Chapter 23: Xuan Energy
Translator: Panda_Penn Editor: Chrissy
Lady Yi was away, then Liu Wu must be away as well. After all, he was the most powerful Commanding Officer of the Silver Wolf Escorts of the Liu Family. Lu Li looked towards Lu Ling and the latter gestured for him to leave.
“Let’s stay in that tavern over there!”
Lu Ling was pointing to a luxurious tavern on the east side of the plaza. Lu Li threw a few glances at it and gloomily said, “Sis, that tavern is a quite an expensive one. I heard that one night costs one Golden Leaf. Let’s go to another one.”
“It is expensive, so what? Is it more important than life?”
Lu Ling answered in a cold voice, “This tavern is close to the Liu Family, so clearly, it is one of the family’s properties. Even if Di Ba wants to give us trouble, he wouldn’t dare to be ruthless there. We will just stay for three days, and we have saved some Golden Leaves over these years. Let’s go.”
Lu Li had slaughtered some Xuan Beasts of lower ranks and animals. He managed to get some Golden Leaves after selling them in Wu Ling County. Lu Ling had been living frugally, so they did save some money.
The two walked to the luxurious tavern to the east. The servant standing outside of the tavern stared at the two in doubt. However, after Lu Ling took a bag of golden leaves from her bundle, the servant changed his face, put on a smile and showed them the way in.
After they checking in the two best rooms in the tavern, Lu Ling returned to her room to settle things down. Then she took Lu Li out of the tavern. She bought Lu Li two suits of gorgeous warrior robes in a nearby store and herself with two suits of somewhat expensive and alluring robes.
“Fine feathers make fine birds. No one can belittle us when we get into the Liu Family.”
Lu Ling explained. When they got back, Lu Ling asked Lu Li to clean himself up and get changed into the new warrior robe. After Lu Li got dressed, Lu Ling looked at him through and through and smiled. “It is true what they say, gold kasaya makes Buddha, and fine clothes make men. My brother is going to attract and confuse a big group of ladies in Big Families.”
Lu Li had similar looks to Lu Ling, with fair features and perfect contour of body. However, he had spent many years in the wild, so his skin was rough and tanned. Now with the glorious white warrior robe, he immediately looked very handsome. The untamed nature deep inside made him more mature and masculine.
With a beautiful robe on, Lu Ling looked more stunning. Unfortunately, one of her legs was crippled, and her incredibly pretty face was covered up with a thin veil. Otherwise, she would be too beautiful for the eyes to see.
The two enjoyed a feast downstairs and Lu Ling sent Lu Li back to their rooms. Afterwards, Lu Ling took out some white powder from the bundle, put it in the water, swirled it a bit and handed it over to Lu Li. “Drink it.”
“What is this…”
Lu Li smelled something funny. He thought of the tea Lu Ling gave him this morning and responded with a frown. “Sister, are you going to burn down a house again? This is the property of the Liu Family.”
“What are you thinking?” Lu Ling stared at Lu Li and explained, “This is a detoxicating one. After you drink it, you can cultivate Xuan Energy.”
“What?!”
Lu Li blinked and then realized something. He shockingly looked at Lu Ling and asked, “Sis, the reason why I couldn’t cultivate the Xuan Energy is because I was poisoned?”
“That’s right!”
Lu Ling affirmatively replied, “Here is more, I myself poisoned you! I had already poisoned you when you were six years old, or you would have been able to cultivate the Xuan Energy a long time ago.”
“What?!”
Lu Li was astonished and confusion filled his eyes. He would not go so far as to think that Lu Ling could probably harm him. He just could not believe and make out why Lu Ling did such a thing.
“If I hadn’t poisoned you, you would have cultivated Xuan Energy and we would be dead for a long time.”
Lu Ling sighed. “I have a suspicion that the death of our maternal grandfather had something to do with Di Ba and those old men in the tribe. When the body of our grandpa was sent back, I clearly remembered the killing intent in Di Ba’s eyes when he looked at us. If it were not for the presence of Sixth Granduncle, he would have exterminated us then…”
“Think about it. If you could cultivate Xuan Energy when you were little and show that you were talented and gifted, then you would grow up to be a powerful warrior. Back then, if we had figured out the cause of our grandpa’s death, would you seek revenge? How could Di Ba breed evil? If you had cultivated Xuan Energy at an early age, all that was left for us would be death.”
