Chapter 182

On a small hillside, amidst the forest.Lu Qing looked at the lifeless body of "Shadow" as it gradually lost its breath and fell silent. His mind echoed with the dying words of the other party. "Lu Qing, I have told you everything I can, but I advise you not to rush into revenge. In our Seven Kill Tower, there are many assassins stronger than me. Some of the most important strongholds even have Precelestial realm elders guarding them. Lu Qing, your martial prowess is extraordinary, and your future is boundless. You will surely grow into a martial titan. When that time comes, dealing with our Seven Kill Tower will be as easy as turning your hand. Unfortunately, I won't be able to see that day..." Lu Qing could feel that "Shadow" was filled with resentment towards Seven Kill Tower before he died. That’s why he revealed all the information about Seven Kill Tower. Who knows what kind of cruel things Seven Kill Tower had done to "Shadow" to make him, as a disciple, have no loyalty to the sect and instead hope for its complete destruction. He remembered that the assassin who tried to kill Young Master Wei, "Tian Gu," also gave him a warning before dying. It seems that these assassins from Seven Kill Tower are quite interesting. Maybe because they have assassinated so many others, they are already prepared to face death. When they face their own death, they remain quite calm. However, despite having a slightly different impression of these assassins, enemies are still enemies. Lu Qing would not spare "Shadow's" life because of this. Even though with his ability, it would not be difficult to heal "Shadow's" injuries. But being kind to the enemy is being cruel to oneself. From the moment "Shadow" decided to assassinate him, it was already destined that only one of them could live. Lu Qing was not so magnanimous as to let go of someone who tried to kill him. After confirming with his abilities that "Shadow" was indeed dead, Lu Qing searched his body and put some useful items into his Spatial Qi Bag. He then found a place to bury the body, allowing it to rest in peace and avoid being exposed in the wild. After finishing all this, he took the hidden Xiao Li and headed home. Previously, he did not let Xiao Li appear, just in case. If the enemy was too strong and he couldn't handle it, he would still have a backup plan. But obviously, he was overthinking. Returning home, Lu Qing took out the things he had just collected from "Shadow." After checking them, he found that there were not many useful items. Apart from some gold and silver, and money notes, the truly valuable items were just a few. Two medicine bottles, a set of soft armor, and a highly poisonous Thousand-Folded short sword. One of the bottles contained poison, while the other contained pills for cultivating in the Internal Organs Realm. But these things, except for the Internal Organs Realm pills, were not very useful to Lu Qing and could be given as gifts in the future. Lu Qing felt a bit disappointed. Whether it was "Tian Gu" or "Shadow," he had never found any secret manuals on them. Honestly, he was quite interested in the Muscle and Bone Transformation Technique of Seven Kill Tower. Although with his current level, he had reached a high level of control over his body. Changing his appearance temporarily was not difficult. But achieving the seamless disguise like "Tian Gu," coordinating his entire body with almost no flaws, was still extremely difficult. Unfortunately, it was obvious that Seven Kill Tower had some restrictions, not allowing their assassins to carry secret manuals with them, to prevent the leakage of their sect's core techniques. Finding nothing particularly useful to him, Lu Qing put everything away and, carrying a fish bucket, headed to the Halfway House with Xiao Li. "Brother, Xiao Li, you're back!" At the Halfway House, Xiao Yan, who was reciting texts in the yard, immediately put down her book and ran over. "Yes, did you memorize today's text?" Lu Qing asked with a smile. Xiao Li jumped into Xiao Yan's arms, enjoying her petting. "I did. How was your fishing? Did you catch any special fish?" Xiao Yan knew that Lu Qing went fishing mainly because Xiao Li had been craving special fish lately, begging and rolling around, so he went out early in the morning to fish. "I did, and I caught quite a few." As the siblings talked in the yard, Old Doctor Chen came out of the house. He looked at Lu Qing with a serious expression, "A Qing, what was that earlier?" Clearly, the old doctor had sensed the battle fluctuations between Lu Qing and "Shadow." After all, the Halfway House was not far from that hill. "A small fry from Seven Kill Tower, already dealt with by me," Lu Qing said casually. The old doctor nodded and did not ask further about the assassin from Seven Kill Tower. He himself did not like taking lives but would not require his disciple to do the same. Moreover, he disliked forces like Seven Kill Tower, who easily assassinate others. "Although nothing happened this time, you still need to be careful in the future," the old doctor advised. "I understand, Master." Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. Lu Qing nodded and then said, "Master, I had good luck this morning and caught several Red Moon Carps. Last time we sold the Red Moon Carp, we didn't get to taste it. Why don't we try one of the top ten delicacies tonight?" "You caught several Red Moon Carps?" The old doctor was very surprised, "Is it so easy to catch Red Moon Carps now?" "I found it strange too. Maybe because I haven't fished for a long time, the special fish in the river gathered." Lu Qing had his suspicions but didn't want to speculate without evidence. Hearing there was Red Moon Carp to eat, the old doctor was also looking forward to it. In the evening, when Lu Qing was cooking, the old doctor even put aside his medical books and came out early from the study. Lu Qing made two Red Moon Carps, one steamed and one in soup. At dinner, everyone tasted the fish and found it incredibly tender and flavorful, with the fish soup being exceptionally refreshing. It was indeed worthy of its reputation as one of the top ten delicacies. They all ate heartily and enjoyed the meal immensely. That night, after Xiao Yan and Xiao Li had fallen asleep, Lu Qing sat on his bed, quietly contemplating. During the day, he had obtained a lot of information about Seven Kill Tower from "Shadow." This included the locations of some important strongholds. But he did not plan to take action against Seven Kill Tower in the near future. Lu Qing was very self-aware. With his current strength, thinking about shaking Seven Kill Tower was just a pipe dream. Even if he could surprise and destroy one or two strongholds, it would be insignificant to a giant like Seven Kill Tower. Besides alerting them, it wouldn't do much good. If you want to hit a snake, you must hit its vital spot. Either don't make a move, or if you do, you must thoroughly injure or even kill it! So, Lu Qing was in no hurry. What he should do now was to build up his strength and increase his power as much as possible. Only when he was strong enough would he be qualified to contend with a powerful force like Seven Kill Tower. Moreover, he had a premonition that the great change mentioned by the cloth-clothed youth was not far away. Perhaps it wouldn't take many years for the world to truly change. After condensing a thread of the Soul Rune framework, Lu Qing had more faith in his intuition. To stand firm in the upcoming great change, strength was indispensable. Temporary gains and losses and disputes of pride meant nothing; increasing his strength was the most important thing. Thinking of this, Lu Qing's mind moved slightly, and a blade appeared in his hand, the divine weapon blade embryo forged from Heaven's Meteorite Iron. Placing the blade embryo on his knees, Lu Qing calmed his mind and spirit. A thread of soul power emerged from the orifice at the center of his forehead, entering the blade embryo and beginning the refinement process. Lu Qing was using a secret technique from the Li Huo Sect. Using his mind and spirit to refine the blade embryo, inscribing secret runes and leaving his spiritual imprint within. Once the secret runes were fully inscribed and the refinement was complete, the blade embryo would transform into a Daoist artifact, a level higher than divine weapons. However, due to his weak soul power, Lu Qing could only refine it for a short time each day. So it was destined to be a long process, requiring a lot of time. After refining for a quarter of an hour, Lu Qing felt mentally exhausted, knowing he was reaching his limit. He stopped the refinement and put the blade embryo back into the Spatial Qi Bag. Then he took the opportunity to practice the Furnace Visualization Method, pushing his mind and spirit to the extreme, and then fell into a deep sleep using a special breathing technique. The next morning, Lu Qing woke up feeling refreshed, his soul power significantly improved. This was a cultivation method he had pieced together from the various inheritances in his mind. Every night, he first used his soul power to refine the Heaven's Meteorite Iron blade embryo, then practiced the Furnace Visualization Method, pushing his mind to the limit, and finally used a turtle breathing technique to adjust his breath and sleep, recovering his soul power in his dreams. This way, by the next morning, after sufficient rest, his soul power would not only fully recover but also increase significantly. He truly achieved both refining