Chapter 23: Qi Refining Stage Three!

 

Time flies and more than three months have passed in the blink of an eye.

 

In those three months, Lu Changsheng’s eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth children were born.

 

However, none of these three children had any spiritual roots.

Lu Changsheng had already become completely indifferent to this matter, because he knew that it couldn’t be forced.

 

 

However, he did not stop his efforts to procreate because of this probability.

 

After all, more children would bring more blessings.

 

As long as he continued to have children, as the number increased, there would eventually be children with spiritual roots.

 

Moreover, as the number of children increased, there would also be rewards from the system.

 

During these three months, Lu Changsheng had impregnated two more concubines, each carrying his second child.

 

 

In three years, with three wives and six concubines, he had fathered thirteen children.

 

And there were three more currently pregnant, which had made him quite famous in the Lu family’s Qingzhu Valley.

 

Everyone knew that the Lu family had married a son-in-law who was exceptionally talented in talisman making, but had a penchant for women and procreation.

 

At that time, Lu Yuanding also came to have a casual conversation with Lu Changsheng.

 

He hoped that Lu Changsheng wouldn’t be too fond of women and that he would concentrate more on cultivation and talisman making so that he wouldn’t waste his life.

 

 

Faced with such advice, Lu Changsheng naturally nodded in agreement.

 

However, he also expressed that his spiritual roots were too poor, and he didn’t have any great ambitions in this life. He was content with such a life and only wished for a prosperous future with many grandchildren.

 

If he could have some children with spiritual roots, he would devote himself wholeheartedly to bringing them up in the future.

 

When Lu Yuanding heard these words, he didn’t know how to react for a moment, so he shared something with Lu Changsheng.

 

The Lu family has a rule: all children who are not found to have spiritual roots by the age of six must be sent to the secular world. 

 

Even with some leniency, they must be sent away by the age of ten. 

 

They cannot remain on Qingzhu Mountain because without spiritual roots, these children cannot cultivate immortality and would only be relegated to menial tasks. 

 

Young eagles will one day soar into the sky and face storms.

 

Keeping children without spiritual roots would only delay their growth. 

 

However, the Lu family has a presence in the secular world with family and wealth that can provide a comfortable and prosperous life for these children. 

 

If Lu Changsheng agrees, the children can be placed in the secular branch of the Lu family in the future. 

 

Upon hearing Lu Yuanding’s words, Lu Changsheng felt a heaviness in his heart. 

 

After three years, he still hadn’t fully adjusted to the rules of this world. 

 

It was difficult to accept sending children to the secular world at the age of six. 

 

 

After all, he had thirteen children, and only one of them had spiritual roots. 

 

But he also understood that Lu Yuanding was right. 

 

Keeping children without spiritual roots around wouldn’t benefit them. 

 

As parents, they had to let go and let them grow. 

 

So Lu Changsheng planned to wait until the children were a bit older before sending them out into the secular world. 

 

He wanted them to explore and experience the world for themselves. 

 

Before that, he had once considered finding Li Feiyu to teach his children martial arts. 

 

This would not only strengthen their bodies, but also provide them with some self-defence in case of danger in the secular world. 

 

After all, not only was the cultivation world dangerous, but there were also many conflicts in the secular world, and he couldn’t watch over his children all the time. 

 

Of course, he couldn’t deny that he had some selfish motives. 

 

He hoped that his children practising martial arts would bring him some personal improvement in strength. 

 

And in the future, when his children were firmly rooted in the secular world, they could establish their own branch of the Lu family, a family of martial arts.

 

When a descendant with spiritual roots appears in the family, he can be sent to me for instruction.

 

This is the current model for most cultivation families, where the mortal world and the cultivation world thrive together.

 

On that day,

 

Inside the training room, Lu Changsheng sat in meditation, his body surging with qi, causing his robes to flutter with no wind.

 

“Qi Refining Level Three!”

 

“I finally broke through before the deadline!”

 

After a moment, his breathing calmed down and Lu Changsheng opened his eyes, his face full of joy.

 

It had taken him one year and four months to break through from Qi Refining Level One to Level Two.

 

But it took him only ten months to break through from the second to the third level.

 

The reason for such a significant improvement was not only the Qingzhu Valley’s second-tier Spirit Stones, but also the talent boost from his seventh son Lu Xianzhi’s spiritual roots, as well as the improvement in cultivation resources.

 

He now receives ten Spirit Stones, thirty catties of Spirit Rice and a bottle of Yellow Dragon Pills every month.

 

At the moment, his children are still young and have minimal expenses, and there’s nothing to spend on his wife.

 

Therefore, he can basically use most of these Spirit Stones on himself to increase his cultivation speed.

 

Even though his talent is mediocre and it’s difficult for him to achieve much through his own cultivation, he can’t let up.

 

After all, before he can rely on his children’s success, they need to grow up first.

