Chapter 94: Lu Hanqing, Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein Underneath the Forbidden City

There was another piece of good news during those four years: Lu Shishui and Chen Yuruo had a son.

It happened two years after their departure from the Imperial Capital.

When Lu Yang first received the news, he was somewhat surprised.

A younger brother... he had never had one before.

He had experienced countless things across his previous lives, from struggling at the bottom of the cultivation world to becoming a cultivator whose name was recorded in history.

He had experienced friendship, betrayal, love, loss, and death.

Yet he had never experienced having a younger sibling.

The people closest to him in that aspect were his two sworn brothers from his two previous lives, Gu Changfeng and Fang Chen, Lu Tianhe and Lu Qingyu could be considered his siblings too if one counted cousins.

But he had never had a true blood related sibling.

Naturally, he was curious.

What would it feel like having a brother?

Would the child be intelligent?

Would he possess cultivation talent?

Would he grow up to become an official like Lu Shishui or perhaps choose another path?

Lu Yang had quite a few expectations.

Then, when Chen Yuruo finally returned to the Imperial Capital with the infant, he met his younger brother for the first time.

The child stared at him, and Lu Yang stared back.

For a moment, the two brothers looked at each other in silence.

Lu Yang thought that this was rather interesting, picking up the infant in his arms carefully.

However, the next moment...

*Drip.*

The brat peed on him, plunging the entire hall into a pin drop silence.

Lu Yang lowered his head and looked at his damp clothes expressionlessly.

The infant looked back at him with those innocent eyes. There wasn’t the slightest trace of guilt on his face.

Of course, a newborn child wouldn’t understand what he had done, but that didn’t make the experience any better.

Lu Yang remained motionless for several breaths of time.

Chen Yuruo hurriedly picked up the child.

"Ah! I’m sorry, Yang’er!"

Aunt Lin, who had been standing nearby, hurriedly brought over a clean cloth.

Even Lu Hai, who had spent decades dealing with criminals and cultivators in the Imperial Prison, was momentarily stunned before bursting into laughter.

"Pff... hahaha!"

Lu Yang slowly turned his head to look at him. ℯℯ𝘭.

His grandfather’s laughter gradually weakened.

"Ahem." Lu Hai cleared his throat and looked away, suddenly finding the mahogany table very interesting.

Lu Yang lowered his gaze towards the infant again.

He had been somewhat curious about having a younger brother but now... he wasn’t sure what to think.

Why did this fellow have to do this the very first time they met?

Of all the possible ways to welcome his older brother into his life, he had chosen the most unpleasant one.

Lu Yang sighed inwardly, feeling a little depressed.

...

The child was named Lu Hanqing.

Over the following two years, Lu Yang gradually became accustomed to his existence.

Whenever Chen Yuruo returned to the Imperial Capital, Lu Hanqing would follow Lu Yang around whenever possible.

Sometimes he would grab Lu Yang’s clothes, sometimes he would crawl into his room, and other times he would simply sit nearby and stare at him.

Lu Yang had no idea what was so interesting about him.

He was merely cultivating or reading. There was nothing particularly entertaining about either activity, yet the little fellow seemed to find both fascinating.

Lu Yang occasionally tried to ignore him, but it almost never worked.

Fortunately, Lu Hanqing was still young.

Unlike Lu Yang at the same time, he couldn’t speak properly, let alone understand cultivation.

Thus, Lu Yang could only tolerate his presence.

Though that didn’t mean he disliked the child. It was simply an unfamiliar experience, something he had not experienced in any of his prior lives.

Lu Yang once had a daughter.

He had watched her grow up, protected her, and eventually lost her, but he had never experienced this relationship between two brothers aside from his rivalry and friendship with Lu Tianhe, Gu Changfeng, and Fang Chen back then.

He couldn’t possibly regard this little guy who couldn’t even speak properly as his rival, right?

And so, he was still learning how to be a good older brother.

...

This year, Lu Yang was ten years old.

His cultivation had already reached the peak of the Seventh Stage Body Tempering Realm.

He estimated that he would break through to the Eighth Stage of Body Tempering Realm within another year.

His progress was astonishing compared to his past lives.

Even though he was deliberately concealing his cultivation, Wen Fanghong was still extremely satisfied with him.

According to the cultivation he displayed, Lu Yang had reached the Third Stage of Body Tempering Realm last year.

This was already quite good, suggesting that he possessed decent talent and had received proper guidance.

...

It was said that a Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein existed beneath the Imperial Capital.

Lu Yang had heard this fact many years ago in his past life.

However, after spending so much time here, he had never truly sensed its existence. That was rather strange.

Although Body Tempering cultivators didn’t require Spirit Qi to cultivate, a Spirit Qi rich environment could still benefit them.

Spirit Qi would naturally nourish their bodies and temper them over time.

The process was slow, but the effects accumulated.

A cultivator who trained in an environment rich in Spirit Qi would generally possess a better foundation than someone who cultivated in an ordinary environment, assuming all other factors were equal.

Even ordinary mortals could benefit tremendously.

Their bodies would become healthier, physical condition would improve, and even their lifespans might increase slightly.

