Chapter 244: Old Friend From Liang State

"One hundred and fifty-five years old, the eighth level of foundation building."

Lu Changan felt that the powerful mana lake in his body had expanded by about 30%.

Since it was not a breakthrough in a small realm, the "quality" of the mana did not change significantly, and the strength did not increase much.

It was just a step forward in the late stage of foundation building.

"With the current progress of cultivation, it would be about 170 years old to reach the ninth level of foundation building."

Lu Changan speculated.

Theoretically, the ninth level of foundation building can impact the Dan stage.

However, in order to increase their confidence, most Dan condensers will try their best to reach the peak of the ninth level of foundation building, and at least consolidate for two or three years.

Back then, Fu Xuemei had just entered the ninth level of foundation building, and she began to condense the Dan before consolidation. Due to insufficient foundation, the quality of the final Dan was affected.

Even so, Fu Xuemei's qualifications of earth spirit roots, after the mind was clear, barely formed a real Dan.

Lu Changan's situation was different.

He had to take the route of "transforming the Dan back to liquid and reshaping the Dan", which was not achieved overnight.

For the first Dan formation, there was no need to pursue the peak of the ninth level of foundation building.

If the quality of the finished pill is high, the difficulty and risk of breaking the inner pill will be greatly increased.

This is the first time to turn the pill back into liquid, and there is insufficient experience. For the sake of safety, it is best to form a fake pill first, just like Zhang Tieshan.

…

A few days later, Lu Changan came out of retreat and went to the bottom of the deep pool behind the mansion along the underground tunnel.

First check the growth of the Xuanmu gourd vine.

This gourd vine has almost no signs of growth, and the small fruits on it are withered, yellow and black, and lifeless.

"It seems that the 'Xuantian Gourd' recorded in the Tinghai Pavilion has completely failed to condense..."

Even Lu Changan's Changqing secret technique is powerless to save the situation.

He once consumed his life to nourish the dead fruit, but the result was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no response.

Fortunately, the life energy of the gourd vine has stabilized, and the small piece of green on the vine is more conspicuous than before.

Compared with the situation of dying in the ancient ruins, it is much better.

Lu Changan looked at the black water turtle next to him and injected Changqing mana into it to promote its growth.

In recent years, since the black water turtle guarded the black wood gourd vine and irrigated it, it rarely took the initiative to suck the residual breath of Lu Changan's cultivation.

Lu Changan guessed that some benefits brought by the black wood gourd vine were more fragrant than his own Changqing Gong in the black water turtle's mind.

With the gain of Changqing mana and black wood gourd vine, the growth rate of the black water turtle was far better than that of its peers.

It often takes four or five hundred years for a normal black water turtle to cultivate to the level of true elixir.

Lu Changan's black water turtle probably won't take half of that time.

"As a ground-grade bloodline, this turtle has a much better aptitude than the rock rat, and it has also gained unknown gains from the black wood gourd vine. I wonder what quality of inner elixir it will form in the future?"

Lu Changan was looking forward to and curious about this.

Return to the ground mansion.

Xia Wenyue was waiting outside the door, asking to see him for something.

"Come in." Lu Changan waved his sleeves and opened the door.

Xia Wenyue bowed and said, "Mr. Lu, a clan member just sent a message saying that a foundation-building monk outside Qingshawan is visiting you."

"Did that person give his name?"

"No, he covered his face." Xia Wenyue replied.

Lu Changan was about to refuse.

"That person claimed to be your old friend in Liang State." Xia Wenyue added quickly.

"Old friend in Liang State?"

Lu Changan pondered for a moment, finally nodded, and ordered Xia Wenyue to bring the man over.

Just now, he asked the rock rat to go over and investigate, and smelled a familiar breath.

The visitor was indeed an old friend, and they had a deep friendship.

...

A quarter of an hour later.

Xia Wenyue went and came back, followed by a monk in a wide robe wearing a green gauze hat.

