Chapter 945: A Quiet Day, Spring and Autumn Cicada Activates

“You’ve worked hard, husband.”

Hong Lian wrapped her arms around Lu Changsheng, eyes full of tenderness as she nestled into his chest and murmured softly.

“Hardly work at all.”

Lu Changsheng slipped an arm around the goddess-like beauty in his arms, breathing in her light elegant fragrance.

Truth be told, living with Hong Lian day to day was wonderfully comfortable.

When he was away she could handle the Immortal City and all its affairs with steady capable hands.

When they were together she was like a gentle wife, soft and considerate, giving him a steady sense of being needed.

After a brief moment of intimacy, Lu Changsheng made arrangements.

Hong Lian moved into the fourth-rank cave residence that once belonged to True Lord Xuanjian.

Bai Zhaozhao took the cave where True Lord Juejian had cultivated.

As for him, he would share a room with Hong Lian.

Once Yangming Mountain’s spirit veins and grand array were upgraded and the layout redesigned, they would open new cave-residence peaks.

“Lingxiao, stay here and focus on cultivation for a while. You don’t need to worry about affairs.”

Lu Changsheng told his son Lu Lingxiao not to worry about the Immortal City of Damengze.

From now on he would cultivate here on Yangming Mountain.

He then placed the Nine-Leaf Sword Grass in the cave to serve as protector for Hong Lian, and took his son Lu Qingxuan back to Bihu Mountain.

Earlier, his son Lu Qingshan and daughter Lu Qingzhu had already returned to the Jiang Kingdom with Lu Wangshu and the others to Bihu Mountain.

Zhao Qingqing had also broken through to Core Formation and was currently at Bihu Mountain.

As a father and a husband, he really should go see them.

Otherwise, once Hong Lian began her charge at Nascent Soul he would need to sit in protection here and might not be able to leave for a year or two.

“Holy crap—five Nascent Souls attacked and in no time four were suppressed, and even the Northern Region’s top giant, the Lord of Luofu Mountain, was driven off?”

Although news from the Immortal City of Damengze hadn’t yet spread through the Jiang Kingdom,

the Talisman Lu Family, one of the kingdom’s top powers, received it immediately.

At Bihu Mountain, Lu Qingshan heard the news and stared in shock, blurting out in disbelief.

He had been stunned during the Liang-Yue War when Yangming True Lord captured and killed many Nascent Souls.

He could hardly believe Yangming True Lord was his father.

Now five Nascent Soul cultivators had provoked the Immortal City, four were subdued, and only one fled.

This shocked him even more.

After all, five Nascent Souls attacking together was a far cry from picking them off one by one as in the war.

And then there was the Northern Region giant, the Lord of Luofu Mountain.

Lu Qingshan had only ever heard the name of such a top cultivator.

He’d thought a real man should be like that. One day he’d shake the Northern Region too and become a top giant himself.

But now, the very figure he looked up to and treated as a future goal had apparently lost to his father.

It was mind-blowing.

If his father weren’t always here one moment and gone the next, and if their fates didn’t seem to constantly cross paths, he’d have rushed to the Immortal City already—afraid that the moment he arrived his father would have returned to Bihu Mountain.

And it wasn’t just Lu Qingshan.

Lu Miaoge, Lu Miaohuan, Lu Ping’an, and Lu Wangshu all heard the news from the Immortal City and were equally stunned.

Only Lu Miaoyun and Qu Zhenzhen were calm.

In their eyes their husband had long since become capable of anything.

A mere five Nascent Souls.

He’d handled six or seven before—what was five more?

As for the so-called Northern Region giant, Lord of Luofu Mountain, they hadn’t heard of him.

Even after hearing about this top giant from Lu Qingshan, the two showed no change.

My husband is number one under heaven.

Still, Lu Miaoyun tried to contact Lu Changsheng right away to ask if he was hurt.

“Don’t worry. Your husband is coming home now.”

Receiving his wife’s message, Lu Changsheng smiled. The Misty Dust Banner appeared in his hand.

Bihu Mountain.