and cultivation. Feeling the enhanced soul power, Lu Qing was very satisfied. At this rate, before reaching the Precelestial realm, condensing a complete Soul Rune was no longer a distant dream. After practicing a few rounds of Health Nourishing Boxing in the yard, Lu Qing went to prepare breakfast. Just as he finished making breakfast and was about to call Xiao Yan and Xiao Li, he heard a commotion outside, followed by a hearty voice. "Lu Qing, I'm here for breakfast!" "Master Ma, are the matters in your family resolved?" Lu Qing walked out, somewhat surprised. It was indeed Mago. He was dressed in a blue robe with a long sword at his waist, back to his old appearance. "It's all done, thanks to Zian. Actually, my family no longer needs me for much. The family head and elders just keep reminding me to maintain my relationship with Zian and you all, nothing else matters. I got tired of it and found an excuse to come back to the Grand Bazaar." Mago looked a bit embarrassed, as if he felt his family was too calculating about his relationship with Lu Qing and the others. Lu Qing didn't mind much. Instead, he asked, "Since you're back at the Grand Bazaar, what about Zian? Aren't you supposed to supervise his cultivation?" Lu Qing knew the real reason why Wei Zian apprenticed himself to Mago. "Well, let me keep it a secret for now. You'll know in a few days." Unexpectedly, Mago smiled mysteriously, keeping Lu Qing guessing. Lu Qing: ... Just as Lu Qing was speechless, Mago took the long sword from his waist. "By the way, Lu Qing, I recently noticed, is this sword a gift from you?" Lu Qing looked at the sword sheath, finding it familiar. It was indeed the one he had made at Heartforge Workshop, so he nodded. "Yes, I gave it as a gift for the apprenticeship ceremony with Young Master Wei." "Really? Lu Qing, do you know this is a Thousand-Folded level treasure sword?" "I know, why else would I give it to you?" Lu Qing continued to nod. Of course, he knew the quality since he made it himself. But he was puzzled. He had given the sword a while ago; why was Mago asking now? "A Thousand-Folded treasure sword is very valuable, hard to find even with a thousand gold pieces. I can't accept such a precious gift, you should take it back." Mago hurriedly said. In his mind, Lu Qing was a great benefactor who had saved him multiple times. He hadn't even had a chance to repay such a great favor, so how could he accept such a valuable gift? A Thousand-Folded level weapon was a treasure not even found in the Ma family's treasury. So when Mago discovered this gift, he and the family head were completely stunned. Lu Qing: "Didn’t Wei Dazongguan tell you that I made the sword myself and it didn’t cost much?" "This sword was made by you?!" To Lu Qing’s surprise, Mago’s eyes widened even more, looking like a cow’s eyes, full of disbelief. Lu Qing fell silent. From Mago’s expression, it didn’t seem like he was pretending. He really didn’t know. But how could Wei Dazongguan make such a mistake? What Lu Qing didn’t know was that given Wei Dazongguan’s usual thoroughness, it was indeed unlikely for him to make such a low-level mistake. However, during the apprenticeship ceremony, many things happened, especially Wei Zian’s assassination and severe injury. Although Lu Qing saved him with spiritual medicine, Wei Zian was still severely injured, causing the ceremony to end hastily. Afterward, the Wei family was eager to find out who had ordered the assassination, neglecting the gift matters. They only delivered Mago's gift to the Ma family without further explanation. Among the many gifts, Lu Qing’s was inconspicuous. The Ma family discovered the Thousand-Folded treasure sword and were shocked. By then, Lu Qing and the old doctor had already returned to Jiuli Village. After hearing Mago’s story, Lu Qing understood. He smiled, "Since that's the case, just keep the sword. It’s a practice piece I made at Heartforge Workshop, nothing special and didn’t cost much." These words left Mago speechless. A practice piece of Thousand-Folded level... Had Lu Qing's forging skills reached this level? Wait, when did Lu Qing learn forging? How come he didn’t know? Was it during the few days he was home? But that was only a few days! For a moment, Mago’s mind was in disarray, almost going blank. But knowing that Lu Qing had made the sword himself, he finally accepted the Thousand-Folded treasure sword. "Have you eaten, Master Ma? I just made breakfast, want to join us?" Seeing Mago's mood stabilize, Lu Qing asked. Mago's eyes lit up, "Of course, I purposely came empty-stomached, just to taste your cooking again." "..." Lu Qing could only laugh at such a straightforward reason for a free meal, "Alright, wait inside, I’ll call Xiao Yan and the others." Table of content