Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
“So, brother, although you look strong, even Elder Du has no intention of taking this risk. If you have a wife, children, or a man waiting for you at home, it’s best if you don’t join. I’ll leave you with this. See you again.”
The man folded his hands in salute, then turned around and left without dawdling.
Lu Sheng saw him pass through the walkway that was decorated with hung lanterns. He walked toward Mei Family’s side door, and slowly disappeared in the dark.
As for the group in the Welcome Fragrance Court, other than receiving the daily supply of food, it seemed to have been forgotten. Nobody from the family ever came to check in on them.
Even when many of them left, nobody from the manor came to ask about it.
Lu Sheng could faintly make out some sounds from the other main courts. They seemed to be discussing the search for Mei Youjiang as well. It seemed as if they had searched the entire town and could not find her. Someone saw Mai Youjiang follow a fat man out of town and that they went northeast.
Northeast… this word seemed like a taboo. Once someone mentioned it, nobody would continue the conversation.
The two daughters of the Mei Family were so worried that their foreheads were slick with sweat. They had received the same information before this, and had even raised the reward to three times its original amount. However, nobody wanted to take it on.
Lu Sheng brought Bie Feihe and Zhang Zhao with him as they stood in the winding corridor in front of the Welcome Fragrance Court. They stood there silently for a while. Lu Sheng utilized his Spiritual Power to strengthen his ears, and managed to listen in on the current situation.
“The Haunted House… The terrain around it is flat. If there’s anything mysterious about this town, then it’s the so-called Haunted House,” Lu Sheng said casually. “Zhang Zhao, you think that you’re a smart person. Do you have any good suggestions?”
Zhang Zhao had finally suppressed the hunger that welled up within him after going through much trouble. When he heard Lu Sheng’s question, he was immediately invigorated. He refreshed his spirit and stood straighter.
“With your strength, what need have you for my suggestions? Won’t everything be settled once you head over and crush them? After all, no matter how powerful the opponent is, it’ll not be as powerful as you.”
Bie Feihe nodded frantically at the side. After she witnessed the terrifying great battle between Lu Sheng and the Zhang Family, she had completely given up hope. Her father’s forces dared not come to take her back.
“That’s true. No matter how good the suggestion is, for the current me, it’s faster and more convenient to just go over and crush them.” Lu Sheng agreed with him deeply. Although he was confident in himself, he did not think that the task which Ju Yan had given him could be accomplished that easily.
Since Ju Yan had immeasurable strength, then the person who’d sealed him had to have been stronger. He did not believe that a seal set up by such a person would only be at the level of the Zhang Family.
“Now, since we can use the Spiritual Power sutra without any side effects, we should stock up on Mental Energy first. Let’s see how high a level we can push Spiritual Power to. This body’s strength is still lacking for what I have in mind…” Lu Sheng turned to look at the crowd that was still gathered in the Welcome Fragrance Court. He could feel their determination to rescue Mei Youjiang, but their determination was not enough to make them risk everything for her. This was the reason why they still sat here.
“Let’s go. We’ll take a look as well.” Lu Sheng glanced at Bie Feihe and Zhang Zhao. “Zhang Zhao, you go back to the inn and rest. Feihe, come with me. Your cultivation is starting to bear fruit now. This is a good opportunity for you to put it into practice.”
Bie Feihe immediately wore a stunned expression.
“Master, since when did my cultivation begin to bear fruit? Why am I unaware of that?”
Lu Sheng patted her thick back. The fat flesh on her body rippled like waves. “It’s the mental cultivation method which I taught you every day. Don’t be afraid, when you see something dangerous, you should just utilize the mental cultivation method and crush it. You’ll be surprised.” He wore a mysterious smile. However, Bie Feihe was used to being tricked. She did not believe for a second that this teacher of hers would change for the better.
“Teacher… Can I not go?” Bie Feihe asked politely.
“No.” Lu Sheng shook his head. He walked toward the side door. “Let’s go, follow me.”
Bie Feihe felt helpless. She could only move her body and chase after him with difficulty. When things came to this, she had no choice but to trust in her mad teacher whose tricks knew no bounds.
She had thought of retaliating before. However, she had no doubt that the results of retaliation would be something seriously bad. She was not afraid, though. She had planned her rebellion meticulously up to the minutest details, and her plan went perfectly well. Lu Sheng drank a whole cup of knockout drops said to be potent enough to knock out a bull.
Then, Bie Feihe spent the entire evening in anticipation. She waited for the moment when her teacher Lu Sheng fell to the ground unconscious.
However, the result was that Lu Sheng did not even show any signs of drowsiness. In fact, he seemed more invigorated than ever. From then onward, Bie Feihe stopped believing in knockout drops that could knock out a bull.
After Lu Sheng had Zhang Zhao return to the inn, he brought Bie Feihe out onto the streets which were already under curfew.
Curfew could make ordinary people stay within their houses. However, for people as ruthless as martial artists, curfew amounted to nothing.
Lu Sheng had Zhang Zhao return to the inn partly because his body was too weak, and partly because he was extremely sensitive to changes in Spiritual Power. What he was about to do was unsuitable for him to witness.
Although Bie Feihe was already trying to cultivate Spiritual Power, she could not even sense it. She could not even react to the Spiritual Power which she had cultivated.
Lu Sheng brought Bie Feihe with him, and they caught up to the man whom he had stopped before. They walked quickly and saw the man soon enough in the dark night.
As Lu Sheng sped on his way, he carefully tuned his body so that it was in its best condition.
