Mysterious Divinity

Yuzhou, Fenglinfang.

After seven days of arduous training, Chen Lu felt a jolt throughout his body as he sensed a newly formed vortex of spiritual energy within his dantian, and his heart was filled with joy.

"After cultivating for twenty years, I have finally reached the seventh level of Qi Refining. Now I am also a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator."

Chen Lu stood up, vigorously shook his body, making a crisp sound like a bean popping.

He opened the door to the meditation room and walked toward the old man lying next to the front desk, smoking a pipe.

"Senior, I have finished using Cultivation Room No. 9 (Class A), and I can settle the bill now."

The sprightly old man brushed away the fog in front of him, raised his head, glanced at Chen Lu, and nodded slightly.

"Not bad, you've reached the seventh level of Qi Refining at 32. At your age, I'd probably only be... at the fourth level of Qi Refining."

"It's just piled up with spirit stones."

He smiled modestly, not wanting to talk about it further, but the old man was very interested.

"With such talent, why didn't you participate in the Xuanqing Sect's state examination back then? You might have had a chance to reach Foundation Establishment."

Upon hearing the name Xuanqingzong, Chen Lu was momentarily dazed, recalling the year he had just transmigrated at the age of 12.

According to regulations, children aged 12 and above will have their spiritual roots tested. If they have talent, their aptitude will be determined based on their affinity with the child.

In the same year, there were more than a thousand children in the market, and four hundred of them were qualified. Among them, he had the highest qualification, with a metal affinity of 50%, which was almost 60%.

In countless cultivation novels from my past life, it was said that the threshold for a sect was a low-grade spiritual root. With a mid-grade spiritual root, wouldn't he have it easy?

He asked his uncle to send him to the Xuanqing Sect to participate in the Yuzhou selection and become one of those sect cultivators who looked down on others.

Yuzhou is a small prefecture with only twenty slots, but that year there were hundreds of people taking the Yuzhou prefectural exam.

The lowest affinity among them is 50% for a single lineage, not to mention the affinity for multiple lines.

Upon returning, he joined the Wang family through his uncle's connection to the Wang family in Fenglinfang.

Jin is skilled in killing, so after he came of age, he went to the most lucrative and profitable escort agency, where he could also spend the most time training. So far, it seems he is doing quite well.

Seeing the old man's searching gaze, Chen Lu could only smile helplessly:

"A rogue cultivator may still achieve the Great Dao, senior, please settle the bill."

The old man's eyes brightened slightly, then dimmed again, and he didn't say anything more.

"Cultivation Room No. 9 of Class A: Ten Lower Spirit Stones per day, for a total of 7 days and 3 hours, totaling 72 Lower Spirit Stones and 5 Broken Spirit Stones."

The old man will round it down to zero for you, just give me seventy spirit coins!

"Thank you so much, senior!"

Chen Lu quickly thanked him and took out one hundred lower spirit coins to hand over.

"The rest is my way of thanking you for your protection."

His original plan was to use the abundant spiritual energy to quickly recover from the injuries he sustained while escorting the convoy back, and then switch to Rank B to resume normal cultivation.

Unexpectedly, he suddenly had an epiphany along the way, which forced him to start breaking through the barrier, resulting in him spending a lot more spirit stones.

The old man was puzzled, as he clearly hadn't done anything.

However, he did not refuse. Since it was free, why not take it?

He took it, looked at the young man with satisfaction, and exclaimed:

"There aren't many sensible young people like you these days."

"By the way, senior, could you please issue me an invoice?"

"You should know that the cost of the training room is not reimbursable," the old man said, giving him a puzzled look.

"But the injuries sustained by the bodyguards can be reimbursed."

Chen Lu smiled and pointed to the extra thirty lower-level spirit stones.

It should be noted that, according to the Xuanqing Sect's announcement, the monthly disposable income of Qi Refining cultivators in Yuzhou over the past decade was thirty Lower Spirit Stones.

He was not so kind as to generously give a month's salary of an ordinary cultivator as a tip.

The old man was taken aback, but quickly realized what was happening and pointed at Chen Lu with a helpless smile.

"You brat, issuing false invoices is a violation of the celestial laws!"

Chen Lu didn't say anything, but handed over ten more lower-level spirit stones.

If words fail, use a spirit stone to break the silence.

The old man immediately turned around, busied himself at the front desk for a while, handed over a receipt, and said righteously:

"Look, the meridians were damaged. A large number of rare pills were used, which cost a lot of money. Two hundred low-level spirit pills were used."

"Thank you so much, senior!"

Chen Lu bowed again, then turned and left.

It is difficult to be a cultivator, and it is even more difficult to be a rogue cultivator. The world is so harsh, yet he has remained steadfast. The Wang family did not reward him, so he rewarded himself.

He is now a bodyguard at the Wang Family Escort Agency, having worked his way up from a porter to a bodyguard in eight years.

The salary also increased from thirty pennies to fifty pennies, and with various commissions and incentives, the total income could reach two per thousand of the value of the goods.

Now that he is a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, his total income has increased to three per thousand.

If a deal is closed, the total income can be increased to one percent.

Each month, including extra income, I can earn about a hundred lower spirit coins, more than half of which are used for cultivation and body tempering.

Over the years, minor skirmishes have happened frequently, but most of them are just a show for the cargo owners; actual deaths and injuries are extremely rare.

However, some time ago, on their way back, they were ambushed by a group of powerful cultivators.

Although his main technique, "Gengjin Finger," is effective at both close and long range, his opponent was using a bow and arrow, with a range several times greater than his own.

This caused the group to flee in panic, and all three of the scouts were killed. The remaining people fought with all their might to drive away the robbers.

This lesson dealt him a heavy blow, and he could not bear the thought of running away in fear the next time he encountered such a predicament.

He decided to buy a bow or crossbow.

I want the kind of shot that doesn't require too much skill but can still hit accurately.

After all, bows and crossbows were not his main skill, and putting too much energy into them would harm his cultivation.

It doesn't matter if the price is a bit high. As long as we kill a few more cultivators and sell their magical artifacts, we can earn it all back.

Thinking of this, Chen Lu suddenly felt a jolt in his mind, and he felt dizzy for a moment, almost losing his balance.

After he calmed down and looked into his mind, he found an ancient-looking divination tube containing countless illusory divination sticks.

He touched the divination tube and instantly understood its purpose.

This divination box can be used once a day to inquire about opportunities, good or bad fortune, the future, and so on. Whatever you seek in your heart, you will receive guidance.

If you make requests that are unrealistic, unimportant, or too far removed from your own life, you will not receive any useful insights.

Chen Lu stared blankly at the divination tube for a long while, then suddenly burst out laughing.

"It's been decades. If you had come out earlier, I'm afraid I would have really gone to the Xuanqing Sect to work as a handyman and make my way in the world."

The idea that even a rogue cultivator could achieve the Great Dao was just something I said back then to comfort myself.

Since it's a daily divination, it refreshes after midnight. If you don't use today's divination, it will be wasted.

Remembering the crossbow he had requested, he immediately took out several purification talismans, washed his hands, and touched the divination tube with the utmost respect.

"Disciple Chen Lu humbly beseeches the divine will to reveal the opportunity I most yearn for!"

[Auspicious Fortune: Three days later, at the third quarter of the hour of You (5:45 PM), enter the Minghui Lingbao Pavilion to purchase a crossbow. You will encounter a crossbow trial and obtain the 7th crossbow, a secret opportunity arising.]