Chapter 913: Lu Yunxiao and Zhao Qingqing Attempt Core Formation

“Marriage.” Chu Qingyi’s heart trembled, her red lips pressed tight.

Back when she gave birth to her son Lu Shouzheng, she had always hoped she and Lu Changsheng could be together openly and properly.

Then her son could own his identity and walk the world with his head held high.

But now Lu Changsheng had become the Yangming True Lord who single-handedly ended the Liang-Yue War and shook the Southern Desolation and the Northern Region, and he had even become Dao partners with her Master.

Her heart drifted in confusion, torn between fear and hope.

She felt unworthy of Lu Changsheng, and their relationship felt impossibly tangled.

Lu Changsheng knew Chu Qingyi was tightly wound when it came to feelings.

Seeing her wide eyes go hazy and timid, he cupped her cheeks, thumb brushing away the faint bite mark she’d left without realizing. “If you won’t marry me, who are you going to marry?”

Before she could answer, he leaned in, captured her dewy lips, and gently stole the sweetness there.

Faced with that familiar invasion and plunder, Chu Qingyi’s long lashes trembled. She closed her eyes, her body slowly going soft.

After a while, she flushed, flustered. “Shouzheng and Yunxiao are still outside. Don’t start.”

This man really had no sense of propriety. The two kids were right outside the hall.

His hand palmed the soft fullness beneath her rumpled collar. In a low voice he said, “A day apart feels like three autumns. I missed you too much, Qingyi.”

He moved in again.

Under his firm overbearing push, the originally tangled, at-a-loss Chu Qingyi slowly let her mind melt and drift.

Afterward.

Lu Changsheng held her blushing, fever-hot, sweat-slick body, fingers sinking into softness. “Then it’s settled. When Master returns, I’ll come to propose, marry you properly, and hold the grand ceremony.”

“As for Yunxiao, you know Master’s temperament. For now, we’ll pretend we don’t know.”

“Once I fulfill Master’s condition, everything will be resolved.”

Faced with a woman who easily spiraled over emotions, he chose to cut through the tangle and not leave her time to overthink.

“Condition?” Chu Qingyi asked, puzzled.

Lu Changsheng told her about his agreement with Yun Wanshang.

Chu Qingyi’s expression went dazed.

Back then, Master set a fifty-year Core Formation pact for Junior Sister and Lu Changsheng.

After that, Lu Changsheng proposed a fifty-year Nascent Soul pact to her.

Now Master had set a new pact with him: to become a top cultivator of the Southern Desolation.

“Why didn’t Master set a Spirit Transformation pact?”

She wondered, since Junior Sister’s was Core Formation and hers was Nascent Soul, shouldn’t Master set Spirit Transformation?

Did Master know Spirit Transformation was almost impossible here, while becoming a top cultivator of the South wasn’t so far off?

The moment that thought surfaced, Chu Qingyi banished it. How could she slander Master?

She must have been led astray by Lu Changsheng.

Still, she couldn’t help but wonder: if Master had set Spirit Transformation, could Lu Changsheng have done it?

By all records, the Southern Desolation lacked a Fifth-Rank Spiritual Vein and the environment and conditions to challenge Spirit Transformation, hence no Spirit Transformation cultivators.

But Lu Changsheng didn’t seem to fit common logic.

“Qingyi, where did your mind wander? Jealous of Master? Or worried Master will be jealous?”

Seeing her breath warm and sweet, clearly drifting off again, he pinched her exquisite chin and spoke gently.

Though his words earlier had shaken the flawless image of Master in her heart,

Chu Qingyi still refused to let him slander the Master who was both teacher and mother to her.

“Don’t talk nonsense. How would I… would I…”

She spoke in anger and grievance. How could she be jealous of Master?

It was just that she still didn’t know how to face Master’s relationship with Lu Changsheng.

“Alright, alright.” Lu Changsheng smiled and apologized. He knew how lofty Yun Wanshang stood in her heart, untouchable.

He figured only in the future would the two—master and disciple—

“What bad thing are you thinking now?”

Chu Qingyi noticed “little Lu Changsheng” stir and flushed with shame and annoyance.

They had just finished. If he was reacting again, he was definitely thinking bad thoughts.

After spending so long with him, she knew him well enough.

“?” Lu Changsheng cleared his head and said solemnly, “I’ve reached fourth-rank body refinement. Strong blood energy is normal, isn’t it? Qingyi, you know your husband—”

Chu Qingyi pushed herself up, unwilling to keep talking about something so shameless.

Besides, their sons were still outside. They couldn’t keep messing around.

With his physique, if they kept going, it could last days and nights.

Seeing her emotions had steadied, he stopped fooling around. He rose with her, dressed, and cast a cleansing spell over the hall.

“How are you going to face Yunxiao later?”

Once they were presentable, Chu Qingyi asked.

“Just like this,” Lu Changsheng said. With outsiders, he could use the Kirin Sword Lord persona.

