Upon returning to the Crimson Whale Sect, the first thing Lu Sheng did was seek out his senior apprentice brother, Hong Mingzi, in the pill room to inquire about the proper treatment of the Four Spirit Flower.
After learning the detailed refinement process, he instructed Hong Mingzi and the sect’s pharmacists to assist him in concocting the pills.
For Hong Mingzi and the others, laying eyes on a thirty-thousand-year-old Four Spirit Flower was like winning the lottery. They initially advised Lu Sheng to refine it in multiple batches, warning that the herb’s medicinal potency was far too overwhelming to be consumed if condensed into a single batch.
Lu Sheng, however, insisted on refining it whole.
Left with no alternative, the Crimson Whale Sect mobilized at once, gathering supplementary herbs to balance the Four Spirit Flower in preparation for the concoction.
Fortunately, several Divine Prime experts returned from their expeditions at that time, bringing back numerous thousand-year-old herbs. From these, the pharmacists carefully selected auxiliary ingredients to complement the Four Spirit Flower.
After three full days of uninterrupted refinement, a batch of Four Spirit Pills was finally completed. The formula itself was not particularly complex. Its primary purpose was to eliminate the herb’s side effects while amplifying its efficacy, and thus the technical difficulty was not high.
Even so, the prolonged refinement left Hong Mingzi and the others utterly exhausted. Lu Sheng took the initiative to transfer Qi to them, rewarding each with a full year’s worth of inner force.
As for the pills, no one but Lu Sheng himself could withstand their potency.
A medicinal effect that should have been divided into ten separate doses had been compressed into a single batch, crafted solely for his use.
With the Four Spirit Pills in hand, Lu Sheng returned to his sanctuary.
The stone door rumbled shut behind him.
Sitting cross-legged at the center of the chamber, Lu Sheng swallowed one Four Spirit Pill in a single motion, without the slightest hesitation.
The pill melted in his mouth like falling snow, dissolving into a stream of icy-cool liquid that slid into his stomach. Lu Sheng remained perfectly still, yet felt no immediate reaction at all.
Two hours slipped by. Then four more.
Lu Sheng took out another Four Spirit Pill and swallowed it in one gulp.
Another four hours passed.
He consumed the third Four Spirit Pill.
This cycle continued until he finally stopped after ingesting the fifth pill.
By then, dense wisps of water vapor were seeping from every pore of his body, cloaking him in a shroud of mist.
The medicinal force of the Four Spirit Pills was truly fearsome, rampaging through him like a feral beast. Yet Lu Sheng’s blood vessels and meridians were incomparably resilient. Any minute fissures that formed were swiftly mended by his Aquarius Qi.
The medicine was absorbed and digested at a staggering pace, refined by his profound thousand-year cultivation into threads of pure inner Qi, which were then merged seamlessly into his body.
That inner Qi was evenly transformed into Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies inner Qi and Yin Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi under Lu Sheng’s control.
What seemed like an immense surge of power was, in truth, reduced to less than ten percent of its original potency after conversion. The remainder consisted of impurities that had to be expelled.
Even this remaining fraction was further compressed and liquefied, shrinking drastically in volume once more.
By the second night, deep into the dark hours, Lu Sheng had fully refined all of the medicinal power, adding three hundred years’ worth of inner force to his cultivation base.
Both Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill and Yin Yang Jade Crane Aquarius Qi had gained three additional drops of liquefied Qi each. In practical terms, his overall inner force cultivation had doubled.
Yet another outcome caught him by surprise.
The Four Spirit Flower possessed an exceedingly potent Yang attribute by nature, a herb so heat-laden it could be lethal. That was without even considering one that had matured for thirty thousand years.
The fire toxin within it became a crucial catalyst in Lu Sheng’s cultivation.
As he refined the pill’s medicinal power, that fire toxin subtly fused with the Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill, further amplifying the skill’s inherent fire toxin property.
The fire toxin of Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill had always been terrifying. However, Lu Sheng had long been battling demons, ghosts, and Noblemen, and against such foes, this effect had rarely shown its true value.
Now, however, with the fire toxin of the Four Spirit Flower augmenting it, Lu Sheng sensed that a radical transformation had taken place within the Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill.
Although his cultivation realm had not broken through, the might of the Ultimate Crimson Nine Furies Skill had clearly increased. The liquefied Qi grew heavier and more concentrated, and under the stabilizing effect of Yin Yang Balance, his Aquarius Qi was likewise refined to greater density.
Lacking any true benchmark, even Lu Sheng himself could not gauge the extent of his newfound strength.
Moreover, from a single step he had taken earlier, he realized that whenever he activated the Light Void Skill and moved, he was effectively executing an enhanced version of Force Step. Not merely enhanced, but strengthened by a substantial margin.
For that reason, he decisively renamed the Light Void Skill as the Light Void Force Step Skill.
After a brief period of seclusion, Lu Sheng emerged from his cultivation. By then, the selection matches had already concluded.
The ten disciples who stood at the top were recruited into the Crimson Sun Sect as official Crimson Sun disciples. In truth, their training and instruction were handled directly by numerous Divine Prime Elders.
These Divine Prime experts had all taken shelter under Lu Sheng’s banner. At present, he had become both a symbol and a standard of the Northern Lands. Many believed him to have surpassed mortality, while many others simply did not care. Lu Sheng had forged his reputation through martial might alone, and that was enough.
Following the selection matches came the initiation ceremony. Lu Sheng implanted the Yin Crane Web into each of the new disciples, and afterward, he turned his attention to preparations for his wedding.
