Mysterious World: I Have a Lost Heavenly Court

A gray-feathered carrier pigeon flew through the night and landed on an old locust tree in the forbidden area behind Qingfeng Temple.

Qin Yuan was sitting cross-legged in the alchemy room, with the dark pink natal jade tablet floating in front of him.

The number of light spots on the jade pendant has decreased by nearly 10% compared to last month, and this number is still slowly increasing.

It stared at the fading points of light, its face calm and unreadable.

The sound of wings flapping came from outside the window.

Qin Yuan raised his eyes and saw that the gray-feathered carrier pigeon had landed on the windowsill, with an extremely thin bamboo tube tied to its leg.

It reached out and took the bamboo tube, pulled out the secret letter inside, and glanced at the few lines of tiny characters on the paper.

Zhou Wu, Ling Fu, temporarily suspended.

Its brow furrowed slightly, then relaxed. It brought the secret letter to the candlelight, watching the paper curl, char, and turn to ash.

Zhou Wu actually realized something?

This veteran constable, who's been in office for over ten years, is indeed a bit smarter...

"My lord." From the shadows behind him, a figure dressed in a gray Taoist robe bowed slightly.

His figure and face were ordinary; he was the kind of person who would never be noticed in a crowd.

This is how most of Huanxitang's undercover agents operate; the more inconspicuous they are, the easier it is for them to lurk in various parts of the county.

"Since Zhou Wu has become suspicious, should we do this before he reports it to the authorities—"

Qin Yuan raised his hand, and the spy swallowed his words.

"He is the head constable of the county government. He is not a street thug, nor a mine supervisor, but a proper official appointed by the imperial court."

"He came to the county magistrate's office tonight to offer his advice, and the next day he was found dead in the street."

"Do you think the prefectural city will send someone to investigate? The henchmen of the Demon Suppression Division are just looking for an excuse to plant a spy in Black Mountain County."

Qin Yuan spoke calmly, as if explaining a very simple lesson to an ignorant junior, "Right now he has only raised a hint, without any evidence or action."

"Since there's no action, let's leave it alone for now."

The hidden stakeholder bowed his head and replied, "Yes."

Qin Yuan stood up and took a yellowed register from the wooden shelf in the alchemy room.

The roster cover had no words, only a dark pink talisman.

It casually flipped through a couple of pages, then asked without turning its head, "How's the investigation into the background of the third young master of the Lu family going?"

The undercover agent took out a thin booklet from his sleeve and handed it over.

Qin Yuan took it and flipped through it from beginning to end.

The booklet was filled with Lu Changqing's resume, which ran from childhood to six months ago:

He failed to cultivate Taoism, his meridians were naturally blocked; he was afraid of the hardships of martial arts training, and could not even stand in a horse stance for half a quarter of an hour; he spent his days eating, drinking and having fun, and occasionally went to brothels to listen to music. He was lazy but not a playboy.

The various families in Heishan County held a remarkably consistent opinion about this Third Young Master Lu:

The Lu family has three sons: a dragon, a phoenix, and a dog. He is that dog.

"That shouldn't be the case." Qin Yuan closed the booklet, his voice filled with a hint of confusion and bewilderment.

The booklet clearly states that this Lu Changqing has nothing special about him. He has no extraordinary encounters, no hidden talents, and has not suddenly disappeared for several years to become a disciple of some master.

His resume is like a bowl of plain water; you can see right through it.

But that night, it witnessed the young man kill the leader of the Blood Zombie Hall outside the city.

It didn't even flinch when faced with the joy spell it released remotely.

That's definitely not the kind of performance a good-for-nothing should have.

Not to mention its capabilities in the mines.

"Could it be that the blood zombie's brand really opened up his meridians?"

"Or is it that Lu Ba has actually been using this youngest son as a hidden weapon for the Lu family?"

It muttered something to itself, then shook its head.

The latter is unlikely.

If it's the former...

How much luck must this kid have to achieve such success?

"Sir," the spy said after a moment, seeing that it showed no intention of continuing to read, "since we can't find out his true background, what should we do now?"

"Should we start by putting pressure on him through the Lu family?"

Qin Yuan casually tossed the booklet back to the spy, his usual warm smile returning to his face.

He recalled the suspicious look in Lu Changqing's eyes back then.

There was also the beautiful maidservant beside Lu Changqing, who was clearly exceptionally talented and seemed to possess a tranquil spring within her.

Its lower limbs couldn't help but twitch violently...

Its smile, illuminated by the candlelight, appeared extremely gentle, yet it did not reach its eyes.

"Need not."

Qin Yuan sat back down on the futon and refocused his attention on the jade tablet in front of him. "Qingfeng Temple belongs to us, and the county magistrate also belongs to us."

"What makes him, the third young master of the Lu family, think he can fight us?"

"Once Heishan County falls, we'll capture him sooner or later and see what's really hiding under that facade!"

"And that maid of his...heh, if I could capture her and play with her for a while, maybe I could break through to the mid-stage of the Core Formation realm..."

