Elderly Martial Saint: Sixty Times the Cultivation Speed ​​at the Start

"Lu Quan'an looked at him, and in his deep brown, almost black eyes, it seemed as if a hundred years of dust and smoke were reflected."

He uttered four words softly.

"The Taoist Master Songqing"

These four words struck Yi Yang like a thunderclap in the silence.

A look of shock appeared on his face, and he unconsciously opened his mouth, never expecting that Lu Quan would mention this name to him.

How should I put it?

It was both unexpected and not unexpected. In Yi Yang's understanding, the only person who could do such a thing was that mysterious Taoist priest who appeared in Yunlin County three hundred years ago.

Seeing his utterly surprised expression, Lu Quan'an gave him a half-smile and asked:

"Have you been wanting to hear that name from me for a long time?"

Yi Yang didn't deny it and nodded.

He had indeed thought about this issue for a long time.

Starting with the incomplete "Yi Mu Health Preservation Exercise" in Yunlin County, and ending with the faceless wooden sculpture on the fifth floor of the armory of the Prefectural City's Heavenly Patrol Division.

Then, starting with Bai Longze's "The Record of the Abyss," the name Songqing Daoren became like a thread, leading him further and further down the path of cultivation.

Every clue is broken, and every clue points to a powerful figure from three hundred years ago, but that person has long since disappeared.

He just never expected to hear it from Lu Quan'an in this way.

"My lord...you..."

"You should have already sensed it," Lu Quan'an said with his hands behind his back, his tone full of admiration. "We cultivate the same technique."

Yi Yang's pupils contracted.

He did have his doubts.

Regardless of which book of cultivation notes about the True Gang Realm of the "Yi Wood Nourishing Life Technique" Lu Quan'an gave him, or the layer of greenish-blue true energy when he made a move.

The method of operation of the technique was exactly the same as his own Yi Wood True Qi, but the other party's level was too high, so he never dared to confirm it.

"The Yi Wood Health Preservation Exercise," Yi Yang said, uttering the name.

Lu Quan'an nodded in response, "The origin of this technique is the mysterious and powerful figure from three hundred years ago, Daoist Songqing."

He walked to the window, pushed open the still relatively intact window, and the night wind blew in from outside, carrying the smell of burnt pine wood.

"The origin of this 'Yi Wood Health Preservation Exercise' is the Songqing Daoist from three hundred years ago."

The patriarch.

Yi Yang grasped the meaning of the title from the other party's words.

"Has Your Excellency met Master Songqing?"

"No," Lu Quan'an shook his head, a hint of regret in his voice. "I've never seen it either."

"Then why is he called the Patriarch?"

Lu Quan'an remained silent for a moment, then explained with a hint of reminiscence:

"Because my grandfather saw it."

Yi Yang was stunned.

"My grandfather's name is Lu Sanjin." Lu Quan'an turned his head, the moonlight shining on his half-white hair.

"Three hundred years ago, there was no Heavenly Patrol Bureau in the entire Suining Prefecture. The City Lord's Mansion was in charge. My grandfather worked as a stable boy in the City Lord's Mansion, doing the hard job of feeding horses and chopping grass for seventeen or eighteen years."

"And then?"

"Later, he offended the steward of the city lord's mansion and was kicked out on some pretext."

Lu Quan'an spoke casually, as if he were telling someone else's story:

"The steward gave him a dangerous mission, sending him into the mountains to find a precious medicinal herb for the city lord. The mountain roads were difficult to traverse, and poisonous insects and ferocious beasts were everywhere. To put it bluntly, it was just driving him into the mountains to wait for death."

Upon hearing this, Yi Yang recalled the scene of being harassed in Sanmu Village when he was young.

Different eras, same methods: the lives of the underprivileged are never worth anything.

"My grandfather went into the mountains and wandered around for three days and three nights, but he couldn't find the medicine. Instead, he exhausted himself to the point of near death."

Lu Quan'an lowered his voice, which seemed to carry a hint of anger:

"On the fourth day, when his remaining food supplies ran out, he met a Taoist priest by a mountain stream."

