Mortal: The Path to Immortality

After explaining his request and exchanging pleasantries with the two men for a while, Lu Nanzhu and Qi Yunxiao left the nameless hill and returned to Jinma City.

Upon entering the city, before parting ways, Qi Yunxiao told Lu Nanzhu to come back to the shop in three days to pick up the goods.

In the following days, Lu Nanzhu continued to open his shop for free medical consultations as usual, taking the opportunity to study and comprehend the mysterious martial arts technique given to him by Xiao Suqing.

Three days later, Lu Nanzhu finished his free clinic. As agreed with Qi Yunxiao, he went to "Yunxiao Pavilion" to pick up the goods.

As soon as I entered the store, there was only an unfamiliar shop assistant behind the counter, who was doing accounting with his head down.

When Lu Nanzhu introduced himself as "Senior De" who had come to pick up the goods, the shop assistant's expression turned serious. He quickly came out from behind the counter and respectfully led him to the backyard.

"Please come, senior. My master instructed that if you come, you should go directly to the weapon-refining room in the backyard to find him."

Before even stepping into the weapon-refining room, a wave of scorching heat hit you, and the air was filled with a strong, burning smell.

Lu Nanzhu stepped into the room and saw that it was blocked by a heat-insulating screen. Inside, the firelight was bright red, illuminating the entire room.

Lu Nanzhu did not rush to speak. He extended his divine sense through the screen.

Under the perception of divine sense, Qi Yunxiao was sweating profusely. In front of him, several tiny objects, as fine as cow hair, were enveloped in flames and were spinning rapidly in mid-air under the control of his divine sense.

"A needle-shaped magical artifact!?"

Lu Nanzhu was somewhat surprised that someone with only Qi Refining cultivation could forge so many needle-shaped magical artifacts at once. After all, he knew how difficult it was to forge needle-shaped magical artifacts, let alone forge so many at the same time.

A moment later, Qi Yunxiao let out a low shout and flicked his hands in a series of hand seals. The few fine needles instantly disappeared into the quenching pool next to him, emitting a piercing "hissing" sound.

He then breathed a sigh of relief, turned around, and saw Lu Nanzhu behind the screen, a simple and honest smile spreading across his face:

"Senior, you've arrived just in time. Yunxiao has prepared everything you requested."

After saying that, Qi Yunxiao, without bothering to wipe the sweat from his forehead, quickly walked to the hidden box in the corner of the weapon-refining room, carefully took out a wide, flat wooden box, and handed it to Lu Nanzhu.

Lu Nanzhu took the wooden box, gently opened the lid, and a cool breeze wafted out from inside.

Inside the box lay a silver-gray feather fan, its surface shimmering with iridescent light—the "Nine Feathers Approaching the Fan."

Lu Nanzhu took out the fan; it was cool to the touch and extremely light, almost weightless.

He examined it closely and found that the original nine jet-black feathers of the Shadow Kite had now turned silver-gray.

He then looked at Qi Yunxiao with a puzzled expression.

Qi Yunxiao quickly explained from the side:

"This junior has taken the liberty of using some silver essence to melt it into a thin film and apply it to the surface of the feathers. This not only increases the sharpness of the feathers but also greatly enhances the power of the spell."

After hearing this, Lu Nanzhu gripped the fan handle and slightly channeled spiritual energy into his fingertips.

The wind fan shone brightly with silver light, and there were faint swirling air currents at the edges of its nine feathers, as if it could destroy everything with just a gentle wave.

"What a fine magic artifact!" Lu Nanzhu nodded in satisfaction.

"Brother Yunxiao, with such skills, if you wish, you could easily flee to any cultivation family or seek a position as a weapon-refining master at any major sect. Why bother running this shop and struggling to make a living?"

As Lu Nanzhu gently stroked the fan, he casually asked, "Take the Fu family of Zidao Mountain, for example, who recruited me a few days ago. They must also be interested in recruiting a cultivator with such superb skills as you."

Upon hearing this, Qi Yunxiao chuckled twice, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes: "Senior is joking. I'm used to being carefree. If I were to enter a sect and be subjected to constraints, I'm afraid I wouldn't be used to it."

Moreover... in recent years, the Fu family has been at the height of its power, ostensibly recruiting talented individuals, but in reality, its methods have been extremely domineering.

They desperately recruited talented individuals from the surrounding area, ostensibly to "seek talent," but in reality, they were "cutting off the road."

Within hundreds of miles of Jinma City, any rogue cultivator with a bit of fame would be forcibly recruited by the Fu family. If they joined other families or small sects behind the Fu family's back, they would mysteriously disappear.

The Fu family's move was simply to keep all the talented individuals under their control, preventing these rogue cultivators from leaving for other families or sects, and also eliminating any thought they might have of establishing their own sects.

At that time, wouldn't the Fu family be the only ones who could call the shots in Jinma City, and even the entire Western Yuanwu Kingdom?

