Starting as The Young Master of A Pharmacy, He Trained Swordsmanship in Seclusion For Twenty Years - Chapter 17

They had spent most of the night searching for Lu Xuan.

After hearing Liang Cheng’s words, the exhausted villagers of Liu Gou Village dragged their tired bodies back home.

East Courtyard!

Liang Cheng arrived early at Lu Xuan’s room, burning with questions.

“Brother Xuan, did you really see… that kind of thing?”

“Do those… dirty things actually exist?”

His heart pounding with unease, Liang Cheng could hardly believe it as he questioned Lu Xuan.

Lu Xuan glanced at the visibly tense Liang Cheng and said faintly, “Whether they exist or not—haven’t you already figured that out?”

So it’s true! Those terrifying, bizarre things were real.

Lu Xuan’s answer sent a chill down Liang Cheng’s spine. He never thought the eerie tales he’d heard before were actually based on fact.

His instincts hadn’t been wrong—Liu Gou Village really was haunted by something unnatural. No wonder the place had always felt so sinister.

No wonder those corpses had moved… and attacked them.

“Then… Brother Xuan, when you encountered that thing, did you… deal with it?”

Liang Cheng made a gesture, asking if Lu Xuan had eliminated the entity.

If even his cousin couldn’t handle it, Liang Cheng had already decided—as soon as day broke, he’d grab his men and run.

Screw this!

He was just a constable earning a single silver tael a month—did they really expect him to lay down his life for the government?

At worst, he’d just quit, throw off this uniform, and go home to live idly.

Let someone else take the job!

The mere thought that such a ghostly thing had appeared tonight—separated from him by just a single door—made Liang Cheng break out in a cold sweat, his back drenched.

Lu Xuan frowned at Liang Cheng’s question, unsure how to respond.

Deep down, Lu Xuan had a feeling—that thing might not be truly dead. But he had no solid proof.

The realization made him sigh inwardly.

It seems my understanding of this world is still too limited.

He had assumed this was just an ordinary martial world. Yet now, supernatural horrors existed too.

It wasn’t just Liang Cheng who was shocked—even he found it hard to accept.

If that was the case, then his original plan—lying low, developing his skills in a small backwater town—needed to change.

It was time to venture into bigger places. Perhaps in the prefectures or commanderies, there would be proper records about these entities.

“That thing in Liu Gou Village… is mostly dealt with. I doubt there’ll be any more incidents.”

Despite his uncertainty, Lu Xuan still answered Liang Cheng.

Based on his intuition, even if the entity wasn’t completely destroyed, it likely wouldn’t resurface for a long time.

But he couldn’t be sure. Maybe after traveling to the prefecture and learning more, he’d have a clearer answer.

If his suspicions were correct—if that thing wasn’t truly dead—then he might have to return to Liu Gou Village someday.

“Mostly dealt with? Doubt there’ll be more?”

“Brother Xuan, what does that mean?”

“Will something like this happen again in Liu Gou Village?”

Liang Cheng was confused. If it was resolved, then it was resolved—why did Lu Xuan’s words sound so uncertain?

But after his question, Lu Xuan only gave him a reassuring look and said nothing more.

Left with no choice, Liang Cheng left the room.

If his cousin said the situation was mostly handled, then Liu Gou Village should be safe enough.

Now it was his turn—as the county constable, he had to reassure the villagers.

…..

Not long after Liang Cheng left, Lu Xuan checked his system panel.

Host: Lu Xuan
Realm: Blood Refinement (Peak)
Technique: Flame Blade Art 1/9 (Can be evolved)
Points: 50

Prompt: Host may spend 30 points to evolve Flame Blade Art. Confirm?

Suppressing his eagerness, Lu Xuan held off—now wasn’t the best time for evolution.

Last time he evolved the Blazing Saber Technique, he had needed expensive blood ginseng as preparation.

He would wait until he returned to the Lu family, made all necessary arrangements, then proceed.

He had a feeling—once he evolved the Flame Blade Art, his strength would undergo a drastic transformation.

His Blood Refinement realm had already reached its peak, and he could faintly sense an invisible bottleneck—one that prevented him from advancing further.

The Qi Circulation realm?

That legendary state recorded in ancient texts—where one refines the organs, flesh, blood, and marrow to perfection…

Then, by attuning to the heavens and earth, the body transcends mortal limits and produces a mysterious, profound energy—internal qi.

This power defied conventional understanding, allowing martial artists to unleash the full might of their techniques.

…..

Since the door had been broken when Lu Xuan crashed through it, Liang Cheng and the others had hastily replaced it with a makeshift wooden plank—functional, if crude.

Lu Xuan didn’t sleep. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, the dim candlelight flickering against his face.

After a night of relentless pursuit and unrestrained exertion of his blood energy, his body was noticeably fatigued.

Accompanying the exhaustion was a gnawing hunger.

Standing up, he moved to the table and retrieved a bundle of dried meat from his pack—provisions he’d had Li San prepare back at the Drunken Immortal Inn in Shili Town.

Grabbing the jerky, he ate swiftly, his chewing almost mechanical.

That damned thing was such a pain.

Unnaturally fast, capable of flight—Lu Xuan had nearly lost it.

Only by recklessly burning through his stamina had he barely managed to keep up.

As he chewed, his mind raced.

I need a movement technique.

Relying solely on saber skills was proving insufficient against these supernatural threats.

If he had a proper movement art, that shadowy entity wouldn’t have escaped the East Courtyard.

If he could close the distance easily, his overwhelming blood energy alone might have been enough to erase that thing.

A movement technique…

But where could he find one?

Good martial manuals were already rare in the martial world—let alone high-quality movement techniques.

Lu Xuan pondered silently.

Once I’m back in the county, I’ll need to gather information.

If he could buy one with money, great.

But if not… well, he’d just have to resort to other means.