The hidden stakeout said no more, bowed and retreated into the shadows, disappearing silently outside the alchemy room.

Qin Yuan sat alone on the futon, his fingers gently tapping the edge of the jade tablet.

Finally, it revealed a warm smile, but secretly carried countless lewd smiles.

...

...

In the courtyard, the cold winter wind swept over the top of the courtyard wall, carrying a few withered leaves that swirled and landed on the bluestone slabs.

Lu Changqing sat cross-legged in the medicinal bath tub, shirtless.

The herbal decoction in the bucket was dark brown, with powdered fire tongue grass mixed among more than ten kinds of medicinal herbs, slowly releasing its scalding medicinal power in the boiling broth.

The medicinal soup reached above his chest, and every breath he took carried a strong medicinal smell.

Golden veins and jade-like energy flowed slowly beneath his skin, and the power surging from the depths of his bone marrow was constantly stimulating the circulation of qi and blood within his body.

With each breath, new blood is generated in the bone marrow, while the old blood is pushed to the meridians throughout the body, where it is refined by the circulation of qi and blood through standing meditation.

The core of the Blood Exchange Realm is to replace old blood with new blood.

The quality of Qi and blood is continuously improved until it reaches a level sufficient to support the outward release of internal energy.

He closed his eyes and focused his mind on the flow of qi and blood within his body.

The clear, crystal-like spiritual liquid in his dantian was still slowly rotating, with extremely faint golden patterns mixed in with each drop.

Those are the marks left by the trials and tribulations of the seven emotions and six desires, forged day and night.

The Golden Skin Jade Meridian not only strengthened his physical body but also expanded his meridians, allowing him to absorb far more spiritual energy during each cultivation session than other cultivators at the same level.

At this moment, he is only one last bit of spiritual power away from the next level of the Condensation Realm.

【Qingfeng Technique (Minor Success, 4989/5000)】

This number represents the increase he made during his cultivation while conquering the Land of Fallen Pills and the Town of Seven Emotions and Six Desires.

The pure yang spiritual power contained in the spark was refined by the seven emotions and six desires, and was completely transformed into the purest spiritual liquid, pushing his cultivation to the threshold of a breakthrough.

Normally, at the pace of cultivation, it would take at least ten days to half a month to grind through those last few hundred points of proficiency.

However, the widening of the meridians of the Golden Skin Jade Network, coupled with the tempering efficiency of the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Meridians, has forcibly compressed this time to tonight.

He took a deep breath, inhaling the last bit of medicinal power from the fire tongue grass in the medicinal bath.

Cultivating to the Blood Exchange Realm is a slow and steady process, requiring patience and taking one step at a time.

The quality of blood needs time to settle, and the rate at which bone marrow produces blood also has its upper limit.

However, the path of cultivation is blessed by the Golden Skin and Jade Meridians and the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Sutra.

His speed far surpasses that of ordinary cultivators at the Condensation Realm.

After the liquid condenses, it transforms into an elixir.

The so-called "transformation of the elixir" refers to the process of continuously compressing, refining, and solidifying the liquid spiritual energy in the dantian, eventually forming a solid spiritual energy elixir at the core of the dantian.

When the spiritual liquid is transformed into a spiritual pill, both the quality and quantity of spiritual power will undergo a qualitative leap.

If the Condensation Realm is about compressing spiritual energy from a "gas state" to a "liquid state", then the Core Formation Realm is about solidifying the "liquid state" into a "solid state".

Once this step is taken, the explosive power, sustainability, and upper limit of the spells that can be carried by spiritual energy will increase several times over!

After the transformation of the elixir comes the rebirth.

The elixir is continuously nurtured in the dantian, with the elixir as its core and spiritual energy as its nourishment, thus replenishing the physical body and the soul.

The lifespan of cultivators in the Transcendent Realm will be significantly extended, and their physical bodies will begin to break free from the shackles of the mortal body under the influence of spiritual power.

It's not the external strengthening like body tempering, but a transformation from the inside out.

At this stage, cultivators are no longer ordinary people.

After being reborn, one is in a state of spiritual wandering.

Their divine souls were so solidified that they could briefly leave their bodies, roam the heavens and earth, and perceive an area of ​​several miles in an instant. Cultivators at this level were extremely rare in the entire prefecture.

As for the realm of spiritual travel.

That's already at the state capital level.

Lu Changqing pondered these thoughts one by one, then focused his mind and concentrated all his attention on the pool of spiritual liquid in his dantian that had begun to tremble slightly.

"Just a little bit more."

He didn't deliberately push it, but let the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Meridian operate on its own, refining, purifying, and injecting the remaining medicinal power and spiritual energy in his body into his dantian little by little.

Night was falling.

Qingyun had already finished her cultivation for the day and was sitting on the threshold wiping the blade of her natal spirit sword.

It didn't make a sound to disturb the young master, only occasionally glancing up at the rock-solid figure in the medicinal bath tub.

The night wind grew colder, and most of the leaves on the old locust tree in the corner of the yard had already fallen.

At a certain moment, all the candles in the room flickered.