Qi Yunxiao walked to the edge of the quenching pool, took out several needle-shaped magical artifacts from the water, and continued:

"Not only that, I've also heard about the dirty deeds the Fu family has done over the years."

Ru Yin had previously heard from a magic array shop they had worked with that the Fu family had recently secretly commissioned them to collect some evil materials in an attempt to assemble an extremely vicious magic array that would harvest the lifeblood of living beings... Such insidious acts were no different from those of the demonic path.

Even if they offer us more spirit stones and resources, if we truly get caught up in it, the trouble we gain will likely outweigh the benefits. We cannot bear such a karmic burden.

I had been recruited before, but they only accepted my offer of spirit stones and a promise not to join any other factions, which is why I was rejected.

Lu Nanzhu's eyes narrowed slightly as he listened attentively. He then offered words of comfort:

"If the Fu family is so greedy, things will inevitably turn out the way they do. It's not a bad thing that Brother Yunxiao wasn't recruited."

Qi Yunxiao sighed heavily and said with a wry smile:

"Whether it's wise or not, we can only take it one step at a time. For now, we can only keep this shop open and continue helping Ruyin with her illness..."

At this point, he suddenly realized something, abruptly stopped talking, and quickly turned around to fiddle with the messy tools.

Seeing his expression, Lu Nanzhu decided not to disturb him any further.

"In that case, I'll accept this magical artifact." Lu Nanzhu patted the wooden box, put it into his storage bag, and said gently.

"I will leave this place shortly and continue my travels. When the three-year agreement is fulfilled, I will return to Jinma City to find you and Miss Ruyin."

After saying this, the two bowed to each other in farewell.

......

After leaving Jinma City and flying westward for several hours, the outline of a magnificent stone fortress gradually emerged on the wasteland. That was the main base of the Hu family, who were proficient in mechanical puppetry—Hu Family Fortress.

Lu Nanzhu put away his flying artifact and landed in front of the fortress gate.

Looking up, one could see that the entire Hujiabao was heavily guarded.

On the city wall, every few feet there stood a giant wooden beast several feet tall, its eyes glowing red, clearly a monitoring puppet with spirit stones embedded inside.

He used his divine sense to probe and discovered that the surrounding air was filled with countless tiny fluctuations of spiritual energy.

This place is clearly filled with defensive formations that complement the puppetry technique. If someone were to accidentally wander in, they would likely be riddled with bullets by the hidden mechanisms in an instant.

Lu Nanzhu showed Elder Wang's token, and soon a servant of the Hu family with a tense expression led the way, taking him through the winding stone fortress and to the side courtyard where his senior brothers and sisters were temporarily staying.

"Junior Brother Nanzhu! You've finally arrived."

As soon as they entered the courtyard, Senior Sister Fan pulled Senior Brother Su out to greet them.

The three entered the inner hall and took their seats. Amidst the rising steam of tea, Senior Sister Fan couldn't wait to ask:

"Junior brother, was the journey safe and sound? Did Master give you any further instructions before you left?"

Lu Nanzhu relayed Elder Wang's message to "stabilize the situation and observe the changes," and then took out the spirit stones and pills from his storage bag.

After the handover was completed, he asked, "I've heard that things are tense in the Western Yuanwu Kingdom these days. I wonder what the situation is like in Hujiabao? Is the task entrusted to you by your master progressing smoothly?"

Just as Senior Brother Su was about to speak, he heard Senior Sister Fan sigh deeply, shake her head, and look somewhat forlorn.

"It's tough. Junior brother, you don't know, the Hu family has been unlucky. Decades ago, the only elder in the clan who had achieved immortality passed away, and the Hu family has been declining day by day ever since."

They could have protected their ancestral property using their secret puppet and mechanical techniques, but then they ran into the Fu family, who relied on demonic cultivation.

Senior Brother Su then picked up the conversation and added, "The Hu family did seek help from the Three Sects of Yuanwu before."

But with the demonic invasion imminent, the three major sects are already preoccupied with their own problems and have no energy left to deal with these trivial matters. They've only sent a few low-ranking disciples to bolster their prestige.

After listening, Lu Nanzhu already understood the situation and said in a low voice:

"The Hu family has a past relationship with Master. If Master ignores their plea for help, it may damage his reputation."

But if we really help the Hu family destroy the Fu family, then the Fu family has the shadow of the demonic path behind them. My master is also afraid of provoking the demonic path at this time and ruining the overall situation of the seven sects of Yue Kingdom.

"Junior brother is right," Senior Brother Su continued. "The Fu family has previously sent cultivators to attack several of the Hu family's business districts and strongholds on multiple occasions."

In order to protect the remaining territory, Junior Sister Fan and I also assisted in the battle. We discovered that the cultivators who participated in the attack used some strange flames. We speculated that the Fu family's real reliance was on the Demon Flame Sect.

"For this mission, we only need to do our best and leave the rest to fate. Facing such a formidable enemy, the Hu family is likely doomed."