A sufficiently powerful Spirit Vein could influence an enormous region, so why did the Imperial Capital seem so ordinary?

Lu Yang had been wondering about this for years.

The cultivation environment here didn’t seem much better than that of Canglan Prefecture City.

In some respects, it was even inferior to places he had visited in his previous life. For example, the Wuyuan Provincial Capital.

In his third life, Lu Yang had once visited the provincial capital to attend Fang Chen’s wedding.

The Wuyuan King’s Mansion was located directly above a top tier Mortal Grade Spirit Vein.

The cultivation environment around the mansion was considerably better than that of the Imperial Capital, and that was only a Mortal Grade Spirit Vein.

The Imperial Capital was said to possess a Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein.

The difference between the two grades was enormous.

A Mortal Grade Spirit Vein could already influence an area extending hundreds of miles, depending on its quality and the surrounding terrain.

A Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein was said to be capable of influencing an area spanning thousands of miles, which was why the entire Tiannan Province was considered the most prosperous in terms of cultivation environment and resources even now.

Of course, such estimates weren’t absolute.

The actual range depended on the Spirit Vein’s quality, its depth, whether it had been damaged, and whether certain menas were used to gather or isolate its Spirit Qi.

Nevertheless, the difference should have been obvious, yet Lu Yang hadn’t sensed anything unusual.

He had lived in the Imperial Capital for ten years, cultivated every day, reached the peak of the Seventh Stage Body Tempering Realm, and carefully observed the environment around him many times, but he still couldn’t feel the influence of a Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein.

Lu Yang considered several possibilities, such as the Spirit Vein was damaged or its Spirit Qi was being drawn away by something.

Or perhaps, the Spirit Vein was being deliberately isolated using some means within the Forbidden City.

The last possibility was particularly interesting, as unlike in the novels of his past life, Lu Yang had not heard about things like Array Formations.

Maybe his qualifications were just too low to inquire about things at that level, but if they truly existed, then this might be the only reasonable explanation.

The Forbidden City stood at the center of the Imperial Capital, being the residence of the Imperial Family and the heart of the Great Qian Dynasty.

It was also the most heavily guarded place in the entire dynasty, and even powerful Qi Sea Realm cultivators couldn’t casually enter its premises.

If the Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein was located directly beneath the Forbidden City, then perhaps the Imperial Family had sealed off its influence.

A powerful formation should probably be able to accomplish something like that.

Instead of allowing Spirit Qi to spread throughout the Imperial Capital, the formation could gather it within the Forbidden City, increasing its concentration in one place to enhance cultivation efficiency.

Such an arrangement would make perfect sense.

The Emperor of Great Qian wasn’t an ordinary mortal, nor were the people who resided and served within the Forbidden City.

A cultivation environment far superior to the rest of the dynasty would be extremely beneficial to them.

It could also explain why Lu Yang had never sensed anything unusual.

The Spirit Vein might not be absent, it was just that it’s influence simply couldn’t reach him.

Of course, this was only a hypothesis. He needed more information to confirm it.

Unfortunately, there weren’t many people he could ask, and even if there were, he couldn’t simply reveal that he was interested in the Spirit Vein beneath the Forbidden City.

Still, he had once made a casual inquiry some time ago.

At that time, Wen Fanghong was discussing cultivation with him.

Lu Yang had deliberately adopted the expression of a curious child before asking.

"Grandpa Wen, I heard that there is a Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein beneath the Imperial Capital. Is that true?"

Wen Fanghong glanced at him and then laughed.

"Hahaha! You little rascal. You’ve heard some rumors, haven’t you?"

Lu Yang blinked innocently, "Is it not true?"

"It is true." Wen Fanghong nodded before saying.

"But the Spirit Vein is located within the Forbidden City. Its influence cannot spread that far."

He had spoken as if the matter were obvious.

To him, Lu Yang was simply an intelligent child who had heard a rumor and wanted to know more. There was nothing unusual about it.

Lu Yang had nodded obediently at the time and didn’t ask anything else.

After all, what Wen Fanghong said was enough to reveal something.

The Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein did exist, and it was located within the Forbidden City.

But the explanation that its influence couldn’t spread beyond the Forbidden City was clearly wrong, at least according to what Lu Yang knew.

Even an ordinary Mortal Grade Spirit Vein could influence hundreds of miles, so a Mysterious Grade Spirit Vein should have a far greater range.

Unless it was deliberately restricted.

Lu Yang hadn’t mentioned this, simply storing the information away.

There was no need to argue with Wen Fanghong.

The man was a Spirit Awakening Realm cultivator himself.

His cultivation wasn’t weak, and he possessed decades of experience in the Imperial Capital, but that didn’t mean he knew everything.

Lu Yang only knew such things because he was deeply involved in the cultivation world in his past life, and the Lu Family was considered a top tier force beneath the Essence Gathering Realm.

In fact, there were countless things that even Spirit Awakening cultivators couldn’t understand.

The world was simply too vast, and the Great Qian Dynasty had existed for hundreds of years.

Who knew how many secrets had accumulated during that time?

Besides, there was even a chance that Wen Fanghong might be hiding some things from him, but he didn’t intend to pry further anyways.