Zhenjiang City.As the prefectural city of Zhenjiang Prefecture, its majesty was naturally incomparable to that of Yuanshan City.
Even at a distance that was not too far away, Lu Qingshan could already catch a glimpse of Zhenjiang City.
The city walls were majestic, like towering mountain ridges blocking the way ahead.
Constructed from Xuan Gang rock, the walls were pitch-black, emitting a metallic and austere sheen.
A familiar feeling welled up in Lu Qingshan's heart. Sёarch* The NôᴠelFirё.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Zhenjiang City, memories from a long time ago.
Unfortunately, even such a grand city was still unable to stop the Netherworld.
Lu Qingshan strode quickly into the city.
After entering the city, the first thing he did was to settle the task at the Demon Subjugation Alliance within Zhenjiang City.
If he didn't settle the task, his task record would always display this unfinished mission.
...
A huge mansion in the west of Zhenjiang City.
It had countless pavilions and terraces, and groups of slaves and maidservants.
As a prefectural city where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold, the owner of such a grand mansion within Zhenjiang City was clearly not of ordinary status.
Indeed that was the case.
The master of this mansion was none other than Cai Heng, a steward of Zhenjiang City, and a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.
"Family Head," a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance hurried to the study and stood at the door, calling respectfully.
"Hmm, what is it?" a male voice came from inside the study.
"Reporting to the Family Head, there's a young cultivator outside asking for an audience," the middle-aged man tentatively probed.
The Family Head seemed to have been troubled by something recently and had become rather unpredictable.
Therefore, these servants had been extremely cautious in their actions lately, fearing they might provoke his displeasure.
"Hmm? Who is the visitor?" Curiosity tinged the voice of the person inside the room.
A young cultivator?
"The cultivator didn't reveal his name..."
"However, he said he could resolve the current troubles of the Family Head. I dared not make a decision, so I hurried here to ask for instructions..."
The person inside the room did not respond immediately, remaining silent for a long while.
Finally, the person inside made a decision.
"Invite him in. Bring him to the study to see me."
"Yes, your subordinate understands."
...
The middle-aged man went to the front gate.
Outside, a young cultivator was waiting.
It was Lu Qingshan.
"Young Master, please follow me."
Under the lead of the middle-aged man, Lu Qingshan stepped into the Cai residence.
The middle-aged man led Lu Qingshan to the outside of the study and respectfully reported, "Family Head, the person has been brought here."
"Come in."
Lu Qingshan pushed open the door and entered.
Inside the study, there was a tongwood desk with a pile of jade slips on it, which suggested that the master of the room was dealing with official duties.
Sitting there was an elderly cultivator with white hair, his gray-white long hair neatly groomed, not a strand out of place. He sat upright, like a pine tree.
The elderly cultivator sized up Lu Qingshan for a moment, before finally saying, "You claim you can resolve my current troubles?"
Lu Qingshan looked at Steward Cai, who was nearing the end of his lifespan, nodded, and said slowly, "Yes, Steward Cai, I believe you are looking for your only child who has been lost outside."
In a few months, Zhenjiang City would turn into a living hell.
It was imaginable how many demon cultivators from the Netherworld were hidden within the city at this very moment.
Why then was Lu Qingshan taking the risk to come to such a dangerous place?
Knowing the mountain has tigers, yet still walking towards Tiger Mountain?
Lu Qingshan's head wasn't made of iron.
He had two reasons he had to come to Zhenjiang City.
Firstly, he had already accumulated enough experience points and could break through to Foundation Establishment at any moment.
However, becoming a Foundation Establishment Cultivator also required a Foundation Establishment Technique.
During the Qi Refining Realm, in a dire situation, he had no choice but to choose the common "Guiding Qi Technique" as his Qi Refinement Cultivation Technique.
Fortunately, the impact of the Qi Refinement Technique wasn't very significant.
But for the Foundation Establishment Technique, he couldn't be so casual.
For the current him, only in Zhenjiang City could he find a high-level Foundation Establishment Technique that suited his wishes.
Another very important point was,
Lu Qingshan needed to build a specialized combat system.
He needed to learn some new skills to enrich his methods.
"Nine Heavens" didn't limit the number of skills players could learn.
But players' experience points were limited, experience points were needed not only to increase levels but also to upgrade skills, and Sword Cultivators even needed them to nurture their Life-bound Swords.
Master of none is better than being jack of all trades.
So, normally, players need to control the number of skills they learn and strive to improve their Skill Levels.
The skills available in those small Prefecture Cities like Yuanshan City simply couldn't meet his requirements.
Only in a major Human Race city like Zhenjiang could he learn some powerful skills.
And the steward Cai Heng in front of him was related to a hidden quest, the reward for which was a Secret Sword Technique!
In his previous life, he had only heard about this quest and hadn't received this opportunity.
Now, without any competitors, the quest reward naturally seemed tailor-made for Lu Qingshan.
The background of the quest wasn't complicated:
Steward Cai's lifespan was nearly depleted, but on the surface, he didn't have a Dao Companion, nor did he have any children.
But Lu Qingshan knew that in reality, this Steward Cai did have a romantic entanglement when he was young.
At that time, Steward Cai became Dao Companions with a girl from a small family, which should have been a joyous occasion.
Latter, an Evil Cultivator violated the Great Xia's edicts, senselessly slaughtering innocent people to craft demonic Magic Artifacts.
Steward Cai, as a member of Great Xia's Pacification Commissioners, led Cultivators to encircle and exterminate the Evil Cultivator.
Unfortunately, due to carelessness, they allowed the Evil Cultivator to escape.
After fleeing, the resentful Evil Cultivator found an opportunity to slaughter Steward Cai's Dao Companion's entire family to extinction.
His pregnant Dao Companion, who had come to the city to find Steward Cai, narrowly escaped the family tragedy.
His Dao Companion, grieving for the loss of her family due to Steward Cai's actions, couldn't accept what had happened or face Steward Cai and eventually disappeared after choosing to live incognito.
Latter, although Steward Cai personally killed that Evil Cultivator, the reality of his wife scattered and child lost could not be changed.
Now, Steward Cai was over 170 years old.
Qi Refining Cultivators have a lifespan of one hundred years, Foundation Establishment Cultivators two hundred.
In recent times, Steward Cai felt his days were numbered.
As death approached, his greatest wish was to see his estranged Dao Companion and child once again.
In his previous life, this quest involved a Sword Cultivator player who went through dozens of complex quests before finally finding Steward Cai's child.
Of course, such a high-difficulty quest had extraordinary rewards.
The Secret Sword Technique awarded by the quest was nothing short of a Divine Technique.
With this Secret Sword Technique, that Sword Cultivator player also enjoyed a brief period of glory.
However, unlike that Sword Cultivating player, Lu Qingshan didn't need to go through those extremely cumbersome and time-consuming serial quests.
— He knew from the beginning who Steward Cai's child was and where they were currently located.
Steward Cai's hidden quest was a competitive one although it didn't restrict the number of participants, only one person could acquire the quest reward.
Once someone completed the quest, it would permanently disappear.
So, after that Sword Cultivating player in his previous life completed the quest, he generously shared his quest process on the forums.
The specific details of the quest process, after so long, Lu Qingshan didn't remember very clearly.
But the answer to the quest, Lu Qingshan remembered distinctly.