Chapter 25

Zhenhuige is affiliated with the military's top-secret department, ranking far higher than a centurion, and even higher than the Eagle Wing Army. Mobilizing someone from the Eagle Wing Army is just a matter of a single word.

Zhou Lu was officially transferred to Zhenhuige.

Zhou Lu excitedly received an ice-blue robe from the Pavilion Master, with elegant bamboo leaf patterns on the white trim, and tassels hanging from the waist. Zhou Lu took off his leather armor and happily put on the soft robe. He twisted his waist back and forth but felt uncomfortable, always feeling that it was not as neat as the leather armor. He casually tucked the front and back of the robe into his belt, revealing his plump belly. Yes, now he felt much more comfortable walking.

Seeing Zhou Lu like this, Xiaoluan found it both amusing and exasperating.

The alchemists in Zhenhuige were not all present; at least the eldest and second eldest brothers were both out. Pavilion Master Dongfang introduced Zhou Lu to the alchemists who were at home in the cave. Everyone looked somewhat embarrassed, and the third eldest brother even had a resentful expression.

Zhou Lu paid no attention to them. After the formalities, he bid farewell to the Pavilion Master with a beaming smile and closely followed Xiaoluan out. They turned through winding stone caves and finally arrived at a wider cave. This cave seemed to have hollowed out the entire mountain, and looking up from the bottom, it was dozens of feet high.

Xiaoluan led Zhou Lu to a corner of the cave, where there was a round wooden platform the size of a table. The two stood on the platform, and Xiaoluan gently pressed a light blue button on the mountain wall. The wooden platform slowly ascended, rising straight to the top of the cave.

"Wow," Zhou Lu exclaimed, looking at the ground getting farther and farther away. He shouted with a panicked look, "This, this can fly?"

Xiaoluan smiled and nodded, "Of course. Our Zhenhuige is divided into two levels. The lower level is for gatherings, and the upper level is for private cultivation caves."

The wooden platform carried the two up to dozens of feet high. There was a stone path carved horizontally into the mountain wall, spiraling inward. The two got off the platform and walked along the stone path, eventually reaching a row of closed cave doors.

Zhou Lu was amazed, deeply impressed by the ingenuity of human craftsmanship.

He had never thought that the people of Zhenhuige would be so idle as to dig caves here, and dig them so beautifully.

Xiaoluan smiled and turned to look at her disciple, who had a dismissive expression. She knew that this fat man's mind was full of wild ideas, and it was impossible to gauge his thoughts. Who knew what lewd thoughts he was having now.

Xiaoluan introduced Zhou Lu:

"Zhou Lu, in the tribe, Zhenhuige, besides the main pavilion, is the largest and strongest sub-pavilion. Don't be fooled by the appearance of these caves; they are actually filled with hidden mechanisms. When the cave doors are closed, this cave is as solid as a fortress."

Zhou Lu was taken aback and quickly asked, "Can it withstand the attacks of the sand bandits?"

Xiaoluan nodded proudly, "Of course."

Xiaoluan led Zhou Lu through another passage and finally stopped in front of an elegant stone cave. She smiled and touched the stone door with raised and recessed patterns, saying:

"This is my cave. I usually sleep, cultivate, and smelt here... Because I still need to find some minerals, and I also need to smelt the three-forged mystic gold into a weapon, I will stay in this cave for at least half a year before returning to the tribe."

Zhou Lu understood Xiaoluan's meaning.

She would spend half a year carefully polishing the three-forged mystic gold into a legendary weapon, and return to the tribe to cause a sensation with this weapon.

Zhou Lu's eyes darted around, looking left and right, and firmly memorized the terrain. The next time he came, he would definitely not get lost. Xiaoluan smiled and led Zhou Lu forward, pushed open the stone door of the adjacent cave, and pointed inside, saying:

"This one is assigned to you. You will live here."

"Right next to each other?"

Zhou Lu was overjoyed. In the future, he would always have a beautiful woman to look at when he went in and out, which was a feast for the eyes.

Xiaoluan smiled, "Of course, this way I can more conveniently guide you." She then added with a teasing look, "Not only next to me, but also next to Sister Huan. If you have any problems, you can also find Sister Huan..."

Zhou Lu's face immediately changed, "Sister Huan is next to me?"

Thinking of the woman who could produce a series of deadly weapons from her hands at any time, Zhou Lu's body hair stood on end. He felt that Xiaoluan's face had a cunning look: Could she have seen me take Sister Huan's repeating crossbow?

