Chapter 107: Preparing For the Next Steps

Now that he had entered the Spirit Awakening Realm, Lu Yang could finally put some of his plans into motion.

For the past several years, he had deliberately restrained his progress, focusing on strengthening his foundation while avoiding unnecessary attention.

However, there was only so much he could accomplish as a Body Tempering Realm cultivator.

His current resources were no longer sufficient for his needs.

Although he possessed considerable cultivation knowledge from his previous lives, knowledge alone could not replace the resources required to advance further.

He needed cultivation resources, better martial techniques, and combat arts suitable for his current realm.

More importantly, he needed to obtain the remaining Chapters of the Azure Moon Spirit Control Art.

The Azure Spirit Sect possessed the Body Tempering and Essence Gathering Chapters, while the Lu Family had inherited the Azure Moon Spirit Water Technique, the Spirit Awakening Chapter of the art.

However, the Essence Gathering Realm Chapter probably went missing after the destruction of the Azure Spirit Sect, perhaps even destroyed in that final battle if those two fellows carried it with them.

However, that didn’t mean it was the only copy circulating across the world. Perhaps he could find some clues in the ruins of the Azure Spirit Sect.

If Lu Yang wanted to cultivate the complete Azure Moon Spirit Control Art, he would eventually have to find it.

He had already considered this matter for quite some time.

Now that he had entered the Spirit Awakening Realm, it was finally time to take action.

Of course, he would not rush into anything.

Openly searching for the inheritance and drawing attention to the Azure Moon Spirit Control Art?

He wasn’t that stupid to court death in such an obvious way.

Instead, he would proceed gradually, collecting information and investigating possible leads whenever an opportunity arose.

There was no need to hurry.

He had already spent fifteen years building his foundation in this life. Waiting another few decades to obtain the next Chapter would not make much of a difference.

It wasn’t as if he was already at the peak of Spirit Awakening Realm or even the Essence Gathering Realm. He had plenty of time.

Besides, there were other matters he needed to consider.

His martial techniques and combat arts were also becoming insufficient.

Although he had brought considerable knowledge from his previous life as the Supreme Elder of the Lu Family, not every technique he had mastered was suitable for his current circumstances.

Besides, he wanted to accumulate them for his next life as well.

This was not particularly difficult.

Great Qian was a vast dynasty with countless cultivation families, sects, academies, and martial arts inheritances.

Even within the Imperial Capital, there were numerous places where cultivators could obtain martial techniques.

The real problem was choosing the right ones while remaining discreet.

Lu Yang did not want to become famous as a martial arts genius.

He wanted to become strong enough to protect himself, his family, and the people he cared about without attracting the attention of those who might interfere with his life.

There was another small problem.

His future plans would require him to leave the Imperial Capital more frequently.

He needed to gather resources, investigate the Azure Moon Spirit Control Art inheritance, and search for suitable martial techniques.

Being cooped up inside the capital indefinitely would make such plans difficult to carry out.

Fortunately, Lu Yang had already considered how to deal with this issue.

He only needed to make his cultivation progress appear natural.

He had entered the Spirit Awakening Realm, but no one else needed to know that.

Lu Yang closed his eyes and carefully circulated the Dust Hiding Breath Concealing Method.

The spiritual aura surrounding his body gradually faded, and the power he had only recently acquired was concealed beneath the familiar fluctuations of Blood Qi.

Soon, his outward cultivation returned to the Fifth Stage of the Body Tempering Realm.

However, there was a slight difference compared to before.

Previously, he had deliberately maintained the appearance of an ordinary Fifth Stage Body Tempering cultivator, around the middle to late state of the Fifth Stage of Body Tempering Realm.

Now, his displayed cultivation had reached the peak of the Fifth Stage.

This was a perfectly reasonable adjustment.

A cultivator’s progress was rarely perfectly linear, and such small breakthroughs within the Body Tempering Realm were not especially remarkable.

As long as Lu Yang did not advance too quickly, there was little reason for anyone to investigate him closely.

He could claim that he had entered a state of deep concentration while cultivating at home, remained unaware of the passage of time, and eventually emerged after successfully advancing to the peak Fifth Stage of Body Tempering Realm.

Such things were not unheard of among cultivators, also known as enlightenment, but it rarely happened at the Body Tempering Realm.

However, rarely did not mean it never happened. It was a perfectly convenient excuse for how quickly his progress had jumped.

If he continued maintaining this appearance for a while, he could later announce that he had reached the Sixth Stage of the Body Tempering Realm in a few months.

Once he reached the Sixth Stage of Body Tempering Realm publicly, he could use the opportunity to request an extended period of leave.

He had accumulated nearly all his unused leave over the past three years.

If he used it carefully, he could take over an entire month away from his duties.

That would be more than enough for his first trip outside the Imperial Capital in this life.

He intended to visit Canglan Prefecture and see his father and stepmother.

It had been a long time since he last saw his father, and there was no reason for him to stay in the Imperial Capital indefinitely.

At the same time, the journey would give him an opportunity to arrange several matters discreetly.

He could gather information, make a few preparations, and begin putting his plans into action without attracting unnecessary attention.

As for the exact details, he would decide once he arrived.

Thinking of all this, Lu Yang slowly stood up and left the cultivation chamber.

Aunt Lin was waiting outside, and her expression immediately relaxed when she saw him.

"Young Master, you’ve finally come out. I was beginning to wonder if you were going to spend the entire two days inside."

Lu Yang smiled.

"I was cultivating and didn’t want to be disturbed."

Aunt Lin looked him over carefully.

"Did everything go well?"

"Very well." Lu Yang replied as he began to walk ahead, with Aunt Lin following by his side.

She nodded, apparently satisfied with his answer.

Then, she reminded him that he still had to eat properly and not neglect his daily routine just because he was cultivating.

Lu Yang listened patiently.

Although he was already sixteen years old, Aunt Lin still treated him as a child, but he did not really mind.

After all, she had been by his side since the day he was born and practically raised him.

In his previous lives, he had experienced many things that ordinary people would only read about in storybooks.

He had also lost many people who mattered to him.

This time, he wanted to protect these people properly and not let them suffer the same fate.