On a small hillside, in the woods.
Lu Qing stared at the "Shadow's" gradually lifeless corpse and fell silent.
The words the other person spoke before they died echoed in my mind.
"Lord Lu Qing, I have told you everything I can, but I advise you not to rush to seek revenge. There are many assassins in our Seven Kill Tower who are stronger than me, and several of our most important strongholds are guarded by elders at the Innate Realm."
Your martial arts talent is unparalleled, and your future is limitless. You will surely grow into a martial arts giant in the future.
If they want to control our Seven Kill Tower then, wouldn't it be a piece of cake?
Unfortunately, I won't be able to witness that scene with my own eyes..."
Lu Qing could sense that "Shadow" harbored deep resentment towards the Seven Kill Tower before his death.
That's why he revealed all the information he knew about the Seven Kill Tower.
It is unknown what cruel things the Seven Kill Tower did to "Shadow" that made him, as a disciple, have no loyalty to the sect and instead wish for its complete destruction.
He recalled the "Heavenly Lone" who had assassinated Young Master Wei before, who had also given him some advice before his death.
From this perspective, these assassins from the Seven Kill Tower are quite interesting.
Perhaps because they had assassinated so many people, they had long been prepared to face death.
They appeared quite calm at the moment of their death.
However, although my impression of these assassins has changed somewhat, an enemy is still an enemy.
Lu Qing would not spare "Shadow's" life because of this.
Although with his abilities, healing "Shadow's" injuries would not be difficult.
Being soft-hearted towards the enemy is being cruel to oneself.
It was already destined that only one of them would survive when "Shadow" decided to assassinate him.
Lu Qing wasn't some saint; he was so magnanimous that he even let go of the person who tried to assassinate him.
Upon examination with his supernatural abilities, it was confirmed that "Shadow" was indeed completely dead.
Lu Qing searched the body briefly, storing some useful items into his Qiankun Yiqi Bag. Then he found a place to bury the corpse, allowing it to rest in peace and avoid being left to rot in the wilderness.
After finishing all this, he took Xiao Li, who had been hiding in the shadows, and headed home.
He hadn't let Xiao Li show herself earlier, just in case.
If the enemy is too strong and he can't handle it, he still has a backup plan.
However, it is clear that he was overthinking it.
Back home, Lu Qing took out everything he had just taken from "Shadow".
After taking stock, it was found that there weren't many useful items.
Aside from some gold and silver items, and gold and silver notes, there were only a few things that were truly of some value.
Two medicine bottles, a set of soft armor, and a thousand-times-refined short sword coated with deadly poison.
One of the two medicine bottles contained poison, while the other contained elixirs for cultivating the Inner Strength Realm.
However, apart from the bottle of internal organ realm pills, the rest of these things are not very useful to Lu Qing. They would be good gifts to give to others in the future.
Lu Qing felt a little regretful.
He found no secret manuals or similar items on either "Tian Gu" or "An Ying".
To be honest, he was quite interested in the Seven Killings Tower's Bone-Changing Technique.
Although with his current level of mastery, his control over his physical body has reached an extremely high level.
Changing one's appearance temporarily is not difficult.
However, it is extremely difficult to achieve the same level of seamless disguise as another person as before, with perfect coordination and virtually no flaws.
Unfortunately, it's clear that the Seven Kill Tower has some kind of restriction, prohibiting its assassins from carrying secret manuals, in order to prevent the leakage of the various secret techniques that form the foundation of the sect.
Finding nothing particularly useful to him, Lu Qing casually packed everything away and, carrying the fish bucket, headed towards the small courtyard halfway up the mountain with Xiao Li in tow.
"Brother, Xiao Li, you're back!"
Upon arriving at the courtyard halfway up the mountain, Xiao Yan, who had been reciting an article while swaying her head in the yard, immediately put down her book and skipped over.
"Well, how was it? Did you memorize today's article?" Lu Qing asked with a smile.
Xiao Li jumped into Xiao Yan's arms and enjoyed her caresses.
"Read it carefully, brother. How was your fishing trip? Did you catch any unusual fish?"
Xiao Yan knew that Lu Qing went fishing this time mainly because Xiao Li had been craving the strange fish lately and had been begging and pleading for it, so he went fishing early in the morning.
"We caught some, and we caught several of them."
The brother and sister were talking in the yard when Dr. Chen came out of the house.
He looked at Lu Qing with a somewhat serious expression: "Qing, what was that just now?"
Clearly, the old doctor had sensed the fluctuations from the earlier battle between Lu Qing and "Shadow".
After all, the courtyard on the hillside isn't too far from that hilltop.
"A petty thief from the Seven Killings Pavilion has already been dealt with by my disciples," Lu Qing said casually.
The old doctor nodded, without asking further about the Seven Kill Tower assassin.
He himself disliked taking lives, but he would not demand that his disciples do the same.
Moreover, he disliked the Seven Kill Tower, a force that casually assassinated others.
"Although you're fine this time, you still need to be careful in the future," the old doctor advised.
