Straight to Qi Refinement? The Journey to Great Marsh Mountain

"Even if I don't consider the age issue, I still need to make the most of my time cultivating. I don't have time to think about that-"

Punk Lü Yuan rested his chin on one hand and continued, "Besides, she's counting on me to get back to Upper City, so she can't run away. If I ever do have those thoughts, it won't be too late to talk about it then."

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan chuckled. "I just don't want you to be under so much pressure all the time because of your circumstances. After all, with me here, you can let yourself take it easier starting now."

"Sleep in, fall in love..."

"I think you'd be better off spending your time on those things. You can leave cultivation to me."

"Just between us, I'm confident I can reach Purple Mansion within eight years."

"I don't mind leaving it to you, but I need some cultivation of my own. Otherwise, with the megacorporations' laws there for all to see, I can't just lie low until you reach Golden Core and then rise up, can I?"

"Then wouldn't I, with this whole wish-fulfillment protagonist setup, have to settle for living as some run-of-the-mill male lead who follows the path of lying low..."

Punk Lü Yuan answered casually, but just as he finished saying what he thought-

He suddenly realized what an earth-shattering thing Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan had said.

He was confident... he could reach Purple Mansion in eight years?

One had to remember that even Lin Qi, a Celestial Dragon in her previous life, had spent ten years just cultivating from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment-

And now he was saying he was confident he could cultivate from Embryonic Breathing to Purple Mansion in eight years?

Punk Lü Yuan's pupils slowly contracted as if struck by an earthquake. He really hadn't expected Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan to drop a bombshell like that on him.

Purple Mansion in eight years—what did that even mean?

Recently, after using the cultivation speed of Mingyang City's previous Pseudo Spirit Root, the one before him, as a reference...

Punk Lü Yuan had set himself a target of around twenty years to reach Foundation Establishment and get into high school.

That was because his predecessor had spent six years getting from Embryonic Breathing to Qi Refinement, then a full fifteen years going from Qi Refinement to Foundation Establishment after obtaining an Artificial Spirit Root, finally getting into high school.

And before that, he had estimated it would take him even longer to get into high school-

That was also why he and Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan had previously thought the latter would already have reached Purple Mansion by the time he entered high school.

But what had he just heard?

Purple Mansion in eight years?!

This was no longer a question of whether Punk Lü Yuan was surprised.

In fact, his gaze had gone completely blank, and his brain had short-circuited for a moment.

Pleasant surprise and pressure fought each other in his mind, and for a moment he didn't know what expression to make.

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan thought his reaction was perfectly normal. After all, he had been utterly astonished when he heard those words from Liu Bang.

"You're sure you're not joking with me?" After a long while, Punk Lü Yuan finally came back to his senses and hurriedly pressed him:

"Where did that conclusion come from? The Immortal Book?"

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan held nothing back. "Liu Bang said it, and he was very certain when he did. He shouldn't be mistaken."

"Then did you ask him why?" Punk Lü Yuan continued. He couldn't wait to find out how accurate this was.

After considering his words, Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan answered, "His answer was that as long as I start following the Great Yin or Sun lineage after reaching Qi Refinement, my cultivation will advance a thousand miles in a day, with almost no bottlenecks."

"Even if I continue unhindered all the way to Purple Mansion with all five Divine Abilities perfected, it definitely won't take twenty years."

"I think this should have something to do with why he believes I'm his child."

"And he told me that whether I'm really his child can be confirmed once I reach Qi Refinement."

"...He was so certain from beginning to end. I'm afraid he really hasn't mistaken me for someone else. I suspect I really did accidentally transmigrate into his child-"

Punk Lü Yuan fell silent. Joy and the thought that he might as well just lie flat made him hope Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan really had transmigrated into Liu Bang's child.

But the pressure, and the helpless feeling of Please, stop cheating, made him hope it was only a misunderstanding.

Otherwise, it wasn't impossible that Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan might leave him two major realms behind.

"You can't seriously expect me to reach Foundation Establishment and get into high school in eight years, can you?" At that thought, Punk Lü Yuan felt as though a mountain of pressure was bearing down on him.

"Forget it, even though I'm very jealous..." Punk Lü Yuan sighed, but ultimately chose to give him his blessing. "I still hope you really are."

"And at your current pace, I imagine you'll probably know in less than a year..."

"Then we'll find out."

Punk Lü Yuan thought Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan would smile at his blessing, but after he finished speaking...

He noticed that the other man's expression was growing increasingly strange.

"Actually-"

After wrestling with it for a moment, Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan offered a correction. "It probably won't take me that long to reach Qi Refinement now."

Under Punk Lü Yuan's once again disbelieving gaze, Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan said cautiously:

"According to Liu Bang, next he'll rescue these people under cover of a trace of dead Qi left behind when the Golden Core fell, and take them away alive."

"And although I only played a negligible supporting role in it,"

"According to the Acting Method, once the two of us have taken these people somewhere suitable, the merit I receive will be enough to take me straight to Qi Refinement."

After saying that, Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan thought for a moment, then added:

"However, while taking them there, we can't use our cultivation because of Middle Earth's rules-"

"So it'll still take around one or two months, give or take."

The jealousy that had just subsided in Punk Lü Yuan surged up again.

The guy in front of him wasn't leaving him any way to survive!

Seriously, was that cheat even fair?

Wasn't that fast enough already? He was going to speedrun from Embryonic Breathing to Qi Refinement in two months?

Was he going to let anyone live? Was he going to give anyone hope of catching up?

This script made no sense. Even with drugs, he couldn't match the other man's natural cultivation. If the other man took drugs too, how could anyone compete?

Which of the two of them had advanced technology, and which was stuck in a backward age?

"Two months..." Punk Lü Yuan muttered, looking as if he had nothing left to live for. "Nothing you say now will surprise me."

"Also, is it really all right to hit me with this in the last few days before school starts?"

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan merely gave a helpless smile. "I'm only trying to help you make a better choice, aren't I?"

"So?"

"Isn't my earlier suggestion very tempting now?"

"Who wants to eat for free and wait to die-" Unexpectedly, Punk Lü Yuan still rejected it without a second thought.

His eyes shone, and for no apparent reason, fighting spirit welled up in him. "You just watch. I definitely won't let you get two major realms ahead of me!"

Was it really all right to say something so cowardly in such a fired-up tone?

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan didn't mind, though. He merely rose slightly. "Since that's still your final choice, I'll wait and see-"

"But you're welcome to change your mind anytime."

With that, his figure gradually dissolved within the consciousness space. Clearly, today's conversation was over.

At the very end, however, Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan remembered one last thing and added before leaving completely:

"Oh, right, I don't need the Spirit Root at the moment, so I'll leave it with you to use for now."

"If there's an inspection, just give it back to me temporarily to keep it hidden."

"Keep it up-"

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan's figure vanished completely, and Punk Lü Yuan merely rubbed the spot between his brows with a wry smile.

"Keep it up?"

Thinking of school starting in a few days, he murmured softly.

Back in the ancient cultivation world, Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan gazed toward the horizon, where the morning Sun was just rising, and quietly repeated the place name Liu Bang had given him.

"Great Marsh Mountain..."