Qingzhu Hall.
Mentally exhausted, Lu Mingyuan pinched the bridge of his nose. 'I wonder,' he thought, 'if someone with Qi Xingyan's abilities can trace this back to me.'
The Paperman's Taoist Qi had been depleted, and its Bloodthirsty Blood had turned to Dead Blood. This meant there was no energy source left. It would be impossible for them to track him through it.
'Good. I should be fine, for the most part.'
"Zi Yun."
"I am here, Your Highness."
Upon hearing Lu Mingyuan's call, Zi Yun materialized before him like a dark shadow, moving from the entrance of the hall to stand like a sentinel.
Whenever she wasn't given an order, she would stand guard at the main entrance, awaiting his command.
In truth, the Imperial Palace was full of Palace Maids like her, each performing a variety of functions: serving, guarding, and even warming beds.
Lu Mingyuan recalled that his own mother's personal Palace Maid was actually a guard planted by the Wang Family, one who possessed the Cultivation of a Seven Realms Grandmaster.
The Imperial Palace was teeming with experts. There were more Imperial Commanders at the Grandmaster Realm than one could count on a single hand, and there were even four Grand Imperial Commanders whose strength was at or above the level of a Grandmaster.
"Rub my shoulders for me."
Lu Mingyuan gestured toward his shoulders.
"Yes."
Zi Yun moved behind him and began to rub and knead his shoulders with her soft, fragrant hands. A smile touched her lips, and her expression was utterly serious, as if she considered this a blissful task.
As Lu Mingyuan enjoyed the massage, his mind was already turning.
'I'll have to be more careful in the future,' he thought. 'Powerful Cultivators will definitely notice a Paperman if it gets too close. I can't use them to probe experts.'
Lu Mingyuan took a sniff of the air beside him, catching her faint, pleasant scent. He deliberately put on a look of intoxication and praised her.
"Mm, what did you put on? Your hands smell so good."
He then deliberately covered her hand with his, lacing his fingers through hers.
A faint blush crept up Zi Yun's cheeks as her red lips parted.
"It is a fragrant dew, Your Highness, with the scent of redbud and lilac."
Hearing this, Lu Mingyuan nodded lightly.
This "fragrant dew," as they called it, was essentially the perfume of his previous world.
This world already had perfume, created using a technique called "floral steam-distillation" to extract essences from plants and produce all kinds of fragrant dews.
'Heh, this girl... has she already figured out she can use perfume to seduce me?'
As the Sixth Prince continued toying with her hand, Zi Yun's face turned completely crimson. Suddenly remembering something, she reported,
"Your Highness, the Noble Consort has already heard the news that you are practicing martial arts."
Lu Mingyuan wasn't surprised. He remained seated, his gaze unwavering as he idly tapped his fingers. "My mother told you to report this, didn't she?"
"Your Highness, forgive me!"
At his words, Zi Yun's expression changed dramatically. She immediately dropped to her knees and kowtowed, her head hitting the floor.
Lu Mingyuan gave her a casual glance before slowly rising to his feet. He walked over to her, leaned down, and stared at her trembling eyelashes.
"Lift your head."
Zi Yun raised her head in terror.
Lu Mingyuan used his fingers to lift her chin, tilting her face up as he spoke calmly,
"Remember this: you belong to me. You are not to listen to anyone else's commands, nor are you to put them before me. It doesn't matter who they are—not even my mother, nor my father the Great Yan Emperor."
"Do you understand?"
With her head still raised, Zi Yun nodded nervously.
"This servant understands!"
Lu Mingyuan let go of her chin and gave her butt a squeeze, finally adding with a grin,
"If there's a next time, I won't be so forgiving."
After doing all this, he returned to his chair, rubbed the bridge of his nose again, and rolled his eyes internally.
'Acting like a degenerate prince is exhausting.'
'Still, it's absolutely necessary.'
He had to have his own die-hard loyalists—people who wouldn't hide things from him on someone else's orders, even if that person was his own mother who loved him dearly.
Zi Yun slowly rose to her feet, retrieved a red brocade box from a corner by the bookshelf, and presented it to Lu Mingyuan with both hands.
"Your Highness, this is a Treasure the Noble Consort spent a great sum to buy from an auction house. She asked this servant to give it to you."
"Hm?"
Slightly surprised, Lu Mingyuan nonchalantly took the brocade box.
However, after opening the box, he was completely stunned.
Inside lay a lustrous, translucent, deep-cyan Elixir. The moment he opened the box, a rich medicinal aroma wafted out. The scent was a bit pungent, like an onion, but inhaling it made one's blood boil with vigor!
Next to it lay a small slip of paper explaining the Elixir's origin.
Cyan Fierce Bull Demon Pill.
It was a potent Qi Blood Elixir, concocted using the hardest horns and the Demon Pill of a hundred-year-old Cyan Fierce Bull Demon as its base. Fused with the organs of a dozen other precious Demon Beasts, it was incredibly powerful. The pill could increase a Cultivator's Qi and Blood Power, greatly benefiting both Qi Cultivators and Martial Artists.
"I can't believe it's a Cyan Fierce Bull Demon Pill."