The man was wrapped in a robe, and it was impossible to tell whether he was a man or a woman.

Xia Wenyue retreated tacitly and closed the door of the side hall.

Lu Changan looked into the hazy eyes through the green gauze of his bamboo hat and smiled slightly:

"Miss Shen, I haven't seen you for twenty years. How are you?"

Hearing this, the monk in wide robes stiffened for a moment, and then took off the green gauze of his bamboo hat.

It was a woman's face, about thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old.

The facial features were beautiful, but there were obvious crow's feet, the fair skin had dark spots, and the black eyes were no longer bright, with a kind of calmness and depth after years.

Lu Changan was stunned for a moment, as if he couldn't associate the gentle and beautiful beauty with white skin with the "middle-aged woman" in front of him.

"I'm sorry to make Master Lu laugh. I'm old and married and have children, so I can't bear the title of 'girl'."

Shen Bixin's voice was calm, and her charm could not hide the bitterness and loneliness.

"Don't worry, Fellow Daoist Shen! For those of us who practice cultivation, appearance is not important, it's just a layer of skin."

Lu Changan spoke gently, smiled and raised his hand, asking Shen Bixin to sit down.

Shen Bixin is the eldest daughter of Liangguo Tengxing Chamber of Commerce, and has had business dealings with Lu Changan.

When they first met, Jiang Yechen held her unconscious body and came to Wuqi Mountain for medical treatment.

Shen Bixin was originally in love with Jiang Yechen, but was opposed by the elders of the Chamber of Commerce.

In the end, she married Song Wenshu, who had a good background and a bright future in Lihuo Palace.

When they sat down, Lu Changan looked at Shen Bixin calmly and found that her cultivation was stagnant at the peak of the late stage of foundation building.

"The spirit is declining, and the magic power is stagnant."

Lu Changan judged that this woman should have failed to form a pill, and had suffered backlash, resulting in severe damage to her vitality and damaged her body foundation.

Otherwise, with Shen Bixin's rich net worth, taking the beauty-preserving elixir would prevent her appearance from fading so quickly.

This is not the worst outcome.

It is not unusual for some losers of the elixir formation to die on the spot or fall into a state of decline.

In fact, Shen Bixin's qualifications are good, and her background is better than that of ordinary monks.

Logically speaking, the hope of forming a fake elixir is not small.

At least in Lu Changan's opinion, he is more promising than Shi Xianzi who has not been promoted to the third level formation master.

However, things in the world of cultivating immortals are unpredictable and it is difficult to be absolutely sure. It is normal to fail.

"I wonder how fellow Daoist Song is doing?"

Lu Changan didn't want to expose Shen Bixin's shortcomings, so he changed the subject.

As an elite member of Lihuo Palace, Song Wenshu had a good background and had some friendship with Lu Changan.

"Wen Shu... was unfortunately killed in the battle to cultivate immortals a few years ago."

Shen Bixin's eyes were dim and her face was sad.

"Song Wenshu died in battle?"

Lu Changan's expression froze, but he didn't expect to change the subject and reveal the scars of Shen Bixin, the widow.

The war to cultivate immortals in the Liang Kingdom resulted in heavy deaths.

Both real elixirs and fake elixirs were killed in battle.

Death in battle during the foundation building period is naturally not that noticeable, unless it is a friend who pays special attention to it.

Therefore, Lu Changan only learned about Song Wenshu's death at this time.

"When did Fellow Daoist Shen come to Jing Country?"

"The Tengxing Chamber of Commerce where I am located has transferred part of its direct lineage and property before the war in Liang Kingdom started... Three years ago, I brought my husband's flesh and blood heirs and came to Jingguo with the direct lineage members of the Chamber of Commerce. develop."

Shen Bixin recounted the past a few years ago.

Lu Changan secretly sighed that Tengxing Chamber of Commerce had prepared for a rainy day and even deployed manpower and industry in Jing Kingdom in advance.

In this way, it will be easier to take over the monks from Liang through the connections here.

