Chapter 42: Is the World Outside That Dangerous?
[Side Quest 2: Create Supreme Power from nothing (Current quest progress: Preliminary Supreme Power, Beiluo City dominated)
[Congratulations to the Host for creating Preliminary Supreme Power “White Jade City,” you now have 10 available points.
[Hint: Host needs to work harder to make “White Jade City” into a Supreme Power. You may get around 1000 points for doing so.]
Ning Zhao had appeared in front of Lu Fan with unparalleled beauty…
at the same time as this system prompt popped up in front of his eyes.
“New progress… has been made in this quest again?”
Lu Fan couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. But after reading the system prompt, he couldn’t help but sigh deeply.
It was actually surprised him a little.
He thought that he would only be rewarded points after he created a Supreme Power that was superior to all the Hundred Schools of Philosophy. He didn’t know that the quest was divided into smaller segments.
After all, given Lu Fan’s current amount of Refined Qi, it would be a long and difficult road to creating a power that could truly rise above the Hundred Schools of Philosophy.
What really made Lu Fan’s eyes light up was the system’s hint.
If he could really make White Jade City a Supreme Power, he could possibly get 1000 points. 1000 points could become 10,000 wisps of Spirit Qi!
If he could get these points, then he could reach at least the third level of Refined Qi.
But Lu Fan quickly started frowning.
Because when he did his calculations, he suddenly realized that refining Qi… was such a difficult process!
1 Soul Strength point could be exchanged for 10 wisps of Spirit Qi.
Which meant 1000 points could only help him reach the third level of Refined Qi…
So how many points would it take for him to reach the 100th level of Refined Qi?
He felt like he might go crazy.
Now, Lu Fan understood that relying solely on points to increase his level of Refined Qi was unrealistic and next to impossible.
There had to be another way of increasing his level of Refined Qi.
For example, grooming cultivators within the Dao Impartment Platform and taking the Spirit Qi they refined as commission.
This was one way, and there might be more, but he just hadn’t come across them yet.
He might even be able to try refining Qi himself.
He pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind.
In the distance…
Ning Zhao dragged the man along and walked over to them.
She was breathing a little heavily, and her slim face was slightly red with excitement.
“Young Master, after I finished making arrangements at White Jade City, I rushed over from Beiluo Lake Island to a.s.sist Young Master. On the way, I ran into this Sword Sect swordsman making his escape…”
Lu Fan’s eyes landed on the Sword Sect swordsman, whose nose and face were bruised and swollen.
The corners of his mouth couldn’t help but twitch.
Nie Changqing stood next to Lu Fan and was equally speechless.
They both recognized him. This swordsman… was the Sword Sect Grandmaster who had escaped twice right from under their noses, without even looking back… wasn’t he?
This Sword Sect Grandmaster hadn’t joined in the fight. In fact, each time he saw them, he had made a run for it.
Lu Fan and Nie Changqing couldn’t be bothered with him.
They had already thought this fellow had left Beiluo City long ago and had run far, far away.
It never crossed their minds…
That he’d actually been captured by Ning Zhao.
Wasn’t this a little too tragic?
Beneath his bruised nose and swollen face, Jing Yue seemed to be second-guessing his entire life.
“Not bad…”
Lu Fan wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. But thanks to Ning Zhao, perhaps because she had taken this Sword Sect Grandmaster captive, he had completed the initial stage of his quest earlier than expected.
“This swordsman has four swords in his sword box, which makes him a Sixth Resonance
Grandmaster… how did you overtake him?” Nie Changqing asked beside Lu Fan, hugging his butcher knife.
Nie Changqing knew Ning Zhao’s level. She was a First Resonance Grandmaster, Second Stage Qi Core Realm.
Even though she had two wisps of Spirit Qi… it didn’t really seem likely that she could capture a Sixth Resonance Grandmaster alive.
Curiosity was also written all over Lu Fan’s face.
Ning Zhao lifted a pretty hand and pushed away the hair that had fallen on her forehead. She pursed her red lips together slightly, and started laughing.
“At first, I was really no match for this swordsman, and I was in grave danger. But… just when I was at the brink of death, I was suddenly enlightened, and I accidentally gained an understanding of… Spirit Pressure.
“The moment I used Spirit Pressure, this Sword Sect Grandmaster lost all will to fight and wanted nothing else but to escape, so I took the chance to… bash him so hard that his face and nose became bruised and swollen, and took him captive.”
Spirit Pressure?
Nie Changqing was stunned.
Lu Fan’s eyes lit up. His lips curled upward slightly as he looked at Ning Zhao, who looked a little proud of herself.
“Come, let me experience your Spirit Pressure,” Lu Fan said as he gently rubbed his palms.
“All right.”
Ning Zhao flung the swordsman Jing Yue to one side, and the Spirit Qi in her dantian started to rise.
“Young Master… I apologize in advance.”
