Chapter 63 | The Divine Ability Practitioner

Lu Ming returned to the Thunderfire Hall in a tearing hurry.

Near the entrance, he spotted Lu Mengmeng. She was squatting on the steps of the Thunderfire Hall's dojo. To her left was a pile of fruits, to her right a stack of pastries, and in her hand was a bamboo tube filled with fruit juice. She looked exceptionally comfortable as she watched the disciples practicing.

Lately, many new disciples had joined the Thunderfire Hall. Whenever they came to practice, they would bring snacks to feed this "tiny Hall Master."

Seeing Lu Mengmeng looking so leisurely and comfortable, Lu Ming shook his head in amusement. He walked up to her and said, “Mengmeng, your brother brought you a gift.”

Lu Mengmeng's dark eyes instantly lit up.

“Close your eyes and hold out your hand,” Lu Ming said with a mysterious grin.

Full of anticipation, Lu Mengmeng obediently closed her eyes and held out her fair, delicate little hand.

Then, Lu Ming smilingly placed the Qi Refining Elixir he had refined today into her palm.

Lu Mengmeng immediately opened her eyes. Looking at the pill in her hand, her expression turned slightly blank.

“Haha, happy? This is a Qi Refining Elixir. It's much more effective than the Qi Refining Pills you usually use for cultivation. One of these is worth ten of your Qi Refining Pills,” Lu Ming said with a straight face.

Lu Mengmeng's small mouth twitched, and she stared at her brother with an extremely resentful gaze.

“Alright, no need to thank me. Go tell Dad and Second Uncle to come to the inner courtyard to find Grandfather and me,” Lu Ming chuckled, rubbing her head as he ordered her around.

“Hmph!”

Lu Mengmeng snorted angrily, but she still tucked the Qi Refining Elixir into her robes. Holding her large pile of snacks and pastries, she stomped away in a huff.

Lu Ming, meanwhile, bypassed the front and headed to the backyard, where he found Lu Jin quietly meditating. He chatted with him for a while, and once Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei hurriedly arrived, he solemnly took out the intelligence reports Zhou Xuan had given him.

When Lu Jin heard that this was intelligence regarding the Peach Mountain Bandits, his expression instantly turned grave. He quickly took them and flipped through them carefully.

After a long while, Lu Jin handed over one of the scrolls.

Lu Qingyan unrolled it. It recorded detailed information about the Peach Mountain Bandits.

Guo Kui, chief of the Peach Mountain Bandits, a Feather Robe Master who cultivated the Upper Divine Ability, the Scorpion Poison Seal. He possessed a High-grade Divine Ability Weapon called the Ten Thousand Scorpion Bag, which was filled with numerous venomous scorpions that bit each other to cultivate toxic Qi.

Under his command were six right-hand men, all of whom were Grand Divine Ability Practitioners.

Fan Li, having formed twenty-four Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions.

Fang Zhao, having formed twenty-two Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions.

Teng Shengyun, having formed nineteen Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions.

Xu Zhong, having formed eighteen Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions.

Wei Yu, having formed fifteen Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions.

Xu Jushi, having formed twelve Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions.

Aside from these names, the scroll also recorded the Divine Ability techniques they excelled at in great detail. There were a few other Grand Divine Ability Practitioners as well, but their strengths were all below ten Divine Ability Dharma Inscriptions, and their foundations could not compare to these six right-hand men.

“Hah, this intelligence has completely stripped the Peach Mountain Bandits bare,” Lu Qingyan could not help but laugh in pleasant surprise after reading it. With this information, they would be much better prepared when facing the Peach Mountain Bandits in the future.

“This Zhou Xuan is actually quite decent this time,” Lu Jinglei also praised.

“Don't celebrate just yet. The real trouble is here,” Lu Jin suddenly spoke up, his elderly face turning somewhat solemn. He handed over a piece of yellowed parchment.

The three of them looked over. There was only a single sentence written on it.

“The Peach Mountain Bandits are suspected to have unusual movements early next month.”

“Unusual movements early next month? Could they be planning to target the medicinal garden again?” Lu Jinglei said in a deep voice.

“The medicinal garden is only a hundred li away from the ward city. They won't be foolish enough to strike here again. They would also be afraid of the Ward Office setting a trap to surround and annihilate them,” Lu Qingyan said, shaking his head.

“If they aren't targeting the medicinal garden, could they be planning to directly attack our Thunderfire Hall?”

This was obviously impossible.

Lu Ming frowned in thought. After a brief silence, he asked, “Are there any special dates for our Thunderfire Hall early next month?”

Lu Qingyan thought for a moment, and his expression suddenly changed. “Early next month, we accepted a mission from the Qingchuan Chamber of Commerce to escort their caravan. The caravan's destination is Xuanjing Ward.”

“Could they be planning to ambush and slaughter the caravan?!”

Lu Ming's expression turned solemn. If the caravan escorted by the Thunderfire Hall was indeed ambushed and wiped out, resulting in the loss of both people and goods, it would deal a fatal blow to the Thunderfire Hall's reputation. In the future, the chambers of commerce in Qingyuan Ward would probably never dare to hire the Thunderfire Hall to escort their caravans again.

Consequently, the prospects of the disciples graduating from the Thunderfire Hall would also be affected.

