Qi Recovery Pill

"Isn't that good?" Lu Ming asked doubtfully.

Dugu Mingri shook his head. "It is very good, but it cannot be called peerless."

"I began cultivating when I was twelve. It took me nearly three years to reach the peak of the ninth layer of the Inner Qi Realm. Yet after another full half year, I still failed to break through into the True Qi Realm."

At this, he let out a sigh.

Hearing that, Lu Ming silently compared himself to him. From the beginning until now, he had cultivated for less than two months, yet he was already at the sixth layer of the Inner Qi Realm.

So compared to him, Dugu Mingri's talent truly counted for little.

But that depended on whom he was compared with. According to Old Man Zhao, setting aside the fact that the Heavenly Saber Art allowed him to break through realms quickly, if he could maintain this pace, he would be a rare peerless genius.

The only pity was that he had started late.

In this world, the best age to begin cultivating inner qi was generally twelve.

That was because the meridians had only fully developed by then and could circulate inner qi.

And he had been nearly two years late.

Not long ago, he had turned fourteen.

"And the reason I have not joined a sect is because I wanted to wait until I reached the True Qi Realm, then directly become an Inner Sect disciple of those sects."

"I just never expected to be stuck here for half a year. This time, I entered the mountains because I wanted to see whether life-and-death battles could help me find an opportunity to break through."

"Did you find one?"

Lu Ming did not know how to comfort him.

Dugu Mingri's lips curled upward. "I can feel my realm loosening. It should not be long before I refine true qi and step into the True Qi Realm."

"Then congratulations."

Lu Ming thought the other man was rather good and felt happy for him.

"You are no slouch either—perhaps even stronger than I am. You reached the sixth layer of the Inner Qi Realm at only fourteen. I imagine you will reach my current realm before fifteen."

Dugu Mingri assumed Lu Ming had begun cultivating at twelve, which was why he said that.

Lu Ming did not explain. To avoid being too astonishing, it was better to keep a low profile.

And so, the two talked as they headed back. Through their conversation, Lu Ming learned many more hidden matters.

For example, Young Master Yang, whom he had encountered at the blacksmith shop earlier, had already become a True Qi Realm expert before even turning fifteen.

He was praised as the most talented person Shuofeng City had seen in nearly twenty years.

He also learned which exceptionally famous young geniuses had emerged in Shuofeng City and even throughout the Zhao Kingdom in recent years.

Every one of them was dazzlingly gifted.

In short, the conversation had opened Lu Ming's eyes.

It also made him realize that geniuses in this world were as numerous as crucian carp crossing a river. They were not rare; what mattered was who could rise above the rest and walk to the very end.

And he was filled with fighting spirit.

Before long, the two left the mountains and began competing in movement techniques.

Since Lu Ming was carrying quite a lot, Dugu Mingri put his things into a storage ring for fairness' sake, which made Lu Ming envious for quite some time.

With competition, their travel speed naturally became swift as flying.

Lu Ming was now at the sixth layer of the Inner Qi Realm, and his Cloud Soaring Skill had improved again. At his furthest, he could leap twenty meters in a single step.

Dugu Mingri was no weaker. The movement technique he cultivated had a similar name to Lu Ming's—Cloud Ascending Skill—and it was Human-grade Middle Stage.

It was not that the Dugu Family lacked more advanced movement techniques. It was simply that Human-grade High Stage techniques and above could only be fully performed by those in the True Qi Realm.

Naturally, exceptionally gifted individuals were another matter.

"You won. I never expected that not only was your saber technique formidable, but your movement technique was cultivated to such mastery as well."

Beside the official road back lay a massive poplar tree, the finish line they had agreed upon.

In the end, Lu Ming arrived first, leading by more than ten meters.

"Just from its name, your Cloud Ascending Skill is clearly suited for climbing high. If we competed over who could fly higher, I definitely could not beat you."

Lu Ming spoke modestly. In truth, there was one thing he had not mentioned: Heavenly Blade Inner Energy greatly enhanced speed, and he had not even used his full strength.

"A loss is a loss. When fighting to the death, there are no such excuses."

Dugu Mingri was very forthright and freely admitted his shortcomings.

That was also why Lu Ming felt he was worth befriending.

