Tuoshe Blood Jade

Hearing the two of them, Lu Ren had already guessed that the Tuoshe Blood Jade was anything but ordinary. Unable to wait any longer, he asked, "What exactly is this Tuoshe Blood Jade?"

Qin Yu said, "The Tuoshe Blood Jade is the key to entering the Tuoshe Cave Mansion. Only martial artists with Fourth-grade Bloodlines or below can enter the Tuoshe Cave Mansion while carrying a Tuoshe Blood Jade, where they may have a chance to obtain Ancient Emperor Tuoshe's inheritance!"

Qin Yu looked at Lu Ren with an excited expression and continued, "Junior Brother Lu Ren, as long as you don't break through to the Spirit Stream Realm within these three months, you have every chance of obtaining Ancient Emperor Tuoshe's inheritance and making up for your bloodline talent!"

Hearing that, Lu Ren asked with a puzzled look, "Then who exactly was Ancient Emperor Tuoshe? Why do you say he could make up for my bloodline talent?"

Qin Yu smiled faintly. "It is said that Ancient Emperor Tuoshe was found to possess a Second-grade Bloodline talent in his youth, making it fundamentally impossible for him to become a martial artist. Yet in the end, he became a Martial Emperor standing at the pinnacle of the continent. Although no one knows why he fell, if someone with Second-grade Bloodline talent could become a Martial Emperor, he must have carried some secret!"

"So, if you can obtain that secret, perhaps you can become a Martial Emperor too!"

As she spoke, Qin Yu told Lu Ren everything she knew about the Tuoshe Cave Mansion.

Only then did Lu Ren come to a sudden realization.

The Tuoshe Cave Mansion had existed in Jiangyun Kingdom for a thousand years. Every year, no fewer than a hundred people obtained Tuoshe Blood Jades, but only Aperture Opening Realm martial artists with Fourth-grade Bloodlines or lower could enter the Tuoshe Cave Mansion.

Yet over the past thousand years, not a single martial artist had passed the trial and obtained Ancient Emperor Tuoshe's inheritance.

Instead, those who had gone the farthest were martial artists with Third-grade Bloodlines.

In other words, the more useless the bloodline, the greater the advantage.

Lu Ren possessed a Scrap Bloodline, even more worthless than Ancient Emperor Tuoshe's, so he naturally held an enormous advantage.

After hearing Senior Sister Qin Yu's words, Lu Ren said excitedly, "It looks like I'll have to visit the Tuoshe Cave Mansion in three months and give it a try!"

If Ancient Emperor Tuoshe's inheritance could truly change his bloodline talent, then with the Nameless Treasure Pagoda, he would certainly rise to prominence in no time.

Qin Yu handed the Tuoshe Blood Jade to Lu Ren, then turned her gaze toward the Emerald Phosphorus Flood Dragon King's corpse. "Wang Teng, clean up the battlefield. Let's head back quickly!"

Before long, Wang Teng finished clearing the battlefield. Carrying a huge leather sack on his back, the four of them left Black Tiger Ridge.

This training expedition had been dangerous but uneventful in the end, and their gains were naturally plentiful.

Aside from the Hundred Aperture Grass Qin Yu had collected herself, they had obtained forty first-tier Monstrous Beast Demonic Cores, as well as scales stripped from the Emerald Phosphorus Flood Dragon King, its Demonic Core, that dragon horn, and more.

After returning to Black Tiger Town, the four arrived at a general store called Spirit Treasure Pavilion. The shop bought back all spoils obtained from Black Tiger Ridge.

"Shopkeeper, I want to sell Monstrous Beast materials!"

Wang Teng walked up to the counter and set down the leather sack full of Monstrous Beast materials.

The shopkeeper was an old man. At a glance, he recognized the identities of the four and could not help saying, "Worthy of being Qingyun Sect outer disciples. It seems you harvested quite a lot this time!"

Wang Teng poured out all the Monstrous Beast materials inside!

After taking inventory, the shopkeeper was completely stunned when he saw the Emerald Phosphorus Flood Dragon King's horn, scales, and Demonic Core. He asked in disbelief, "This is an Emerald Phosphorus Flood Dragon King? That is a second-tier Monstrous Beast! With the strength of just you four, how could you possibly have slain the Emerald Phosphorus Flood Dragon King?"

