Precious Furnace Qi Absorption

Slowly, a faint look of appreciation appeared on Lu Liqian's delicate, jade-like face.

"Heh, catch!"

Lu Nanling's eyes flickered as he glanced at the young girl. Then, with a flick of his sleeve, a thin, paper booklet flew out and landed gently in Li Qingyun's outstretched hands.

"Heh! Wanjin, take your junior brother down. Hmm, let's settle him in a Class Three, hmm, Class Two room..."

Lu Nanling, seated at the head of the grand hall, smiled calmly and waved Li Qingyun and Lin Wanjin away.

Li Qingyun tucked the paper booklet into his robes, a look of joy appearing on his pale, handsome face. He bowed again to Lu Nanling, his daughter, and the others before turning to leave the hall.

The faint afternoon sun streamed through the main gate into the grand hall, illuminating the youth's figure, which resembled a spring tree. A brilliant golden halo bloomed on his shoulders, lending him an air of handsomeness and vitality, diminishing his usual frailty.

The young girl, Lu Liqian, her eyes brightened slightly. She couldn't help but follow his retreating figure until Li Qingyun disappeared from the hall with Lin Wanjin.

After the somewhat tedious introductory ceremony, Lu Nanling dismissed the disciples attending him. He picked up his teacup and took a shallow sip, deep in thought.

He looked at Lu Liqian, his smile filled with doting affection:

"Don't tell me you've taken a liking to this boy?"

"Although his background is decent and he's quite handsome, he unfortunately possesses no Dao Bone or Spiritual Root. From my observation just now, his three treasures are listless and weak. He seems like a frivolous person lacking self-control, utterly unworthy of you, even as a cover..."

As he spoke the latter part, Lu Nanling's gaze drifted towards the girl's abdomen, his expression complex and unreadable.

Beneath the slightly loose, moon-white Daoist robe, Lu Liqian's abdomen was flat and soft, showing no outward signs of anything unusual.

But father and daughter both knew clearly that the concealment wouldn't last much longer.

"News has come from the sect that Yan Lang finished his travels last month. Upon his return, he successfully established his Dao Foundation and has now been promoted to an inner disciple. Both the sect and the Yan family have high hopes for him and intend to cultivate him with great focus."

"How could I possibly distract Yan Lang at such a crucial time and ruin his bright future? Therefore, I must follow Yan Lang's suggestion and find someone to help me conceal this first..."

Her waterfall-like black hair swayed as Lu Liqian spoke of "Yan Lang." Her exquisite face seemed to glow, and her eyes overflowed with admiration and longing.

Her expression became somewhat distant, as if recalling the romantic moments she had spent with Yan Lang over the past two months.

"Alas, but since you are already pregnant, we cannot delay!"

Lu Nanling sighed with a hint of helplessness, even a trace of regret. He shouldn't have indulged his daughter so much in the past, leading to this situation.

He toyed with the jade ruler in his hand, then nodded slightly and said, "That Li Qingyun is useless. He can't cultivate Mana, can't enter the Dao path, and he looks quite honest, even a bit weak. He should be easy to control."

"Since you have some appreciation for him, try to interact and get to know him. If it doesn't work out, then quickly find someone else. Actually, I think that Gu Zijian is quite good. He's honest and simple, and he's infatuated with you, so he could be a backup candidate..."

"Gu Zijian?" Lu Liqian's face immediately showed disgust. "He's crude and uncouth, with a rough appearance! How could he be worthy of me! Even if I need someone for cover, I'll at least find someone as handsome and refined as that Li Qingyun from earlier!"

"Alas, it's up to you. Your father has only one thing to say: you need to hurry..."

Above the main hall, Lu Nanling's long sigh echoed once more.

"Junior Brother Qingyun, that's the general situation of the temple! I'll be going now. If you have any questions in the future, you can come find me!"

A row of bamboo huts nestled among maple trees and green foliage. Lin Wanjin settled Li Qingyun into Room Bing Qi and, after briefly explaining some matters regarding life on the back mountain, cheerfully bid him farewell.

"Farewell, Senior Brother!"

Li Qingyun, now dressed in a green Daoist robe, stood at the entrance of the bamboo hut. He watched Lin Wanjin's figure flicker and disappear after only a few steps, feeling a touch of envy.

A cool mountain breeze blew, bringing with it a slight chill, but his heart felt a sense of peace.

He lifted the swaying bamboo curtain and re-entered the hut.

The bamboo hut wasn't large. Two beds were laid out, one on each side, separated by a middle space. Both sides had desks and wooden cabinets for clothes and miscellaneous items, clearly indicating it was a double room.

He walked towards the wooden bed on the left, which was his designated spot in Lingbao Temple.

Compared to the right-side bunk, his area was dimmer. The right side was not only closer to the hut's entrance but also occupied the only prime spot by the window inside.

He looked at the desk by the window on the right. His roommate, perhaps having left in a hurry, hadn't tidied up. The desk was somewhat messy, with two unfinished talismans, cinnabar and gold powder scattered on the surface, and a brush holder, among other things.

"This roommate, He Xiao, seems to intend to pursue the path of Talisman Arts..."

Through Lin Wanjin's introduction, Li Qingyun knew he was quite fortunate. As a newcomer to Lingbao Temple, he was being assigned to a Class Two bamboo hut. Ordinary new disciples were usually placed directly in Class Three rooms.

Class Three rooms were dormitories.

A room would be packed with at least seven or eight people, filling the space with the smell of feet, and at night, one had to endure the continuous sounds of snoring.

He couldn't help but recall the scene in Lu Nanling's courtyard earlier, where that Senior Sister Lu had changed her mind at the last moment and arranged for him to be in a Class Two room.

"It seems I've benefited a little from Senior Sister Lu's favor..."

A faint smile touched the corner of the young man's lips.

Immediately, Li Qingyun began to tidy up. He replaced the old bamboo mat and sheets with new ones, and cleaned the desk and the hut.

Being a clean person, he couldn't stand a messy room.

He also carefully re-wrapped his essential gold and silver belongings from his bundle and locked them in one of the compartments.

For the time being, he wasn't worried about being stolen from.

Lin Wanjin had mentioned that although management on the back mountain was generally quite lax, Lingbao Temple detested theft of property. Offenders would be severely punished and expelled from the mountain.

In the eyes of Lingbao Temple, stealing from a fellow disciple was akin to severing someone's Dao path, an unforgivable offense!

His gold and silver jewelry were mere worldly possessions, not spirit stones, so there was no point in anyone risking their lives to steal them.

After tidying up, Li Qingyun wiped the sweat from his brow and sat down to examine the introductory Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art.

"From now on, it's truly going to be lonely cultivation. That old servant from Yin Mountain wasn't wrong about that!"

"Oh well, I'll read this Precious Furnace Qi Absorption Art first. I won't give up until I've exhausted all possibilities..."

With that thought, he quickly composed himself, his entire being settling into a quiet calm.

The booklet was thin, with less than ten pages of content excluding the cover, yet it represented the supreme extraordinary power of this world!

As he opened it, a fresh scent of ink wafted out. It was clearly high-quality, expensive ink, and the text had been recently transcribed.

"What is Dharma? It is the manifestation of the Great Dao; what is Power? It is the visible might of Dharma..."

The moment he read the opening sentence, his eyes lit up, and his gaze became fixed on the words.