Taoist Antecedent of the Yellow Court

Chapter 22: Third Life

Miaoyin City.

This place had originally been a small, inconspicuous town in the northeast corner of Yushan County.

Decades ago, a powerhouse by the name of Master Miaoyin had settled in the town, and his presence had attracted many people from all across the realm to seek shelter here. This had turned the town into a big city inhabited by the genuine and the false.

Over time, the town was renamed Miaoyin City.

It became a detached kind of principality that resided between the Guangyuan and the Dangyang Commanderies.

The city’s castellan, or leader, Master Miaoyin, was one of the top aces of the Sun Nation, and all the major powers and past masters of all backgrounds had to treat him with reverence.

On this day…

Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu finally arrived at their destination.

“Is this Miaoyin City?”

Lu Qingshan raised his head to look at the massive city not far ahead. His eyes couldn’t get any wider.

Miaoyin City was way more sophisticated than Blackwood Village.

The city walls were some 20 to 25 feet high with imposing soldiers standing resolutely on top. At ground level, there were also soldiers guarding the city gates and collecting entrance fees.

“Can’t you see? It’s written right on top.”

“Miaoyin City…”

Lu Qingyu pointed at the two huge characters that spelled out Miaoyin City above the city gates. She was, likewise, shocked by the enormous city. The fences outside Blackwood Village had nothing that could be compared with the walls of this city.

Lu Qingfeng felt just fine.

Having spent decades in Emery Town, city walls some 20 to 25 feet in height hardly surprised him at all.

“Let’s go in.”

Lu Qingfeng led his two siblings into the city.

Entering the city required a payment, which was not a problem for Lu Qingfeng. With quick eyes and even quicker hands, he had imperceptibly pickpocketed a coin bag from an unknown passerby.

Taking out three copper coins at random, the three entered Miaoyin City.

“This place is bustling!”

Lu Qingyu followed closely behind Lu Qingfeng. Seeing the prosperous Miaoyin City, she couldn’t help but feel bowled over. Lu Qingshan was also dazzled by the sight of the city.

People were coming and going. The streets were full of pedestrians and vendors.

The crying of vendors and the yelling voices of bargaining could be heard everywhere.

Having arrived at a bustling downtown from a silent mountain, they couldn’t adapt to the ambiance right away.

“Let’s go!”

“Let’s get our clothes changed!”

The three had been in the mountains for six months, and their clothes were in tatters. All this time, they had only been able to keep their bodies covered with constant stitch and fixes. These garments would still do in the mountains, but in Miaoyin City, it made them particularly conspicuous.

At a random garment store, the three siblings grabbed themselves two sets of garments each before returning to the streets with a brand-new look.

“Qingfeng, this place is awesome!”

Lu Qingyu touched her new clothes while walking with a blooming smile on her face.

In the past few years in Blackwood Village, she only had two sets of garments to wear all year round, and what’s more, they were linen clothes, which had been extremely rough.

The two sets of garments that she’d gotten from the garment store were not only made of fine cloth but also meticulously tailored. They were far from being comparable to the linen clothes that she’d previously had.

What lady doesn’t like to be beautiful?

Lu Qingyu was no exception.

She had been quite against the idea of leaving the mountain at first, but now she had already flung away all her previous doubts.

Lu Qingfeng rubbed Qingyu’s hair and smiled at her.

This little girl had always been so easy to satisfy.

Lu Qingshan was also grinning at the new clothes he had gotten.

“Miaoyin City…”

Lu Qingfeng looked around. He saw that the streets were very lively, and there were contingents of men dressed in black patrolling back and forth, making Miaoyin City feel surprisingly secure.

This environment was completely different from Blackwood Village, which made Lu Qingfeng feel relieved.

Having taken a few spins around Miaoyin City, Lu Qingfeng found a small courtyard with four rooms through a broker, and they settled in. He planned to spend a few days familiarizing himself with the rules and environment of Miaoyin City, and then he wanted to determine what kind of business would yield him more cultivation resources.

He had been in this world for more than 16 years. After escaping Blackwood Village, he had wandered in the mountains for six months. At last, he had finally found a place to settle down.

After acquiring the small courtyard, Qingfeng, Qingshan, and Qingyu all had an inexplicable feeling in their hearts.

…

After arriving in Miaoyin City, the three siblings settled down.

After a few days of getting used to the city, Lu Qingfeng used the last of the “borrowed” money to acquire a poorly managed drugstore. He intended to run his medicinal herb business at the drugstore.

At present, Lu Qingfeng had achieved mastery over the refinement of Fasting Pills, Yellow Dragon Pills, Spirit Cleansing Powder, and others, with a total of ten. Among them, the Spirit Cleansing Powder was the best for curing poisons, while the Nourishing Pill was the holy grail of healing.

These two pills, especially the latter, would be easy to sell in Miaoyin City.

In this city, good and bad people were mixed together. When people all across the realm had been injured or were running away from their enemies, they would often choose to come to Miaoyin City. With the castellan of Miaoyin City running the place and his 300 Black Soldiers on guard duty, no one was bold enough to behave atrociously in Miaoyin City.

These people from all across the world would be Lu Qingfeng’s largest customer source.

The world was sinister.

It wasn’t just a few who would drench their weapons in poisons. The Spirit Cleansing Powder was the best in curing these poisons. It would have miraculous effects on all poisons in the Fetal Phase.

