Taoist Antecedent of the Yellow Court - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: Preparing to Escape

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

For the next two months, Lu Qingfeng concentrated on the refinement of Fasting Pills.

Refining all day, every day, with two furnaces, he ended up with a yield of 24 Fasting Pills a day.

Before he went offline, he’d refined a total of 1,780 Fasting Pills. Excluding the ones that he sold to acquire the medicinal herbs needed to refine them, he’d made a profit of a total of 1,234 Fasting Pills.

The exchange ratio of ordinary Fasting Pills to Yellow Dragon Pills was five to one, while the exchange ratio of the Fasting Pills refined by Lu Qingfeng to Yellow Dragon Pills was four to one.

Hence, 1,234 Fasting Pills converted to Yellow Dragon Pills was 308 in total, still a little short of 500 pills. He would only be able make it up when he came back online in two months.

…

Time in “Primitive” flew by quickly, while at the same time only a night had passed in Blackwood Village.

Going back and forth amid a 100-fold time difference was fairly disconcerting. Every time Lu Qingfeng went on and offline, he would feel as if a generation had passed and become ever more amazed by the power of time.

On this day…

It was time to go to Ganoderma Mountain again.

It had been more than five months since Lu Qingshan had joined the Truth Sect.

They met up at the foot of Ganoderma Mountain.

“Qingfeng, a few days ago, a formal disciple by the name of Wu Yuan came to the Labor Hall to select servants, and I was selected. A total of six labor disciples were selected alongside me. Wu Yuan told us to prepare ourselves with food and follow him to the opposite bank of the Chengyang River in three days to pick Spirit Herbs.”

More than five months have passed. Lu Qingshan’s body was still thin, but he looked much stronger than before. Being alone in the Truth Sect, his temperament had also altered slightly, and he was no longer as timid and unopinionated as before.

However, no matter what happened in the Truth Sect, it was still a fact that Lu Qingshan would tell Lu Qingfeng everything that had passed when he met him every seven days and listen to Lu Qingfeng’s opinions.

This time, he told his brother that he had been selected by Wu Yuan as a servant and might even be going to the other side of the Chengyang River in three days. Lu Qingshan felt that this might be an opportunity, but he also felt a little worried about it.

Every year or so in the Truth Sect, a number of their formal disciples would attain Level 4 in the Art of Truth and be promoted to a true disciple. A true disciple had the authority to select servants who would be at their disposal from the ranks of labor disciples.

In addition, the Truth Sect would also assign missions to newly promoted true disciples, mostly to pick Spirit Herbs on the other side of the Chengyang River.

The other side of the Chengyang River seldom received visitors and was an extremely dangerous place.

Various wild beasts lurked around the area. Poisonous creatures like snakes, insects, and rats were plenteous.

Frequently, true disciples would take their newly recruited servants on the mission with them. However, less than 10 percent of these servants would come back alive. Even the true disciples who had attained Level 4 in the Art of Truth might not be able to return, thus being forced to stay on the other side for eternity.

But notwithstanding all that, if one could complete the mission alongside the true disciple and return home together, the true disciple would accept the servant into their utmost care and they would become confidants.

“The other bank of the Chengyang River?”

After Lu Qingfeng heard that, he frowned.

Although he had never been to the other side of the Chengyang River, he had heard stories ever since he was a child about the beasts on the other side of the river that were extremely ferocious. Supposedly, there were even monsters whose existences were not inferior to the Sages of the Truth Sect.

The monsters had always been unable to cross the Chengyang River, and thus were unable to threaten Blackwood Village.

Crossing the river?

No one in Blackwood Village would ever dare to do so.

Five months ago, when he’d heard that Lu Qingshan had been selected as a Truth Sect’s labor disciple, the brothers had freaked out because of this very reason.

The death and injury rate of the Truth Sect’s labor disciples was extremely high.

In a batch of 100 labor disciples, in three years, less than ten would remain alive. Of the 90 labor disciples who would perish, ten of them would die on Ganoderma Mountain due to various problems. As for the remaining 70 to 80 people, they would all die on the other side of the river where they were reduced into fodder for the monsters.

“How has this situation been in previous years?” Lu Qingfeng asked, trying to maintain a positive mindset.

“These missions are carried out with one true disciple taking six labor disciples to the opposite side of the river. If all the circumstances are lucky, four to five labor disciples would return. But if luck isn’t on your side, you cannot rule out the possibility of a total wipeout. There’s no certainty. According to the elder ones in the Truth Sect, this kind of mission generally depends on luck.”

