Luo Yu didn't expect Zhen Fu'er to be so easy to talk to.
According to common sense, having lived from two thousand years ago until now, and still remaining youthful, she must be harboring a great secret.
Could she actually tell him such things?
But it was clear that she was willing to have a candid conversation with him.
Curiosity surged within Luo Yu; he wouldn't miss this opportunity to inquire. After some thought, he asked:
"Miss Zhen, as far as I know, even today's Pinnacle First-Rank Warriors can't stop aging as the years go by, let alone achieve eternal youth. I wonder how you managed to preserve your youth."
"Tch, who asks a girl about such things right off the bat?" Bai Xiao'e made a face and then said reproachfully, "Sister Zhen said you could call her Fu'er, yet you stick with the distant 'Miss Zhen,' showing no flair at all."
"Xiao E, be quiet."
The anciently dressed beauty's charming face flashed with discomfort as she glanced at Bai Xiao'e with her beautiful, swirling eyes.
Bai Xiao'e covered her cheek: "Alright, alright, I'll stop talking."
"Gongzi Luo, please don't take offense. Xiao E is always so cheerful, and her mouth has no filter," Zhen Fu'er explained.
"It's no bother," Luo Yu shook his head.
Zhen Fu'er said, "I should probably not count among those fabled to have eternal life, for all these years I have not been able to travel the world. I have been asleep in a crystal coffin, and when I woke up, I found that two thousand years had passed in the world."
"It was Xiao E who helped me adjust to modern life."
"There are such wonders?" Luo Yu first expressed shock before he burst into surprised laughter. Thinking of the many secrets he himself harbored, each and every one more outrageous than Zhen Fu'er's.
Zhen Fu'er, holding her forehead, said, "In truth, there is not much I can tell Gongzi, for after waking up, I have forgotten many memories about the past, left with only scattered fragments."
Luo Yu felt a great regret; he had wanted to learn about what had happened in that era through Zhen Fu'er.
"Nowadays, the appearance of Ancient Spirits, and through other channels, I've discovered that the ancient past was not as simple as the history books describe."
"May I ask, Miss, what was the cultivation system practiced by the ancient people? Was it like today, where one could command Ancient Spirits?"
"That I can answer."
Zhen Fu'er said, "In ancient times, there was no concept of Ancient Spirits, nor were there Martial Artists, only Qi Refiners."
"Pre-Qin Qi Refiners?" Luo Yu expressed surprise.
Zhen Fu'er nodded.
"Yes, I was born during the Late Han Dynasty, that period when all the cultivation methods originated from the ones passed down from the Qin Dynasty."
"Qi Refining and Cloud Eating would lead to a complete spirit and abundant energy, Riding Clouds and Fog."
Hisss— Luo Yu drew in a breath upon hearing such secrets for the first time and could not help but ask, "May I dare to ask, Miss, in your opinion, how do the methods of Qi Refiners and the martial path of those times compare? Which is superior and which is inferior?"
"Each has its own merits," Zhen Fu'er impartially said, "Qi Refiners were better at refining the spirit and controlling magical items, while Martial Artists back then focused more on refining the body, possessing even stronger physical bodies."
"However, there's no need to discuss this anymore."
"Why is that?" Luo Yu asked.
Zhen Fu'er replied, "Because the nature of the world today no longer allows the practice of Qi Refining."
"Hm?"
Seeing the confusion in Luo Yu's eyes, Zhen Fu'er raised her hand, as if a vortex appeared in her palm, attempting to absorb the surrounding nature's spiritual energy.
But just when a bit had gathered, it burst with a pop and dispersed, failing to be absorbed.
"I once practiced the way of Qi Refining, but using the methods of Qi Refining, I am no longer able to absorb even a trace of today's spiritual energy."
"Only by following the Warrior's Path can this be achieved."
"There's such an odd occurrence?" Luo Yu analyzed, "Could this phenomenon be related to the disappearance of ancient cultivators?"
Zhen Fu'er shook her head.
"I do not know of these matters, having been asleep in the coffin all this time. There is much that Gongzi probably understands more deeply than I do."
"What was the combat power like of the strongest cultivator during the Late Han era?" Luo Yu continued to inquire.
Zhen Fu'er answered, "Great Sage Zhang Jue, the unparalleled leader of the world, whose strength could shake heaven and earth, could change the cosmos with the practice of Taiping Daoist Technique."
"The legendary leader of the Yellow Turban Army?" Luo Yu was amazed, "He was the number one under the heavens, not Lyu Bu?"
Zhen Fu'er explained, "After the Great Sage's death, many heroes arose. If one does not consider the great cultivators hidden deep within the mountains, then among the army Governor Lu would be the first under heaven. Just with the Heaven-slaying Halberd, he could sweep through a thousand troops and eradicate tens of thousands of Qi Refiners."
"If Zhang Jue's strength was unmatched in the world, why then did he meet his end and his path vanish?" Luo Yu couldn't help but ask.
Zhen Fu'er, supporting her forehead, brows furrowed.
"I can't remember clearly."
"It seems that Zhang Jue performed an act against the heavens and suffered suppression by the Heavenly Dao."
"Hm? The Heavenly Dao." Luo Yu's eyes flickered with light.
Zhen Fu'er shook her head, her fingers touching her temples.
"Gongzi, it's not that I don't wish to answer, it's truly because I cannot remember," she said.
"It's alright."
Luo Yu murmured, "The upper limit of the ancient Qi Refiners' cultivation surely couldn't have been the First Rank Summit."
Zhen Fu'er nodded.
"In the past, it was not the Nine-Rank System. Qi Refiners only cultured through four major realms: First Realm: Refine Essence into Qi, Second Realm: Refine Qi into Spirit, Third Realm: Refine Spirit to Return to Void, Fourth Realm: Refine Void to Merge with the Way. There might have been more realms beyond that, but I have never heard of them. However, it's likely that a Spirit-refined cultivator could easily defeat a Pinnacle First-Rank Warrior."
"It seems that in ancient times, cultivators were not suppressed by the Heavenly Dao and could freely break through their limits." Luo Yu nodded, then he felt a chilling sensation.
Even just hearing a few words from Zhen Fu'er was enough to realize that the Late Han Dynasty must have been a tumultuous era, with a proliferation of powerful beings.
Strength was far superior to that of today.
However, what became of all those powerful individuals? It was hard to imagine they all perished completely.