Mortal: Starting by looting Han Laomo's entire herb garden

In the next instant, Lu Yan vanished from his spot.

The man is gone, the gun is gone, and the dragon scale fruit is gone too.

The Golden Dragon King stood there, stunned, unable to react for a long time.

"My gun..."

He looked down at his empty hands, then looked around at the bare dragon scale fruit tree.

It's all gone.

The Golden Dragon King stood still, his expression incredibly interesting.

A deafening roar echoed from the seabed.

"No!!!"

"Despicable human! I will remember you!"

"Next time we meet, I will tear you to pieces!"

The roar echoed in the sea, lingering for a long time.

-----

Two years later.

Lu Yan sat cross-legged on the futon, with a faint golden light flowing around him.

He slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a breath of stale air, which condensed and did not dissipate, turning into a white ribbon in the air.

The fourth level of the Vajra Mantra is complete.

He stood up, stretched his limbs, and his bones cracked and popped.

In the past two years, he has not only mastered the Vajra Technique to the fourth level, but his cultivation level has also reached the peak of the mid-Foundation Establishment stage.

Lu Yan nodded in satisfaction and took out the golden spear he had snatched from the Golden Flood Dragon King from his storage bag.

The gun barrel is about ten feet long, golden in color, and covered with fine, scale-like patterns. It feels heavy in the hand.

He infused his spiritual power and tried to activate it.

No response.

I tried a few more times, but it still didn't work.

Lu Yan frowned and examined the gun closely. Faint runes flowed across the gun's surface.

"It must have been refined using a special method. Unless the original owner's mark is erased, it cannot be used."

With his current cultivation level, trying to erase the Golden Flood Dragon King's mark is simply a pipe dream.

Lu Yan sighed and weighed the spear in his hand.

Let's see if we can travel to a higher plane and ask a powerful being to help us refine it, or we can just sell it.

He put the spear back into his storage bag, and with a thought, activated the nameless fragment.

The world spun around.

The scene before him changed, and Lu Yan landed in a courtyard.

With its pavilions, towers, carved beams, and painted rafters, it was clearly the mansion of a wealthy family.

Before he could even look around, he heard footsteps approaching.

Two figures emerged from behind the moon gate, one in front of the other.

In front of him was a young man in his early twenties, followed by a middle-aged man dressed as a butler.

Lu Yan scanned the area with his divine sense and found that one was at the third level of Qi Refining and the other at the fifth level.

With a thought, he suppressed his aura to the seventh level of Qi Refining.

The young man paused when he saw him, looked him up and down, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes, but he quickly put on a smile again.

"Where does this fellow Daoist come from? Why didn't you announce your arrival beforehand? It would have allowed me to extend my hospitality as the host." He asked, cupping his hands in a polite tone.

Lu Yan also cupped his hands in greeting: "I am but a wandering cultivator who happened to be passing by. Seeing the grandeur of this residence, I was out of curiosity and came in to take a look. I hope you will forgive my intrusion. May I ask what place this is?"

The young man laughed and said, "This is the capital of Yue Kingdom, the Prince Xin's Mansion."

Lu Yan's heart skipped a beat. The Prince Xin's Mansion? Then this person in front of him must be the young prince of the Prince Xin's Mansion.

No wonder this guy exudes a sinister aura; it seems he has now joined the Black Fiend Cult.

Lu Yan remained expressionless and casually said, "So this is the Prince's residence. My apologies for my rudeness. I am new here and have caused you any trouble. I will take my leave now."

The young prince and his steward exchanged a glance and quickly stopped Lu Yan: "Fellow Daoist, please wait. Since you are a wandering cultivator, you must be having a hard time. Why not rest at the palace for a few days? I love making friends with fellow Daoists from all over the world, and we can have a good discussion about the Dao."

Steward Wang chimed in, "Yes, yes, yes. If you don't mind, please stay at the Wang residence. I recently obtained a batch of spiritual tea and would like to invite you to taste it with me."

Lu Yan looked at them and suddenly sneered, "You mean by 'discussing the Dao' to hand me over to the Black Fiend Sect?"

The young prince's smile froze, and Steward Wang's expression also changed.

