I have to get lucky right away.

Chapter 536 So cunning that even a thousand arrows couldn't kill him.
"The spiritual environment is normal, the resources are normal, the living environment of mortals is ordinary, and there are no traces of demonic cultivation rampage."

Looking at a small village not far away, Captain Qin seemed to be silently assessing the situation. This was the sixteenth village he had passed through, but so far, he still hadn't found anything unusual.

"It seems that it wasn't a local branch forcibly abducting cultivators and then falsifying accounts, nor was it a spontaneous migration caused by resource scarcity. As for demonic cultivators... even that extraterrestrial demon couldn't possibly eliminate so many rogue cultivators so silently."

The Heavenly Martial Hall of the Righteous Path Alliance, formerly known as the Heavenly Martial Pavilion, was the original sect of the current leader of the Righteous Path Alliance. After the alliance was formed, it did not set up branches locally like other sects, but instead became an important hall of the headquarters, which in a sense can be considered the leader's private army.

The Heavenly Martial Hall is divided into two parts: the Light and the Shadow. The Light part is the Heavenly Martial Hall in the open, responsible for patrolling the world in the capacity of the Alliance Leader.

The Shadow Division, as its name suggests, is the shadow beneath the brilliance, a collection of all forces that cannot be openly discussed, such as secret agents, spies, and assassins.

Qin Lan is a squad leader in the Shadow Division of Tianwu Hall.

Don't underestimate him just because he's a squad leader. Back when he was still with the Heavenly Martial Pavilion, he was a direct disciple, a member of the innermost elite. He had experienced many reconnaissance missions like this before.

Comparing the previous investigation results one by one, Qin Lan realized that this problem was probably not comparable to the previous childish ones. A hint of excitement flashed in her clear eyes, which were also somewhat foolish, but it was only for a moment before it was covered again by the look of a novice who had just been allowed to go down the mountain for training.

Slowly raising one's divine sense and then scanning the sky is a skill that the Shadow Division must learn. It can effectively avoid alerting cultivators while ensuring an intelligence advantage.

“An ordinary town, built along the water, with the surrounding villages in normal condition. Oh, over there are three self-employed cultivators who don’t seem to be very powerful… They’re probably retired cultivators who couldn’t afford spirit stones.”

Qin Lan did not show any disdain for these guys who had given up cultivation. She simply silently noted down their numbers and then walked towards the field ridge with an air of ignorance.

"Qing Shen Hua, Long Mian Cao... are they the main ingredients of the Bigu Dan (a fasting pill)?"

As her gaze swept across the crops in the field, Qin Lan immediately recognized the medicinal properties of these herbs, which only increased her disdain for the cultivators who were farming here.

"Growing this kind of medicinal herb means they can't even fast..."

With these thoughts in mind, he walked around the crops like a curious child, following the edge towards the few houses not far away.

These huts look like ordinary thatched cottages, but they have been reinforced with magic. Judging from their level, they are only at the Foundation Establishment stage and will need to be repaired at most after half a month.

"They look like a few Foundation Establishment cultivators who have no hope of reaching the Core Formation stage," Qin Lan concluded, but instead of leaving, she moved closer.

His appearance also caught the attention of Lin Feng, who was practicing the Ziwei Nourishing Spirit Technique.

Upon seeing the stranger arrive, Lin Feng immediately stopped the process of refining essence into qi, guiding the primordial qi that had been extracted but not yet absorbed into his limbs and bones, transforming it into protective qi to nourish his body. At the same time, he subtly narrowed his eyes, feigning sleep.

Although there were already two neighbors who seemed to be practicing the Ziwei Nourishing Spirit Technique, the three of them maintained a tacit understanding and always acted like "a lazy bum who has given up on cultivation." It was precisely because of this that Lin Feng remained here.

Or rather, if any of these people mentioned the Purple Star Nourishing Spirit Technique or a similar topic, he would immediately disappear from this place. Cultivators who can reach the Yuan Dan realm are not fools, and rogue cultivators who reach this realm have experienced countless deceit and treachery. He knows very well what this technique means, and even if the knife is already at his throat, he will continue to pretend until it actually enters his flesh.

As the undisguised footsteps drew closer, Lin Feng knew that the visitors were probably up to no good. After the other party entered the Foundation Establishment cultivator's sensing range, he waited a few more breaths before pretending to be startled awake and immediately adopting a defensive posture.

"Fellow Daoist, please don't panic, I mean no harm!"

Based on Lin Feng's warning range, Qin Lan roughly estimated his cultivation level before revealing a kind smile and saying:
"I was just passing through and didn't realize that my Bigu Pills were exhausted. Seeing that there was a village nearby, I decided to come and find some supplies. I happened to see that you were planting spiritual fields, so I came to buy some. I wonder if you could do me a favor?"

"There are no loopholes. Although his words are a bit immature and his actions are a bit clumsy, they are in line with normal speaking logic. He is not the kind of idiot who is perfectly logical."

Although he didn't detect any flaws, Lin Feng still trusted them completely, but he clearly didn't intend to show it, or even send any signals to his two neighbors. He simply took out a package of fasting pills wrapped in oil paper from his storage bag and handed it over.

"It's just some fasting pills, why are you talking about buying them? Fellow Daoist, just take them!"

Seeing that Lin Feng hadn't even sealed it with wax, Qin Lan knew that this person was probably someone who made it fresh and ate it immediately. Speechless, she believed him a little more. At least this kind of packaging couldn't have been prepared in advance; it must be because he ate it regularly.

After receiving the fasting pill, Qin Lan stubbornly pulled out an old ginseng root as payment before taking a fasting pill and popping it into her mouth.

"The technique is fine, the medication is prepared correctly, and the effect is acceptable..."

After confirming there were no problems, Qin Lan released the magic power that had been gathered in her throat, letting the medicine slide into her stomach, and casually remarked as if in conversation:

"By the way, fellow Daoist, I see two more huts over there. Are there any other fellow Daoists?"

"Well, we've only met by chance and don't really interact much. I just know their surnames." Lin Feng said casually, but Qin Lan didn't doubt that they didn't know each other. It was normal for independent cultivators not to know each other.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Qin Lan didn't find any flaws, or rather, there were quite a few flaws, but it seemed more like an old man exaggerating his boasts in casual conversation. Seeing that she couldn't get any information out of him, Qin Lan thanked him repeatedly before getting up to take her leave.

Seeing Qin Lan leave, Lin Feng didn't get up. Instead, he lay back down, rocking back and forth in the rocking chair, pretending to doze off, while muttering to himself:

"Asking so many questions, he's obviously a spy. But he could also be deliberately trying to pry open my defenses. Tsk, he's really cunning. I wonder which organization he belongs to..."

Meanwhile, Qin Lan, who had left Lin Feng's residence, was also watching his movements from afar. Seeing that he was starting to doze off again, she couldn't help but sigh:

"It's hard to tell the truth from the falsehood, but it's not a good idea to go to the other two places now. Let's leave a mark and come back in a few days with a different person."

(End of this chapter)