Over the next two months, Lu Qingfeng focused on refining Grain-Repelling Pills.
He refined two batches every morning and evening, producing twenty-four Grain-Repelling Pills each day.
Before logging off, he had refined a total of 1,780 Grain-Repelling Pills. After deducting the portion exchanged for the medicinal ingredients needed to refine them, he had made a profit of 1,234 Grain-Repelling Pills.
The exchange ratio between ordinary Grain-Repelling Pills and Yellow Dragon Pills was five to one, while the Grain-Repelling Pills refined by Lu Qingfeng exchanged for Yellow Dragon Pills at a ratio of four to one.
Thus, the 1,234 Grain-Repelling Pills converted into 308 Yellow Dragon Pills. He was still somewhat short of five hundred and could only make up the difference after logging in again two months later.
Time passed swiftly in the "Primordial World," but only one night had passed in Blackwood Village.
Going back and forth each day between the hundredfold time difference caused Lu Qingfeng to feel as if he had lived through another lifetime whenever he logged in or offlined. He marveled more and more at the might of time.
That day.
It was time to go to Huangzhi Mountain again.
In the blink of an eye, more than five months had passed since Lu Qingshan entered the Return to Truth Sect.
At the foot of Huangzhi Mountain.
"Big brother, a few days ago, an inner disciple named Wu Yuan came to the servant compound to select attendants, and I was chosen. Six servant disciples were selected in all. Wu Yuan told us to prepare provisions and cross to the other side of the Chengyang River with him three days later to gather spiritual herbs."
More than five months had passed, yet Lu Qingshan's body remained thin, though he looked much sturdier. Living alone in the Return to Truth Sect had subtly changed his temperament as well. He was no longer as timid and indecisive as before.
However, no matter what happened in the Return to Truth Sect, Lu Qingshan would tell Lu Qingfeng everything whenever he saw him every seven days and ask for his opinion.
This time, Wu Yuan had taken him on as an attendant, and he would even have to go to the other side of the Chengyang River in three days. Lu Qingshan felt that this might be an opportunity, but he could not shake the unease in his heart.
Every year or two, a formal disciple of the Return to Truth Sect would cultivate the "Return to Truth Technique" to the Fourth Layer and advance to become an inner disciple. Inner disciples had the right to select servant disciples as attendants who would obey their summons.
Besides that, the Return to Truth Sect would assign newly promoted inner disciples missions, most of which involved crossing to the other side of the Chengyang River to gather spiritual herbs.
The other side of the Chengyang River was sparsely inhabited and extremely dangerous.
All kinds of wild beasts roamed there, and poisonous creatures such as snakes, insects, rats, and ants were also plentiful.
Inner disciples often brought their newly accepted attendants along, but fewer than one in ten attendants managed to return alive. Even inner disciples who had cultivated the "Return to Truth Technique" to the Fourth Layer might never make it back, remaining forever on the other side.
However, if an attendant could complete a mission with an inner disciple and return together, they would basically receive the inner disciple's careful cultivation and be taken in as a trusted aide.
"The other side of the Chengyang River?"
After hearing this, Lu Qingfeng could not help frowning.
Although he had never been to the other side, he had heard since childhood that the wild beasts there were even fiercer, and that demons existed whose strength was no weaker than the "immortals" of the Return to Truth Sect.
It was only because the demons were separated by the Chengyang River that they could not threaten Blackwood Village.
Cross the river?
Not a single person in Blackwood Village dared!
Five months ago, when he heard that Lu Qingshan had been selected as a servant disciple of the Return to Truth Sect, this was precisely why the brothers had reacted so strongly.
The death rate among the Return to Truth Sect's servant disciples was extremely high!
Of the hundred servant disciples who entered in the same year, fewer than ten would still be alive after three years. Of the ninety who died, only a dozen or so perished on Huangzhi Mountain due to various problems. The remaining seventy or eighty all died on the other side of the river, becoming fodder for demons!
"How were things in previous years?" Lu Qingfeng asked, holding on to a sliver of hope.
"These missions always involve one inner disciple taking six servant disciples across the river. With extremely good luck, four or five servant disciples might return. With bad luck, the entire group could be wiped out. There's no fixed outcome. The old-timers in the Return to Truth Sect say that these missions generally depend on luck."
Lu Qingshan was actually still afraid.
