Chapter 452 Lu Ming, An Honest Man

In the burial ground.

Against the bright and clean surroundings, the stretch of blood red looked very dazzling.

As the Swordsmen approached the area, they could sense a terrifying aura pounce at them. It was filled with brutality!

“Be careful!” Meng s.h.i.+san warned.

Whoos.h.!.+

Whoos.h.!.+

Energy whizzed past them!

There was no wind but because of the unstable brutal energy and aura, a huge wind belt was formed!

Energy was blowing.

A Swordsman tried to enter but was blown back by the brutal energy.

His entire body was pierced with pain.

“This is…”

The Swordsman was shocked.

Blood…”

Meng s.h.i.+san had a grave expression.

He knew that this location was not ordinary but did not expect it to be filled with brutal energy and the smell of blood.

“What is happening?”

“It seems that someone died here.”

“The blood of the dead cultivator contains terrifying energy. After thousands of years of evolution, it formed this uncanny energy storm.”

“That is possible.”

The Swordsmen discussed amongst themselves.

They had widened their horizons.

“Wait a minute.”

Meng s.h.i.+san nodded slightly. “I'll contact the Swordsman a.s.sociation.”

He communicated with the Swordsman a.s.sociation calmly. Through data exchange, they began to make use of machines to a.n.a.lyze the cause of this storm and also ways to deal with it.

Dee—

Dee—

The communication device shone brightly.

After a long while…

a.n.a.lyses were collected.

The a.s.sociation provided a suggestion: Since there is no danger, deal with it as you please.

“No danger…”

Lu Ming rolled his eyes.

Nonsense!

You guys had already robbed the entire area. How could you possibly not know about this place!

It seemed that the big shot Swordsmen had fooled their juniors into ‘cleaning up' or checking if there were any dangers…

They were really vicious!

However, the present situation did not have anything to do with Lu Ming.

As such, he hid amongst the group in a low-key manner, intending to be a salted fish. He just had to follow the team to the uncharted territory later on.

Right then.

Buzz—

Meng s.h.i.+san absorbed some of the energy lightly.

He furrowed his brows slightly.

After a long while…

He shook his head.

“It is such a pity.”

Meng s.h.i.+san felt somewhat regretful.

After countless years of acc.u.mulation, the energy was rich and astounding! It was a hundred times more powerful than that of the outside world! If they could absorb it, their abilities would definitely improve!

It was a pity, the energy was too brutal!

He could not take it anymore after absorbing a little of it.

“Let's go.”

Meng s.h.i.+san got up. “We'll take a detour this way.”

“Okay.”

Everyone followed behind him closely.

However, just at that moment, An Mingdong, who had been watching them from the side, suddenly said, “Old Meng, what if the energy can be absorbed?”

“Do you have a way to do that?”

Meng s.h.i.+san's eyes lit up.

“I don't. But someone else can.”

An Mingdong smiled with relish.

“Can you elaborate?”

Meng s.h.i.+san was hopeful.

Although An Mingdong had an ordinary talent, he was older and more experienced than them. Perhaps he really had a solution.

“It's very simple.

“Cards!”

An Mingdong said in a low voice, “I checked earlier. In the card library, there seems to be a type of card that can purify these energies!”

“Card?”

Meng s.h.i.+san and the group were stunned. “Are you telling us… to buy cards?”

Where were they?

Legacy site!

Although they still had service, basically, they could only communicate via messages. It was impossible to send them cards!

“Of course not!”

An Mingdong smiled with interest. “Don't forget. Although we are Swordsmen, someone with us knows how to create cards.”

Everyone glanced at Lu Ming simultaneously.

Eh?

Lu Ming, who had been ‘skiving', looked dumbstruck.

Wait a minute.

How did I get involved?!

“Can this really be done?” Meng s.h.i.+san said with a low voice.

“Huh?”

Lu Ming scratched his head.

Cards…

He did not have that kind of card. However, in the card library… He remembered reading related information about it before. A card like that really existed… However, it…

“Maybe?”

Lu Ming was vague and ambiguous.

“Old An?”

Puzzled, Meng s.h.i.+san looked at An Mingdong.

“It's okay.

“I found it.”

An Mingdong smiled and looked at Lu Ming. He displayed the card he had found on the screen.

