"That sword..."
Lu Qinghe understood.
Jing Wuxie's sword that cut down the ancient tree was meant for him to see.
He had observed Lu Qinghe practicing swordsmanship and did not want to owe anyone a favor, so the bottle of Doushou Spirit Pill was his way of repaying him.
Lu Qinghe saw this from Jing Wuxie's eyes and accepted the elixir.
And Jing Wuxie's departure with that sword...
It was guidance and a kind of hope.
A kind of lonely expectation in the world, seeking a worthy opponent.
Behind his calm, composed, and indifferent demeanor, there was a kind of pride that soared to the heavens.
"My goal is simply to seek truth and enlightenment."
Lu Qinghe looked at the departing figure of Jing Wuxie, his expression calm.
Swordsmanship?
Just a means!
A means of seeking truth and enlightenment.
It's not necessarily absolute.
But...
Perhaps seeking the true path through the way of the sword is also a good choice.
He enjoys a monotonous life.
He likes the simple path of seeking enlightenment.
But...
He also doesn't mind adding some exciting scenery to the path of seeking truth and enlightenment.
...
"Dousha Lingdan."
Lu Qinghe opened the jade bottle.
A fragrance wafted out, hitting the nose.
The scent of this medicine was even richer than the intermittent spirit pill he had obtained from the woman in Qingyuan City years ago.
Just the fragrance of the medicine had already reduced the burning sensation and pain in Lu Qinghe's internal organs by more than half.
"This kind of medicine..."
Lu Qinghe looked at the bottle of Dousha Lingdan in his hand...
There were three left.
From the quality of the medicine, one could essentially infer the holder's cultivation realm.
"Elemental realm..."
Lu Qinghe fell silent for a moment, but he was extremely open-minded.
He didn't want to owe favors to others.
But...
He also wasn't afraid of owing favors to others.
With this in mind, Lu Qinghe directly swallowed this medicine, activating the Thunderous Body Refining Technique to refine the medicinal power.
As the medicinal power continued to be refined, the injuries on his body improved at an astonishing speed. In a few breaths, the scabs on his chest, the pain of the broken bones, the healing of the torn palm, and the relief of the muscle strain were significantly improved.
Although it was still too early to be completely healed, it was much better than the previous difficult steps.
Lu Qinghe estimated that even if he were to fight a fifth-level savage beast again, he could still barely manage it.
"This kind of medicine..."
Lu Qinghe shivered.
Was this not just an ordinary pill?
This was a holy medicine for healing!
At this rate, his injuries would be completely healed in less than two hours.
It should be noted that according to the severity of his previous injuries, it would take at least one or two months of recuperation to have a chance of a complete recovery.
And now, a single pill saved him one to two months.
"Jing Wuxie..."
Clutching the Moon Frost Sword tightly, Lu Qinghe stepped forward again, heading in the direction ahead.
Following the blood left by the black savage beast, Lu Qinghe proceeded six kilometers without any surprises. Finally, about six kilometers away, he found the body of the black savage beast.
As expected, it had died from blood loss.
The body of a sixth-level savage beast was of considerable value, not worth less than a hundred gold.
Unfortunately, it was too heavy.
After walking nearly three kilometers, a rather secluded cave, surrounded by trees, appeared in Lu Qinghe's field of vision.
Arriving at this cave, Lu Qinghe could not only sense the incredibly fresh air but also felt that the speed of his true energy circulation in his body was faster compared to elsewhere.
"The gathering place of elemental energy, and the center is this cave. The savage beast is the ruler of this area, occupying the center of this elemental energy gathering place."
Where elemental energy was most concentrated, there was often the most hope of nurturing strange flowers and exotic herbs.
This was also the reason why Lu Qinghe had not left immediately when he was severely injured.
As Lu Qinghe expected, less than a hundred meters into the cave, he found thirteen blood soul grasses, each priced at thirty gold, two yellow dragon herbs, and six purple heart flowers, and plucked eleven jade spring fruits from a fruit tree.
The profits from these things alone are worth no less than a thousand gold coins.
"The speed of profit, not much inferior to plunder."
With a faint smile on his face, Lu Qinghe came to the end of the cave.
The cave is no more than one hundred and forty meters deep.
Moreover, Lu Qinghe could judge that the front hundred meters of the cave were naturally formed, while the back forty meters were caused by the digging of a ferocious beast.
At the location where the ferocious beast had dug, he could clearly judge that the surrounding rock walls were crystal clear.
Following his intuition, Lu Qinghe peered at the rock wall and soon, a particularly clear stone appeared in his hand.
With a slight sense, a rather strong vitality emanated from the stone.
"This is... inferior elemental stone!?"
Identifying this, Lu Qinghe was surprised.
Elemental stone.
Even an inferior elemental stone, is worth no less than a thousand gold coins.
"Elemental stone, how can there be inferior elemental stones here...?"
Lu Qinghe looked into the cave.
There are quite a few such crystal clear stones.
He witnessed at least ten of them.
"Elemental stone vein! This is actually an elemental stone vein here!?"
This discovery even made Lu Qinghe, unable to hide his astonishment.
His eyes constantly surveyed the cave, based on the environment, rock patterns, and direction, and finally came to a conclusion that made him take a sharp breath.
"Hundred pieces! The production of elemental stone vein here is no less than a hundred pieces, and only more."
A hundred pieces of inferior elemental stone, a whopping one hundred thousand gold.
It should be noted that a disciple like Lu Qingyun has a total wealth of not more than ten thousand gold!
