The Second Level of Qi Refining!

Half a year later.

"Chain Qi Second Layer!"

Inside the cultivation room, Lu Changsheng's robes stirred without a breeze. He emerged from meditation, exhaled a breath of turbid air, and smiled with delight.

After a year and a half of arduous cultivation, he had finally broken through from the first level of Chain Qi to the Chain Qi Second Layer.

It had taken so long because making babies and Talisman Making had eaten up a considerable amount of his time.

Otherwise, with his current resources of five spirit stones a month, he could occasionally buy some spirit tea or medicinal herbs to supplement his cultivation.

Still, Lu Changsheng felt that the time spent was well worth it.

Over the past six months, Lu Changsheng had taken the seventh prospective concubine and the two Lu Lineage women Uncle Fu subsequently sent over as his concubines, and all three had successfully conceived.

Lu Lanshu, Lu Zi'er, and Lu Qing'er had also all become pregnant with their second children.

In just half a year, Lu Changsheng had gained another six children waiting to be born.

Uncle Fu, who had been keeping an eye on Lu Changsheng's circumstances, had even come to advise him to exercise some restraint with women. There was no need to rush so much when it came to having children.

As for Talisman Making, he had drawn more than two hundred talismans over those six months.

Fifty of them were basic talismans, which he sold to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to help cover household expenses.

He had also told Uncle Fu that he now had a fifty to sixty percent chance of successfully crafting a Peace Talisman.

He estimated that in another few months, he would be able to try crafting a First-Rank Talisman.

As long as he could successfully draw First-Tier Lower-Grade Talismans, he would qualify as a Ranked Talisman Master.

At the Chain Qi Second Layer, my spiritual power is almost twice as substantial as it was at the first level.

Drawing First-Tier Middle-Grade Talismans is no longer difficult for me. Before, drawing just one middle-grade talisman nearly left me utterly drained, and anything too difficult would fail outright.

If I had the materials, I could even try drawing some First-Tier Upper-Grade Talismans to protect myself.

Lu Changsheng stood up, sensing the spiritual power within the qi sea of his dantian.

What held him back in talisman crafting was not his skill, but his cultivation.

As long as his cultivation met the threshold for Talisman Making, he could successfully draw the talisman.

However, his current tools and materials only allowed him to craft First-Tier Middle-Grade Talismans at best. He could not yet attempt First-Tier Upper-Grade Talismans.

Even with his maxed-out second-tier Talisman Making skills, without materials, he was like a clever cook with no rice to put in the pot.

If he went to the Myriad Treasures Pavilion to buy advanced Talisman-Making Materials, he would not know how to explain it, and he did not have the spare money anyway.

"I can start trying to cultivate spells now, too."

"Otherwise, I have no other means besides talismans."

Lu Changsheng murmured to himself.

He had yet to cultivate a single spell.

Apart from using talismans, he had virtually no fighting ability.

And on the path of cultivation, conflict and combat were inevitable.

Even if Lu Changsheng did not want to compete or fight, and only wanted to marry and have children in peace, trouble would still come knocking.

It was impossible to live safely all the way to the end simply by keeping his head down. Thinking otherwise was undoubtedly deceiving himself.

"Still, there's no need to rush. As long as I don't leave the Lu Lineage, I shouldn't be in any danger for now."

Lu Changsheng shook his head and left the cultivation room to relax and play with his children.

He had just picked up a child and stepped into the courtyard when Lu Changsheng saw Li Feiyu arrive.

He teased his eldest son in his arms. "Come on, say Uncle Li."

But the child was only a little over a year old and could only babble indistinct repeated syllables.

"Changsheng, congratulations on breaking through to the Chain Qi Second Layer."

Li Feiyu offered Lu Changsheng his congratulations.

He lived right next door to Lu Changsheng.

He had been practicing martial arts in his courtyard when he sensed the fluctuations of spiritual energy from this side, and knew Lu Changsheng had broken through to the Chain Qi Second Layer.

"Heh, after all this time, I was due for a breakthrough."

Lu Changsheng chuckled.

Li Feiyu had a seventh-grade spiritual root and devoted himself entirely to cultivation, wasting no time on women. He had broken through to the Chain Qi Second Layer half a year earlier.

