Two Months

Two Months

To the west of Blackwood Village lay rolling terraced fields.

Beyond the terraced fields stretched the Blackwind Mountain Range, extending for dozens of miles.

On the outskirts of the Blackwind Mountain Range.

Lu Qingfeng carried a bamboo basket on his back, a firewood knife in his right hand and a medicinal hoe carved from blackwood in his left, exploring the dense forest.

Weeds grew thick here, and the trees stood tall.

The thousand-odd residents of Blackwood Village lived by farming. No one dared enter the Blackwind Mountain Range. Even its outskirts were rarely visited.

Lu Qingfeng was light as a swallow, crouching down from time to time. A moment later, he would rise and place dirt-stained medicinal herbs into his bamboo basket.

Now, besides atractylodes macrocephala and licorice root, there were also polygonatum, mountain ginseng, and other medicinal herbs beneficial to cultivation.

In the blink of an eye, dusk arrived.

The bamboo basket was nearly full of medicinal herbs and weighed heavily on his back. If Lu Qingfeng had not cultivated diligently these past days, his strength would have long since failed him.

Seeing the sky darken, Lu Qingfeng prepared to return.

As the sun set in the west, heaven and earth dimmed.

The forest echoed with insects chirping and birds calling, far more alive than Blackwood Village.

Suddenly.

Lu Qingfeng's ears twitched. Amid the insects and birds, he heard a rustling sound. Something was approaching him, and it was moving quickly.

"Run!"

Lu Qingfeng quickened his pace and hurried toward Blackwood Village.

At dusk, deep in the Blackwind Mountain Range, Lu Qingfeng did not dare clash with any fierce beast.

Even though he had already cultivated Inner Breath and reached the Fetal Respiration Realm First Layer.

"Cultivating the Wild Bull Fist would change my physical features too much. Otherwise, with my current cultivation, one punch after practicing the Wild Bull Fist could at least smash a wolf cub to death!"

After cultivating Inner Breath, his physical capabilities had improved across the board. His reactions, speed, strength, and constitution were nothing like before! If he learned martial techniques, he would become even more formidable.

Unfortunately, he could not practice normally during this period. His only Wild Bull Fist, once cultivated, would make his fists as large as sandbags. Any sharp-eyed person would see it and expose him.

Lu Qingfeng would not take such a risk for a mere ordinary martial technique.

But at this moment!

The rustling drew closer and closer. Lu Qingfeng could no longer care about the noise and ran faster and faster.

The palms gripping the medicinal hoe and firewood knife were already sweating.

This was the first time he had encountered such danger since entering the Blackwind Mountain Range. This place was near Blackwood Village, and every year experts from the Returning Truth Sect came to deal with dangerous wild beasts, even demon beasts.

Yet the beast pursuing him from behind gave Lu Qingfeng a clear sense of a thorn at his back.

Swish!

The sound of something slicing through the air rang out, and every hair on Lu Qingfeng's body stood on end.

He stopped and turned at once. A red flash flickered before his eyes, several cold gleams blossomed, and Lu Qingfeng felt a chill across his chest followed by searing pain.

The hemp cloth over his chest had been shredded, and several deep bloody gashes had been torn across his chest, blood gushing out!

Just then—

The red flash came again!

"Die!"

Lu Qingfeng felt death looming over him. The weak Inner Breath within him circulated as he swung his firewood knife with all his strength at the red flash!

Bang!

His hand sank. The red blur, just about to pounce on Lu Qingfeng, was struck by the firewood knife and smashed from midair straight to the ground.

"Yaa! Yaa!"

It was a small red beast, resembling a mountain cat, with blood still glistening on its claws.

That blood belonged to Lu Qingfeng.

There was another terrifying wound on the Red Fox Spirit's body, as long as a palm. Lu Qingfeng had inflicted it with his firewood knife.

The Red Fox Spirit had been wounded by the firewood knife and then slammed viciously into the ground, leaving it temporarily unable to move.

Its little face scrunched into a ball as its tear-filled eyes looked at Lu Qingfeng, pitiful and miserable.

"Die!"

Lu Qingfeng gripped the firewood knife and brought it down in a fierce blow, smashing the upturned Red Fox Spirit's head into a bloody pulp and ending its life.

"Huff, huff!"

