Third Life

Miaoyin City.

This had once been an unremarkable little town in the northeastern corner of Yushan County.

Decades ago, a powerhouse known as Daoist Miaoyin settled here, attracting many martial artists to seek refuge under him and turning the place into a mixed gathering of all sorts.

As time passed, the little town expanded into a city and was renamed Miaoyin City.

It became a transcendent presence between Guangyuan Prefecture and Dangyang Prefecture.

The city lord, Daoist Miaoyin, was one of the few great powerhouses in Shangyang Country. Every major faction and expert from every quarter had to show him sufficient respect and dared not slight him.

This day.

Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Qingyu finally arrived.

"Is this Miaoyin City?"

Lu Qingshan stared at the towering city not far ahead, his eyes opened wide.

Miaoyin City was far grander than Blackwood Village.

Its walls stood four or five zhang high, lined with rows of armored soldiers in solemn majesty. Armored soldiers also guarded the city gate below, collecting the entrance fee.

"Isn't it written right up there?"

"Miao-yin—"

Lu Qingyu pointed at the enormous characters reading "Miaoyin" above the city gate, equally awed by the great city. The palisade outside Blackwood Village was utterly incomparable to these walls!

Lu Qingfeng was relatively unfazed.

He had spent decades in Black Sand Town. Walls three to five zhang high could hardly shake him.

"Let's go in."

Lu Qingfeng led the two of them toward the city.

Entry required money, but that was no problem for Lu Qingfeng. Quick as a flash, he stealthily lifted a money pouch from a passing martial artist without the slightest trace.

He casually took out three copper coins, and the three of them entered Miaoyin City.

"How lively!"

Following closely behind Lu Qingfeng, Lu Qingyu was dazzled by Miaoyin City's prosperity. Lu Qingshan was likewise dazzled by the sights inside the city.

People streamed to and fro, and the streets were packed with pedestrians and peddlers.

The cries of hawkers and shouts of vendors rang out without end.

Coming abruptly from the silent, uninhabited depths of the mountains to a bustling city, they found it somewhat difficult to adjust.

"Let's go!"

"Let's get some new clothes!"

The three of them had spent half a year in the deep mountains, and their clothes had long since become tattered beyond recognition. During that time, they had barely managed to cover themselves by patching and mending them. They had been passable in the mountains, but in Miaoyin City they stood out conspicuously.

They casually found a ready-made clothing shop. The three siblings each picked out two outfits, then returned to the streets looking completely renewed.

"Big Brother, this place is wonderful!"

As she walked, Lu Qingyu stroked her new clothes, her face blooming with a radiant smile.

Over the years in Blackwood Village, she had only had one or two sets of clothes to alternate between each year, and they had been coarse, rough hemp garments at that.

But the two sets they had just chosen at the clothing shop were not only made of fine cloth but also carefully tailored, worlds apart from her former hemp clothes.

What girl did not love beauty?

Lu Qingyu was no exception.

At first, she had been quite resistant to leaving the mountains, but now she had long since cast those thoughts beyond the Nine Heavens.

Lu Qingfeng ruffled Qingyu's hair, a smile appearing on his face as well.

The little girl was always so easily satisfied.

Lu Qingshan had new clothes too, and he grinned just as broadly.

"Miaoyin City."

Lu Qingfeng surveyed his surroundings. The streets were exceptionally bustling, and teams dressed in black patrolled back and forth, making Miaoyin City's security astonishingly good.

This environment was worlds apart from Blackwood Village, and it allowed Lu Qingfeng to breathe a sigh of relief.

After circling Miaoyin City twice, Lu Qingfeng used a broker to acquire a small courtyard with only four rooms. He planned to spend a few days familiarizing himself with Miaoyin City's rules and environment, then see what kind of business would be best for gathering cultivation resources.

He had descended into this world more than sixteen years ago. After fleeing Blackwood Village and wandering through the mountains for half a year, he finally had a place to settle down and build a life.

After acquiring the small courtyard, both Lu Qingfeng and Qingyu and Qingshan felt an indescribable sensation in their hearts.

