cultivate.”
“I’ll definitely become a powerhouse, and protect you for the rest of your life.”
“Thank you, Brother Ming.”
Lu Yao’s eyes had a touched look as she said, “Brother Ming, did a meridian tester really find out that you inherited your father’s blood meridians?”
“That’s right, Yao’er. That’s why in the future, your man will be a powerhouse.” A confident smile formed on Lu Ming’s face.
Lu Yao tenderly smiled as she lifted a cup on the stone table. The cup was filled with well-known Blood Orchid Wine, which was emitting a faint fragrance.
She swiftly kissed Lu Ming on the cheeks and blushed as she raised the cup, “Come, Brother Ming, this one is on Yao’er.”
Lu Ming took the cup and said, “Yao’er, you’ve treated me to a glass of Blood Orchid Wine every day. I’m really grateful to have you by my side.”
As he finished his sentence, he raised the cup and finished it in one go.
The fragrance of the wine lingered on his tongue, and Lu Ming’s heart felt as sweet as the wine tasted. But at the very next moment, he felt that the world was spinning.
“Yao’er, why do I feel so faint? Your wine…”
Lu Ming held onto the stone table as he looked towards Lu Yao. But then, he noticed that her expression seemed a little cold.
“Hahaha, Lu Ming, Yao’er only accompanied you for three years in order to cultivate your meridians. Now that we’re at this stage, isn’t it high time that you contribute with your blood meridians?”
At that moment, a middle-aged man emerged from a corner. It was Lu Yao’s father.
Rumble!
The sound rang in Lu Ming’s mind, as if it was a bolt from the blue.
“Yao’er!”
Lu Ming looked at Lu Yao incredulously, but all that was in her eyes was cold indifference.
“Why? I love you so much!”
Lu Yao’s cold gaze was like a sharp knife, plunging into Lu Ming’s heart. He let out a loud howl and pounced in the direction of Lu Yao.
Sadly, all it took was for Lu Yao to take a small step back, and he landed on the floor.
“Duan Mulin from the Mystical Sword School started his cultivation at the age of six. He opened up two divine meridians and stepped into Warrior Realm in half a year, and then Master Realm at the age of nine. He’s sixteen now, and one of the Four Great Talents of the Mystical Sword School. What about you? A frail body with blocked meridians. To be blunt with you, you’re just trash. Even if you awaken your blood meridians, you’ll still be trash. Can you even be compared with Duan Mulin?
“Only a genius like him would be befitting of me. If I want to be married to him, I need to awaken a stronger blood meridian. Since you love me so much, why don’t you fulfill my wish and offer up your blood meridian to help me awaken a stronger one?”
A cold voice came from Lu Yao’s lips.
Bam!
At that moment, the middle-aged man stepped on Lu Ming’s back with a sharp knife gripped on his hands. He shouted, “Lu Ming, give us your blood meridian!”
Ah!
Excruciating pain on Lu Meng’s spine swallowed him whole. He let out a piercing howl, his voice filled with helplessness and despair.
Slowly, Lu Ming fell into boundless darkness.
“Lu Yao, I treated you like my beloved, why did you harm me!”
Lu Ming shouted, and sat up from his bed so abruptly that the bed made of
Phoebe zhennan
made a crunching noise.
His head was matted with sweat. It was just a dream.
No, it was not a dream. How could it have been a dream? It was something that happened three days ago.
Lu Ming was the main successor of the Lu Family in Fiery Wind City. His father was the Lord of the Lu Family, while Lu Yao was the daughter of the First Branch Elder of the Lu Family.
The two of them were from different branches of the same family. Growing up with each other, they were childhood friends. One could say that they were inseparable, and they even made a pledge of their love in private, choosing each other to be their significant other.
Lu Ming had not expected that Lu Yao and the First Branch Elder would make a move against him and snatch his blood meridians.
“Power. All of this is because I don’t have enough power. If I was extraordinarily gifted and powerful, would they dare to treat me like that?!”
Lu Ming clenched his fists. His whole body was shaking, and his eyes were bloodshot.
Trash!
This was what Lu Yao called him. Her words from three days ago still rang in his ear.
Squeak!
At that moment, his door was pushed open, and a delicate middle-aged woman walked in. Looking at Lu Ming on his bed, she asked concernedly, “Ming’er, did you have a nightmare again?”
This beautiful lady was Lu Ming’s mother, Li Ping.
Three days ago, it was Li Ping who had gone to search for Lu Ming out of concern for his safety and rescued him. He would be dead if not for that.
Ever since word of Lu Ming’s father being killed during his travels six years ago, Lu Ming and his mother had depended on each other.
Lu Ming gazed at Li Ping, his eyes turning tender. “Mother, I’m fine, it was just a dream,” he said.
Gazing at Lu Ming’s pale face, Li Ping sat down next to his bed. Touching Lu Ming’s forehead, she brokenheartedly said, “It’s been three days. You’ve shouted that Lu Yao harmed you every day. Ming’er, just what exactly happened? Could it be that Lu Yao is the reason behind your injuries…”
“Mother, it’s nothing, you misheard me,” said Lu Ming.
Lu Ming did not tell Li Ping that it was Lu Yao and the First Branch Elder who did it, as Li Ping did not cultivate martial arts. Telling her would only cause harm to her.
Li Ping hesitated for a moment before she said, “Ming’er, you can’t address Lu Yao by her name in front of other people anymore. Two days ago, she awakened Fifth Level blood meridians, and even opened up a divine meridian. She’s already gotten approval from the Elder Council. At the house meeting two months from now, she’ll become the Lord of Lu Family, taking control of the family. People might call you disrespectful if you address the Family’s Lord by her name.”
“What? Lu Yao wants control of the Lu Family? She could whistle for it!”
Lu Ming let out a low angry howl. Blood rushed into his eyes, he grinded his jaw so hard that it was creaking. His teeth were cracking from the pressure as fresh blood started bleeding out.
After word spread about Lu Ming’s father being killed, the Lu Family had been placed under the leadership of the First Branch Elder. For six years, no new Lord had been appointed.
Seeing Lu Ming like that frightened Li Ping out of her wits. She embraced Lu Ming’s head, tears flowing out non-stop. “Ming’er, please don’t scare me like that. I’ve already lost your father, I can’t lose you too,” she said.
“Father… Where are you? Ming’er believes that you won’t die. Now, I’m powerless to the point where I can’t even secure the position of the family’s Lord.”
Lu Ming was tightly gripping a pendant on his neck. As he used too much strength, his nails dug into his flesh and caused blood to seep out without stop.
The pendant, which was the size of a broad bean, was made out of bronze. Before his passing, Lu Ming’s father entrusted someone with delivering the pendant to Lu Ming. In these six years, Lu Ming had always kept it with him.
The blood seeping from his palms flowed onto the bronze pendant.
Buzz!
Suddenly, the bronze pendant started vibrating and became scalding hot.
Before Lu Ming was able to react, the bronze pendant turned into powder after vibrating. The powder went for the palm of his hand, disappearing as it entered his palm.
Then, Lu Ming felt a scalding burst of energy traveling from the palm of his hands to his arms, constantly moving up. After a while, it stopped at his glabella.
“The Ninth Dragon never dies, the blood meridian shall be reborn!”
Suddenly, a deafening roar rang in Lu Meng’s mind, shaking his head until it was buzzing.
“The Ninth Dragon never dies, the blood meridian shall be reborn!”
“The Ninth Dragon never dies, the blood meridian shall be reborn!”
...
The continuous roaring constantly rang in Lu Ming’s head. Soon after, a scorching heat shot off from his glabella to his spine.
At the very next moment, the roaring stopped. But an itchy sensation started to spread from his spine as his body started to heat up.
“What’s happening?”
Lu Ming could not understand what was happening.
At that moment, the itchiness on his spine increased in intensity. It was as if there was something slowly growing.
“Ming’er, are you okay?! Please don’t scare me!”
Sensing the abnormality on Lu Meng’s body, Li Ping felt even more terrified and helpless.
“The blood meridian shall be reborn? Can my blood meridians really be reborn?” Lu Meng felt puzzled.
There were records in ancient books stating that, for some reason,a small number of people whose blood meridians had been stripped or damaged were able to have their blood meridian reborn, growing a new blood meridian.
However, most blood meridians that were regrown were of low levels, which meant that they were not very useful.
But there was an even scarcer amount of people who would be able to rebuild themselves and awaken the ultimate blood meridians, like a phoenix rising from the ashes.
However, the chance of this happening was close to zero. Based on early records, there were only a few cases of this happening since ancient times.
Lu Meng never even considered breaking through his past and awakening the ultimate blood meridian. After all, the chances of that happening was too slim. As long as he could awaken a blood meridian, he would be ecstatic.
With a blood meridian, he would be able to cultivate martial arts and change his own fate.
At that moment, the abnormality on his body slowly faded away. “Mother, I’m fine!” Lu Meng smiled.
“What are you doing? This is the Lord’s Residence, you can’t just barge in.”
Suddenly, a delicate voice could be heard shouting from the outside. Lu Meng could identify that it was the voice of Li Ping’s servant, Qiu Yue.
“Slap!”
“Scram!”
There was an unfriendly shout, followed by the sound of slapping. A gloomy looking youth promptly entered the room.
“My Lady, Young Master!” A girl around the age of sixteen entered the room as well. Her face was flushed and swollen, with a palmprint?on top. She was Qiu Yue.
“It’s you, Lu Chuan? What do you want?”
Lu Ming rose as he shouted coolly.
The visitor was called Lu Chuan, Lu Yao’s elder brother. He was sixteen, a year older than his sister.
A flash of astonishment darted across Lu Chuan’s eyes when he saw Lu Ming, as if he was surprised that Lu Meng was unexpectedly still alive. He then sneered, “Great timing, Lu Ming. My sister, Lu Yao, will be leading the Lu Family and moving into the Lord’s Residence. So, you guys are no longer entitled to live here anymore. Hurry and move.”
Li Peng’s face paled. Although she knew that this day would eventually come, she did not expect it to happen so soon.
“Lu Chuan, Ming’er is injured. We’ll move out after two days, when Ming’er recovers,” Li Ping smiled sadly.
“After two days? You’ll have to move out today. Do you think I don’t know you’re trying to drag out your stay here?”
Lu Chuan sneered.
“Today? But Ming’er is injured. It’s already so late into the day, let Ming’er rest for a night before moving!”
Li Ping pleaded.
“Rest? He can’t even awaken a blood meridian. What good will resting do for trash with blocked meridians? He might as well just die. Anyways, you guys have to leave today,” said Lu Chuan indifferently.
Phoebe zhennan is a type of large tree, common in certain areas of China.The True War Dragon Technique
Lu Chuan crossed his arms behind his back with an indifferent expression. He looked at Lu Ming, showing open disdain.
“But, Ming’er….”
