Cooperation!

For a time.

Anyone could tell that someone was targeting the Return to Truth Sect!

But the attackers came and went like shadows, specifically choosing moments when no True Qi Realm experts from the Return to Truth Sect were present to strike at disciples of the Embryonic Breath Realm.

They did not care how many there were.

As long as they found a suitable target, they would not hesitate to strike—even if the Return to Truth Sect disciple appeared alone. Under such circumstances, it was extremely difficult for the Return to Truth Sect to flush them out.

Several times, the sect dispatched experts, only for them to arrive to find nothing but empty air.

Everyone in the Return to Truth Sect, especially its Embryonic Breath Realm disciples, was on edge, living in an atmosphere of panic at the slightest hint of trouble. The Azure Jade Sect seized this golden opportunity to kick a dog when it was down, wiping out one of the Return to Truth Sect's branches and dealing it a heavy blow.

The battlefront, which had been deadlocked for more than half a year, finally showed a turning point.

"This Azure Jade Sect really knows how to trim its sails to the wind!"

Three days later, Lu Qingfeng emerged from seclusion. After hearing Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu summarize the news, he could not help laughing.

These past few days.

Lu Qingfeng had been searching through the "Primordial World" for a way to purge Daoist Miaoyin's cold poison. In truth, the pill formula had been easy to find; most of his time had been spent mastering the art of refining it.

This pill for purging cold poison was called the 'Kindling Flame Pill,' and it was a high-grade pill.

In recent years, Lu Qingfeng had not mastered many new pill formulas, but his alchemy had improved by leaps and bounds. He had already become a Master Alchemy Apprentice. In barely more than half a year, he had mastered the refinement of the 'Kindling Flame Pill.' As long as he had enough materials, he could refine it in the real world as well.

However, the Kindling Flame Pill's medicinal power was far too weak compared to the cold poison in Daoist Miaoyin's body.

One or two pills, or even ten or twenty Kindling Flame Pills, would still be unable to completely purge the cold poison from her body.

"This pill is called the 'Kindling Flame Pill.'"

"Considering the circumstances in Guangyuan Prefecture and even Shangyang Country as a whole, the Kindling Flame Pill is the easiest to refine. It can dissolve the cold poison afflicting the City Lord. Although it will take somewhat longer, it can eradicate it completely within at most three years. If the City Lord can find Jade Marrow Lingzhi, Scarlet Essence Lingzhi, Purple Monkey Flower, and other spirit herbs, then combined with some other common spirit herbs, they can be refined together into a batch of Fire Jade Pills, which will remove the cold poison directly!"

Lu Qingfeng looked at Daoist Miaoyin before him and spoke at length.

Daoist Miaoyin listened quietly.

But as he continued, the look she gave Lu Qingfeng revealed her distrust. "Boy, you didn't painstakingly come up with this method just so I'd protect your siblings for three years, did you?"

Jade Marrow Lingzhi, Scarlet Essence Lingzhi, and Purple Monkey Flower were exceedingly precious even beyond Shangyang Country. In a tiny place like Shangyang Country, they simply could not be found. It was difficult for Daoist Miaoyin not to suspect that Lu Qingfeng had deliberately arranged matters this way.

"Even the cleverest housewife cannot cook without rice!"

"If the City Lord does not believe me, there is nothing I can do."

Lu Qingfeng gave a helpless shrug.

"Oh?"

"If I find Jade Marrow Lingzhi, Scarlet Essence Lingzhi, and Purple Monkey Flower, won't you be dumbfounded?" Daoist Miaoyin teased as she looked at Lu Qingfeng.

"You jest, my lady."

Lu Qingfeng did not believe her.

In this barren backwater, it would be a stroke of fortune if even a first-rank spirit herb could grow. Of the three—Jade Marrow Lingzhi, Scarlet Essence Lingzhi, and Purple Monkey Flower—the latter two were second-rank spirit herbs, while the first was a third-rank spirit herb.

Even if one searched all of Shangyang Country, they still would not find them!

"Good!"

"Then it will be the Kindling Flame Pill."

The corners of Daoist Miaoyin's lips lifted as she sat on the stone bench in the courtyard and said with a smile, "What other requirements do you have? State them all at once."

"Since that is the case, I will not stand on ceremony."

A right unused was a right forfeited.

Lu Qingfeng understood that principle well. He took a sheaf of papers from his robes and handed them to Daoist Miaoyin, saying, "These contain the materials for refining the Kindling Flame Pill, along with some other medicinal herbs, ores, metals, and so on. I will trouble you with them, my lady!"

