Alchemy Furnace Secured, Brocade-clad Youth

Sitting cross-legged on his bed, Lu Nan pondered the Mysterious Woman from earlier.

"I never expected there to be such a breathtakingly beautiful woman in the sect."

Then he suddenly cried out, "Damn it, I forgot to ask her name!!!"

"Damn!!!! I wonder if I'll ever have another chance to meet her!"

He slapped his forehead in frustration, but when he thought of her terrifying strength, Lu Nan felt relieved again. Even if he knew her name, what could he do??

"I should focus on raising my strength first. Everything else is empty!"

Shaking his head, he thought of his deal with the Spirit Treasure Pavilion.

One Talisman was worth one hundred Spirit Stones, and he could take thirty of them.

One hundred Talismans meant three thousand Spirit Stones. In other words, he would have three thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones every month.

At that thought, Lu Nan instantly perked up. He took out his materials and continued inscribing.

It was not until the twelfth Talisman that he finally stopped, his face pale.

He staggered to the bedside and sat cross-legged to meditate and recover.

Only after a long while did he let out a deep breath and open his eyes to look at the Talismans on the table.

A trace of solemnity flashed through his eyes. "It seems my limit is twenty. After twenty, I have to stop.

I don't have Divine Sense yet. If I force myself to continue inscribing, I could very well damage my foundation."

"But that's fine! Twenty at a time, five times makes a hundred!!"

"In my current state, I need at least two days of rest to recover.

By that calculation, a hundred Talismans will take ten days.

That's still acceptable!!

To be safe, I'll only inscribe ten each day from now on!"

Muttering to himself, Lu Nan closed his eyes again.

"Is Junior Brother Lu here????" Lu Nan, who was meditating to recover, was suddenly jolted awake by Fang Rongxuan's voice outside.

"Senior Brother Fang???"

He hurriedly got up and headed outside. The moment he pushed open the door, he saw Fang Rongxuan standing in the courtyard with a smile.

His eyes immediately lit up. "Senior Brother Fang, you're back??"

"That's right! I just got back. I came to deliver your Alchemy Furnace!"

With a wave of Fang Rongxuan's hand, a Cauldron half the height of a man appeared.

Looking at the exquisite Alchemy Furnace, Lu Nan was overjoyed.

He took two quick steps forward, circling it as he inspected it.

"Thank you, Senior Brother!!!"

"You're too polite, Junior Brother. It's all thanks to that bottle of Qi Condensation Pills you gave me.

I successfully broke through to the sixth layer of Qi Condensation!!"

Fang Rongxuan looked at Lu Nan with equal gratitude.

Lu Nan looked up at him and congratulated him, "Congratulations, Senior Brother, on taking your cultivation to the next level!!!"

"It's all thanks to your good fortune, Junior Brother. Now that the Alchemy Furnace has been delivered,

I'll head back first. This mission gave me quite a few insights.

If all goes well, I may very well step into the seventh layer of Qi Condensation."

"You're breaking through again?? Sect missions can do that??"

Lu Nan looked at Fang Rongxuan in astonishment.

"Of course! I had decent luck on this trip outside.

I found a Centennial Qi Gathering Grass and exchanged it with the sect for a bottle of Qi Condensation Pills." Fang Rongxuan said spiritedly.

"The sect even takes spirit plants??"

"Of course it does, but only spirit plants over a hundred years old.

Still, it's only worthwhile to hand in plants over a hundred years old. Those under a hundred years aren't worth many Contribution Points.

You might as well sell them at the Disciple Market or exchange them for resources you need."

Hearing Fang Rongxuan's explanation, Lu Nan was greatly surprised. "Disciple Market?? What is that for??"

Seeing his blank expression, Fang Rongxuan remembered that Lu Nan had only joined the sect recently.

He immediately explained, "The Disciple Market was spontaneously established by the disciples. Its purpose is to exchange idle resources in everyone's hands.

Junior Brother, you can take a look around. I'm sure you'll gain quite a bit."

