The Elixir is for You, The Poison is for Me

As with the previous few trips up the mountain, Lu Jing didn't see anyone along the way, only sparrows, turtledoves, and red-billed leiothrixes chirping on the branches.

Besides the camphor and osmanthus trees that were most common in and around Wujiang City, there were also many ginkgo and metasequoia trees on the mountain, especially the ginkgo trees. Because their leaves were shaped like duck feet, they were called 'duck foot trees' by the locals. At this time of year, their branches had already begun to turn yellow, a golden and beautiful sight.

Lu Jing followed the path made by firewood gatherers and arrived at the mountainside. He stopped about thirty steps away from the Bodhisattva Temple, but didn't rush in. Instead, he first chose the thickest camphor tree in front of the temple.

Then, Lu Jing adopted a horse stance in front of the tree. Because he hadn't sensed any Qi yet, Zhang Sanfeng hadn't taught him any moves besides the internal energy cultivation method, which meant Lu Jing's skill panel had been empty until now. So, he could only use the most foolish method, reversing the Little Vajra Strength, trying to mobilize the internal force in his dantian through the Hand Lesser Yin Heart Meridian to his hand.

Only some bark fell from the spot on the camphor tree where he punched it. Of course, Lu Jing's internal force wasn't depleted much either. Seeing that there was no work to be done, the remaining internal force wandered around the meridians outside for a while, then shrank back into his dantian.

Lu Jing wasn't too discouraged. It was his first time, and failure was normal. His master had told him that martial artists could use internal force to injure enemies, and the enemy wasn't limited to people, but also included objects, just like the footprint that Chief Jie had made on the bluestone slab at the pier before.

Lu Jing was now trying to go down this path, using punches to break trees to consume the internal force in his body. The general direction should be correct, but the specific operation still needed to be pondered.

In the end, he was suffering from the disadvantage of not having any martial arts moves. Otherwise, he wouldn't have to start from scratch in terms of force generation and channeling techniques.

However, there was no point in complaining about this now. At least in the time before his master returned, Lu Jing could only rely on himself.

He pondered for a while, wondering if he had chosen the wrong meridian. Should he try a different meridian this time?

So, Lu Jing took a deep breath and invited the heavenly soldiers in his dantian to the Hand Lesser Yang Triple Burner Meridian. This time, he even closed his eyes before punching, completely calming his mind and trying to be unmoved by external things.

When he was almost ready, he punched again.

But this time, just as his fist brushed against the bark, Lu Jing heard the sound of a tree trunk breaking.

Got it! Lu Jing was overjoyed, but soon realized something was wrong. Why did the sound of breaking seem to be coming from above his head?

Lu Jing opened his eyes and saw a figure wearing a red raw silk dress, a sword at her waist, and a bamboo hat falling from the tree.

However, just as she was about to fall to the ground, a slender foot suddenly stretched out from under the dress, lightly stepping on the tree to slow down her descent and avoid the tragedy of landing headfirst.

Judging from her appearance, she seemed to want to make adjustments in the air, but for some reason, the movement wasn't completed, and the right half of her body landed first, then rolled into the grass on the side due to inertia.

Lu Jing could feel the pain just from the sound.

Could this unlucky person have been knocked down by his punch just now?

The thought flashed through Lu Jing's mind, but he dismissed it.

Lu Jing knew that even if his internal force could successfully leave his body, it couldn't be transmitted that far. Looking at the spot on the camphor tree where he hit it, there wasn't even a mark.

So, his punching the tree and the girl falling from the tree were obviously just a coincidence.

Although it was unfortunate, it was clear that the other party was fully responsible for this traffic accident.

Besides, Lu Jing also noticed the other party's attire and the life-saving kick after falling from the tree. Both of these indicated that the figure lying in the grass was a martial artist.

This was also why Lu Jing didn't rush forward. Although according to his master, he was only one step away from being a second-rate expert in terms of internal force, Lu Jing knew very well that besides internal force, he really had nothing else to offer.

He was too specialized now and naturally had no plans to start his journey in the martial world.

In fact, Lu Jing was only concerned with one question now, which was why this red-clothed female knight would appear here? Judging from her appearance, she should just be passing by. Judging from the direction of travel, her destination was likely Wujiang City, but the main road wasn't far from here.

Unless she was in a hurry, why would she abandon the good main road and run to this sparsely populated mountain, flying around on the treetops? Was it fun?

Okay, Lu Jing had to admit, it was quite fun. Anyway, he was very envious.

As if to answer the doubts in his mind, Lu Jing heard a burst of hurried footsteps behind him.

"It's here! I just saw her fall near here. This little girl's swordsmanship is very strange. Everyone be careful, search carefully, don't let her escape again... Huh, why is there someone else here?"

Lu Jing had already turned around at this moment. But contrary to what he had imagined, what he saw wasn't a group of murderous martial arts killers or gang thugs. In fact, these people didn't even look like martial arts practitioners. Among them were a candy figurine vendor, a flower-selling girl carrying a flower basket, a fisherman carrying a bamboo pole, a butcher selling meat, a fortune-telling Taoist priest, and a street performer.

It was like a folk culture exhibition, looking very lively.

Before Lu Jing could speak, he heard the flower-selling girl with the flower basket call out to him in a soft voice, "What are you doing here, young brother?"

"Practicing punches." Lu Jing pointed to the camphor tree behind him and said honestly.

The flower-selling girl looked at Lu Jing first, then widened her eyes to look at the camphor tree that had a little bark knocked off by him. Finally, she chuckled and laughed, "Young brother is so interesting. People practice punches with their enemies, but you're going against a tree."

She seemed to say this to amuse herself, so without waiting for Lu Jing to answer, she continued to ask, "Since you're practicing... on the tree here, did you see a woman just now, wearing a red dress and a bamboo hat? She's quite easy to recognize."