Lu Changqing's body jolted violently.

At this moment, the pool of spiritual liquid in the dantian finally broke through the critical point.

All the spiritual liquid mixed with golden patterns began to collapse wildly towards the core of the dantian, as if it were being tightly gripped by an invisible hand.

Under extreme compression, the liquid spiritual energy began to undergo a qualitative change. The core drop of spiritual liquid solidified first, condensing into an extremely fine crystal particle with a pale golden luster.

The moment this crystal appeared, the surrounding spiritual liquid seemed to find its core, and began to condense, solidify, and fuse layer upon layer around it.

From a drop to a clump, from a clump to a whole grain.

The pale golden elixir slowly rotated at the core of the dantian, absorbing the surrounding spiritual liquid with each rotation, and its volume increased at a visible rate.

Until the last drop of spiritual liquid in the dantian was completely absorbed, the spiritual pill finally stopped spinning and quietly floated in the center of the dantian, emitting a warm and profound pale golden light.

The Core Formation Realm is complete!

Lu Changqing opened his eyes.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

That breath, in the cold winter air, transformed into a straight white arrow, shooting three feet before slowly dissipating.

He looked down at his hands and gently clenched his fists.

The spiritual pill in his dantian trembled slightly, and a spiritual power several times more solid than that of the Condensation Realm surged into his palm through his meridians.

No hand seals or deliberate manipulation were needed; the conversion between spiritual energy and blood energy had never been so smooth.

If the spiritual power of the Condensation Realm is a calm pool of water, then the spiritual power of the Core Formation Realm is a sharp sword that can be drawn at any time.

"disease."

Lu Changqing spoke softly.

Countless strong winds suddenly surged around him, raging through the courtyard.

For him now, the Gale Technique no longer requires hand seals or incantations; he only needs to think about it to cause his spiritual energy to surge.

A powerful wind will then form around them, which can easily injure the enemy!

"Water, come!"

He raised his hand slightly.

Countless water columns appeared around Lu Changqing, swirling around his body.

It looks gentle, but the energy contained within the water column is enough to shatter a rock!

"With our current strength, if we wanted to kill that blood zombie from that night, it probably wouldn't even have a chance to escape!"

"Not only has the casting speed increased, but the power of the spell has also been significantly enhanced!"

"This is the Transformation of the Elixir!"

The Realm of Transformation into Elixir.

Among the cultivators in Heishan County, only the abbot of Qingfeng Temple has reached this level.

Now that the abbot's whereabouts are unknown, he is the only remaining cultivator at the Core Formation Realm in the entire Black Mountain County.

Even in the capital city, the Core Formation Realm is considered a top-tier cultivation level.

Not top-notch, but certainly not shabby.

Even the official members of the Fucheng Town Demon Division are only between the Qi Condensation stage and the Core Formation stage.

Most importantly, Lu Changqing cultivates both Daoist and martial arts!

The combined power of a martial artist at the Blood Exchange Realm and a Daoist cultivator at the Core Formation Realm is far more complex than simply one plus one equals two.

Qingyun stood up from the threshold, holding the spirit sword, and looked at him with a hint of surprise in her eyes.

"Young Master, you've broken through to a higher level?"

Lu Changqing nodded and stood up from the medicinal bath tub with a smile.

He took the dry cloth that Qingyun handed him and casually wiped the medicine stains off his body.

"The Golden Skin Jade Meridian increases the amount of spiritual energy that can be absorbed each day, which naturally improves the progress of cultivation."

"This feeling is really great!"

As he changed into clean clothes, he was already planning his next move.

We obtained the scriptures from the Town of Seven Emotions and Six Desires, and also collected the sparks from the Land of Fallen Pills.

But he hadn't explored the rightmost road at that three-way intersection yet.

Judging from the scale of the previous two routes, the right route must also have an area of ​​the same level as the Seven Emotions and Six Desires Town and the Land of Fallen Pills.

"Tomorrow we'll go to Taikoo, take the road on the right."

Once the blood is replenished through martial arts, the vital energy enters the body.

Once I've broken through in both Daoist and martial arts cultivation, taking down that damned Qin Yuan won't be a problem!

only...

Lu Changqing's eyes held a hint of contemplation and worry.

"That guy Qin Yuan has been plotting in Qingfeng Temple for so long."

"His assistance cannot come solely from himself."

"I wonder if there are any other lurking enemies besides him..."

...

...

Two days have passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day, Huang Hu of the Black Tiger Gang took the initiative to visit.

Inside the courtyard.

Upon seeing Lu Changqing, Huang Hu immediately approached with a fawning smile: "Young Master Lu! Thanks to you, the Black Tiger Gang is now completely stable."

"And the letter you're looking for, we've sent people there right away."

"This morning, the people below said that they saw what appeared to be traces of an array on the two official roads east of the prefectural city."

"I suspected it was likely related to the master and mistress, so I rushed over!"

Upon hearing this, Lu Changqing felt a chill run down his spine.

"Specific details about my parents?"

"Where is the exact location?!"