After killing the Red Fox Spirit, Lu Qingfeng collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Hiss!"

As he breathed, his chest rose and fell, tugging at his wounds. The pain made Lu Qingfeng suck in a cold breath.

The Red Fox Spirit was fast, and fortunately its claws had struck Lu Qingfeng's chest. Had they struck his neck, he likely would have left his life behind in the Blackwind Mountain Range.

"A little beast that tried to take a life the moment it attacked, so vicious—how could it deserve my pity!"

Lu Qingfeng glanced at the mangled Red Fox Spirit before him and casually stopped the bleeding from his wounds. Then he struggled to his feet. Not daring to linger, he hurried toward Blackwood Village.

Fortunately, the cover of night kept the bedraggled Lu Qingfeng from being seen by anyone else in Blackwood Village.

He dashed back to the Blackwood House and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Big Brother, what happened to you?"

Lu Qingyu was cooking wild vegetable porridge. When she saw Lu Qingfeng stagger back, she hurried over in panic to support him.

"I'm fine. A mountain cat scratched me. Close the door."

Lu Qingfeng had Qingyu shut the door tightly, then sat down on a stool.

"Damn mountain cat!"

Seeing the frightening wound on her elder brother's chest, Lu Qingyu was so anxious that tears nearly fell.

"It's a minor injury. It's nothing."

"Go get the Little Millet Grass and Hundred Mile Flower powder from beneath the bed."

Lu Qingfeng comforted Qingyu while giving instructions.

Lu Qingyu hurriedly brought the two medicinal herbs. As she treated Lu Qingfeng's chest wound, she kept shedding tears.

"It's really nothing. Doesn't Qingyu hate it most when others cry?"

"Come on, smile."

Lu Qingfeng's mouth twitched from the pain. Only after much coaxing did he finally stop Lu Qingyu's tears.

"You're not allowed to come back this late again!"

Lu Qingyu blew on his wound, then looked up at Lu Qingfeng with puffed cheeks.

"Alright, alright."

"Big Brother will come back earlier from now on."

Lu Qingfeng hurriedly promised.

In truth, he really had been reckless this time!

Whenever he entered and left the Blackwind Mountain Range in the past, he only stayed around the outskirts and returned before dusk. But in recent days, he had dug up nearly all the herbs around the outskirts. Without realizing it, he had ventured much deeper, and came out later and later.

He had thought nothing would happen, yet today he had suffered this bloody calamity.

Fortunately, he had never brought Lu Qingyu into the Blackwind Mountain Range. Otherwise, while distracted by looking after her, perhaps both siblings would have been left in the wilderness.

"Though that Red Fox Spirit was fast, its attacks were not strong. Otherwise, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

Lu Qingfeng comforted Lu Qingyu. The intense pain from the medicinal powder irritating his wound made him more alert.

That night.

Lu Qingfeng endured his sister's nagging for a long while. In the end, Lu Qingyu took pity on him and finally let him lie down to sleep.

Time flowed like water and was already fleeting.

After coming into contact with cultivation, he became even less aware of time passing.

In a daze.

Two months had passed since Lu Qingfeng turned Sixteen Years old and came into contact with the online game "Primordial Wilderness."

Because he had not discovered the Time Difference between the game and reality right away, Lu Qingfeng had also gone two months without playing the game.

"Two months, and I've only barely generated Inner Breath and advanced to the Fetal Respiration Realm First Layer!"

"At this speed, reaching the Ninth Layer of Fetal Respiration Realm will take at least several years, perhaps even longer!"

Cultivation would inevitably become more difficult the farther one progressed.

Lu Qingfeng had spent two months just taking the first step, and that was with prior experience in the game. He did not dare imagine how much time it would take to generate Inner Breath without the game.

Lying on his bedboard, Lu Qingfeng summoned the Attribute Panel.

Name: Lu Qingfeng's true body

Race: Human

Faction: None

Title: None

Cultivation: Postnatal Fetal Breathing Realm First Layer

Level: Level 1 (0/5)

Inner Breath: 1/1 (Quality: Beginner)

Lifespan: 16/68

Root Bone: 1

Merit: Unknown

Karma: Unknown

Cultivation Method: Yellow Court Scripture First Layer (Not Yet Initiated) Trait: Deriving Methods (First Layer); Govern All Arts (First Layer); Karma Elimination (First Layer); Blazing Sun Scripture First Layer (Initiated) Deriving;

Spells: None

Divine Abilities: None

Equipment: None

Alchemy: "Alchemy Primer" (Small Success) Deriving

There were not many changes to the Attribute Panel. Other than his cultivation and level increasing by one, and the appearance of the Inner Breath attribute, "Alchemy Primer" had advanced to Small Success.

