Chapter 83: Ancient Methods

Having already refined the elixir for Shen Tang and triggered her breakthrough, Lu Xingzhou stayed indoors, continuing to refine pills for himself and A-Nuo.

One fruit, combined with a large quantity of various auxiliary herbs, could produce many pills.

Everyone’s needs were different, so they had to be refined separately. The ones for Shen Tang were primarily for strengthening bones and meridians, carefully avoiding any changes to her muscles, otherwise, Lu Xingzhou would regret it to death.

The ones he refined for himself were the opposite; he put more effort into strengthening his muscles.

Due to long-term wheelchair use, Lu Xingzhou’s physique was much thinner than the average person’s. Martial cultivators focused mainly on internal arts, and since his muscle lines hadn't been trained, he was the typical "frail scholar" type. But such a martial cultivator was lopsided, lacking both internal and external cultivation, and his physical aesthetics were also lacking—he was essentially relying on his face to get by.

Taking this pill could improve things somewhat... multiple pills could be refined, but they needed to be paired with external physical training, spending a period of time to change.

A man in love is very diligent about wanting to satisfy his wife with eight-pack abs.

As for the method for A-Nuo, it was another approach entirely: pure energy accumulation, fully stimulating the effects of the original fruit to increase her strength as much as possible.

A-Nuo’s body wouldn't change at all because of these things; all the energy could be effectively digested.

The master and disciple each took their pills, and in the end, Lu Xingzhou discovered that A-Nuo had broken through, while he had not.

A-Nuo had been at the Fifth Grade for quite a while, and having eaten pills voraciously these past few days, she was already at the critical point of a breakthrough. Once she took this "Great Strength Pill," she broke through directly to the Fourth Grade, and her height grew by an inch as a result...

As for himself, because he had refined multiple pills with the intention of taking it slow and steady to build muscle, the medicinal effect was slower, but it still barely helped push him to the mid-stage of the Sixth Grade.

This result was already beyond expectations, and Lu Xingzhou was sufficiently satisfied.

"Logically, this kind of medicine for tempering bones and muscles is not the same thing as the energy required for cultivation; it shouldn't lead to a breakthrough. A-Nuo’s breakthrough is a different matter; she has always been extraordinary. Is our improvement a bit strange?" The young couple strolled in the mountains, and Lu Xingzhou chatted casually with Shen Tang.

"Actually, it’s not strange," Shen Tang said. "According to imperial records, ancient martial cultivators should have had a bone-tempering stage... The tendon-changing and bone-tempering of that time were extremely painful, leading to few martial cultivators. And Daoist cultivation relied too much on aptitude and roots, so although the immortals were stronger than they are now, their overall numbers were much rarer than today; it wasn't like the current situation where everyone cultivates."

Lu Xingzhou listened with great interest: "And then?"

"Later, I don't know what kind of changes occurred, but the methods of cultivation changed. Martial cultivation wasn't as painful, and practitioners in this direction became more numerous. Look at how many practitioners there are today; in reality, most are martial cultivators, and the proportion of Daoist cultivators is not high."

"Hmm..." The proportion of martial cultivators in the world was indeed high. Not to mention a typical sword sect like the Profound Heaven Sect, just looking at the imperial court, the Huo family, the Sheng family, the Demon Suppression Division, the Dongjiang Gang, the Danxia Gang... a large proportion of his acquaintances were martial cultivators.

Shen Tang claimed to be a dual cultivator of Dao and Martial arts, but in reality, she was also a typical martial cultivator. It was just that the Imperial Supreme World-Shocking Scripture was somewhat special, containing elements of magic power to control objects, which was why Shen Tang could use his talismans back then.

Shen Tang continued: "After the cultivation methods changed, the boundary between martial and Daoist cultivators began to blur, and eventually, even the concept of a 'Bone-Tempering Period' disappeared. Later, because no one reached high-level realms, people simply stopped mentioning Daoist cultivation realms. Otherwise, according to ancient standards, everyone would cultivate until they were half-dead and only reach the second or third realm; what would be the point of that... Thus, it gradually evolved into the current Nine-Grade system."