"Changsheng, why do I feel like you're much fairer than before? You look a lot better overall, too. What have you been doing?"

Just then, Li Feiyu looked at Lu Changsheng holding his child and clicked his tongue in surprise.

Although they lived next door to each other, they only got together about once every month or two.

"Oh, do I?"

Hearing Li Feiyu's words, Lu Changsheng paused slightly.

He immediately thought that it must be the effect of cultivating the Immortal Bearing Art.

Although he had not paid much attention to this cultivation method, he still practiced it whenever he remembered.

While cultivating Chain Qi could cleanse the marrow and purge impurities, it did little in the early stages to improve one's looks or complexion, or make the skin fairer.

Then Lu Changsheng said casually, "Maybe it's because I used to do farm work, while now I live in comfort. I'm still at an age where I'm growing, too, so naturally I've filled out a little better."

"Tsk, tsk. Whenever we stood together, we used to be like a red flower with green leaves. If you keep this up, how are you supposed to make me look good?"

Li Feiyu teased him.

"Get lost! Give me a few more years of good living, and you'll be the green leaf making me look good."

Lu Changsheng laughed as he scolded him.

The next day, Lu Changsheng went to the Lu Family Library, spent one spirit stone to borrow a copy of Introduction to Basic Spells, and began practicing spells.

"Sizzle, sizzle!"

Inside the cultivation room, Lu Changsheng extended a finger on his right hand. Sparks kept appearing half an inch above his fingertip.

But the moment those sparks formed a fireball, it went out.

What Lu Changsheng was practicing was one of the basic spells, the Fireball Technique.

It could create a small fireball and launch it.

However, practicing this spell was not easy.

It required not only the coordination of spiritual power, but also the recitation of an incantation.

The incantation was not simply shouting "Fireball Technique" or something similar. It consisted of ancient, awkward syllables.

Coordinating them with the circulation of spiritual power felt extremely unnatural, so even after practicing for so long, Lu Changsheng still had not gotten the hang of it.

After practicing for an hour, Lu Changsheng had nearly exhausted his spiritual power and began meditating to recover.

And so, another activity entered Lu Changsheng's daily routine: practicing spells.

A month later.

"Sizzle!"

A red fireball the size of a thumb appeared above Lu Changsheng's fingertip.

The fireball was small, but it radiated scorching heat, raising the temperature of the cultivation room.

Looking at the little fireball above his fingertip, Lu Changsheng continued pouring spiritual power into it, making its flames grow larger.

Once the fireball reached the size of an egg, Lu Changsheng's fingertip supporting it began to tremble slightly.

He thrust his finger toward the target ahead and launched the fireball.

"Bang!"

The fireball struck the target and instantly melted the refined-iron structure into molten metal.

"Phew!"

"No wonder Feiyu said that an innate martial artist's strength was only comparable to the Chain Qi Third Layer."

"Against a fireball like this, no matter how skilled a martial artist is, one hit means certain death."

After witnessing the power of the Fireball Technique, Lu Changsheng felt rather moved.

He thought back to the spell battle between the Lu Lineage and the Chen Lineage on his journey to Green Bamboo Mountain.

Both sides had cast their spells far faster than he could.

And they could release multiple fireballs, water arrows, and Wind Blades at once, making them almost impossible to fend off.

"But these spells are far too difficult. After a whole month, I've only mastered the Fireball Technique."

"There's still the Wind-Riding Technique, Object-Control Technique, Spirit Eye Technique, Voice Transmission Technique, Qi-Concealment Technique, and a whole pile of other basic spells. How long will it take to learn them all?"

Lu Changsheng took a deep breath, shook his head, and sighed.

If a single introductory spell took this much time, what about more advanced spells?

This reminded him of the Talisman Making skill he had acquired.

This made him think of the talisman-crafting skills he had obtained.

He began to understand why such skills were so precious and sought after.

It was not simply because they were difficult.

Immortal cultivation itself consumed a great deal of time, energy, and money.

Every additional discipline one pursued demanded another portion of time, energy, and money.

Most Immortal Cultivators simply did not have the time, energy, or money to pursue anything else alongside their cultivation.

They could only focus on the path of cultivation alone.