Teaching

As he passed Caishikou Execution Grounds, Lu Wangchuan saw that the authorities were beheading members of the Black Lotus Society.

With one sharp crack of the executioner's massive blade, a head rolled to the ground.

The townsfolk gathered around, pointing and commenting. Every time a head fell, they clapped and cheered excitedly.

"Good chop!"

"Kill all these traitors."

Watching the scene, Lu Wangchuan did not know what to say, nor did he wish to offer any comment.

These people had nothing to do with him. It was more important to hurry up and attend to his own business.

Only by growing stronger could he keep such a fate from one day befalling him.

Just then, a violent explosion suddenly erupted from Caishikou Execution Grounds. Countless onlookers, meek as lambs, were blasted into the air, and one bloody lamb leg happened to land right in front of Lu Wangchuan.

"Thunderclap Bomb?!"

It was probably the classic jailbreak-at-the-execution-ground plot.

Lu Wangchuan turned and left without hesitation. Time to run—staying alive came first.

After purchasing the materials, Lu Wangchuan quickly returned home to brew the Spirit Elixir. With the pill formula in hand, as long as he mixed the proportions properly, brewing it was quite easy.

Before long, a pot of thick Spirit Elixir was ready. It looked somewhat like black sesame paste. Though it was hardly elegant, it was still far better than the Body Strengthening Soup, which looked like a pile of shit.

Lu Wangchuan ladled out a bowl and tasted it. The flavor was decent, slightly bitter, but it went down smoothly instead of scraping at his throat like the Body Strengthening Soup.

He drained the bowl of Spirit Elixir in one gulp and instantly felt a scorching energy roiling within his stomach.

"Good stuff!"

The Source Opening Realm had already tempered his physique to an extraordinary degree. Drinking Body Strengthening Soup was like an ordinary person drinking plain water, with barely any effect. Yet the Spirit Elixir provoked such a strong reaction, enough to show that its nutrients far surpassed those of the Body Strengthening Soup.

Of course, it also cost quite a bit. Lu Wangchuan calculated that while one batch of Body Strengthening Soup could be brewed for a few hundred copper coins, Spirit Elixir required one and a half taels of silver—several times more expensive!

Lu Wangchuan could only console himself that wealth was merely an external possession, while improved cultivation belonged to him alone.

After drinking it, he swiftly sat down cross-legged to cultivate. The fourth level of the Dao Embryo Breathing Method began to circulate, and true qi surged rapidly through his body. It took a full three Lesser Celestial Circuits to refine an entire bowl of Spirit Elixir. It was much slower than Body Strengthening Soup, but the gains were greater.

By the time he had refined the entire pot of Spirit Elixir, ten days had passed. His qi and blood had soared by nearly three hundred points, reaching 1,279.

The enormous gains put Lu Wangchuan in an excellent mood.

At that moment, Xiao Yue's voice drifted in from the courtyard.

"Young Master, dinner is ready."

Lu Wangchuan rose and walked out of the Training Room. A wave of chill struck his face as goose-feather snowflakes fluttered down from the sky, and a layer of white frost already blanketed the ground.

"It's snowing."

"Young Master, today is also the Winter Solstice."

"So quickly? It's already the Winter Solstice?"

Lu Wangchuan could not help sighing. He had been transported here for an entire year already.

A year ago, he had been a green youth who had not even formally stepped onto the martial path. Now, he had become an expert of the Source Opening Realm.

He owed it all to the Eight Section Brocade Instructor Lu had taught him, as well as the Body Strengthening Soup formula he had given him afterward. They had given him a good start.

"What delicious things did you make today?"

"Mm, I made Shrimp Dumplings, Sesame Tangyuan, and Peanut Tangyuan. I also fried some sugar cakes."

Xiao Yue counted them off one by one on her fingers.

Lu Wangchuan said,

"Prepare some dumplings and tangyuan for me. I'm going out."

"Okay, I'll get them ready right away."