"A vein worth one hundred thousand gold is enough to drive any inner disciple crazy. Even core disciples would not be able to ignore it. With a financial power of one hundred thousand gold, an inner disciple could establish a elemental realm and set foot into the primordial realm, with a success rate of almost ninety percent!"
After exploring the trading market in the third peak for half a day, Lu Qinghe had a profound understanding of the standard prices for cultivators.
"This place cannot be considered secretive, only because it belongs to one layer. Few inner disciples stay here, which is why this elemental stone vein has been overlooked. Also, there is a black panther in this forest whose threat level is not inferior to that of a high-level ferocious beast, even outer disciples are extremely wary, which is why it has not been noticed until now."
The most important point is that this elemental stone vein was just recently excavated by this ferocious beast and has not been in this world for long.
Lu Qinghe quickly calmed down.
"I have to inform Sword Master Xueying, it would be best to let Lu Qingyun handle it."
The Split Light and Shadow Sword Art, and the Flowing Light Thirteen Swords, cost twenty-eight hundred gold.
Lu Qingyun gave him two sword techniques, and he owes him a vein.
Lu Qinghe leaped out and quickly left the cave, leaving a mark within a thirty-mile radius to gather the Xueying Swordsmen for Xuejian Mountain Villa.
As for returning?
He had no intention.
"Several hundred pieces of inferior elemental stone, hidden deep in the mountain, are not easy to mine, but with my abilities, it shouldn't be difficult to collect a dozen or so pieces exposed outside..."
Lu Qinghe glanced at the cave in front of him.
In a flash of sword light, a huge boulder nearby was cut down by Lu Qinghe, and the thousands of catties of boulders were divided several times by him, moved to the mouth of the cave, and a partial landslide was simulated to almost completely cover the entrance of the cave.
He then went out and killed three ferocious beasts, turned their meat into jerky, and brought it into the cave.
Next...
He blocked the entrance, and then closed himself in the cave for cultivation.
"The fourth level of refining true, I have already consolidated it, the next step is to cultivate the fifth level of refining true. Between the fourth level and the fifth level, there is only the accumulation of true energy, with no bottlenecks, only the need for abundant resources and a stable state of mind to step into the next stage."
Lu Qinghe was holding a piece of inferior elemental stone, absorbing the energy contained in it.
Going from the fourth level of refining true to the fifth level, and from the fifth to the sixth, is not difficult.
But...
This is also based on the premise of abundant resources.
For Lu Qinghe, with ten pieces of inferior elemental stone, he could reach the fifth level of refining true in six months.
For others, who did not cultivate the Thunderous Body Refining Technique, did not visualize the Azure Sword, did not have precise control over their body, and could not maximize the effect of the elemental stone, it would take two to three years and the consumption of twenty to thirty pieces of inferior elemental stone to break through from the fourth to the fifth level of refining true.
To spend two to three years and two to three ten thousand gold just to enable a level four refining true cultivator to break through to level five, this cost is not something any power can afford.
Even the wealthy Xuejian Mountain Villa cannot afford to provide such luxury to its disciples.
In the following month, Lu Qinghe devoted himself to cultivation.
Relying on the Thunderous Body Refining Technique, and the precise control of his body through the visualization of the Azure Sword, his rate of refining and absorbing the inferior elemental stone was several times that of an ordinary person. In one month, he had already consumed nine pieces of inferior elemental stone, and his true energy cultivation had advanced from the early stage of the fourth level of refining true to the peak, steadily approaching the fifth level of refining true.
"Swish!"
In the mountain cave, the light of the sword gleamed.
"Three Lights Sword Shadow."
Three streams of light, in an instant, merged into one, forming a brilliant sword shadow and pierced through the air.
The collision and friction between the sword light and the air flow caused the cave to emit a thunderous roar.
"It's done."
Feeling the power of this sword, Lu Qinghe was slightly satisfied.
Three Lights Sword Shadow.
A small move in the Flowing Light Thirteen Swords.
Lu Qinghe's swordsmanship had reached the level of unity of man and sword. Entering this realm of swordsmanship, the Meteor Pierce Moon Sword Technique and the Flowing Light Thirteen Swords seamlessly merged together. The power he could exert by using the Flowing Light Thirteen Swords also increased by one fold.
After a month of training, understanding, stability, and proficiency, the power of the Flowing Light Thirteen Swords had reached two folds. Although it had not reached the realm of completion, relying on his outstanding comprehension of swordsmanship, he had come up with the first small move of the Flowing Light Thirteen Swords.
Three Lights Sword Shadow.
In an instant, the three sword lights merged into one, transforming into a sword shadow bursting out with immense power, stabilizing the universe.
"I've almost finished eating meat. I need to find another fierce beast to serve as food for the next period. In addition, I need to refine the subpar elemental stones. I have accumulated a lot of stone energy in my body, which needs to be released through intense exercise. Otherwise, relying on subpar elemental stones for training in the future will result in diminishing effects..."
Swallowing elixirs during training would leave elixir poison in the body.
Similarly, using elemental stones for training would have the same effect, just not as severe as elixir poison.
Lu Qinghe summed up and headed towards the outskirts of the cave with his sword.
However, as he left the cave, a sound of footsteps came from not far away, and he encountered a group of six people head-on, all wearing the attire of the Xueying Sword Villa.
But they were not among the twenty Xueying Swordsmen serving by Lu Qingyun's side. They were... the Longying Swordsmen.
Lu Qinghe even recognized one of them, the Dragon Eagle Swordsman who had delivered a message to him in Qingyuan City, Jian Shou.