"Dual Mastery of Alchemy and Artifice?"

Daoist Miaoyin took them and, without looking closely, asked curiously.

The medicinal herbs were for alchemy.

The ores and metals were for artifact forging. Being able to master both alchemy and artifact forging was something very few people could accomplish.

Daoist Miaoyin could not help becoming somewhat more interested in Lu Qingfeng—or the force behind him.

Lu Qingfeng merely smiled without answering.

"Good."

"I will have someone deliver these materials to you as soon as possible."

Seeing this, Daoist Miaoyin did not press him. After agreeing, she turned and left.

City Lord's Manor.

Daoist Miaoyin entered the quiet room and brushed a hand across her waist. Three jade boxes immediately appeared in her hand. Through the crystalline jade, their contents could be seen.

On the left was a palm-sized lingzhi, its entire body emerald green, resembling jade marrow.

The object in the middle was scarlet red, shaped like a lingzhi, and radiated Flamefire power.

The one on the right was purple. Three flowers bloomed from it, each with five petals, with white pollen at the center.

If Lu Qingfeng had been there, he would certainly have recognized that the three jade boxes contained none other than three spirit herbs: Jade Marrow Lingzhi, Scarlet Essence Lingzhi, and Purple Monkey Flower!

"With these three spirit herbs as the main ingredients, a second-rank Fire Jade Pill?"

Daoist Miaoyin pursed her lips in a smile and put away the spirit herbs. She then opened Lu Qingfeng's list of requested materials—

Three jin of Ink Jade Stone.

One hundred jin of silver.

Eight thousand jin of raw iron.

Three hundred beast sinews.

"This fellow really does not hold back!"

Daoist Miaoyin's brows shifted slightly as she snapped the list shut. These materials were not particularly precious when considered individually.

A hundred jin of silver, for instance, amounted to no more than a thousand taels of silver bullion.

But taken together, they amounted to an enormous sum.

"These ordinary materials can also be used to refine magical artifacts?!"

"Someone in Three Mountains and Nine Rivers skilled in both alchemy and artifact forging—"

"Could this be meant to throw me off?"

Daoist Miaoyin pondered as she carried the material list out of the quiet room. "Someone come!"

"After mountains and rivers, there seems to be no road; then, amid dark willows and bright flowers, another village appears!"

Watching Daoist Miaoyin's back disappear, Lu Qingfeng let out a sigh in his heart.

He had thought that, under the joint blockade of the Return to Truth Sect and the Azure Jade Sect, it would be difficult for him to gather any more medicinal herbs, ores, and other materials for refining pills and puppets.

He had not expected Daoist Miaoyin's appearance to bring a turning point to this deadlock.

With three years and ample materials, the pills were secondary. The crucial point was that Lu Qingfeng could refine enough puppets to overthrow the Return to Truth Sect!

And this was something even Daoist Miaoyin likely could not have anticipated.

From then on, Lu Qingfeng shifted his focus from the "Primordial World" to reality.

Miaoyin City's power was indeed considerable.

Although the various materials Lu Qingfeng needed could not be gathered all at once, deliveries arrived every day. Lu Qingfeng focused on alchemy and refining the Truth-Destroying Type One.

With sufficient materials, Lu Qingfeng could refine one Truth-Destroying Type One in just under five days. But because of material limitations, he could actually only refine one every two weeks or so.

Thus, he cultivated and refined puppets in the real world during the day.

At night, he logged into the game to master various arts, temper his combat skills, and increase his foundations.

During this period.

Lu Qingshan and Lu Qingyu controlled the Truth-Destroying Type Ones as they roamed all over the regions governed by the Return to Truth Sect, launching attacks without pause.

The Truth-Destroying Type One had been designed specifically to deal with the Return to Truth Sect. These puppets were inscribed with the Precision Art, Giant Strength Art, Wind-Riding Art, and others. The arrows they fired were tremendously powerful and astonishingly accurate. On top of that, they were fast and exceptionally skilled at fleeing!

A True Qi Realm expert could still deal with the arrows of a Truth-Destroying Type One. As long as they were prepared, they could dodge them.

But those in the Embryonic Breath Realm had nowhere to escape.

With Daoist Miaoyin protecting him, Lu Qingfeng had no scruples whatsoever as he took revenge on the Return to Truth Sect.