Afterward, the two rested briefly before continuing on their way. As the sun slanted westward, they successfully reached Shuofeng City.

"This is for you."

After entering the city, Dugu Mingri returned Lu Ming's cloth sack, then tossed him an additional porcelain bottle.

"What is this?"

Lu Ming caught it in confusion.

"Qi Recovery Pills. They can quickly replenish inner qi. They are extremely useful when facing a hard battle or fighting many enemies."

"Isn't this too valuable?"

Lu Ming knew of these pills. A single one cost eight hundred taels of silver at a medicine shop, while this porcelain bottle seemed to contain more than ten.

"Keep them. I am about to enter the True Qi Realm, so they are useless to me."

Dugu Mingri waved a hand, then added, "It is late today, and we are both in quite a sorry state. Let us meet again another day."

They had already exchanged addresses.

"Then I hope that by the time we meet again, you will already be a True Qi Realm Martial Artist."

Lu Ming could only accept the Qi Recovery Pills.

"Haha, I'll borrow your auspicious words."

The two soon parted ways. Lu Ming did not hurry home, instead planning to first sell the spoils from this trip into the mountains.

There were many pedestrians on the streets, yet Lu Ming did not feel crowded. Seeing his clothes nearly dyed red with blood, many people consciously stepped aside to make way for him.

"Good heavens, he is not very old, yet he is brimming with killing intent. And judging by those bloodstained clothes, he must have killed quite a few monsters, right?"

"Obviously. Didn't you see the cloth sack on his shoulder? It is packed to the brim. He definitely killed plenty of monsters."

"He is a ruthless one. He is even more impressive than those veteran Monster Hunters. They could not bring back this much in one trip."

Amid the surrounding chatter, Lu Ming turned a deaf ear and strode quickly onward, soon arriving at a shop.

"These are tiger bones from a late-stage Level One monster. They can be used in medicine and are worth eleven hundred taels."

"These are the teeth of a mid-stage Level One Wind Chasing Wolf. They can be used for forging, and this quantity is worth six hundred taels."

"This is Red Rock Lizard hide. It can be used to make protective inner armor, but unfortunately, its grade is somewhat low and it is not tough enough. It is worth only three hundred taels."

The shopkeeper sorted through the contents of the cloth sack piece by piece. The more he sorted, the more alarmed he became.

He had never expected that the young man before him, whose realm was only at the sixth layer of the Inner Qi Realm, could hunt so many monsters in one trip.

There were even quite a few materials from late-stage Level One monsters inside. Those were equivalent to human Martial Artists at the seventh through ninth layers of the Inner Qi Realm.

He had no idea how the other man had killed them.

"Could he be a genius capable of killing enemies above his realm?"

After finishing the sorting, the shopkeeper muttered to himself. But he quickly shook off those thoughts and focused on calculating the price. A while later, he said,

"The items our shop can purchase are worth a total of six thousand seven hundred taels. Is this price acceptable to you?"

Lu Ming secretly swallowed. He knew Martial Artists made money quickly, but he had not expected it to be this quick.

He had earned six thousand seven hundred taels from just one trip. If he went several more times, would he not never lack money again?

But he quickly realized that perhaps only he could do this.

After all, ordinary people did not possess profound cultivation methods and martial techniques like his. And even if they did, they lacked his talent to rapidly cultivate those methods and techniques to a profound level.

Thus turning them into his own strength.

It could be said that this was also why he could kill enemies above his realm.

Without thinking further, he nodded. "Let's do it."

"Rest assured, this is absolutely the fairest price."

Seeing Lu Ming agree, the shopkeeper was also delighted. He truly had not cheated him, though he would still make quite a profit.

Carrying six thousand seven hundred taels' worth of banknotes, Lu Ming went to other shops to sell the remaining materials, along with two steel sabers whose personal marks he had erased, earning another two thousand one hundred taels.

Naturally, most of that came from the two steel sabers.

Lu Ming kept only one thousand taels. He used the other eleven hundred taels to buy a slender saber suitable for himself.

After several rounds of fighting with monsters, his fifty-five-tael steel saber had long since become covered in chips.

So he had no choice but to replace it.

After dealing with this haul, he carried a reserved deer leg and headed back.