Immortality and Cultivation: Starting with Improving Spiritual Root Aptitude

Fu Qianyu's eyes narrowed slightly, his arm tightened slightly, and his tone carried a hint of seduction:

"Fifth brother, we can't tell our eldest and second brothers. Think about it carefully. Every time there's a benefit, our eldest and second brothers always take the biggest slice. You and I work so hard, how much will we get in the end? I finally managed to cultivate to the late stage of Qi Refining. What's the point of all this hard work? Isn't it just to accumulate enough resources to break through to Foundation Establishment as soon as possible?"

He changed the subject, his gaze fixed on Sun Leiluo:

"And you, Fifth Brother, how long have you been stuck at the peak of the sixth level of Qi Refining? Are you going to waste several more years, watching helplessly as you miss the best opportunity to establish your foundation, completely severing your hope of advancing?"

At this point, Fu Qianyu paused, lowered his voice, and became even more seductive:

"Now that Liu Xi is all alone, with only the sixth level of Qi Refining, and he chose to leave in the dead of night, isn't this a perfect opportunity for us? If the two of us join forces to capture him, loot all his resources, and then lie to our brothers that the kid was too cunning and slipped away while we weren't looking, all the benefits will be ours. Wouldn't that be much better than giving them the lion's share for nothing?"

"You're planning to... keep all the benefits to yourself and hide it from your older brothers?"

A hint of hesitation flashed in Sun Leiluo's eyes, his brows furrowed, and his expression struggled.

He naturally wanted to keep all the benefits for himself and buy a high-quality Breakthrough Pill as soon as possible to break through the bottleneck and enter the late stage of Qi Refining.

But he was even more wary of his elder brothers' strength.

Especially the eldest brother, who has already reached the ninth level of Qi Refining. If this matter is exposed, he will definitely suffer the consequences.

"Fifth brother, don't hesitate!"

Seeing this, Fu Qianyu quickly pressed his advantage, his tone becoming even more urgent, "If you hesitate any longer, Wu Fan is extremely fast and will probably be out of the market area soon. It will be extremely difficult to catch up then! Forget about taking all the benefits for ourselves, we might not even get a drop of soup in the end."

He quickly added:

"Besides, this matter is known only to heaven, earth, you, and me. As long as we both keep our mouths shut, how could our elder brothers possibly know the truth?"

Sun Leilu remained silent for a long time, the struggle in his eyes gradually fading, replaced by an undisguised greed and ruthlessness.

He gritted his teeth, nodded heavily, and said in a resolute tone:

"Alright, let's do it! We'll chase after him now, no matter what!"

Upon seeing Sun Lei's prompt agreement, Fu Qianyu's face instantly broke into a smug smile, a glint of cunning flashing in his eyes:

"That's more like it, Fifth Brother! We shouldn't delay, let's get going before he gets away!"

After saying that, the two did not delay any longer and immediately left their residence, following the tracking marks left by Fu Qianyu, and chased after Wu Fan in the direction he had left.

In the darkness, the two moved at great speed, not daring to stop for even a moment.

......

At this time, Wu Fan had already moved far away from the market area.

The effects of the speed talisman on his feet gradually faded. He looked up at the sky and estimated that it would be dawn in another half hour. He then slowed down, hid behind a towering ancient tree, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate his cultivation technique to recover his depleted spiritual energy.

At the same time, his spiritual senses spread out, and his eyes warily scanned the surroundings.

Wu Fan was completely unaware that his relentless, non-stop speeding had already drawn a barrage of curses from Fu Qianyu and Sun Leiluo, who were chasing behind him.

In their view, Wu Fan's late-night travel was already unusual, and his willingness to use a speed-up talisman made them even more convinced of his abilities.

This kid must be quite wealthy, with a lot of spirit stones hidden on him.

However, Wu Fan's relentless running gradually made Sun Leiluo, whose cultivation was slightly weaker, feel somewhat powerless.