Li Ping was about to say something again, but was interrupted by Lu Ming.
“Mother, we don’t need to beg him. If we have to move, so be it,” said Lu Ming.
“But Ming’er, your injuries have yet to recover. It’s already night time, what if you catch a cold?!” said Li Ping concernedly.
Lu Ming stubbornly shook his head. “Mother, I’ll be fine, let’s move out. But, there’ll eventually be a day when we return. The Lord’s Residence is where you and father got married, nobody can take it away.”
“Alright then,” Li Ping sighed, and asked Qiu Yue to pack up their belongings.
Lu Chuan folded his arms behind his back, sneering. He was scanning the surroundings when his eyes suddenly sparkled.
“One moment, you’re not allowed to take that sword with you.”
Lu Chuan walked towards Li Ping, who was holding a sword in her hands.
Li Ping’s face turned white as she unconsciously tightened her grip on the sword. “This sword is the only keepsake left by Ming’er’s father. It’s for Ming’er to use in the future, you can’t take it away!”
“If it’s something that the previous Lord left behind, that’s all the more reason that you can’t take it with you. It is the public property of the Lu Family and must be confiscated. Moreover, Lu Ming can’t even cultivate his Essential Qi, what’s the point of keeping the sword? To waste it?”
Lu Chuan spoke coolly with a fervent look in his eyes. He could tell that the sword was nothing ordinary, that it was a spiritual weapon.
“You can’t, Lu Chuan! I’m begging you!” Li Ping hugged the sword, unwilling to let go of it.
Lu Chuan’s eyes turned cold. “You just have to do things the hard way!” he shouted.
“Lu Chuan!”
There was a loud roar.
Lu Ming’s eyes were bloodshot, and his fists clenched.
“Lu Chuan. You can take the sword. But remember this, one day, I will personally reclaim what belongs to me, and by then it’ll be tenfold, or even hundredfold.”
Lu Ming’s eyes were cooler than ice, his gaze locked onto Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan’s felt cold from Lu Ming’s gaze, but he mockingly laughed. “Lu Ming, just you, some trash that can’t even awaken a blood meridian? You want me to repay you by tenfold, or even hundredfold? Haha, I’ll wait for you.”
Every day for the past three years, Lu Yao had spiked Lu Ming’s drink with Yama’s Pollen, which could suppress blood meridians. Three days ago, Lu Ming had failed to awaken a blood meridian in front of the eyes of the public. It was after his failure that Lu Yao and the First Branch Elder took the opportunity to make a move.
“Mother, give it to him!” said Lu Ming.
As if swayed by the firm look in Lu Ming’s eyes, Li Ping reluctantly handed the sword over to Lu Chuan.
After their belongings were packed, Li Ping supported Lu Ming as they walked out of the gates to the Lord’s Residence of the Lu Family.
Lu Ming turned his head and glanced at the residence.
“One day, I’ll be back.”
...
There was a small compound in the East Residence which was supposed to be the living quarters for servants. The compound housed three rooms and a small courtyard. Currently, Lu Ming’s trio had moved into the compound
It was the dead of night, cold enough to chill bones.
Lu Ming was sitting in the courtyard, his fists clenched tightly.
“Power. In this world, power dictates everything. It’s because I don’t have power that Lu Yao and the First Branch Elder could strip me of my blood meridians. It’s also because of my lack of power that I couldn’t even hold onto the Lord’s Residence, and the sword that my father left.””
“In this world, you can only be humiliated without any way to resist if you don’t have power. Now, I can feel my blood meridian slowly growing back. Even if the regrown blood meridians are of the lowest grade, as long as I put in ten times the effort of other people, or even a hundred times, I believe that I won’t pale in comparison. One day, I will truly be able to control my own fate, and defend my own people.”
The sound of footsteps echoed behind him. Li Ping was holding a robe, which she helped Lu Ming slip into. “Ming’er, it’s cold outside. The room has been tidied, you should come inside and get some rest.”
“Mother, you should rest early too,” Lu Ming smiled.
He returned to his room and sat on the bed. Lu Ming still found it hard to sleep.
“When will my blood meridians finally be reborn, and grow?”
Lu Ming pondered, and shifted his mind to his spine.
He wanted to understand the situation of his blood meridians which had yet to grow.
At that moment, there was an itchy sensation on his spine. There was a sudden flash of hazy red. In that red light, there was a silhouette of something resembling a worm, around the size of a finger.
However, it looked illusive, he could not get a clear view of it.
“My blood meridian has yet to fully grow, but it can already be manifested?” Lu Ming was surprised.
Normally, only a fully awakened blood meridian could be manifested.
“Since it can be manifested, then let’s see if it can be cultivated like a normal blood meridian.” At the thought of that, Lu Ming started to circulate the ‘Qi Condensation Art’, which was a basic art that was common knowledge in the Lu Family.
The spirit energy in the air immediately gravitated towards the direction of Lu Ming’s body.
“This rate of absorbing spirit energy can already be compared to a Second Level blood meridian.”
Feeling the density of the spirit energy gathered around him, there were sparks of joy in Lu Ming’s heart.
In this land, martial artists were divided into Ordinary Martial Artists and Blood Meridian Martial Artists.
However, the two types of martial artists could not be compared. Blood Meridians Martial Artists had awakened blood meridians. Not only did their power levels spike, but their rate of cultivation was also incomparable to normal martial artists.
Despite that, Blood Meridians Martial Artists were few in number. There was a possibility of nobody awakening a blood meridian in a group of dozens.
And now, Lu Ming’s blood meridian, which had not completely finished growing, was able to absorb spirit energy at a rate akin to a Second Level blood meridian. What would happen if it finished growing? What effects would there be?
Lu Ming was looking forward to it very much.
The spirit energy was continuously condensed and absorbed by Lu Ming, seeping into his body.
Two hours later, Lu Ming opened his eyes.
After two hours of cultivating, he felt that his injuries had recovered slightly. His weak and frail body had also improved a little.
“At this rate, it’ll only take a few days for my injuries to fully recover. My body will also improve, and when that happens, my rate of cultivation will also increase.”
As Lu Ming pondered, his hands involuntarily touched his neck. The bronze pendant had disappeared, leaving only a silk thread on his neck.
“That bronze pendant should have something to do with my ability to regrow my blood meridian. Now that it’s gone into my glabella, I wonder if there are any effects?”
As he was thinking, he shifted his mind to his glabella and tried to sense the pendant.
When his mind shifted to his glabella, a halo dispersed from the area which turned into a vortex.
The vortex was increasing in size, surrounding Lu Ming’s entire body.
In the next moment, the land shifted in space, and Lu Ming found himself in another place.
Startled, Lu Meng promptly sized up his surroundings.
At that moment, he was standing on a flat stone platform. The platform was ten meters wide and long, surrounded by a field of chaos on three sides.
There was only one side with stone steps leading up, with a total of ninety-nine steps.
After the ninety-nine steps, there was another platform. In front of the platform was another set of stone steps.
Level after level, it was unknown how many levels there were, and on the very top of all the platforms and stairs, there was a palace.
As the distance was too far, Lu Ming was unable to get a clear look. He could only barely make out the open doors of the palace. In the haze, there seemed to be a silhouette sitting cross-legged. The sounds of chanting could be heard coming from the palace.
As the sound of chanting entered his ears, Lu Ming felt refreshed, as if all his worries had dissipated into the air. As if his mind and body fell into a void, his head had never been so clear.
“What’s happening? Why am I here? Where is this? Eh, there’s a stone tablet there, and a black steel chest.”
On the side of the platform he was on, there was a stone tablet and a chest.
There were two words written on the stone tablet. ‘Supreme Shrine’.
There was nothing else apart from those two words.
Then, Lu Ming shifted his gaze onto the black steel chest.
The chest was not large. It was not even half a meter wide, nor a meter long.
Lu Ming opened the chest and found three books inside, along with a jade bottle.
Three words were written on the jade bottle. ‘Marrow-cleansing Pill’.
“Marrow-cleansing Pills? These are actually Marrow-cleansing Pills?”
Lu Ming was ecstatic, and quickly popped the lid of the jade bottle. Suddenly, a strong fragrance of herbs invaded his nose. There was a fiery red pill in the jade bottle, it’s size no bigger than the tip of a finger, and it’s body clear as crystal.
Legends told that the Marrow-cleansing Pill was able to cleanse the spirit and renew one’s marrow, allowing someone to be reborn anew, and massively strengthening the body of a martial artist. It was a spiritual pill that not even money could buy. In the Fiery Wind City, it had only appeared a few times in the last thousand years. In the history of a thousand years in the Fiery Wind City, it had only appeared a few times.
“With the Marrow-cleansing Pull, the problems from my frail and weak body, as well as my blocked meridians will see a huge improvement.”
Lu Ming felt extremely fervent and excited.
He took a deep breath and shut the jade bottle. He carefully placed it aside and grabbed the three books to take a look.
They were three books about martial arts techniques.
The True War Dragon Technique, the Flame Dragon Fist, and the Dragon Serpent Steps.
Lu Ming flipped open the ‘True War Dragon Technique’ first.
The ‘True War Dragon Technique’ was a Divine Level martial arts technique. Cultivating it to the highest level would grant you the might of a war dragon, allowing you to be unparalleled and dominate the land.
“D-divine Level technique?”
Lu Ming’s eyes widened as his breathing stiffened.
Martial arts techniques were usually categorized in five levels. Celestial, Land, Mystical, Yellow, and Unqualified.
And for every level, there were also Inferior and Superior qualities.
The Celestial Level was the highest level. The Unqualified Level, as the name suggested, was the lowest level.
But there was actually another level above the Celestial Level; the Divine Level.
But the Divine Level was merely a legend. Lu Ming had never heard of anyone who possessed a Divine Level martial arts technique.
To his knowledge, the highest level of technique that the Lu Family owned was only of Superior Yellow Level.
Now, with a book containing a Divine Level cultivation method in front of Lu Ming, how could he not be surprised? How could he not be excited?
However, it was a pity that the True War Dragon Technique only had the First Stage of the cultivation method, which would only allow him to get to the state of opening his meridian. The next realm of cultivation would require the Second Stage of the cultivation method.
The Second Stage of the cultivation method was on the second platform, past the ninety-nine steps. There was also another chest there.
Lu Ming flipped through the pages. On the final page, he noticed a row of words.
“If one wishes to cultivate the Second Stage of the True War Dragon Technique, one must open up three divine meridians. Forcibly cultivating the Second Stage without doing so will unquestionably result in death by meridian explosion.”
Lu Ming took a sharp breath, weren’t the requirements for this cultivation a little too high?
Martial artists’ cultivation were categorized into Novice Realm, Warrior Realm, Master Realm, Grandmaster Realm, Leader Realm, and King Realm.
Novice Realm was the basics of cultivation for martial artists, it was also the easiest.
The human body had nine meridians and eighty-one acupuncture points.
