Preparation to Descend the Mountain

Chapter 19: Preparing to Leave the Mountain

In the game, a lifetime of glory passed in an instant.

In reality, half a year had also gone by.

"Hey!"

"Ha!"

Within the dense forest, the light shouts of a youth rang out without end.

Two figures shifted and dodged, blades flashing as they sparred.

"Big Brother is mighty!"

Lu Qingyu stood to the side, waving her arms and stomping her feet in excitement. On her shoulder perched a palm-sized little bird, chirping incessantly along with Lu Qingyu's cries.

"Big Brother! Big Brother!"

"Let's rest a while!"

Amid the rapid exchange, Lu Qingshan yelled out, leaping back from the battle circle.

Stopping to look, his face and body were drenched in sweat, nearly to the point of collapse. In contrast, Lu Qingfeng stood rooted in place, his hair only slightly mussed, with no trace of fatigue whatsoever.

"Second Brother, you're too weak!"

Lu Qingyu bounced over to Lu Qingfeng's side, using her sleeve to wipe the nonexistent sweat from her big brother's face, then turned to make faces at Lu Qingshan.

"Lu Qingyu! You ungrateful wretch!"

Lu Qingshan collapsed to the ground, pointing at Lu Qingyu in anger.

"I'm happy to, you can't stop me!" Lu Qingyu stuck out her tongue.

Lu Qingfeng let them fool around as he found a spot to sit down.

The decades in the game had left no mark on Lu Qingfeng's face, but the passage of a lifetime had still imbued him with an indescribable aura.

Steadiness! World-weariness!

A sense of age washed over by the erosion of time, utterly unlike a vibrant youth just past sixteen.

Lu Qingfeng sat down with his back against a large tree and took out a thick booklet.

The booklet was made of yellow paper, all of which were substandard talisman papers Lu Qingfeng had produced over the past half year. He had bound them into a booklet to record the conditions of the mountain forest. It was covered in various markings and simple, scattered lines.

This was a topographic map of the area within about ten days' travel.

It only marked basic information like approximate distances and the presence of large wild beasts.

"The Returning Truth Sect has been quiet for a long time, and relying solely on me, Qingshan, and Qingyu to gather medicinal herbs is too inefficient. The Yellow Dragon Pills I refine are nowhere near enough for the three of us to cultivate."

Lu Qingfeng's current cultivation was at Fetal Respiration Third Level, while Lu Qingshan was at Fetal Respiration Second Level.

Lu Qingyu had also started cultivating, just stepping into Fetal Respiration First Level.

With three people cultivating, the demand for Yellow Dragon Pills had skyrocketed. Relying on Lu Qingfeng and the others to gather herbs themselves was hard to sustain.

"It's time to go out!"

Lu Qingfeng studied the map, figuring out a route.

Over the past half year, the three of them had first spent over three months living in fear under the pursuit of the Returning Truth Sect. Then they had a slightly more stable two months.

At the start, they could still rely on gathering herbs nearby to refine Yellow Dragon Pills, supporting Lu Qingfeng and Lu Qingshan's cultivation.

Lu Qingfeng had his experience from the game.

In these six months, he had spent forty-eight years in the game. Because he consumed Experience Points on deducing techniques, spells, alchemy, talisman-making, and so on, his cultivation always fluctuated between Fetal Respiration First Level and Fetal Respiration Fifth Level.

After Fetal Respiration Fifth Level, low-grade pills like Yellow Dragon Pills, Nurturing Breath Pills, and Essence Qi Pills became ineffective.

Thus, for maximum efficiency and the most economical gain of Experience Points, Lu Qingfeng would generally cultivate to Fetal Respiration Fifth Level, exhaust all his Experience Points, and then start cultivating from scratch.

Over and over, in forty-eight years, he repeated this cycle fifty-six times.

Lu Qingfeng was certain that no cultivator in the world could match his insight into the first five levels of the Fetal Respiration Realm.

The process from Fetal Respiration First Level to Fifth Level—Lu Qingfeng could even cultivate it with his eyes closed.

Therefore, despite his poor aptitude, his cultivation speed was still faster than Lu Qingshan's.

One month for the first level!

Two months for the second level!

Three months for the third level!

In just over half a year, his cultivation had already reached Fetal Respiration Realm Third Layer. If not for the limitation of Yellow Dragon Pills, Lu Qingfeng estimated he would have at least reached Fetal Respiration Realm Fourth Layer.

