Chapter 270: Chapter 245: Return to Lingdong_1
As soon as Wang Tianyu confronted Shang Wuyang, many experts noticed that Wang Tianyu had indeed made a breakthrough. His inner strength had increased dramatically, reaching at least twenty paths or more.
Even in terms of inner strength, even though he was still not as good as Shang Wuyang’s special inner strength, the difference was not too significant.
Given that Wang Tianyu had mastered two top martial arts of Unity of Man and Martial Arts, there was no suspense about the outcome of this battle.
With just twenty moves, Shang Wuyang retreated, coughing up blood.
He was defeated!
With just twenty moves, Shang Wuyang, who had just taken the first place, lost to Wang Tianyu.
He became the most unfortunate number one in the history of the Hidden Dragon List.
"Defeating Shang Wuyang with just twenty moves, Wang Tianyu’s combat power is too astonishing. For the next few decades, who could pose a threat to him?"
"As long as he is under one hundred years old or has not made a breakthrough into the True Body Realm, he is sure to hold the first place. Even Chu Hongye can’t destabilize him."
"Don’t forget about Lu Yan. His understanding is no lower than Wang Tianyu’s. In fact, it is even higher. His current weakness lies in his cultivation level, but give him another ten years, and he might be able to compete with Wang Tianyu."
"Right, almost forgot about Lu Yan. These years, Hidden Dragon Camp has really produced a lot of talents."
This Hidden Dragon Camp challenge ended with continuous surprises and was destined to go down in the history of Hidden Dragon Camp.
Three days after the Hidden Dragon Camp Challenge ended, Lu Yan discovered that this month’s rewards from the Hidden Dragon List had arrived.
Thirty meritorious points.
Lu Yan immediately exchanged all of them for third-level Martial Pills.
"Great, with a reward of thirty meritorious points each month, I can practice with a Martial Pill on average every day."
Lu Yan felt pleased.
This kind of steady improvement wasn’t too bad.
He had the Dao Book in hand, and he received meritorious points every month. With a little more time, his cultivation level would continue to improve, reaching the fifth-level master, and even the sixth level.
As his cultivation level improved, his ranking on the Hidden Dragon List would also rise, and the rewards would increase. It was a virtuous cycle.
Lu Yan was satisfied with this.
Contentment brings happiness.
So, let those tasks go.
He had no need to take on tasks and go on adventures.
Time flew by, and a year passed in the blink of an eye.
The annual Hidden Dragon Camp Challenge had arrived again.
Although Lu Yan’s cultivation level had progressed steadily over the year, he was still far from the fifth-level master, so he naturally didn’t challenge anyone.
Chu Hongye had just made a breakthrough last year, so naturally, there wouldn’t be much progress, and she didn’t take action either.
The Hidden Dragon Camp Challenge this time can be said to have been uneventful.
Wang Tianyu firmly held the first place, unshakeable.
Not long ago, Mo Wenzhuo successfully entered the True Body Realm and condensed a King’s True Body, and had already left the Hidden Dragon Camp.
It is said that Shang Wuyang is also preparing to make a breakthrough into the True Body Realm.
Two months after the end of the Hidden Dragon Camp Challenge, Lu Yan had been in the Hidden Dragon Camp for exactly six years.
"Time flies so fast, it’s been six years. There’s really no perception of time in cultivation, I haven’t been back to Lingdong for six years, I wonder how Lingdong is doing, I should go back and have a look."
Lu Yan mused.
Once the thought arose, he couldn’t hold back any longer.
Lu Yan immediately left the Hidden Dragon Camp and came to the front of a grand hall.
This place was King Ming’s Guard Mansion.
If leaving the Hidden Dragon Camp for a long period of time, it was necessary to ask for leave in advance.
The people above needed to know your whereabouts because there might be compulsory tasks assigned at any time.
Entering the grand hall, Lu Yan soon met one of the vice-leaders of King Ming’s guards, an amiable old man named Chu Xu.
"Lu Yan, you want to take leave to go back to Lingdong? There’s a task upstairs just for you to do, and it starts three months from now. So you can go back to Lingdong, but you need to return within three months."
