After logging into the game, Lu Qingfeng glanced at his attributes.
The attributes in the game were much the same as in reality, except that his cultivation was higher.
Over these eight years, Lu Qingfeng had completely set talisman crafting aside.
As the saying went, knowing ten things was no match for mastering one!
Alchemy, talisman crafting, and artifact forging—each of these fields was vast and profound. Even cultivators who devoted their entire lives to them might not master them. Although Lu Qingfeng had plenty of time, he still could not hammer away at one thing in the east and another in the west.
Otherwise, he would only waste his time and accomplish nothing in the end!
Of the three great arts, alchemy was indispensable.
With the Root Bones of the Lu siblings, they could barely make any progress without pills. Relying on outsiders for pills came with too many limitations, and they might not even find pills suited to them.
Thus, alchemy was a compulsory course.
Talisman crafting and artifact forging were both means of combat and self-defense.
Lu Qingfeng had previously studied talisman crafting because, deep in the mountains, he lacked sufficient resources to forge artifacts. He had no choice but to settle for second best and practice the art of talisman crafting to protect himself for the time being.
Now that he had settled in Miaoyin City, he could collect all kinds of resources through Miaoyin City.
He could set talisman crafting aside for now and focus on artifact forging!
Compared to talismans, talisman artifacts, and magical artifacts, talismans were ultimately consumables. Moreover, as Lu Qingfeng's strength increased, the speed at which he mastered talismans was clearly unable to keep up.
At present, Lu Qingfeng's cultivation was still at the Fourth Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm, but his actual combat power was already enough to contend with the True Qi Realm.
Yet he could still only craft low-grade talismans. They were adequate against early- and mid-stage Embryonic Breath Realm cultivators, but when facing late-stage Embryonic Breath Realm cultivators, they were clearly outmatched.
They were truly a poor choice.
Artifact forging was far better.
Even the lowest-grade first-rank talisman artifacts could provide Lu Qingfeng with benefits and enhancements at his current level.
Moreover, as long as he mastered several talisman artifacts, he could arm himself from head to toe!
Clearly, they were far more suitable.
Besides, the grade of the talismans one drew was closely tied to one's cultivation. The key was to complete them in a single burst of energy. Lu Qingfeng's inner breath was limited, so the talismans he could draw were at most intermediate-grade, enough only to threaten late-stage Embryonic Breath Realm cultivators.
If he wanted to win through sheer numbers, it would truly consume too much time.
Therefore.
In this life, Lu Qingfeng had abandoned talisman crafting from the very beginning. In alchemy, the pill formulas he focused on mastering were also those beneficial to cultivation.
For example, the intermediate-grade Golden Marrow Pill, and the high-grade Qi-Harmonizing Pill and Qi-Circulating Powder.
The former was suitable for late-stage Embryonic Breath Realm cultivators and could increase inner breath. The latter could raise True Qi and greatly assist those at the bottleneck between the Embryonic Breath Realm and the True Qi Realm.
Lu Qingfeng had practiced these three pills without pause. With Wang Tao and Yue Ran, two top-tier alchemy apprentices, and even Mu Yuanyi, a first-rank alchemist, available for consultation, he had mastered them proficiently within just a few years.
He could collect medicinal materials in reality and begin refining them as well.
He would put his remaining energy into artifact forging and cultivation.
A mortal's life was short!
If Lu Qingfeng remained in the Embryonic Breath Realm, his lifespan would end at sixty-eight. After that, reincarnation would take sixteen years, while early-stage cultivation and accumulation would also waste time.
Thus, Lu Qingfeng decided to practice his arts while also making time for cultivation in this life.
After eight years, his cultivation had already reached the Ninth Layer of the Embryonic Breath Realm.
That was even after consuming a considerable amount of experience to enhance his pill formulas and the Scarlet Flame Alchemy Cauldron Refinement Method. Otherwise, he would likely have already broken through to the True Qi Realm.
There were countless experts in the Yuanyi Guild.
There had originally been three Foundation Establishment Realm great cultivators. Over these eight years, one had advanced and another had been recruited, giving the guild five Foundation Establishment experts guarding it.
There were even hundreds of True Qi Realm experts!
