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

The old man paused for a moment, then suddenly realized: "Uncle-Master Yu? Of course I know him!"

He put down the demon core, his tone tinged with emotion: "Uncle Yu was a kind and compassionate man who helped many people when he was young. More than seventy years ago, he did travel frequently and saved many lives. It was truly a stroke of luck that our ancestors met him."

Lu Yan's heart skipped a beat, but his expression remained one of even greater emotion: "You recognize him? That's wonderful! I've been searching for him for so long, but to no avail. I wonder where he is now?"

The old man lowered his voice: "Uncle Yu is currently guarding a spirit stone mine 500 miles northwest of Tianque Fortress. He's been doing this for over ten years. It's a remote place, and most people can't find it."

He found paper and pen, carefully drew a map, and handed it to Lu Yan with both hands: "Senior, just follow this and you'll get there."

Lu Yan took the map, carefully put it away, and then took out a spirit stone and placed it on the counter.

"Thank you. This spirit stone is just a small token of my appreciation."

The old man's eyes lit up, and he said, "I can't accept this, senior, you're too kind," while he reached out and put the spirit stones away.

Lu Yan smiled, turned and left.

Over the next five days, he changed his appearance more than a dozen times, running around the markets of Tianque Fortress, Yanyue Sect, and Qingxu Sect, selling one item each time before leaving.

Forty-three demon cores were sold, and two million spirit stones were obtained.

The news still got out.

After all, a level six demon core is too conspicuous. Although the bosses dared not make a fuss, they couldn't help but whisper a few words to their acquaintances in private.

"Have you heard? Someone's selling level six demon cores!"

"Really? A level six demon core? That's something even Nascent Soul stage monsters treasure!"

"I've heard about it too. Apparently, he's a Foundation Establishment cultivator. He only throws out one spirit stone at a time, takes it and leaves without saying a word to you."

"Who has such a grand gesture? Could it be a descendant of some Nascent Soul cultivator?"

"I don't know. I heard that person always covers their face when they appear, so you can't recognize them at all."

"The seven Nascent Soul stage monsters were alarmed and sent people to stake out the market to investigate the man's background."

"Did you find it?"

"Investigate my ass, that guy's too shrewd. He sells and leaves, there's no way to catch him."

Meanwhile, the mysterious person who had been the subject of much discussion throughout the Yue Kingdom's markets was standing atop a hill, gazing at the heavily guarded spirit stone mine in the distance.

Lu Yan took the map out of his pocket and looked at the mine entrance in the distance.

Lu Yan squinted at the heavily guarded entrance to the mine in the distance.

A pale blue light barrier was set up at the entrance; it was a protective barrier. Without a token, you couldn't get in at all.

Lu Yan withdrew his gaze, suppressed his breathing to a minimum, and then waited quietly.

An hour later, three streaks of light appeared on the distant horizon.

Lu Yan's spirits lifted, and he looked up. The light quickly landed, revealing three people.

The leader was a middle-aged man in his forties, with a Foundation Establishment cultivation level, a square face, and a dignified expression.

Two young disciples at the late stage of Qi Refining followed behind him, each carrying several empty storage bags on their waists, which were there to collect ore.

The three walked straight towards the mine entrance. Upon seeing them, the guards quickly bowed and said, "Uncle-Master Li has arrived?"

The middle-aged man nodded, took out a token from his pocket, and waved it on the light screen. The light screen cracked open, and the three filed in.

Lu Yan narrowed his eyes. "A ore collector."

He continued to wait.

Half an hour later, the three men emerged from the mine, their storage bags bulging with freshly mined spirit stone ore.

The three stepped out of the light barrier, set up their escape light, and returned the way they came.

Lu Yan rode the Sky-Splitting Cloud Shuttle and followed silently.

After flying fifty miles, he seized the opportunity and accelerated.

The next second, he stood several feet in front of the three people.

Senior Brother Li's pupils contracted sharply, and he abruptly stopped his escape.

"Who goes there!"

Without saying a word, Lu Yan patted the spirit beast bracelet.

Three beams of spiritual light flew out.

With a flash of silver light, the black dragon coiled in mid-air, its silver scales shimmering, with dragon horns on its head and four claws on its belly, its aura clearly at the peak of the fourth level.

With a flash of red light, the Illusionary Phoenix landed on Lu Yan's shoulder, its pair of Ghostly Eyes coldly staring at the opposite side, flames rising around it.