The first three meridians were called the Man Meridians, the next three meridians were called the Land Meridians, while the last three meridians were called the Sky Meridians.
When a martial artist opens up all nine meridians of the Man, Sky, and Land Meridians, they would be able to step into the next realm, Warrior Realm, and become a true martial artist.
But there were another three meridians above the nine meridians, called the Divine Meridians.
The number of people who could manage to open up all Divine Meridians was ridiculously low.
Lu Yao, who had only opened up one Divine Meridian, had shaken the entire Fiery Wind City. The Elder Council immediately approved her to be the Lord of the Lu Family. This was evidence enough.
“I must open up all three Divine Meridians for the Divine Level cultivation technique.”
Lu Ming clenched his fists for a moment, and started to go through the other two manuals.
For the other two books, one of them was a fist art, which was of Inferior Yellow Level. The other book was a body art, which was also of Inferior Yellow Level.
Although they were just Inferior Yellow Level martial arts techniques, it would still be hard to find something similar, even for the Lu Family.
Setting the manuals down, Lu Ming picked up the Marrow-cleansing Pills again. He popped the lid open, and swallowed the Marrow-cleansing Pill in one go.
The strong effects of the medicine dissolved in his body and seeped into Lu Ming’s muscles, skeleton, and organs. It started to slowly improve Lu Ming’s body.
Lu Ming could hear even the slight vibrations emitting from his skeleton, as well as the squirming of his muscles. His body was heating up as black strands of impurities were expelled from his body.
His body continuously grew stronger. His meridians that were once blocked and withered were now active and lively.
The Condensation and Refining of Essential Qi
It was almost noon of the second day by the time all medicinal properties of the Marrow-cleansing Pill were thoroughly refined.
Lu Ming did not sleep a wink the entire night, but he was not sleepy at all. On the contrary, he felt refreshed and full of strength.
One Marrow-cleansing Pill completely transformed him. Lu Ming’s body was stronger than an ordinary young man, his meridians were also no longer blocked and was full of flexibility and vitality.
It was just that there were layers of thick, sticky grime on his body from the impurities that were purged out of him, and it was very uncomfortable.
A thought came to mind and Lu Ming was back in his room.
He carefully opened the door and walked out to find Li Ping and Qiu Yue gone – probably out to buy food.
Lu Ming went towards the well in the yard, stood by it, and drew water to rinse the grime off his body. After a change of clean clothes, he immediately felt pleasantly refreshed in both body and mind.
Soon after, Li Ping and Qiu Yue came back. They saw Lu Ming and stared at him in surprise.
At that moment, Lu Ming looked robust, which was far from his usual sickly and feeble look. No wonder they were surprised.
“Ming’er, are your injuries better?” Li Ping asked as she carefully inspected Lu Ming.
“Yeah, Young Lord, you look a little different than usual,” Qiu Yue remarked while she innocently blinked.
“Mother, I don’t know why but after being injured this time, I was able to cultivate a bit of Essential Qi out of the blue after practicing the Qi Condensation Art last night. I’m feeling a little better as a result of that.” Lu Ming chuckled.
“What? You were able to cultivate Essential Qi, Ming’er?” Upon hearing what Lu Ming had to say, Li Ping was ecstatic. Her eyes brimmed with happy tears.,.
Lu Ming did not tell Li Ping anything about the Supreme Shrine since there were Divine Level martial arts techniques in it and if word got out, all three of them would be in big trouble.
Changes happened to his body after he devoured the Marrow-cleansing Pill. If there was no explanation, Li Ping and Qiu Yue would definitely notice something amiss, so he revealed a small part of it – he managed to cultivate Essential Qi.
“Ming’er, that’s great, that’s great!” Tears of excitement welled up in Li Ping’s eyes.
Although it was just merely cultivating Essential Qi and was a far cry from competing against a Blood Meridian Martial Artist or even being associated with an Ordinary Martial Artist, she was still so glad for Lu Ming.
“Young Master, you’re going to have to protect my Lady and me next time then.” Qiu Yue chirped while beaming with joy.
Li Ping and Qiu Yue got to cooking and in no time, delicious aromas filled the air around them. The three of them sat down together gleefully for a simple meal of a meat dish with two vegetable dishes.
“Ming’er, you’re still not well. Have more meat to help repair your body,” Li Ping said as she vigorously filled Lu Ming’s bowl with meat.
“Mother, Qiu Yue, you two eat too,” Lu Ming replied.
Ever since news went out six years ago about Lu Ming’s father, Lu Yuntian’s murder, both Li Ping and Lu Ming’s living conditions deteriorated over the years. Since?the allowances given by the Lu Tribe decreased over time, it was a rarity to have a meat dish.
Even so, Li Ping and Qiu Yue would give up their portions for Lu Ming, especially Qiu Yue who was going through puberty without sufficient nutrients, resulting in her looking more frail than she would have been.
For martial artists to practice their art, they would require a large amount of strength and energy and therefore would be more particular with what they ate.
Lu Family’s martial artists with awakened blood meridians were not just eating the meat of the ordinary beasts, instead, they ate the meat of demonic beasts. Other than that, the highly talented ones consumed a daily dosage of Dragon Tiger Pills – a type of pill refined from adding the blood and powdered bones of demonic beasts to countless valuable herbs.
The Dragon Tiger Pill contained a tremendous amount of refined Qi that could strengthen not only martial artists’ muscles, bones, meridians and organs, but also be converted to Essential Qi to aid and improve one’s cultivation.
Nutrients obtained from the way Lu Ming was eating was far from sufficient.
“Ming’er, you’ve already cultivated Essential Qi, and these dishes are far from enough. I have eight Dragon Tiger Pills here with me, take them with you, use them for your cultivation.”
Li Ping took out a bottle meticulously and handed it to Lu Ming.
Dumbfounded, Lu Ming did not expect Li Ping to possess eight Dragon Tiger Pills. “Mother, Dragon Tiger Pills cost a hundred silver taels each, where did you get so much money?” Lu Ming asked doubtfully.
“I have my ways, of course! Initially, I bought it for you to improve your health and physique. It came at just the right time, since you’re able to cultivate Essential Qi now.” Li Ping smiled.
“Young Lord, my Lady sold her Dragon and Phoenix Bangles for eight of these Dragon Tiger Pills,” Qiu Yue added, as if she could not take it any longer.
“Qiu Yue!” Li Ping chided, as though to rebuke Qiu Yue for revealing too much. “Ming’er,” she continued, “don’t worry about it, go ahead with your cultivation. As long as you can cultivate Essential Qi, and be strong and healthy, what is a pair of Dragon and Phoenix bangles compared to that?”
“Mother…”
Lu Ming felt a lump in his throat as he clenched the bottle of Dragon Tiger Pills tightly in his hands.
The Dragon and Phoenix bangles were a token of love from Lu Yuntian to Li Ping all those years ago. Lu Ming knew how much those bangles meant to Li Ping, and she sold it for the sake of his health.
‘Mother, take my word for it, I’ll be a powerhouse, and I’ll protect you with my strength. I won’t let anyone upset you.’ Lu Ming silently vowed in his heart, his gaze determined and unwavering.
After the meal, Lu Ming went back to his room with the Dragon Tiger Pills clutched in his hand, and headed toward the Supreme Shrine.
Upon entering the Supreme Shrine, Lu Ming fixed his eyes on the second platform beyond the ninety-nine steps and there was a dark bronze box, similar to the one he saw on the first platform.
If the first black steel box held the First Stage of the True War Dragon Technique, the Flame Dragon Fist, the Dragon Serpent Steps and the Marrow-cleansing Pill, what could be in the second box?
Fueled by immense curiosity, Lu Ming made his way towards the stairs.
As he was about to ascend to the second platform from the ninety-ninth step, he realized he could not, no matter how much he tried to. There was an invisible force preventing him from doing so.
“Could it be from my lack of a certain level of cultivation?” Lu Ming retreated dejectedly.
He sat in a Lotus Position, took out a Dragon Tiger Pill, popped it into his mouth, and started cultivating.
As he swallowed the Dragon Tiger Pill, he felt a burning sensation along his spine which swiftly became a vortex, absorbing the medicinal properties of the Dragon Tiger Pill as a whole. Then, he felt waves after waves of pure energy coming from his spine.
“So fast?” Lu Ming was first astonished, but euphoria quickly came after.
It usually took a day or two for ordinary people to completely refine the medicinal properties of a Dragon Tiger Pill, but he refined it completely almost instantly.
All thanks to that growing blood meridian.
What a phenomenal sight! This growing blood meridian not only had a Second Level blood meridian like rate of absorbing spiritual energy, but it could also refine pills at an alarmingly fast rate.
“Alright, let’s start the opening up of meridians.” Right away, Lu Ming calmed his state of mind and started operating the True War Dragon Technique toward opening up the first of three Man Meridians.
Surges of energy controlled by Lu Ming hammered towards the first meridian.
Boom! Boom!
It sounded like deafening roars were emitting from within his body, and one by one, the acupuncture points opened up.
When he needed more energy, Lu Ming would swallow another Dragon Tiger Pill.
Just like that, he managed to refine all eight of the Dragon Tiger Pills completely when evening came, and from it, he opened up all three Man Meridians.
The opening up of one’s meridians was separated into different parts – beginner, mid and top.
Opening up the first three Man Meridians were known as the beginner Novice Realm; the next three Land Meridians were mid Novice Realm…
The state of opened meridians were known as the foundation of martial artists, and it was also the easiest.
Undoubtedly, the level of difficulty was different for everyone. For a normal Blood Meridian Martial Artist, it could take up from a month to a year for all nine meridians to be opened up for sure.
However, it was not the same for Ordinary Martial Artists. Some took a lifetime to open all nine meridians, some probably died knowing they could never achieve it.
For the likes of Lu Ming who opened up three meridians within an afternoon were few and far between. If news got out, it would certainly blow their minds away.
This, True War Dragon Technique and the growing blood meridian with phenomenal characteristics were tightly entwined.
The True War Dragon Technique, a Divine Level martial arts technique partnered with the growing blood meridian that could refine pills instantly contributed to such a miracle.
Lu Ming felt the True War Dragon Qi coursing in all three meridians, and he was filled with delight and enthusiasm.
After dinner, Lu Ming quickly entered the Supreme Shrine again and started his cultivation.
He was currently cultivating Flame Dragon Fist.
A martial arts technique was an attacking technique derived from the combination of Essential Qi flowing in and through one’s muscles and bones.
Different martial arts techniques required a different flow of Essential Qi in and through one’s muscles and bones, hence why different martial art techniques had different effects, ways of forming, and wielded drastically different power.
All these required one to have an intense level of control over the usage of Essential Qi and one’s body that could not be achieved in a short span of time. Without years and years of practice and honing such techniques, it was nearly impossible to perfect any type of martial art technique.