…

"Fellow Daoist Shen's visit this time, to conceal his identity, shouldn't it be just to reminisce about old times with Mr. Lu, right?"

Half an hour later, Lu Changan finally got to the point after learning about the ups and downs of Shen Bixin's life for nearly twenty years.

"Master Lu Fu owed me a favor back then. Does it still count now?"

Shen Bixin looked directly at Lu Changan's expression.

"count."

Lu Changan did not hesitate.

He did owe Shen Bixin a favor.

In the past, during the middle stage of foundation building. In order to collect a batch of materials, including hard-to-find third-level materials, to speed up body training and advance to the quasi-third level, Shen Bixin's chamber of commerce was asked for help.

At that time, Shen Bixin did not ask for any reward from Lu Changan, only a favor promise from him.

"Master Lu Fu is indeed of noble character, honest and reliable."

Shen Bixin was delighted and showed a smile for the first time.

"Oh, Fellow Daoist Shen wants to fulfill the promise he made back then today?"

"No! I'm not at the end of my rope yet. What I just said is just to verify Master Lu Fu's character and integrity."

"I came here this time because I was entrusted by someone to act as an intermediary. Whether what I'm going to talk about next is successful or not, I hope Master Lu can keep it a secret."

Shen Bixin looked solemn and turned to voice communication.

Lu Changan realized that what Shen Bixin mentioned was serious, so he set up an isolation ban in place.

The two looked at each other, their lips moved, and they communicated through sound for a long time.

"Wang Feng, the grandson of Elder Wang from Lihuo Palace?"

Lu Changan's head was surprised, but his expression remained calm.

It turned out that the real name of "Wang Gongzi" who was smuggled across the transnational spiritual ship that year was actually "Wang Feng", and he was a genius with earth spirit roots that was specially cultivated by Lihuo Palace.

Wang Feng's grandfather "Elder Wang" is one of the top three powerful elders in Lihuo Palace, with peak cultivation in the late stage of pill formation.

Elder Wang's strength is definitely higher than that of Lu Changan in his previous life.

Wang Feng and Song Wenshu met each other and became the object of the latter's friendship and attachment.

Shen Bixin married into Lihuo Palace and had a relationship with Wang Feng once or twice.

Just a few months ago, "Mr. Wang", who had returned to the foundation-building stage, approached Shen Bixin and asked for his help.

Mr. Wang wants two things from me:

First, use the channels of the local chamber of commerce in Jing State to return to Lihuo Palace in Liang State.

Secondly, he wanted to find a skilled pharmacist to recuperate his body and repair the hidden wounds caused by his decline in cultivation.

If I can help, Mr. Wang will be very grateful, and in the future he will be able to get favors from the sect's late-stage Dan Dan Overhaul.

"My concubine's chamber of commerce has a weak foundation in the Jing Kingdom and is barely able to gain a foothold. It is ostracized by hostile forces. Both of Mr. Wang's requests are ineffective."

Shen Bixin said in a voice message.

Lu Changan's eyes flashed slightly, revealing Shen Bixin's selfishness.

Song Wenshu's birth relationship was in Lihuo Palace, and Shen Bixin gave birth to his heir.

If we can establish a relationship with Mr. Wang and Elder Wang, it will definitely be beneficial to Shen Bixin's descendants.

It is true that the war situation is not good for Lihuo Palace.

But even if a behemoth like the Nascent Soul-level sect is defeated and withdraws from the Liang Kingdom, its inheritance is far superior to that of a sect like Jinyun Valley.

"I'm afraid Lu cannot reach such big figures as Elder Wang and Young Master Wang..."

Lu Changan declined politely.

In this matter, Shen Bixin was simply acting as a middleman and did not waste any favors.

Lu Changan has no shortage of spiritual stones and techniques, and has all the elixir-forming items ready. He has no intention of clinging to the lineage of Elder Wang and Young Master Wang.

Mr. Wang was once hunted by demonic forces, so there was a certain risk in this matter.

