In the quaint bedroom, Chen Qiaoqian, half-undressed and blushing, leaned against Lu Tiandu's chest, listening quietly as her beloved recounted the details of the past year.
As for her interactions with Xin Ruyin and the other two, Lu Tiandu naturally ignored them.
Lu Tiandu kissed Chen Qiaoqian's smooth forehead again and said,
"I picked up a few treasures this time, and there's one that's perfect for you. Do you want me to show it to you now?"
"No!" Chen Qiaoqian pouted and shrunk back into Lu Tiandu's arms. "I just want my brother Tiandu!"
She then secretly raised her head and gave Lu Tiandu a quick kiss, looking shy...
Lu Tiandu: "..."
Is this still the same Chen Qiaoqian?
Why does it feel like she's becoming more and more love-obsessed?
Has she been saying too many sweet nothings these past two years? This is not good. Although I'm your only one, I also want to be someone else's only one!
Lu Tiandu patted Chen Qiaoqian's buttocks. According to their tacit understanding, this meant for Junior Sister Chen to stand up. Unexpectedly...
"No, let me lean on you a little longer. It's been over a year. Don't you miss me?"
Chen Qiaoqian looked up at Lu Tiandu with her beautiful eyes.
Why does this girl always look so insecure?
Lu Tiandu lowered his head and made his answer clear with his actions, and Chen Qiaoqian responded enthusiastically.
After a moment, they separated, breathless.
He hadn't expected Junior Sister Chen's kissing skills to be so good these days. Thinking of his contribution, Lu Tiandu smiled to himself!
"Come on, get up for a minute. My legs are numb. We've been doing this for a long time, haven't we?"
Lu Tiandu chuckled.
"Hmph, I didn't know a cultivator's legs would go numb in just a short while?" Junior Sister Chen glanced at Lu Tiandu with her beautiful eyes. "Are you tired of me?"
The more hetalked, the more ridiculous it became.
Lu Tiandu quickly interrupted Junior Sister Chen's wandering thoughts. "Don't let your imagination run wild! Look, this is a gift I gave you, a rare, top-tier defensive weapon. Do you like it?" Lu Tiandu held a round bead radiating a emerald green.
"Hey, what's the name of this weapon?"
"The Jade Spirit Bead. Try injecting your spiritual energy into it..." Lu Tiandu allowed Junior Sister Chen to practice with it.
After a moment, Junior Sister Chen looked surprised. "It's truly a rare, top-tier weapon! I attacked it several times with my Huanshui Sword, but it didn't budge!"
The Huanshui Sword was a reward from her father a month ago when she reached the tenth level of Qi Refining. It was a top-tier, exquisite flying sword, perfectly suited to the water-attributed cultivation technique she was practicing.
"Well, keep it well. It'll give you a little more safety when you're out and about," Lu Tiandu said.
"No, it's too expensive!" Chen Qiaoqian shook her head. "Brother Tiandu, keep it for yourself. With this defensive magic weapon, I'll be more at ease when you go out alone."
"Be good, keep it well. I haven't given you anything nice yet!"
Lu Tiandu smiled, smoothing the strands of hair from the woman's ears. "Didn't you just feel that thin layer of clothing underneath me? That's my new golden armor..."
Lu Tiandu smiled and explained the armor's function.
"I see!" Junior Sister Chen's face dawned with realization. "With this armor, I'll be more at ease when Brother Tiandu goes out!" Then, he asked Lu Tiandu to lift the armor for a closer look...
They hadn't seen each other for over a year, and Junior Sister Chen naturally didn't want to leave after just one encounter with her lover. So, for the past two weeks, they'd been glued to Lu Tiandu's courtyard.
After seeing Junior Sister Chen off, Lu Tiandu breathed a sigh of relief.
Alas, girls in their love period can be so difficult!
At this time, Lu Tiandu activated the restrictions in his own courtyard and prepared to start his retreat.
He had previously learned from Junior Sister Chen that his brother-in-law, Chen Qiaoming, had returned unscathed from the Blood Forbidden Trial and obtained a Foundation Establishment Pill. However, after months of seclusion, he still failed to establish his foundation.
This clearly demonstrates the difficulty of establishing a foundation with three spiritual roots. It's likely that two or three foundation building pills must be taken together.
Chen Qiaoming had been taking them separately, so it was understandable that he hadn't been able to establish his foundation due to bad luck.
