Chapter 7: Climbing a Tree to Catch Fish, Sailing a Boat on Land

Night deepened, and a little rain continued to fall with a rustling sound.

At the residence, the workers who were painting had all left. The continuous row of houses that could accommodate hundreds of people was once again occupied only by the master and disciple, who huddled in the small alchemy room. Lu Xingzhou took out the spirit stones obtained from the Danxia Gang and set up a spirit gathering array beside the flickering furnace fire.

The master and disciple sat cross-legged to cultivate. Before long, the spirit stones lost their spiritual energy and became dim and lifeless.

This spirit gathering array, set up with a large amount of spirit stones and of extremely high quality, was actually absorbed completely in an instant.

If there were outsiders observing carefully, they would discover that Lu Xingzhou only absorbed a small portion of the spiritual energy; the majority went into A Nuo’s small body.

In just a few days, the large amount of spirit stones extorted from the Danxia Gang had been completely consumed. Truly, no matter how much money was earned, it wasn't enough for this money-gobbling beast.

A Nuo was the first to open her eyes.

The window wasn't tightly closed, and the autumn wind, bringing rainwater, swirled into the room, creating a sense of killing intent.

A Nuo propped her cheek in her hand and sat watching her Master, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, his face handsome, still so plain and gentle. But she always felt that ever since her Master returned to Xia State, his heart, like this weather, was filled with killing intent.

That was an evil ghost who had crawled out of hell, returning to claim lives. No matter what kind of demeanor he showed outside, once he returned here, he suppressed his soaring killing intent.

A Nuo was fundamentally not six years old this year; she was ten. As for the events of ten years ago, she was precisely the firsthand experiencer. Only her physique was special; no matter how much she ate, she didn't grow. She had to be fed high-quality elixir medicine to grow, so she was extremely difficult to raise, appearing many years younger than she was.

Lu Xingzhou racked his brains to earn elixirs and money, and a large part of it was spent on this four-legged money-gobbling beast. It was with a thousand hardships and difficulties that he had managed to raise her to this size.

A Nuo's physique wasn't only special; other aspects were also very special. Just like when she was initially only in swaddling clothes, she knew everything that happened clearly.

The year he raised her, Lu Xingzhou himself was only nine years old.

That year he was called Huo Qing.

Although he also had the surname Huo, Huo was a large surname in the countryside, and he had no relation to the Huo family.

Although Sheng Yuan Yao had already inquired about whether the Huo family had any grudges with those from the countryside, in the end, she would still only focus on the Seventh Young Master Huo. After all, if Huo Shang sought revenge, it would be more interesting. This kind of script about the enmity between wealthy families was always popular from the officials down to the common people, especially eye-catching.

Those who were easily overlooked and bullied had no story, no gimmick, and no one cared about them.

Even if their whole family, more than ten people, were all wiped out, wrapped in rags as corpses, and thrown down from the back mountain, no one would care.

Among them, a nine-year-old child still had one breath left, but even more so, no one cared.

As long as someone could go take a look, they would discover that in the mountain col between the back mountain of the Huo residence and Danxia Mountain, the soil had inexplicably "grown" an infant. When Huo Qing was thrown down, he happened to roll beside the infant. His teeth hit the infant's small head, knocking out a trace of blood that went into his mouth.

On the verge of death, Huo Qing inexplicably survived. He opened his eyes and saw the small bundle in front of him crying loudly. He didn't know what kind of potential was stirred up, but he managed to barely hold the child and crawl towards Danxia Mountain. He fainted at the entrance of the Taoist temple.

There was no story about a kind-hearted old Taoist priest adopting children.

The old Taoist priest did indeed save Huo Qing, but he didn't adopt him. Instead, he felt that this child, who should have been completely dead by all reasoning, could still crawl up the mountain alive, which aroused his interest. Thus, as an experimental subject, he tormented him for two years with various drugs.

In order to cope with official population checks, the old Taoist priest did register him, making him a proper inheritor of Danxia View.

After being tormented for two years like this, Huo Qing's body was like a rag. That broken leg, which could have been properly healed if treated in time, completely lost hope of being cured.

To prevent the experimental subject from dying too easily, the old Taoist priest did teach Huo Qing some basic cultivation.