Like cultivation methods, "Alchemy Primer" was divided into Not Yet Initiated, Initiated, Small Success, Great Success, and Perfection, but had no layer divisions.

Over these two months, Lu Qingfeng had gathered and processed medicinal herbs in reality, gradually gaining mastery of "Alchemy Primer." In common terms, his proficiency had improved, reaching the level of Small Success.

After reaching this level, not only could he process medicinal herbs faster, but the quality of the processed herbs was also better than when he was Not Yet Initiated or merely Initiated.

Of course.

With only two months in reality, Lu Qingfeng had no ability to raise "Alchemy Primer" to Small Success.

In "Primordial Wilderness," although his game character was still "reincarnating" and its Growth Progress was not yet complete, Lu Qingfeng could still log into the game and enjoy the hundredfold Time Difference.

Like now—

"Log into 'Primordial Wilderness.'"

Lu Qingfeng connected with the Login Ring in his mind and entered the game.

His consciousness drifted within the body soaking in the Reincarnation Pool, unable to move.

But his thoughts were unrestricted. He continuously replayed today's brief life-and-death struggle with the Red Fox Spirit, as well as his cultivation and medicinal herb processing from earlier that day.

He also summoned "Alchemy Primer" and the "Blazing Sun Scripture," repeatedly pondering and experiencing them.

Only when his head grew somewhat heavy did Lu Qingfeng close his eyes and rest within the game. Once he awoke, he repeated the process once more.

After repeating it several times, he only turned to reciting the "Yellow Court Scripture" when he had fully integrated the day's new insights from cultivation and medicinal herb processing with the "Blazing Sun Scripture" and "Alchemy Primer," and could gain nothing more.

Lu Qingfeng's aptitude was poor, and for now he could not cultivate the "Blazing Sun Scripture" in the game, so his cultivation method showed no progress. But "Alchemy Primer" had nothing to do with aptitude. As long as he was willing to spend time studying it, he could always improve.

It was precisely through the Time Difference that Lu Qingfeng had managed to advance "Alchemy Primer" to Small Success in merely two months of reality.

As for the "Yellow Court Scripture."

This was a Dao Ancestor Level cultivation method, one of the highest-grade methods in the game. At present, he could not see any effect from it. Of its various Traits, only the "Deriving Methods" Trait gave him a faint clue, but because he lacked Experience Points, he could not yet make sense of it.

Yet Lu Qingfeng did not neglect it.

Every day in the game, he spent vast amounts of time reciting the "Yellow Court Scripture." In the short term, no effects were visible. In the long term, there might not necessarily be any gains either.

But even for the sake of the "Yellow Court Scripture" and the title of Dao Ancestor alone, Lu Qingfeng would not abandon this cultivation method.

He did not know how many times he had recited it before sensing someone calling to him in reality. Only then did Lu Qingfeng withdraw from "Primordial Wilderness."

One night had passed in reality, while Lu Qingfeng had spent a full forty days in the game!

"The Time Difference really is useful."

"If an accident hadn't caused my game character to die, I should have been able to do much more during these two months."

Lu Qingfeng exited the game, somewhat regretful.

Over these two months, a full Sixteen Years had passed in the game!

And Lu Qingfeng had spent every night in the game:

One night in reality equaled forty days in the game. Over two months, that added up to more than six years.

"Still, though I could only think and could neither move nor cultivate during those six-plus years, they were immensely precious."

Lu Qingfeng opened his eyes and saw that daylight had fully broken.

"Big Brother, you're injured. Rest at home today!" Lu Qingyu woke Lu Qingfeng and lay on the bed, checking his wound.

"Alright."

Lu Qingfeng had been thinking the same thing. The sixteen years in the game were nearly over. By his calculations, he could probably start playing again sometime this morning.

"This time, I can stay in the game for a few more days. With the Time Difference, I'll see whether there's a way to deal with the Returning Truth Sect in a short time!"