Card name: Purifying Light

Card rating: Five-star

Quality: Surmounting

Type: Supplement

Function: It can purify the energy of a small area. It can purify impurities and mitigate brutal energy. Normally, it is used as an aid in stabilizing one's cultivation.

Experimental outcome, as follows:

It has once purified…

Shus.h.!.+

Everyone's eyes lit up immediately.

They saw the data in the experimental outcome. It was usable where they were! This meant that… If they could purify with this card… It would work!!!

“Think about it.”

An Mingdong's hoa.r.s.e voice could be heard. “All of you should know very clearly why we're here… The rewards here might not be as good as we imagine them to be.

“Right now…

“There is a chance right before us!

“If we can absorb all this energy, our combat abilities will improve by leaps and bounds. We will be able to save many years of cultivation. Don't tell me you don't want that?!”

At this point of the conversation, everyone was tempted.

Yes.

This energy…

“Lu Ming.

“We will hand this important responsibility of creating the cards to you.”

An Mingdong smiled faintly.

“I…”

Lu Ming opened his mouth.

“Lu Ming…”

An Mingdong smiled faintly. “It'll be a little hard for you to create cards for everyone… Everyone will remember this favor from you…

“Besides…

“You can also benefit from improving your ability.

“This is a legacy site. We have to help each other out,” he said calmly.

“Yes.

“Don't worry, Lu Ming. If you help me create the card, I'll owe you a favor in the future.”

“Right, tell me if anyone bullies you in the future,” one by one, the Swordsmen said.

“No, I…” Lu Ming said.

“What?

“You're not willing to help us?”

An Mingdong said with a low voice, “Or are you looking down on Swordsmen?”

“It's not that…”

Lu Ming was helpless. “I…”

“Since that's not the case, don't reject us.”

An Mingdong smiled faintly. “Since we all get along and are in this operation together, we are one team. I hope that everyone will not keep good things to themselves or fight against each other, like people do in other legacy sites.”

“True.”

The Swordsmen were deeply convinced.

Lu Ming felt very helpless.

“Hehe.”

An Mingdong smiled faintly. There was a cold glint in his eyes.

Youngsters are youngsters.

They are too green!

He was once a disciple of the conservatives!

Therefore, he received some news. For example, the collapse of the conservatives… As a result, three of their quotas had been canceled! Furthermore… There was also the situation of the research and development department.

If they had not received the news in time, knelt and begged for the disciples' forgiveness and compensated them greatly…. The compensation was even greater than that demanded by the headquarters!

Most probably, he would already be dead meat!

Snort!

Lu Ming…

He hated him to the core.

Although it was rumored that Lu Ming did that accidentally, seemingly, the appearance of this scoundrel had wrecked his plan of reaching seven-star!

He was obstructing his path of cultivation. This was a huge feud!

As for Lu Ming…

Snort!

Although he had spent most of his time cultivating, amongst the few news that he was aware of, he had seen many reviews about Lu Ming…

This boy has shocking talent. He is kind, pure and innocent and his looks are unrivaled…

Wait a minute.

All of these were comments about Lu Ming.

Furthermore…

Occasionally, they also heard their seniors giving similar comments about Lu Ming. While they felt indignant, they also had some knowledge of Lu Ming.

This was a genius.

This was a super handsome guy.

Similarly.

This was also… an honest person.

It was that kind of honest people in your mind!

In this day and age, ,in this cruel era, weren't the so-called kindness, pure and innocent heart qualities of honest people?! These kinds of people resembled Virgin Mary most!

Therefore…

He just had to communicate with him with a smile.

For example…

That person in the school who often helped his cla.s.smate to buy takeaways…

For example…

That kind of person who bought something from the affectionate salesperson at the mall because he could not bear to reject the salesperson, and then felt sullen when he reached home…

That was the general case.

They would buy things that they did not want or agree to conditions that they did not want to agree to because they did not know how to reject, or they would feel embarra.s.sed to reject the other party.

This is an honest person.

Obviously…

In all the news reports and from what they know about Lu Ming today, this was a typical, honest man.

Look.

He had already interrupted Lu Ming's words a few times.

He had already seen Lu Ming's helpless and ‘could not reject' expression…

“I, I agree.”

