He'd gone into the mountains to gather some medicinal materials and bring them into town to sell. He hadn't expected to faint from hunger before he even reached a shop.
"Let me see your medicinal materials."
Lu Yuan helped him take everything out of his back basket and sort it. They turned out to be the most ordinary, common herbs, worth about fifty copper coins altogether.
Seeing how miserable the man looked, Lu Yuan's heart softened. He paid him two hundred copper coins instead. The grateful man nearly dropped to his knees to thank him.
"Big brother, where did you get this stone?"
Lu Yuan asked as if it had just occurred to him.
The man replied, "Oh, this stone? I saw it by a stream on my way here. It looked pretty, so I thought I'd take it home for my child to play with."
"I like it. Would you sell it to me?"
"No, no, how could I sell it to you? Just take it."
"No. I never take advantage of anyone. If I like something, I'm willing to pay whatever it costs. Let's not waste time. How about this much..."
"O-one tael?"
The man hesitated.
Lu Yuan led him into the shop's back room and said in a low voice, "One hundred taels!"
"What? One hundred taels?"
The man stammered in disbelief. "This worthless stone is worth one hundred taels?"
Lu Yuan shook his head. "It's just an ordinary stone, of course it isn't worth one hundred taels. But a thousand taels can't buy what I like."
As he spoke, Lu Yuan pressed the hundred taels into the man's hands before he could refuse. "Remember, don't tell anyone I gave you one hundred taels."
Holding the silver, the man looked troubled and murmured, "Th-this money feels too hot to hold... You must be taking pity on me."
Lu Yuan smiled. "Even if you don't think about yourself, think about your child."
The man thanked him over and over. When he reached the door, he suddenly dropped to his knees and knocked his head against the ground three times. "Thank you! You're a good man. You'll surely live to be a hundred!"
Lu Yuan stood there, laughing and crying at once.
Wasn't wishing him a hundred years of life basically cursing him?
At last, evening came. Lu Yuan couldn't wait another moment. He raced home as fast as he could, locked the door, and carefully took out the fist-sized stone.
"Could this be a Taisui Stone? Otherwise, why would the Taisui Dao Seed react to it?"
The stone was indeed pretty, smooth and gleaming.
He examined it from every angle. No matter how he looked at it, it seemed like an ordinary stone. He even took out the Taisui Dao Seed and placed it beside the stone, but still, nothing happened.
"Young master, the master's calling you to dinner."
"All right, I'll be right there."
Lu Yuan reluctantly put away the Taisui Dao Seed and found a box for the stone. But as he carried it past a lamp, he suddenly stopped. Eyes widening, he held the stone up to the light and leaned closer. In the glow, he could make out something seemingly sealed inside it.
After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and crushed the stone. He brushed away the fragments and found a seed inside, no bigger than a soybean, green and glistening.
Lu Yuan froze.
There was something like a seed sealed inside the stone?
Why had this thing stirred the Taisui Dao Seed?
"Let's see what the Taisui Dao Seed does now."
Lu Yuan took out the Dao Seed again and placed the green seed on top.
Humm—
As Lu Yuan watched, the green seed turned into a mass of green light and melted into the Taisui Dao Seed.
With a thought, his status panel appeared:
[Great Dao Seed: Taisui Dao Seed (Refining in Progress (20%)]
Lu Yuan's pores opened wide, and his mind filled with vigor. It was as if immortal light were purifying him, leaving his spirit and mind refreshed.
It felt like soaking in a hot spring. Every part of his body trembled, his pores all opening as they greedily devoured the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth.
Lu Yuan could feel his body undergoing astonishing changes. His heartbeat grew stronger, pounding like a war drum. A warm current flowed unmistakably through his limbs and bones as his flesh and sinews were tempered anew.
Without even testing it, Lu Yuan knew his physique had grown far stronger. It was as if he'd undergone Shedding Mortal Body and Exchanging Skeletons, with abundant power surging through him.
His physique was still improving, as though bathed in immortal light, his flesh and blood singing in unison.
His flesh grew ever firmer, his organs crystalline. If his skin and flesh were peeled away, his bones would be revealed, flawless and white as carved jade.
Thump, thump, thump!!
Lu Yuan could hear his heart still beating fiercely, each pulse resonating again and again as it sent blood surging throughout his body.
The transformation
continued.
The door opened. Lu Longjing glanced at Lu Yuan standing motionless, then gently closed it and gave a stern order: "No one is to go near Second Young Master's courtyard!"
From night until daylight, Lu Yuan stood like a statue, without even opening his eyes.
"Hoo~~"
Lu Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, and a clear sense of the changes in his body filled his mind.
From his limbs to his torso, from flesh and skin to sinews and bones, from his five viscera to his six bowels, he had undergone a thorough transformation.
Contain Earth Shaking Pixiu's Might, Absorb Heaven Shaking Lion's Strength.
What kind of Divine Ability was this?
Gu Zheng had already activated one-fifth of it.
Divine Abilities were carved into the depths of the soul. Once activated, they nourished the body in return.
In just one night, Gu Zheng's body had undergone earth-shaking changes.
Unlike martial arts, which demanded day after day of training, enduring the blazing heat of midsummer and the bitter cold of midwinter, a Divine Ability came from the soul. Once activated, it was already a perfect fit.
There was no need to spend time mastering it. The power came naturally.
Lu Yuan didn't know just how much power he would gain by fully activating the Divine Ability. But right now, he felt invincible. Everything in front of him seemed fragile, as if he could shatter it with a casual blow.
He felt as though he could shoulder mountains and smash the earth beneath his feet.
He was practically furious at the heavens for having no handle and the earth for having no ring.
At this moment, relying on pure physical strength alone, he could swing his arms and unleash ten thousand jin of force.
An ordinary Martial Artist with Blood Qi Like an Ox could swing his arms with only a few thousand jin of force.
And that was with his blood qi enhancing his strength.
He ran to the kitchen and filled a water vat. Without exerting much effort, he lifted it with ease, despite its holding over a thousand jin of water.
The sudden surge in strength startled Lu Yuan. He truly was a giant beast now.
Next, he tested his speed. It had improved nowhere near as much as his strength.
But his hearing, eyesight, and other senses had all improved dramatically. He could see a fly beating its wings a hundred meters away, make out the patterns on its body, and even faintly hear its buzzing.
Of course, he had to focus his attention to do that.
If his hearing were that sharp every moment of the day, it would be torture.
Such keen senses were a nuisance in their own right. There was too much meaningless noise around him, and he felt every rustle of wind and grass.
"With the way I am now, I probably have no equal in Lingbao County."
Lu Yuan's confidence swelled. He even felt an urge to charge straight to Iron Dragon Stockade and cut off Yi Zheng's head.
Fortunately, he still had some reason left.
Thinking of how he was nearly out of True Essence Blood Refining Pills, he knew he had to go earn some money.
This was his third time entering the Ghost Market, and he was already completely familiar with the place.
Lu Yuan put on another disguise and set up a stall in the Ghost Market. Less than ten minutes later, just as someone asked him the price, a man wearing a faceless mask approached and spoke in a familiar voice. "Brother Zhang, do you remember me? It's me, Li Mu."
Before you continue