Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

The two immediately became alert, and Wu Fan quickly formed a hand seal, focusing his mind on guard, ready to deal with any sudden changes.

They cautiously approached and walked slowly to the horses, but saw nothing unusual.

Only the two horses were continuously defecating soft, unformed, pasty feces.

"This animal rental shop is going too far! There must be something wrong with the feed they gave us. We have to go back and give them a good talking to!" Niu Dazhuang said angrily, his face turning red.

Wu Fan still had doubts in his heart.

Logically speaking, even if the animal feed from the rental workshop contains grass containing spiritual energy, it is still made from scraps of low-grade spiritual grains and herbs, so the cost is not high to begin with.

Saving money on materials for such a small amount could damage our reputation if word gets out, and it would be a losing proposition.

Thinking about this, Wu Fan became increasingly uneasy.

Unless, this animal rental shop never intended for them to go back?

But they had no grudge against the Beast Rental Workshop, so surely they wouldn't kill someone just to steal the treasure?

This large animal rental business has been operating in Yunxi Market for many years. If it really wanted to do this kind of thing, it would be impossible for it to have survived until now.

It's highly likely that someone in the market tampered with things behind the scenes.

Whether it was the idea of ​​the animal rental shop or someone secretly plotting against them, it shows that he and Niu Dazhuang are in a dangerous situation at the moment.

When Wu Fan shared his thoughts, Niu Dazhuang immediately tensed up, and cold sweat visibly seeped from his forehead.

After entering the world of cultivation, he spent most of his time in the marketplace and had never encountered anything like this before.

Wu Fan was also uneasy, but his experience of living two lives allowed him to quickly calm down.

He wanted to lead the horse away immediately, but the horse's legs were weak and it refused to move, and it was still defecating.

The two could only wait cautiously in place, and this wait lasted for more than two hours.

Seeing that the horse's condition was gradually improving and that it would be able to walk in a little while, no problems arose.

Niu Dazhuang's tense nerves gradually relaxed, and he secretly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that it was probably caused by someone in the animal rental workshop cutting corners.

Although Wu Fan breathed a sigh of relief, he had witnessed firsthand the ugly faces of many people around him who were after his wealth when he was bedridden in his previous life, which made him dare not be careless in the slightest.

As long as you don't enter Falling Star Valley Market, there will always be risks along the way.

Just as Niu Dazhuang was starting to relax and Wu Fan was still pondering, a sharp sound suddenly pierced the air:

"Whoosh—hiss—"

A dark figure sped towards them from afar. Wu Fan instinctively fell backward, simultaneously kicking Niu Dazhuang and forcing him back several meters.

A short sword grazed the gap where the two had just stood and flew straight past, embedding itself deeply in the ground some distance away.

Before Wu Fan could fully stand up, the second flying sword had already struck.

He tumbled and rolled in a sorry state, narrowly dodging the attack, and then the two flying swords flew back at high speed.

Wu Fan and Niu Dazhuang immediately summoned their respective magical artifacts to protect themselves, their eyes fixed on the forest from which the flying swords were coming.

By this time, Niu Dazhuang was drenched in sweat. He turned to look at the calm and composed Wu Fan, forcing a fierce expression, but a yellow talisman quietly slipped out from his left sleeve.

A moment later, two men in black emerged from the woods.

One person was not tall, but had bulging muscles; the other was petite and thin, and did not resemble a man.

The muscular man in black had just opened his mouth when he said, "Hahaha... This mountain is mine, this tree..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Qingfeng sword beside Wu Fan suddenly shot out, aiming straight for the speaker.

Niu Dazhuang reacted quickly, immediately manipulating his black sword magic weapon to slash at another short man in black.

Within two or three breaths, the four split into two battlefields and began to fight.

Wu Fan snorted and made a series of hand seals with his left hand, instantly summoning a fireball the size of a fist. Taking advantage of the muscular man in black's unpreparedness, he attacked his lower body.