Having a broken leg at such a young age, and with his physique also messed up, it was equivalent to cutting off the martial cultivation path he had learned since he was young. He could only consider switching to cultivating Dao methods, but even that was very obstructed.

After all, the qi mechanism operating within his body lacked a foot meridian, and the Yongquan point was not reached. He could respond to heaven above but not touch the ground below, making it impossible to achieve a great Zhou Tian. Furthermore, his physique was too poor, making spiritual energy cultivation ultimately difficult to achieve anything.

What's more, Dao methods required more comprehension and aptitude, not something you could learn just by wanting to.

But Huo Qing still cherished this opportunity very much. Although being an experimental subject was bitter, it was impossible to leave with A Nuo with a broken leg. Leaving would also make it very easy for the Huo family to discover them. It was better to just stay here and endure for now; he could still learn. So, amid various drug testing torments, he silently learned for two years. At the same time, he saved up the pitifully scarce porridge to feed A Nuo.

That small glutinous rice dumpling, opening her bright big eyes to look at him, was the only warmth for the young Huo Qing in this human purgatory.

Initially, A Nuo didn't grow, and the old Taoist priest thought it was very normal due to lack of nutrition, so he didn't care too much. Anyway, she would die in a few days, why bother with her? As a result, the little thing had extremely tenacious vitality and actually survived. Only two years later, she was still so small and her growth had completely stopped, which finally aroused the old Taoist priest's confusion. He planned to take A Nuo for research.

This action thoroughly angered Huo Qing.

For two years, Huo Qing had always seemed to go with the flow, which had eliminated the old Taoist priest's vigilance. He didn't know that Huo Qing had some foundation in arrays when he was young. In these two years, he had also secretly learned and watched his system, already having secretly analyzed many of his unique methods.

Seizing a time when the old Taoist priest was in deep meditation, Huo Qing quietly destroyed the protective array he had set up. A kitchen knife easily chopped off the old Taoist priest's neck.

It was a pity that although the old Taoist priest was not a very strong cultivator, he had seven or eight grades of cultivation. His dying counterattack was not something his rag-like body could withstand.

Even with his neck chopped off, the old Taoist priest's blood spurted out. The blood arrow could take his life.

At the crucial moment, a slender hand like white jade brushed past, blocking the attack of the blood arrow. A delicate and charming voice rang in his ear: "Interesting little brother... you were originally supposed to die twice; this is the third time..."

Huo Qing turned his head and saw a face about fourteen or fifteen years old, a pretty face suitable for both anger and joy.

Just like a ray of light, it sprinkled into the dark hell.

Die twice? One was when the Huo family killed him. Another one was... transmigrated here in his previous life?

Huo Qing took a deep breath: "Girl is..."

"I am the one who lends life." The girl's eyes rolled around: "You originally should have no life. I lend you one. One day you have to return it to me."

Huo Qing was silent for a moment: "Girl saved me. My life is originally girl's. If girl wants to take it, take it away at any time."

"Um um... How long have you been in this mountain?"

"Two years."

"Have you ever heard this old Taoist priest mention any elixir medicine?"

"He refines elixirs every day. What are you referring to, girl?"

"Um... of course, it's that very high-level elixir, the one that can let people directly ascend to immortality."

"If he had that elixir, he wouldn't only have seven or eight grades of cultivation, and he wouldn't have died at my hands." Huo Qing said expressionlessly: "Perhaps he dreams of refining this elixir. Isn't everything he did for this?"

"Ha..." The girl smiled happily: "Come to think of it, that's true. I feel that compared to here, the Huo family is more likely to have it. The divination image might have been a bit off."

Huo Qing immediately encouraged: "Then why doesn't girl go to the Huo family to search?"

"Ha... The Huo family is quite strong. Currently, I don't want to provoke them." The girl laughed: "I left home to do a little business of my own, and I lack manpower. I see you're quite interesting like a little adult. How about coming to help me?"

Seeing that she wasn't going to cause trouble for the Huo family, Huo Qing sighed regretfully: "Since my life is girl's, I'll go wherever girl tells me to go. The only premise is that you let me bring A Nuo."

The girl turned her head to look at the small bundle in the swaddling clothes, and her eyes did show a bit of fondness: "Of course you can."

Huo Qing nodded and began to rummage through the old Taoist priest's belongings.