Chu Xu said.
"There’s a task in three months? May I ask, Vice-Leader, what is the task?"
Lu Yan asked curiously.
"When you come back, you’ll know. For now, go back relaxingly and see your family."
Chu Xu said.
Lu Yan nodded, registered his leave, and then left King Ming’s Guard Mansion.
He didn’t immediately leave but went to a trading company.
Naturally, he had to bring back some things that were not available in Lingdong before returning.
Many things in Mingwang City were not available in Lingdong, even if you had money.
For example, the other dozen or so Martial Foods of the Eighteen Bone-penetrating Methods, some rare spiritual medicines, and Alien Beast meats, etc.
His mother, Wang Cui, was not young any more, and as an ordinary person, she had not practiced martial arts.
Therefore, Lu Yan wanted to buy a serving of Nourishing Body Soup.
This was a third-level Martial Food which was of little use to martial cultivators, but was very useful for ordinary people.
After taking it, it could strengthen the body, calm the spirit and nourish the energy, prevent illness, and as long as you were not injured, you could live a stable life until the age of one hundred with no problems.
This Martial Food was not available in the six counties of Lingdong, and only big cities like Mingwang City had it for sale. It cost thirty thousand silvers a serving.
After spending most of the day purchasing the items he needed, he then rented a Flying Alien Beast, a Blood Peng, from the Hidden Dragon Camp. It had the cultivation level of a second-rank master, with a wingspan of thirty meters. Its aura was much stronger than that of Blood Slaughter.
Only someone of his caliber had this special privilege. Flying Alien Beasts were extremely precious, and ordinary people could not rent them.
Leaving Mingwang City, the Blood Peng soared into the sky, heading toward Lingdong.
"It would be great if I had a Sumi Mustard Seed Bag, so I wouldn’t have to carry these big and small bags. It’s troublesome."
Looking at the big and small bags on the back of the Blood Peng, Lu Yan thought to himself.
However, thinking of the price of a Sumi Mustard Seed Bag, he had a headache.
There were Sumi Mustard Seed Bags available for exchange in the Merit Hall of the Hidden Dragon Camp.
But the price was astronomical.
A most common Sumi Mustard Seed Bag would cost ten thousand meritorious points.
The price made Lu Yan back off.
At present, he received thirty meritorious points per month, three hundred and sixty a year, it would take nearly thirty years for him to save up enough.
For now, forget about it.
The Blood Peng was extremely fast. It took eight days to reach the foot of the Moling Mountain Range. Then it came down and walked with the Blood Peng through the channels of the Moling Mountain Range.
Looking at the demonically eerie territory on both sides, even Lu Yan, with his current cultivation level, felt an indescribable pressure.
I wonder what kind of cultivation level the great demon that fell in Moling Mountain Range before the Dagu Dynasty had.
Passing through the Moling Mountain Range and riding on the Blood Peng, he headed towards Li’an City.
From a distance, he saw a blood eagle circling in the sky.
A closer look revealed that it was none other than Blood Slaughter.
Screech!
Blood Peng let out a long cry and flew towards Blood Slaughter.
Blood Slaughter, frightened, shuddered and flapped its wings to flee.
"Worthless creature, getting so scared, what would you do if an enemy came?"
Lu Yan looked down on Blood Slaughter.
However, Blood Slaughter had keen eyes. While fleeing, it looked back and saw Lu Yan on the Blood Peng.
Immediately it let out a happy cry, turned around, and flew back over.
But it still occasionally stole glances at Blood Peng, its feathers lightly trembling.
"Blood Slaughter, why did you run so fast? Your courage is getting smaller and smaller."
Lu Yan reprimanded it.
Blood Slaughter cawed a few times, seemingly saying, it wasn’t running away, it was planning to go back and inform Guan Shan.
Lu Yan disdained.
"Is Senior Guan Shan currently in Li’an City?"
Lu Yan inquired.
Blood Slaughter nodded its head, spreading its wings to fly towards Li’an City.