As the martial art technique and the powers it wielded increased in levels, it demanded a higher control of one’s body and the Essential Qi in it.
Lu Ming positioned himself and began cultivating.
There was chanting coming from the palace above him, and it cleared his mind immensely. Some insights for Flame Dragon Fist flashed continually across his mind.
He willed the flow of Essential Qi towards his feet, and allowed it to control the muscles and bones of his feet.
“Ha!”
Lu Ming emitted a soft cry and stepped forward. Strength surged from his feet into his lower back and spine, with a twist of the spine, like a humongous dragon, a bigger surge of strength gushed from his waist towards his hands.
Boom!
Lu Ming threw a punch and the amount of energy that exploded shook the air around with its roar.
“First Glance of the Pathway!” Exhilaration flashed before Lu Ming’s eyes.
The cultivation of martial art techniques, depending on its level of comprehension and practice was divided into six stages.
First Glance of the Pathway, Modest Achievement, Outstanding Dexterity, Mastery of Technique, Perfect Divine-like Usage, and One with The Martial Art.
Six different stages that were necessary to take one step at a time and it was almost impossible to accomplish in just a mere stroke. The higher the grade of the martial art technique, the harder it was to go up to another stage.
Lu Ming never would have thought that he could achieve First Stage (First Glance of the Pathway) in his first time cultivating the Flame Dragon Fist.
This was an Inferior Yellow Level martial arts technique and for the ordinary, it would take at least a few months to grasp its basic concepts and principles.
‘The chanting from the palace was a huge aid in my cultivation of martial arts technique,’ Lu Ming thought as he looked at the palace that was beyond all those steps.
He deduced that the most important factor of his exponential speed in cultivation was the chanting and his power of understanding, which he did not think was weak. Now that there were such amazing results, Lu Ming naturally worked harder in his cultivation.
His process of opening up meridians slowed down drastically without the Dragon Tiger Pill.
Lu Ming was still able to open up the fourth meridian, entering into mid Novice Realm.
He was also able to unlock the Second Stage of comprehension and cultivation of the ‘Flame Dragon Fist’ technique – Modest Achievement.
However, the blood meridian had yet to be fully grown. It was still in an almost stagnant growth phase.
Lu Ming retreated from the Supreme Shrine and walked out his front door with a smile, only to see a red-eyed Qiu Yue coming back from the outside.
“Young Lord, could you ask my Lady to come back, please? She’s been kneeling at the Li’s for a few hours now,” Qiu Yue pleaded, almost in tears.
“What? What’s going on? Let’s go.”
Lu Ming and Qiu Yue rushed out the door.
On their way, Qiu Yue filled Lu Ming in on what happened.
Ever since Li Ping knew that Lu Ming could cultivate Essential Qi, she was very happy.
To cultivate and learn martial arts, its methods and cultivation techniques were needed, so Li Ping thought of borrowing a few types of martial arts cultivation techniques from the Lu Family Library for Lu Ming but the guardian of the Lu Family Library was the First Branch Elder’s man, and shunned Li Ping with a mere “Lu Ming is trash”.
With no way around it, Li Ping paid Lu Chuan and the First Branch Elder a visit, and kneeled to beg them but to no avail. They did not even spare Li Ping a martial arts technique of Unqualified Level.
Out of wits, Li Ping went back to the Li Family, hoping to obtain a martial arts technique from them.
The Li Family, a small tribe in Fiery Wind City, Li Ping’s maiden home which was under the leadership of Li Ping’s eldest brother, Lu Ming’s uncle.
Lu Ming’s uncle denied Li Ping’s request with the excuse of Lu Ming being a Lu Family descendent, therefore it was not appropriate for the Li Family to lend an outsider their martial arts technique.
Li Ping did not know what to do next, but to kneel pleading at the main hall of the Li Family home in hopes of getting just one martial arts technique.
“Damn it!”
Lu Ming roared in his heart as the flames of anger engulfed him.Mountain of Beasts
In Fiery Wind City, the Lu Family was true to its reputation of being a leviathan amongst families. No other family was able to come close.
The Li Family was originally a small unknown family. Soon after, as Li Ping was married to Lu Yuntian, the Lu Family’s Lord at the time, the Li Family took advantage of the Lu Family’s influence to rise to the top, their power ever increasing.
Lu Ming remembered that back then, the Li Family had treated Li Ping and him benevolently.
But after the incident involving Lu Yuntian, the Li Family’s attitude towards the mother and her son changed, especially after Lu Ming’s grandfather passed away. His uncle was now the Lord of the family, who further estranged the duo, to the point where they turned a blind eye on them.
Such was the fickleness of human nature, and the reality of the world.
In the main courtyard of the Li Family.
Li Ping was kneeling on the floor, her body shivering ever so slightly.
There were many juniors from the Li Family gesturing, surrounding her on all sides.
Above the courtyard, a potbellied middle-aged man said as he coolly gazed at Li Ping, “Little sister, how long do you plan on kneeling? Aren’t you embarrassed?”
He was Li Ping’s brother, Li Fu.
“I’m begging you, Brother. It was not easy for Ming’er to cultivate Essential Qi. He’s your blood-related nephew, please give him a few martial art manuals!”
Li Ping was pleading with tears swirling in her eyes.
“Little Sister, allow me to say something that you might dislike. Lu Ming has had a frail and weak body ever since he was born. He’s also unable to awaken a blood meridian. Even if he’s lucky enough to cultivate a strand of Essential Qi, what use is there? He won’t be making any significant accomplishments in the future, why not just let him peacefully live out his life as a normal person?
“Furthermore, let me tell you that the Lu Family’s First Branch Elder has already talked to me and put me in my place. Little Sister, it’s hard on me too. Helping you means that I’ll offend the First Branch Elder.”
Li Fu murmured.
“I’m begging you, Brother. I don’t hope that Ming’er will have any great achievements. I’m content as long as he can become a martial artist and have a strong, healthy body. Brother, I swear this is my last request to you, I’ll never make things difficult for you again in the future,” Li Ping continued pleading.
Li Fu furrowed his brows and pondered for a moment. He took a book out and tossed it before Li Ping. “For the sake of our relationship as siblings for so many years, take this ‘Three Sword Slash’. Although it’s Unqualified Level, it’s enough for Lu Ming. Never come back to trouble me again,” he said.
“Mother!”
At that moment, Lu Ming and Qiu Yue made it to the scene.
Lu Ming lifted Li Ping from the ground. He could feel that her body was vibrating, clearly because she had been kneeling for so long.
“Ming’er, aren’t you going to say thank you to your uncle?” Li Ping told Lu Ming as she gazed at Li Fu.
“Thank him?”
“We don’t need their handouts! Mother, let’s go back.” Lu Ming was filled with anger.
Lu Ming did not even glance at the martial arts manual. He carried his mother and left the Li Family Residence.
“So ungrateful. He was only lucky enough to cultivate the slightest bit of Essential Qi but he thinks himself a genius.”
“He’s just trash.”
The Li Family’s juniors did not stop sneering.
Lu Ming did not pay attention to them. He was powerless, there was nothing for him to say. If he said too much, it would instead earn him their disdain.
However, Lu Ming swore that he would one day shut everyone’s mouths with facts.
After leaving the Li Family Residence, Li Ping sighed. “Ming’er, you’re too impulsive. That was a martial arts manual! As long as you’re able to become a martial artist, it would be worth it for me to suffer through any amount of grievance.”
Lu Ming stood up straight like a sword. He said with firm conviction in his eyes, “Mother, even without handouts from the Li Family, I’ll still be able to become a martial artist, and a powerhouse at that!”
After returning to their residence, Lu Ming entered the Supreme Shrine and placed even more effort into cultivating.
He finished cultivating the Flame Dragon Fist first, then continued cultivating the Dragon Serpent Step.
The Dragon Serpent Step was a mysterious body art. After cultivating it, his movements were similar to dragons and serpents, nimble and as fast as lightning.
With the help of the chanting from the palace, Lu Ming was progressing with astounding speed.
He could already get a taste of its power after cultivating it twice.
Woosh! Woosh!
Lu Ming’s twisting movements were like dragons and serpents. With a twist of his hips and a single step, he had traveled over three meters.
The distance of three meters was equal to one foot.
“Reaching the First Stage of the Dragon Serpent Step, I can get a taste of its power. I can travel one foot in a single step. On the Second Stage, I will be able to reach two feet in one step. And on every new Stage after that, I’ll be able to add another foot to the distance traveled. I still have far to go, I must continue.”
Then, under Lu Ming’s ascetic training, ten days had passed.
In these ten days, Lu Ming opened up two meridians successively, placing him on the peak of mid Novice Realm.
His greatest acquisitions were the martial skills.
He had fully comprehended the Flame Dragon Fist and Dragon Serpent Steps, and had cultivated them both to the Third Stage.
“The cultivation of Essential Qi is still too slow. At this rate, it’ll be a long time before I can open up three Divine Meridians.”
Lu Ming started to ponder.
If he wanted to speedily open up his meridians and proceed to step into Warrior Realm through condensing a Qi cyclone, he would require a large amount of Dragon Tiger Pills.
However, a single Dragon Tiger Pill would cost a hundred taels of silver, and one could say that Lu Ming had nothing to his name.
“I’m now at the peak of mid Novice Realm, I’ve also fully comprehended two martial skills through cultivation. I’ve gained some means of defending myself, so it’s time for me to head to the Mountain of Beasts to test my luck.”
The Mountain of Beasts was a massive mountain range that was twenty-five kilometers away from Fiery Wind City. Its boundary expanded over fifty kilometers, with ancient trees growing as tall as the skies.
There were a multitude of spiritual herbs growing in the mountain range, attracting a large number of martial artists from Fiery Wind City to enter the mountain in search of herbs.
Of course, with opportunity came risks. There were many beasts in the mountain, even demonic beasts that were much stronger than the usual beasts. Every year, many martial artists would die at the jaws of these demonic beasts .
Lu Ming was not thinking of exploring the depths of the Mountain of Beasts. He only wanted to test his luck on the outskirts of the mountain, while honing on his martial skills at the same time.
He came up with an excuse, and bid Li Ping goodbye, heading for the Mountain of Beasts.
Two hours later, Lu Ming reached the foot of the Mountain of Beasts. The Mountain of Beasts was, itself, like a giant beast. It gave off a powerful oppressive force to any who looked at it.
Lu Ming rushed into the Mountain of Beasts without hesitation.
Roar!
It was only a few kilometers into the area when a beast charged towards Lu Ming.
It was a white-fronted tiger. It was a meter tall and over three meters long. Even before it arrived, A fierce aura was already surging towards Lu Ming.
Lu Ming narrowed his eyes and took a deep breath. Swaying to one side, he flashed to a corner. Then, he circulated Essential Qi starting from his legs all the way to his spine, and threw a punch with his entire body’s strength behind it.
Flame Dragon Punch.