"So that's how it is..."

"So, taking me as an example, this elixir strengthened my tendons and bones, unintentionally aligning with the ancient meaning of tendon-changing and bone-tempering, and the breakthrough followed," Shen Tang smiled. "Not only is it not strange, but it should actually be the right path."

Lu Xingzhou said: "That won't cause you pain, will it..."

Seeing that the man's first reaction was to care about this, Shen Tang felt sweet inside. She smiled and held his hand: "It won't. Actually, your future cultivation can lean in this direction. After all, you’ve already tempered two leg bones even at the Sixth Grade; you’ll have a bit of a head start over others."

Lu Xingzhou nodded. Referring to ancient methods shouldn't be wrong; this was the true path of cultivation.

At this moment, the two were truly window shopping. It was the third day of the first lunar month, and most shops were already open for business. The young couple hadn't properly gone out shopping like normal lovers since they started dating, so today, they were too lazy to care about how Pei Chuyun was doing and just shopped for themselves.

It was just that their shopping was a bit awkward; two wheelchairs rolling side-by-side was very eye-catching. Because they didn't want to be disturbed by lanterns, no one was pushing the wheelchairs, so they had to row themselves, looking exceptionally arduous and comical.

The two felt their old faces blushing from the passersby's stares, both secretly questioning if they were asking for trouble by pretending to be lame.

Unfortunately, Shen Tang really had to pretend; there was no way around it, unlike Lu Xingzhou who was purely doing it to trick people.

"Mom, that pair in the wheelchairs, they're so loving... disabled but never leaving each other. When I find a husband in the future, I want to find one like that."

"If you dare find a lame one, I'll beat you to death."

"I didn't mean lame, I meant that kind of, that kind of..." The little girl thought for a long time but couldn't come up with an apt description, her face looking bitter.

Although the mother criticized, she actually understood the child's meaning; that feeling of never leaving each other was indeed very sweet.

They were already in wheelchairs, yet they still spared a hand to hold each other's, tsk.

Thus, the two wheelchair-bound people discovered that the looks the passersby gave them weren't malicious; in fact, there were more "auntie smiles." Lu Xingzhou’s old face stopped blushing and became grinning; instead, Shen Tang’s face grew redder and redder, and she whispered angrily: "It's all your fault, why go shopping... It was so hard to maintain the reputation I built up in front of everyone..."

She wanted to pull her hand back, but Lu Xingzhou wouldn't let her, holding it firmly: "What does that matter? Ordinary people don't know us anyway..."

Before he finished speaking, a patrolling constable from the Demon Suppression Division greeted them: "Yo, Sect Master Shen, Mr. Lu, out shopping? Happy New Year!"

Shen Tang: "..."

Lu Xingzhou’s face burned. Taking advantage of the New Year greeting etiquette, he inconspicuously pulled his hand back and cupped his hands, smiling without warmth: "Happy New Year... Has your new Demon Suppression Division commander arrived?"

"He was promoted before the New Year," the patrolling constable smiled. "Mr. Lu knows him too; it's the former Deputy Commander Zhang. We all fought side-by-side at the Prefecture Governor's office; he was promoted based on solid achievements."

"Then everyone else was promoted a rank too, right?"

"That goes without saying," the constable smiled. "We have to thank Mr. Lu for his help. If you need anything in the future, just look for us brothers."

"Easy, easy."

"But everyone still misses Commander Sheng... she was capable, responsible, and easy on the eyes."

Lu Xingzhou smiled: "Even if Commander Sheng doesn't return to the capital, her achievements mean she must be promoted; she definitely won't stay in Xiazhou."

"Just saying. Eh, Mr. Lu, have you noticed that the spiritual energy in Xiazhou is a bit denser than before?"

The young couple looked at each other and smiled slightly.

The recovery of spiritual energy in Xiazhou wasn't because it suddenly appeared, but because of changes in the earth's veins; this was a long process. The spiritual energy grew a little denser every day, and those who weren't sensitive wouldn't notice it. It would take a long time before they suddenly realized, how did it become different... So far, most people hadn't noticed; only the experts in the Demon Suppression Division were a bit sensitive.