…………
“You want to practice martial arts too?” Lu Sheng stared at Chen Yunxi in surprise.
The two of them were inside Fragrant Tower, a boutique in the city famed for its perfume pouches and cosmetic powders. Lu Sheng had reserved the entire top floor for Chen Yunxi alone, allowing her to choose whatever she pleased without restraint.
What he had not anticipated was a request like this.
“Yes. I don’t want to fall too far behind you.” Chen Yunxi’s reply was earnest, without the slightest hint of hesitation.
“Fall behind?” Lu Sheng looked at her more carefully, noticing the quiet weight she carried for the first time.
“Yes.” Her expression was calm and composed. This was clearly not an impulse, but a decision long considered.
Lu Sheng fell silent for a moment before nodding. “That’s fine. Practicing martial arts is a good thing.” Then he paused. “But can you endure the strain?”
Even if he could implant the Yin Crane Web and directly impart inner force to Chen Yunxi, what would that truly solve? Techniques, stances, inner force circulation, and combat awareness could never be mastered overnight. Recklessly transferring inner force would only create someone bloated with power yet hollow in every other respect.
Worse still, allowing a person with no foundation to receive inner Qi directly was extremely dangerous.
Without a properly tempered body, the sudden influx of inner Qi would place immense stress on the blood vessels and meridians, easily resulting in internal injuries and lingering hidden wounds.
It was like handing a machine gun with brutal recoil to a child. Each pull of the trigger would harm the wielder more than the target.
When high-quality inner Qi surged repeatedly through an unprepared body, it left behind damage that could not be undone. The more often it happened, the more it eroded one’s natural lifespan, failing not only to nourish the body but actively harming it.
True strengthening required beginning with the faintest thread of inner Qi, paired with gradual physical nourishment, allowing the body to adapt step by step.
Even Lu Sheng himself had once overestimated his limits while upgrading his inner force. In the end, it had taken him a full year of rest to recover.
For that reason, whenever Lu Sheng transferred inner force, he chose only those with solid foundations. Not just anyone could be turned into an expert through a simple infusion of Qi.
“At my age, what martial art can I even cultivate? Would the Number One Expert of the Northern Lands be willing to teach this little woman?” Having received his consent, Chen Yunxi was visibly elated.
“That depends on whether you wish to cultivate inner force or outer force,” Lu Sheng replied plainly, then proceeded to explain the distinction between the two.
After listening with keen interest, Chen Yunxi chose an inner force art that could preserve youth and maintain beauty. Lu Sheng selected a simple technique and taught it to her, leaving her to study and practice on her own.
In truth, cultivation was a matter of aptitude. Not everyone was suited to cultivating inner force, and Lu Sheng needed to see whether she possessed the necessary talent.
He did not hold high expectations. At most, if she showed promise, he would transfer a single thread of inner Qi after her initiation to heal any hidden injuries. Anything beyond that would do more harm than good.
Ning San was the clearest example. Despite his formidable power, he dared not wield it lightly. Each use left his body bearing the cost.
Afterward, Lu Sheng discussed their wedding with Chen Yunxi. Both the Lu and Chen families had long since made their preparations, and the wedding date was set for the near future.
Lu Sheng also revealed his intention to leave the Northern Lands for the Central Plains. Though his father, Lu Quanan, found it hard to part with him, he understood that Lu Sheng had his own path to walk, one far beyond parental interference. Acceptance was the only choice.
They had no intention of accompanying him to the Central Plains. The Northern Lands remained the foundation of the Lu Family and the Crimson Whale Sect.
Chen Yunxi wished to follow Lu Sheng, but he gently dissuaded her. As an ordinary woman, traveling at his side would be fraught with inconvenience. Worse still, she could easily become leverage against him.
Time passed swiftly. In the blink of an eye, several days slipped by, and the wedding day finally arrived.
…………
“Sigh…” Lu Sheng sat alone in his bedroom within Lu Manor, letting out a long breath.
“Eldest Young Master, why are you sighing?” Qiao’er carefully brushed his hair, smoothing it back while tidying the creases in his robe.
Lu Sheng was already dressed in a bright-red groom’s robe. His hair was bound with an intricate red sash, and a golden rod for lifting the bride’s veil rested against his back.
“I’m sighing because…” He trailed off, releasing another silent sigh.
It was only on the eve of his wedding that a deeply unsettling problem had struck him.
As an ordinary mortal, could Chen Yunxi withstand even a trace of the liquid secreted by his body?
Back then, when Lu Sheng was far weaker than he was now, even a single drop of his blood could corrode metal. With his current strength, the vitality of his body had reached an unimaginable level. If even a drop of that liquid were to enter Chen Yunxi’s body…
His mood darkened.
‘Do I have to forcibly transfer Qi into her and raise her to an absurd level in a short time?’ he thought grimly. ‘No… that won’t work. Unless she reaches the Bind realm in one go, it would be meaningless. And right now, her body is too fragile. Her cellular activity is far too low…’
“The Eldest Young Master is finally getting married! May he soon have a plump little boy so the Lu Family may gain an heir! The great Crimson Whale Sect will have one as well! Congratulations! Truly congratulations!” Laughter and cheerful voices rang out beyond the door, their excitement spilling freely into the room.
“A plump little boy…” Lu Sheng’s headache throbbed harder.
He rubbed his temples, utterly at a loss. He was too powerful. If he were careful, consummating the marriage might be manageable. But children were inevitable. And when that time came, if something went wrong…
‘She can’t get pregnant for now,’ he decided.
Some Noblemen with fading bloodlines had married mortals before. Perhaps, during his journey to the Central Plains, he could find a solution.
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