"The Taoist priest was wearing an old Taoist robe and was sitting on a rock fishing, with a medicine basket beside him. My grandfather was so hungry that his eyes were blurry, so he rushed up to him and begged for some food."

"The Taoist priest didn't look down on him. He shared half of the grilled fish with him and asked him why he had come to this deep mountain forest."

"My grandfather told me his story, saying that the steward had punished him by making him come to find medicine, and if he couldn't find it, he wouldn't be able to go back."

Lu Quan'an's lips twitched slightly, and he said with a grateful tone:

After listening, the Taoist priest took a herb from his medicine basket, handed it to my grandfather, and said, "Here's the medicine you wanted."

"My grandfather went mad. He had never seen that herb before. It glowed with a purple light and had gold threads wrapped around its roots. Even the city lord's medicine storehouse probably didn't have anything of that quality, but according to the description, it was the one the steward had asked him to find."

Yi Yang tapped his knee twice with his fingers.

Three hundred years ago, the Taoist Songqing could casually pull out such precious medicines from his medicine basket. The Grand Inspector Grandpa thought it was just like when he found the purple wood on Qingmu Mountain back then—both were opportunities that others couldn't even dream of.

"My grandfather knelt down and was about to kowtow and become a disciple." Lu Quan'an took a step forward. "But the Taoist priest refused to accept him."

"Confiscate it?"

"Well, they said the time wasn't right, but they didn't let him leave empty-handed either."

"In addition to giving him precious medicine, the Taoist priest also taught him a set of health-preserving exercises."

"The Yi Wood Health Preservation Exercise," Yi Yang added.

"Yes, my grandfather only met the patriarch once. After that, the Taoist left and disappeared without a trace."

Yi Yang quickly gathered this information in his mind.

Songqing Daoist appeared in Suining Prefecture three hundred years ago, passed on his cultivation techniques to Lu Quan'an's grandfather, and then disappeared.

The faceless wooden sculpture in the armory and the records in Bai Longze's "Records of the Abyss" all matched up.

"What happened to your grandfather afterward?"

"Later, he returned to the city lord's mansion with the precious medicine and reported back. When the steward saw that he had actually returned alive and with good things, his face turned very ugly. But since the things were there, he couldn't make a scene."

"My grandfather wasn't stupid either. With the help of this precious medicine, he was able to escape the lowly status of a stable boy, leave the city lord's mansion, and become an ordinary citizen."

Later, he opened a small shop in town and made a living by trading. He also practiced cultivation, but his talent was average, and he remained at the sixth level of Qi and Blood in this lifetime.

Yi Yang listened quietly.

The outline of the wooden sculpture in the armory appeared in his mind.

No wonder.

No wonder that wooden sculpture had no face.

Because the ancestor of the Lu family had only seen Songqing Daoist once, and could not remember his appearance, or perhaps dared not carve the face of the immortal.

"In his later years, my grandfather kept talking about the immortal who passed on his skills, but he never saw him again after searching for his whole life." Lu Quan'an paused for a moment. "My grandfather did not formally become an apprentice and dared not call himself a disciple. He could only erect a statue in his home and respectfully call him 'Grandmaster'."

"Later, this story was passed down. Unfortunately, my father's physique was not well-suited to this technique. He practiced it his whole life but only reached the Inner Qi Realm, so he naturally had no way of finding the whereabouts of the founder."

"Until you, sir, appear," Yi Yang asked, guessing.

"Until I appeared." Lu Quan'an repeated, his tone carrying a hint of something, a mixture of pride and wistfulness.

"My constitution is a good match for the 'Yi Mu Health Preservation Exercise.' But it took me ten years to fully cultivate the six levels of Qi and Blood."

ten years?

Yi Yang's eyelid twitched.

Countless thoughts raced through his mind.

He himself had personally experienced this "Yi Wood Health Preservation Exercise".