The soldiers of Li’an City quickly discovered Blood Peng, but upon seeing Lu Yan, they let out a cheer.
Blood Peng and Blood Slaughter landed in the City Lord’s Mansion.
Li Quan, Wang Lin, and others rushed over quickly.
"Greetings to the city lord."
Everyone respectfully saluted upon seeing Lu Yan.
Lu Yan examined the crowd, nodded approvingly, and said, "Good, Li Quan, it seems that you have broken through to Martial Marquis, and Zhang Jun, you too."
"It was merely a happy accident. Fortunately, Senior Guan Shan has generously bestowed upon us two portions of the Mutated Nine-section Heart Meat, enabling us to break through."
Li Quan said.
Lu Yan nodded in agreement.
Lu Yan then inspected Wang Lin, who had also made some breakthroughs, reaching Martial Marquis Level Two.
Upon hearing of Lu Yan’s return, more and more people came.
Lu Yan found that, over the last six years, everyone had made significant gains.
The number of Martial Marquis increased by more than a dozen.
Li Quan and Zhang Jun had broken through one after the other.
In addition, out of the original dozen or so formal disciples from the Sanjue Martial Arts Hall, nine successfully broke through to Martial Marquis, while the rest failed in their attempt to do so and perished.
Not only a few of the disciples had fallen, so had Cao Hu, during his attempt to break through to Martial Marquis.
Even having the Mutated Nine-section Heart Meat couldn’t save his life.
Upon hearing this, Lu Yan fell into silence.
Cao Hu was an old man who had followed him for quite some time and he hadn’t expected him to end up like this.
However, he was well aware that the path of martial arts was fraught with danger. Every step was full of peril, and those who wished to ascend higher needed to face the risk of perishing at any moment.
If they could withstand it, they would reach a new level.
If they couldn’t, their bodies would perish, and their path would end.
"What about my father? Has he broken through to Martial Marquis?"
Lu Yan suddenly thought of Lu Qingshan.
"Not yet, but apparently he is planning to make the attempt soon."
Li Quan replied.
Lu Yan quietly breathed a sigh of relief; he was glad he had returned in time.
"By the way, where is Wen Yuan? Why didn’t I see him? Isn’t he in Li’an City?"
Lu Yan asked again.
"Wen Yuan seemed to have encountered some problems during his cultivation. Senior Guan Shan is currently examining him in the inner mansion."
Li Quan responded.
"Ran into some problems?"
Lu Yan’s eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"I don’t know what the problem is myself."
Li Quan bowed and said.
He felt that the aura emanating from Lu Yan had become ever more terrifying, unfathomable, like a prehistoric beast waiting to explode.
Just now he had slightly furrowed his brows, inadvertently revealing a hint of his aura, which had left Li Quan feeling suffocated.
"I’ll go have a look."
Lu Yan strode towards the inner mansion.
When Lu Yan entered the courtyard of the inner mansion, he saw Guan Shan sitting on a stone bench in the pavilion, drinking tea with a frown on his face, seemingly deep in thought.
Wen Yuan was standing obediently to the side.
Lu Yan’s arrival stirred Guan Shan and Wen Yuan, who turned to glance in his direction.
"Master."
On seeing Lu Yan, Wen Yuan was overjoyed and sprinted over.
Guan Shan’s brow also relaxed, revealing a smile. After examining Lu Yan, he suddenly flung his cup of tea towards Lu Yan.
The cup was filled with a powerful inner strength that turned the tea in it into ice as it was flung out. It whistled through the air with astonishing force.
Lu Yan reached out and effortlessly caught the cup, instantly neutralizing the inner strength imbued in the cup without causing any damage to it.
Guan Shan’s eyes brightened, saying, "Lu Yan, it seems that you have made significant progress these past six years, and your cultivation level is now above mine."
"Senior, you overpraise me. Thank you for taking care of my juniors these past years."
Lu Yan saluted with a fist, then asked, "Senior, I heard from Li Quan earlier that Wen Yuan ran into some problems during his cultivation. What kind of problem was it?"
