After handing over the Embroidered Spring Blade that was to be sharpened, Lu Zheng held the Cloud Pattern Longquan Sword and examined it from every angle.
"Fine sword!"
"Though the material and sharpness are about the same, this sword is far inferior to that blade. You can't use it for hard chopping and hacking," Du Lin reminded him.
Lu Zheng indicated that he understood. "Don't worry."
The last time he had gone to White Cloud Temple to deliver the Corpse Ghoul's belongings to Daoist Priest Mingzhang, Lu Zheng had noticed a sword hanging on the wall of his room.
Judging by the hilt, Daoist Priest Mingzhang was likely someone who practiced swordsmanship regularly. That was why Lu Zheng had wanted to give him what he liked.
A divine sword, plus the talent to cultivate Qi Sensation in half a month—could he pry a little more from the other man? Having collected the Cloud Pattern Sword, Lu Zheng happily took a cab home.
"Hmm?"
The moment he entered, Lu Zheng lowered his head to change into slippers, only for his gaze to sharpen and his brows to furrow.
Someone had entered his home just now! While he had been out.
The slippers Lu Zheng had left by the door had been shifted slightly! He remembered clearly that when he went out, he had kicked them around so they lay crookedly at an angle. Now, they had been straightened quite a bit.
If a long time had passed, Lu Zheng might have thought he remembered wrong. But it had only been one morning. More importantly, he had specifically glanced at them before leaving, merely too lazy to bend down again. He was certain he had not remembered wrong.
A burglar? In broad daylight? That bold? Expressionless, Lu Zheng checked all the more valuable things in his home, but found that no valuables were missing.
If the slippers had not so clearly been moved, Lu Zheng might have thought he was hallucinating.
"Impossible, right? Could it be that the burglar found there was nothing valuable and left?"
He opened the door and looked both ways. The silent corridor did not hold a single sound.
Lu Zheng frowned and could only set aside the doubts in his heart.
Nothing had been stolen. If he called the police based solely on his impression that his slippers had shifted position, the police would probably give him a thorough lesson on what it meant to waste public resources.
"Looks like I need to change the lock... Would a combination lock be safer?"
Lu Zheng moved the little box containing his ID card and bank cards again, then carefully inspected the house to see whether the intruder had secretly installed any pinhole cameras.
Fortunately, there were none...
That afternoon, Lu Zheng traveled to the ancient era. First, he had Uncle Li go to the carriage depot and reserve a carriage for the next morning. Then he circulated the breathing technique, practiced the Mountain Carrying Eighteen Forms, and consolidated the true Qi and blood Qi within his body.
At the same time, he occasionally traveled back to the modern world to deal with various messages on his phone—his mother checking up on and encouraging him, Tong Muxuan teasing and showing off, and so on.
The day passed just like that, dull and flavorless.
The next day, White Cloud Temple.
"Young Master Lu, how come you have the leisure to visit White Cloud Temple again today and burn incense?" Daoist Priest Mingzhang asked with a smile.
Lu Zheng routinely donated one string of Merit Money, then carried a box to Daoist Priest Mingzhang's meditation chamber.
"Young Master, this is..."
"I must thank Daoist Priest Mingzhang again for the breathing technique you bestowed that day," Lu Zheng said first. "The mere belongings of a Corpse Ghoul were really Daoist Priest Mingzhang helping me rid myself of worry. Though Lu is untalented, I do understand reason."
"Young Master Lu is too courteous. This poor priest also gained some merit from those two scripture techniques. Young Master, there is no need to belittle yourself."
Lu Zheng smiled. "I came today for two reasons. First, I recently obtained a fine sword and have brought it to present to Daoist Priest Mingzhang as thanks. Second, I have cultivated the Midnight Stillness Breathing Technique and developed Qi Sensation. I wished to ask Daoist Priest Mingzhang whether there are any techniques that may be passed on publicly for you to teach me."
When Lu Zheng mentioned the first half, Daoist Priest Mingzhang had still been stroking his beard with a smile. But once Lu Zheng finished, he was greatly surprised.
"You have already developed Qi Sensation?"
"Indeed."
Daoist Priest Mingzhang reached out and gripped Lu Zheng's wrist, sending true Qi into him.
