Seeing that everyone had left, Hall Master Li arranged for two Law Enforcement Hall disciples to escort Lu Feng out of Tianling Sect.
From this moment on, he had no further connection with Tianling Sect whatsoever.
The two Law Enforcement Hall disciples piloted a flying boat, carrying Lu Feng all the way outside the sect grounds.
Tianling Sect was nestled deep within a sprawling mountain range; for an ordinary person, trying to find the sect's location was harder than ascending to the heavens.
Once the flying boat landed, the two men threw Lu Feng directly onto the ground. The violent impact caused Lu Feng to cough up another mouthful of blood.
"Well, well, so he's a true disciple? He spits blood from just a gentle fall—truly an eye-opener for me," one Law Enforcement Hall disciple said with a weird tone.
"Hh, what kind of damn true disciple is that? He gets thrown out of the sect just like a dead dog," the other Law Enforcement Hall disciple sneered.
"Junior brother, you mustn't talk nonsense like that. Among the ten true disciples of our Tianling Sect, aside from this fellow, the other nine are exceptionally formidable."
"Indeed, indeed! That was poorly phrased by this junior brother. Hahaha!"
As they spoke, the two of them leaped off the flying boat and came over to Lu Feng's side, then started frisking him thoroughly from top to bottom.
"You... what are you doing?" Lu Feng asked weakly.
"Heh, Senior Brother Lu! Since we escorted you out, we naturally have to charge a fee. Did you really think we'd run this errand for nothing?"
"You..."
The two quickly stripped away his storage bag and everything of value on his body, down to his dharma robes and dharma boots.
Yet Lu Feng was incomparably weak right now, completely devoid of any ability to resist; he could only watch helplessly as they robbed him of his belongings.
"Sigh, it's not that I want to lecture you, Senior Brother Lu, but you're a mortal now—these things are useless to you anyway. If other cultivators saw a mere mortal carrying so many treasures, they'd definitely murder you to steal them. We're doing this to help you, so you should be thanking us."
"Hahaha, right, right! You should be thanking us."
Seeing the pair act in such a manner, Lu Feng could only endure in silence.
After stripping him of all his treasures, the two mounted their flying boat and flew away.
Lu Feng checked his physical condition and discovered that he was completely ruined; he could barely even maintain his cultivation at the very first stage of Qi Condensation.
Fortunately, the two Law Enforcement Hall disciples had dropped him outside a nearby market.
If they had dumped him deep within the vast mountains, he probably would have become food for fierce beasts.
With great difficulty, Lu Feng sat himself up and slowly mobilized the tiny shred of spiritual qi remaining within his body to mend his damaged parts.
However, Luo Qing's palm strike had completely shattered his dantian and Spiritual Root.
The spiritual qi that once flowed smoothly now met with massive obstructions.
Yet in order to survive, Lu Feng gritted his teeth and persisted.
An hour later, his aura stabilized, and his cultivation settled firmly at the early stage of Qi Condensation Layer 1.
Slowly standing up, he turned his head to gaze in the direction of Tianling Sect, a murderous gleam flashing in his eyes.
"Tianling Sect, if I don't repay this hatred, I am no human! Just you wait for me!"
With that, he walked toward the market without looking back.
Right at that moment, a strange, transparent panel suddenly appeared before his eyes.
Having lived through two lifetimes, Lu Feng understood what he was seeing at a single glance.
Wasn't this thing just the attribute panel from a video game?
Before he could examine it closely, a message suddenly popped up at the bottom of the panel.
[You circulated the Azure Wood Formula once, Proficiency +1]
"Huh?! What is this?!"
Isn't the Azure Wood Formula the cultivation technique he practiced?
Just now, in order to stabilize the aura inside his body, he had circulated the Azure Wood Formula once.
Normally, circulating it once only took about ten breaths of time, but this time it had taken an entire hour.
This message must be the feedback he gained from running the Azure Wood Formula just now.
Immediately after, he looked up at the attribute panel above.
[Name: Lu Feng]
[Age: 20/50]
[Cultivation: Qi Condensation Layer 1 (1/100)]
[Technique: Azure Wood Formula (Minor Accomplishment 1/300)]
[Spells: Vine Wood Spell (Proficient 1/200), Spirit Rain Spell (Novice 0/100)]
[Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation: None]
"Holy cow! Isn't this exactly my current status?" Lu Feng thought in astonishment. "Wait, why is my maximum age limit only 50 years?"
Even an ordinary mortal's lifespan exceeded 50 years, right?
This was most likely the aftermath of having his cultivation and Spiritual Root crippled.
At this thought, Lu Feng's hatred toward Tianling Sect and Luo Qing grew by several notches.
Gathering his thoughts, Lu Feng intended to figure out how this panel worked.
Thus, he cast a Vine Wood Spell at the ground nearby.
Instantly, all the spiritual qi in his body was drained dry, and a section of woody vine abruptly sprouted from the ground.
"The spiritual qi consumption is way too high; a single Vine Wood Spell used up all the spiritual qi inside me," Lu Feng muttered speechlessly.
In the past, casting the Vine Wood Spell was like child's play to him—how could it ever have been this exhausting?
To recover the spiritual qi consumed within his body, he would have to spend at least an hour in focused meditation.
[You cast the Vine Wood Spell once, Proficiency +1]
At this, a new message popped up at the bottom of the panel.
"Oh?! It really is just as I thought—as long as I use a spell or circulate a technique once, I can gain one point of proficiency," Lu Feng said with pleasant surprise.
But what good would raising this proficiency actually do?
According to normal logic, the higher the proficiency in a cultivation technique, the greater the efficiency of one's practice.
Both the speed of absorbing and converting spiritual qi would become much faster.
Take his Azure Wood Formula, for instance; it was a Earth-grade medium-tier technique of Tianling Sect, extremely well-suited for cultivators with wood Spiritual Roots to practice.
Yet bringing the Azure Wood Formula to the realm of major accomplishment was exceptionally difficult, utterly impossible without several decades of time.As for cultivation techniques, from highest to lowest, they were divided into six major grades: Immortal, Dao, Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, and Yellow, with each major grade further divided into low-tier, medium-tier, high-tier, and top-tier.
Right now, his Azure Wood Formula had only just reached minor accomplishment; with this Proficiency Panel, his cultivation speed for the technique would surely increase dramatically.
With this thought, hope ignited in Lu Feng's eyes.
Then, step by step, he stepped into the market. Right now, the most important thing was to survive.
.......
Meanwhile, inside the Tianling Sect Master's Main Hall, Li Mu stood respectfully beside Sect Master Zhang Daoran and said, "Sect Master, everything has been properly arranged."
"Mm, very good! For this period ahead, you must send people to keep a close eye on Lu Feng. If there are any special circumstances, remember to report to me at the very first moment," Zhang Daoran said indifferently.
"Understood, Sect Master! And about your nephew's matter...?"
"You don't need to trouble yourself with that. Since the position is already vacant, let him fight for it himself. That way, it will also show that our Tianling Sect is supremely fair, wouldn't you say?"
"Indeed, indeed! Sect Master is truly wise."