This fireball was hastily formed by him, so its power was limited, but its speed was extremely fast.

The muscular man in black caught sight of the fireball heading straight for his groin, and cold sweat instantly soaked his back. He hurriedly summoned a tortoise-shell shield to block it.

With a "bang," the fireball exploded, scattering flames in all directions, but the tortoise shell artifact blocked them all.

"You little rascal, you're really vicious!"

The man in black was both shocked and furious.

He hasn't yet mastered his protective magic shield, and he's relying entirely on the defensive magic artifact he bought recently to stay alive. If he's even a fraction of a second slower, his happiness for the rest of his life will be ruined.

He grew angrier the more he thought about it, and manipulated his flying sword to strike Wu Fan once more.

Wu Fan had already taken advantage of the gap in the opponent's defense to re-condense a fireball.

This fireball was more than twice the size of the previous one and was still expanding.

The man in black sensed the terrifying power contained within the fireball and was deeply shaken.

Fireball is a basic introductory technique for cultivators, yet this kid can unleash such power?

He dared not slack off, frantically pouring magical power into the tortoise shell artifact while chanting incantations.

Wu Fan used his Qingfeng Sword to block the incoming flying sword, and for a moment, the two were locked in a stalemate.

Once the fireball swelled to the size of his head, reaching his limit, Wu Fan immediately launched it at the muscular man in black.

Upon seeing this, the man in black immediately summoned three fist-sized stones, activated them with spiritual power, and smashed them towards the fireball, while simultaneously protecting himself with the tortoise shell artifact.

The moment the fireball was launched, Wu Fan summoned the Great Needle magic weapon from his storage bag and, using the firelight as cover, manipulated the weapon to launch a stealthy attack from the side.

The crisp sound of stones hitting fireballs, the roar of fireballs exploding, the sizzling of sparks burning, and the crackling of residual flames licking the tortoise shell all mingled together, creating a chaotic and jarring sound.

With flames filling the sky, their vision was obstructed, making it difficult for either of them to make out the other's exact figure.

Just then, a streak of gray-black light suddenly flew out.

With a soft thud, the sound of a sharp object piercing flesh broke the noise.

The muscular man in black suddenly stiffened, twisting his neck in disbelief.

He simply couldn't understand how this kid in the early stage of Qi Refining could have the ability to control two magical artifacts.

But blood was gushing from the hole in his neck, leaving him no time to think.

The large needle had completely pierced his neck. The darkness before the man in black's eyes expanded, his body grew colder and colder, and he finally lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

After killing the muscular man in black, Wu Fan had exhausted most of his magical power.

The brief magical battle just now almost drained him of nearly 60% of his magical power.

However, he knew very well that his opponent, as a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, could not only control two magic artifacts, but also possessed far superior spiritual power in his dantian. He estimated that his spiritual power was not even half depleted yet. If the battle continued, he would surely be the one to die.

At this moment, Wu Fan had no time to rest, let alone pick up the magic weapon that the other party had dropped. He immediately controlled his own magic weapon and turned to rush to Niu Dazhuang's aid.

On the other side, the petite woman in black who was fighting Niu Dazhuang was also at the third level of Qi Refining, but her magic weapon was of higher quality. She was determined to kill him and took the initiative to attack throughout the fight, always gaining the upper hand.

On the other hand, Niu Dazhuang could only defend, losing halfway in morale. His magical artifacts were repeatedly knocked away by his opponent, and he barely managed to hold on with the help of a yellow shield formed by a talisman.

At this moment, the yellow shield was already teetering on the brink of collapse, and it looked like it was about to give way.

The petite woman in black quickly realized that her companion had been killed by Wu Fan and that Wu Fan was heading in her direction, so she immediately stopped fighting.

She quickly unleashed a water arrow at Wu Fan, attempting to block his advance, while she herself turned and retreated hastily.