Lu Mingyuan was stunned as he held the pill in his hand.
The Cyan Fierce Bull Demon was a rare, nearly extinct member of the Demon Race from the Western Wilderness Border. Legend claimed these bulls grew up eating the Spirit Medicine known as Cyan Yang Wood. As a result, their brute flesh alone was comparable to a Martial Artist at the Furnace-Building Realm, making them incredibly difficult to kill.
However, anyone who managed to kill one and eat its flesh would gain similar traits: enhanced Qi and Blood, and incredibly tough skin.
Furthermore, these bull demons changed their habitat every ten years and were constantly hunted by the Human Race Cultivators at the border, causing them to all but vanish. The appearance of even a single one would incite a mad scramble.
That's why they generally only appeared in auction houses.
'And Mother actually managed to buy one?'
For some reason, Lu Mingyuan was touched.
Wang Zhaoyan truly spared no expense when it came to him.
'In that case, I absolutely cannot let my mother's good intentions go to waste.'
Without further hesitation, Lu Mingyuan swallowed the Cyan Fierce Bull Demon Pill.
In just a moment, he felt an intense heat spread through his body. His blood began to boil, and the Martial Arts Qi in his Dantian felt as if it had ignited.
It felt like his whole body was about to burst.
Lu Mingyuan hurriedly began to circulate the Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture. No matter how much medicinal power the pill contained, the technique could absorb it all.
After just a moment, he felt the intense heat recede.
In its place, waves of solid power converged throughout his body. Energized by his Martial Arts Qi, his skin color shifted from a dark purple to a bluish-black.
The marrow in his bones increased significantly, replacing more than half of what was originally there.
The effects of the Washing Marrow were excellent, completing most of the transformation required before reaching the Rebirth realm. His Powerful Qi compressed until it was almost tangible, and a wisp of Martial Dao Primordial Qi had begun to form in his Dantian.
He was astonished when he opened his panel to observe the changes.
[Life Master: Lu Mingyuan]
[Cultivation: Martial Arts Third Realm (Washing Marrow)]
[Cultivation Technique: Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture - Abnormal Eating Chapter (Fourth Floor: 2250/5000), Mountain Shaking Fist (Great Success), Fiery Fire Saber Technique (Perfection)]
[Fate Grid: Trapped Dragon in the Abyss (Refinement Level 12%), Reading the Room (Refinement Level 20%), Martial Artist (Refinement Level 80%), Fated to be Seductive (Refinement Level 10%)]
[Life Chart Traits: Dragon Raising Its Head (Basic Level), Hidden Dragon (Middle Level), Recognizing People (Middle Level), Red Heart (Basic Level), Peach Blossom Luck (Basic Level)]
[Opportunity: None]
The progress on the Fourth Floor of the Blood Glutton Celestial Fall Scripture had jumped from a paltry two-hundred-something to over two thousand.
It was nearly a tenfold increase!
'So this is the effect of an Elixir?'
Lu Mingyuan pondered slightly.
When he had consumed the Flame Bone Sunflower, the effect hadn't been nearly as potent. The biggest issue was that, as a natural Celestial and Earthly Treasure, it contained many impurities and insufficient nutrients.
But the Cyan Fierce Bull Demon Pill was different. It was a concentrated product, created by adding the organs of many other Demon Beasts as supplementary ingredients and refining everything down into a single pill of pure essence.
He felt that in the time it took an incense stick to burn, his Cultivation had already advanced from the Early Stage of the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm to the Mid-Stage bottleneck. He was on the verge of breaking through to the Late Stage.
There was still a great deal of medicinal power left unrefined in his body. If he worked at it, he might even be able to break through to the Rebirth realm within half a month!
Along with the further increase in his realm, a line of text appeared before his eyes.
[Mortal White Fate Grid - Martial Artist has reached 100% Refinement Level. It can now be promoted to a Fluorescent Green Fate Grid.]
'A Fate Grid promotion?'
Lu Mingyuan's eyes lit up, and only then did he remember.
The Martial Artist Fate Grid was the lowest-grade one he had. Its Refinement Level had been high from the start, which was likely related to the speed of his Realm breakthroughs.
After breaking through to the Bone Marrow Cleansing Realm, the Refinement Level rose to 80%.
And now, it was finally full.
He focused his mind and immediately began to investigate.
A pattern of green light appeared on the surface of the Six-Yao Turtle Shell. Like a jar filled to the brim, it suddenly burst with a dazzling green radiance that poured entirely into the Martial Artist Fate Grid before his eyes.
[Promoted to Luminous Green Fate Grid - Martial Fool. Refinement Level 10%.]
[Luminous Green Life Chart (Martial Fool): All else is profane; only the Martial Dao is sacred. With a mind free of distractions, Heart and Spirit become one. Immerse your heart in the Dao and attain martial dominion over the world.]
[Unlocked Life Chart Trait - Martial Spirit (Basic Level)]
[Martial Spirit (Basic Level): With a heart devoted to the martial path, your Martial Dao Cultivation speed is slightly increased. Your efficiency when practicing Martial Arts is tripled.]
...