Taoist Antecedent of the Yellow Court

Chapter 17: End of a Lifetime!

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

Probably because the forests in these mountains had dense, complex environments, the large number of hunters they had been anticipating did not appear.

Lu Qingfeng and his siblings ran for a whole five months. No one knew how far they went. In the beginning, disciples of the Law Enforcement Units would crop up sporadically. All of them turned out to be of average strength, and they were easily taken down by Lu Qingfeng.

As time went on, the number of hunters gradually diminished.

The last time the hunters of the Law Enforcement Unit had appeared, Lu Qingfeng had gone through an alarming incident when he’d been forced to kill a disciple of the Truth Sect who was at Level 7 of the Fetal Phase. Thankfully, no hunters had appeared ever since.

As the siblings had continued to feel uneasy, they’d continued to flee for two more months, only halting after they had received affirmation that the Truth Sect had already given up.

Over the course of these months, they’d experienced countless dangers along the way.

Aside from the hunters who were behind them, pursuing them relentlessly, there were also many wild beasts that crept about as silently as ghosts in the mountains.

The slightest of mistakes could have landed them in the jaws of death.

However, during these five months, Lu Qingfeng had made rapid progress and greatly improved his ability to survive.

With Qingshan and Qingyu, he’d collected medicinal herbs as they ran, refined quite a few Yellow Dragon Pills, and raised his cultivation to Level 3 of the Fetal Phase.

The technique he was now cultivating had long since been changed from the Aucuba Scorching Sun Classic of the Refined grade to the Verdant Sword Art of the Lateral grade.

[Technique: Verdant Sword Art (Incomplete)]

[Grade: Lateral. Has a total of 9 Levels]

[Ability Upgrade: Five-time Enhance]

[Property: Verdant Sword Ray, Sword Shield, Sword Shadow, Indestructible Threads, Verdant Re-condensation]

[Description: Secret technique of the Verdant Sword Sect that existed 3,000 years ago. Currently incomplete.]

This technique was an incomplete Refined grade technique that Lu Qingfeng had discovered in “Primitive” that had only its Fetal Phase components available.

For ordinary cultivators, this technique was indeed of little value.

Although the grade of the technique was high, it could only be cultivated until Level 9 of the Fetal Phase. It couldn’t even be used to break through the Genuine Chi Phase. In order to complete a Refined-grade technique, even for someone in the Golden Core Stage, they would have to expend decades of hard work.

Hence, absolutely no one showed any interest in the appearance of a fragment of the Verdant Sword Art.

However, as if discovering a precious relic, Lu Qingfeng had acquired it directly.

With the Ability Upgrade property of the Yellow Court Classic, as long as he had enough experience points, he could level up the Verdant Sword Art and unlock its subsequent abilities. What’s more, with the Verdant Sword Art being innately in the Refined grade, its powerful nature saved Lu Qingfeng quite a large amount of experience points.

After he’d obtained the technique, after five enhancements, Lu Qingfeng had upgraded the Verdant Sword Art from Refined to Lateral.

On the basis of the Verdant Sword Ray and Sword Shield property, it branched into Sword Shadow, Indestructible Threads, and Verdant Re-condensation.

It was just that with Lu Qingfeng’s current attainment in cultivation, he’d only mastered the Verdant Sword Ray for the time being. As for the four remaining properties, he could only master them when his cultivation reached the properties’ corresponding levels.

Even so, when the Verdant Sword Ray was unleashed, those in the Fetal Phase without a defensive Magical Artifact, defensive magic, or defensive martial art technique would get themselves decapitated.

In “Primitive”, a Refined-grade technique could be cultivated until the Golden Core Stage.

As for Lateral-grade techniques, they were top-notch techniques that directly pointed toward the Mahayana Stage. In Emery Town, even across the Seven Sword Ridge and the Seven Great Sword Sects, no technique of such a grade existed.

Given its rarity, it was natural that it was extraordinary.

The Chi Control that every level of the Verdant Sword Art at the Lateral grade could provide was double of what the Aucuba Scorching Sun Classic previously could.

Lu Qingfeng, who was only in Level 3 of the Fetal Phase, had profound inner Chi within his body. The amount he had was three times that of cultivators in Level 3 of the Fetal Phase who’d cultivated in a Preliminary-grade technique.

Even an ordinary Level 9 in the Fetal Phase might not be able to defeat him.

That, combined with his various martial arts techniques and spells that had been enhanced several times, made it difficult for anyone in the Fetal Phase to match up to him.

Most certainly, more than two months ago, when he’d fought against the Truth Sect’s deacon in Level 7 of the Fetal Phase, Lu Qingfeng hadn’t been that powerful yet. That battle had been extremely dangerous, but, fortunately, Lu Qingfeng had come out ahead in tactics and beheaded the enemy in one single slash!

Only then were the three siblings spared from a disaster.

Lu Qingfeng’s strength had greatly improved. Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu were also making progress.

Lu Qingshan was at Level 2 of the Fetal Phase. By cultivating in the Verdant Sword Art, Mantle Sword Style, and so on with Lu Qingfeng, his combat capabilities were way above his current cultivation level. He could probably contend with people in Levels 5 or 6 of the Fetal Phase.

Lu Qingyu was poor in aptitude. She’d only cultivated for a while and had only just stepped into Level 1 of the Fetal Phase. She could contend with opponents in Level 3 of the Fetal Phase, just barely.

“I think the Truth Sect has already given up at this point.”

After more than five months, a new temperament emerged in Lu Qingfeng. It was a unique temperament formed by the passing of years and the experience of killing, difficult for ordinary youngsters to imitate.

After all, although only five months have passed in reality, in “Primitive”, Lu Qingfeng was almost at the end of his life.

…

At night…

Lu Qingfeng logged into the game.