"This disciple understands."
Lu Qing nodded, then said, "Master, I had some good luck this morning and caught a few Red Moon Carp. We sold the last Red Moon Carp, so we didn't get to taste it. Why don't we try one of the ten delicacies of the world tonight?"
"You caught several Red Moon Carp?" the old doctor exclaimed in surprise. "Are Red Moon Carp so easy to catch now?"
"I find it strange too. Perhaps it's because I haven't fished for a long time, and all the strange fish in the river have gathered together."
Lu Qing had some suspicions, but before confirming them, she couldn't draw any conclusions.
Upon hearing that there were red moon carp available for consumption, the old doctor became somewhat excited.
As Lu Qing cooked dinner in the evening, he didn't even bother reading medical books and left the study early.
Lu Qing prepared two red moon carp, one steamed and the other used to make soup.
At dinner, the group tasted the fish and found it to be incredibly tender, smooth, and fragrant, and the fish soup to be refreshingly delicious. It was truly worthy of its reputation as one of the "Ten Delicacies".
Lu Qing and the others ate heartily and thoroughly enjoyed the meal.
That night, after Xiaoyan and Xiaoli had fallen asleep, Lu Qing sat on the bed, quietly pondering things.
During the day, he obtained a lot of information about the Seven Kill Tower from "Shadow".
This includes the location of some important strongholds.
However, he did not intend to take action against the Seven Kill Tower in the near future.
Lu Qing was quite self-aware; with his current strength, it was nothing but a pipe dream for him to shake the Seven Kill Tower.
Even if he could unexpectedly destroy one or two of the enemy's strongholds, it would be of little use to a behemoth like the Seven Kill Tower, serving no purpose other than alerting them.
To strike a snake, you must strike its vital spot. Either don't make a move at all, or if you do, you must thoroughly inflict pain, cripple, or even kill it!
Therefore, Lu Qing was not in a hurry.
What he should do now is to accumulate experience and skills, seize the time, and try his best to enhance his abilities.
Only when he is strong enough will he be qualified to compete with a powerful force like the Seven Kill Tower.
Moreover, he had a premonition that the once-in-a-millennium upheaval the young man in plain clothes was not far off.
Perhaps in just a few years, the world will truly change.
After condensing a wisp of the divine soul rune framework, Lu Qing still trusted his intuition.
To gain a foothold in the great changes to come, strength is the most indispensable element.
Temporary gains and losses, or arguments based on pride, are nothing; strengthening one's own abilities is the most important thing.
Thinking of this, Lu Qing's mind stirred slightly, and a knife appeared in his hand. It was the divine weapon prototype forged from extraterrestrial meteorite iron.
Lu Qing placed the blade blank horizontally on his knees, concentrated his mind, and sent a wisp of his divine soul power through the acupoint between his eyebrows into the blade blank, beginning the refining process.
Lu Qing used a secret technique passed down in the Li Huo Sect.
He used his mind and spirit to refine the blade blank, and inscribed secret patterns on it, leaving his own spiritual imprint.
Once the secret runes are inscribed and the refining is complete, the blade embryo will transform into a magical weapon, a level even higher than a divine weapon.
However, due to the weakness of his divine soul power, Lu Qing could only spend a short time each day refining.
Therefore, successfully refining a blade blank into a magical artifact is destined to be a rather lengthy process that will take a considerable amount of time.
After refining for a quarter of an hour, Lu Qing began to feel mentally exhausted. Knowing that he had almost reached his limit, he stopped refining and put the blade embryo back into his Qiankun Yiqi Bag.
He then took the opportunity to practice the 【Furnace Visualization Method】, squeezing his mind to the limit before falling into a deep sleep according to a special breathing technique.
When Lu Qing woke up the next day, he felt refreshed and his spiritual power in the acupoint between his eyebrows had also increased significantly.
This is a cultivation method he has figured out over the past few days, pieced together from the many traditions in his mind.
Every night, he first uses his spiritual power to refine the meteorite iron blade embryo from outer space, then practices the 【Furnace Visualization Method】, squeezing his mind to a certain limit, and then follows a certain tortoise breathing method to regulate his breathing and fall asleep, recovering his spiritual power in his dreams.
After such a period of cultivation, when he woke up the next day, with ample rest, his spiritual power was not only fully restored, but even increased considerably.
They truly achieved the goal of not neglecting either weapon crafting or cultivation.
After experiencing the enhanced spiritual power, Lu Qing was very satisfied.
At this rate, it will no longer be a pipe dream for him to condense a complete soul talisman before entering the Innate Realm.
Looking at the sky outside, the sun had already risen. As usual, Lu Qing practiced his health-preserving boxing a few times in the courtyard before making breakfast.
He had just finished making breakfast and was about to wake Xiaoyan and Xiaoli up.
Suddenly a commotion was heard outside, followed by a cheerful voice.
"Brother Lu Qing, I've come to freeload a meal!"
"Master Ma, have you finished with your clan's affairs?"
