Chapter 7

 Effort Is a Talent Too

The next morning, Lu Fan woke to the sound of hammering.

When he opened the door to his detached residence, unfamiliar craftsmen were already filling the courtyard. They were busy tearing down pillars and roof tiles, measuring the dimensions for new furniture, and making all sorts of preparations.

“Are you awake?”

Lu Hu approached with a bright expression.

“I’m having a new bed and desk brought in, and I’m replacing your training stone with a larger one.”

Lu Fan stared at the craftsmen rushing back and forth.

“It was fine the way it was before.”

“Fine? What was fine about it? The roof leaked whenever it rained, and snow even came through the cracks in the doors during winter.”

Lu Hu laughed as he patted his son on the shoulder.

“Your grandfather even told you to move to Azure Bamboo Garden. But you’ve lived here since you were little, so I thought it would be better to properly renovate it rather than tear it down.”

Everything had changed after just one sparring match the previous night. Until then, no one had paid the slightest attention to this old detached residence.

It was a little bitter to realize how easily people’s treatment of someone could change based solely on their strength.

“Until the renovations are finished, stay at your grandfather’s residence every evening. He also said he would personally watch over your training.”

“I understand.”

Lu Hu nodded with satisfaction. Before turning away, he placed a small pouch into Lu Fan’s hand.

When Lu Fan opened it, he found more than ten gold coins inside.

He let out a hollow laugh.

The amount of money he had received in a single day was more than what he had managed to save over several years.

Still, considering that Old Man Wu’s training would likely require money, it was welcome support for now.

Lu Fan placed the pouch of gold coins inside the Nine Heavens Sect ring and left the residence.

Near the training grounds, there was no end to the whispers about Lu Fan, who had advanced three stages in a single month.

The ridicule he had once received had turned into wariness and envy.

Lu Fan paid attention to neither.

At the center of the training grounds stood Lu Ming and Zhang Yuehan side by side.

Zhang Yuehan, who had returned home to spend the New Year, had already come back to the Lu residence.

When she spotted Lu Fan, she looked at him with complicated emotions.

She had clearly heard the rumors that the man she had abandoned had advanced three stages in a single month and defeated Lu Tiangang.

Lu Fan walked past the two of them as though he hadn’t seen them.

“Lu Fan, stop there.”

Lu Ming’s voice came from behind him.

Lu Fan stopped and merely turned his head.

“What is it?”

“You broke Lu Tiangang’s arm and now you’re walking around as though nothing happened.”

“It was a formal sparring match. The Family Head was watching as well.”

“That boy is my man.”

Lu Fan’s eyes turned cold.

By blood, Lu Fan was actually closer to Lu Ming than Lu Tiangang was.

Yet Lu Ming had never once called Lu Fan his own man.

“So you’re going to settle the score for him?”

“Not right now.”

Lu Ming raised his chin.

“I have to return to the academy soon. I’ll definitely come back for the Western Mountain Hunting Competition three months from now. Let’s have a proper match then. I’ll personally find out whether you really changed or whether you were simply lucky once.”

It was an obvious provocation, but in the Western Mountains, where the family’s rules held no sway, the two of them would eventually have to fight.

“Do as you please.”

Lu Fan left those words behind and turned away.

Lu Ming shouted from behind him that he was still only at the sixth layer of the Body Tempering Realm, but Lu Fan did not look back.

Zhang Yuehan also failed to stop him.

Only after Lu Fan disappeared from sight did she quietly ask,

“About yesterday’s spar…… Did it really end with just one punch?”

“Drop it.”

Lu Ming’s voice turned harsh.

“I just happened to get unlucky.”

When Lu Fan arrived at the tavern, Old Man Wu locked the door as though he had been waiting for him.

“Let’s go to the back courtyard.”

Behind the old shop was a spacious courtyard lined with wine jars.

At its center stood a gigantic three-legged cauldron large enough for three or four people to fit inside.

All eight dragon heads carved into its black body were facing inward toward the cauldron.

“What is that?”

“The Gentle Fire Cauldron.”

Old Man Wu pointed at the cauldron.

“You’ll train inside that from today onward.”

Lu Fan looked from the cauldron to his master.

“Inside it, rather than beside it?”

“Your ears are working fine, aren’t they?”

An ominous feeling crept over Lu Fan.

Old Man Wu seemed to enjoy his disciple’s expression and curled the corners of his mouth upward.

“The first gateway to becoming a Qi Refining cultivator is body refinement—the process of tempering and forging the physical body. If you cannot endure this process, you won’t even be able to sense Primordial Qi.”