But among family, there was no need.

“How about using the Kirin Sword Lord’s appearance and spending some time with Yunxiao first?”

She spoke softly. If he was this casual, Master would find out.

By then she’d have to pretend she didn’t know. That would be…

Lu Changsheng thought Chu Qingyi really did protect and think for Yun Wanshang.

But seeing her careful eyes, he nodded.

Leaving the side hall, he played both roles, checking on his sons Lu Shouzheng and Lu Yunxiao.

Though Lu Shouzheng didn’t feel close to this father, he remained respectful, proper, and polite.

Precisely because of this, both he and Chu Qingyi could see the child’s faint distance.

Lu Changsheng didn’t mind and asked about his cultivation.

As for Lu Yunxiao, he’d also only met this father a few times. Not close, he acted much like Shouzheng.

“Your mother won’t be back for a while. I’ll take you out for a walk.”

Feeling the air a little stiff, Lu Changsheng took Yunxiao out of the Azure Cloud Sect to build father-son rapport.

Elsewhere, he used an Incarnation Talisman to go out on a spring outing with Chu Qingyi and Lu Shouzheng as a family of three.

The incarnation couldn’t stray too far from the main body.

But with his late-stage Nascent Soul spirit-soul, it was fine as long as they weren’t hundreds of miles apart.

“In front of your dad, there’s no need to be so stiff.”

Lu Changsheng said to his son Lu Yunxiao.

As a Nascent Soul cultivator, the Lu Ancestor saw through this son’s nature at a glance.

If Lu Shouzheng was truly serious, then Lu Yunxiao was fake serious.

On the surface he was a prematurely mature, polite, well-mannered boy.

But he’d been sneaking glances the whole time, studying his father, mind clearly at work.

“I understand, Father.” Lu Yunxiao bowed, realizing Father wasn’t as strict as he looked.

“Did you learn that from Shouzheng, or did your mother teach you?”

He suspected the latter. Yun Wanshang’s temperament was solemn and straight-laced.

“Mother once said, ‘Without learning ritual, one cannot stand.’ The books also say, ‘Rites are the foundation of conduct.’ I’m young, but I know I mustn’t be rude.”

“Of course, spending time with Brother Shouzheng and observing his words and actions, I’ve also benefited a lot.”

Lu Changsheng was speechless before his little old-man son.

Yes, you should educate children early.

But he didn’t like this rigid personality. He preferred lively and natural.

“At your age, you should act your age,” Lu Changsheng told him.

“Do you mean childlike nature?”

Lu Yunxiao tilted his head, thinking Father liked him to look naive, childish, full of worship.

He found that childish, but if Father liked it, he could put on a bit. It might help their bond.

“Forget it. Just be yourself.”

Through the Taiyi Spirit, Lu Changsheng caught his son’s inner thoughts.

He realized he couldn’t treat this boy as a normal five- or six-year-old. He was very early-witted.

“What do you like to do?” Lu Changsheng asked.

“Reading and practicing the sword,” Lu Yunxiao answered seriously.

In truth, he wasn’t that into sword practice. If not sparring with Shouzheng, he’d rather hold the Da Luo Sword Embryo and comprehend.

Most sword arts and sword moves, he could grasp at a glance. There was little need to practice much.

“Come, let Dad see how much you’ve learned from the sword embryo over the years.”

Lu Changsheng smiled, wanting to see how his son’s sword talent had grown.

This son had a Sword Embryo Dao Body and had been nourished by the Da Luo Sword Embryo constantly—cultivating every moment, steeped in the sword Dao.

“Yes.” Lu Yunxiao didn’t use the Da Luo Sword Embryo at first, but a wooden sword given by Lu Shouzheng.

“Use the sword embryo,” Lu Changsheng said.

The boy hadn’t formally cultivated. His realm and power all came from the sword embryo.

Only by using the Da Luo Sword Embryo could he fully bring out his sword Dao.

Lu Yunxiao was surprised, aware of the sword embryo’s power.

But since Father said so, he obeyed. The Da Luo Sword Embryo in his Qi Sea Dantian fell into his hand.

It could shift size at will, yet in his hand it was still a bit big.

“Be careful, Father,” Lu Yunxiao said with a bow.

“Just give it your all,” Lu Changsheng beckoned, disliking his son’s overly serious air at such a young age.

Lu Yunxiao stopped talking and moved, face calm and indifferent.

The strike looked mild, but when it reached Lu Changsheng it burst with shocking might.

Lu Changsheng gathered a sword of magical energy and lightly parried.

Lu Yunxiao kept going. The sword wasn’t arrogant, his qi wasn’t angry. Everything flowed, but his bearing held a sharper edge.

Lu Changsheng could see his son’s mind like still water, without ripple or flaw, as if in a state of Sword Heart Clarity. Subtle and profound.

“Not bad, not bad. A sword without pride, qi without anger. Spirit like thunder about to break, heart like a frozen lake.”