Since Lu Tiandu possessed the Golden Finger, he knew that many close friends possessed three spiritual roots. He didn't expect everyone around him to achieve a Golden Pill, but at least he hoped that they could all achieve a foundation, making his lifelong pursuit of immortality worthwhile.
However, there was no rush for this matter.
In the Stone Pearl World, at the foot of Tongtian Peak, inside a small wooden cabin,
Lu Tiandu slowly rose from his cushion.
He had been in seclusion for three months, and after consuming several bottles of Yellow Dragon Pills and Golden Marrow Pills, his cultivation had naturally reached the twelfth level.
It took him seven months to reach the eleventh to twelfth level, including more than a month of travel and constant practice of magic and talisman drawing during his retreat. The time flew by.
Lu Tiandu packed up and then went to the Jinyu Pavilion to deliver two hundred mid-level talismans and thirty high-level talismans to his uncle.
He received a total of two thousand three hundred spirit stones, including several mid-level wind-attribute spirit stones that his uncle had specially exchanged for him, as well as a mid-level thunder-attribute spirit stone.
Mid-level spirit stones are the most common among cultivators above the Jindan stage in the world of immortal cultivation, but the most common are those of the five elements; those of other attributes are less common.
Fortunately, members of his family helped to exchange these scarce spirit stones, saving Lu Tiandu a lot of time.
These talismans were basically the spirit stones he had spent on drawing low- and mid-level talismans and upgrading them in the Creation Divine Furnace. He had consumed a total of five hundred spirit stones, and this order would net him one thousand eight hundred spirit stones.
In reality, for the same amount of spirit stones, Lu Tiandu would have earned more by converting lower-level talismans into mid-level ones than by converting mid-level ones into higher-level ones. However, considering the genius talisman maker's efficiency and current cultivation level, he had to give up.
Being too exceptional would make one more than just a genius, but a demon. Such a person must harbor hidden secrets, making them easy targets for "demon slayers."
Furthermore, these lower-level, mid-level, and upper-level talismans have become one of Jinyu Pavilion's flagship products. The high-quality upper-level talismans, in particular, are particularly sought after by cultivators at the peak of the Qi Refining Stage and those in the early stages of Foundation Establishment. This has brought a significant influx of visitors to Jinyu Pavilion, boosting sales of other items within the store.
This has further strengthened the family's regard for him.
Upon his return, Lu Tiandu entered a period of seclusion.
After reaching the twelfth level, the Yellow Dragon Pill and the Golden Marrow Pill had completely lost their effectiveness. After calculating the cost, he traded the nameless stone, obtained information, and used the pills for Xin Ruyin, along with some for himself. He now had twelve of the original thirty bottles, which he'd have left for the two women when he met them later.
He still had six bottles of the Nourishing Qi Pill, but they weren't much more effective than the Yellow Dragon Pill, so he stopped taking them.
For those reaching the tenth level of Qi Refining, his family provided him with the more effective Qi Gathering and Condensing Qi Pills, two free bottles per year.
He currently had three bottles of these, perfect for his quest towards the Great Perfection of Qi Refining.
Three months passed quickly, and Lu Tiandu emerged from his retreat, though he hadn't yet reached the thirteenth level.
This time, he arrived at the appointed time with Xin Ruyin and the two women. He also visited the Golden Jade Pavilion again, taking home a large quantity of materials for his formation.
The thirty or so magical instruments of unknown origin that Lu Tiandu had consigned last time had already been sold by his uncle Thirteen, who made a profit of about four thousand spirit stones. Apart from the two magical instruments he had bought last time as gifts for Tianxuan's younger sister, which were worth five hundred spirit stones, the rest were basically used to buy these materials.
This made Lu Tiandu smack his lips. It turned out that refining instruments was indeed a big expense.
These materials could not actually be used to refine formation flags and array plates for the time being. On the one hand, there were no refiners who knew the ins and outs of them, and on the other hand, Xin Ruyin had not yet fully mastered some formations. If a formation with half its power was deployed, it would be a waste of materials.
However, bringing these materials over would also allow Xin Ruyin to familiarize herself with the characteristics of various materials, making it easier to adjust the formation and study other formations later.
Although more than three thousand spirit stones were used to buy a lot of materials, it was actually only a small half of what was in the jade slip. Lu Tiandu asked his uncle Thirteen to continue collecting the remaining materials, and the cost would naturally be settled later.
(End of this chapter)