Lu Yu returned to the Han mansion, but he did not return the Ice Fire Seven Heavens legacy jade disk to the Han family, because to find the subsequent cultivation techniques, one must have the legacy jade disk.
Initially, he considered purchasing the subsequent cultivation techniques from the system mall.
He indeed found the subsequent cultivation techniques for Ice Fire Seven Heavens in the mall, but it showed the stock was zero, and he received a system prompt that uploading Ice Fire Seven Heavens techniques could earn corresponding Points rewards.
Regarding this zero stock, through research, Lu Yu found that not only was the Ice Fire Seven Heavens technique out of stock in the system mall, but other items also showed zero stock.
They all had one characteristic: they were marked as "unique" by the system.
Lu Yu found Butler Zhang and expressed his desire to leave Windmill Town and head to Beifeng City.
Butler Zhang was not surprised by this; when Lu Yu became a disciple of a different surname, he knew this day would come sooner or later, just not so soon.
He took Lu Yu to find Han Yaozu, and when they arrived, Han Yaozu was admonishing Han Yu in the study.
Seeing them arrive, Han Yaozu let Han Yu leave the study and return to his courtyard to reflect on his actions.
Knowing Lu Yu wanted to proceed to Beifeng City and Beifeng Academy, Han Yaozu said, "I do not oppose your desire to pursue advanced studies at Beifeng Academy, and the Han family will cover the tuition fees needed for your studies there."
"I only hope you remember that the Han family is your home and you are a member of it. If the Han family encounters difficulties in the future, I hope you will lend a helping hand."
"Of course, Lu Yu will never forget the Han family's kindness." After saying this, Lu Yu felt a bit guilty when he thought about the legacy jade disk in his backpack.
Han Yaozu smiled and then sighed, saying, "In fact, when you became a disciple of a different surname in the Han family, I intended to teach you the Ice Fire Seven Heavens techniques."
"But now that the technique has been taken by Yang Xiu, I can't offer other techniques from the Han family. However, don't worry about the cultivation technique; I'll write a letter to Feng'er and ask him to help you select a suitable technique."
"Actually, not inheriting the Ice Fire Seven Heavens is also a blessing, because the requirements for cultivating it are too stringent, making it difficult to switch to other techniques later."
Ice Fire Seven Heavens used to be the Han family's legacy technique, but with the Han family's decline, part of the Ice Fire Seven Heavens techniques were lost, and they also lost the polar place suitable for cultivating it; the legacy technique has not been practiced for a long time.
On one hand, cultivating Ice Fire Seven Heavens requires high comprehension and stringent conditions; on the other hand, it is a dual attribute technique with ice and fire attributes, making it hard to find other compatible techniques to transfer to.
Unless one can find the subsequent techniques of Ice Fire Seven Heavens, the possibility of finding other techniques that can simultaneously cultivate ice and fire attributes is extremely slim.
Switching to a purely fire or ice attribute technique would damage one's cultivation and lower one's realm.
In the past, when the Han family was not as fallen as it is now, and during Han Yaozu's father's time, the Han mansion sought the lost parts of the Ice Fire Seven Heavens techniques. Unfortunately, despite vast expenditures of manpower and resources, they couldn't find them.
In Han Yaozu's generation, no one in the Han family chose to cultivate Ice Fire Seven Heavens because, without the subsequent techniques, even if Ice Fire Seven Heavens were a Ninth Grade spiritual-level technique, continuing cultivation would only block their path forward.
Moreover, the Han house doesn't meet the conditions necessary for cultivating Ice Fire Seven Heavens.
The interest in passing down Ice Fire Seven Heavens to Lu Yu stems partly from Han Yaozu's desire to leverage the prestige of Ice Fire Seven Heavens as a Ninth Grade spiritual-level technique to win people's hearts and indirectly remind Lu Yu of the Han family's former glory, attracting him to aid in the family's revival.