Though he didn’t like his son’s little old-man act,

such astonishing sword talent at this age delighted him.

“I’m still far from you, Father,” Lu Yunxiao said, knowing his sword and techniques were nothing before him.

He remembered hearing his parents chat that Father once ambushed a Nascent Soul cultivator?

“Heh. You’re only a few years old and already want to compare with me?”

Lu Changsheng laughed and kept sparring.

“How long would it take me to reach your level?”

Lu Yunxiao asked, his sword steady and unhurried, already capable of splitting his focus.

Normally, his children might never reach his level in this life.

But if he meant his current realm, the second layer of Nascent Soul…

“At least a hundred years.”

Lu Changsheng said so, afraid too long a time would hit the boy’s motivation.

Lu Yunxiao wasn’t discouraged. He knew cultivation progressed through Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul.

Reaching Nascent Soul by two hundred years counted as top-tier genius.

“Books say reaching Nascent Soul by two hundred is top-tier. Most do it after three hundred.”

He knew his talent was high. His birth was others’ starting line.

But he didn’t know the exact degree.

Only that it was tied to the Da Luo Sword Embryo.

“Right. Two hundred to Nascent Soul is top-tier, but you’re not in that bracket. You’re a whole tier above. From the moment you were born, you were destined to lead the sword Dao.”

Lu Changsheng smiled, not treating him like a child.

“Leader of the sword Dao…”

Lu Yunxiao hadn’t thought his gift was that extraordinary.

But thinking it over, he accepted it.

Brother Shouzheng’s talent was already excellent, but he was far above him.

Father and son chatted and sparred, drawing closer.

But he was still a child. A short while using the Da Luo Sword Embryo left him tired.

“No rush in cultivation. Later I’ll teach you a method to temper your body.”

Lu Changsheng said. At this stage he didn’t need formal cultivation—comprehending the Da Luo Sword Embryo was enough.

But since he was so precocious, he could teach the Hundred Refinements Body Technique and use medicinal baths to cleanse marrow and strengthen his roots.

Faced with a son of such peerless talent, Lu Changsheng wanted to pour in every resource.

He wanted to see how monstrous his growth could be under his care.

He wouldn’t play favorites.

Besides Lu Yunxiao, he also prepared a medicinal bath for Lu Shouzheng.

But he still needed to head to the Immortal City of Damengze, so he lacked time to brew slowly and teach step by step.

He handed the medicinal bath method and the Hundred Refinements Body Technique to Chu Qingyi to arrange and teach both boys.

Beyond his sons and Chu Qingyi, Lu Changsheng hadn’t forgotten Zhao Qingqing.

She had already reached the peak of Foundation Establishment.

After three years of preparation, her magical energy was seamless and her realm could go no higher, waiting for a sliver of fate to maximize her breakthrough odds.

Lu Changsheng took Zhao Qingqing to Biyun Peak, to the underground palace where the Xuantian Spirit Vine grew.

She had a body of wood and cultivated the Treasure Cauldron Medicine King Scripture, making her extremely compatible with a heavenly spirit plant like the Xuantian Spirit Vine.

Attempting Core Formation beside it could grant a boost.

Besides, the Xuantian Spirit Vine gathered Fortune.

The Lu clan’s clan fortune was now overwhelming.

Breaking through beside it, Zhao Qingqing could receive the Lu Family’s Fortune as a blessing.

But he hadn’t called her here just for the vine. He had another method—the Peach Blossom Dao Rhyme.

This Dao rhyme enhanced worldly Fortune, purified emotional miasma, and warded off poison fog and the interference of heart demons.

All of which helped her attempt Core Formation.

Lu Changsheng dual cultivated with Zhao Qingqing for a few days. A peach blossom mark bloomed between his brows, then condensed into a petal and drifted onto her.

Zhao Qingqing felt her mind become crystal clear, as if something subtle had settled into her—hard to name, hard to grasp.

“Qingqing, quiet your heart and break through here.”

Lu Changsheng said, then called his wife Lu Miaoge over to help guard.

“Miaoge, these next days I’ll trouble you to protect Qingqing. If anything comes up, tell me at once.”

A Core Formation attempt took at least half a year.

Lu Changsheng still had to go to the Immortal City of Damengze, so he couldn’t keep watch the whole time.

But Zhao Qingqing’s preparations were complete. With Lu Miaoge and the Sumeru Tree King guarding, it was enough.

If something unexpected happened, they could notify him to salvage it.

“Thank you, Husband. Thank you, Miaoge.”

Though Zhao Qingqing cultivated mostly at the Azure Cloud Sect,

both children were on Bihu Mountain, so she often visited and was on good terms with Lu Miaoge and Lu Miaoyun.

Even so, faced with such a carefully arranged chance to form a core, she was deeply moved.

With Bihu Mountain matters arranged, Lu Changsheng didn’t delay. He produced the Misty Dust Banner and headed for the Immortal City of Damengze.