This would deter many people who intended to come to the Thunderfire Hall to cultivate. After all, when they chose to cultivate at the Thunderfire Hall, learning Divine Ability techniques was only one aspect; more importantly, they wanted to leverage the Thunderfire Hall's prestige to secure a future path for themselves.

Not everyone had the ambition to strive for the rank of Divine Ability Master or even higher realms.

Most people simply wanted to learn a few Divine Ability techniques for self-defense, using them to secure a stable life in Qingyuan Ward.

If the Peach Mountain Bandits exploited this and continuously ambushed the Thunderfire Hall's escort caravans, it would be equivalent to digging up the very roots of the Thunderfire Hall.

“If those beasts dare to come, we'll take the opportunity to slaughter them all and eliminate future trouble!” Lu Jinglei's face was fierce, his eyes brimming with intense killing intent.

This time, Lu Ming quite agreed with his second uncle's thoughts. He said, “The Peach Mountain Bandits want a fight to the death with us. I don't know what benefits Lin Changkong gave them, but there's indeed no sense in constantly playing defense. Since we have the advantage in intelligence this time, perhaps we can use it to set a trap.”

Lu Jin nodded slowly, a chilling killing intent also flowing in his aged voice. “This is indeed an opportunity.”

Lu Qingyan pondered and said, “If it's within the borders of Qingyuan Ward, we might be able to ask the Ward Office for help. After all, eradicating these bandit cultivators is also part of their responsibility.”

“I'm afraid the Peach Mountain Bandits won't choose to strike within Qingyuan Ward's borders,” Lu Ming said.

The caravan early next month was heading to Xuanjing Ward. The distance between the two wards was several hundred li, so a large portion of the trade route was not within the borders of Qingyuan Ward. On the contrary, the intersection between the two wards was a lawless, chaotic zone.

According to the rules, the Ward Offices of each ward were not allowed to leave their respective territories without cause.

“No matter. Since others are harboring such vicious designs, there is no way for our Thunderfire Hall to avoid this battle.”

Lu Jin said calmly, “Eldest, tomorrow you will summon all the Grand Divine Ability Practitioners who have graduated from the Thunderfire Hall. Select the strongest and most trustworthy among them to form the escort team for this caravan.”

“I will follow in secret this time. If the Peach Mountain Bandits truly dare to attack, we must cut off all their limbs to deter those who harbor designs on our Thunderfire Hall.”

A fierce, murderous aura leaked from the old man's words.

“Grandfather, let me go as well. Now that I have become a Grand Divine Ability Practitioner, I have the strength to escort the caravan.” Lu Ming volunteered. This operation was no longer a minor squabble, but a true life-and-death struggle. This kind of real combat was very important for Lu Ming. Thus, instead of feeling fear, his eyes were filled with eagerness to try.

Hearing this, Lu Jin did not refuse. Lu Ming now possessed the power to protect himself. Letting him experience combat and understand life and death would allow him to go further in the future.

Although Lu Jin regarded Lu Ming as the Divine Ability Child who would revitalize the Lu family, he did not blindly coddle and protect him. What Lu Ming would face in the future was a level of danger and difficulty that even Lu Jin could not imagine. If they did not temper him as early as possible, he would only pay a more painful price in the future.

“Good! This time, all the men of our Lu family will go into battle. If those Peach Mountain Bandits dare to come, we will make sure they leave their lives behind!” Lu Jin smiled, but his smile was filled with flowing killing intent.

Lu Ming held out his hand, speaking with grand passion, “When a family is of one mind, their sharp edge can cut through metal!”

Lu Qingyan and Lu Jinglei smiled dotingly and placed their hands on top of Lu Ming's, satisfying the youth's passionate heart.

Lu Jin also reached out and placed his hand on top.

The family laughed together in harmony, completely dispersing the tense atmosphere of the impending attack by the Peach Mountain Bandits.

Meanwhile, Lu Ming took the opportunity to mention that he had successfully refined a Qi Refining Elixir at the Ward Office today, which pleasantly surprised the three of them.

“No wonder. I was wondering why Zhou Xuan would suddenly give you such important intelligence and even offer you a spot at the Spiritual Fish Feast. It turns out you succeeded in refining a pill on your very first try today, which greatly increased your weight in his heart.” The three of them came to a sudden realization, understanding Zhou Xuan's actions today.

After all, the value of an alchemy genius was indeed much heavier in every aspect than that of a High-grade Divine Ability Bone.

“In the future, whatever herbs or spirit herbs you need for refining pills, just tell your father and let him purchase them. Once you truly become an Alchemy Master in the future, our Thunderfire Hall's reputation will soar because of it,” Lu Jin said with a gratified smile.

Their Lu family had not produced an Alchemy Master for many generations. Now that Lu Ming possessed this talent, they would naturally exhaust their family resources to support him.

The influence and reputation possessed by an Alchemy Master far exceeded that of an ordinary Divine Ability Master.

Lu Qingyan agreed with a smile, and then they dispersed to attend to their respective tasks.

As Lu Ming left, he calculated in his heart. There was still some time before the caravan's departure at the beginning of the month, and tomorrow was the so-called Spiritual Fish Feast. If he could bring back some spirit fish, perhaps it would benefit his father and second uncle.