Chapter 23: Qi Condensation Level Three!

Time flew by. In the blink of an eye, more than three months had passed.

During these three months, Lu Changsheng’s eleventh, twelfth, and thirteenth children were born.

However, none of these three children had Spirit Roots.

Lu Changsheng had come to terms with this aspect, knowing it couldn’t be forced.

But he didn’t stop trying for children because of this probability.

After all, having many children was the way to go.

As long as he kept trying, with enough children, some would have Spirit Roots.

Plus, as the number of children increased, the system would offer rewards.

In these three months, two more of Lu Changsheng’s concubines became pregnant with their second child.

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

With three more on the way, he had become quite famous in the Lu Family’s Qingzhu Valley.

Everyone knew the Lu Family had taken in a son-in-law with an extraordinary talent for Talisman Making, but who loved women and having children.

During this time, Lu Yuanshan Ding had come to chat with Lu Changsheng once.

He advised Lu Changsheng not to indulge too much in women and to focus more on cultivation and talisman studies, or he’d waste his life.

Faced with this advice, Lu Changsheng naturally nodded and agreed.

But he also expressed that his Spirit Root was poor, he had no grand ambitions in this life, and was content with his current lifestyle, only wanting a large family in the future.

If he could have a few children with Spirit Roots, he’d focus on raising them.

Hearing this, Lu Yuanshan Ding didn’t know how to respond and told Lu Changsheng something.

The Lu Family had a rule: all children who hadn’t shown signs of Spirit Roots by age six were to be sent to the mortal world.

Even with some leeway, by their early teens, they must be sent to the mortal world.

They wouldn’t be allowed to stay on Qingzhu Mountain indefinitely.

Because these children had no Spirit Roots, they couldn’t cultivate immortality and could only do odd jobs on Qingzhu Mountain.

Young eagles must one day fly into the sky and face strong winds and waves.

Without Spirit Roots, keeping children close would only hold them back.

The Lu Family also had branches and businesses in the mortal world that could ensure these children a life of wealth and comfort.

If Lu Changsheng wished, his children could be sent to the Lu Family in the mortal world in the future.

After hearing Lu Yuanshan Ding’s words, Lu Changsheng felt somewhat heavy-hearted.

After three years, he still hadn’t fully adapted to this world’s rules.

It was hard for him to accept sending children to the mortal world at just six years old.

He now had thirteen children, and only one had a Spirit Root.

But he understood Lu Yuanshan Ding was right.

If children had no Spirit Roots, keeping them close wasn’t good for them.

As parents, they needed to let go and allow their children to grow.

So,

Lu Changsheng decided to wait until the children were older before sending them to the mortal world.

He’d also let the children explore and experience the world on their own.

Before that, as he had thought before, he’d ask Li Feiyu to teach his children martial arts.

This would not only strengthen their bodies but also give them some self-defense skills for dangers in the mortal world.

After all, this world was dangerous not just in the immortal cultivation realm, but also in the mortal world with its many conflicts. He couldn’t always be there to protect his children.

Of course, he didn’t deny having some selfish motives.

He hoped his children’s martial arts practice would bring some improvements to his own strength.

Also, once his children established themselves in the mortal world, they could start their own branch of the Lu Family, a martial arts family.

If any descendants with Spirit Roots appeared in the family, they could be sent to him for guidance.

This was the model most immortal cultivation families followed, flourishing in both the mortal and immortal worlds.

…

On this day,

As Lu Changsheng meditated in the practice room, a surge of energy flowed through his body, causing his robes to flutter without wind.

“Qi Condensation Level Three!”

“I finally broke through before the appointment!”

A moment later, his energy settled, and Lu Changsheng opened his eyes, his face full of joy.

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

But from Level Two to Level Three, it only took ten months.

This significant improvement was due to Qingzhu Valley’s Second-Tier spirit vein, the talent boost from his seventh son Lu Xian’er’s Spirit Root, and increased cultivation resources.

He now had ten Spirit Stones, thirty jin of Spirit Rice, and a bottle of Yellow Dragon Pills each month.

Currently, his children were still young and didn’t have many expenses, and his wives didn’t have many places to spend money.

So he could use most of these Spirit Stones on himself to improve his cultivation speed.

Although his talent was poor and it was hard to achieve much through cultivation alone, he couldn’t slack off.