After arriving in Miaoyin City, the three of them settled down there.

After familiarizing himself with the city for several days, Lu Qingfeng used the last of his "borrowed" savings to take over a struggling apothecary. He planned to start with the apothecary and run a medicinal-materials business.

Lu Qingfeng now knew how to refine ten types of pills, including the Grain-Repelling Pill, Yellow Dragon Pill, and Clear Spirit Powder. Clear Spirit Powder was a sacred antidote, while the Essence-Nourishing Pill was a sacred medicine for healing injuries.

These two pills, especially the latter, would certainly have no trouble finding buyers in Miaoyin City.

The place was a mixed gathering of all sorts. Many martial artists who were injured outside or fleeing their enemies would choose Miaoyin City. With the city lord stationed there and three hundred Black Armored Army soldiers guarding it, no one dared to cause trouble or pick a fight in Miaoyin City.

These martial artists were Lu Qingfeng's greatest source of customers.

The martial world was treacherous!

Quite a few people secretly poisoned their weapons. Clear Spirit Powder was a sacred antidote and worked wonders against poisons at the Embryonic Breath Realm level.

The Essence-Nourishing Pill was even more effective against both internal and external injuries.

Lu Qingfeng divided each of these two pills into five grades and invented five different names to confuse the public. Even the highest grade possessed only thirty percent of the efficacy of the genuine pill, so as not to shock the world.

Even so, relying on the ten categories of medicine derived by weakening these two pills, Black Sand Apothecary quickly made a name for itself in Miaoyin City and gained a firm foothold within a few days.

In the blink of an eye.

Another month passed.

The troubles Lu Qingfeng had expected—those that would arrive one after another once he had stabilized and prospered—never came. The order in Miaoyin City was even better than he had imagined.

Aside from the normal taxes, Black Sand Apothecary's business did not even attract a single petty thug. Nor did the martial artists who came to the shop bully the three Lu siblings merely because they looked young.

In short, everything was so harmonious that it felt somewhat unreal.

Compared with Blackwood Village and the Return to Truth Sect, Miaoyin City was practically an earthly paradise!

In such an environment, Lu Qingfeng could not help feeling fortunate that he had chosen this place as his base.

Over the course of a month, he ran the apothecary, made huge profits from the weakened versions of Clear Spirit Powder and Essence-Nourishing Pills, and refined many Yellow Dragon Pills, Breath-Restoring Pills, and other pills for reserve.

Those formerly straitened days had finally passed. His hardship had ended, and better days had arrived!

His cultivation, which had stagnated for many days, also began to loosen.

Thus.

Before he knew it, the day arrived when his "Primordial World" reincarnation progress came to an end.

Name: Lu Qingfeng

Race: Human

Faction: None

Title: None

Cultivation: None

Level: Level 0 (0/1)

Lifespan: 16/68

Root Bone: 1

Merit: Unknown

Karmic Power: Unknown

Cultivation Method: Yellow Court Scripture, First Layer (Perfected) Traits: Evolving Method (First Layer); Dominion over All Arts (First Layer); Karmic Power Erasure (First Layer); Azure Origin Sword Art, Fifth Layer (Perfected), can be deduced;

Arts: Fire Bolt Technique (Second Layer), Heaven's Eye Technique (Second Layer), Smoke-Wisp Step (Second Layer), Heartburning Palm (Second Layer), White Jade True Formula (Second Layer), Cloak Saber Technique (Second Layer), True Yang Finger Technique (Second Layer), Wind-Riding Art (Second Layer), Golden Light Technique (Second Layer), Entangling Technique (Second Layer), Concealment Technique (Second Layer), Qi-Concealing Technique (Second Layer)

Divine Ability: None

Equipment: None

Alchemy: "Elementary Guide to Alchemy"; "Alchemy Analysis"; "Complete Guide to Basic Medicinal Materials"... Refineable pills: Grain-Repelling Pill, Yellow Dragon Pill, Clear Spirit Powder, Breath-Restoring Pill, Essence-Nourishing Pill, Entangling Fragrance Pellet, Yellow Chestnut Pellet, Heart-Corroding Pellet, Breath-Nurturing Pill, Essence-Qi Pellet