On another note, although Ice Fire Seven Heavens was once Han family's legacy technique, currently no one can cultivate it, having Lu Yu attempt to inherit it also serves to test exactly how strong his talent is.
As long as he can comprehend Ice Fire Seven Heavens, Han Yaozu would support him unreservedly. In the Han family's records, every clansman able to cultivate Ice Fire Seven Heavens was considered a genius in the family.
Such an individual appearing means the Han family has a chance at revitalizing, even if he's a disciple by different surname.
When compared with emotions, trusting that a powerful disciple with a different surname would remember the Han family's kindness, Han Yaozu trusts more in benefits, using the Han family's past glory and wealth to attract them to assist in the family's revival.
Especially those practicing Ice Fire Seven Heavens, if they want to break through, they must go to the ice and fire pole intersection, a location known only by the Han family Patriarch.
Whether it's out of emotion or interest, they would all choose to aid in the revival of the Han family.
Han Yaozu is also helpless. Had there been a genius-level clansman in the Han family in the last century, would they need to place their hopes in an outsider?
After agreeing to Lu Yu's request to go to Beifeng City, Han Yaozu asked Lu Yu to wait two more days at the Han mansion. First, he'd write a letter to Han Feng at Beifeng Academy, then spend money to leverage connections to secure an entry quota for Lu Yu.
Entering Beifeng Academy for cultivation isn't difficult; even ordinary people can join through the academy's annual admission process.
The challenge is staying at Beifeng Academy, as it adopts a last-place elimination system, removing a number of students at the end multiple times a month.
Many, despite paying to get in, find themselves expelled a few months later.
Currently, it's not the time for the academy's annual admissions, so for Lu Yu to enroll mid-year, Han Yaozu must spend more money to purchase a special entry quota for him.
These special entry quotas are actually a revenue source for Beifeng Academy, and with its last-place elimination system, the academy isn't concerned about these entrants lowering the overall standard.
Without the strength, they will eventually be eliminated.
This is Beifeng Academy.
Two days later, Lu Yu received a notification from Han Yaozu that an arrangement had been made for his entry into Beifeng Academy, and several guards who had been to Beifeng City would escort him there.
Lu Yu and a few guards rode horses, traveling along the road leading to Beifeng City. Lu Yu looked at the official road stretching endlessly ahead and asked, "How far to Beifeng City?"
One of the guards responded, "Windmill Town is over five hundred li from Beifeng City. We've just passed the second town, so there must be over three hundred li left. We should arrive by afternoon."
Still needing to ride for a whole day, Lu Yu felt a bit nauseous.
At first, riding seemed quite fun. With his strong physical fitness and control ability, he managed to stay steady on the horse's back on his first ride.
After riding for a while, Lu Yu vaguely felt some pain in his buttocks, but he didn't dare to relax for fear of falling off the horse.
Maybe it's because it's his first time riding, and he hasn't mastered the correct technique, Lu Yu thought.
After riding for a little longer, after surpassing the Nth caravan, they entered a deserted and barren mountain area, and the official road wound around the mountain.
Halfway through, Lu Yu saw a beggar ahead and wanted to speed up to pass him, but the beggar suddenly turned his head, scaring Lu Yu into clamping his legs tightly around the horse.
The horse, in pain, reared up, trying to throw Lu Yu off its back. Lu Yu quickly pulled the reins, trying to turn the horse.
Both he and the horse ended up falling to the ground.
The beggar turned and walked toward Lu Yu, smilingly said, "Lu Yu, what a coincidence to meet you here."
Upon approaching, the guards hurriedly dismounted to check on Lu Yu's condition, realizing that the beggar was actually Yang Xiu.
The guards drew their weapons, shouted, "Stop! Yang Xiu, you betrayed the Han Estate and are now wanted by them. We will capture you and take you back to the Han Estate for interrogation."
"Noisy!" Yang Xiu said impatiently to their shouting.