"It was only an Emerald Phosphorus Flood Dragon King, nothing worth mentioning. Exchange everything for copper coins!"

Wang Teng said.

After calculating the value, the shopkeeper said, "These materials total four hundred and eighty thousand copper coins. Are you sure you want to sell them?"

Wang Teng nodded.

"Here are four hundred and eighty thousand copper coins!"

Before long, the shopkeeper brought out forty-eight banknotes.

After taking the banknotes, Wang Teng rubbed his still somewhat swollen cheek and laughed. "Four hundred and eighty thousand in total. Split between the four of us, that's one hundred and twenty thousand each. That slap wasn't for nothing after all!"

Lu Ren looked at the banknotes in Wang Teng's hand and was secretly astonished. Their Black Tiger Ridge training expedition had lasted about seven days, yet each of them had earned one hundred and twenty thousand copper coins.

In the past, that would have been utterly unimaginable.

On the way back, Lu Ren looked at Qin Yu and said, "Senior Sister, we obtained the Tuoshe Blood Jade together. I owe you a favor."

A trace of displeasure appeared on Qin Yu's delicate face. "Junior Brother, do we still need such formalities between us? Besides, you saved me!"

"Alright!"

Lu Ren nodded and said no more.

Half a day later!

The four returned to the sect. Qin Yu said to Lu Ren, "Junior Brother Lu Ren, let's do missions together again when we have the chance!"

With that, she swayed her slender waist and left.

Wang Teng and Zhang Sheng bade Lu Ren farewell as well before leaving.

Lu Ren did not immediately return to his dormitory. Instead, he used the one hundred and twenty thousand copper coins he had just received to buy two thousand four hundred jin of Spirit Rice from the Dining Hall.

After returning to his courtyard, Lu Ren first washed himself and changed into clean clothes. Only then did he enter his dormitory, lock the door from the inside, and enter the Pagoda Space.

"This Spirit Rice is enough for me to cultivate for thirty-three years. I refuse to believe I can't cultivate the Spirit Cat Steps to perfection!"

Lu Ren's face was full of confidence.

This expedition had made him keenly realize that his movement technique was far from sufficient.

Movement technique martial arts were the hardest to cultivate. Reaching perfection required a great deal of time, so many martial artists stopped painstakingly cultivating them once they had reached major mastery.

But Lu Ren had time to spare.

This period of bitter cultivation would surely allow him to cultivate the Spirit Cat Steps to perfection and open his seventh Spiritual Aperture as well.

Thirteen years passed in the blink of an eye!

At this moment, within the Heaven and Earth Law space.

Lu Ren's footsteps were light, and he leaped back and forth through the empty space like a spirit cat. He moved so swiftly that afterimages seemed to flicker through the air, too fast for ordinary people to catch with the naked eye.

Lu Ren stopped, drew a deep breath, and smiled. "The Spirit Cat Steps have reached perfection too. The Spiritual Aperture in my brain has opened as well. At last, all seven Spiritual Apertures are open, and the Spirit Rice can still support another twenty years of cultivation!"

By every calculation, it had not even been two months since he entered Qingyun Sect, yet he had already opened seven Spiritual Apertures. Even martial artists with Sixth-grade Bloodline talent would find it difficult to achieve such cultivation speed.

However, he did not intend to break through to the Spirit Stream Realm immediately!

The Tuoshe Cave Mansion would open in three months, and only those in the Aperture Opening Realm could enter.

Moreover, he wanted to try opening his eighth Spiritual Aperture.

His talent was inferior to others'. If he did not make up for it through acquired effort, he feared that others would challenge him across realms in the future.

"I'll ask Master. She should know how to open the eighth Spiritual Aperture!"

With that thought, Lu Ren emerged from the Pagoda Space. Just as he was about to leave the courtyard, he saw Yun Qingyao, dressed in training clothes, flying over from afar and landing at the entrance.

Yun Qingyao's figure was slender and frail, as though a gust of wind could topple her. Her resentful eyes remained fixed on Lu Ren.

Then she walked over and complained like a neglected young wife, "Lu Ren, are you dissatisfied with me as your master?"