Her hair flew upward, and her white dressed flapped wildly.
BOOM!
The next moment, as her Spirit Qi continued to swirl about, a sudden pressure pushed against Lu Fan.
The dust on the ground blew, and Lu Fan’s white robe and hair started flapping wildly in the wind.
Yi Yue’s face instantly paled, and she felt as if a huge rock were pressing down on her chest. She found it difficult to breathe, and her slim legs started trembling slightly.
Ni Yu, however, was doing just fine, and wasn’t affected at all. She was carrying the Spirit Pressure Chessboard on her back, and faced the Spirit Pressure like it was just a normal refres.h.i.+ng gust of wind.
“Not bad, just a little weak. But at least you’re able to use Spirit Pressure. Sister Ning, the transfusion technique you learned was the one from my father, right?”
Lu Fan laughed quietly.
Ning Zhao had understood how to use Spirit Pressure, but the amount of Spirit Pressure created with two wisps of Spirit Qi was no match for Lu Fan’s Spirit Pressure.
But in a battle, it was enough to be her winning move.
Jing Yue, with his bruised nose and swollen face, was proof of that.
“That’s right.” Ning Zhao returned her Qi to her dantian and bowed, her slim face looking slightly red.
“Tomorrow, come and look for me, and I’ll teach you how to cultivate. With the help of a cultivation method, you can increase the force of your Spirit Pressure.”
“Thank you so much, Young Master.” Happiness was written all over Ning Zhao’s slim face.
Lu Fan didn’t say anything else. He s.h.i.+fted his gaze to Jing Yue, who had gotten up from the ground and was secretly preparing to make his escape.
Fifty wisps of Spirit Qi rushed out from his dantian.
Boom!
Jing Yue had just flipped himself over to get up, and was all ready to sprint off like a sly little rabbit.
Suddenly, he fell prostrate on the ground, and his face smashed against it. His nose was nearly made crooked from the impact, and blood came out of it…
This was simply too tragic.
Jing Yue suddenly felt like crying…
All this while, he’d never cared to fight, and the one and only time he actually made an attack, he’d lost.
He just wanted to live… was that so hard?
Had the world outside already become so dangerous?!
“You’re still thinking of running?” Lu Fan asked, one hand under his chin, the other lightly tapping against the thin woolen throw covering his legs.
He released the Spirit Pressure.
Jing Yue unsteadily got up from the ground.
Ning Zhao had already taken her place behind Lu Fan, and placed her pretty hands on the wheelchair handles. Yi Yue moved to one side, some fear still on her face.
Nie Changqing hugged his butcher knife and stared coldly at Jing Yue.
The night was getting a little cold.
Jing Yue wiped away the blood from his nose as he looked at Lu Fan seated in his wheelchair and looking as cool as a jade.
He knew he only had two choices.
To die or surrender.
As one of the Seven Heroes of Sword Sect, how could he choose surrender? That was an insult to the way of the sword and his resolve, which had been strengthened by swordsmans.h.i.+p.
Thud!
Jing Yue’s legs gave way, and he fell to his knees.
Without the slightest bit of hesitation, he knelt in front of Lu Fan.
“I… I surrender, I won’t run anymore.”
Lu Fan was a little taken aback. Wasn’t it well known that swordsmen were strong-willed and would rather die than admit defeat?
This fellow… he was supposed to be a Sword Sect Grandmaster, but he didn’t have any pride at all.
Lu Fan’s expression slowly become more and more difficult to read.
Jing Yue looked a mess because of his bruised nose and swollen face, but he was calm and cool when he knew what the best thing for him to do was in a given moment.
Lu Fan leaned against his wheelchair and looked calmly at Jing Yue.
He was trembling slightly, and his face was turning more and more pale by the moment.
After some time…
Lu Fan finally used his finger to lightly tap the thin woolen throw on his legs and said expressionlessly, “You can surrender.”
“But you have to give me a reason not to kill you.”
…
At night, Beiluo City stood alone and proud like a lion.
The sound of horses galloping was deafening.
The three hundred armored hors.e.m.e.n had come back from the plains.
Lu Changkong whipped his horse hard, and with a loud neigh, the horse dashed right to the front of the three hundred armored hors.e.m.e.n.
There were only a few guards left at the city wall, and they immediately pa.s.sed the message on when they saw that Lu Changkong had come das.h.i.+ng back.
They pulled up the poles of the heavy city gate, and the doors parted.
Lu Changkong had a cold expression on his face as he looked at the spa.r.s.e number of guards on the city wall and clenched his teeth.
Something serious must have happened inside the city for the number of guards to be so low.
He brought the three hundred hors.e.m.e.n, as well as the Imperial Advisor’s carriage pulled along by five horses, and rushed into Beiluo City.
The moment he entered the city, he could smell the stench of bodies and bloodshed in the air.
His heart…
immediately sank.