This delayed reaction was a good thing for the Profound Heaven Sect. By the time people realized it was a spiritual mountain treasure land, the Profound Heaven Sect would already be far from what it used to be. Currently, Shen Tang was already Third Grade, and her confidence was much greater than before; if there were more large-scale breakthroughs, it would be even more stable.

Lu Xingzhou responded casually: "Xiazhou is a good place... maybe you'll really have a chance to see Commander Sheng in the future."

Once Xiazhou was upgraded again, if Sheng Yuanyao wanted to be stationed elsewhere in the future, being a Prefecture Commander would be quite suitable.

Bidding farewell to the constable, the two looked at each other and burst into laughter. Finally, they couldn't hold hands and row their wheelchairs on the main street anymore. Lu Xingzhou turned to a tea house on the side and asked for a small private room: "I've been in this room with Sheng Yuanyao and Qingli..."

Halfway through, he secretly thought, "Oh no," and carefully looked at Shen Tang’s expression. Shen Tang smiled but didn't smile: "What, Mr. Lu feels guilty too?"

Lu Xingzhou apologized with a smile: "What are you talking about..."

Shen Tang said: "Don't tell me you want to say you were innocent with them?"

Since things had already reached that point with Little White Mao, no one would believe him if he forced the "innocent" narrative. Lu Xingzhou could only apologize and pour tea, not taking the bait.

As a result, Shen Tang’s expression really changed: "Good, so it turns out you had something with Sheng Yuanyao too?"

"No, you said them..." Lu Xingzhou was very helpless: "I am truly innocent with Sheng Yuanyao, okay."

Shen Tang pursed her lips and didn't continue to be jealous.

In fact, how could she not know that there was really nothing between Lu Xingzhou and Sheng Yuanyao? It was just that thinking of Sheng Yuanyao being in the capital right now immediately reminded her that Lu Xingzhou would soon be going to the capital, and her mood became very bad.

After a long silence, she said instead: "If you really go to the capital, you should contact Sheng Yuanyao... With the Sheng family's power behind you, at the very least, it will make the Huo family wary of you. At the very least, you'll have a guide when doing things."

"I know what to do." Lu Xingzhou didn't say much, just picked up a piece of dessert and brought it to her mouth: "Ah~"

Shen Tang was amused and laughed, her slightly depressed mood quickly dissipating. She rolled her eyes at him and took a small bite of the dessert.

The two sat close together, and they spent a long time eating the small dessert, one bite for him and one for her, without finishing it.

The waiter who came in to pour tea glanced at them, his teeth almost aching from the sweetness.

Just then, a disciple of the Profound Heaven Sect rushed over: "Sect Master, there is a letter sent via talisman magic; it looks very important."

The two had just finished the piece of dessert, and Shen Tang was just about to take one to feed Lu Xingzhou. Hearing this, she paused: "Where is the letter from?"

"It's from the capital, and there's a 'Huo' character written on it."

Shen Tang’s hand trembled slightly, and she watched as Lu Xingzhou took the letter and broke the seal.

There was only a very short sentence on it: "After the New Year, Huo the Fourth will head to Menggui City."

There was no signature, but both knew it was Yang Dechang.

He was reporting the travel information of the Huo family disciples.

Huo the Fourth, Huo Lu, would go to Menggui City after the New Year...

Shen Tang turned her head worriedly to look at Lu Xingzhou’s expression. The soft smile that had been on Lu Xingzhou’s face for these days visibly disappeared, and the uncontrollable murderous intent reappeared in his eyes.

Shen Tang sighed softly, and finally handed the dessert to his mouth, saying softly: "From Xiazhou to the capital, Menggui City is exactly halfway. You want to go, right?"

Lu Xingzhou was silent for a moment, then said "Hmm."

Just as he wanted to say something, Shen Tang stuffed the dessert into his mouth: "Your enemy is my enemy. If you want to take revenge, I will only help you; how could I force you to stay by my side?"