Xiao Yue placed the dumplings and tangyuan into a food box. Carrying it, Lu Wangchuan also ordered several dishes and two jars of fine wine from the best restaurant in Jianghai City, then headed to Lu Xianyuan's residence at the Martial Hall.

There were few pedestrians on the road. Because of the execution-ground jailbreak, Jianghai City, which had only just reopened, had fallen under martial law once more.

But none of this had anything to do with Lu Wangchuan.

"Instructor Lu, are you here?"

Lu Wangchuan arrived outside Lu Xianyuan's small courtyard and knocked on the door. A faint voice came from within.

"The door isn't locked. Come in."

He pushed open the door and entered, finding that Lu Xianyuan had moved a grand chair beneath the eaves. A thin blanket covered him as he rested with his eyes closed.

"What do you want?"

"Reporting to Instructor, today is the Winter Solstice. This disciple came to bring you some wine and food."

Lu Xianyuan opened his eyes slightly and glanced at the food box in his hand, then nodded.

"Put it on the table."

Lu Wangchuan placed the food box on the table. At that moment, Lu Xianyuan suddenly asked without warning,

"What level have you broken through to?"

Lu Wangchuan thought he was referring to the Eight Section Brocade, so he casually answered with a level.

"Reporting to Instructor, I have broken through to the sixth level."

"With your talent and diligence, the Eight Section Brocade should have long since reached the seventh level. I'm asking about your cultivation."

Having been exposed to his face, Lu Wangchuan could not help feeling awkward.

But he also finally realized that the other man truly seemed unable to see through his cultivation.

Normally, martial artists of higher realms could see through the cultivation of those below them. It seemed the Light Screen really possessed the ability to prevent others from discerning his cultivation.

"This disciple's cultivation has only just broken through to the Blood Solidification Realm."

"Bullshit! Your Eight Section Brocade has already reached great perfection, and you have the Body Strengthening Soup assisting you. How could you possibly be only in the Blood Solidification Realm?

Nine months ago, when you single-handedly killed Li Yuan and his group, your cultivation was already no lower than the Blood Solidification Realm. Six months ago, when you escaped alive from Moon Gazing Pavilion, your cultivation could not possibly have been below the Tendons and Membranes Realm!"

Lu Wangchuan froze, then gave an awkward smile. It seemed that he would have to calculate his lies more carefully in the future. Even if the other party could not see through his cultivation, he could certainly infer some things from the facts.

Lu Xianyuan casually tossed him a book.

"The Mountain Splitting Fist is only of an ordinary grade. It is fine for getting started in martial arts, but against experts using higher-level techniques, it is simply not enough. Practice this Transcendent Tier technique from now on."

Lu Wangchuan glanced at it and saw four large characters written prominently on the book's title page: 'Limitless Sword Dao.'

His heart skipped a beat. It was actually a Transcendent Tier combat martial skill. This technique was priceless. Compared to the Speed Heart Art auctioned off at the auction house back then, or even the Heavenly Dipper Eight Steps, it was stronger still!

It was something only martial artists of true immortal sects could touch!

It could not be bought anywhere in the Mortal World!

Quick-witted as he was, Lu Wangchuan immediately bowed in thanks.

"Thank you, Master, for bestowing this technique upon me."

"Don't misunderstand. I never take disciples. I simply don't want to eat your meal for nothing. Get lost."

Lu Xianyuan directly issued an order to leave. Lu Wangchuan found it rather regrettable that he had failed to take this expert as his master, but he knew that one could not be too greedy. Trading one meal for a Transcendent Tier sword technique was already an incredible profit.

So he sensibly clasped his hands in salute and withdrew from the Martial Hall.

"This disciple takes his leave."

Watching Lu Wangchuan's departing back, Lu Xianyuan's eyes flickered several times.

"This boy has exceptional talent, cultivates diligently, and possesses an even sharper mind. At such a young age, he already knows how to hide his edge. I wonder just how far he will be able to go in the future."