"Where is this Disciple Market??"

"At the foot of Spirit Pill Peak!" Having said that, Fang Rongxuan did not linger. He waved and turned to leave.

"Take care, Senior Brother!!!!"

Only after Fang Rongxuan disappeared from sight did Lu Nan carry the Alchemy Furnace back into his room.

He placed it in a corner of the room, without rushing to try Alchemy.

Instead, he turned to look at the stack of Talismans on the table. They were the Spirit Talismans he had finished inscribing over the past few days.

"The time is about right. It's time to make another trip to the Spirit Treasure Pavilion!"

He put the finished Spirit Talismans into his Brocade Pouch and closed the door.

Lu Nan headed straight toward the sect's exit, unaware that several shadows had fixed their eyes on him the moment he stepped beyond the sect gates.

At the thought of the Spirit Stones that were about to fall into his hands, excitement filled his heart.

Three thousand Spirit Stones—whether for cultivation or purchasing pills,

they would certainly let him break through into the Qi Condensation stage. If he was lucky, he might even enter the mid Qi Condensation stage.

At that thought, Lu Nan's steps became much lighter.

But soon, he frowned. Several figures had suddenly appeared not far ahead of him.

At the same time, quite a few had emerged behind him. Just as he was wondering who they were,

two exceptionally conspicuous figures entered his sight.

Seeing the Fat and Thin Duo behind a Brocade-clad Youth, a cold gleam flashed through Lu Nan's eyes.

He carefully sensed their cultivation: three at the seventh layer of Body Tempering, two at the eighth layer of Body Tempering, and one Brocade-clad Youth whose depth he could not gauge.

"Was the lesson last time not enough for you??"

As the crowd gradually closed in, Lu Nan stared at the Fat and Thin Duo and said coldly.

"Hmph! My brother and I were careless last time, but this time is different.

Young Master Ye came personally. He's an expert at the second layer of Qi Condensation!!

If you know what's good for you, kid, hurry up and surrender."

Lu Nan directly ignored Skinny's empty bluster.

He fixed his gaze on the Brocade-clad Youth at the second layer of Qi Condensation. "Ye Bei?? You're standing up for them??"

The Brocade-clad Youth said nothing, but he continued walking toward Lu Nan.

At the same time, a powerful aura burst from his body. "They're my underlings. You beat them, so naturally I have to stand up for them!"

Lu Nan's eyes narrowed at those words. He knew there would be no peaceful resolution today.

With a thought, the standard-issue Longsword given out by the sect appeared in his hand.

His entire body tensed as he searched for the right opportunity.

Seeing this, the Brocade-clad Youth also summoned a Flying Sword, which floated at his side.

"Why did you beat them?" the Brocade-clad Youth suddenly asked.

The abrupt voice made Lu Nan's sword-holding right hand tremble.

He instinctively slashed forward, and a sharp beam of sword light shot straight at the Brocade-clad Youth.

Seeing the sword light flying toward him and sensing the fierce energy on it,

the Brocade-clad Youth hurriedly controlled the Flying Sword at his side to block in front of him, while rolling away to the side.

"Boom..." Smoke rose, accompanied by incessant coughing.

The Brocade-clad Youth, who had barely dodged it, coughed as he stared at Lu Nan in disbelief.

"Cough, cough... cough... Y-you... were you trying to kill me just now??"

As he spoke, his face flushed bright red, whether from anger or from choking on the smoke.

Before Lu Nan could reply, he added, "I only wanted to beat you up, but you actually wanted to kill me?? Cough... cough..."

Lu Nan's expression became exceedingly strange at those words. He carefully examined the Brocade-clad Youth, who was still coughing without end.

Seeing that he did not appear to be lying, Lu Nan immediately relaxed.

"You mean you're allowed to beat me, but I'm not allowed to fight back???"

"You're allowed to seize resources however you please, but I'm not allowed to resist??

Do you really think this vast Sword Sect belongs to your family???"