But an inner disciple's status was even higher than that of a formal disciple, and they were incomparably more exalted than servant disciples like them. Having been chosen as Wu Yuan's personal attendant, he had no room to resist.
In the past, he would certainly have been completely at a loss.
Now, however, he was able to steady his mind and ask Lu Qingfeng. He had truly grown a great deal during this period.
"Luck—"
Lu Qingfeng shook his head. "You can't entrust life and death to ethereal, illusory luck."
"Big brother."
Lu Qingshan did not understand what Lu Qingfeng meant.
He carefully glanced around, then leaned close to Lu Qingfeng's ear and said, "Big brother, actually, I've been very lucky. Two days ago, I found a jade pendant on Huangzhi Mountain. I accidentally cut my hand and dripped some blood onto it."
Lu Qingfeng froze.
This cliché feels so familiar!
He did not interrupt Lu Qingshan and continued listening.
"This is the jade pendant." Lu Qingshan took a bluish-purple jade pendant from his chest. Complex patterns were carved into it. "After I dripped blood on it, this jade pendant seemed to understand my words. It can even control a corpse beneath Huangzhi Mountain. I can sense that the corpse is very powerful. I don't know if it's the zombie Dad once told us about."
"But when I used the jade pendant to make the corpse move, all the strength in my body was drained. I guess my current strength is simply too weak, and I have no way to control that corpse."
Lu Qingshan spoke in a low voice, then stuffed the jade pendant into Lu Qingfeng's arms. "Big brother, keep this jade pendant for me. If I don't come back from the other side of the river this time, you might be able to use it to avenge me!"
Lu Qingfeng felt the jade pendant radiating a cold, eerie aura from within his clothes and looked at Lu Qingshan.
Although this younger brother was doing his utmost to hide it, the panic and fear in his eyes could not be concealed.
After all, Lu Qingshan was still only a fourteen-year-old boy.
"Big brother."
"If I... if I don't come back, you must tell Qingyu that her second brother was a real man. I didn't cry, and I wasn't afraid."
Lu Qingshan's eyes shone brightly. He pursed his lips, then lowered his head. His voice was almost inaudible. "Big brother, I miss Qingyu a little."
"It's all right."
"You'll see Qingyu again in three days."
Lu Qingfeng rubbed Lu Qingshan's hair and said with a smile.
"Huh?"
Lu Qingshan raised his head, not understanding what his big brother meant.
"Qingshan, we're not going to the other side of the river. Now tell me what time you're leaving three days from now, where you'll cross the river, and whether anyone will see you off," Lu Qingfeng asked in a low voice.
How could he possibly let Lu Qingshan go when surviving depended on luck?
His current accumulation was still insufficient, and his strength was not powerful enough. But with careful planning, overthrowing the Return to Truth Sect was unlikely, while taking Lu Qingshan and Qingyu and escaping should not be difficult!
"Big brother, Wu Yuan has cultivated the 'Return to Truth Technique' to the Fourth Layer. He can fight dozens of servant disciples by himself. Besides me, there are five other servant disciples this time. I can't escape!" Lu Qingshan finally guessed what his big brother meant. His face panicked, and he hurriedly spoke.
"Don't worry. When have I ever done something I wasn't sure about?"
Lu Qingfeng's expression was solemn. "I can kill that Wu Yuan. After Wu Yuan dies, the other five servant disciples definitely won't dare resist. Then we'll seize their boat and head straight downstream on the Chengyang River. As long as we get beyond the borders of Jiuzhai County, the Return to Truth Sect won't be able to find us!"
"But that Wu Yuan—"
Seeing that his big brother truly intended to take him and flee, and even claimed he could kill Wu Yuan, Lu Qingshan grew even more frantic.
Wu Yuan was an inner disciple of the Return to Truth Sect and quite famous throughout the sect. How could his big brother possibly kill him?
"There isn't much time. Tell me quickly."
Seeing that his younger brother did not believe him, Lu Qingfeng reached out and grabbed Lu Qingshan's arm!
"Hiss!"
Lu Qingshan's eyes went wide. He sucked in a sharp breath from the pain, feeling as if his arm were about to snap!
"Qingshan, you had an encounter on Huangzhi Mountain, and I had one in Blackwood Village as well. Now can you tell me what Wu Yuan has planned for three days from now?" Afraid that his younger brother still would not believe him, Lu Qingfeng squeezed hard, then circulated his inner breath.