“You’re going to put a person inside a cauldron and forge him?”

“There’s no rule saying only medicinal herbs can go inside a cauldron.”

Lu Fan’s eyelids twitched slightly.

Old Man Wu continued explaining as he tapped the rim of the cauldron.

“To become a Qi Refining cultivator, you need a sense that resonates with the energy of Heaven and Earth. For example, people who are particularly strong in their original yang or original yin, or those who can naturally manipulate things such as fire and water.”

“I don’t think I have any such talent.”

Lu Fan answered honestly.

Old Man Wu snorted.

“That’s why I took you as my disciple.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better.”

“Another Qi Refining cultivator would have sent you away. But if you don’t have talent, you can simply create it.”

The playful look disappeared from Old Man Wu’s eyes.

“I wasn’t a genius from the beginning either. I failed countless times and clung to it longer than anyone else before reaching where I am today. If you weren’t born with talent, then make effort your talent.”

Lu Fan silently looked at his master.

“There are many people who are naturally gifted, but few who endure until the very end. Don’t become arrogant just because things go well a few times, and don’t collapse just because you fail.”

“I’ll remember that.”

At Lu Fan’s answer, Old Man Wu returned to his usual sly expression.

“Then take off your clothes and get inside.”

“You don’t even give me time to be moved.”

“Fire doesn’t wait.”

Lu Fan took off his upper garment and jumped into the Gentle Fire Cauldron.

The moment both feet touched the bottom of the cauldron, the characters engraved along its inner walls began glowing one after another.

Purple flames erupted from the mouths of the eight dragons.

Whoosh!

In an instant, the flames swallowed Lu Fan’s entire body.

“Guh!”

The pain came not from his skin, but from deep within his bones.

Even when both his arms had broken in the Western Mountains, it had never been this painful.

The Purple Heart Heavenly Flame did not merely burn the flesh.

It sought out the energy sleeping deep within his body and drew it out one strand at a time into the flames.

Lu Fan suppressed the urge to leap out of the cauldron.

Strangely enough, his body was not being damaged.

Every place the flames passed through instead became stronger, as his meridians and muscles were tempered.

Just a little longer.

He gritted his teeth.

Old Man Wu had told him from the beginning to endure for as long as he could.

If that was the case, there was no reason to set his own limit.

His entire body convulsed whenever the flames swept over him, but Lu Fan did not climb out of the cauldron.

One quarter of an hour passed.

Then half an hour.

Outside, Old Man Wu, who was controlling the flames, gradually changed his expression.

At first, he had thought enduring for half an hour would be enough.

If Lu Fan trained for half an hour each day for a month, he should be able to draw out the seed of Primordial Qi from his body.

Yet even after an entire hour, Lu Fan was still enduring.

Judging by his rough breathing, he had not even lost consciousness.

“This brat…… Does he actually feel pain?”

Despite Old Man Wu’s muttering, there was no answer from inside the cauldron.

Another hour passed.

At last, the purple flames wrapped around the cauldron began to die down.

The prepared Purple Heart Heavenly Flame had been completely exhausted.

The moment the flames disappeared, Lu Fan leaped out of the cauldron.

His entire body was bright red, and steam rose from his head.

“Aaaaaah!”

As though finally releasing all the pain he had been suppressing, Lu Fan slammed his fist into the ground.

Boom!

Purple flames blossomed around his fist.

The stone floor of the courtyard caved in deeply, and violet flames spread along the cracks before disappearing.

Old Man Wu’s pupils narrowed.

It had happened only once.

After merely one session of body refinement, the talent he had been trying to create had revealed itself on its own.

Lu Fan knew nothing of this, however, and simply collapsed onto the ground.

“Master, do I really have to do this training every day?”

Old Man Wu concealed his astonishment and answered calmly.

“You endured for two shichen. Not bad.”

“Not bad?”

“Did you enter the cauldron because you wanted praise?”

Lu Fan collapsed onto his back, too exhausted to answer.

Old Man Wu placed a hand on his shoulder, and white light flowed into Lu Fan’s body.

The burning fatigue was washed away, and strength returned to his stiffened limbs.

“Get up. There’s something I need to check.”

Old Man Wu pointed toward the Gentle Fire Cauldron.

“Hit it with all your strength using the Mountain-Crushing Fist.”

Lu Fan rose from the ground and examined the thick body of the cauldron.

“Please don’t get angry if I break it.”