With Lu Qingfeng's status in the Yuanyi Guild, whenever he encountered a cultivation problem and went to ask about it, very few people would refuse him.
Under the guidance of these True Qi Realm experts and Foundation Establishment Realm great cultivators, Lu Qingfeng had avoided countless unnecessary detours. Coupled with ample pills, his cultivation naturally advanced with astonishing speed.
"Normally speaking, without the assistance of pills and relying solely on one's own bitter cultivation, an ordinary disciple of a sect with 4 points of Root Bone can complete the Embryonic Breath Realm in roughly five to eight years. Those with 3 points of Root Bone come next and need around twenty years. Those with 2 points of Root Bone need roughly forty years."
"With 1 point of Root Bone, it is theoretically impossible to break through to the True Qi Realm through one's own bitter cultivation. One might not even be able to complete cultivation in the Embryonic Breath Realm."
This was why the various immortal sects of the Bingling World made a minimum Root Bone of 4 points the first requirement for accepting disciples.
In Guangyuan Prefecture, the requirements of the various sects for accepting disciples were much lower.
Take the Return to Truth Sect, for example.
Those with 2 points of Root Bone who had hope of advancing to the True Qi Realm within their lifetimes could be accepted as servant disciples. Those with 3 or 4 points of Root Bone could even become ordinary disciples.
But those with 1 point of Root Bone were likewise rejected.
However, the theory of Root Bone above was only theoretical.
The world was vast, and there was no shortage of people with extremely poor Root Bones who defied fate, changed their lot, and soared to the heavens in a single bound. There were also those with high Root Bones who, due to all kinds of accidents, upheavals, and hardships, remained trapped at low realms and could not break through.
Besides, there were pills in the world, along with all kinds of methods that could assist cultivation.
Thus, even trash with 1 point of Root Bone had hope of reaching the immortal path's summit!
"Even geniuses cannot avoid relying on the wondrous effects of pills to speed up their cultivation! With Root Bones like mine, I need a massive amount of pills even more, so that I can pile my cultivation up."
"Without a powerful cultivation method, I will sooner or later end up with an unstable foundation. Once I reach a certain realm, I will be unable to advance even an inch. When breaking through a realm, my foundation might even collapse and my cultivation retreat—that is commonplace."
"However, the orthodox-grade Azure Origin Sword Art is a sword cultivator's method. It uses fierce Sword Qi to purge the poison of pills and condense inner breath and True Qi, so there is no worry of an unstable foundation!"
Lu Qingfeng chuckled.
An orthodox-grade method was naturally extraordinary.
Cultivators throughout the world, even the top immortal sects under heaven, yearned desperately for it. How could its wonders be explained in just a few words?
Take the Azure Origin Sword Art, for example. Forget its many other properties—just its ability to purge pill poison, allowing Lu Qingfeng to raise his cultivation through pills without restraint, was enough to make it one of the world's top methods!
The only drawback was that cultivating it required more hard work to refine away the pill poison, slightly slowing his cultivation progress while forcing him to endure the agony of Sword Qi slicing him apart.
But compared with the benefits, it was utterly insignificant!
At present, Lu Qingfeng was only a small step away from filling his experience for Level 20. He planned to raise his level to 21 and reach the True Qi Realm!
"The difference between the True Qi Realm and the Embryonic Breath Realm lies in True Qi and inner breath. To advance to the True Qi Realm, one must first purify one's inner breath and compress it into a strand of purest True Qi. Then, one uses True Qi to open the lower dantian and settle the True Qi inside it. Once that is done, the True Qi Realm is achieved."
Lu Qingfeng recalled the guidance of Mu Yuanyi and the others, as well as the key points for breaking through to the True Qi Realm.
He took a bottle of Qi-Harmonizing Pills from the storage pouch at his waist.
Among the pills used to break through to the True Qi Realm, the Qi-Harmonizing Pill was second only in efficacy to the top-grade Qi-Coalescing Pill and Qi-Gathering Pill.
With Lu Qingfeng's status and wealth, obtaining the latter two top-grade pills would not be difficult. However, considering how difficult they were to refine and how hard it was to find their materials in reality, Lu Qingfeng still decided to use Qi-Harmonizing Pills to break through to the True Qi Realm.
Only then could he accumulate usable experience for reality.
Before you continue