Bam!
The punch landed solidly on the tiger’s neck.
Its power was explosive, the tiger was struck aside.
Roar!
The tiger was in pain, making it even more ferocious. It roared and pounced towards Lu Ming again.
Lu Ming used Dragon Serpent Step and evaded the tiger’s pounce by twisting his body. He followed up with a Flame Dragon Fist, landing the punch on the tiger’s waist, causing it to be flung away once more.
Lu Ming was cultivating the Divine Level technique, the True War Dragon Technique. The Essential Qi that he cultivated was swimming in his meridians like an actual dragon, with an extreme explosive force.
Although Lu Ming’s cultivation level was only at the peak of mid Novice Realm, his explosive force was not something that someone from the same level could match.
Together with the Flame Dragon Fist, Lu Ming’s fists packed at least 500 kilograms behind them.
The tiger had already sustained heavy injuries after suffering two successive hits from Lu Ming. Blood was dripping out of its mouth.
At that moment, it roared and attempted to turn and escape.
Lu Ming did not let up and followed closely.
A few minutes later, the tiger fled into a hole in the mountain. Lu Ming hesitated for a moment, and followed in pursuit.
Entering the cave, he found that the tiger was lying on the floor. It was already on its last breath, its blood constantly spilling from its jaws.
“Eh? That’s a silver bellflower, an Inferior First Level spiritual herb!”
Suddenly, Lu Ming’s eyes sparkled. In between the cracks of rocks in the cave, he noticed a stump of spiritual grass. There were nine leaves, and each leaf was shaped like a bell.
Spiritual grass was categorized into nine levels, and there was Inferior, Mediocre, and Superior for each level.
An Inferior First Level silver bellflower harbored a massive amount of spiritual energy inside it. It was worth three hundred taels of silver, comparable to three Dragon Tiger Pills.
Lu Ming did not expect that he would be able to reap such rewards after entering the Mountain of Beasts for such a short amount of time. This trip was definitely worth it.
He finished off the tiger with his next punch, and took out a rucksack which he had prepared earlier. After harvesting the silver bellflowers, he kept them in the rucksack.
“Brother Feng, do you really know a side route that leads into the Psammophis Pirates’ den?
At that moment, a voice came from outside the cave.Decisive Kill
Lu Ming was instantly alert. He held his breath and listened carefully.
“Haha, of course. I spent an exorbitant amount of effort to convince one of the mistresses of the Psammophis Pirate’s leader. Then, I found out about this side route through the sl*t. If I weren’t on such good terms with you, I wouldn’t even bring you here.”
Another voice rang out.
Lu Ming could tell that they were two young men.
“I knew it! Brother Feng is so handsome and suave, which lady in this world could possibly resist your charms?” A slew of bootlicking words came from the first voice.
“Haha!’ Brother Feng seemed to be satisfied. “There’s a cave here, let’s go in and take a break. We’ll wait for the Lord to go against the Psammophis Pirates later, and take the opportunity to sneak ourselves into their den. Their leader’s treasure will be ripe for us to reap!” he said.
With that said, two youths around the ages of seventeen and eighteen entered the cave.
They spotted Lu Ming the moment they walked into the cave.
“Lu Ming, is that you? What are you doing here?”
One of the youths with a mole on his face exclaimed.
“People from the Li Family.” Lu Ming was stunned too.
He recognized these two youths from Li Ping’s old home. They were juniors from the Li Family.
One of them was Li Feng, who wore handsome features. The one with the black mole was called Li Fei.
“Lu Ming, our conversation just now, you heard it?” Li Feng’s face dimmed as he glared at Lu Ming.
“I guess you could say so!” said Lu Ming.
“Lu Ming, since you heard it, then you can only blame yourself for being unlucky.”
Killing intent flashed across Li Feng’s eyes.
“You want to kill me?” Lu Ming’s face dimmed.
“Lu Ming, remember to be smarter in your next life. Trash like you shouldn’t be running around, or it’ll be easy to find yourself on death’s door.” Li Feng’s voice was as cool as ice, his disdain visibly present in his tone.
“Brother Feng, there’s no need for you to make a move. I’ll kill him.” Li Fei took a step forward, seemingly looking down on Lu Ming.
Although the two of them saw the tiger’s corpse in the cave, they did not think that it was Lu Ming that killed it, but rather other beasts, or even a demonic beast.
Did they not know what standard Lu Ming was at?
“Mm, make it quick. Deal with this trash, and we’ll take a quick break,” Li Feng nodded.
“Brother Feng, rest assured, it’ll be over in a flash,” Li Fei smiled savagely as his hand formed a claw that was aiming for Lu Ming’s throat.
Li Fei was in mid Novice Realm and had opened up five meridians. His claw had at least two hundred and fifty kilograms behind it. If it hits the mark, even if he did not die, Lu Ming would sustain heavy injuries.
“Since you want to kill me, I’ll have to kill you first.”
Lu Ming murmured, murderous intent flashing across his eyes. His body moved and a fist came flying out.
Flame Dragon Fist!
He waited for the opportunity to throw a punch, and it landed directly on Li Fei’s chest.
Bam!
Li Fei flew up like a cloth sack. He hit the walls of the cave hard, spurting blood out of his mouth before he stopped breathing.
Li Fei was killed by Lu Ming in one hit.
“You… you killed Li Fei? How is that possible?”
From the sides, Li Feng was wide-eyed. “Aren’t you supposed to be trash? But you managed to kill Li Fei?” he yelled incredulously.
“Trash? Hehe, then please allow this trash to send you to your death.”
Lu Ming sneered.
“Send me to my death? Hilarious. I’ve already opened up eight meridians, you think you can kill me? Do you think that I’m Li Fei? It’s time to die!”
Li Fei quickly calmed down. He unsheathed his sword and swung it at Lu Ming.
However, Li Feng was just a normal martial artist. His martial skills were inferior, and his level of attainment was even worse. How could he be a match for Lu Ming?
Using the Dragon Serpent Step, Li Feng’s sword was dodged with a single step. A fist flew out and landed on Li Feng’s stomach.
Li Feng cried out in pain as he was lifted off the ground. He fell onto the floor as blood spewed from his mouth.
However, Li Feng had a higher cultivation. Instead of dying, he merely sustained heavy injuries.
“You’re so bad, but you’re still calling me trash?”
Lu Ming walked towards Li Feng, his terrifying killing intent emanating from him.
“No, don’t kill me!” Li Feng shouted, scared out of his wits.
He would have never expected that Lu Ming had grown so strong.
“How do I get to the side route to the Psammophis Pirates’ den? Spit it out.”
Lu Ming asked.
Lu Ming was actually able to kill Li Feng in a single hit. The Psammophis Pirates’ den was the reason why he had not done so.
The Psammophis Pirates were a band of robbers that were active around the vicinity of the Mountain of Beasts. They robbed and killed, committing all sorts of heinous acts.
As a result of the complicated terrain in the mountain forest, they were never wiped out.
Over the years, the Psammophis Pirates had plundered countless swords and treasures. If Lu Ming could get his hands on them, then he would have the money to acquire Dragon Tiger Pills.
“I can tell you where the side route to the Psammophis Pirates’ den is, but you’ll have to let me off.”
Li Feng said with a glint in his eyes.
At the same time, he was furiously yelling in his mind. Once this was over, he would be sure to exact revenge on Lu Ming. Not only him, but his mother as well, she would have to suffer too.
“You’re in no position to ask for conditions now. I’ll immediately kill you if you don’t tell me.” Lu Ming’s eyes were like ice, filled with murderous intent as he glared at Li Feng.
Li Feng’s heart turned cold. “Alright! I’ll speak, I’ll speak…”
At that moment, Li Feng revealed the side route to the Psammophis Pirates’ den.
“I can go now, right?” Li Feng asked as he finished speaking.
“Go? Let you go so that you can seek revenge on me?” Lu Ming sneered.
After saying that, he struck Li Feng’s chest with his fist, killing him.
Over the highs and lows of these recent years, Lu Ming had learned to understand the world.
In the world of martial arts, the strong preyed on the weak. Sometimes, even if you spared someone’s life, they would still take yours.
As such, Lu Ming could not be soft-hearted when facing his enemies. The moment he did that, the person who would die would be him.
After then, Lu Ming started searching through Li Feng and Li Fei’s bodies..
These two guys were really poor. Their totaled money didn’t add up to fifty taels.
But a martial arts manual was found on Li Feng’s body.
The ‘Single Stroke Lightning Sword’ was an Unqualified Level sword technique. Although its grade was not high, it was suitable for Lu Ming.
Lu Ming had no other methods of attack apart from the Flame Dragon Fist. It just so happened that he could learn a sword art.
Lu Ming placed the martial arts manual, money, and silver bellflowers into the Supreme Shrine. Then, he exited the cave and followed Li Feng’s directions to the Psammophis Pirates’ den.
The Psammophis Pirates’ den was on the peak of a mountain that was fifteen kilometers away.
The peak was surrounded by sheer cliffs on three sides, even demon apes would have a hard time crossing. There was only a narrow path in one direction that ascended the mountain.
Lu Ming spent up to two hours before he got close to the peak.
On the way there, there were a few times when he was close to encountering demonic beasts. It was a precarious journey.
Demonic beasts were strong and ruthless. They were categorized into nine Levels, with each Level being divided into nine Grades. As for martial artists, each Realm was also divided into nine Grades, starting from Warrior Realm.
Even if a demonic beast was the lowest Grade of the lowest Level, it would still be at the same level as a First Grade Warrior Realm martial artist. It was something that Lu Ming could not handle right now.
Lu Ming was waiting nearby. From what Li Feng said, the Li Family’s Lord, Li Fu, would lead the Li Family’s masters to eliminate the Psammophis Pirates today.
Of course, it was natural that Li Fu was not so kind-hearted as to eliminate dangers for the people. His goal was the loot plundered by the Psammophis Pirates over the years.
As expected, over a hundred silhouettes appeared in the mountain forest, charging towards the Psammophis Pirate’s den at a rapid speed.
“Enemy attack!” A loud yell rang from the peak of the mountain.
What followed was the intense shouts of conflict.
“It’s time.” Lu Ming started to move. He traversed through the mountain forest using the Dragon Serpent Steps.
He swiftly arrived at the rear end of the Psammophic Pirates’ den. There was a hidden route that allowed him to ascend to the peak of the mountain.
It was the escape route that the Psammophic Pirates left for themselves. If there was ever a day that they could not halt their enemy’s advance, they could retreat from there.Jackpot
Lu Ming carefully scanned the area and found the road to the peak as expected. Although the path was steep, Lu Ming’s cultivation was enough for him to ascend.
Lu Ming followed the path and climbed towards the top with joy.
After ten minutes or so, Lu Ming reached the mountain peak.
It seemed as if the Psommophis Pirates did not expect anyone to know of this route, so they were at ease. There was nobody guarding the area.