Lu Qingshan was in fact afraid.

However, the status of true disciples was above that of formal disciples. They were much nobler than labor disciples like him. Being selected by Wu Yuan as a servant, he was not in a position to turn him down at all.

If this had happened in the past, he would have been out of his wits.

At this moment, however, he was able to stabilize his emotions and ask questions of Lu Qingfeng. He had truly grown up a lot over this period of time.

“Luck…”

Lu Qingfeng shook his head. “You can’t put your life and death on something as illusory as luck.”

“Qingfeng.”

Lu Qingshan did not understand what Lu Qingfeng had said.

He looked around carefully, stuck his head up to Lu Qingfeng’s ear, and said, “Big brother, I’ve actually been pretty lucky. I found a jade pendant on Mount Ganoderma two days ago, accidentally cut my hand, and my blood dripped on the jade pendant.”

Lu Qingfeng was taken aback.

This trick sounded very familiar!

He didn’t interrupt Lu Qingshan as he continued to tell the story.

“This is the jade pendant.” Lu Qingshan took out a cyan jade pendant with intricate patterns carved on it. “After my blood dripped on it, this jade pendant seemed to understand what I said, and it seems to control a corpse below Ganoderma Mountain. I feel that this corpse is very powerful. I don’t know if it’s the zombie that Dad told us about.”

“When I held this jade pendant and tried to make the corpse move, all my energy was drained away. I’m guessing that I cannot control this corpse because my power level is too weak.”

Lu Qingshan spoke in a low voice, then gave the jade pendant to Lu Qingfeng. “Qingfeng, keep this jade pendant. If I do not return from the other side of the river, you might be able to avenge me with this pendant in your possession.”

Lu Qingfeng felt the chilling aura the jade pendant was exuding as he looked at Lu Qingshan.

Although this brother of his was trying his best to conceal his emotions, the panic and fear in his eyes couldn’t be obscured.

After all, Lu Qingshan was still a 14-year-old teenager.

“Big Brother, if…if I don’t come back, you must tell Qingyu that her second brother is a fearless grown man who will not shed a tear.”

Lu Qingshan’s eyes were glimmering. He pursed his mouth, lowered his head, and said at an almost inaudible volume, “Qingfeng, I kinda miss Qingyu.”

“It’s okay, you’ll be able to see Qingyu in three days,” Lu Qingfeng rubbed Lu Qingshan’s head and said with a smile.

“Huh?”

Lu Qingshan looked up, not understanding what his elder brother meant.

“Qingshan, you won’t be going to the other side of the river. Now, tell me, in three days, when are you leaving, and from where will you cross the river? And will anyone see you off?” Lu Qingfeng asked in a low voice.

If one had to rely on luck to survive, how could he let Lu Qingshan go on such a mission?

Although the strength he’d accumulated was not yet sufficient nor were his powers potent enough, with careful planning, although overthrowing the Truth Sect was most likely impossible, it shouldn’t be too difficult for him to flee with Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu.

“Qingfeng, Wu Yuan is Level 4 in the Art of Truth. He can take on a few dozen labor disciples at the same time. Besides, aside from me, there are five other labor disciples. I can’t possibly escape!” Lu Qingfeng had finally figured out what his brother meant and spoke anxiously with panic on his face.

“Don’t worry. When did I ever do something that I wasn’t confident about?”

Lu Qingfeng’s expression was solemn. “I can take on that Wu Yuan guy. When I kill Wu Yuan, the other five labor disciples won’t be bold enough to retaliate. Then, we will steal the boat and flee to the lower reaches of the Chengyang River. As long as we can get out of Jiuzhai County, the Truth Sect won’t even think about finding us.”

“But Wu Yuan, he…”

When Lu Qingshan saw that his brother was certain about taking him away and even claimed that he could kill Wu Yuan, he became even more anxious.

Wu Yuan was one of the Truth Sect’s true disciples and quite famous across the entire Truth Sect. How was it possible for his elder brother to kill him?

“Time is running out. Hurry up and tell me.”

Seeing that his brother didn’t believe him, Lu Qingfeng stretched out his hand and clawed at Lu Qingshan’s arm.

“Pssst!”

Lu Qingshan’s eyes got wide as he gasped in pain, feeling that his arm was about to break.

“Qingshan, you had a miraculous encounter on Ganoderma Mountain, and so did I in Blackwood Village. Now, can you tell me Wu Yuan’s arrangements?” Lu Qingfeng’s only fear was that his brother wouldn’t believe in him. When he’d ruthlessly scraped his arm, he’d drawn upon his inner Chi.