“If you can break this cauldron, I’ll take you as my master.”

“I’ll remember you said that.”

Lu Fan took a deep breath and threw both fists forward.

“Mountain-Crushing Fist!”

Bang!

The instant his fists struck the Gentle Fire Cauldron, a thin strand of energy rose from his dantian.

The faint, thread-like energy traveled along both his arms before transforming into flames around his fists.

Daaang!

The cauldron remained completely unharmed.

Instead, a powerful rebound sent Lu Fan flying backward.

“Ugh!”

Lu Fan flew across the courtyard and landed hard on his backside.

His entire body felt as though it were coming apart again, but his eyes shone with astonishment.

“Flames just came out of my fists.”

Old Man Wu could no longer hide his smile.

“I saw it.”

“Is that Primordial Qi?”

“It isn’t even enough to be called a seed yet. It’s merely a faint strand of energy. But you have proven that you possess the qualifications.”

Old Man Wu helped Lu Fan to his feet.

“From today onward, you can become a Qi Refining cultivator.”

Lu Fan’s heart pounded violently.

One of the two impossible paths before him had just opened.

“Then what should I learn first?”

Old Man Wu pulled a long piece of folded paper from inside his robes and handed it to him.

When Lu Fan unfolded it, he found more than ten types of medicinal herbs and the quantities required for each, densely written across the page.

They were all common medicinal ingredients, but the quantities were excessive.

He needed several jin of Lantern Grass alone.

“Buy all of them. Starting tomorrow, you’ll enter the Gentle Fire Cauldron every day, and in your spare time, you’ll learn how to handle medicinal herbs.”

Lu Fan scanned the list before cautiously asking,

“I don’t think even the money I received today will be enough for this much.”

“Of course it won’t.”

“Then if Master could contribute a little……”

“I don’t have any either.”

Old Man Wu answered without the slightest shame.

“A Qi Refining cultivator has no money?”

“Have you ever seen this tavern doing good business?”

Lu Fan had no response to that.

“If you want to learn, you’ll have to obtain the money yourself. I want everything here by this time tomorrow.”

In the end, Lu Fan left the tavern carrying the list of medicinal herbs.

As soon as the door closed, the smile disappeared from Old Man Wu’s face.

The result of the body refinement that he had expected to take a month had appeared in only a single day.

He would have to revise his entire training plan.

“I picked up a vessel far larger than I expected.”

Old Man Wu entered his room and pulled out an old book that had been wedged beneath the leg of a wobbling table.

After blowing away the thick layer of dust, the characters on the cover appeared.

The Boundless Soul-Refining Formula.

Wu Chen slowly opened the book that he had kept sealed away for so long.

“Perhaps it’s time for this to return to the world as well.”

Lu Fan spent the entire day visiting medicinal herb shops and street stalls throughout Jianglin City.

He compared prices and bargained wherever he could, but by the end of the day, he had only managed to purchase half of the items on the list.

By sunset, he did not have a single gold coin left.

I didn’t realize this would cost so much.

He needed to find more money to purchase the remaining herbs.

He could ask his father, and Lu Hu would surely give him some, but explaining what the money was for would be difficult.

For the time being, Lu Fan wanted to keep both his apprenticeship under Old Man Wu and the fact that he could become a Qi Refining cultivator a secret.

As Lu Fan arrived at the Lu family’s main gate while pondering what to do, a guard hurried over.

“Young Master Lu Fan, you’ve finally returned?”

His attitude was completely different from before.

“What is it?”

“The Family Head has been waiting for you in the rear courtyard. He’s been looking for you for quite some time, so you’d better hurry.”

Even after finishing his sentence, the guard did not leave.

“And that sparring match last night was truly amazing. I’ve known all along that Young Master was destined for greatness.”

Lu Fan quietly looked at him.

“Is that so?”

“Of course.”

“Then why didn’t anyone help me when I collapsed in the snow in front of the gate a month ago?”

The guard’s smile froze in place.

Lu Fan did not press him any further.

“I’ll go see the Family Head.”

He walked past the stiff guard and headed toward the rear courtyard.

Lanterns from the pavilion swayed over the lake beneath the night sky.

In the center of the pavilion, Lu Haoran had been moving his body slowly in practice.

When he saw Lu Fan, he turned around.

“You’re here, Fan.”

Lu Fan respectfully greeted him, and Lu Haoran beckoned him closer.

“Good. You came.”

A smile filled with anticipation appeared on the old man’s lips.

“Hit me with all your strength.”