Starting as The Young Master of A Pharmacy, He Trained Swordsmanship in Seclusion For Twenty Years - Chapter 47

Upon hearing this, Lu Xuan frowned slightly and gave the woman before him a deep look.

Inside Lu Xuan’s room, the candlelight burned brightly, illuminating the space as if it were daytime.

After a moment’s thought, Lu Xuan finally allowed Li Yanran to enter.

She had come to him for a reason—and as it happened, he also had some questions that needed answering.

When Li Yanran arrived at the Lu residence, she had changed into more casual attire.

She wore an elegant cyan brocade dress, her jet-black hair cascading over her shoulders like flowing clouds. A faint, delicate fragrance lingered in the air.

Lu Xuan walked calmly to the table and took a seat without ceremony.

Noticing this, Li Yanran sat down across from him.

Lu Xuan met her gaze directly, his expression composed. “Speak. What brings you here?”

Being stared at so openly gave Li Yanran a strange feeling, but she didn’t dwell on it. Instead, she cut straight to the point.

“Senior, may I ask—did you kill the White Lotus Blood Infant yesterday?”

“Yes.”

Lu Xuan answered without hesitation, making no effort to hide the truth.

Ever since breaking through to the Inner Qi Realm, he no longer felt the need to conceal his strength as he once had.

This was why he hadn’t hesitated to strike down the White Lotus Blood Infant when he encountered it in the mountain stronghold.

With the power of the Inner Qi Realm at his disposal, he was unrivaled—there was no place in this vast world he could not go!

Hearing his answer, Li Yanran’s beautiful eyes widened in shock, her delicate face frozen in an expression that Lu Xuan found almost… cute.

Her heart surged with disbelief as she studied Lu Xuan’s face.

If Chen Shi’s information was correct, this man was only twenty years old—five years younger than her.

Yet his strength was so formidable that he could slay a monstrous entity like the White Lotus Blood Infant with ease.

Li Yanran had always prided herself on her extraordinary martial talent, nurtured by the finest resources her noble lineage could provide.

Even so, at twenty-five, she had only reached the peak of the Blood Refining Realm.

But for someone to kill the White Lotus Blood Infant so effortlessly—that required power far beyond Blood Refining.

Twenty years old. An Inner Qi Realm master!

A single thought flashed through Li Yanran’s mind: There’s only one place that produces freaks of nature like this.

And it certainly wasn’t this backwater county.

“Senior… are you truly at the Inner Qi Realm?” she asked softly, her voice barely above a whisper.

This time, Lu Xuan didn’t answer. He remained silent, his expression unreadable.

But Li Yanran already knew.

This man was an Inner Qi Realm expert—a peerless genius, just like those prodigies from that place.

And that place was none other than the heart of the Great Xia Dynasty: the Imperial Capital, Tian Du.

The same city where Li Yanran’s own prestigious family resided.

As Li Yanran lost herself in thought, Lu Xuan finally spoke again.

“Now that I’ve answered your question, it’s your turn to clarify some things for me.”

Without waiting for her response, he posed his own inquiry:

“Do you know anything about the realms beyond the Inner Qi Realm?”

Li Yanran smiled faintly, a hint of calculation in her eyes. “Senior, you saved my life—there’s no need for such formality. Just call me Yanran. May I ask… your name?”

Lu Xuan gave her a strange look. “You found out where I live, yet you don’t know my name?”

Then, with deliberate slowness, he added, “Miss Yanran.”

The way he said her name made Li Yanran’s smile brighten—enough that even Lu Xuan was momentarily taken aback. But he quickly schooled his expression back to neutrality.

“Senior Lu Xuan, it’s understandable that you wouldn’t know about realms beyond Inner Qi, given that you’ve been living in a remote place like Qingyun County.”

She leaned forward slightly. “Above the Inner Qi Realm lies the Outer Aura Realm—and beyond that, the Divine Mansion Realm!”

Lu Xuan murmured the names to himself. “Outer Aura… Divine Mansion…”

“Indeed, Senior.”

“Those who reach the Outer Aura Realm are known as Aura Masters.”

“And those who attain the Divine Mansion Realm are called True Lords.”

Li Yanran then shared everything she knew.

An Outer Aura Master refined the innate Qi within their body—their inner energy—until it reached perfection.

At that point, the energy would condense into Aura, a tangible force that could be projected outward.

With Aura shielding their body, a master could repel enemies from a thousand paces away.

As for the Divine Mansion Realm, however…

Li Yanran admitted she knew little.

True Lords of that level rarely appeared in the mortal world.

All she knew was that they opened a Divine Mansion within their bodies—a reservoir of heavenly power.

Every move they made carried the weight of the world itself, wielding unfathomable might.

The Divine Mansion Realm…

Lu Xuan’s eyes burned with longing.

Any arrogance he’d felt after reaching the Inner Qi Realm vanished in an instant.

After a moment of contemplation, he pressed further.

“Miss Yanran, what do you know about the White Lotus Cult—or the White Lotus Blood Infant?”

“Or other supernatural entities, like mutated spirit beasts or demonic aberrations?”

This time, Li Yanran didn’t answer immediately. Her expression turned serious.

After a pause, she spoke carefully. “Senior, the White Lotus Cult is… a sensitive subject. Even I don’t know much.”

“All I can say is this: whenever anything related to them appears, the Black Swan Guards eradicate it without mercy.”

“As for those supernatural entities and mutated beasts… they’re the very reason the Black Swan Guards exist.”

“They’re creatures warped by the energies of heaven and earth. Some of them—the aberrations—are practically immortal.”

“Immortal?”

Lu Xuan immediately thought of the shadowy entity he’d encountered in Liugou Village.

So his instincts had been right—that thing wasn’t truly dead.

Seeing his grim expression, Li Yanran quickly added, “Well, not truly immortal. Rumor has it that even those abominations can be permanently erased… by a Divine Mansion True Lord.”

“Though whether that’s true or not, I can’t say.”

A True Lord could wipe them from existence?

Lu Xuan fell silent, absorbing everything she’d told him.

“Senior Lu Xuan,” Li Yanran said, producing a small token. “This is my identification seal.”

“If you wish to learn more, you’ll have to visit the Black Swan Guard archives in the prefectural capital. They contain records of many secrets.”

“When you arrive, show them this token, and ask for me.”

She held out a palm-sized blue token, a delicate pink sachet dangling from its cord.

Lu Xuan studied it for a moment before accepting it under Li Yanran’s expectant gaze.

The Black Swan Guards…

It seemed it was time to leave Qingyun County.

As he watched Li Yanran’s retreating figure, his dark, fathomless eyes gleamed with an inscrutable light.

…..

Early the next morning…

Lu Xuan headed straight for the residence of his uncle-by-marriage, Liang Shanhai. His time in Qingyun County was running short.

But just as he set out…

A group of uninvited guests arrived at the Lu family’s herbal shop.

“Remember what Master Jia ordered,” their leader hissed. “If any of you screw this up, you’ll answer for it.”