After all, to rely on his children for advancement, they needed to grow up first.

Moreover, out of his thirteen children, only the seventh had a Spirit Root, and it was a low-Tier one at that.

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

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

Lu Changsheng stood up and adjusted his mystic robe.

He went to the bronze mirror to look at himself.

His originally ordinary face now had more defined features, and his once-tanned skin had become fair and delicate, making him appear much more handsome.

As they say, clothes make the man, and the saddle makes the horse.

The long cyan mystic robe fit him perfectly as if tailor-made, accentuating his tall and straight figure.

With his gentle and handsome face, upright posture, and an aura of composure and quiet confidence, he exuded a mysterious nobility.

Compared to three years ago, his appearance and demeanor had undergone a dramatic change.

This was partly due to the effects of cultivating the Immortal Posture Technique.

It was also due to physical development, living a life of luxury, awakening his past life’s memories, activating the system, and changes in his mentality.

The Immortal Posture Technique alone wouldn’t have such a noticeable effect.

Looking at himself in the mirror, Lu Changsheng smiled lightly and went out to tell his wife he was going on a trip back to the mortal world.

Lu Changsheng had already discussed this with his wife and applied to the Lu Family.

The Lu Family had readily agreed and even asked if Lu Changsheng needed someone to accompany him.

In the half year since moving to Qingzhu Valley, Lu Changsheng had perfectly completed all talisman-drawing tasks for the Lu Family, performing exceptionally well, so the Lu Family valued him even more.

To this, Lu Changsheng said he was just meeting with a friend and going home to handle some relationships, so he didn’t need company.

Although having someone along would be safer, it would also be restrictive and inconvenient.

The Lu Family didn’t insist and gave him a Communication Talisman, telling him to be careful on his journey.

Putting the already packed Storage Bag into his robe, Lu Changsheng came to Qingzhu Mountain Estate and knocked on Li Feiyu’s door.

“I thought something had come up and you weren’t going,” Li Feiyu said with a smile as he opened the courtyard gate, holding his child.

His child was just three months old, a girl.

“I was about to break through, so I waited until now,” Lu Changsheng said.

“You broke through to Qi Condensation Level Three!?” Li Feiyu exclaimed in surprise.

During this time, Lu Changsheng hadn’t stopped practicing spells.

He had mastered all basic spells like Fireball, Wind Riding, Object Control, Energy Concealment, Heavenly Eye, and Sound Transmission.

Spells, like Talisman Making, become relatively easier once you’ve mastered the basics.

At this moment, Lu Changsheng was using the Energy Concealment spell to slightly suppress his body’s Qi, so Li Feiyu hadn’t noticed that Lu Changsheng had just broken through to Qi Condensation Level Three.

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

“Tsk tsk tsk, just breaking through to Qi Condensation Level Three, your cultivation speed is probably catching up to a medium-Tier Spirit Root, isn’t it?” Li Feiyu couldn’t help but shake his head and sigh in admiration.

He had been far ahead of Lu Changsheng at both Qi Condensation Level One and Two.

But now, he was still at the peak of Qi Condensation Level Two, while Lu Changsheng had directly overtaken him, breaking through to Level Three even faster.

This made him feel quite emotional and a bit envious.

“Hah, it’s all thanks to external aids. It’ll be hard to break through from Qi Condensation Level Three to Four,” Lu Changsheng waved his hand.

He knew his own situation.

If it weren’t for a bottle of Yellow Dragon Pills every month, plus using all his Spirit Stones to buy spirit vegetables, Spirit Tea, and monster meat, how could he break through so quickly?

It would have taken at least another year or more.

Moreover, for the nine levels of Qi Condensation, the first three levels could be achieved with just time and effort, without much difficulty.

But breaking through from Level Three to Four was harder.

It was the transition from early to mid Qi Condensation stage, with a bottleneck.

And the poorer the Spirit Root, the harder it was to break through this bottleneck.

“I believe this won’t be difficult for you,” Li Feiyu said, not dwelling on the topic. “Are we leaving now?”

“I’m ready to go anytime. What about you? Do you need to prepare anything?” Lu Changsheng asked.

“I’m all packed too. Let’s go then,” Li Feiyu said, carrying his child to the back courtyard and handing her to a concubine he had recently taken. Then he left with Lu Changsheng.