The two exchanged a glance, a hint of panic flashing in their eyes, before they quickly regained their composure.

The young prince chuckled dryly: "Fellow Daoist is joking. I've never even heard of the Black Fiend Sect."

Steward Wang shook his head repeatedly: "Misunderstanding, misunderstanding. Our Wang Mansion is completely innocent. How could we possibly have any connection with that so-called cult?"

Lu Yan sighed.

Stop pretending.

He released his aura, and the pressure of the Foundation Establishment stage instantly enveloped the entire courtyard.

The young prince's legs buckled, and he knelt on the ground. Steward Wang also collapsed to the ground, trembling all over.

"Foundation Building... Foundation Building Stage!"

The young prince's face turned deathly pale: "Senior, spare us! Senior, spare us! We were blind!"

Steward Wang kowtowed repeatedly, pleading, "Senior, spare our lives! We were forced into this! The Black Fiend Sect captured the young prince's relatives and are forcing us to do their bidding. They threaten to kill us if we disobey!"

The young prince nodded repeatedly: "Yes, yes, we were forced. Senior, you are wise. We were only responsible for finding people; we never killed anyone. Those people were all dealt with by the Black Fiend Sect!"

Lu Yan looked down at them. These two were much more cowardly than in the original story, probably because their cultivation level was not high enough.

Lu Yan nodded: "Understood."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Primordial Demon-Suppressing Seal descended from the sky.

"Die, you ants!"

boom!

The two were instantly smashed into a bloody pulp. Lu Yan withdrew the Primordial Demon Suppressing Seal, glanced down, and saw that they had both been smashed into QR codes.

Whether you're willing or forced, daring to harbor thoughts towards him is tantamount to courting death.

With a thought, Lu Yan vanished.

After returning to his cave, he stretched his limbs and his gaze fell on the storage bag.

There are forty-three demon cores lying inside; it's time to make a move.

Lu Yan put on a bamboo hat, activated the Illusion Technique, and his face blurred, transforming into an ordinary-looking young man.

They activated their escape light and flew towards Tianque Fortress.

The market in Tianque Fort is much more bustling than that in Huangfeng Valley.

Lu Yan wandered around the market and finally stopped in front of a shop called Baoguang Pavilion.

He inquired and found out that the shop was backed by a Core Formation Elder from Tianque Fortress, who should be able to find out the information he wanted.

The shop wasn't large, but it was very clean. The shopkeeper behind the counter was an elderly man in his fifties, with a Qi Refining level of seven and a kind face.

Lu Yan went inside, took out a demon core from his storage bag, and placed it on the counter.

Do you accept level six demon cores?

The old man took it and casually remarked, "Level six? That's a good thing..."

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence.

He rubbed his eyes, took another closer look, and his expression changed instantly.

"This...this is a level six demon core?!"

The voice rose eight octaves, attracting the attention of people in several nearby shops who turned to look.

The old man's hands trembled as he held the demon core, turning it over and over in his hands, muttering, "Impossible... Where would a level six demon core come from in Tiannan..."

He raised his head, staring intently at Lu Yan, his eyes filled with disbelief.

"Senior...where did this demon core come from?"

Lu Yan remained expressionless: "It was passed down from my ancestors. Will you take it or not? If not, I'll find someone else."

The old man was taken aback, then quickly said, "I'll take it! Of course I'll take it! Forty thousand, I'll offer forty thousand!"

Lu Yan nodded.

The old man quickly counted out 40,000 spirit stones and handed them over, then tentatively asked, "Senior, do you have any more? I can raise the price."

Lu Yan didn't speak, but took the spirit stones without leaving. He sighed, a hint of emotion on his face.

"Speaking of which, there's actually another reason why I came to Tianque Fort this time."

The old man, still reeling from the shock of the demon core, respectfully said, "Please speak, senior."

Lu Yan's voice lowered: "My ancestor once received a great favor from a senior in your fortress. Before he passed away, he kept asking me to thank the benefactor in person. I came here this time to inquire about that person's whereabouts and fulfill my ancestor's last wish."

The old man asked curiously, "May I ask which senior you are?"

"Yu Xing," Lu Yan said, looking at him. "I heard he's guarding a spirit stone mine. Do you know him?"