Liu Yu took the red knife and cyan broadsword he had claimed as spoils out of his Storage Bag.
Under the Golden Dragon Sword's keen edge, the red knife had lost much of its spiritual potency. Its blade was covered in countless dense marks, leaving it unfit for use.
The cyan broadsword, on the other hand, was completely intact. Once he refined it with his magical power and erased its former owner's Divine Sense imprint, it would be ready to use.
"Giant Wood Sword."
Liu Yu casually gave it a name and returned it to his Storage Bag.
As for the women's garments, they seemed to have been worn next to the skin. They still carried traces of a faint fragrance, the delicate scent unique to a woman's body.
"..."
Liu Yu felt distinctly awkward.
Heaven was his witness-he was still a virgin in this life!
He gathered the garments together and flicked a finger. A fireball reduced all those troublesome things to ashes.
As for the Pockmarked Cultivator's storage pouch, Liu Yu did not intend to carry it around. He placed it in a hidden compartment in his cave abode, planning to dispose of it when he had time.
The hair-raising battle, compounded by the fatigue of a long journey, had drained an enormous amount of his energy.
Once he relaxed, Liu Yu felt exhausted in both body and mind.
He took out his token and activated his Cave Abode Restriction, condensed clean water with his magical power, and hastily washed himself. Then he took off his robes and fell into a deep sleep on the stone bed.
He slept for twelve hours straight, only waking refreshed during the predawn hours of the following day.
I'll refine the magical artifact first.
With that thought, Liu Yu took the Giant Wood Sword out of his Storage Bag and formed hand seals.
He began wearing away the Divine Sense imprint within it, refining the magical artifact.
Because its owner had already perished, the Divine Sense imprint was no longer stable and was easily erased.
In less than fifteen minutes, he completed the artifact's initial refinement.
He could now unleash seventy to eighty percent of its power. The rest would require a long period of familiarization, so there was no need to rush.
Returning the Giant Wood Sword to his Storage Bag, Liu Yu decided to use this artifact under ordinary circumstances.
The Golden Dragon Sword was a Superior-grade Magical Artifact. A middle Qi Refining cultivator possessing one would attract far too much attention; even among all the outer disciples, such artifacts were uncommon.
The Giant Wood Sword was just right for everyday use. It would keep others from looking down on him without putting him too much in the limelight.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Liu Yu ended his practice, rose, and left his cave abode.
The sky was still dim and gray, and wisps of mist lingered around the spirit mountain.
The mountain was utterly quiet. Even the birds and beasts seemed not to have woken yet.
When Liu Yu reached a cliff, more than a dozen outer disciples were already sitting near its edge, meditating and refining qi.
This world has never lacked diligent people!
Liu Yu swept his gaze over them and sighed inwardly.
Then he walked over to several fellow disciples he knew, sat cross-legged beside them, and closed his eyes.
He circulated the Wood Spirit Art through a greater celestial circuit, slowly refining the spiritual energy of heaven and earth.
It was dawn, and the sun had yet to rise.
During this period, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was relatively gentle and easier to refine than usual.
Rumor also had it that the strand of purple qi from the morning sun at sunrise greatly benefited future cultivation.
No cultivator had ever verified that claim, however.
No one knew which disciple had started it, but more and more disciples of Greenwood Peak had begun choosing to meditate and refine qi on the cliff at dawn.
Over time, it had become one of Greenwood Peak's "wonders."
In the blink of an eye, four hours passed.
Only when the sun climbed higher and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth grew "violent" did the meditating outer disciples begin ending their practice one after another.
Finishing his circulation, Liu Yu opened his eyes and looked toward a man and a woman ahead.
Both were outer disciples who had advanced from the subsidiary courtyard.
Since they all belonged to the "subsidiary courtyard faction," they often interacted and were reasonably familiar with one another.
Ahead and to his left sat a tall female cultivator with an alluring face and a radiant, captivating air. Her name was Jiang Qiushui.
She possessed a triple spiritual root of water, wood, and earth. Thanks to her affinity for spiritual energy, her aptitude was considerably better than Liu Yu's.
At just twenty-one, she had already reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining, making her one of the more outstanding disciples in their cohort.
She had a wide circle of acquaintances and reportedly several suitors. In his impression, she was rather proud.
Ahead and to his right was a sturdy man with resolute features and cultivation at the Qi Refining fifth layer. His name was Wei Heng.