Sensing through the array’s master control plate that Lu Changsheng had returned, Lu Miaoyun and Lu Miaoge went to the top of Biyun Peak to welcome him.

Seeing Lu Qingxuan beside him, the two women smiled. “Qingxuan, you’re back too.”

“Aunt, greetings.” Even though Lu Qingxuan had broken through to Core Formation, he showed no arrogance before a Foundation Establishment aunt. He bowed respectfully.

“Miaoge, Yun.”

Lu Changsheng smiled and went with them toward the Lu Family compound, asking if Qingshan, Xiaozhu, and Wangshu were home.

“They are. After hearing the news from the Immortal City, they couldn’t wait to see you.”

Thinking of Lu Qingshan earlier shouting as he explained who the Lord of Luofu Mountain was and how powerful he was, Lu Miaoyun couldn’t help but smile.

To Bihu Mountain and the Jiang Kingdom, Lu Qingshan was already a major figure, respected and admired by countless cultivators.

“Heh.” Lu Changsheng sent his divine sense across Bihu Mountain to summon his children to the main hall.

Lu Qingshan arrived first at the message. He burst into congratulations and flattery, then sighed with regret. “A shame I wasn’t there to witness it.”

“When did you pick up this flashy way of talking?”

Lu Changsheng chuckled. He knew exactly what kind of temper his son had.

“Dad, I mean it. That was five Nascent Soul cultivators!”

Lu Qingshan might have been hamming it up, but his shock and awe were genuine.

To Lu Changsheng, ordinary Nascent Souls barely counted and could be slain with a flick.

Even mid-Nascent Soul giants like Luofuzi didn’t faze him. He could force a Soul Escape and send them fleeing in disgrace.

But for a Core Formation cultivator like Lu Qingshan, Nascent Soul True Lords were still lofty figures.

Each one deserved respect and awe.

Now four of those lofty Nascent Soul True Lords had been subdued by his father, and one had fled in disarray. How could he not be shaken?

“Dad, I heard someone else showed up besides the five True Lords—the Northern Region’s top giant, the Lord of Luofu Mountain. Is that true?”

Lu Qingshan pressed on.

“Your news travels fast.” Lu Changsheng took the spirit tea Lu Miaoyun handed him, sipped, and smiled.

“Dad, did you really beat the Lord of Luofu Mountain?”

It wasn’t that Lu Qingshan didn’t trust his father.

It was just too unbelievable.

Even if his father was a reincarnated legendary cultivator and had advanced quickly to Nascent Soul,

how could he already stand shoulder to shoulder with a top giant like the Lord of Luofu Mountain?

After all, his father had cultivated just over a century.

A giant like Luofuzi had shaken the Northern Region for over a hundred years.

He must have cultivated five or six centuries at least.

Especially since Dad always felt a bit… not exactly focused on proper cultivation.

“Take a guess.” Lu Changsheng smiled faintly.

Just then Lu Ping’an, Lu Wangshu, and Lu Qingzhu arrived.

“Dad. Aunt. Qingxuan.”

“Daddy, Mommy!”

Compared to the boisterous Lu Qingshan, Lu Ping’an and Lu Qingzhu were much steadier.

One bowed with a calm face. The other curtsied, quiet and gentle.

Lu Wangshu fell somewhere in between—bright and lively, close and natural, with little ceremony.

“Ping’an, Wangshu, Xiaozhu.”

Ignoring his loud son, Lu Changsheng rose to greet the three.

It wasn’t just Lu Qingshan.

Lu Ping’an and Lu Wangshu were also curious about what happened in the Immortal City.

“It’s as you heard. As for Luofuzi, I edged him out by a hair.”

Lu Changsheng spoke casually, saying nothing about destroying Luofuzi’s body and Qi.

That was too shocking to bother with.

Even so, Lu Qingshan and Lu Wangshu kept asking, wanting to know a giant’s means and how their father surpassed him.

Anyone who reached Nascent Soul stood at the pinnacle, a dragon among men.