Lu Qing walked out, somewhat surprised.
Indeed, the person who arrived was Magu. He was dressed in a blue robe, with a long sword at his waist, reverting to his previous attire.
"I'm done with my work. Thanks to Zian, there's really nothing left for the clan to do. The clan leader and elders are always talking about it, and they're practically telling me that as long as I can maintain good relations with Zian and you all, that's all that matters. I don't need to do anything else."
I found it annoying, so I made up an excuse and went back to the market.
Magu looked rather depressed and embarrassed.
It seemed that the clan's actions were too calculating in relation to him and Lu Qing.
Lu Qing didn't care much about these things.
Instead, he asked, "Now that you're back at the market, what about Zi'an? Don't you need to supervise his cultivation anymore?"
Lu Qing knew the real reason why Wei Zi'an became Ma Gu's disciple.
"Well, I'll keep you in suspense for now. You'll find out in a couple of days."
Unexpectedly, Magu smiled slightly and kept everyone in suspense.
Lu Qing:...
Just as Lu Qing was speechless, he saw Ma Gu take the long sword off his waist.
"By the way, Brother Lu Qing, I just noticed a few days ago that this sword was a gift from you?"
Lu Qing glanced at it and recognized the scabbard. It was the one he had asked Master Lin from the Zhuxin Workshop to make. He nodded.
"That's right, it's a gift from me, a congratulatory present for your and Young Master Wei's apprenticeship ceremony that day."
"Did you really send this?" Ma Gu's eyes widened. "Brother Lu Qing, do you know that this is a thousand-times-refined sword?"
"I know, otherwise why would I give it to you?" Lu Qing nodded again.
Nonsense, he forged this sword himself, how could he not know its quality?
However, Lu Qing also had some doubts.
He gave away the sword a while ago, so why is Magus only asking about it now?
“A sword of the thousand-times-refined level is extremely valuable, priceless. Brother Lu Qing, I dare not accept such a precious gift. You should take it back,” Ma Gu hurriedly said.
In his heart, Lu Qing was a great benefactor who had saved him several times.
He hadn't even had a chance to repay such a great kindness, so how could he possibly accept such a generous gift?
You should know that even in the Ma family's treasure trove, there isn't a single weapon of the thousand-times-refined level.
So when Magu discovered this congratulatory gift, not only him, but even the head of the family was completely stunned.
Lu Qing: "...Didn't Chief Steward Wei tell you that I forged this sword myself and it didn't cost much?"
"Did you forge this sword yourself?!"
To Lu Qing's surprise, when Ma Gu heard this, his eyes widened even more, like a bull's eyes, and he looked completely incredulous.
Lu Qing fell completely silent.
Judging from Magu's expression, he didn't seem to be faking it; he probably genuinely didn't know about this.
But how could Chief Steward Wei make such a mistake?
What Lu Qing didn't know was that, given Chief Steward Wei's usual meticulousness, he shouldn't have made such a basic mistake.
However, many things happened during the apprenticeship ceremony that day, especially Wei Zian, who was assassinated and seriously injured.
Even though Lu Qing saved his life with a miraculous medicine at that time.
However, the ceremony was ultimately abruptly ended due to the significant damage to the family's vitality.
Afterwards, the Wei family was so eager to find out who had put a bounty on Wei Zian's head that they neglected the matter of the congratulatory gifts. They only sent the portion that belonged to Ma Gu to the Ma family, and did not explain the rest clearly.
Lu Qing's congratulatory gift was mixed in with many other gifts and was quite inconspicuous.
It was only when the Ma family was counting the gifts that they saw the name on the gift box and realized it was from Lu Qing.
Upon opening it, the entire Ma family was shocked to see the Thousand-Refined Sword inside.
Meanwhile, Lu Qing and the old doctor had already embarked on their journey home and returned to Jiuli Village.
After listening to Ma Gu's explanation, Lu Qing finally understood what had happened.
He smiled and said, "In that case, Master Ma, you can rest assured to accept this sword. This sword is a practice piece I made at the Forging Workshop. It has nothing special about it and didn't cost much."
These words left Magu speechless.
A practice piece at the level of a thousand refinements...
Have the forging skills of the Lu brothers reached such a level?
Wait, when did Brother Lu Qing learn the art of forging? How come he didn't know?
Was it during the days he was home? But that was only a few days!
For a moment, Magu's thoughts were in complete disarray, and his entire brain almost crashed.
However, knowing that it was truly crafted by Lu Qing himself, he eventually accepted the thousand-times-forged sword.
"Master Ma, have you eaten yet? I just made breakfast, would you like to have some together?"
Seeing that Magu had recovered his composure, Lu Qing asked.
Magu's eyes immediately lit up: "Of course I want to eat! I deliberately came on an empty stomach, just in time, because it's been so long since I've tasted your cooking, I'm really craving it."
"..." Lu Qing could only laugh when he heard such a self-righteous statement about getting a free meal. "Alright, you go inside and wait for a while. I'll go and call Xiao Yan and the others to get up."