He possessed a false spiritual root with four attributes, yet had reached the Qi Refining fifth layer at twenty-two-a testament to how diligently he cultivated.
Even so, his prospects remained bleak.
"Junior Brother Liu, it's been a long time. Were you away on a mission?"
"Oh? Has your cultivation broken through?"
"Congratulations!"
Wei Heng cupped his hands and greeted him warmly.
Then, sensing Liu Yu's spiritual power fluctuations and realizing he had broken through to the Qi Refining fifth layer, he offered a couple of loud congratulations.
Jiang Qiushui's eyes flickered as she studied Liu Yu with a curious gaze.
With a woman's intuition, she sensed that this unremarkable junior brother seemed to have undergone some sort of change.
It was not just his cultivation breakthrough. His bearing had also become steadier and more confident.
"You've already reached the Qi Refining fifth layer, Junior Brother Liu?"
"At this rate, you'll be overtaking your senior sister before long!"
For the moment, however, Jiang Qiushui did not dwell on it and merely teased him with a smile.
"Not at all. How could I compare with you, Senior Sister Jiang? I'm still far behind."
"I'd been stuck at the Qi Refining fourth layer for a long time. This breakthrough was merely water flowing into a channel once it was ready."
"As for you, Senior Brother Wei and Senior Sister Jiang, it's been a while, and you both look even more distinguished than before!"
Liu Yu shook his head, not daring to let Senior Sister Jiang continue for fear she might say something else startling.
Glancing at Jiang Qiushui's alluring face, he changed the subject.
"Your magical power has grown even purer, Senior Sister. You must be close to the seventh layer of Qi Refining. Entering the inner sect should be all but assured."
At his words, something seemed to occur to Jiang Qiushui, and her expression grew somewhat downcast.
Her eyes dimmed. After a while, she sighed.
"How could the bottleneck to late Qi Refining be so easy to overcome?"
"Haven't you seen the countless cultivators trapped in middle Qi Refining their entire lives, forever denied the Great Dao?"
"I haven't even fully cultivated the sixth layer of Qi Refining yet. I'm still a long way from that bottleneck!"
The mention of cultivation's hardships weighed on all their hearts.
A lost look appeared on Wei Heng's face. He heaved a deep sigh and said,
"Senior Sister Jiang and Junior Brother Liu both have triple spiritual roots. You at least stand some chance of reaching the seventh layer of Qi Refining by thirty."
"But with my false spiritual root aptitude, even reaching late Qi Refining will be incredibly difficult. Who knows how many years it will take?"
"Let alone reaching Qi Refining perfection before forty, or the even more distant Foundation Establishment realm."
At those words, all three fell silent, and the atmosphere grew heavy.
After listening to Wei Heng, Liu Yu remained silent for a while before speaking.
"Don't be so discouraged, Senior Brother Wei."
"They say that over a hundred thousand years ago, a senior in the cultivation world reached the Nascent Soul Realm despite possessing a false spiritual root."
"He roamed the four seas, his might awing all eight directions, and enjoyed boundless freedom!"
"As long as you don't give up, Heaven rewards diligence. I believe there will always be hope of Foundation Establishment."
Deep down, Jiang Qiushui held Wei Heng in some disdain for his false spiritual root.
But she did not add frost to the snow at that moment. Instead, she smiled and offered a few words of comfort.
The morning sun rose, and rosy clouds filled the sky.
Having finished cultivating, the outer disciples gathered in twos and threes and began descending from the cliff.
Liu Yu and the other two chatted about amusing happenings in the sect as they headed down.
Only after leaving the cliff did the three part ways and return to their respective cave abodes.
I must reach late Qi Refining as soon as possible!
Recalling their conversation, Liu Yu resolved to reach Qi Refining perfection as quickly as possible, then make plans to obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill.
The younger one achieved Foundation Establishment, the greater one's future potential. That was only one of his reasons.
Ideally, he would obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill and attempt Foundation Establishment before forty.
That way, even if he failed, he would still have time to try again.
Back in his cave abode, Liu Yu began using the Immortal Mansion to accelerate the growth of spiritual herbs and refine pills.
During occasional conversations with fellow disciples, he revealed that he had begun learning pill refinement. He fabricated a story about having considerable talent for it, laying the groundwork to explain his future cultivation gains.
Thanks to the readers.
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I'm a little stuck. I'm not good at interacting with people myself, so writing dialogue is just too hard!