To rise above even Nascent Souls and become a giant meant talent, strength, fortune, and methods far beyond the ordinary.

They normally had no access to such matters.

Now that they did, they weren’t going to miss it.

“Daddy, tell us, please.”

Faced with his daughter’s soft plea, Lu Changsheng sighed and relented, explaining Luofuzi’s methods.

“The Lord of Luofu Mountain cultivated both body and magic, his mana vast, his divine abilities pushed to the extreme.”

He described Luofuzi’s Spirit Treasures and techniques, leaving the others clicking their tongues.

Both Domain and Dharma Manifestation were top-tier divine abilities. Without exceptional talent you couldn’t even get started.

And they burned resources like a furnace.

“My cultivation is lower than his, but I had a slight edge in treasures and methods.”

Seeing the surprise and awe on his wife and children’s faces, Lu Changsheng smiled. He didn’t mention the Turtle Immortal Patriarch’s sneak attack.

A spirit pet was part of a cultivator’s strength. No need to overexplain. Winning was what mattered.

“Enough. That level of combat is too far from you for now. When you reach Nascent Soul you’ll start to grasp it.”

He waved it off, then asked after their cultivation.

He’d come back to see his wives and children,

and also to use the Spring and Autumn Cicada to invest resources and help them advance.

His eldest, Lu Ping’an, still hadn’t digested the resources he’d been given. He was stuck at the bottleneck from Third-Rank Top-Tier body refinement to Quasi-Fourth Order.

He could either spend time or keep piling on resources.

Now Lu Changsheng lacked neither time nor resources. He planned to use the cicada to push him through.

“Come with me.”

After some small talk, Lu Changsheng brought them into the Sumeru Cave Heaven.

From his sleeve he produced a palm-sized, crystal-clear cicada. Its broad wings overlapped with patterns like the growth rings of a tree.

“Dad, what’s that?”

Lu Ping’an, Lu Qingshan, and Lu Wangshu could tell at a glance this cicada was no ordinary thing.

The mist curling off it carried a sense of time—seasons turning, years flowing.

“This is the Spring and Autumn Cicada,” Lu Changsheng said with a smile.

“One of the top ten wondrous insects of the cultivation world—the Spring and Autumn Cicada?”

Lu Wangshu gasped, eyes bright as she studied it.

She couldn’t recognize it by looks alone,

but she’d read about its name often.

“Not bad. Seems you’ve done your reading, Wangshu.”

Lu Changsheng gave his daughter an approving look. “The Spring and Autumn Cicada controls the power of time. It can tug at the flow of years and form a Timeflow Barrier where time passes differently than outside.”

Its ability to strip lifespans was more terrifying on paper,

but in his view this Timeflow Barrier was the most practical use.

“Time flows differently inside than outside?”

They immediately grasped how incredible that was.

And they guessed what their father planned.

He would use the cicada to help them cultivate.

For most cultivators, the cicada’s effect was limited.

Without talent and resources, shutting yourself away for years didn’t help much.

But they had Lu Changsheng for a father. Resources weren’t a problem.

Lu Ping’an had a mountain of body-refinement materials, enough for decades.

Lu Wangshu had the top-tier Blood Talisman Spirit Body, matching inheritance, and the Clear Dao Heart Dao Seed—she was an elite seed for the path.

Given time alone, she could cultivate to late Core Formation without bottlenecks.

Lu Qingxuan’s talent was above average and he lacked nothing in resources.

He’d reaped gains in the Liang-Yue War, and he still hadn’t fully refined the Thunderstruck Fusang Wood.

Lu Qingzhu’s talent was ordinary, but he’d already maxed her Core Formation resources.

Now she only needed the proper secret techniques and she could冲击 Core Formation.

In short, as long as they had time, they would grow.

And with the Spring and Autumn Cicada, he would give them that time.

“Ping’an, you first.”

Lu Changsheng looked to his eldest, wanting to see what time ratio the cicada’s barrier would produce for him.

Lu Ping’an stepped forward.