Lu Zheng took the opportunity to guide Qi from his Dantian, circulating it through the great cycle within his body.
"You truly cultivated true Qi!" Daoist Priest Mingzhang was astonished. "And after only a few days apart, why is your blood Qi so dense? Have you also cultivated Martial Cultivation techniques?"
"Uh, yes." Lu Zheng bared his teeth, not daring to explain in detail.
"You have a Martial Cultivation master?"
"No, I don't. I just happened to obtain the Mountain Carrying Eighteen Forms and practiced it blindly myself."
"Practiced it blindly..." Daoist Priest Mingzhang was speechless.
Unable to stop himself from shaking his head, Daoist Priest Mingzhang continued, "Last time, I only saw that your physique was rather robust. I never expected that you had also cultivated a martial path technique."
Daoist Priest Mingzhang muttered to himself, "Because you had no famous master to guide you, your previous studies yielded nothing. You merely tempered your body and had not cultivated Martial Blood Qi. Then you obtained the breathing technique, drew inferences from one instance to another, and only cultivated it in the past few days?"
"Cough, cough..."
"When you cultivated blood Qi, you must have experienced an instant of extraordinarily keen sensation within your body. Was that why you directly developed daoist Qi Sensation?"
"Uh, yes..."
"Regardless, to develop Qi Sensation within half a month, and for this strand of true Qi to be far from weak—Young Master Lu, your talent is extraordinary."
"Cough, cough. You flatter me..."
Daoist Priest Mingzhang released Lu Zheng's wrist, returned to his seat, and stared at Lu Zheng without speaking.
"Priest?"
"Young Master Lu, this poor priest has long known that you have the heart to cultivate. But previously, I saw that you were an idle wealthy man amid the mortal world, so I had no intention of accepting you into the sect."
What idle wealthy man? Put bluntly, he had looked like someone incapable of enduring hardship, so Daoist Priest Mingzhang simply had not thought highly of him.
"But I never expected that Young Master had also cultivated Martial Cultivation techniques. This poor priest had misjudged you."
"You flatter me, you flatter me."
"To kill a Corpse Ghoul with a mortal body already shows how extraordinary Young Master is."
"Excessive praise, excessive praise!"
"This poor priest naturally has techniques that may be passed on publicly, but none of them are particularly powerful. Better than nothing."
"Uh..."
"Would Young Master be satisfied with only these minor techniques that may be passed on publicly?"
Lu Zheng was speechless. The problem was, when I wanted to become your disciple before, didn't you refuse to accept me?
"Would Young Master be willing to join White Cloud Temple?" Daoist Priest Mingzhang asked solemnly.
Eh? It was possible this time? Lu Zheng's eyes lit up. "It is exactly what I desire. Um, are there any requirements?"
"For direct disciples, one must wear daoist robes, reside in the temple, never miss the morning and evening lessons, and be entered into the daoist registry of the main temple." Daoist Priest Mingzhang smiled faintly.
"Heh heh." Lu Zheng could not help but give a dry laugh. It was entirely understandable that they had not accepted him last time.
"There is another kind: Lay Practitioners, roughly equivalent to registered disciples. Though they cannot receive the temple's most core inheritance, most cultivation methods can still be transmitted to them."
Daoist Priest Mingzhang explained, "However, such Lay Practitioners must also contribute money and effort whenever the temple has need of them. They may not refuse."
"If you tell me to kill people and set fires, I have to go too?" Lu Zheng could not help asking.
"Nonsense. White Cloud Temple is a great daoist temple, famed throughout the Great Jing Dynasty. It is a righteous and renowned sect. How could it have you kill people and set fires?"
"Just asking, just asking." Lu Zheng laughed dryly again and again.
"Any other questions?"
"How powerful are the cultivation methods you give? Can they grant immortality?"
"That depends on yourself. The temple truly has an ancestor who once witnessed the divine might of the Emperor Jing founding the dynasty."
"Can they subdue demons and vanquish devils?"
"There is a white crane in the main temple that is the body of a great demon from the southern lands."
"Am I allowed to cultivate other techniques? Uh, naturally, righteous-path techniques."
"If you have that ability and opportunity, the temple would be more than delighted."
"Then I'm willing!"
Before you continue