Seeing this, Lu Ming told Lu Jin and the others to wait for him outside, then he walked over and asked with a smile, "Senior Sister, is something the matter?"
Zhou Fuling scrutinized Lu Ming with her beautiful eyes, remained silent for a few moments, and then suddenly said, "During the Spirit Pill Jiao, were you putting on an act for me? You must have had some way of avoiding the corrosive effects of the alchemical fire, right? That look of utter pain you were putting on was just for show!"
Lu Ming was startled. Looking at the girl's bright and beautiful face, he shook his head and denied it, "Senior sister, I don't know what you're talking about. My Primordial Qi foundation and Clear Qi are not as good as yours. I was able to hold on until then only because of my tough body!"
"Snort."
Zhou Fuling snorted and said, "Don't try to argue. A girl's intuition is very sharp and unreasonable, so once I've made up my mind, I won't listen to any of your excuses."
Lu Ming was completely numb. He wouldn't talk about evidence, only his intuition. He was indeed unreasonable.
"Then what do you want?" Lu Ming asked helplessly.
"I've said it before, a win is a win, and a loss is a loss. You even took the initiative to back down in the end, clearly trying to give me a way out. What? Do you think I'm someone who can't accept defeat?" Zhou Fuling asked with a stern face.
"This bet is ostensibly a draw, but in reality, I still lost. Therefore, the bet I made during the Spirit Pill Jiao remains valid, and I will not renege on it."
"I'll promise you one thing. Tell me, what do you want?" Zhou Fuling asked, arms crossed.
Hearing her say that, Lu Ming stopped being coy and asked, "Anything you want is fine?"
He looked at Zhou Fuling, glancing at the girl's tall and graceful figure, his expression becoming somewhat uneasy. "Senior sister, I do have an idea that I've been wanting to tell you, but I'm afraid you'll refuse."
Faced with his scrutiny, Zhou Fuling's cheeks flushed slightly, and she said reproachfully, "What are you thinking?"
At the same time, she was a little flustered and muttered to herself, "I hope this kid doesn't rashly make any outrageous requests. If he gets angry, I'm afraid I won't talk to him for a long time."
"Senior sister, I want to... I want to learn your ' Azure Jade Wings,' is that alright?" Lu Ming mustered his courage and said what he had been thinking about for a long time.
"Um?"
Zhou Fuling's beautiful eyes widened slightly, her pretty face showing a mixture of emotions. Clearly, Lu Ming's request was far beyond her expectations. "This is your request?"
Zhou Fuling secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but then felt a little embarrassed and annoyed. It turned out that in this boy's eyes, the most attractive thing about her was actually the supernatural abilities she had cultivated.
This was something that the proud Zhou Fuling found hard to accept for a while.
So she stood there, stunned, for a long while without making a sound.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Lu Ming felt uneasy. Was this request too much? After all, the Azure Jade Wings were a high-grade flying ability. If it were sold in a magic shop, its price would definitely be more than ten times more expensive than the " True Formation Mystic Peach Pill " that Zhou Xuan had refined before.
He also felt that he had asked for too much.
"If you find this offensive, or if the Lineage has strict rules, then just pretend I didn't say anything!" Lu Ming said cautiously.
"Senior sister, I'll be going now."
He moved his feet, intending to slip away.
"Etc!"
Zhou Fuling finally came to her senses, snorted coldly, and said, " The Azure Jade Wings are a flying technique passed down within our Lineage, and generally speaking, it is never passed on to outsiders."
"It's alright, then forget it."
Watching Lu Ming about to leave the ward office, Zhou Fuling gritted her teeth and stomped her foot.
"After I've absorbed Pill Qi in the next few days, I'll come find you." With that, she turned and went straight back to the yamen.
Lu Ming stared in astonishment at Zhou Fuling's departing figure, still somewhat incredulous.
"She... agrees?"
For the next few days, Lu Ming stayed indoors, focusing on refining and absorbing the Pill Qi within his body.
As Lu Ming had predicted, the effect of the Pill Qi was exactly as he had expected. The moment he completely absorbed it, the Divine Ability Dharma Mark engraved on his Divine Ability Bone increased by three levels, reaching the tenth level!
When Lu Jin, Lu Qingyan, and Lu Jinglei learned of this news, they were all utterly shocked.
" A-Ming Ming has only been Great Divine Ability Practitioner for less than three months, right? Ten Divine Ability Dharma Mark... I have a feeling that in another six months, he'll surpass me." Lu Jinglei stared at the tall and upright young man before him, his face filled with utter shock. He was truly terrified by Lu Ming's cultivation speed.
Lu Jinglei had been stuck at the Great Divine Ability Practitioner realm for over ten years. Even though he had worked extremely hard in his cultivation and dared not relax in the slightest, due to his lack of talent and cultivation resources, he could only barely manage to condense one Divine Ability Dharma Mark per year. But now, Lu Ming's improvement in just a few days was equivalent to his three years of progress.
The contrast was so stark that even Lu Jinglei couldn't help but feel extremely conflicted.
" A-Ming himself possesses Sub-Heaven-Grade Divine Ability Bone, so the effects of any cultivation resources on him are greatly enhanced. In addition, he has indeed obtained a lot of resources recently, especially this Spirit Pill Jiao, which is extremely rare and hard to come by," Lu Jin said.
In just a few short months, the cultivation resources Lu Ming has acquired are actually no less than those of the direct descendants of powerful families like Li and Yan. Therefore, with the support of these resources, his terrifying cultivation speed is not so unbelievable.
