Ancestor Above - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: Sacrificed for Official Reasons
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Lu Qing spent a day wandering around Yuyan Mountain. He then returned to his chamber and reset the time he could spend wandering outside before heading out once again.
His destination was the other red dots in the clan’s sphere of influence that he found on the “Map” function.
Conquering magical creatures was the most direct way of obtaining Karma.
The extermination of the Cave Foxes was a practically effortless battle, yet he obtained close to a hundred Karma after he finished the mission. That was equivalent to him engaging in closed-door training for ten years. More difficult conquests, such as the Water Ghost Lake, would award him with close to 400 Karma after he accomplished the mission. It was akin to becoming rich overnight.
The red dots on the map within the clan’s sphere of influence were places that might contain threats. They were all places that might activate a conquest event.
The two places that were closest to them were the Water Ghost Lake and the horde of Cave Foxes. Lu Qing had scouted those two places five years ago. Even though there were still a few red dots, most of them were rather far away. Lu Qing estimated that he might have to spend three to four days getting to and returning from the place that was relatively closer to Yuyan Mountain.
Under normal circumstances, he could only wander outside for a day. He would have to spend two Karma to replenish his stamina if he exceeded that time limit. Any subsequent replenishment would double the Karma he needed to use.
He would have to replenish his stamina three times if he wanted to head to a place that would take four days. He would have to spend eight Karma during the third replenishment.
He was poor in the past and could not afford the cost. However, it was different now. He now had over 200 Karma. He was rich.
Furthermore, he could plan out his path. He did not have to limit himself to scouting one location every time he headed out. Lu Qing stared at the map interface and examined it closely. He could turn and head to a second location after he was done scouting one location and save on a return trip.
Based on his calculations, a long trip out of the chamber to explore the locations was also an area where he had to spend a significant amount of Karma.
Two Karma might not seem like much, but how large would the number become after it increased exponentially?
The power of exponents was great. Lu Qing had to spend eight Karma on the third refill and 16 on the fourth! Furthermore, the Karma he spent on the previous days would be accumulated. That meant that by the fourth refill, he would actually have spent 30 Karma!
The huge Karma expenditure forced Lu Qing to have to plan his route well.
Finally, the results of his planning allowed him to spend 30 Karma to finish the scouting of two locations. It would push his limits.
However, since he had made up his mind, he was going to accomplish the mission perfectly.
******
Five days later, when Lu Qing’s spirit form returned to Yuyan Mountain, he was extremely fatigued.
However, his plan had achieved decent success. He obtained the results he needed.
He had fully scouted three places with red dots and successfully obtained the general information needed for the conquest.
Out of the three conquest missions, two of them were Level Two, and the other one was Level One. If the clan managed to accomplish all of the missions, he would be able to obtain about 500 Karma. He would also get a few added rewards.
The two Level Two conquest missions were not as difficult as the Water Ghost Lake. As long as he planned it well, it could be accomplished via normal means.
He felt that it was a little disappointing that he did not discover any treasures like the Yin-essence Water Jade that he found in the Water Ghost Lake in any of the three conquest missions.
However, it should only be a minute probability that he managed to find the Yin-essence Water Jade in the Water Ghost Lake.
When he returned to the chamber, he spent one Karma to activate the Voice Transmission function. He called for Lu Chaoxi.
Lu Chaoxi was elated when he heard his father summon him.
Lu Chaoxi had been rather afraid when Lu Qing said that he would engage in closed-door training five years ago, having experienced it once 50 years ago. Even though his father had said that it would only last five years, what would happen if the training dragged on indefinitely?
Fortunately, Lu Qing woke up again, as promised.
Over the years, he had gradually adjusted his mindset and made preparations for if Lu Qing could not come out of his chamber for a long while. All he hoped for was that he could frequently listen to his father’s words and that his father could guide the future development of the clan. That was enough for him.
Without a leader, the once-glorious Lu Clan had become down and out and was almost annihilated. After his father woke up briefly five years ago and guided him, the Lu Clan seemed to have moved in an upward trend in recent years.
Even though a cultivator should believe in science and not be superstitious, there was no denial that the pivotal moment of the reversal of the clan’s situation was when Lu Qing woke up five years ago. 5
Lu Chaoxi had to care about that.
When he arrived at the door of Lu Qing’s chamber, Lu Chaoxi chatted with his father about many things. Through the interaction, Lu Chaoxi reported to his father about the situation of the clan.
One thing he mentioned was about his injuries, that he had significantly recovered from them and that he was in good condition. He could probably try to advance to the ninth tier of the Foundation Building Stage in two years. He was 114 years old this year and still had a good amount of stamina. Even though his Core Lifespan only had about ten years left, far lesser than an average Foundation Building cultivator, he could use the last years of his life to strive for the Initial Enlightenment Stage. If he managed to accomplish his goal, not only could he repair his depleted Core Lifespan, but also the Core Lifespan of an Initial Enlightenment cultivator was five revolutions or 300 years. When that time comes, Lu Chaoxi would be able to help deal with some of the situations faced by the family. 3
Also, Lu Mingchao had advanced to the fifth tier of the Foundation Building Stage last year. Lu Chaohe also reached the third tier of the Foundation Building Stage two years ago.
It would be difficult for Lu Chaohe to reach the Initial Enlightenment Stage, but there was definitely hope for Lu Mingchao.
Lu Qing could see all of this information from the system interface. However, it was meaningful to hear it from Lu Chaoxi.
After all, how could the ice-cold numbers be compared to the warmth brought about by his biological son’s passionate narration outside of his chamber?
Furthermore, Lu Chaoxi also told Lu Qing about things that he could not see from the system interface.
For example, the conquest mission about the “wandering demonic creatures” arose because there was a serial murderer in Pingyao County. The modus operandi of the killer was extremely cruel. He dug out the victims’ hearts and lungs and left them in an extremely pathetic state.
After 20-odd commoners and several of the county’s constables fell victim to the murderer, they discovered that the incident was not as simple as it looked. They felt that the culprit was not an ordinary person. Thus, any investigation after that was done by cultivators.
Three cultivators took over the case—one from the Lu Clan and two from the Zhao Clan—and began their investigations. The person from the Lu Clan was Lu Tingzhi, a sixth-tier Qi Refining cultivator.
They spent five days and finally got a lead. The culprit was a devil that had been infected with the aura of an evil demon. No one knew where he came from. He was extremely powerful and had abilities equivalent to that of a Foundation Building cultivator.
The three cultivators were no match for him. However, Lu Tingzhi managed to get the word out before he died.
The enemy was too powerful. The cultivators who were permanently stationed in Pingyao County could not deal with him and thus could only seek external reinforcements.
The Zhao Clan was situated farther away. The reinforcements from the Lu Clan came faster. Lu Mingzhao and Lu Chaohe worked together and finally captured and exterminated the devil after several hundred humans died in Pingyao County.
That was the origin of the conquest mission about the “wandering demonic creatures” Lu Qing saw in his system interface.