 

Besides, out of his thirteen children, only his seventh son has spiritual roots, and they’re only low-grade spiritual roots.

 

For now, he still has to rely on his own efforts as a father.

 

“It’s been three years, and I’m finally going on a trip.”

 

Lu Changsheng stood up and straightened his robe.

 

He walked over to the bronze mirror and looked at his reflection.

 

His originally ordinary face now had a few more angular contours, and his somewhat dark skin had become light and delicate, making him look much more handsome.

 

There’s a saying: “Clothes make the man.”

 

He was dressed in a long green robe that seemed to fit him perfectly, accentuating his tall, slender frame.

 

With a gentle and refined countenance, a tall figure and an aura of calm confidence, Lu Changsheng exuded an inexplicable nobility.

 

Compared to his appearance and temperament three years ago, one could say that he had undergone a complete transformation.

 

Apart from the refining and improving effects of practising the Immortal Grace Technique, this change was also attributed to physical development, living in comfort, awakening past life memories, activating the system, and changing one’s attitude and mentality.

 

Just practising the Immortal Grace Technique wouldn’t produce such obvious results.

 

Looking at himself in the mirror, Lu Changsheng chuckled slightly, then informed his wife before leaving, saying that he needed to take a trip back to the mundane world.

 

This matter had long been discussed with his wife, and he had also sought the approval of the Lu family.

 

The Lu family readily agreed, and even asked if Lu Changsheng needed anyone to accompany him.

 

During the past six months in the Qingzhu Valley, Lu Changsheng had perfectly completed the tasks assigned to him by the Lu family regarding the drawing of talismans, demonstrating an outstanding performance that had further impressed the Lu family.

 

In response, Lu Changsheng said that he was just meeting friends and taking care of some things at home, so there was no need for an escort.

 

Although it would be safer to have someone accompany him, it would also be inconvenient.

 

The Lu family didn’t insist, so they gave him a transfer token and told him to be careful on his journey.

 

After tucking the already packed bag into his robe, Lu Changsheng arrived at the Qingzhu Mountain Residence and knocked on Li Feiyu’s door.

 

“I thought you had something urgent and couldn’t make it,” Li Feiyu, holding his child, opened the courtyard gate and smiled at Lu Changsheng.

 

His child was just three months old and was a girl.

 

“I was about to break through, so I postponed until now,” Lu Changsheng explained.

 

“You broke through to the third level of qi refining?” Li Feiyu’s surprise was obvious.

 

During this time, Lu Changsheng had not stopped practising techniques.

 

He had mastered all the basic spells such as Fireball Technique, Wind Control Technique, Matter Manipulation Technique, Qi Concealment Technique, Spirit Eye Technique, and Sound Transmission Technique.

 

Spells such as talisman creation became much easier once the basics were mastered.

 

At that moment, Lu Changsheng used the aura restraining technique to slightly hide his spiritual energy. Therefore, Li Feiyu did not notice that Lu Changsheng had just broken through the third level of qi refinement.

 

“Yes, so I came over right after this breakthrough,” Lu Changsheng nodded.

 

“Tsk tsk, you just broke through the third level of Qi Refining. With your cultivation speed, I’am afraid you’ll catch up with those with middle Spirit Roots, huh?” Li Feiyu couldn’t help but shake his head and cluck his tongue in surprise.

 

He was far ahead of Lu Changsheng at both the first level of Qi Refining and the second level of Qi Refining.

 

But now, while he was still at the peak of the second stage of Qi Refining, Lu Changsheng had directly overtaken him and broken through to the third stage, one step faster.

 

This made him feel quite emotional and a bit jealous.

 

“Hey, it’s all thanks to outside help. Breaking through from the third level to the fourth level of Qi Refining is much harder,” Lu Changsheng waved his hand.

 

He knew his own situation.

 

If he hadn’t taken a bottle of Yellow Dragon Pill every month, and if he hadn’t spent all his Spirit Stones on spiritual vegetables, spiritual tea, and demon beast meat, how could he have broken through so quickly?

 

It would have taken at least another year or so of cultivation.

 

What’s more, as long as you spend a little more time on the first three levels of Qi Refining, it will be a matter of course without any difficulty.

 

But breaking through from the third to the fourth level of Qi Refining was difficult.

 

In the early to middle stages of Qi refining, there are bottlenecks.

 

And the worse one’s spiritual roots were, the harder it was to break through the bottleneck.

 

“I believe this is not a difficult task for you,”

 

“Shall we go now?” 

 

Li Feiyu didn’t dwell on the subject and asked directly.

 

“I’m ready to leave at any time. Do you still need to prepare?” 

 

Lu Changsheng said.

 

“I’m ready too. Then let’s go,” 

 

Li Feiyu said, took the child to the backyard, handed it to the concubine he had taken in not long ago, and left with Lu Changsheng.