At the foot of Qingcheng Mountain.
After walking with the old man beside him for nearly half a month, Lu Heng finally stood at the foot of Qingcheng Mountain.
He really didn't know why this old man thought a half-month journey was a short distance.
Along the way, Lu Heng had several times wanted to bring out the motorcycle from his space. He had never walked continuously for such a long time, and it was on an uneven dirt road.
Looking up at the towering, continuous mountain peaks, Lu Heng turned his head to look at the old man beside him. After nearly half a month of getting along, Lu Heng gradually gained new understanding of this world, and along the way, he had formed some friendship with this old man he met for the first time in this foreign land.
This old man was named 'Wu Chenzi'. As he had said, he was an alchemist in the Danyang Sect of Qingcheng Mountain. However, the old man was being modest. He was not an ordinary alchemist, but a grandmaster-level figure renowned throughout the entire Shenyuan Continent.
Alchemists in the Shenyuan Continent refined various pills by mastering flame abilities and altering plant properties through a technique similar to ancient alchemy.
The pills Lu Heng had seen in Jinyang City before were the most common type. The alchemist beside him was not only a cultivator who mastered fire and wood attributes but also a speed-type body-refining martial cultivator.
However, multi-attribute cultivators in this world were different from multi-attribute ability users in the apocalypse. Perhaps it was because the magic crystals here carried attributes, which caused cultivators to only increase the level of one attribute by absorbing magic crystals of that attribute.
For those with multiple attributes, if they wanted to cultivate all of them, they would need more magic crystal resources. Ordinary families could not afford such cultivation. Unless it was a large family, which could barely support a dual-attribute cultivator with the strength of the entire clan, the speed of multi-attribute advancement here was not fast.
Especially for multi-attribute cultivation beyond dual-attributes, the quantity of high-level magic crystals required increased significantly in the later stages, which was beyond the affordability of families. Ordinary small sects were only responsible for teaching basic cultivation principles to ordinary cultivators, and they could not afford to support multi-attribute cultivators.
Therefore, it was already difficult to support such a triple-attribute cultivator, and this old man was also an alchemist whose alchemy skills surpassed many other alchemists on the Shenyuan Continent.
Lu Heng sighed, then took out a crystal from his embrace and swallowed it. Wu Chenzi beside him finally couldn't help but ask, "Little friend Lu, I've watched you eat all the way. What are you eating?"
Lu Heng took out another level four ordinary crystal from his embrace and handed it to Wu Chenzi. He had absorbed all the level three crystals along the way, so he mainly had level four crystals on him now, of course, with a small amount of level one and two. Eating them had no significant effect on him anymore. "You can take a look yourself. I don't know how to explain it to you."
"Oh?" Wu Chenzi took the crystal and looked at it, then threw it into his mouth.
After a while, Wu Chenzi said in surprise, "This is also a magic crystal, right? However, the color doesn't reveal its attribute, and the energy contained within is not much."
Lu Heng chuckled, "You are now an eighth-level Dao Comprehension cultivator, so this probably won't be of much use to you."
"Then, with your current fifth-level Dao Comprehension, is this useful for you?"
Seeing Lu Heng nod, Wu Chenzi extended his hand towards Lu Heng again, "Do you have any more? I'll take it back to study."
Lu Heng... He had absorbed quite a few crystals recently, but for some reason, he still hadn't broken through to the tenth-level of the apocalypse.
He meticulously counted the crystals he was about to absorb each time. He remembered the quantities. Based on the number of crystals required for previous advancements, he should have broken through by now.
He took out another handful of level four ordinary crystals and handed them to Wu Chenzi.
Wu Chenzi quickly placed the crystals into his storage accessory. As for Wu Chenzi's storage accessory, it was something that ordinary people couldn't imagine. He had specifically found a craftsman who made such accessories and had one custom-made for him.
Because Wu Chenzi had high prestige on the Shenyuan Continent, the craftsman who could make this accessory had given him great respect and custom-made a storage vest for him, which looked like a soft armor vest.
Along the way, Wu Chenzi had shown Lu Heng the vest on his body quite a few times.
The vest looked like ordinary soft armor. Lu Heng had even tried it on. He really didn't know what material these things were made of. The soft armor was not heavy when worn.
Wu Chenzi's soft armor also had a very large storage space. According to his own description, it should be about the size of five official yamen offices in Jinyang City.
Lu Heng could easily understand such a straightforward description, but he was curious whether their storage items could also store large items, such as houses.
"Little friend Lu, let's hurry up the mountain. The temperature on the mountain is lower than below. Do you want to change into thicker clothes?"
"No need. Cultivators are not afraid of this bit of cold."
"Alright then."
...
Three hours later.
"How much longer until we arrive?" The place where Lu Heng and the others were now had sparse mist, and the surrounding temperature had indeed dropped significantly, but Lu Heng could use his internal abilities to regulate his body temperature and adapt.
It's just that this mountain doesn't look that high, why has he been climbing for three hours without seeing any buildings at the summit?
"It's almost there. With little friend Lu's pace, we should reach the outer gate of the Danyang Sect in about another hour."
Lu Heng... "Outer gate?"
An hour should mean two hours, right? And it would take another two hours of climbing to reach the outer gate.
However, now that they were at this awkward point, there was no reason not to persevere.
Indeed, after walking for another two hours, Lu Heng finally stood before a magnificent palace gate.
There were many young boys and girls entering and exiting in front of the gate. Those people were in a hurry, but upon seeing Wu Chenzi beside Lu Heng, they all stopped in unison, bowed towards Wu Chenzi, and said in unison, "Greetings, Martial Ancestor Uncle 'Liao Wu'."
Lu Heng raised his eyebrows and turned to look at Wu Chenzi beside him.
Wu Chenzi rubbed his nose and smiled at Lu Heng, "The children's way of addressing me in the Danyang Sect. My title in the Danyang Sect is 'Liao Wu'."
Lu Heng nodded, guessing it was similar to a Dharma name, like how monks in temples have a special appellation.
"Beyond this is the outer gate of the Danyang Sect, where disciples who have passed the ordinary tests but have mediocre aptitude are located.
Beyond the outer gate, the inner sect is divided into three paths: the Dao of Law, the Dao of Martial Arts, and the Dao of Alchemy."
"Oh, then where are we going?"
"Little friend Lu, first come with me to the outer gate to test your aptitude, and then we'll go to the Dao of Alchemy."
"I don't intend to join your Danyang Sect."
"Hahaha, I'm just curious. After all, it's rare for little friend Lu to be at the fifth level of Dao Comprehension at such a young age."
Lu Heng...