Chapter 155: The Scheme of the Spirit Cult

Lu Yan was glad for the peace and quiet and had no interest in participating.

The thirteen grandmaster-level aristocratic families gathered in King Ling City.

A month later, the competition concluded, and the quotas were distributed.

The Li family obtained five quotas.

This was a modest result, neither particularly outstanding nor poor.

The Zhao family, however, secured the most quotas, totaling eighteen.

No wonder they had been so full of confidence, able to offer three quotas away before the competition even began.

For the Zhao family, three quotas were of little consequence—a matter of absolute certainty.

With the quotas distributed, the next step was to wait five months before entering Mount Kunwu.

Naturally, the Li family's five quotas would not fall to Lu Yan. Let alone him, even Li Cangqing and Li Canglin had no share in them.

Those who could enter Mount Kunwu were unquestionably top-tier martial marquises.

Although Li Wenxin and Li Wenxuan were candidates for the head of the Li family, in terms of sheer strength, they were not the strongest among the Li family's martial marquises.

The Li family also possessed congenital martial physiques that had reached the fifth tier of the martial marquis realm; these formed the backbone of the Li family and did not belong to the factions of Li Wenxuan and Li Wenxin.

It was just that, in terms of potential, they fell short of Li Wenxin and Li Wenxuan.

It was worth mentioning that Lu Qingshan's meridians had healed two months prior, so Lu Yan had passed down the Indestructible Vajra Art to him.

Lu Qingshan threw himself heart and soul into martial arts, as if trying to make up for all the time he had wasted over the years.

He practiced the martial art through once, converting the martial food energy into bone force, circulating the bone force around his skeleton, and letting tiny wisps of it seep into his muscles to temper them.

Waves of numbness washed over his muscles, an indescribably refreshing sensation.

Several hours later, Lu Yan finished his cultivation, stepped out of the practice room, and came to a martial kitchen.

This martial kitchen was used by the Zhou family's martial chefs to prepare martial food.

Currently, all the first-tier martial food for the entire martial arts hall was prepared by the Zhou family's martial chefs.

A little girl was following a Zhou family martial chef, studying with intense concentration.

It was Doufu.

For the sake of Doufu's future, her parents had resolutely left King Ling City, where their family had lived for generations, and traveled thousands of miles to come to Herb City.

Lu Yan had thus entrusted Doufu to the Zhou family's martial chefs.

Doufu possessed exceptionally high talent in the culinary arts of a martial chef, and because she studied with diligent earnestness, she quickly won the hearts of the dozen or so martial chefs from the Zhou family.

Each of them was eager to impart everything they had learned to Doufu.

"Master Pavilion Leader."

Seeing Lu Yan, Doufu quickly stood up and bowed.

By now, Doufu naturally knew that the master of the Three Ultimates Martial Arts Hall before her was none other than Uncle Lu, who had once stayed at her home.

"Doufu, how is your study coming along?"

Lu Yan asked with a smile.

"Mm, Doufu is studying very hard. In the future, I will definitely become a great and formidable master martial chef."

Doufu waved her small fist.

In a momentary daze, Lu Yan seemed to see a beautiful woman clenching her fists and declaring: "I am going to be a woman who becomes the Martial Culinary God."

*If Yinuo were here, she would surely like Doufu. Perhaps she would even take her as a disciple.*

Lu Yan thought to himself.

"Doufu, while being a martial chef is important, do not neglect your martial arts. If your martial arts cultivation is not high, you will not go far in the culinary path either."

Lu Yan cautioned.

He had already taught the Cloud-Treading Step to Doufu.

"Master Pavilion Leader, Doufu understands. I will definitely practice diligently."

Doufu nodded her small head.

"If there is anything you don't understand in your martial arts, you can come and ask me at any time. Go on now."

After giving a few instructions, Lu Yan left the martial kitchen, returned to his exclusive martial kitchen, and began preparing the second-tier Yinuo lizard meat.

On average, he consumed twenty to twenty-five pounds of second-tier Yinuo lizard meat every day.

Therefore, his consumption of exotic beast meat was also extremely rapid.