"Master Wang said that if Master Lu agrees to help, his reward will include a piece of third-grade high-grade spiritual bamboo."

Shen Bixin added.

Hearing this, Lu Changan couldn't help but move.

The third-level high-grade spirit bamboo was not easy to obtain when he was in the pill-forming stage in his previous life.

Lu Changan once bought a third-level mid-grade spiritual wood at the largest auction in the Liang Kingdom. At that time, he was not sure about refining the third-level treasure talisman's embryo, which is still preserved to this day.

If the treasure talisman starting from the third level is used to cultivate, its power will be immeasurable.

In addition, Lu Changan's technique is wood-based. Using third-level high-grade spiritual bamboo as the main material, he can refine excellent wood-based magic weapons.

"If Master Lu is interested, go to the Xunxian Mansion Inn in Yunyan Fairy City within half a month... At that time, Mr. Wang will personally negotiate with you."

"Well, I'll think about it."

Lu Changan did not make a promise.

There was some doubt in his heart. How could Mr. Wang be so destitute now that he had seen him so well?

…

After talking about business, the atmosphere relaxed.

The two stopped talking to each other and talked about the past, simply reminiscing about the past.

In the past, the three peak masters of Wuqi Mountain, Lu Changan, Shi Xianzi, and Ye Fei, all had a good relationship with Shen Bixin and had cooperation relationships.

At that time, Shen Bixin was quiet, gentle, and generous, which even made Ye Fei of Xiaodanfeng's heart moved.

"By the way, how is Fellow Daoist Jiang doing?"

Lu Changan suddenly thought of Jiang Yechen, the man Shen Bixin truly loved.

Jiang Yechen carries the soul treasure. Without his help and the memory of the restorer fairy, Lu Changan and the two would not have had the important opportunity to access the ancient ruins back then.

At least, Shi Xianzi did not become a third-level formation master so smoothly.

"Jiang Yechen... How can I be qualified to see him again?"

Mentioning this person, Shen Bixin looked downcast, her cheeks no longer as delicate as before, and the wrinkles on her brows became more obvious.

Lu Changan heard something unusual in the words.

Shen Bixin didn't say "I don't have the face to see him again", but there was unconcealable regret and loss in her tone.

"A few years ago, he had been promoted to true elixir, but he refused the invitations from the major sects in Liang Kingdom, and then traveled to other countries..."

"Jiang Yechen, promoted to true elixir?"

Lu Changan was moved and couldn't help but look at Shen Bixin.

He stroked it briefly.

Back then, Shen Bixin gave up her true love Jiang Yechen and married Song Wenshu, who had a better background and more promising prospects.

As a result, Song Wenshu was killed in battle, leaving Shen Bixin as a widow.

And Jiang Yechen, who was considered to have an extreme temperament and was not favored back then, actually formed a true elixir!

It's more subtle.

Jiang Yechen's promotion to the True Pill and Song Wenshu's death... both events seemed to have happened in those few years.

Jiang Yechen was Lu Changan's first old friend in this life who confirmed the news and formed a true elixir.

Although the relationship between the two is very ordinary.

In addition, there is Zhang Tieshan, but there is no news about him in these years.

The difficulty of the real elixir is much higher than that of the fake elixir.

In many fairy cities, fake elixirs can sometimes be seen by real people, but real elixirs are difficult to access.

…

Shen Bi felt depressed and quickly said goodbye.

Lu Changan knew that this was because he had exposed her scar.

But he really didn't mean it.

Who knew in advance that Shen Bixin's life in the past twenty years would be so tortuous.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, take care."

Lu Changan watched Shen Bixin's thin figure, covered by loose clothes, hat and green gauze, fly out of Qiufeng Island.

Shen Bixin hid her identity and visited because she was worried about Mr. Wang's affairs and implicated Lu Changan.

According to her, Mr. Wang faced intense pursuit in the early years. Although the Merchant Alliance did not openly want him, some forces from the Chamber of Commerce secretly cooperated with the Demon Cult's actions.