Zhou Lu felt uneasy.

Xiaoluan smiled and gave Zhou Lu a few more instructions, then left him to familiarize himself with the cave. Xiaoluan was very tired from the furnace explosion, which had consumed a lot of her strength and energy. She needed to rest. She knew that when the cauldron exploded, Zhou Lu had rushed to save her, also exhausting all his strength and spirit. She would thank him after he had rested.

Zhou Lu tightly closed the stone door behind him and looked around his new home.

The cave was empty, with luminous white walls made of an unknown material, emitting a warm glow. The cave was warm and dry, with no dampness. A corner was covered with soft, thick animal skins, and in the center of the cave stood an ancient and simple cauldron.

This Li Huo Ding was much smaller than the large one in the cave below, only about a foot high, with a light green texture that looked quite delicate.

Zhou Lu looked around for a long time, feeling as if he were in a dream.

From the sacrifice and summoning of a war soul in the sacrificial tower, to being sent to the Eagle Wing Army, and then becoming a member of Zhenhuige, these experiences were enough to brag to his hunting field companions for three days and three nights.

However, Zhou Lu didn't have time to think too much. Now, his dantian felt like it was about to burst.

The fire energy brought by the mutated explosive crystal, plus the two true fires from the cauldron, were all swallowed by the demon fire. The little guy was having some digestive issues, with a large belly and fire tongues flickering, like a little monster lying there and grumbling.

Zhou Lu plopped down on the animal skins, crossed his legs, and quickly calmed down, forming a seal with his hands. He began to circulate the savage energy in his body according to the heavenly cycle.

The fourth-degree fire explosion, with such a massive amount of energy, was like a small sapling being heavily watered with a large bucket of water for Zhou Lu, who only had the fourth level of the Totem Heart Sutra.

The demon fire swallowed all the energy from the fourth-degree fire explosion but could not fully absorb it. The pale purple demon fire was desperately digesting the heat energy while continuously emitting refined energy from the flickering flames.

Even the energy emitted was vast, like a dense fog in an empty mountain. Eventually, the fog became so thick that it was impossible to see anything, and it felt as if one could breathe in moisture.

Zhou Lu's ten savage veins were all in operation, and his cultivation speed was equivalent to that of a peak hunter like the Great Elder.

The dense energy rapidly circulated in the ten savage veins, and he could even feel that the savage energy in his body was growing at a visible rate with each cycle.

In the past, the free-floating energy in the world was like a thin, invisible mist. It often took a whole night of meditation to absorb a cup's worth of energy. But now, Zhou Lu felt like he was drinking water in large gulps.

The energy in the dantian space grew from "a bowl of water" to "two bowls," to "three bowls," to "a basin," to "a small bucket"...

Zhou Lu sat for two days and one night, during which he ran through the heavenly cycle countless times. The fire energy emitted by the demon fire was gradually refined into his own strength, and he could even hear the sound of the power tide rising and falling in his ears.

The ten savage veins simultaneously injected boiling streams into the dantian space. At some point, Zhou Lu suddenly realized that his strength had quietly risen to over 500 yanjis.

"500 yanjis?"

Zhou Lu was so surprised that he was stunned.

Zhou Lu had used the savage qi vortex to open ten savage veins, and his control over strength and martial skills was even comparable to a peak hunter like the Great Elder. However, his strength was still very thin, only 400 yanjis. In the eyes of true powerhouses, even with excellent skills, his strength was negligible.

Who would have thought that in just two days and one night, Zhou Lu's strength could surge by 100 yanjis. His overall strength had improved significantly, and with the power of the savage qi vortex and the ten savage veins, Zhou Lu could now match a hunter with 700 yanjis.

Feeling the surging power in his body, Zhou Lu was so excited that his whole body trembled. If it weren't for this encounter today, it would have taken Zhou Lu at least ten years to improve his strength by 100 yanjis.

At some point, the demon fire in the dantian began to stabilize, emitting less and less energy, and eventually stopped emitting fire energy.

All the energy from the fourth-degree fire explosion had been evenly divided between Zhou Lu and the demon fire.

Zhou Lu completed one last cycle of the heavenly cycle, then suddenly opened his eyes. In his eyes, the world seemed more vivid. The stone cave, the animal skins, and the Li Huo Ding looked more distinct, and even the patterns on the Li Huo Ding seven steps away were so fine that they moved Zhou Lu to tears.

Zhou Lu took a deep breath. He knew that his life had probably entered a realm that he could no longer control.