In a single month, seven to eight hundred pounds of exotic beast meat would be used up.

This was still due to his one hundred percent cooking success rate.

Over the past six months or so, he had killed six second-tier blood-scaled lizards within the blood vein.

Added to the ten that he and Shen Yinuo had killed together in the previous years, sixteen had been killed since they were first discovered.

And the total number of second-tier blood-scaled lizards hidden in the blood vein was only a little over forty.

*By the time I cultivate to the grandmaster realm, the second-tier blood-scaled lizards will probably be almost hunted to extinction. Living off a mountain without replenishing it ultimately doesn't work. Once I recapture Longfeng City, I'll need to cultivate a batch of ranching masters to raise exotic beasts so that there's an endless supply.*

Lu Yan planned quietly in his mind.

In a desolate and secluded cave somewhere in Qingfeng County.

The interior of the cave was neat and clean, furnished with a round stone table and eight stone stools.

At this moment, four figures sat on four of the stone stools: three men and one woman.

"Everyone, the quotas for the major aristocratic families to enter Mount Kunwu have been decided. Among them, there should be our people, right?"

One of the green-haired elders spoke up first.

"Yes, I have already tallied them. There are three in total."

A crisp voice rang out, belonging to the young woman. She looked to be in her early twenties, bright, lively, and of stunning beauty.

"Three? How is their strength?"

The green-haired elder asked.

"Not bad, all of them are ranked on the Martial Marquis Roll." The beautiful woman replied.

"That is sufficient. According to reliable information, those fellows in Mount Kunwu want to cultivate immortal beasts and implant immortal bones into the bodies of exotic beasts. Truly wishful thinking and a squandering of heavenly treasures! Immortal bones can only unleash their greatest effect for our Spiritual Cult."

"Inform those three that after entering Mount Kunwu, they are to seize the opportunity to hunt down the exotic beasts with implanted immortal bones, excavate the immortal bones, and by the way, sow discord between Mount Kunwu and the major aristocratic families to pave the way for our grand plan of unifying the six counties of Eastern Ling."

The green-haired elder said.

"However, there are ten third-tier exotic beast kings inside Mount Kunwu, comparable to grandmasters, and they are exceptionally formidable within the mountains. Those exotic beasts with implanted immortal bones will definitely be closely guarded. Succeeding will likely be very difficult."

The beautiful woman said.

"Therefore, the three-tier beast kings of Mount Kunwu must be lured away beforehand. Those fellows have already been completely controlled by martial spirits and transformed into demons, making them difficult to control anyway. Let's cast them out to lure away the beast kings of Mount Kunwu."

The green-haired elder said.

"Very well, leave this matter to me."

A scholarly-looking man said.

If Zhao Tiansheng were here, he would undoubtedly recognize at a glance that this scholarly man was none other than the martial spirit who had helped the Demonic Evil King escape in King Ling City.

In the blink of an eye, another three months passed. With two months remaining before entering Mount Kunwu...

Lu Yan's cultivation finally reached the peak of the third-tier martial marquis realm.

Inside the practice room, Lu Yan was stripped to the waist, practicing the Indestructible Vajra Art over and over again.

Nine streams of bone force circulated throughout his entire skeleton, and soon began to vibrate in unison. Very quickly, the node leading to the fourth layer of the bone space—the deep bone space—was revealed.

The nine streams of bone force surged forward together, tore open the node, and unlocked the fourth layer of the bone space.

For this process, Lu Yan was thoroughly familiar, and it happened as naturally as water flowing to form a channel.

It was far too effortless.

Ordinary martial marquises had to risk their lives, struggling immensely just to break through a minor realm, often failing repeatedly and damaging their bones.

But for both congenital and acquired martial physiques, it was relaxed and pleasant.

There are gains for every loss; such was the way of things.

Ten days later.

Lu Yan's cultivation had completely stabilized. The nine streams of bone force had grown significantly thicker, and the strength of each stream had doubled compared to before.

Naturally, Lu Yan's overall strength also leaped forward rapidly, crossing into a new level.

*There are still fifty days left. It will be difficult to achieve any major breakthroughs in cultivation for now, so I should practice archery-type martial arts first.*

Lu Yan pondered.