He frowned, looking at Fu Qianyu beside him, his tone tinged with doubt and anxiety:

"Fourth Brother, do you think that kid discovered the mark we left on him? Otherwise, why would he keep rushing forward? We've been chasing him for over half an hour, and he hasn't stopped for even a moment?"

Fu Qianyu frowned, shook his head firmly, a hint of impatience flashing in his eyes, but he still patiently explained:

"Impossible! This tracking method is a unique technique that Second Brother honed when he was still a mortal, roaming the martial world. It's a mortal method, odorless and tasteless, without any spiritual energy fluctuations. Even if you carefully examine his entire body with your spiritual sense, there's absolutely no way you could find it. Besides, if he really found something, why didn't he try to erase the mark? Instead, he just let us track him. He must be in a hurry to leave and has no intention of staying."

As soon as he finished speaking, Fu Qianyu suddenly raised his hand to signal Sun Leiluo to stop, his gaze sharp as he looked into the woods ahead, and said in a low voice:

"Watch out, that kid has stopped!"

"Huh? I just used a speed-up scroll!"

Sun Lei let out a low sigh, his tone full of heartache. He raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, "This cost me half a spirit stone, and this kid just stops like that?"

Despite his complaints, he immediately concealed his aura and followed closely behind Fu Qianyu, slowly approaching the front.

Meanwhile, Wu Fan had just taken a pill and was meditating to recover his spiritual energy when he suddenly sensed a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy coming from beneath his feet.

He felt a chill run down his spine and almost instinctively opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing within them.

Several three-foot-long earth spikes suddenly rose from the ground.

Wu Fan, who was originally sitting cross-legged, leaped up as lightly as a willow catkin, jumping a full ten feet high.

Then, he lightly touched the boulder beside him with his toes and landed steadily.

Almost the instant he landed, those thorny clods of earth suddenly pierced out from where he had been sitting, causing gravel to fly everywhere.

If Wu Fan's reaction had been even a fraction slower, he would have been pierced through the earthen spikes by now, either dead or severely injured.

Wu Fan glanced down at the thorny burrs, his expression growing increasingly serious.

If he hadn't cultivated the Body Refinement Technique and reached the third level of Body Tempering, making his reaction speed and explosive power far surpass those of cultivators of the same level, he would probably have become a hedgehog by now.

He dared not delay for a moment. With a flick of his left hand, he planted the sword firmly in the open ground in front of him. At this moment, he grasped the Flaming Sun Sword with his right hand, and with a flick of spiritual energy at his fingertips, a cluster of scorching flames instantly ignited on the sword.

At the same time, a crimson fire cloud shield floated in front of him, shimmering with spiritual light, forming a solid defense; in his palm, he also secretly gripped the poison sac bead and the explosive bead, ready to deal with any unexpected situation.

"Brother Liu, I didn't expect you to have cultivated body-refining techniques. Such skill makes me even more interested in you."

Fu Qianyu's voice came from the nearby woods, his tone slightly mocking as he slowly emerged from behind a tree.

Beside him, Sun Leiluo slowly appeared.

Wu Fan's eyes turned cold, and he already understood.

These two are actually in cahoots.

No, it should be said that these two are indeed in cahoots.

He looked up at Fu Qianyu, his tone icy:

"Fellow Daoist Fu, you certainly have some clever methods. Tell me, how did you manage to track me down?"

Upon hearing this, Fu Qianyu burst into laughter:

"Brother Liu, you want to know? No problem, I'll tell you slowly after you go to the underworld!"

Before he finished speaking, Fu Qianyu suddenly moved, his spiritual power surged, and a short sword in his hand flew towards Wu Fan.

Seeing this, Sun Leiluo immediately realized what was happening. Although his cultivation was slightly weaker, he was unwilling to fall behind.

With a flick of his fingertips, the soil around him churned and several more earth spikes appeared out of thin air, piercing towards Wu Fan's limbs. Clearly, he wanted to trap Wu Fan's body and, in conjunction with Fu Qianyu's attack, make it impossible for Wu Fan to dodge.