Chapter 68: Qi Transformation Heart-Protecting Pill, Seven Years

Lu Yang stared at the jade-green pill inside the jade box.

For several moments, his gaze remained fixed upon the medicinal pill.

The rich medicinal fragrance lingered around the pavilion, and even without deliberately sensing it, he could feel a faint warmth spreading through his Divine Sense.

His expression became increasingly solemn as information about it flashed through his mind.

A Qi Transformation Heart-Protecting Pill, among the lower levels of the cultivation world, was practically considered a legendary medicinal pill.

It wasn’t because its grade was particularly high, but because its effects were simply too miraculous.

The purpose of this pill was to assist a Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivator during the second step of the Essence Gathering Realm breakthrough.

It could greatly increase the stability of Blood Qi and more efficiently guide it to transform into Essence Qi.

Even the lowest quality Qi Transformation Heart-Protecting Pill could increase the probability of a successful breakthrough by at least thirty percent.

The current Lu Family would have to sell off a third of its assets just to afford one such pill.

The highest quality ones could even reportedly approach sixty percent probability. However, only a High-Rank Mysterious Grade Alchemist could refine these pills of the highest quality.

One had to know that a High-Rank Mysterious Grade Alchemist was basically a Qi Sea Realm cultivator, even having a much higher status than ordinary Qi Sea cultivators.

Of course, the so-called increase in probability was only an estimate.

No pill could truly guarantee a breakthrough into Essence Gathering in Lu Yang’s knowledge.

The cultivator’s own foundation, comprehension, control, mental state, and countless other factors still mattered.

But even so, thirty percent was already an astonishing figure.

And the pill in Lu Yang’s hand was clearly not the lowest quality.

He didn’t need to consume it to know, just from the medicinal fragrance alone, he could roughly determine that its quality was somewhere between middle and upper quality.

Its medicinal effect should be capable of increasing his breakthrough probability by around forty to fifty percent.

Yet, the most important effect wasn’t even the increase in breakthrough probability, but the Heart-Protecting effect.

During the second step of the Essence Gathering breakthrough, the cultivator had to compress and transform the Blood Qi within their entire body.

One mistake could cause the Blood Qi to riot.

Once that happened, the heart meridian would be among the first places to suffer severe damage.

The heart was the source of one’s vitality; if the heart meridian was destroyed, even a Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivator might die on the spot.

The Qi Transformation Heart-Protecting Pill could protect the heart meridian during this process.

Even if the breakthrough ultimately failed, the cultivator would have a much greater chance of surviving.

It was truly a life saving medicinal pill.

Lu Yang slowly raised his head and looked towards Lu Qingxue.

"Where did you get this?"

Lu Qingxue blinked innocently.

"My master gave it to me after I achieved Spirit Awakening."

Lu Yang’s expression became complicated as he immediately pushed the jade box back.

"Then you should keep it, it is of much greater use to you than me."

Lu Qingxue shook her head, not taking the jade box back.

"Father, I just entered the Spirit Awakening Realm and still have a long time before considering Essence Gathering."

Lu Yang remained silent as she continued.

"As long as I work hard and complete sect missions after becoming a Spirit Awakening cultivator for ten or twenty years, I can slowly accumulate contribution points. Eventually, I can exchange for another Qi Transformation Heart-Protecting Pill."

Lu Yang frowned, "But the quality..."

"It won’t be worse than this." Lu Qingxue interrupted him, smiling confidently.

"After all, my master is the Alchemy Hall Master."

Lu Yang’s expression froze at her words.

Indeed, Hall Master Su was the Head of the True Martial Sect’s Alchemy Hall.

She was an Essence Gathering Realm powerhouse and a Mid-Rank Mysterious Grade Alchemist.

If Lu Qingxue wanted another Qi Transformation Heart-Protecting Pill in the future, as long as she had sufficient contribution points, obtaining one with similar quality wouldn’t necessarily be difficult.

But for him... he was different.

Lu Yang had already reached ninety-one years of age and had entered the Ninth Stage of Spirit Awakening Realm.

Even though his lifespan was still considerable, he couldn’t afford to waste decades.

He had to prepare for Essence Gathering now.

Lu Qingxue seemed to understand what he was thinking, her voice softening.

"Father, I told master that I wanted to give it to you, and she didn’t object."

Lu Yang was silent, understanding the meaning behind these words.

Since she hadn’t objected, it meant that Hall Master Su had tacitly approved of this matter.

She knew that Lu Qingxue had just entered the Spirit Awakening Realm and still had a long future ahead, but Lu Yang had a limited time left.

Lu Yang lowered his head and looked at the jade box again.

For a moment, the image of a little girl suddenly appeared in his mind, that girl who could never sit still, sometimes clinging to him and sometimes running around the family estate.

That little girl had grown up now.

She had already become an Spirit Awakening cultivator and was now giving something that could determine the future of countless cultivators to him without hesitation.

Lu Yang’s heart trembled as his hand slowly reached out to take the jade box with shaky fingers.

"Alright, I’ll accept it."

Lu Qingxue immediately beamed with an extremely bright smile.

"That’s more like it."

Lu Yang looked at her helplessly.

"You really have become bold."

Lu Qingxue tilted her head innocently.

"Didn’t you teach me that I should be decisive?"