It was quiet on the mountain peak. Everyone had probably gone to stop the Li Family.
Following Li Feng’s description, Lu Ming headed towards the chambers of the Psommophis Pirates’ leader. According to Li Feng, the leader hid all the loot he had gathered over the years under the bed in his chambers.
If it were not because the Psommophis Pirates’ leader’s mistress needed to pretend to be a normal person to purchase goods in Fiery Wind City, which resulted in her being charmed by Li Feng, there would actually be nobody who knew where the leader hid his treasure.
After some time, Lu Ming reached the Psommophis Pirates’ leader’s chambers. As expected, he found two large chests and a smaller one after removing the floorboards under the bed.
The large chests were filled with shining silver, while the smaller chest was filled with silver notes.
Lu Ming was overjoyed. There was no time for him to count, so he gathered all the loot into the Supreme Shrine and dashed away, retracing the route he had taken.
Lu Ming did not stop after descending the mountain, he continued on and returned to Fiery Wind City.
It did not matter whether the Li Family won or lost this time, it was already fated to be a vain attempt.
A few hours later, Lu Ming returned to the Lu Family. The moment he returned, he briskly greeted Li Ping and returned to his room. He entered the Supreme Shrine and frantically started counting.
The total amount shocked Lu Ming.
There were a hundred thousand taels worth of silver notes in the small chest, and thirty thousand taels worth of silver in the large chests combined.
It was a total of one hundred and thirty thousand taels.
Evidently, the Psammophis Pirates had stolen a lot of treasure from all their years of plundering. It all belonged to Lu Ming now.
“With all this silver, I’ll be able to purchase large amounts of Dragon Tiger Pills for cultivation. Lu Yao, don’t you even think about gaining control of the Lu Family during the House Meeting that is a month from now. Also, I’ll be retaking what belongs to me.”
Lu Ming clenched his fists together, his eyes were filled with unyielding determination.
After that, Lu Ming left the Supreme Shrine and headed for Fiery Wind City’s market.
Fiery Wind City’s market was the busiest part of the city. There were various types of shops there.
Examples of such were medicine shops, weapon shops, material shops and more. Merchants from different lands came and went, there was an endless stream of people.
On the way, Lu Ming purchased a black robe as well as a black bamboo hat. He wrapped himself in the robe and hat.
He was looking to purchase a large amount of Dragon Tiger Pills. He could not let anyone discover his identity.
The Elixir Hall was the Fiery Wind City’s largest shop for trading medicine pills. It was comfortably wide as it spanned nearly seven thousand square meters and was four stories high.
Apparently, the Elixir Hall had a strong background, as the Mystical Sword Sectl was backing them up.
The moment he stepped into the Elixir Hall, he was immediately approached by a young lady. “Dear Esteemed Guest, is there something that you’re looking for?”
She had seen many weird customers before, so she did not find Lu Ming’s black robe and hat weird.
More than that, transactions were usually bigger when it came from weird customers like him.
“I want to buy Dragon Tiger Pills. What’s the price over here?”
Lu Ming purposely lowered his pitch so that it would sound deeper, making him seem like a middle-aged man around the age of thirty.
“Esteemed Guest, an Inferior First Level Dragon Tiger Pill costs a hundred silver taels for each pill. A Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pill costs three hundred silver taels for each pill. A Superior First Level Dragon Tiger Pill costs a thousand silver taels for each pill. May I know what grade you’re purchasing, and how much of it?”
The female assistant asked.
Medicine pills were also categorized into nine Levels, with three different qualities for each Level.
“Thirty Inferior First Levels, and thirty Mediocre First Levels,” Lu Ming said.
“T-that many?” The female assistant was shocked, followed by a surge of happiness. Her attitude became more respectful. “Esteemed Guest, the price of your purchase is over ten thousand silver taels. I can’t make the decision on this, so the Hall Master will have to take over. Please wait a moment as I report this to the Hall Master.”
After saying that, the female assistant ran into the backroom.
After a moment, the female assistant returned. “Esteemed Guest, our Hall Master has invited you to the backroom for a talk,” she said.
Lu Ming nodded and followed the girl into the backroom.
The female assistant poured a cup of tea for Lu Ming and left.
The backroom was elegantly decorated. Lu Ming took a few casual glances as he lifted his cup to take a few sips.
At that moment, a fragrant scent drifted in. A maiden around the age of twenty walked in.
The maiden was wearing a red dress. She had a slender figure and looked extremely beautiful.
“Dear Esteemed Guest, I am the Hall Owner of the Elixir Hall, Mu Lan. I heard that you wished to purchase thirty Inferior First Level Dragon Tiger Pills, and thirty Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills?”
Her voice was pleasant to the ears.
Lu Ming took a deep breath and lowered his voice, “That’s right!”
“We usually give a ten percent discount to customers who spend more than ten thousand taels in a single transaction. The total for your pills is twelve thousand silver taels. After the discount, it would be ten thousand and eight hundred taels.”
Mu Lan said in a delicate voice as her stunning eyes scanned Lu Ming’s body.
“Then thank you, Hall Master Mu,” Lu Ming said with clasped hands.
After that, Mu Lan clapped her hands. A young girl who seemed like a maid entered the room with two boxes. There were thirty Dragon Tiger Pills in each box.
Lu Ming took out ten thousand and eight hundred silver notes, and passed it to Mu Lan.
“Hall Master Mu, I shall be taking my leave now.” Lu Meng received the Dragon Tiger Pills and bid Mu Lan goodbye.
“Dear Esteemed Guest, if you still need to purchase medicine pills, do come to Elixir Hall, everything will be discounted by ten percent.” Mu Lan smiled as she approached Lu Ming, she was stunningly beautiful.
Lu Ming’s heart skipped a beat. He frantically clasped his hands and hurriedly left, as if he was escaping.
Gazing in the direction that Lu Ming was heading, the edges of Mu Lan’s lips raised ever so slightly. “Interesting!” she said.
“My Lady, from how I see it, although he was wearing a bamboo hat, he seemed pretty normal. What’s so interesting?” A maid asked curiously.
“Xiao Ye, can’t you tell? He deliberately lowered his pitch to pretend to be a middle-aged man. He was merely a youth, and in Fiery Wind City, there aren’t many youths who can produce ten thousand silver taels so easily,” Mu Lan smiled.
“Furthermore, my blood meridian gifted me with extraordinary perception. I could feel that his blood meridian was rather peculiar. It seemed like it possesses formidable power, but is incomplete, as if it was still growing. Is that not interesting?”
“My Lady, from what you said, it really does seem quite interesting,” the maid blinked.
“Xiao Ye, if this person returns, you must tell me!” Mu Lan’s eyes glinted with curiosity.Exponential Growth
After returning home from the market, Lu Ming could not wait to enter the Supreme Shrine, and opened one of the sandalwood boxes.
Thirty Dragon Tiger Pills lay neatly inside it.
These were the Inferior First Level Dragon Tiger Pills. Inferior First Level Dragon Tiger Pills were enough to open up the seventh to ninth meridians. As for the Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills, Lu Ming intended to use them to open up the three divine meridians.
He took a Dragon Tiger Pill and swallowed it.
As he swallowed the Dragon Tiger Pill, a faint red light flashed out. He felt a burning sensation along his spine which swiftly became a vortex, completely absorbing the Dragon Tiger Pil. Then, he felt continuous waves of pure energy coming from his spine.
‘What’s with my blood meridians? It can refine pills at such a frightening speed!’
Using his mind, Lu Ming controlled the energy pulsing within him, guiding it along his opened up meridians. He formed it into streams of dragon-like Essential Qi and gushed it towards the seventh meridian.
The dragon-like Essential Qi were acutely edged and extremely strong. Instantly, a big acupuncture point on the seventh meridian was unlocked.
One by one, the unimpeded force unlocked the big acupuncture points.
When his Essential Qi ran low, Lu Ming would swallow a Dragon Tiger Pill, convert its energy to Essential Qi, and continue the unlocking.
The seventh to the ninth meridians were known as the Sky Meridians, and unlocking them was certainly not as easy as the meridians before them.
In the next two days, it took Lu Ming’s continuous refining of twenty-four more Dragon Tiger Pills to finally open up all three Sky Meridians.
It immediately brought Lu Ming’s cultivation to the peak of top Novice Realm.
At this stage, the gathering and couling of Qi in the dantian was common practice for breaking through the Novice Realm.
Lu Ming most certainly would not do so, yet. He aimed to unlock all three divine meridians, then he would break through the Novice Realm.
The divine meridians were not easy to unlock after all, it could also be said to be nearly impossible. Lu Ming did not rush the opening up of the divine meridians, but consumed the remaining six Dragon Tiger Pills and converted them into Essential Qi.
As the Essential Qi within Lu Ming condensed and thickened after a day, Lu Ming initiated the unlocking of his divine meridians.
Lu Ming popped a Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pill into his mouth and in the same manner as the previous pills, it was absorbed and refined by the blood meridians near the spine. A gush of energy a few times stronger than the Inferior First Level Dragon Tiger Pills poured into Lu Ming’s body.
The Mediocre First Level pill lived up to its name.
Lu Ming set the True War Dragon Technique in motion, stimulating Essential Qi to begin the opening up of the first divine meridian.
Boom!
Lu Ming felt his entire body rattle, his senses numbed with shock, but the first big acupuncture point in the first divine meridian did not budge at all.
Not giving up, Lu Ming gathered his energy to continue his quest.
Boom! Boom! …
After seven tries, the first acupuncture point in the first divine meridian was finally unlocked, a swell of Essential Qi gushed in.
One at a time, light spots began to appear on Lu Ming’s body until there were eighty-one?light spots. These were his unlocked acupuncture points. Right after, the eighty-second light spot was illuminated, shining brighter than the rest.
“Only one big acupuncture point unlocked, but the Essential Qi within me is significantly more abundant. Let’s continue.”
Lu Ming carried on with his unlocking.
However, divine meridians were divine meridians. The energy they demanded was extremely high.
It took three consecutive days for nine big acupuncture points in the first divine meridian to be unlocked and it used up all thirty-six Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills.
“Such enormous strength, the power I possess from using my Essential Qi alone should pack at least seven hundred and fifty kilograms I suppose?”
Lu Ming’s eyes sparkled.
Formerly, when his cultivation was only at the peak of mid Novice Realm, he merely packed five hundred kilograms in his punch if he included the power that came from the Flame Dragon Fist. Without it, the power he possessed from using Essential Qi alone should only be around three or four hundred kilograms.
It had doubled in amount.
For an Ordinary Martial Artist who was at the peak of top Novice Realm, the explosive power from their Essential Qi alone should be around five hundred kilograms.
If they gathered and coiled their Essential Qi and broke through Novice Realm, the explosive power from their Essential Qi would have increased to a thousand kilograms.
A thousand kilograms could be likened to the strength of a bull.