Soon afterward, the three of them walked out of the town’s gates in single file. They went straight toward northeast. The man did not seem to notice that there were two people following behind him.
Lu Sheng took a look in front of him, and was too lazy to say anything else.
‘Deep Blue.’ He summoned his Modifier directly. Since the Spiritual Power sutra was alright for now, he decided to try it out.
With great familiarity, he found the main button on the Modifier which allowed him to carry out modifications. After he pressed it, Lu Sheng quickly found the square frame which controlled Spiritual Power.
“Unknown Spiritual Power Method, Human Level, Full-mastery.”
There was nothing else on the display. There were no special effects or explanations. It was a simple square frame which contained a minimal amount of simple content.
‘The Spiritual Power basic cultivation sutra which Ju Yan gave me contained a rough cultivation sutra. Also, it categorized Spirit Qi into three main levels of Human, Tiger, and Dragon. The highest level Ju Yan’s cultivation method could attain was Dragon Level. In other words, he hoped that the highest level I’ll achieve with my spiritual power is the Dragon Level…’
Lu Sheng replayed the memory where Ju Yan explained the Spirit Qi sutra. There were five stages between the Human Level and the Tiger Level. The sutra merely divided them simply into five stages.
After that, he would be able to reach the Tiger Level.
‘I’ll get to the Tiger Level and see what I can do,’ Lu Sheng thought, and instinctively pressed on the Spiritual Power’s square frame. He played around with the thought of raising one level.
“Pccht!”
Very quickly and quietly, Spiritual Power boiled within Lu Sheng’s body as he followed closely behind the man in the dark. His golden Spiritual Power seemed to have broken free from a strange shackle as it instantly boiled. It gathered and condensed wildly, and its maximum volume also increased dramatically and inexplicably.
His Mental Energy melted quickly as it was converted into a huge amount of Spiritual Power, which surged into Lu Sheng’s body.
With a sizzle, a golden fruit which resembled an actual apple surfaced behind Lu Sheng.
With the appearance of the first one, a second one quickly followed. Then there was a third, and a fourth, and finally a fifth.
An ordinary person would have needed at least decades of intense cultivation or would have to be a top genius who had high affinity with Spiritual Power to achieve that level. However, Lu Sheng had achieved it in less than 30 seconds.
His body’s endurance was sufficient, and he had enough Mental Energy to convert into Spiritual Power. With the addition of his spirit, which operated from a strategically advantageous position, his level far surpassed a mere Tiger Level Spiritual Power.
Hence, the five golden fruits started to form a fierce tiger’s facial features behind Lu Sheng in no time. There was seemingly no bottleneck for Lu Sheng to overcome.
With this, he had achieved the rank of five fruits.
Lu Sheng made a slight pause. A wave of golden Spiritual Power surged out from him. Then, a huge golden tiger gradually surfaced. It looked fierce and had an imposing bearing.
If ordinary people could see Spiritual Power as well, Bie Feihe and the man before them would have been scared out of their wits.
‘It’s just as San Bu said…’ Lu Sheng was slightly amazed. ‘Is this before the flowering? Tiger Level…’
He had already chased the Guardian Spirits out to the periphery. At the very least, within dozens of meters, nobody would be able to sense his Spiritual Power which he had already contained within himself.
Lu Sheng thought about it, and quickly retracted his golden Spiritual Power.
“Next up, Dragon Level.”
To attain the Dragon Level, he had to spend twice the amount of Mental Energy than to attain the Tiger Level. In total, he had spent 25 units. Although it was slightly above his expectations, it was still a small amount to the current Lu Sheng.
In no time, the five fruits started to flower. Five platinum-colored stamens were inside the golden flower. The five stamens were laced with threads of platinum Spiritual Power, and formed a dragon-themed auspicious pattern. Once Lu Sheng used his Spiritual Power, this pattern would appear behind him naturally.
‘Alright, this is the greatest level which Ju Yan wishes to see me achieve.’ Lu Sheng licked his lips. At the Dragon Level, his Spiritual Power almost had substance, and could even be consolidated into some simple objects which he could play with. However, other people would not be able to see it.
‘Ju Yan doesn’t know that I have Deep Clue. That’s why he didn’t think that I can cultivate my Spiritual Power to the greatest level even with some fortunate encounter. Hence, it is now that I can really find out about Ju Yan’s secrets and flaws.
‘Also, there’s Mei Youjiang. I hope that she knows something about the Evil Spirit Seal. I could ask her about a thing or two.’ Lu Sheng increasingly felt the importance of knowing a person who knew about everything. If he could be sure of Ju Yan’s intentions, maybe he would not have to act this cowardly and conceal his actions. He could not understand what Ju Yan wanted.
After getting used to the boiling platinum-colored Spiritual Power within his body, Lu Sheng shifted his gaze back to the Spiritual Power square frame. He could feel that his current Spiritual Power was already at the level where it had undergone a substantial change. There seemed to be a thin membrane in front of him which prevented his Spiritual Power from increasing further.
‘This power is really incredible… It’s only the most basic kind of power, but it’s actually a powerful form of energy which could be continually strengthened and change substantially.’
Lu Sheng’s gaze fell on the derivation button behind the Spiritual Power square frame. That meant that he could derive this sutra with Mental Energy. This also meant that it was the method beneficial to Spiritual Power among the systems which he controlled for now.
‘Alright… Let me see what kind of truth Ju Yan is trying to hide… I want to see what secret lies behind the Dragon Level.’ A sense of anticipation arose within Lu Sheng. He pressed the derivation button with intentional precision.
