Qin Fengming was stunned, then found himself utterly baffled. This Immortal Master Feng clearly possessed an aura that made Qin Fengming want to prostrate himself in worship. It went without saying that he was far more powerful than the Young Man surnamed Wang.
Qin Fengming wore a deeply suspicious expression. His lips moved slightly, as though he wanted to ask something, but in the end, he said nothing.
He knew this might concern certain secrets of Luoxia Valley. If they wanted him to know, they would naturally explain some of it to him.
Seeing Qin Fengming's expression, everyone naturally knew what he was thinking. Before Sect Master Sima or Immortal Master Feng could speak, the Young Man surnamed Wang made a brief request for permission and then began explaining.
After listening to the Young Man surnamed Wang's explanation, Qin Fengming's expression changed dramatically. A secret of Heaven and Earth had suddenly appeared before him.
It turned out that Luoxia Valley was not the martial-arts sect he had believed it to be. Behind it stood a great cultivation sect—the Luoxia Sect.
Luoxia Valley was responsible for the Luoxia Sect's affairs in the secular world, such as mining and transporting the Luoxia Sect's various mines within Yingzhou Prefecture.
The Cultivation World had three unchanging prohibitions: first, cultivators could not reveal their divine abilities in the secular world; second, cultivators could not interfere in conflicts within the secular world; and third, cultivators could not use spells to kill mortals.
These three eternal rules had completely separated the Cultivation World from the secular world. Regardless of their cultivation level, all cultivators had to obey them. Anyone who violated them would receive severe punishment.
As it happened, the Jade Box Qin Fengming had been ordered to seize in Haobai City contained a material for refining artifacts. This artifact-refining material was coveted by Core Formation cultivators. Since it had been discovered in the secular world, only people from Luoxia Valley could take action.
The Wang Clan Twin Eagles had originally intended to hand it over to Wuhu Mountain, with which they had ties. In the end, the Luoxia Sect had obtained it through an unexpected move.
Sect Master Sima had given the artifact-refining material to the Luoxia Sect and had consequently been rewarded with a Strengthening Essence Pill that could extend his life by more than a decade. This had left Sima Qingshan overjoyed.
Every month, Luoxia Valley handed the ore it had gathered that month over to the Luoxia Sect. The Young Man surnamed Wang in black robes was the person the Luoxia Sect had sent to Luoxia Valley to handle this matter. Within Luoxia Valley, only Sect Master Sima and a handful of senior figures knew about these affairs. None of the other hall masters or elders knew anything.
To people in the secular world, so-called spirit stones were merely attractive in appearance. Aside from being used as decorations, they had no other purpose.
To cultivators, however, spirit stones were something entirely different.
Spirit stones contained abundant Heaven and Earth energy. Absorbing the energy within them was many times faster than absorbing the energy between Heaven and Earth through one's own body. Whether cultivators were fighting or flying, they needed spiritual power to support them. A cultivator without spiritual power was hardly any stronger than a mortal. Thus, the importance of spirit stones to cultivators went without saying.
Several days earlier, the Young Man surnamed Wang had encountered danger deep in the mountains and been rescued by Qin Fengming. After learning that Qin Fengming was a Qi Gathering Stage Three cultivator, he returned to the Luoxia Sect and reported what had happened to a sect steward. The sect immediately took notice.
This time, the Young Man surnamed Wang and the middle-aged man surnamed Feng had been sent to Luoxia Valley specifically to meet Qin Fengming. Now that they knew Qin Fengming was a cultivator—and one of Luoxia Valley's people at that—they could no longer allow him to wander through the secular world. Otherwise, he would certainly invite disaster upon himself, which would also be extremely detrimental to Luoxia Valley.
The young man in black briefly recounted everything to Qin Fengming. He had no idea how much Qin Fengming could understand in such a short time.
The middle-aged man surnamed Feng studied Qin Fengming. Seeing the thoughtful look on his face, he nodded and said, "I wonder where you learned your cultivation method. You actually reached Qi Gathering Stage Three? That is truly remarkable."
Practicing a cultivation method alone was exceedingly dangerous. At best, one could suffer cultivation deviation; at worst, both body and spirit could be annihilated.
Although Qin Fengming had never truly come into contact with cultivators, after years of making his way through the martial world, he was certain that the middle-aged man surnamed Feng was more powerful than the young man. Killing him would probably take no more than a glance.
Daring not to conceal anything, Qin Fengming respectfully replied, "No one taught me any cultivation method. I cultivated according to the inner cultivation method in an unmarked little booklet."
"What sort of booklet was it? May I take a look?" The middle-aged man was taken aback by his straightforward answer and immediately followed up with the question.
Qin Fengming knew that if he refused to let the middle-aged man surnamed Feng examine it, he would certainly invite disaster upon himself. The martial world was a jungle where the strong preyed on the weak, and the Cultivation World could hardly be any better. Thinking of this, he took the little booklet from his robes without hesitation and respectfully handed it to the middle-aged man surnamed Feng.
The middle-aged man took it and flipped through several pages. Discovering that it was merely an ordinary Five Elements Cultivation Method for Qi Gathering Stage disciples, he immediately lost interest and casually handed it back to Qin Fengming.
"I wonder where you obtained this booklet. Could you explain it to me?"
"I happened to find this inner cultivation manual in a cave. I merely treated it as an advanced inner cultivation method and practiced it. I never knew it was a cultivation method." Qin Fengming answered without the slightest hesitation.
The middle-aged man surnamed Feng looked at Qin Fengming and studied his expression. He did not seem to be lying. After a moment, he slowly said:
"Regardless of how you learned this cultivation method, now that you possess considerable spiritual power, you can no longer cultivate in Luoxia Valley. Would you be willing to enter my Luoxia Sect and learn more profound methods? Then you may one day achieve Foundation Establishment and enter a higher realm. It may even be possible for you to share the lifespan of Heaven and Earth."
Although Qin Fengming did not quite understand what the middle-aged man surnamed Feng meant by Foundation Establishment, nor did he know how one could share the lifespan of Heaven and Earth, he did know that leaving with the two men before him might allow him to learn the spell that made a treasured sword fly without falling. He might even learn how to dance through the air. In his heart, he had already agreed six-tenths of the way.
Seeing that Qin Fengming was somewhat tempted, the middle-aged man surnamed Feng continued:
"My Luoxia Sect is one of the great sects in the Cultivation World of the Great Liang Kingdom. Many Rogue Cultivators would rack their brains and still fail to enter my Luoxia Sect. I am extending this invitation to you only because you are a disciple of Luoxia Valley. If you miss this opportunity, you will regret it for the rest of your life."
The Young Man surnamed Wang in black stood behind the middle-aged man surnamed Feng and kept signaling to Qin Fengming with his eyes, as though urging him to agree immediately.
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