In recent years, the situation has become much more relaxed, and the intensity of pursuits has dropped significantly.

Mr. Wang recovered most of his cultivation and gained a chance to breathe.

Seven days later.

Lu Changan announced to the outside world that he was in seclusion, leaving behind a phantom aura simulated by the "Illusion True Talisman" in the secret room.

He himself used the earth escape ability of the rock rat to leave the Xia family in Qingshawan without anyone noticing.

If the Earth Rock Rat is promoted to the third level, Lu Changan will avoid negotiating with Mr. Wang in his true identity.

After all, it involves the upper echelons of the Liang Kingdom clan.

Now I have less worries.

Attracted by the third-level high-grade spiritual wood, he didn't mind meeting Mr. Wang.

…

Yunyan Fairy City, Xunxian Mansion Inn.

This is the place where Lu Changan and the down-and-out Mr. Wang first met in Jing Kingdom.

However, Mr. Wang had no idea of ​​Lu Changan's identity at that time.

The formation restrictions in Xunxian Mansion can only hinder the spiritual exploration of False Dan Master.

This couldn't stop Lu Changan, who owned the Nine-Seal Monument. With the blessing of the soul imprint of his previous life, his true elixir-level consciousness quickly revealed the truth.

"This Mr. Wang has been hunted for a long time, so he has learned to be cautious."

Lu Changan discovered that in the guest room where they agreed to meet in Xunxian Mansion, there was also a shadow left behind by a phantom talisman.

The real Mr. Wang, pretending to be a servant of the inn, was secretly keeping an eye on the guest room.

Lu Changan confirmed that there was no ambush around Xunxian Mansion.

The person with the highest cultivation level living in the inn is a fake elixir master who is playing with a pair of twin female cultivators.

Lu Changan did not follow Mr. Wang's rhythm.

He opened a first-class guest room in Xunxian Mansion, then walked over and asked Mr. Wang to come and serve his room.

"Boy, come to the uncle's room for a massage and a back massage! If you serve well, you will be rewarded with spiritual stones."

Mr. Wang, pretending to be a servant, was a little confused, looking at the bearded man in front of him.

The nearby servants and maids couldn't help but feel cold in their hearts, watching Mr. Wang with small arms and thin legs being pulled by the bearded man into the superior guest room.

The superior guest rooms in Xunxian Mansion are independent houses.

In the hall, Lu Changan and Mr. Wang stared at each other.

"Guest officer, you are..."

"Yes, I am the person you want to see."

The aura of Lu Changan's figure changed, turning into his original appearance.

"Wang Feng, I have met Master Lu Fu."

Mr. Wang took off his turban and bowed his hand in greeting. His face blurred for a while, revealing the face of a handsome man with sharp edges.

This image is completely different from the proud young man with oily hair and pink face on the Jiuchen Chamber of Commerce Spirit Ship.

The other party definitely didn't show his true face at that time, and even his last name was fake.

Lu Changan didn't know what the original Mr. Wang really looked like.

However, after more than ten years of ups and downs, normal people's temperaments will change.

"Mr. Wang, there is something unclear about Mr. Lu, please give me some advice."

Lu Changan took the initiative and spoke first, secretly observing Mr. Wang's condition.

"Excuse me Master Lu Fu."

Wang Feng's attitude was humble, and he did not have the slightest arrogance of being a true disciple of Lihuo Palace and the grandson of an elder.

"I heard from Fellow Daoist Shen that Mr. Wang wants to return to the Lihuo Palace in Liang. Today, the world of immortal cultivation in Liang is in an unfavorable situation, chaotic and dangerous. This is not a good choice."

Putting himself in his shoes, Lu Changan would definitely not want to return to Liang Kingdom, unless there was something extremely important that forced him to do so.

Hearing this, Wang Feng smiled heartily:

"Master Lu Fu is right! Not long ago, he changed his mind and decided not to return to Liang Kingdom!"