"I once heard that in a Fifth-Tier Divine Ability Hall in the Great Luo Domain, there was a prodigy who was born with Mutated High-Grade Divine Ability Bone. Under the hall's full resources of nurturing, he condensed twenty-five Divine Ability Dharma Mark in just one year. After another six months, he directly forged High-Grade Divine Ability Dharma Foundation and stepped into the Divine Ability Master." Lu Jin sighed and said.
Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei exchanged a glance, and both of them thought of Zhang Yue.
"That ingrate is most likely also Mutated High-Grade Divine Ability Bone," Lu Qingyan said.
According to the intelligence obtained from Guo Kui, Zhang Yue is now like a hidden dragon entering the sea at the Great Golden Crow Hall. His potential is being rapidly unearthed under the top-notch resources of the Fifth-Tier Divine Ability Hall.
If nothing unexpected happens, Zhang Yue will probably become a Divine Ability Master in about six months, and he may even have laid High-Grade Divine Ability Dharma Foundation, making Divine Ability Master Grandmaster the future!
"So what if it's a superior-grade mutation? It still can't compare to A-Ming's second-grade Heavenly rank. Maybe in half a year, A-Ming might even advance to the Divine Ability Master. I'd like to see what kind of face Zhang Yue will have then," Lu Jinglei sneered.
Lu Ming rolled his eyes. His second uncle was putting too much pressure on him. He had now cultivated ten Divine Ability Dharma Mark, which meant he had almost exhausted all the resources available in Qingyuan Market. And there would be no second Spirit Pill Jiao in the future.
"Grandpa, has there been any news from the Golden Gang Sword Hall lately?" Lu Ming asked, turning his head.
Lu Jin lit his pipe and said, "It's very quiet, but based on my understanding of Lin Changkong, the quieter he is, the more earth-shattering his actions will be when he makes his move."
He paused, then slowly said, "I suspect he might take advantage of the Rain Weakening Period, when we leave the city and enter the Black Rain Zone to set up the ' Restriction Flag,' to make his move personally."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of Lu Ming and the other two changed involuntarily.
Is Lin Changkong, this True Qi Master, finally about to lose his patience?
"Making a move during the ' Rain Weakening Period,' isn't he afraid of provoking the wrath of all parties in Qingyuan Market?" Lu Qingyan said in a low voice.
There are also unwritten rules in Qingyuan Market. During the Rain Weakening Period and the Black Rain Season, past grudges must be temporarily put aside and everyone must unite against the common enemy. Of course, since it is unwritten, people follow it according to their own will.
"In his view, as long as he succeeds in one strike, even if all parties in Qingyuan Market are angered, they will not be able to do anything to him, a True Qi Master, with the Black Rain Season just around the corner. After all, True Qi Master is the most powerful force in Qingyuan Market, and losing him at this time would be a great loss."
"If I were truly killed by Lin Changkong, I think most of the forces in Qingyuan Market wouldn't risk offending the powerful Lin Changkong for the sake of a Thunderfire Hall that doesn't even have a master with Divine Ability Master overseeing it. In the end, this matter would likely just fade away."
"It's cruel, but that's reality," Lu Jin said calmly.
" Zhou Xuan shouldn't be afraid of him, right?" Lu Jinglei said, frowning.
" Zhou Xuan is naturally not afraid of Lin Changkong, but what if Lin Changkong attracts the protection of the Great Golden Crow Hall? This man is cunning and has made some preparations after his repeated failures." Lu Jin's voice was old and calm, without any ripples. The old man had experienced many hardships and dangers, so he would naturally try to guess more about Lin Changkong's backup plan.
Lu Ming frowned. He knew that Zhou Xuan and the others must have extraordinary backgrounds, otherwise they wouldn't be qualified to be associated with that prince. With such backgrounds, the Great Golden Crow Hall might not be able to put pressure on them. However, from Lin Changkong's perspective, he naturally didn't know this information.
Given these misjudgments, Lin Changkong might indeed take a risk during the " Rain Weakening Period," seizing the opportunity when all parties are tied up and unable to spare any attention, to truly eliminate their Thunderfire Hall.
Lu Ming could sense that as his growth accelerated over the past few months, the malice emanating from Lin Changkong became increasingly intense and urgent.
He probably won't wait any longer.
Therefore, this " Rain Weakening Period " will likely be the biggest calamity that the Thunderfire Hall will face.
"Father, why don't we stay in Fangcheng? As long as we don't enter places like the Black Rain Zone, Lin Changkong won't dare to attack us," Lu Qingyan said.
Lu Jin shook his head upon hearing this and said, "During the Rain Weakening Period, all forces in Qingyuan Market must contribute a Divine Ability Master powers. This is the established rule. Even if we plead with Zhou Xuan and he agrees to let Thunderfire Hall avoid the battle out of consideration for A-Ming, how could the other forces in Qingyuan Market be willing to do so?"
"They risked their lives to complete their mission in the Black Rain Zone, while we, the top-ranked Thunderfire Hall, hid in the city. People will talk behind our backs about that."
"If this gets to Zhou Xuan, he'll be in a very difficult position, and the reputation that our Thunderfire Hall has worked so hard to build will suffer a severe blow."
Everyone fell silent; they understood that this calamity was unavoidable.
It's alright.
"This calamity is not truly insurmountable."
However, facing the solemn expressions of the three, Lu Jin smiled faintly. He smoked his pipe, and pungent smoke billowed from his nostrils. His aged face was faintly visible in the smoke, making him appear somewhat stern.
"All of this was predicated on the premise that Lin Changkong could actually kill me."
"But..."
Lu Jin's laughter rang out, and a rare hint of domineering aura was faintly revealed within it.
If he really wants to come.
"Who will ultimately die is still unknown."