Lu Qingshan was slightly worse.

After all, he didn't have his big brother's nearly heaven-defying cultivation experience, and his 2-point aptitude couldn't bridge the gap too much, so after half a year, he was still only at Fetal Respiration Second Level.

The nearby herbs hadn't decreased much, and the amount they could find daily was about the same as before.

But because their cultivation had improved, their consumption of Yellow Dragon Pills was greater, so even with the same quantity, it gradually couldn't satisfy Lu Qingfeng and the other two.

"This time I have to leave these mountains and find a human settlement. Many hands make light work—with enough money, I can gather as many medicinal ingredients for refining Yellow Dragon Pills as I want."

"Staying here now is a complete waste of time."

Lu Qingfeng mused.

He had experienced the helplessness of a lifespan running out without being able to break through in the game. In reality, he didn't want to leave irreparable regrets for the sake of a little comfort.

Taking advantage of the sixteen-year reincarnation gap in the game—which corresponded to two months in reality—he would leave these deep mountains.

Once he settled down, he could roughly start the game again.

Lu Qingfeng was quite looking forward to seeing where in the Primordial Wilderness his random reincarnation would land him.

"Big Brother, are we moving again?"

Lu Qingyu dropped Lu Qingshan and ran over to Lu Qingfeng to ask. Every time her big brother studied a map so intently like this, it usually meant they were about to hit the road.

"Right."

Lu Qingfeng nodded.

"Isn't there still plenty of medicinal herbs around here?"

"And the Returning Truth Sect hasn't made a move in a long time."

Lu Qingshan walked over, somewhat puzzled.

After more than half a year of recuperation, both he and Lu Qingfeng had grown sturdier. Though their scars remained, their injuries had fully healed under the medicinal treatments.

"This time, we're heading straight out of the mountains, into the county town."

Lu Qingfeng laid out his plan to the two of them. Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu usually listened to him, but this time they hesitated.

"What?"

"Scared?"

Lu Qingfeng looked at the two who had suddenly gone silent and asked with a smile.

"I'm not scared!"

"Let's go to the county town!"

Lu Qingyu stiffened her neck, trying hard to hide it.

Hearing this, Lu Qingshan quickly added, "With my strength now, I'm not afraid even if I run into an Inner Disciple of the Returning Truth Sect. What's there to fear from a tiny county town!"

"Alright then."

"Rest up tonight, we set off at dawn tomorrow."

Lu Qingfeng didn't call them out on it and said directly.

He also knew that after living in the mountains for over half a year, both Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu had grown used to this life. Suddenly heading to an unfamiliar county town, dealing with many, many strangers—it was inevitable that they'd be a bit scared.

Moreover, they had escaped from places like Blackwood Village and the Returning Truth Sect, so they were even more wary of new environments, afraid of falling back into the same kind of situation.

However, the state of cultivation in isolation was still far off for Lu Qingfeng and the other two.

Even when one reached a high level of cultivation, they still couldn't avoid interacting with people. With their bone aptitudes, the three siblings needed to rely on the power of the group to obtain various resources and improve themselves.

If they just buried their heads in bitter cultivation, wasting away their lives would be inevitable.

That night.

Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu were both a bit off, lacking their usual liveliness. Lu Qingfeng didn't bother them, letting them adjust on their own. He, on the other hand, packed his gear.

After half a year in the deep mountains, he didn't have much to bring.

The only valuable item was the Wolf Hair Talisman Brush, used for drawing talismans.

It contained nine talisman patterns, making it the lowest grade among First Grade talisman tools, barely adequate for drawing Low Grade Talismans.

Aside from the Wolf Hair Talisman Brush, everything else was small items.

Fasting Pills, Yellow Dragon Pills, Yellow Chestnut Pills... a dazzling array of elixirs.

Invisibility Talismans, Earth Escape Talismans, Fireball Talismans... a diverse collection of talismans.

And the Nine Ring Saber taken from Wu Yuan—that was all of Lu Qingfeng's assets.

Thanks to 'Ocean Without Limits' for the 600 reward; 'Luoshui Yitian' for the 500 reward; 'Dad's Computer' for the 200 reward; '丶Take It Seriously and You Lose' for the 100 reward.

I noticed the site gave me a cover—what do you all think?