Lu Ming scratched his head, looking slightly troubled. “Actually, I'm very willing to help everyone create cards but I have a problem now…”

“Tell us!”

A victorious smile emerged on An Mingdong's face. “Everyone will help to resolve this.”

“Right!” the Swordsmen said.

“Well…”

Lu Ming felt somewhat embarra.s.sed. “Actually, I can't afford to buy this card…”

Shus.h.!.+

The whole world was silent.

An Mingdong's expression froze.

The Swordsmen also came to their senses after a long time. C-can't afford?

“Aren't you the president of the a.s.sociation!”

Meng s.h.i.+san looked dumbstruck.

“Yes.”

Lu Ming nodded. “Therefore, I used up all my money for the a.s.sociation… Why do you think I want to invent those cards? It's because I am poor…

“Because I can't afford to buy the cards…

“I can only research and create them myself.

“Our a.s.sociation often uses our own cards… Ah, right. You've heard of our a.s.sociation's food delivery business before… That's because we're poor…

“We can only get the disciples to earn money for cultivation.”

Lu Ming sounded very apologetic.

The Swordsmen looked dumbstruck.

d.a.m.n!

Was this the case?

Upon pondering, that seemed to be the case… Lu Ming's cards were Fruit Ninja and Leviathan…

So…

The Swordsmen glanced at one another.

They looked at that Purifying Light Card design plan, the word ‘surmounting level' marked on it, and the terrifying price!!!

c.r.a.p!

This was so expensive!

Even they could not afford it, much less Lu Ming!

This…

The Swordsmen glanced at one another. They could not bear to give up this energy. Although this card was expensive, the price was not super high!

After a long while…

The Swordsmen gritted their teeth.

“For example…

“Should we cough up some money to buy this?”

“Right, although this card is expensive, it is still affordable if we share the costs.”

The Swordsmen conversed amongst themselves.

After a long while…

They finished communicating and decided to fork out a sum of money each.

“Come here.

“An Mingdong, it's your turn.”

Meng s.h.i.+san took out the communication device and told An Mingdong to transfer the money.

The expression on An Mingdong's old face froze. The wrinkles on his face deepened.

Wait a minute.

How did it turn out like this?!

Clearly, he wanted to do Lu Ming in and make Lu Ming service them like a coolie. Why did they have to fork out money to buy the design plan for Lu Ming now?!

To h.e.l.l with it!

“I…”

An Mingdong instinctively wanted to decline.

“You're the one who suggested this.”

Meng s.h.i.+san cast him an odd look. “Don't tell me you want to free-ride?”

“How is that possible?”

An Mingdong smiled wryly. “I didn't bring a lot of money.”

“It's alright.”

Meng s.h.i.+san aimed the screen at him. “There is the Internet here. Just scan the QR code. That will do.”

An Mingdong was speechless.

After a long while…

He felt the pinch as he transferred all the money in his little gold chest.

d.a.m.n!

He would not have picked such an expensive card if he had known that this would happen!

In the end…

With the funding by 10 Swordsmen, they purchased the design plan of that expensive surmounting Purifying Light Card and gifted it to Lu Ming.

“I will work hard!”

Lu Ming was in high spirits. “Believe me!”

“Okay.”

The Swordsmen were filled with antic.i.p.ation.

So…

Lu Ming began to formally research this card.

To be honest.

This was his first time openly researching cards under the protection of 10 peak six-stars at a legacy site. That feeling…

It was awesome!

Whoos.h.!.+

Whoos.h.!.+

Lu Ming put the pen to the card rapidly.

Although this was a surmounting card, to him, who had almost completed researching top-notch five-star cards, it was not a problem at all!

As such…

Even the Swordsmen could tell that Lu Ming was researching rapidly.

After merely two hours…

Lu Ming's research progress had already exceeded 10%!

Afterward…

His energy was depleted.

He sat cross-legged and began to recover his energy gradually. After five hours, he recovered and began to create cards again. Another two hours pa.s.sed.

His energy was depleted.

Lu Ming began to recover his energy again.

The Swordsmen felt exasperated.

“Don't you have any Energy Cards?”

An Mingdong could not help but ask.

“Yes.”