The current way to calculate power did not include the martial arts techniques and the blood meridians. Should they be included, it would total up to a larger amount.
“I’ve finished up all the Dragon Tiger Pills, but I don’t think I’ll rush to buy more for now. I’ve been leveling up my cultivation too quickly these past few days. I think I need time to strengthen and consolidate it while I practice my martial arts techniques.”
The cultivation of martial arts was not to be rushed. If the level up happened too quickly, it would result in a shaky foundation with a tainted Essential Qi base, and that was why Lu Ming decided to first spend some time to reinforce his foundation and all that he had built, instead of getting more Dragon Tiger Pills to continue unlocking the remaining two divine meridians.
Lu Ming proceeded to cultivate the Flame Dragon Fist and the Dragon Serpent Steps.
In the blink of an eye, seven days have passed.
Today, Lu Ming took the chance to cultivate the Flame Dragon Fist in the yard while Li Ping and Qiu Yue were not around.
Whoosh! Whoosh! …
The force of the punches howled like the wind, Lu Ming’s body writhed like a gigantic dragon, and with every punch, its roars exploded in the air.
Ha!
To conclude, Lu Ming punched a skull sized rock in the yard as he exhaled and emitted a yell. Bam! The rock burst into several pieces.
“The cultivation of the martial art technique’s Fourth Stage – Mastery of Technique.”
Lu Ming completed his stance with joy etched on his face.
After practicing and cultivating for seven consecutive days, he was finally at the Fourth Stage of the martial arts technique cultivation for the Flame Dragon Fist.
“Y-Young Lord, y-you’ve gotten so strong!” a crisp, clear voice rang unannounced from the door in disbelief.
“Qiu Yue!”
Lu Ming was stunned, he did not expect his rare occasion of cultivating martial arts techniques in his yard to be witnessed by Qiu Yue.
At the same time, Qiu Yue looked at the rock splintered by Lu Ming and turned her gaze towards Lu Ming, with tears in her eyes she rushed to Lu Ming’s side, clutched his hand tightly, and exclaimed, “That was amazing, Young Lord, you’ve become so strong, you’re finally a powerhouse in the martial arts! If my Lady knew about this, I can’t imagine how happy she’d be.”
Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke.
Even though Qiu Yue was frail, she was still a beauty, a weeping beauty at this moment if that was the case. Lu Ming’s heart couldn’t help but soften as he reached out to wipe the tears away from Qiu Yue’s face and said, “Qiu Yue, my cultivation paid off, shouldn’t you be happy? Why are you crying?”
“Young Lord, I AM happy for you!”
Qiu Yue feigned anger, only to realize how both her hands were still holding tightly onto Lu Ming’s hand. She felt the warmth emitted from the palm of his hand as her heart skipped a beat. She immediately hopped a few steps back with a blush on her face, much like a frightened deer caught in the headlights.
Seeing Qiu Yue’s blushing, bashful face with her eyes still sparkling with tears, Lu Ming blurted, “Qiu Yue, you’re so beautiful.”
Upon hearing it, the blush on Qiu Yue’s face deepened into a bright, apple-like red. With her head held down, she murmured, ” W-what is this you’re saying, Young Lord?”
“HAHAAA, Qiu Yue, you know, I’ve had some supernatural encounters recently, and that’s how I’ve gotten these skills, but I can’t exactly tell you what happened yet,” Lu Ming coughed dryly and changed the topic.
Qiu Yue blinked her tearful doe eyes, cast a deep glance towards Lu Ming, and asked, “Young Lord, can we tell my Lady about this then?”
“Not for now,” replied Lu Ming.
“Alright then, you have my word.”
As Qiu Yue finished, she pondered for a while and seemed to have decided on something. “Young Lord, I want to ask you a favor of you,” she said.
“What is it?” asked Lu Ming.
Qiu Yue bit her lip and uttered, “Young Lord, c-can you teach Qiu Yue how to cultivate martial arts?”
Shocked, Lu Ming confirmed, “Qiu Yue, you want to cultivate martial arts?”
“Yes, Young Lord. Qiu Yue wants to learn to cultivate martial arts, so I can repay Father and Mother’s kindness, and also, Qiu Yue wishes to assist Young Lord and her Lady however she can,” answered Qiu Yue.
Lu Ming nodded. He was quite informed of Qiu Yue’s background. Qiu Yue’s parents adopted her even when they lived poorly on the outskirts of Fiery Wind City.
Due to poverty, Qiu Yue was sold to the Lu Family when she was eight and became Li Ping’s maidservant. Qiu Yue, being a year older, grew up together with Lu Ming and they were as close as siblings.
“Okay then, Qiu Yue, but your body is too weak, so you will need Health-replenishing Pills to restore your health, then I’ll give awakening your meridians a try,” Lu Ming promised Qiu Yue with a smile.
“You’ve agreed, Young Lord? Great!” Qiu Yue was elated, and while she nearly jumped for joy right into Lu Ming’s arms, she held it in with a blush on her face.
“Qiu Yue, I was about to head out to buy some things. Let’s head out together so we can get you some Health-replenishing Pills too!” Lu Ming chuckled.This Is Too Low Grade
The Celestial Army Pavilion, a place in Fiery Wind City market where weapons were sold. They had both weapons for ordinary citizens and spiritual weapons for martial artists.
Spiritual weapons, forged from precious materials, were as sharp as razors, so strong they could easily slice through metal like mud. They were the perfect weapons for martial artists since they could also enhance their wielder’s fighting abilities.
Spiritual weapons just like Lu Ming’s father’s sword, the same one that had been taken by Lu Chuan.
Spiritual weapons were categorized into nine different Levels, and within each Level, they were broken down into Inferior, Mediocre, and Superior quality.
This round, Lu Ming intended to purchase a spiritual weapon to practice his sword technique with.
Lu Ming and Qiu Yue entered the Celestial Army Pavilion together.
They were greeted by the sight of lovely young maidens in two rows – salesgirls tasked to serve guests.
However, when Lu Ming and Qiu Yue entered the store, these salesgirls frowned. No one would step out to serve them.
Lu Ming and Qiu Yue were not dressed expensively. Lu Ming wore simple, coarse-clothed clothes while Qiu Yue donned maidservant clothes. As experienced as these salesgirls were, they could already tell that the two that just walked in were not wealthy.
No one wanted to serve these two.
Lu Ming frowned slightly, then went on to check out the items sold, unaffected.
Most of the items sold at the Celestial Army Pavilion were ordinary weapons. First Level spiritual weapons sold were scarce, and they were mostly of the Inferior quality. There were only a few Mediocre quality ones. After looking through the entire shop, Lu Ming only found three Mediocre quality spiritual weapons.
Lu Ming did not fancy any of them. If he were to make a purchase, he wanted something a little better.
“How may I help you, Young Lord? I could recommend something for you.”
A timid voice rang.
Lu Ming
turned to see a young, round-faced, rosy-cheeked but slightly flustered salesgirl facing him.
She was new to her job as a salesgirl at the store. She was timid by nature and had a poor sales performance. She had mustered her courage to step up since she saw that no one wanted to serve Lu Ming.
“The girl’s had no sales this month. To be serving these types of people, she must be desperate. From my years of experience, it would be a surprise if that lad can even afford a metal sword worth ten taels of silver.”
“Isn’t that so? I’d rather stand and rest here than serve country bumpkins like him.”
Not too far away, a few salesgirls looked in Lu Ming’s direction and whispered amongst themselves.
It was not very loud, but it did not escape Lu Ming and Qiu Yue’s ears.
“Young Lord…” Qiu Yue tugged Lu Ming’s sleeves.
“It’s fine,” Lu Ming flashed Qiu Yue a smile. These were just ordinary people and he did not want to stoop to their level.
As he was about to ask the round-faced salesgirl if there were any higher quality spiritual weapons, he was interrupted by an unharmonious voice.
“Yo yo yo, isn’t that Lu Ming, Eldest Young Lord Lu? What in the world brings you here?” The voice was followed by a guy and a girl as they walked in.
The guy had a pockmarked face, was not very tall in height, but sported a glamorous silver robe.
The girl looked above average but had an air of arrogance around her as she walked in with her nostrils in the air.
“Lu Bing, Lu Mei.”
Lu Ming’s expressions changed.
The Lu Family consisted of eight branches, which were the Main Branch and the seven other Sub Branches.
Lu Ming knew these two people, one of them was the son of the Fifth Sub Branch, and the other was the daughter of the Sixth Sub Branch. The one that spoke, was Lu Bing.
Lu Bing sized up Lu Ming and said with disdain, “Why, Lu Ming, I heard that you failed to awaken your blood meridian and you can’t even cultivate Essential Qi, but here you are wanting to buy a weapon like the others? Are you looking for a kitchen knife to slaughter some chickens with? Hahaha!”
“Move aside, Pockmarked Lu, you’re blocking the way.”
Lu Ming replied indifferently.
“W-what did you say, Lu Ming?” Being called pockmarked was Lu Bing’s biggest pet peeve, and being addressed by Lu Ming in such a way in front of so many young and beautiful maidens, especially in front of Lu Mei had immediately enraged him.
“Pockmarked face, I said move aside!” Lu Ming exclaimed coldly.
“You looking to die, Lu Ming? Do you still think that you’re the young lord of the Main Branch? Once the House Meeting is over, Miss Yao’er would be the Lord of the family. You are nothing, you understand me? You dare offend me? Come on, suck up to me right now, kowtow and apologize. I might still bestow upon you a bowl of rice then.”
Lu Bing barked like a distressed wild dog.
Lu Ming stared at him coldly, as if he was looking at an idiot.
“Just you wait, Lu Ming.”
Lu Bing’s eyes flashed with sinister cold rage, he took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself down.
Right after, “Lu Ming, I was right about you wanting to buy a kitchen knife to slaughter chickens, wasn’t I??If that’s true, what quality items can someone like you afford?” Lu Bing sneered.
“Young Master Lu Bing, thank you for gracing us with your presence. Please let me be of assistance to, for absolutely anything at all.”
Lu Bing was already surrounded by several salesgirls, cajoling smiles on all their faces.
“Hehe!”
Looking at the only round-faced salesgirl by Lu Ming’s side, Lu Bing scoffed proudly and said in an intentionally loud voice, “Today is my Sister Lu Mei’s birthday, and I’d like to buy her a spiritual weapon as a gift. Tell me, what spiritual weapons do you have to recommend?”
He placed extra emphasis on the words “spiritual weapon”.
“Young Master Lu Bing wants to buy spiritual weapons!”
Instantly, the eyes of the salesgirls sparkled and pitched their recommendations to Lu Bing with all that they could.
“Young Master Lu Bing, what do you think of this Pine Sword? An Inferior First Level spiritual weapon with pine marks inside…”
“This Silver Ice Sword is fairly well made too…”
Upon looking at these spiritual weapons, Lu Mei shook her head in distaste, indicating that she did not fancy any of them.