Talisman Crafting: "Detailed Guide to Six Common Cinnabar Preparations," "Fundamentals of Talisman Paper," "Complete Compendium of Low-Level Talismans"... Drawable talismans: Peace Talisman, Invisibility Talisman, Earth-Burrowing Talisman, Fire Bolt Talisman, Spring-Rejuvenation Talisman, Golden Light Talisman

Artifact Refining: "Fundamentals of Artifact Refining," "Detailed Guide to Crafting Spirit-Communing Talisman Brushes." Refineable talisman artifact: Wolfe-hair Talisman Brush

Beast Taming: Skylark Bird (*9)

Stepping out of the Rebirth Pool for the third time felt different once again.

He opened the Attribute Panel. As expected, his level and cultivation had been wiped clean, and all his equipment had vanished.

Even so, it remained incredibly impressive.

Everything Lu Qingfeng had accumulated over the several decades of his previous life had benefited him in this life.

There was no need to say much about the Azure Origin Sword Art. It had already reached Orthodox Grade, and there were few cultivation methods under Heaven that could rival it!

Besides that, he had mastered numerous foundations of alchemy and talisman craft, along with the refining methods for ten types of pills, six types of talismans, and one talisman artifact.

As for beast taming, the Skylark Bird was hardly worth mentioning.

With these foundations, Lu Qingfeng could reach the peak condition of his previous life within a year!

Only—

"This time, I need to take cultivation seriously too."

In his previous life, Lu Qingfeng had focused on strengthening cultivation methods, pill recipes, and the like with experience points. His cultivation had stagnated, reaching at most the Fifth Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm.

In reality, after more than half a year of cultivation, he had already reached the Third Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm. Before long, he would completely digest all the accumulation he had built up through the first five layers of the Embryonic Breath Realm.

Therefore, Lu Qingfeng urgently needed to reach a new realm in the game, thereby accumulating cultivation experience and avoiding holding back his real-world progress.

Besides, alchemy remained his top priority.

The three low-level pills—the Yellow Dragon Pill, Breath-Nurturing Pill, and Essence-Qi Pellet—could only support a cultivator to around the Fifth or Sixth Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm. Once one reached the middle and later stages of the Embryonic Breath Realm, it became necessary to switch to mid-level pills such as the Golden Marrow Pill.

Refining mid-level pills was far more complicated and varied than refining low-level pills, and Lu Qingfeng needed to devote even more energy to it.

At the same time.

With a stable environment like Miaoyin City, ordinary ores and metals were easy to purchase as long as one had money. Thus, the study of artifact refining could also be put on the agenda.

Finally, he could not neglect talisman craft either.

Adding it all up, even with the hundredfold time difference, Lu Qingfeng could not help feeling considerable pressure.

"Although I can strengthen pill recipes and cultivation methods, when it comes to cultivation, alchemy, artifact refining, and talisman drawing, having a renowned master's guidance would let me accomplish twice as much with half the effort!"

Lu Qingfeng could not help thinking of Daoist Huang Luo.

With Daoist Huang Luo's guidance in talisman craft, he had found it far easier than studying alchemy on his own.

If he cultivated alone, every crux and difficult point would require repeated experimentation, taking twice or even three to five times as long to work through. With a senior guiding him, he could bypass many winding detours.

"In my previous life, I wasn't familiar with the 'Primordial World' at all. In this life, I can find a cultivation sect and join it."

"Preferably one proficient in alchemy, artifact refining, and talisman craft!"

During the two-month gap, Lu Qingfeng had long since planned out this life.

Joining a sect would bring quite a few constraints, but first, he would have a backer. Second, if he could become a renowned master's disciple, it would greatly benefit his cultivation.

There were many advantages!

Having made up his mind, Lu Qingfeng walked out of the Rebirth Pool and quickly learned about the circumstances of the place where he had reincarnated at random.