The Heartburning Palm struck the tree against which the two were leaning, slamming a palm print three inches deep into it.
Lu Qingshan finally believed him.
On the way back to Blackwood Village, Lu Qingfeng kept pondering all the possible problems that might arise during this operation.
Lu Qingshan's strength was far too low. He had not even entered the path of cultivation.
His attainment in the "Return to Truth Technique" was zero, and his only combat ability was the "Savage Bull Fist."
How much could this straightforward boxing technique accomplish without inner breath to drive it?
Thus, when he heard that Lu Qingshan would be going to the other side of the Chengyang River with an inner disciple of the Return to Truth Sect, and that survival depended solely on luck, Lu Qingfeng made up his mind to take Lu Qingshan away from the Return to Truth Sect.
That meant they could no longer stay in Blackwood Village either!
"'Return to Truth Technique' Fourth Layer, equivalent to the Fourth Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm. With my current strength, catching him off guard with Fire Bolt Technique, killing him won't be difficult. After killing Wu Yuan and taking the boat they use to cross the river, we'll go downstream and duck into any mountain forest. Finding us will be no easier than fishing a needle from the sea."
"There are several things to pay attention to."
"First, when Qingshan and the others cross the river three days from now, no other inner disciple of the Return to Truth Sect—or stronger expert—can be present. I can deal with one Wu Yuan, but not more than that!"
"Second, my inner breath is only enough to activate Fire Bolt Technique three times. I absolutely can't miss!"
"Third, I don't know how to row. I have to learn in the 'Primordial World' within these three days!"
"Fourth, when abandoning the boat and entering the mountain forest, I have to watch out for wild beasts and prepare medicine to repel insects and cure poison!"
"Fifth..."
Lu Qingfeng considered everything one by one, listing every situation that might arise before and during the operation and thinking of targeted solutions in advance.
That way, he would not panic when the moment came.
This operation was rather rushed and had happened without warning. Lu Qingfeng had not anticipated it either.
"This is fine too. At least I won't have to live on tenterhooks!"
Lu Qingfeng thought to himself.
During the first three months after Lu Qingshan entered the Return to Truth Sect, the "Primordial World" game had yet to appear. The three siblings had been powerless and completely unable to resist.
During the following two months, because he had failed to notice the hundredfold time difference, his game character had died, wasting two months for nothing.
During those two months, Lu Qingfeng had already begun cultivating. However, first, his progress had been slow, and he had remained stuck at the First Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm. Second, he had possessed no means of confronting enemies.
It was only in the past ten days, after being reincarnated in the game, that Lu Qingfeng had finally gained a measure of strength.
Whether refining pills or practicing techniques, everything he did had been in preparation to rescue Lu Qingshan.
Lu Qingfeng had originally intended to rely on the hundredfold time difference, make more thorough preparations, and then flee Huangzhi Mountain and Blackwood Village together with Lu Qingshan and Qingyu.
But now, Lu Qingshan was about to risk his life on the other side of the Chengyang River. There was no time for delay!
Even though his preparations were inadequate and far from meeting his expectations, he could never stand by and watch Qingshan throw his life away.
"This is also an opportunity."
"Under ordinary circumstances, aside from being allowed to spend the time it takes two incense sticks to burn at the foot of the mountain every seven days, Qingshan has to remain on Huangzhi Mountain the rest of the time. If he leaves for too long, he'll immediately be hunted down. Given the Return to Truth Sect's speed of reaction, they might intercept and kill Qingshan before he even reaches the riverbank."
"This time, with the inner disciple Wu Yuan leading the group, he can reach the riverbank openly and legitimately. As long as we can kill Wu Yuan, the odds of escaping will be extremely high."
"Far from Blackwood Village and the Return to Truth Sect, I won't need to disguise myself every day. I'll have much more time to cultivate."
Blessings concealed within misfortunes, and misfortunes lurking within blessings!
Who could predict which way fortune and calamity would turn?
What seemed like a crisis this time might instead be a splendid chance to break free from the cage. Escaping Blackwood Village and the Return to Truth Sect would leave the sky high and the sea broad!
With the various secret inheritances and techniques from the "Primordial World," even if his Root Bone was somewhat poor, it would not hinder him from making a name for himself in this world.
Perhaps he could even blaze a path to immortality that reached the heavens!
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