The Spring and Autumn Cicada fluttered its wings, stirring the River of Time. A bowl of light patterned like the rings of years formed and covered Lu Ping’an.

Lu Changsheng extended his divine sense to observe the timeflow inside.

Ten to one.

Twenty to one.

Thirty to one.

It reached sixty to one before the cicada signaled the drain was too great.

Under normal conditions, it could hold at about forty-three to one.

“So it differs by more than tenfold.”

Previously, when the cicada formed a barrier for Lu Changsheng, four to one was already a heavy strain.

Normally it could only maintain three to one.

But for Lu Ping’an it could hold at over forty to one.

That was the gap between a Core Formation cultivator and a Nascent Soul.

Once Lu Ping’an reached Fourth-Rank body refinement the effect would drop sharply.

But for now the cicada was perfect.

“One year outside for forty-three inside. That’s plenty.” Lu Changsheng’s eyes lit.

With forty-three years, never mind Quasi-Fourth. He could push his son all the way to Fourth-Rank body refinement.

But his son’s Qi cultivation was too low—only fourth-layer Core Formation.

He had to raise him to late Core Formation and strengthen his Spirit-Soul first, then break through in body refinement.

Otherwise the body would outpace his Spirit-Soul and mana.

With the cicada, two or three years would be enough to raise him.

He’d bring the cultivation up first, then push the body.

“Miaoge, your turn.”

He turned to his wife Lu Miaoge.

He wanted to see the ratio with her and Lu Ping’an both inside.

Lu Miaoge glided forward.

With her added, the cicada had to ease the pressure on Lu Ping’an.

It could hold both at thirty to one at best.

“Seems the cicada can handle at most three to five people at once.”

Lu Changsheng then called up Lu Qingxuan, Lu Wangshu, and Lu Qingzhu.

With Lu Qingxuan added, thirty to one dropped to twenty to one.

With Lu Wangshu added, twenty to one fell to ten to one.

Lu Qingzhu, still in Foundation Establishment, barely affected it, and they could still hold ten to one.

“So, four at Core Formation and two or three at Foundation Establishment, at most.”

Lu Changsheng decided to build a little time chamber with the cicada and have his family rotate through in batches.

One, the barrier’s effect was limited. Too many people diluted it.

Two, cultivating inside was like truly spending years or decades. It took a toll on body and mind and required rest.

They couldn’t stay inside endlessly.

Seeing his siblings experience the cicada while he was left out, Lu Qingshan called, “Dad, what about me?”

“You’ll come with me to Yangming Mountain to cultivate a bit later.”

Lu Changsheng planned to have him comprehend the Nine-Leaf Sword Technique at Yangming Mountain.

“Got it!” Lu Qingshan grinned and stopped asking.

He’d brought his sister back to Bihu Mountain, and the Golden Sun Sect’s sect master, Supreme Elder, and Immortal Tian Yuan all hoped that through Changsheng True Lord he could receive guidance from Yangming True Lord.

If he gained Yangming True Lord’s favor, Nascent Soul would be within reach.

Thinking how he could openly claim that connection after going to Yangming Mountain, Lu Qingshan looked delighted.

“Ping’an, spend some time with Xiaofan, then settle into the cicada’s barrier and focus on cultivation.”

Lu Changsheng hoped his son’s strength would rise quickly.

“Yes, Dad.” Lu Ping’an answered gravely. He knew his current strength couldn’t yet help his father or the family.

“Dad, I can’t train my divine arts without your help.”

Lu Wangshu had plenty to learn, but the two talisman arts she’d chosen required his assistance.

“What’s the rush? As if I’d forget you.”

Lu Changsheng tapped her fair forehead. Her divine arts wouldn’t be mastered in a day anyway.

“Dad, let me try it too.”

Seeing Lu Qingxuan already cultivating with the cicada, Lu Qingshan spoke up.

“Fine, go on in.” Lu Changsheng told the cicada, forming a Timeflow Barrier for Lu Qingshan.

He then left the Sumeru Cave Heaven with his wives and children to find Lu Xingchen, Lu Baixi, and Lu Linghe.