Lu Ming felt somewhat embarra.s.sed. “However, I only have one card and I intend to use it during critical times. Furthermore, using one Energy Card doesn't help the current situation much.”

“But…”

The Swordsmen were suffering from emotional meltdowns.

d.a.m.n it! You can't simply recover on the spot like that either, right?!

How long would that take?!

They took a closer look. At such a recovery rate, Lu Ming would need about five hours to recover. He would need about seven hours to complete everything!

This was under the condition without any sleep and rest!

It was too slow!

“He needs two hours to create cards and five hours to recover his energy…”

Meng s.h.i.+san smiled bitterly. “Are Sword Card Masters that slow in recovery your energy?”

Swordsmen only needed half an hour to recover their energy fully!

“Hmm.”

Lu Ming felt somewhat embarra.s.sed. “Perhaps it's because we have different vocation core structures.”

Alright.

What else could the Swordsmen say?

Lu Ming was helping them research very seriously!

However…

As time pa.s.sed, they were shocked to discover that Lu Ming's research speed was decreasing rapidly… It was getting slower and slower, and he became increasingly tired…

Oh.

Lu Ming had not rested for an entire day.

He was exhausted.

“Are the physiques of Sword Card Masters that weak?”

One Swordsman looked dumbstruck.

“Do you think that everyone is like us?”

Another Swordsman said disdainfully, “Although they are Sword Card Masters, basically, they are Card Creators. They have ordinary physiques and feeling tired is normal.”

“Sigh.”

The Swordsmen sighed.

Seeing that the speed was getting slower and slower, they had to think of solutions.

“This won't do!”

“It is too slow!”

“Right.”

The Swordsmen gritted their teeth and decided to contribute their own Energy Cards. Everyone was quite well to do and many of them had prepared a number of Energy Cards.

“How can I accept this?”

Lu Ming seemingly sobered up, although he waved his hands continuously.

“Take them.”

Meng s.h.i.+san patted his shoulders. “I know you are kind-hearted and not willing to accept everyone's good intent. However, this is a team operation…

“You have to take them in order to speed up the research,” Meng s.h.i.+shan pretended to threaten and said.

“…. Okay.”

Lu Ming felt very touched. Clenching his teeth, he said, “I'll help you research this as soon as possible!”

So…

With the help of some six-star cards, Lu Ming's research speed increased rapidly. Researching without any rest and sleep, he managed to complete the research in just one day!

Afterward…

The card was created under everyone's hopeful gaze.

Buzz—

Blue lights flashed across the place.

A five-star surmounting card was born.

“Who's going to try it first?”

Meng s.h.i.+san was thrilled. He glanced at An Mingdong, “Old An?”

Cough.

An Mingdong coughed.

At the thought that he had considerable prestige, he declined, “Give it to the children first.”

“Okay.”

Meng s.h.i.+san said agreeably, “Old An is right. In that case, let's do this according to age. The youngest one, please get ready.”

So…

He glanced at the youngest Swordsman. “It's you.”

“Okay.”

That Swordsman was excited.

An Mingdong looked dumbstruck.

Wait a minute.

According to age…

Wouldn't he be the last one then?

He only wanted to let someone else have the chance first… but he did not say that he wanted to be the last to go!

Right then.

The Swordsmen were thrilled and ready.

Buzz—

Lights and shadow flashed.

Meng s.h.i.+san threw that card to the blood-colored area. Faint lights flashed. The card actually opened up a purified area within that stretch of blood color.

It was very small.

It was very clean.

“Go ahead.”

Meng s.h.i.+san patted that Swordsman's shoulder.

So…

That Swordsman stepped into the purified area.

Buzz—

He began to cultivate.

Shus.h.!.+

Shus.h.!.+

Energy surged.

People could clearly see that brutal energy becoming calm after the purification.

After a long while…

When he opened his eyes, his energy had already increased by 2,000 points. This was just within a short time frame of two minutes!

“I have 12,000 points of energy now!”

That Swordsman was elated.

In order to dash to higher levels, he had never expanded his energy. Now, he had just reached peak six-star and this fortuitous encounter had increased his energy by 2,000 points!

This was solid peak six-star energy!

His combat ability improved greatly!

Snort! Snort!

Those few guys in his cohort with 10,000 thousand points of energy….

“It is very powerful!”

