Chapter 17: 【Settling In, Seeking Herbs in the Mountains】 (Seeking recommendation votes)

Lu Chengtong looked at the terrified Yang Bingzhi and smiled at him, only to see the other man become even more panicked, turning around as if to flee.

He acted decisively, unleashing the 【Soul-Bewitching Soul-Seizing】 supernatural power to alter his memories.

Yang Bingzhi fainted. The team leader, Chen Rong, was attracted by Yang Bingzhi's cries and appeared outside the room; seeing 'Cheng Tongru' alive again, his face also revealed a look of shock.

Shortly after, he too fell victim.

These two were merely at the Qi Refining Realm; how could they resist a supernatural power unleashed by the soul of a Foundation Establishment late-stage expert from the Treasure Mirror? Modifying their memories was extremely easy.

After all, it wasn't a total modification, just changing a small detail—the events of today up to this point.

When the two woke up again, they were in their own bedrooms, and the time had reached the next morning.

There was a roll call in the morning.

Upon seeing Lu Chengtong, Chen Rong stepped forward, patted his shoulder, and consoled him:

"Tongru, I know you and Lu Chengtong were the closest, but as cultivators, once we step onto this path, the variables of life and death are beyond our control. Please grieve in moderation."

"We cannot slack off on the mining work. The Mineral Supervisor will come for an inspection in five days; if the quota is not met, we will all be punished."

Lu Chengtong nodded, sighed, and said:

"I have already cremated his body. I will take responsibility for his duties, Team Leader, rest assured."

After the morning meeting ended, Lu Chengtong went to inspect the excavation progress of the Fetal Breath Realm laborers, thinking to himself:

'The effect of this supernatural power seems excellent. I will observe for a few more days to see if there are any other loopholes. My death notice should be reported to the sect by the Mineral Supervisor after he arrives; by then, this will be set in stone.'

Soon, five days later, the Foundation Establishment Realm Mineral Supervisor arrived to inspect the site. He did not discover anything unusual, comforted the few who were still alive, recorded the two who had died, and left after completing his work.

With this, the stone hanging in Lu Chengtong's heart fell; for a period of time, he could cultivate in peace.

Although he bore the blood feud of his clan's extermination, he was not in a hurry to seek revenge.

Those were Golden Core Realm enemies; at this stage, the first priority was to avoid being hunted down by the enemy, not to seek revenge.

His own aptitude was very poor. With Ancestor Mingzhang's talent, it still took three hundred years to form a Golden Core, and that was with the Lu family's foundation providing resources. He did not know when he would form his own core.

For now, he had to consider how to survive and grow slowly.

He felt that the matter was not as simple as a single Golden Core cultivator destroying the Lu family; he had to investigate what roles the Ziyao Immortal Sect and the Jinfeng Immortal Sect each played.

All of this required time.

He needed to cultivate as quickly as possible and possess sufficiently powerful strength. If he became a Golden Core Realm cultivator, he could use the 【Round Light Image Projection】 method to recreate the scene of that day, and everything would be brought to light.

Over these five days, he repeatedly examined the Treasure Mirror and gained a new understanding of its various functions and abilities.

It stored all of the Lu family's classics and secret techniques, even including Lu Mingzhang's Golden Core Realm Sword Art cultivation method.

The Lu family had developed for three hundred years, coming into contact with many side paths like artifact refining, alchemy, talisman making, and arrays; among the several Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sect, there was always someone proficient in them.

The classics collected in the Treasure Mirror all reached the Foundation Establishment Realm, which was the third-tier level.

The most fundamental thing was still the breathing and cultivation method.

Originally, the cultivation method Lu Mingzhang practiced was inherited from the Ziyao Immortal Sect, but it only went up to the Qi Refining chapter.

As a lay disciple, he could not obtain the Ziyao Immortal Sect's secret techniques.

Therefore, not long after the Lu family produced a Foundation Establishment True Person, they changed their cultivation technique.