Even considering only the most basic level D-grade physique, without external assistance, it would take ten years just to cultivate to the first level of Qi and Blood.

Lu Quan'an, on the other hand, spent ten years completing the entire Qi and Blood Chapter?

This old guy calls this a "perfect match"?

This talent, even in the entire Suining Prefecture, no, even in the entire Qingzhou, would be considered top-tier!

However, Yi Yang has no right to judge others.

He only started practicing martial arts at the age of sixty, relying on the "old horse in the stable" cheat code to accelerate his progress, which is strictly speaking completely unrelated to the normal cultivation path.

"Later I joined the Sky Patrol Division," Lu Quan'an continued. "With the resources within the division, I reached the peak of my inner energy cultivation at the age of thirty-five. At forty, I broke through to the True Qi Realm."

"At fifty, I destroyed the city lord's mansion in the prefecture and took the position of chief inspector."

Yi Yang's Adam's apple bobbed.

The city lord was destroyed?

Three hundred years ago, Suining Prefecture did not have a Heavenly Patrol Bureau; the City Lord's Mansion was the highest authority.

The person who can sit in that position is definitely no weaker than the True Qi Realm Perfection Realm.

Lu Quan'an destroyed that kind of being when he was fifty years old.

"Counting the days, it's almost been a hundred years now," Lu Quan'an said, as if reminiscing or talking to himself.

a hundred years.

Yi Yang felt a chill run down his back.

An old monster who has been immersed in this technique for a hundred years.

No wonder.

No wonder he struck that Profound Realm "Yin Breath" so easily.

The "Yi Wood Health Preservation Exercise" becomes increasingly difficult to practice as you progress, but similarly, the accumulation of knowledge and skills also deepens.

Just how terrifying is Lu Quan'an's accumulation over the past century? His cultivation level is definitely more than just the Profound Realm!

Yi Yang dared not think too deeply about it.

He finally understood why Lu Quan'an knew everything about the city and why the three major sects had to bow down to him.

This chief inspector is himself the largest mountain in Suining Prefecture.

"Later I learned that the patriarch had also passed down some martial arts techniques around Suining Prefecture, but I had never heard of anyone making a name for themselves in them."

Lu Quan'an's gaze fell on Yi Yang.

"Until you came along."

That's a very meaningful statement.

Yi Yang remained outwardly calm, suppressing the turbulent thoughts churning in his mind.

Lu Quan'an's talent is indeed outstanding, but compared to the destiny of an "old horse in its stall" (meaning someone who is destined to continue working hard), he is still on a different level.

He went from a useless sixty-year-old woodcutter to the True Qi Realm in less than three years.

Of course, this is something you absolutely must never tell anyone.

He changed his form of address and followed up on Lu Quan'an's question, asking, "Then... Chief Inspector, were you able to find the whereabouts of the Ancestor later?"

Since they are all of the same lineage, it is not an exaggeration to call them patriarchs.

Lu Quan'an shook his head.

"After my cultivation reached the Profound Realm, I also tried to trace the footsteps of my ancestor."

"But we only found a trace he left three hundred years ago."

Yi Yang's breath hitched. He hadn't expected that even someone at the Tongxuan Realm would have difficulty detecting the whereabouts of a Daoist.

He turned around, his gaze passing through the half-broken window, looking at the dark, looming mountain ridge in the distance.

"Deep in the southern region of Bailongze, there is a dangerous place called 'Claw Scale Abyss'."

"It was a deep abyss shaped like a giant claw, with a trace of [Heavenly Might] remaining at its bottom."

Yi Yang's brow twitched slightly.

"Clawscale Abyss?"

"A deep abyss, shaped like a chasm torn open by the claws of a giant beast, its walls covered with scale-like rock formations," Lu Quan'an briefly described the scene he had witnessed. "That place is located in the deepest part of the southern region of White Dragon Marsh, inaccessible to ordinary people. Even a True Qi Perfection expert would have to proceed with caution if they got nearby."

Why?

"Because a wisp of life remains in that abyss."