The Swordsmen felt thrilled at the sight of this.

“How's it?”

Meng s.h.i.+san smiled faintly.

“I'm at my upper limit.”

That Swordsman felt somewhat embarra.s.sed.

With an endless supply of energy, he could only increase his energy by 2,000 points. If he were to increase it any further, the stability of his energy structure might be affected!

This was because his foundation was not strong enough.

Those energies had not integrated with his body.

This was something that could be easily understood. It was only when the energy in the body integrated with oneself that he could improve again.

So…

He moved to the side and sat cross-legged, beginning to digest the improved ability.

“Next.”

Meng s.h.i.+san smiled faintly.

“Yes.”

Another Swordsman stepped forward.

After a long while…

One by one, the Swordsmen stepped forward to improve their ability.

Finally.

It was Meng s.h.i.+san's turn.

He went into the area and cultivated for a total of four minutes, increasing his energy by 4,000 points. His combat ability improved tremendously and he also broke the improvement record of Swordsmen!

He had increased his energy from 20,000 to 24,000 points!

It was scary!

“It is very powerful!”

The Swordsmen were stunned.

He was indeed the team leader of this operation.

His foundation…

“Humph!”

An Mingdong merely sneered.

In terms of foundation, no one could surpa.s.s him!

Although he was already old, he also had the strongest foundation. Coupled with this kind of good fortune…

Perhaps…

He would be able to turn the tides.

Alright.

He would lead by example and show these young Swordsmen what a strong foundation was, and what power meant!

So…

He got up and was prepared to enter the place.

“Ah!”

Meng s.h.i.+san suddenly slapped his head. “Lu Ming, you have not cultivated, right?”

“Huh?”

Lu Ming waved his hands. “There is no hurry. I'll go last.”

“Sigh.

“This won't do.”

Meng s.h.i.+san said seriously, “Old An and me should be the last ones. We almost forgot about you. Go ahead. We already said we will do it according to age and we have to adhere to that.”

“Alright.”

Lu Ming could not decline and he entered the area.

However…

To be honest.

He had really intended to be the last one to enter…

Well…

Because…

Shus.h.!.+

Lu Ming entered the purified area.

Buzz—

Energy surged.

He began to cultivate.

Under the impact of the rich energy, his cultivation speed had increased to more than a hundred times that of the outside world. With the effect of Purifying Light Card, he cultivated at a faster speed!

Well…

Lu Ming's heart stirred slightly.

“Xiao-Xiaojian?”

“Understood.”

Shus.h.!.+

From Lu Ming's body, Xiao-Xiaojian went underground silently.

Over there.

Xiao-Xiaojian placed 10 Whirlpool Cards. Besides engulfing Xiao-Xiaojian, that energy swamped into the Whirlpool Cards…

Outside.

Lu Ming's figure swayed.

No one noticed that his shadow was also shaking slightly.

Wow—

Wow—

A ma.s.sive amount of energy shrouded him.

After two minutes, the shadow drifted and Xiao-Xiaojian returned to the card bag with 10 cards that contained countless energy.

The shadow shook and returned.

Lu Ming opened his eyes and displayed the aura adjusted by ‘Xiao-Xiao-Xiaojian'.

“Oh…”

“11,000 points!”

The Swordsmen swept their glance across him.

Lu Ming only increased his energy by 1,000 points in two minutes!

It was very weak.

However, at the thought that Lu Ming was only a five-star, they were not surprised. Combat ability was one matter whereas the energy foundation was another.

This was neutralization.

The amount of energy one absorbs would depend on the amount of energy that one had!

Well…

“Fairly good.”

Meng s.h.i.+san said, “You're not a six-star yet and you don't need too much energy. Otherwise, your breakthroughs will be very slow. 1,000 points are enough.”

“Hmm.”

Lu Ming agreed.

“Old An.

“Go ahead,” Meng s.h.i.+san turned around and told An Mingdong.

“Okay.”

An Mingdong smiled faintly.

He was not angry.

Since he had decided to be a nice guy, there was no need for him to vent his unhappiness just because he was the last one to go. It would not do him any good.

So…

He entered the purified area with a smile.

However…

Just as he was prepared to cultivate, the smile on his face suddenly froze…

Wait a minute.

Where is the energy?!!!