He now hated hearing about the Han Estate the most, thinking about how he didn't achieve what he'd wanted and wasted a year in the Han Estate.
Lu Yu shouted loudly, "Run! He's in the Qi Cultivation realm."
Telling them to flee was to create an opportunity for himself to escape. Only by dispersing, he might have a chance to escape from Yang Xiu's grasp.
Upon hearing Lu Yu, without any hesitation, they turned and fled in different directions, using all their strength.
Yet Yang Xiu easily caught up with the three fleeing guards, casually killing them in the woods, their deaths extremely tragic.
Yang Xiu's Blazing Palm struck their bodies, the fire attribute Spiritual Qi roasted their viscera, they died without even being able to commit suicide before. Fire attribute Spiritual Qi rampaged inside them, rendering them immobile.
Lu Yu just fled a short distance before feeling a strong wind closing in from behind. Without hesitation, he used Eight Steps to Cicada, disappearing from the original spot, appearing in the dense woods on the left.
"Oh! Intriguing, you still have the ability to escape." Yang Xiu turned and chased Lu Yu.
With Yang Xiu pursuing, Lu Yu dared not stop his feet even for a moment, constantly using Eight Steps to Cicada. After reaching the sixth stage of Body Refinement, his constitution improved substantially, enabling him to sustain such continuous high-intensity use of Eight Steps to Cicada.
Yet, though he kept using Eight Steps to Cicada, the distance between him and Yang Xiu grew closer and closer. With Qi Blood on the verge of exhaustion, Lu Yu had no choice but to turn and face Yang Xiu.
Just as he intended to draw the Overlord Saber and fight desperately, Yang Xiu suddenly vanished from before his eyes, then Lu Yu felt a palm strike on his back, a scorching sensation spreading from the struck spot to inside him.
Qi Blood attempted to fend off the invasion of fire Spiritual Qi but was instead ignited by it, rapidly consumed.
Yang Xiu walked to the collapsed Lu Yu's side, squatted, and softly said in his ear, "Rest assured! I won't let you die so quickly."
He then placed his palm on Lu Yu's back, continually channeling Spiritual Qi into Lu Yu's body. One part enhanced the fire Spiritual Qi invading Lu Yu, while another kept Lu Yu conscious, preventing fainting from pain.
"Hahaha!" Yang Xiu stood up, looked at Lu Yu, and ruthlessly said, "With my Spiritual Qi present, you won't die within half an hour."
"You'll feel yourself being roasted from the inside, dying a painful death."
After watching Lu Yu begin to emit smoke from being roasted, Yang Xiu left, heading toward Beifeng City.
With no Spiritual Qi within, Lu Yu couldn't expel the fire attribute Spiritual Qi left by him, doomed to die.
Lying on the ground, Lu Yu wanted to use the force quit option to avoid this death momentarily, when he noticed the Ice and Fire Seventh Heaven hang-up cultivation button light up.
Glancing at the force quit button, gritting his teeth, he pressed the hang-up cultivation for Ice and Fire Seventh Heaven.
Lu Yu felt the Qi Blood inside him start to circulate; each circulation drove a trace of fire Spiritual Qi through the meridians.
Fire Spiritual Qi burned the meridians, while Qi Blood restored them, repeating in a cycle, the meridians became tougher, not easily destroyed by fire Spiritual Qi's burn.
The circulation of Qi Blood accelerated; the raging fire Spiritual Qi inside Lu Yu seemed to find an outlet, rushing into the meridians along the Qi Blood pathways.
Finally establishing a balance between destruction and rebirth, yet the meridians were burned again. As Qi Blood and fire Spiritual Qi were about to be blocked dead in the burnt meridians and cause bursting,
Qi Blood started seeping into the flesh around the meridians, with fire Spiritual Qi carried by it into the flesh, the flesh nurtured by Qi Blood could withstand fire Spiritual Qi's burn, gradually purifying some impurities from the flesh...