The Nourishing Pill, on the other hand, had an excellent effect on both internal and surface injuries.

Lu Qingfeng divided these two pills into five grades and gave them five different names to confuse the public. Those at the highest grade only had 30 percent of the real deal’s efficacy, because he didn’t want to shock the world.

But even so, with the ten weakened versions of these two pills, his Emery Drugstore swiftly grew its reputation in Miaoyin City within only a few days and soon gained a firm foothold.

In a flash, another month went by…

The troubles that he had anticipated would ensue after settling down and gaining fame and fortune did not arrive. The order in Miaoyin City was far better than Lu Qingfeng had imagined.

Except for the regular taxation, the Emery Drugstore hadn’t had to deal with any punks. Likewise, the people from all around who came to the store didn’t bully Lu Qingfeng and his siblings because of their young age.

In short, the state of harmony in the city felt rather unreal.

Compared to Blackwood Village and the Truth Sect, Miaoyin City was simply paradise in the mortal realm.

With such an environment, Lu Qingfeng couldn’t help but feel lucky to have chosen this place to settle down.

In the month he ran the drugstore, he made huge profits by selling the weakened versions of the Spirit Cleansing Powder and the Nourishing Pills. He also refined quite a number of Yellow Dragon Pills, Rejuvenating Pills, and other pills as a backup.

Their days of hardship seemed to have finally passed, as after the bitter comes the sweet!

His cultivation that had been stagnant for a long time also began to loosen up.

And so…

Before he knew it, the day when he could be fully reincarnated in “Primitive” arrived.

…

Name: Lu Qingfeng

Race: Human

Faction: None

Title: None

Cultivation Stage: None

Level: 0 (0/1)

Destined Life Span: 16/68

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: None

Pill Refining: Fundamentals of Pill Refining; Deciphering Medicine; Complete Guide to Basic Medicinal Herb. 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)

Exiting the Pool of Reincarnation, things felt different yet again.

Calling upon the Attribute Panel, unsurprisingly, his level and cultivation stage were back at rock bottom, and all his equipment had been emptied.

But even so, it was still extremely luxurious.

Lu Qingfeng’s decades-long accumulation from his previous life could all be used in this life.

Needless to say, with the Verdant Sword Art reaching Authentic-grade, only a few techniques in the world could ever match up to it.

In addition, he had also mastered the basics of many pills and talismans. He had mastery over the crafting of ten types of pills, six types of talismans, and the refinement of one Runic Equipment.

As for his pet, there was not much left to explain about the skylarks.

With these traits, Lu Qingfeng could attain the peak state of his previous life within a year.

It was just that…

“I need to really focus on my cultivation in this life.”

In his previous life, Lu Qingfeng had focused on enhancing his techniques, pill recipes, etc., with his experience points. His cultivation had remained stagnant, peaking at only Level 5 of the Fetal Phase.

In reality, after cultivating for more than six months, he had already arrived at Level 3 of the Fetal Phase and would soon deplete all the experience he had accumulated with regard to cultivating in the first five levels of the Fetal Phase.

Therefore, Lu Qingfeng urgently needed to reach a new level in the game so as to accumulate cultivating experience and to not drag his progress in reality behind.

Aside from that, pill refining was still his top priority.

The Yellow Dragon Pill, Breath Fostering Pill, Essence Pill, and other low-level pills could only support a cultivator’s cultivation until about Level 5 or 6 of the Fetal Phase. After reaching the middle and late stages of the Fetal Phase, he would need to replace the pills with the Golden Pith Pellet and the other middle-level pills.

The refining of middle-level pills was much more complex than that of low-level pills. Hence, Lu Qingfeng would need to put more effort into this.

At the same time…

With the stable environment of Miaoyin City, as long as he had money, there was no need to worry about not being able to purchase all kinds of minerals and metals that weren’t considered rare. In this way, he could also place Tool Refining in his schedule.

Lastly, he couldn’t forsake talisman crafting either.

With everything considered, even with the hundredfold time difference, Lu Qingfeng couldn’t help but feel an inconsiderable pressure.

“Although I can enhance pill recipes and techniques, on cultivation, pill refining, tool refining, and talisman crafting, if I have a good master to guide me, my practice will yield twice the results with half the effort.”

Lu Qingfeng couldn’t help but think of Cultivator Huang Luo.

With Huang Luo’s guidance in talisman crafting, he felt it would be easier compared to when he was burrowing around pill refining all by himself.

If he were to cultivate alone, he would have to experiment on the various tricks and problems again and again and spend at least twice or even three to five times the amount of time figuring everything out. But if he had someone to guide him, he could circumvent with many detours.

“I wasn’t familiar with ‘Primitive’ in my previous life. In this life, I might as well join a cultivation-based sect.”

“Best to be a sect that is proficient in pill refining, tool refining, and talisman crafting!”

During the two-month gap, Lu Qingfeng had everything planned for this life.

By joining the sect, although there would be a lot of constraints, with a force behind his back and if he could find himself a famous teacher to accept him, it would do his cultivation a great deal of help.

There would be a plethora of benefits!

Lu Qingfeng settled his mind, walked out of the Pool of Reincarnation, and quickly figured out the situation in the new location that he had reincarnated into.