"That aura has lingered for three hundred years." For the first time, Lu Quan'an's tone carried a hint of awe.

Yi Yang's fingers unconsciously clenched the fabric on his knees.

Is the aura left from three hundred years ago still there?

He had been to the southern region of Bailongze and knew how dangerous the waters beneath were. When he encountered the blood-red vortex underwater, "Zongsha" and Qin Wuli emerged from it, and the oppressive feeling they exuded made his heart pound.

But compared to the "Claw Scale Abyss" that Lu Quan'an mentioned, that sense of oppression is probably not even an appetizer.

"I went there to investigate, but I only stayed there for less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn."

Yi Yang waited for the next installment.

"That aura was neither aggressive nor murderous. But when you stood at the bottom of the abyss and looked up—"

Lu Quan'an turned his gaze from the window and landed on Yi Yang's face.

"Like an abyss, like a prison."

The moment those four words were uttered, the air in the room seemed to freeze for a moment.

"Everyone who's been there describes it this way. Before I went, I thought they were exaggerating, but after going, I realized that those four words are an understatement."

"I feel that aura is so powerful... that it seems otherworldly."

Upon hearing this statement, Yi Yang fell silent.

His mind was rapidly processing this information.

Three hundred years ago, Song Qing Daoist passed through Sui Ning Prefecture and casually passed on a set of cultivation techniques to Lu Quan'an's grandfather. He also left behind an aura of the [Heavenly Might] level in the southern region of Bailongze.

It has been lingering for three hundred years, and Lu Quan'an, who is at the Tongxuan Realm, can only stay inside for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

What level of existence was this patriarch?

"The master just said that the divine sense of someone at the [Heavenly Might] realm is comparable to that of a martial arts grandmaster." Yi Yang swallowed hard. "Then what about the ancestor's martial arts cultivation..."

"have no idea."

Hearing Yi Yang's question, Lu Quan'an shook his head decisively. "I can only confirm that the aura belonged to the realm of divine sense, not martial arts qi. As for how far he had progressed in martial arts... that happened three hundred years ago, who can say for sure?"

Well, asking is pointless.

Yi Yang kept this matter in mind, planning to visit the "Claw Scale Abyss" himself someday. Of course, he couldn't do it now; with his strength, going there would be a waste.

"Alright." Lu Quan'an seemed to see through his thoughts and waved his hand. "Let's end the conversation here. Right now, you should refine that Xuan Nian Stone first."

He turned to leave.

As Yi Yang watched his retreating figure, something suddenly occurred to her, and she blurted it out.

"My lord, Director Yan of the Youquan Division...is there something important that she needs to do in Qingzhou City?"

He regretted asking the question as soon as he did.

That was a very abrupt and personal question.

Lu Quan'an stopped in his tracks.

He slowly turned halfway around, the moonlight outlining the contours of his profile. His deep brown, almost black eyes looked at Yi Yang in the shadows, a half-smile on his face.

"You care about her a lot?"

Yi Yang's heart skipped a beat, and he opened his mouth, unsure of how to respond.

To say I don't care? That would be a lie.

Yan Wuyuan had helped him and even took care of Yuexin; the favor she did for him was immense.

To say he cares? It just doesn't feel right for a subordinate to care about his boss's whereabouts.

Before Yi Yang could come up with an explanation, Lu Quan'an spoke up again.

You don't need to worry about her.

"Given her status, very few people in Qingzhou City would dare to touch her."

After saying that, Lu Quan'an disappeared through the doorway.

It was decisive and efficient, without the slightest hesitation.

All that remained was a room full of moonlight and Yi Yang standing there, looking completely bewildered.

Who is she?

What other identities does Yan Wuyuan have?

Another unresolved issue has been added to Yi Yang's mind.

He shook his head, trying to banish these random thoughts.

Thinking about it more won't help.

The most urgent task is to enhance our strength.

He walked to the door, re-latched it, and confirmed that there was no other smell around.

Then, he carefully took the grayish-white stone out of his pocket.

Mysterious Stone.