“From the books left behind by our father, I discovered a kind of herb and successfully found it in the mountains. This herb is harmless to humans and would just disable you to cultivate Xuan Energy. Now that the toxic is out of your system, you should be able to cultivate Xuan Energy.”
Lu Li understood after Lu Ling’s explanation.
Before, Lu Ling had said that he could cultivate Xuan Energy after he had awaken his Bloodline which gave him the idea that Xuan Energy had something to do with awakening his Bloodline. Now, he realized that his inability to cultivate Xuan Energy was because he was constrained by his sister’s drug.
That being said, Lu Li did not blame Lu Ling for one bit. Instead, he looked at Lu Ling in tenderness and choked with sobs. “Sis, you must have suffered a lot for the past years.”
They had lost their parents since they were little. Lu Ling, who was only four years old, was taking care of Lu Li who was not even one year old and managed to survive. Four years old, how could a mere four year’s old kid know how to take care a baby? On top of that, Lu Ling had to look out for both open and covert attacks from people in the tribe.
She was almost raped when she was fourteen, broke her leg, and crawled back from the wildness on her own. When she got back, she had nowhere to right her wrong. She shouldered all the pain by herself and swallowed all the suffering. Not even once did she mention any of this to Lu Li and just secretly tried to heal herself…
“No!”
Lu Ling smiled. She reached out her hand to pat Lu Li’s face and softly answered, “Lu Li, we are the children of the Lu Family. We can bleed and sweat, but we don’t shed tears. Only the weak will cry, or complain the universe for being unfair. The powerful one will quietly bear everything and overcome all suffering with his own two hands. One must harden one’s heart if one aspires to be strong. Do you understand?”
Lu Li took Lu Ling’s hands and earnestly replied with a nod, “Sis, I will work hard to be a powerful warrior. I will not let you experience any harm or injustice anymore. I will find the best elixir to cure your leg, and I will give you a good life. Trust me.”
“I believe you, brother. My brother will become a powerful warrior towering the whole world.”
Lu Ling nodded in agreement. Then she picked up the cup of tea and gave it to Lu Li. “To become a powerful warrior, you must get the toxic out of your system to cultivate Xuan Energy. Xuan Energy is the essence of warriors. Once you can do that, it will be easier to join the Liu Family.”
“Okay!”
Lu Li drank it up. As soon as he finished the cup, Lu Ling made it clear for Lu Li. “Sit right here with your legs crossed, drive any distracting thoughts out, and feel the Xuan Qi in heaven and earth. Absorb it in and condense the Xuan Energy.”
Lu Li sat down with his legs crossed. He cleaned his head of any distracting thoughts, entering into a state of free emptiness. All of his mind and soul were put onto feeling the magical Xuan Qi in heaven and earth.
The way to cultivate Xuan Energy was quite simple and had been popularized around the Northern Desert. Anyone that was a little gifted could cultivate Xuan Energy. Lu Li had come to know the way for a long time, and had even tried it out for several times over the years.
Somewhere in the unseen world, Lu Li felt some mysterious bits and pieces in heaven and earth—he knew that was Xuan Qi. Immediately, Lu Li tried to attract them closer through mediation.
The human body had some innate attraction to Xuan Qi. The intangible bits and pieces moved towards Lu Li’s body and got inside of him.
Lu Li started and tried to figure out something on how to keep the Xuan Qi and condense it into Xuan Energy. At first, it was like before. He made nowhere in condensing the Xuan Qi.
After an hour, through one of the big channels [1] in him, there appeared a faint airflow. The air slowly ran inside his channel, making him extremely comfortable—like he had tasted the finest wine in the world.
“Xuan Energy!”
Lu Li suddenly opened his eyes and said to Lu Ling with pleasant surprise all over his face. “Sis, I have cultivated the Xuan Energy!”
“Ha, ha~”
Even Lu Ling was a little surprised. She quietly responded, “You are the son of Lu Ren Huang. If you could not cultivate Xuan Energy, then not a single soul in the entire Northern Desert would be able to do that.”
…
[1] Jin Mai (经脉), literally means tendon and vessel