With a flash of yellow light, the Xuan Yuan Turtle landed on Lu Yan's shoulder and consciously released its Xuan Yuan Gang Shield.

Senior Brother Li's expression changed drastically.

The two Qi Refining stage disciples behind him were so frightened that their legs went weak, and they almost dropped the storage bags in their hands.

"What...what do you want to do?"

Lu Yan didn't say anything, but just smiled at him.

After an incense stick had burned, Senior Brother Li and his two disciples were stripped naked, each with a Forget-Dust Pill stuffed into their mouths, and then thrown into the bushes deep in the mountain valley.

When they wake up, they will only remember that today's mining task was successfully completed, and they will not remember anything that happened in between.

Lu Yan hung Li Shixiong's storage bag on his waist, then took out the restriction token and examined it carefully. The front of the token was engraved with the three characters "Tianque Fortress," and the back had intricate patterns.

He activated the Illusion Technique, and his figure blurred, transforming into the appearance of Senior Brother Li.

That's it.

Lu Yan clapped his hands, activated his escape light, and flew towards the entrance of the mine.

"Uncle-Master Li?" The guard's face showed a hint of surprise upon seeing him. "Why are you back again?"

Lu Yan, with a stern face, grunted, "We found a discrepancy in the count just now; we missed recording a batch of ore. We need to go back and check it again."

The guard suddenly realized what was happening and quickly nodded, "Uncle-Master, you've worked hard." He then opened the barrier for him.

Lu Yan walked further in, his divine sense spreading out to perceive the surrounding movements.

Reaching the deepest point, a breathtaking view suddenly opened up before me.

This is a stone chamber, surrounded by piles of freshly mined spirit stone ore.

An old man sat cross-legged in the center of the stone chamber. He was in the early stage of Foundation Establishment, with white hair and beard, and a somewhat ashen complexion, as if he had been injured.

The old man heard footsteps, opened his eyes, and was slightly taken aback when he saw Lu Yan.

"Senior Brother Li? Why are you back again?"

Lu Yan smiled and cupped his hands in a respectful gesture: "Junior Brother Yu, sorry to bother you. While counting just now, we discovered we forgot to record a batch of ore; we need to double-check. By the way..."

He took out a jade bottle from his pocket and handed it to him: "I heard last time that you had a problem with your cultivation and damaged your foundation. I happen to have a bottle of healing medicine on hand, so I thought I'd bring it to you."

Yu Xing took the jade bottle, opened it, smelled it, and his expression changed slightly: "This is... Qingfeng Pill?"

Lu Yan nodded: "It's hard to buy outside, I only got a bottle by chance. Junior Brother Yu, please don't mind."

Yu Xing remained silent for a while, then looked up at Lu Yan with a complex expression in his eyes.

"Senior Brother Li...we don't usually have much of a relationship, why...?"

Lu Yan waved his hand, interrupting him: "Fellow Daoist Yu, you're overthinking it. We're all from Tianque Fort, so helping each other out is only natural. Besides, the ore from your mine is of high quality, which saves me a lot of trouble every time I come to collect it. This little token of my appreciation is nothing."

Yu Xing stared at him for a long time, then suddenly laughed.

"Senior Brother Li, you're very kind." He put the jade bottle away, his tone much gentler.

The two sat down in the stone chamber and chatted about some trivial matters in the mine.

When Lu Yan casually inquired about the situation in the mine, Yu Xing did not hide anything and explained everything in detail.

As they chatted, Lu Yan suddenly said, "When I came in just now, I saw a tunnel deep inside the mine. It was pitch black inside. Why didn't I see anyone going in to mine?"

Yu Xing's expression changed slightly. After a moment of silence, he said in a low voice, "That's an abandoned mine tunnel. Nobody knows where it leads. Many people died there in the old days, so it was sealed off. Nobody goes there now, so don't go near it."

Lu Yan nodded, seemingly lost in thought.

After chatting for a while, he got up to take his leave. Before leaving, he secretly slipped a bottle of pills into Yu Xing's sleeve. Apart from one pill for healing, the rest were Forget-Dust Pills.

Yu Xing saw him to the door, then suddenly lowered his voice and said, "Senior Brother Li, you absolutely must not go into that tunnel. None of the disciples who went in before have ever come out."

Lu Yan's heart skipped a beat, but he simply nodded and said, "Thank you for reminding me, Junior Brother. I understand."