Different spirit roots had different requirements for cultivation techniques. For example, Lu Chengtong had an Earth Spirit Root, so he practiced the "Thick Earth Harmonious Qi Art." Although this technique was ordinary, it was suitable.

The Treasure Mirror also contained a Foundation Establishment chapter technique suitable for Earth Spirit Root cultivation, named the "Thick Earth Foundation Cultivation Art."

Most cultivation techniques were actually much the same, but it was these small differences that made the results of cultivation vastly different.

To achieve success in cultivation, one must have a matching technique.

Within the Treasure Mirror, there were all kinds of techniques, all at the third-tier level, which was the Foundation Establishment level.

There was no Golden Core Realm cultivation method, only a Golden Core Realm Sword Art and a method for refining spirit tools.

Lu Mingzhang did not cultivate after reaching the Golden Core Realm; he refined a Dharma Treasure, mastered the Dharma Art, and went directly to seek revenge.

He did not need to consider cultivation methods until at least the Golden Core Realm, so what he needed to think about was how to improve his cultivation speed.

Through the 【Lu Family Development History】 recorded by Lu Wuzhen, he already understood that the Lu family had built their fortune by using the 【Spring Breeze Turns to Rain】 supernatural power to plant spirit rice.

But this Black Gold Prefecture was located in a remote area, and within the Wushi Prefecture, the existence of mineral deposits caused spirit plants to grow poorly. Even with the supernatural power, it was difficult to have a good harvest.

Furthermore, there were very few cultivators here; even if spirit rice were grown, selling it would be a problem.

Finally, as a small Qi Refining early-stage cultivator, planting spirit rice would be too conspicuous.

It was also possible to expose his identity.

But looking at it comprehensively, the only thing he could use to improve his cultivation conditions was the 【Spring Breeze Turns to Rain】 supernatural power.

If he couldn't plant spirit rice to sell, he might as well plant spirit herbs and then refine his own pills.

He would grow his own herbs, refine his own pills, and eat his own pills, saving the middleman from earning the price difference.

In the early stages, he could even eat the spirit herbs directly to improve his strength first.

After all, alchemy also required sufficient cultivation; if he ran out of spirit power before finishing the refining, a furnace of materials would be wasted.

After thinking it over, this was the only relatively stable method at present.

This mining area was right on the edge of the Shuize Mountain Range, and there were many spirit herbs in the mountains.

Of course, there were also many demonic beasts lurking about.

But since he possessed the 【Submerged Abyss Earth Escape】 supernatural power, he could move entirely underground to search for spirit herbs.

Because two people were missing, he had been quite busy these past few days. It wasn't until half a month later, when two new Outer Sect Disciples at the Qi Refining second layer arrived, that he finally had some free time.

On this day, with nothing to do in the afternoon, he prepared himself, announced that he was going into the mountain range to hunt, and then disappeared into the forest.

After entering the Qi Refining Realm, cultivators could live by consuming Qi and did not need to eat mundane food; usually, they couldn't eat it either, because it contained too much turbid Qi, which affected cultivation.

However, demonic beast meat contained immense essence Qi, which could promote cultivation, so cultivators would eat demonic beast meat.

They couldn't beat powerful demonic beasts, but there were also weak ones in the mountain range, and they, as supervisors, often went to the outskirts to search for them to supplement themselves.

Once he reached the dense forest and grass, and his figure was obscured, Lu Chengtong used the 【Submerged Abyss Earth Escape】 supernatural power to escape directly underground and began to move quickly.

With this supernatural power, at a depth of one zhang underground, he was as free as a fish and could move his body at will.

Even more wonderfully, he discovered that his perception was magnified significantly, far greater than the range of his divine sense perception on the surface.

This was worth rejoicing over, because it meant that tracking the traces of spirit herbs would be even easier!

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

Because he didn't have time every day, he had only gone out six times in the past month. He had obtained some spirit herbs, but he had not yet found the Baiyuan Fruit needed to refine the Gathering Qi Pill.

Today, he was going out again to search.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 18 =====