Lu Yang was left speechless by her words.

Bai Qinglan had been standing quietly near the entrance of the courtyard for a while.

Watching this scene, a smile appeared on her aged face.

There was also a faint moisture in the depths of her eyes, which she quickly turned her face away to wipe off before walking inside.

...

Several days later.

At the gates of the Lu Family, Lu Yang and Bai Qinglan stood together.

Lu Qingxue stood before them with the other disciple, preparing to return to the True Martial Sect.

"Father, you must successfully break through."

Lu Qingxue looked at him seriously as she said that.

Lu Yang smiled, "I will try my best."

"Not try." She shook her head, "You must."

Lu Yang laughed softly.

"Alright, I must."

Lu Qingxue nodded in satisfaction as she turned towards Bai Qinglan, embracing the latter.

"Be careful outside, don’t take unnecessary risks, and come back whenever you have time." Bai Qinglan spoke seriously.

"I will, don’t worry." Came Lu Qingxue’s reply.

After a while, Lu Qingxue finally let go.

She looked at her parents one last time, then, with the female disciple, entered the carriage that had been prepared long ago.

Lu Yang watched silently as the carriage gradually became smaller and smaller until it eventually disappeared from his vision.

He stood there for a long time afterwards.

Perhaps sending Lu Qingxue to the True Martial Sect had truly been the correct decision.

In truth, at that time, it was the only choice available to the Lu Family.

Although Fang Chen was his sworn brother and had married the youngest daughter of the Wuyuan King, the Wuyuan King represented the Imperial Court within Wuyuan Province.

The Imperial Court could not casually interfere in conflicts between cultivation factions and matters of the cultivation world, that was a fundamental rule.

If Fang Chen was an Essence Gathering cultivator himself, things would have been different.

He had a legitimate relationship with Lu Yang and was thus also closely connected to the Lu Family.

With sufficient strength, he could naturally protect them.

But Fang Chen was only a Spirit Awakening cultivator.

Even if he reached the peak of Spirit Awakening Realm, that strength, impressive within the secular world, was still far from enough when facing an entire powerful cultivation faction, especially when compared to the Great Qian Dynasty.

Therefore, the True Martial Sect was the Lu Family’s first and last gamble.

And they had won decisively.

...

Seven years passed quietly.

This year, Lu Yang was ninety-eight years old.

Inside his quiet cultivation chamber, he slowly opened his eyes as his Divine Sense spread outward to cover a radius of thirty-nine meters.

After seven years of continuous cultivation and polishing, his cultivation had become incomparably solid.

He could now be called a genuine veteran Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivator.

His sword technique had reached perfection, and his movement technique had also reached perfection.

His combat experience was still not particularly impressive, but his foundation had long since compensated for that weakness.

At this moment, even when compared to absolute pinnacle Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening cultivators, Lu Yang was not inferior in the slightest.

Within Canglan Prefecture, he was undoubtedly one of the ten strongest cultivators beneath Essence Gathering.

Lu Yang slowly stood up, his gaze falling upon the jade box placed nearby.

The Qi Transformation Heart-Protecting Pill had been carefully preserved by him all these years. He had never touched it.

Now, looking at it again, his eyes became profound.

He was confident that he could pass the first step of the Essence Gathering breakthrough by himself.

As for the second step, with this pill, his confidence had also increased tremendously.

If everything went according to his calculations, his probability of successfully achieving Essence Gathering was already around seventy percent.

For a breakthrough where failure meant potentially becoming crippled or dying, this was already an extremely high probability.

In another two or so years, he should be able to reach the absolute pinnacle of Ninth Stage Spirit Awakening Realm.

At that point, he could officially begin his breakthrough.

Lu Yang slowly took in a deep breath.

Over these years, Bai Qinglan had also not stopped progressing.

She had now reached the Sixth Stage of Spirit Awakening Realm.

Fang Chen, that guy, had even entered seclusion a few days ago from his letter, searching for that elusive opportunity for achieving the Essence Gathering Realm.

He was truly going to enter the Essence Gathering Realm before him.

As for Lu Qingxue, she was even more astonishing.

At twenty-eight years old, she had already reached the Third Stage of Spirit Awakening Realm.

She was expected to enter the Fourth Stage, the middle stages of Spirit Awakening Realm, within at most three years.

The gap between her and Lu Yang at the same age had become increasingly ridiculous.

Right now, she was executing a long term mission in the Tiannan Province with a few experienced fellow disciples.

At the same time, the Lu Family had continued developing.

The number of Spirit Awakening cultivators had reached thirty, and the total number of cultivators within the clan had surpassed eight hundred.

The Lu Family was no longer the same family it had been when Lu Yang first entered the Spirit Awakening Realm, it was now vastly stronger.

Lu Yang pushed open the door of his cultivation chamber and stepped outside.

The evening glow of the setting sun fell upon his white hair, soothing his state of mind.

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from the distance.

A servant hurried towards him with an extremely solemn expression.

"Supreme Elder!"

Lu Yang’s brows slightly furrowed.

"What’s wrong?"

The servant stopped several meters away, breathing somewhat heavily as he bowed deeply.

"Supreme Elder... there has been a major event."

Lu Yang’s expression changed slightly.

For some reason, an inexplicable, ominous premonition suddenly emerged within his heart.