The Smoldering Palm had left a palm print that was three inches deep on the tree that the two of them were leaning against.

Lu Qingshan finally believed in him.

…

On his way back to Blackwood Village, Lu Qingfeng was thinking about the possible problems with this operation.

Lu Qingshan was too unskilled. He was probably still Unblooded in the arts.

With zero attainments in the Art of Truth, his only combat capability was the Bullock Fist.

Such a straightforward fist technique, without the boost of inner Chi, couldn’t do much harm.

When Lu Qingfeng heard that Lu Qingshan was going to be going to the other side of the Chengyang River with the Truth Sect’s true disciple and that he could only survive with luck, he was resolved to take Lu Qingshan away from the Truth Sect.

In doing so, it was only natural that they would have to leave Blackwood Village.

“Level 4 in the Art of Truth corresponds to Level 4 in the Fetal Phase. With my current power level, plus Fire Ball’s surprise factor, killing him will be no difficult task. After I kill Wu Yuan, we’ll take their boat, travel downstream, and get inside some random mountain forest. Finding us will be as hard as finding a needle in a haystack.”

“There are a few things that should be kept in mind.”

“First, three days from now when Qingshan and the others are about to cross the river, no other true disciples or more powerful aces from the Truth Sect must be present. I can deal with a single Wu Yuan, but I won’t be able to deal with more of them.”

“Second, my inner Chi is only sufficient to cast the Fire Ball three times. I cannot miss.”

“Third, I don’t know how to row a boat. I must learn to do so in “Primitive” in the next three days.”

“Fourth, when we abandon the boat and go inside the forest, we must be wary of wild beasts. I will need to prepare insect repellents and medicines against poisons.”

“Fifth, …”

…

Lu Qingfeng contemplated the risk factors one after another, listed every possible scenario that they might run into over the course of the operation, and came up with targeted solutions in advance.

In this way, he could avoid being flustered.

Because of the circumstances, this operation had to be put together rather hastily. Even Lu Qingfeng didn’t expect it to happen so abruptly.

“Well, at least I don’t need to worry anymore,” Lu Qingfeng said to himself.

For the first three months after Lu Qingshan had joined the Truth Sect, the game “Primitive” hadn’t appeared yet. The three siblings were feeble, powerless to pull off any form of retaliation.

During the next two months, due to his failure to notice the 100-fold time difference that caused the death of his in-game avatar, all that time had been wasted.

During the next two months, although Lu Qingfeng had begun to cultivate, first, his progress was slow as he wandered about in Level 1 of the Fetal Phase, and second, he had nothing in his arsenal to go up against an enemy.

It wasn’t until the last ten days that Lu Qingfeng had finally gained some power after being reincarnated in the game.

Whether it was Pill Refining or magic, he was trying his absolute best to save Lu Qingshan.

Initially, with the assistance of the 100-fold time difference, Lu Qingfeng wanted to wait until he was fully prepared before taking Lu Qingshan and Qingyu to escape from Ganoderma Mountain and Blackwood Village.

But now, Lu Qingshan was about to risk his life on the other side of the Chengyang River. There was no more room for any delay.

Even though his preparations in certain aspects were incomplete and far from what he’d been anticipating, asking him to watch while Qingshan walked to his own death was absolutely impossible.

“Perhaps this is a chance…”

“Normally, aside from the time when Qingshan could stay at the foot of the mountain every seven days in order to get his food from his brother, he has to spend all the rest of his time on Ganoderma Mountain. If he was away for too long, he would be caught immediately. With the Truth Sect’s reaction speed, Qingshan would probably be intercepted and killed before he could arrive at the riverbank.”

“This time, with the true disciple Wu Yuan leading the party, it will be a natural for him to arrive at the riverbank. As long as I’m able to kill Wu Yuan, the chance of us escaping is extremely high.”

“Away from Blackwood Village and the Truth Sect, I will have much more time to cultivate every day as there will be no more need for me to hide myself.”

There is no weal without woe.

Between misfortune and blessing, there was no way of telling which it might be.

This matter that may look like a crisis might be a great opportunity for them to escape their cage. They could escape Blackwood Village and the Truth Sect and be free from then onward.

With the various secret techniques he’d picked up in “Primitive”, even though he was lacking in innate talents, he might be able to make a name for himself in this world.

Perhaps he could even pave himself a path of deity-hood toward the Heavens!

…