It was still Emery Town, but now Lu Qingfeng was no longer young in appearance. He had turned into a silver-haired, rickety old man.

Name: Lu Qingfeng

Race: Human

Faction: None

Title: None

Cultivation Stage: Level 5 of Postnatal-Fetal Phase

Level: 10 (25/50)

Destined Life Span: 67/68

Chi Control: 185/185 (Grade: Lateral)

Innate Talent Level: 1

Merit: Unknown

Karma: Unknown

Technique: Yellow Court Classic (Apex) [Property: Ability Upgrade (Level 1); Commanding Power (Level 1); Verdant Sword Art Level 5 (Apex) [Updatable]]

Magic: Fireball (Level 2); Celestial Eye (Level 2); Shifting Steps (Level 2); Smoldering Palm (Level 2); White Jade Mantra (Level 2); Mantle Sword Style (Level 2); Yang Finger Technique (Level 2); Gale (Level 2); Golden Ray (Level 2); Entangle (Level 2); Vanish (Level 2); Assemble Chi (Level 2)

Abhijna: None

Equipment: Novice Storage Bag; Wolf Hair Runic Brush; Talisman of Peace; Stealth Talisman; Earth Talisman; Fireball Talisman…

Pill Refining: Fundamentals of Pill Refining; Deciphering Medicine; Complete Guide to Basic Medicinal Herbs… Refinable Pills: Fasting Pill, Yellow Dragon Pill, Spirit Cleansing Powder, Rejuvenating Pill, Incense Pill, Yellow Millet Pill, Soul Corrupting Pill, Breath Fostering Pill, Essence Pill

Talisman Crafting: “Detailed Explanation in the Preparation of the Six Common Cinnabarites”, “Fundamentals of Runic Papers”, “Encyclopedia of Low-Grade Talismans”. Craftable Talismans: Talisman of Peace, Stealth Talisman, Earth Talisman, Fireball Talisman, Talisman of Rejuvenation, Golden Ray Talisman

Tool Refining: Fundamentals of Tool Refining, Refining the Spirit Runic Brush; Refinable Tools: Wolf Hair Runic Brush

Pet: Skylark bird (*9)

…

This extremely luxurious Attribute Panel listed Lu Qingfeng’s 50 years of achievements in the game for the more than five months he had been on the run!

Looking back:

In the year when he’d mastered the refining of the Yellow Dragon Pill, Lu Qingfeng had been just 25 years old in the game. After that, the first wave of the Truth Sect’s hunters arrived, and he began fleeing.

He’d been running during the day and logging into “Primitive” at night to delve into the art of Talismans.

Over the course of 42 years, he’d mastered the refining of six types of talisman: the Talisman of Peace, Stealth Talisman, Earth Talisman, Fireball Talisman, Talisman of Rejuvenation, Golden Ray Talisman in sequence.

During this period of time, he wasn’t slacking off in Pill Refining either.

After the Fasting Pill and Yellow Dragon Pill, he successfully mastered the refinement of the Spirit Cleansing Powder, Rejuvenating Pill, Incense Pill, Yellow Millet Pill, Soul Corrupting Pill, Breath Fostering Pill, and Essence Pill.

Master of Pills and Talismans Lu Qingfeng!

This name was widespread across the whole of Emery Town.

Anything that Lu Qingfeng produced, whether Talismans or Pills, although they were all of the lowest levels, their power and quality were far superior to those of other Pill Refiners and Talisman Crafters.

This was courtesy of the Ability Upgrade property and also the huge amount of experience points that Lu Qingfeng invested in them.

“It’s time.”

Sitting in the Pill Refining Chamber, Lu Qingfeng summoned the four disciples he had accepted over the years.

In a while, two young people and two middle-aged people walked in, bowed to Lu Qingfeng, and called him Master.

“The four of you have served me with the utmost respect and energy for more than 20 years. My life is coming to an end. Since fate has made you my disciples, I’m leaving all this to you.”

Lu Qingfeng looked at his four disciples, waved his sleeves, and dozens of jade slips were scattered in front of the four.

“Master!”

Peng Hai, Lei He, Yao Jiusi, and Ji Fu groveled on the ground and looked up at their silver-haired master with mixed feelings in their hearts.

A long, long time ago, Lu Qingfeng had led them into novicehood and trained them in the arts of Pill Refining and the arts of Talismans. Although they were just helpers, they had learned a lot. Over the years, if the disciples couldn’t grasp the true skills of their master, they left one after another.

In the end, only four of them remained.

Although they had also joined the Imperial City Sect, unlike the others who had rarely returned, they settled down in Emery Town and would often visit their master.

They weren’t thinking about receiving anything in return, but little did they know that they would receive such a surprise on this very day.

The low-level Talismans and low-level Pills made by Grandmaster Qingfeng were second to none in the whole of Emery Town and even the entire Elephant King City.

As long as they could refine them, they wouldn’t have to worry about their sales at all.

If they could inherit his mantle, in their future in the Imperial City Sect, at least in the early stages, they would never have to worry about cultivation resources.

“Master, I heard that there’s a type of Spirit Grass that can increase one’s life span on Thunder Mountain. I have asked someone to inquire about it. I believe that there will be news soon!” Peng Hai looked at Lu Qingfeng and said.

“Need not trouble yourself. There is a time for life and death. There is no need to force it!”

Lu Qingfeng shook his head.

How hard would it be to find the Spirit Grass that could increase one’s life span? Even if it could be found, it wouldn’t be possible for him, a low-level Pill Refiner and Talisman Crafter, to obtain it.

It would be better for him to reincarnate and live another life.

Over the years, Lu Qingfeng had walked out of Emery Town only a few times. After dismissing his four disciples, Lu Qingfeng did some packing and left Emery Town.

…