Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Return to the Grand Gathering, the Young Man in Gorgeous Clothes

Lu Qing, had intended to try his best to cultivate the Four-sided Blade to a minor level of success.

Unexpectedly, the wooden blade broke, leaving him with a sense of regret.

As for the ultimate and complete perfection of his swordsmanship, he didn’t dare to think about it for the time being.

That was a realm only masters above the Bones and Muscles Realm could reach, far beyond the reach of a mere Qi and Blood Realm cultivator like him.

Although he understood the key points and insights of the swordsmanship, he didn’t dare attempt it.

The extremely violent force exerted was simply beyond his current physical capacity.

Perhaps only masters above the Bones and Muscles Realm could so recklessly destroy their bodies.

In reality, even achieving even a minor level of success in cultivating the Four-sided Blade was unlikely at Lu Qing’s current Qi and Blood Realm.

His Qi and Blood weren’t strong enough to sustain so many consecutive bursts.

Realizing this, Lu Qing’s mind, which had been heated by his success in swordsmanship, calmed down.

He glanced at the wooden sword in his hand, shook his head, tossed it into the firewood pile under the eaves, and returned to the house.

The next morning, Lu Qing prepared breakfast and practiced several sets of nourishing boxing to regulate his breathing and invigorate his qi and blood.

He then took out a snow-white porcelain bottle, poured out a pill, swallowed it, and continued practicing boxing to absorb the medicinal properties.

According to his master’s instructions, it’s best to take this blood-tonifying and qi-replenishing pill once a day.

Any more than that, and the body wouldn’t be able to digest it all immediately, resulting in unnecessary waste.

The century-old ginseng the black beast had given him had been refined into twenty blood-tonifying and

qi-replenishing pills, enough for Lu Qing to use for the better part of a month. Once he’d consumed all twenty of them, he’d surely made significant progress in his qi and blood realm.

As for the ginseng the black beast had brought him last night, Lu Qing planned to wait until he’d consumed the bottle of blood-tonifying and qi-replenishing pills before taking them out.

The medicinal properties of the blood-tonifying and qi-replenishing pills were much milder than the golden loach tonic soup he’d taken yesterday.

Lu Qing practiced the nourishing boxing for a while, slowly absorbing and refining the medicinal properties, before concluding his practice.

Feeling the blood and qi surge through his body, Lu Qing felt a surge of joy.

He then went to wake Xiaoyan, who had been slouching in bed, for breakfast.

“Xiaoyan, have you grown a little taller?”

Lu Qing asked as he was washing her face and brushing her teeth when he noticed her sleeves were a little shorter.

“Really, brother?”

Xiaoyan, still a little sleepy, suddenly woke up.

“Let me measure you.”

Lu Qing wiped her face and had her stand at the threshold of the door to measure her height.

After measuring, he found that she had indeed grown a little taller.

“Yes, she has. Look, this is where we measured last time, and this is where we are now,”

Lu Qing said, pointing to the scale on the door.

Every time he measured Xiaoyan’s height, he would make a mark on it, and this time, the mark was a little higher than before.

“You’ve really grown taller!”

Xiaoyan tilted her head back, looking at the scale, her face beaming with joy.

Lu Qing rubbed the little girl’s head.

Not only had she grown taller, but her health had also improved significantly.

Her hair was no longer dull and gray, and her complexion was rosy. She looked much better than when he had just woken up.

“Alright, come inside and eat. If you eat well, you’ll grow taller soon.”

Seeing Xiaoyan still grinning at the incision on the door, Lu Qing smiled and urged her.

So the little girl ate an extra half bowl of breakfast.

After breakfast, Lu Qing took Xiaoyan to the small courtyard halfway up the mountain to pay his respects to the master and learn from him.

Lu Qing hadn’t told the old doctor that he had already mastered the Four-Directional Blade.

Everything has its limits. His mastery of the Yang Shen Quan, mastered in a single night, was already astonishing enough.

Back then, he could have covered it up with a sudden realization.

But he couldn’t keep having sudden realizations; that would have been truly shocking.

So, Lu Qing decided to keep a low profile and keep the incident a secret.

That morning, nothing remarkable happened.

Instead, the old doctor began formally teaching Lu Qing some medical principles, including how to dry herbs.

The morning passed quickly.

After Lu Qing finished his lessons, he left Xiaoyan in the courtyard halfway up the mountain and made up an excuse: he wanted to go out and buy some things at the market.

Now a Qi and Blood Realm warrior and intelligent, the old doctor naturally had no concerns.

Seeing him say he wanted to go shopping, he immediately agreed.

After leaving the courtyard halfway up the mountain, Lu Qing went straight home, pocketed a sum of money, loaded a large bamboo basket onto his back, tied a red string around the sacred tree at the village entrance, and headed straight for the market.

Not long after, Lu Qing appeared in front of the market.

Looking at the bustling crowds at the market, he smiled.

That’s right, today is the day of the market.

Ever since the last time he and Da’an went to the market to do some shopping, Lu Qing hasn’t been here again.

Because he knew that his performance during that shopping trip was a bit eye-catching.

In order to avoid being noticed by those with ulterior motives, he simply stopped showing up.

Now, he has become a warrior in the Qi and Blood Realm and has some self-protection ability.

In addition, the rice and meat at home have been almost eaten, so he decided to replenish some.

However, he came here today not only to buy some daily necessities, but also for a more important purpose.

Entering the market, Lu Qing wandered around, and before long, he saw his target, Master Ma.

He was about to go forward to say hello, but suddenly, he stopped and stepped aside.

Because he saw that there was another person next to Master Ma.

It was a young man with luxurious clothes and an arrogant look.

Behind him followed several muscular, steady-footed men, each one a formidable presence.

Lu Qing particularly noticed that the once-dominant Ma Ye was now fawning over the young man in elegant attire.

He decided to wait and see what would happen.

Seeing Ma Ye and his men approaching,

Lu Qing quietly hid to the side, minimizing his presence and perking up his ears.

He didn’t use his supernatural powers to gather any information about them.

Having reached the Qi and Blood Realm, he’d learned that warriors were extremely sensitive to the gazes of others.

Using his supernatural powers, if he alerted them, he could get into trouble.

So, he simply decided to listen and see if he could get any useful information.

Fortunately, the young man in elegant attire was so proud that he didn’t even bother to disguise his voice.

“Ma Gu, your place is truly shabby! Just like those alleys in the west of the city where beggars sleep. It stinks!”

Walking through the market, the young man in elegant attire looked disdainful.

“Young Master Wei is a wealthy man, so naturally he’s not used to my rural surroundings. I hope you’ll forgive me.”

Ma Gu half-bent his body, a look of humility on his face.

“If I hadn’t wanted to go into the mountains to find a good birthday gift for my father and had nowhere to stay, I would never have come to your place. It stinks!”

The young man in fancy clothes saw that there were actually people selling pork in the market. The pile of pig offal on the market made his face pale and he almost vomited.

How could someone sell such lowly meat in this place!

(End of this chapter)