Fantasy, starting with a treasure bowl

hum!

With a flash of strange golden light, a gilded ancient cauldron appeared out of thin air, which was none other than the Treasure Basin.

As for the center of the treasure basin, there lay quietly pieces of crystal-clear energy, like crystals. Although the total number did not seem to be many, it still made Lu Feng's eyes light up and filled him with excitement!

"One, two, three, four... nearly a hundred sword spirits and blade souls!"

"This time, buddy, we're really going to take off...!"

After carefully counting the sword spirits and blade essences inside the treasure basin, Lu Feng could not hide his joy. He immediately grabbed them from a distance and instantly absorbed them into his palm.

Although his soul power has not improved for a long time, and his soul power cultivation has been stuck at the ninth level of soul power without making any progress, it is almost a long way from breaking through to the minor grandmaster realm!

However, with Lu Feng now possessing nearly a hundred sword souls and blade spirits, the situation is quite different.

If all these sword spirits and blade souls were refined, the soul power they would provide would undoubtedly be astonishing. Not to mention Lu Feng himself, even a pig would experience a significant increase in soul power and break through to a higher realm!

"Refine!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Lu Feng crushed one of the sword souls and blade spirits with one hand, and at the same time sat cross-legged on the spot, beginning to refine and absorb the soul power contained within.

Click...!

With a soft sound of crystal breaking, an extremely pure and invisible soul force appeared out of thin air and then slowly flowed into the soul sea deep in Lu Feng's brain.

"Has your soul power indeed increased slightly again?"

"Again...!"

Noticing that his soul sea had grown stronger, Lu Feng was overjoyed. He reached out and grabbed to the side, crushing the remaining sword souls and blade spirits!

Swish!Swish!Swish!

With the influx of a large amount of invisible soul power, Lu Feng's soul sea also grew rapidly, expanding from the size of a bowl to the size of a washbasin, with its overall area almost doubling in size!

Moreover, under the impact of a large amount of invisible soul power, the originally indestructible barrier of his realm began to gradually loosen, and he made great strides toward the Lesser Grandmaster realm, only one step away from a formal breakthrough!

"Just one last step...!"

After an unknown amount of time, accompanied by a bead of sweat sliding down his forehead, Lu Feng suddenly roared, his palms clasped together emphatically, unleashing an astonishing surge of soul power. "Break through!"

Rumble!

A thunderous roar suddenly came from nowhere, and the next moment, the numerous sword souls and blade spirits scattered around Lu Feng shattered one by one, as if they had completely lost their power and essence, turning into dust on the spot!

As for Lu Feng's own soul power, it also increased several times over. Not only did he break through the Lesser Grandmaster realm in one leap, but he also broke through two levels in a row, and has already stepped into the middle stage of Lesser Grandmaster, almost comparable to a five-star Xuan-grade alchemist!

"Hahaha, I finally succeeded...!"

Feeling his soul sea growing stronger again, and the endless stream of soul power surging out, Lu Feng could hardly stop smiling, and his eyes narrowed into green beans.

After all, the cultivation of soul power is different from the cultivation of elemental power, and the difficulty of breaking through it is several times greater!

Moreover, ordinary martial artists who want to improve their soul power cultivation usually need to spend a lot of time and effort, as well as collect various rare treasures to nourish their souls as an aid. The difficulty of breaking through is extraordinary!

This is why alchemists and weapon forgers, who specialize in cultivating soul power, are so popular in the Misty Continent. They are treated as honored guests by major sects and clans, and can make money almost effortlessly!

"call...!"

Slowly suppressing his joy, Lu Feng exhaled again, his gaze softening. "Now that Deng Shizai is gone, those people from the Dragon Arena won't be able to find me anytime soon. It's time to tell that girl the truth..."

"I hope that girl still remembers me after more than a year..."

As Lu Xiaoxiang's departing figure reappeared in his mind, Lu Feng was filled with emotion and immediately turned to leave the nameless forest.

.....

Meanwhile, in a humble inn outside Jinling City...

"Shopkeeper, I want to check out."

Stepping to the counter on the first floor, Lu Xiaoxiang took out a room key from her pocket and casually tossed it to an elderly man in his seventies wearing reading glasses at the opposite counter.

"what?"

The elderly man, who was in his seventies, was taken aback for a moment after quickly taking the room key. Then, he asked with some surprise, "Miss Lu, please forgive my impertinence, but are you already canceling your reservation after only half a day?"

"Was our service inadequate, or did we offend Miss Lu in some way, which is why you, Miss Lu,..."

"That's not true, I just don't want to live here anymore."

Raising her hand again to interrupt the elderly man, Lu Xiaoxiang's pretty face remained calm as she said in a light tone, "Manager, could you please settle the check-out fee? Thank you."

"Uh, okay!"

Seeing that Lu Xiaoxiang was determined, the elderly man didn't press further. He adjusted his reading glasses and began fiddling with his abacus. "Well, according to our lodging prices and management rules, you have to pay the full amount regardless of whether you stay for a full day..."

"Therefore, Miss Lu, you will need to pay a total of one thousand mid-grade spirit stones. Do you have any objections, Miss Lu?"

"One thousand mid-grade spirit stones?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Xiaoxiang frowned slightly, her expression turning somewhat unpleasant. "Ugh, why is it still so expensive...!"

Although she had specifically chosen a relatively ordinary inn to stay in, the overall prices in Jinling City were still higher than Lu Xiaoxiang had expected. Even a simple inn in the outer city would cost over a thousand mid-grade spirit stones for a single night!

"Well, never mind! This isn't the Southern Yue Kingdom after all, but the capital city of Yingtian Prefecture in the Xuan Song Empire. Prices here are bound to be high, so let's just consider it money spent to avoid trouble..."

Thinking of this, Lu Xiaoxiang sighed inwardly, then made a move to take out her wallet to pay.

The reason she was in such a hurry to check out was simple: to leave Jinling City as soon as possible and avoid future retaliation from Deng Shizai, a disciple of the Qingyun Sect.

After all, although Deng Shizai had learned a lesson and suffered serious injuries at Baixiaoge, his life was not in danger.

With Lu Xiaoxiang's mere cultivation at the first level of the Yuanhai Realm, there was no way she could contend with Deng Shizai. Therefore, if she wanted to protect herself, she had no choice but to leave Jinling City!

"Shopkeeper, wait a minute."

Just as the elderly man was about to collect his money and check out, a gentle male voice with a soft laugh suddenly came from behind, interrupting his actions.

"I'll cover Ms. Lu's check-out fee!"

The next moment, Lu Feng, covered in blood, slowly stepped into the inn, a faint smile still playing on his lips. This caused Lu Xiaoxiang's pretty face to freeze in surprise. "You, you are...Young Master Duan?!"