The girl watched with interest as he rummaged through cultivation technique secret books, elixir medicine, and even a land deed.

Huo Qing handed everything to her: "There's no way to repay you. This is a thank-you gift."

"No need, you keep it yourself... From now on, you are my little brother. My name is Yuan Mu Yu. What about you?"

"... Lu Xingzhou."

Seeking wood for fish, travelling by boat on land.

Sister Fish is Master's new life, but Master is A Nuo's life.

......

With a "bang," the alchemy room window was broken, and A Nuo's memories shattered like a mirror, returning to reality.

Looking up, a cold light flew into the room through the autumn rain, shooting straight at Lu Xingzhou, who was seemingly cultivating with his eyes closed beside the alchemy furnace.

Lu Xingzhou extended two fingers and, unbeknownst to her, had already clamped a talisman, which burned without fire.

Before the cold light reached Lu Xingzhou, A Nuo brushed her sleeve, intercepting it. It was only a flying dart.

At the same time, the talisman burned out.

The night sky suddenly erupted with a startling clap of thunder, and a lightning bolt struck straight down. A black shadow outside the window was just about to flee, but how could it avoid the speed of the thunder?

With a "boom," the lightning accurately struck the black shadow's body. The black shadow let out a miserable scream: "Lu Xingzhou! You, you are fundamentally not an eighth-grade Dao cultivator! You actually dare to conceal your cultivation from Yan Jun!"

"I didn't conceal anything from her; I only concealed it from fools like you."

"I came on behalf of Yan Jun! You dare to kill me!"

"You say you don't even know my cultivation, yet you dare to claim that she dispatched you?" Lu Xingzhou said faintly: "Falsely transmitting Yan Jun's order in front of me... Truly following your master, stupid and unaware."

That person was rolling and screaming miserably, his voice hoarse: "You... On what basis do you determine that I am falsely transmitting! Quickly let me go! Otherwise... Ah!"

His voice became smaller and smaller, soon faint and inaudible. In an instant, he was already on the verge of death.

On the verge of death, he heard Lu Xingzhou's sigh: "She and I have never turned against each other... My leaving was not because of your master's slander and exclusion, but only because... she simply doesn't love me."

There was no sound outside the window.

A Nuo crawled up, leaned her head out the window to look, and saw the rainwater splashing on the corpse outside. It was as if the corpse was dissolving in water; gradually, the corpse was completely corroded, leaving not even a speck of ash.

A Nuo didn't know if the other party had heard the last sentence at the point of death. She hoped not, otherwise having to spit it out at death would be truly pitiful.

"Master, why didn't you let him go back this time like before? Don't you care about the incense offering anymore?"

"He found his way to Xia State; letting him go back will only lead to endless trouble. What I need to do in Xia State is very important, and I don't have the leisure time to deal with that group of fools who only have competing men in their heads."

"What if Sister Fish gets angry?"

"The path of immortality is high and far... Yuan Mu Yu's gaze will fundamentally not rest on ordinary people like us for a moment, no matter who." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "Tomorrow, I'll have to get people to repair the window again. It's a waste of money."

"Tch, meaningless." A Nuo knew with one look that this man was changing the subject again. Wasn't it just a woman he couldn't win over? Why make it sound so mysterious?

Sister Fish was beautiful, but her face wasn't as round as A Nuo's.

The alchemy furnace trembled slightly, and the fragrance of elixirs overflowed.

Three shiny golden elixir pills floated out. The spiritual energy they contained almost made A Nuo drunk on oxygen.

Seventh-grade Soul Nourishing Elixir, three pills in one furnace, quality... top grade.

A Nuo's saliva flowed out.

Lu Xingzhou, however, was still very dissatisfied with himself. He absentmindedly looked at the waste residue inside the furnace and murmured to himself: "Wasted two pills... My strength is still insufficient."

A Nuo said: "It's already very amazing, Master. It's rare for a seventh-grade elixir master to refine seventh-grade elixirs and consistently produce top grades, let alone multiple pills."

"But if I'm satisfied with this, how can I break through to the sixth grade?"

"Um..."

"Seventh grade is ultimately only the lower three grades; there's still a qualitative insufficiency. To truly cure my leg, I must break through to the sixth grade. Only then is there a slim chance..." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "As for the breakthrough opportunity... I hope the Huo family doesn't disappoint me."