He took out the ninth archery-type martial art and began to comprehend it. Within just a few days, he successfully mastered the basics and condensed a martial art avatar.

Then, he consumed martial food to accelerate the progress of his archery-type martial arts.

Second-tier martial arts were much faster to improve, especially when boosted by second-tier martial food. A single pound of second-tier martial food could increase progress by fifty percent during the initial stage.

With over twenty pounds of martial food swallowed down in a single day, he elevated a second-tier archery martial art to about forty percent mastery at the realm of consummate skill.

In seven days altogether, a second-tier archery martial art reached the realm of the unity of human and martial art.

Next, he elevated the second one, the third one...

By the time there was only one month left before the day of entering Mount Kunwu, Lu Yan had already elevated three archery-type martial arts to the realm of the unity of human and martial art.

With these, the number of archery-type martial arts at the unity of human and martial art realm reached five.

Four more were needed.

It was time to set off.

After making his arrangements, Lu Yan left Herb City.

Traveling by himself using the Cloud-Treading Step was far faster than riding a horse. In less than seven days, he arrived back in King Ling City and checked into an inn.

The next day, Lu Yan came to the Zhao family's affairs bureau.

"You're here? Do you intend to enter Mount Kunwu together with our Zhao family?"

The white-haired elder asked.

"Indeed."

Lu Yan nodded.

"Very well, I will register you and report it immediately. King Ling City is some distance away from Mount Kunwu, so we must set off ten days in advance. At that time, come to the affairs bureau, and I will take you to gather."

The white-haired elder said.

"Many thanks."

Lu Yan cupped his fists in salute.

After completing the registration, Lu Yan returned to the inn. Calculating the time, there were still more than ten days before departure, and he certainly couldn't let the time go to waste. He took out the pre-prepared dried martial food and continued to advance his archery-type martial arts.

With only a few days left, Lu Yan didn't bother to rent another courtyard.

Seven days later, yet another second-tier archery martial art reached the unity of human and martial art.

Lu Yan's comprehension of archery grew deeper and deeper.

However, on this day, a young man sought out Lu Yan.

"Are you Lu Ren?"

Inside the inn bedroom, the young man asked straightforwardly.

"Correct. Who might you be? Breaking directly into my bedroom—what is your purpose?"

Lu Yan asked with a cold face.

This person had entered without announcing himself, pushing the door open directly. Fortunately, he had no secrets that this person could have discovered, otherwise he would have had no choice but to silence him permanently.

"I am Zhao Po, of the Zhao family."

The young man said.

" Oh? And then?"

Lu Yan retorted.

"I heard you were very lucky, obtaining a grandmaster-level demonic evil crystal and securing a quota to enter Mount Kunwu. Name your price; how much silver will it take for me to buy your quota?"

Zhao Po said.

*So he's a loser from within the Zhao family.*

A thought stirred in Lu Yan's mind.

The thirteen grandmaster-level aristocratic families had to compete to carve up seventy-two quotas.

And within each grandmaster-level family, there was also internal competition for the quotas to enter Mount Kunwu.

For instance, the Li family had five quotas in total, meaning only the five strongest individuals were qualified to enter Mount Kunwu.

As for the Zhao family, although they had eighteen quotas, they had given away three, leaving only fifteen.

Within the Zhao family, there was likewise a need to compete for those fifteen quotas.

This Zhao Po wanted to buy Lu Yan's quota, evidently having failed in the internal competition.

"I'm sorry, I'm not selling."

Lu Yan shook his head.

Zhao Po's gaze turned cold.

"You'd better think carefully. Mount Kunwu is not a peaceful sanctuary; those exotic beasts are fiercely savage. Among those who have entered in past sessions, quite a few have been killed by exotic beasts. Furthermore, everyone entering Mount Kunwu is a top-tier martial marquis. Those with insufficient strength who enter will find it more harmful than beneficial, and shouldn't expect to gain any treasures."

Zhao Po said coldly.

"You needn't trouble yourself with such matters; I have my own judgment. Please leave."

Lu Yan waved his hand, issuing an eviction notice.