Lu Bing gritted his teeth and exclaimed, “Don’t hoodwink me with these Inferior First Level spiritual weapons, bring out your Mediocre First Level spiritual weapons!”
“Young Master Lu Bing wants to purchase Mediocre First Level spiritual weapons?!” The salesgirls shook with excitement and their eyes shone as brightly as the sun. They circled Lu Bing and promoted crazily, as if their lives depended on it.
A Mediocre quality spiritual weapon was worth at least eight hundred taels of silver, and the commission would not be small. How could they not be excited?
On Lu Ming’s side, the round-faced salesgirl looked over enviously. She was naturally timid and shy, she could never compete with those salesgirls.
After rounds of intense promotion, Lu Bing chose the Light Breeze Sword, a Mediocre First Level spiritual weapon that was worth a thousand taels of silver.
Lu Bing waved two silver notes of five hundred taels in the air intentionally as he glanced at Lu Ming with a look of disdain on his face, and paid the amount in full with a dull ache in his heart.
“Why? Aren’t you picking the weapons you want to buy yet, Lu Ming? Or are these weapons too low grade for you? Hahaha!” laughed Lu Bing haughtily.
“Of course, Brother Lu Bing, he’s the Young Lord of the Main Branch, how could Mediocre First Level spiritual weapons be to his liking?” giggled Lu Mei as she inspected her Light Breeze Sword with immense fondness.
“How did you two know? I’d sincerely thought that the weapons here are too low grade,” said Lu Ming out of the blue, feigning surprise.
He turned to the round-faced salesgirl and said, “Miss, do you have any Superior First Level spiritual weapons? Let me have a look at them.”
“What?”
Pin drop silence swept across the store. Everyone, including the round-faced salesgirl, Qiu Yue, the other salesgirls, Lu Bing and Lu Mei gawked at Lu Ming.
“What? Lu Ming, you want to buy a Superior First Level spiritual weapon? Don’t you know how much it costs? Don’t just talk empty, can you afford it?”
Lu Bing’s eyes flashed as he yelled at Lu Ming.
A Superior First Level spiritual weapon was easily worth a few times the amount of a Mediocre First Level spiritual weapon, he refused to believe, even if his life depended on it, that Lu Ming could afford such a thing.
“Young Lord, did you say that you want to buy a Superior First Level spiritual weapon?” asked the round-faced salesgirl incredulously.
“Why, don’t you have any Superior First Level spiritual weapons here? Or are you afraid that I haven’t got enough money?”
Lu Ming grinned and took out a stack of silver notes, each silver note worth five hundred taels, and there were at least ten or more silver notes.
“W-where did you get so much money?”
Staring at the stack of silver notes in Lu Ming’s hand, Lu Bing’s eyes nearly popped out of his head.
Lu Mei and the few other salesgirls too almost had their eyes popped out of their sockets.
Qiu Yue gaped and gawked at Lu Ming.
“It seems like Young Master did have a supernatural encounter,” thought Qiu Yue.
Author wrote 唐枫? which is Tang Fang, but from context the author should be referring to Lu Ming.?Chapter 9: Mu Lan Once Again
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The round-faced salesgirl flushed in excitement as she stuttered, “y-yes, we have Superior First Level spiritual weapons. Please give me a moment and I will retrieve them for you.”
The round-faced salesgirl dashed off to the back of the store right after she finished her sentence. She returned after a while with a few burly men bringing with them four to five spiritual weapons.
“Young Lord, these are the Superior First Level spiritual weapons. Please take a look, this one is the Aqua Fall Sword.”
The round-faced salesgirl took a long sword and unsheathed it.
The length of the sword was 1.5 meters, a fairly thin blade, with its body like a clear spring, emitting continuous puffs of water vapor.
“Good sword!” Lu Ming’s eyes sparkled.
Should there be a comparison between the Aqua Fall Sword and Lu Mei’s Light Breeze Sword, the latter would have felt like trash.
Despite that, Lu Ming shook his head since the properties of this sword did not fit his martial art techniques, and went on looking.
He browsed through a few more.
Clang!
The last one was named the Onyx Blade Sword, the body of the sword was a gleaming black, like it was made out of black jade, and there was a glimmer on both sides of the sword indicating its sharpness.
“This is it.”
There was a gleam in Lu Ming’s eyes as he asked, “shopkeeper, how much for this?”
“You have a good eye, Young Lord. This Onyx Blade Sword is a gem even within this collection of Superior First Level spiritual weapons, so I won’t give you an unreasonable price, just three thousand taels will do,” answered the round-faced salesgirl.
“Deal!” Lu Ming took out six silver notes worth five hundred taels each without hesitating and passed it to the round-faced salesgirl. It was the money taken from the Psammophic Pirates anyway, so Lu Ming did not mind at all.
At the side, Lu Bing’s face darkened. Lu Mei looked at the Light Breeze Sword she held in her hand, then glanced enviously at Lu Ming’s Onyx Blade Sword.
The round-faced salesgirl flushed with excitement. A deal worth three thousand taels of silver, how much commission would she earn?
The other salesgirls eyed the round-faced salesgirl wishfully with extreme regret in their hearts. If only they knew how loaded Lu Ming was, the round-faced salesgirl would have never stood a chance.
Wishful thinking remained wishful since it was too late. All they could do was to note to themselves to never judge a book by its cover again.
1
Lu Ming took his Onyx Blade Sword in one hand, and grabbed Qiu Yue’s hand in another. As he was passing by Lu Bing, Lu Ming looked at Lu Mei’s Light Breeze Sword and uttered, “This kind of trash is to your liking?”
When he was done, he walked out the door, guffawing as he went.
“Lu Ming!”
Lu Bing gritted his teeth so tightly his complexion became extremely distorted.
“Young Master, that was so satisfying. Lu Bing, and that Lu Mei have always looked down on us and now they have a taste of their own medicine.”
Outside of Celestial Army Pavilion, Qiu Yue chirped with excitement, waving her little fists in the air.
Lu Ming smiled. Truth to be told, he did not care about Lu Bing at all, his target was Lu Yao.
Walking along in the market, Qiu Yue took it all in with her eyes wide open.
Things sold in the market were on the expensive side, and since, throughout the years, Qiu Yue had not visited it often, it was only natural that she was very intrigued.
Lu Ming accompanied Qiu Yue for a while, then he passed Qiu Yue two hundred taels worth of silver notes saying, “Qiu Yue, use these to get some groceries and necessities. I have something I’ve got to do, so wait for me here when you’re done.”
“Young Master, what do I say if my Lady asks me where I got the money from?” asked Qiu Yue.
“Hmm, just tell mother that I found some spiritual grass outside the perimeters of the Mountain of Beasts and sold it for some money,” replied Lu Ming after giving it some thought.
Qiu Yue nodded and said, “alright then, Young Master, I’ll be on my way.”
Qiu Yue held on to the money and ran off joyfully to do some shopping.
Right after, Lu Ming found a secluded spot, changed into the black robe and bamboo hat, and went once more to the Elixir Hall.
He wanted to buy another batch of Dragon Tiger Pills, and some Health-replenishing Pills for Qiu Yue.
The one to serve him was, again, Mu Lan.
“Esteemed Guest, you’re here again?” said Mu Lan as she chuckled coyly upon the sight of Lu Ming.
“How did you know it was me? I haven’t even spoken yet,” said Lu Ming with his voice intentionally lowered.
Giggling, Mu Lan sashayed over toward Lu Ming and teased, “that’s because of your scent, I can always tell it was you by your scent.”
As she spoke, her delicate button nose sniffed the air around Lu Ming.
Heart pounding, Lu Ming was barely able to remain calm as he replied, “Hall Master Mu, I’m here today to buy Dragon Tiger Pills.”
Mu Lan gave Lu Ming a side-eye and said, “Esteemed Guest, what’s the rush, or don’t you wanna see me!”
“No, you’ve misunderstood, Hall Master Mu, I have something else I have to attend to.” Lu Ming hastily waved his hands. He really wanted to get out of here as soon as he could, since he cannot handle people like Mu Lan.
“Heh heh, alright then, how much are you looking to buy?” Mu Lan asked as she smiled alluringly.
“A hundred and twenty Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills and thirty Health-replenishing Pills,” answered Lu Ming.
“What? That many?”
This time, both Mu Lan and her maidservant had the shock of their lives.
“Why? Hall Master Mu, does Elixir Hall not have that many?” Lu Ming frowned.
He needed to get more for the remaining two divine meridians, which we’re gonna be a lot harder to unlock.
Mu Lan cast a deep glance at Lu Ming, her smile reappeared and said, “we do, of course, we do. Xiao Ye, prepare the pills.”
Xiao Ye nodded and went out, and in a moment, she came back with a few boxes with her.
A hundred and twenty Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills and thirty Health-replenishing Pills.
“Esteemed Guest, a hundred and twenty Mediocre First Level Dragon Tiger Pills will cost thirty-two thousand four hundred taels after a ten percent discount, we’ll just take thirty-two thousand then. Additionally, the thirty Health-replenishing Pills are on the house, take them as a gift from me,” said Mu Lan.
“Thank you, Hall Master Mu.”
Lu Ming took the pills, paid, and after a cupped fist as a sign of courtesy and gratefulness, left Elixir Hall in a rush.
“My Lady, this person is so interesting! It’s only been a little more than ten days, and he’s already done with the Dragon Tiger Pills he bought the previous time? Or did he buy it for many people to use them together?”
After Lu Ming left, maidservant Xiao Ye asked curiously.
“I can’t say for sure, but I feel like his aura has gotten a lot stronger since the last time he came here, very interesting indeed. You stay here, I want to find out for myself which of Fiery City’s family’s handsome young lads that was?”
After the arrangement, Mu Lan whooshed out and was gone like the wind.
A distance from Elixir Hall, Lu Ming took off his black hat and robes in a secluded place, and kept it together with the Dragon Tiger Pills within the Supreme Shrine. He then headed to the place where he had agreed with Qiu Yue, found her, and went back together with her.
Unfortunately, they were stopped by Lu Bing and his two men in an empty alley.
Li Bing’s face was dark with emotions. He stared at Lu Ming and snarled, “you’ve finally decided to return, Lu Ming. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“W-what do you want?” Qiu Yue subconsciously hid Lu Ming behind her.
“Lu Ming, you trash,” sneered Lu Bing, “you dare humiliate me in front of so many people? You obviously don’t know what’s good for you. I’ll give you a chance. Give me all the money you have on you, kneel in front of the Lu Family Gate, and scream ‘I am trash’ three times and I’ll let you go.”
Lu Ming with a faint smile, agreed with him, “you ARE a piece of trash.”
“W-what did you just say? You dare insult me? I will change my name if I let you go without destroying your mouth,” roared Lu Bing.
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