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

Liuqi.

These two words exploded in Lu Yan's mind like a thunderbolt.

Celestial Fox Ancestor, Liu Qi.

A renowned figure in the immortal realm, his unique supernatural power, the Dream of Nanke, allows one to spend thousands or even tens of thousands of years in a dream, only to wake up in an instant.

Lu Yan was deeply shaken, but remained outwardly calm. He stared at the scholar before him, his mind racing.

Why is this Celestial Fox Dao Ancestor here? Why is he looking for him?

Liu Qi seemed to see through his thoughts and smiled slightly: "Young friend, there's no need to overthink it. I've come today to ask for your help."

Lu Yan paused for a moment, then clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Please speak, senior."

Liu Qi did not rush to speak, but instead raised his hand and waved it in the air.

The construction site, buildings, and cement mixers before my eyes all vanished like reflections in water. In their place lay a hazy, gray space.

Lu Yan looked down and saw several huge pools at his feet.

That's the Bone-Cleansing Golden Lightning, lightning specifically designed to counter malevolent energy.

Beside the pool, a man in black lay face down, his body charred black. His six layers of silver light shield had shattered into dust, and his defensive magical artifacts and talismans were scattered all over the ground, reduced to scrap metal.

Lu Yan's pupils contracted.

That is himself.

His clothes, pants, magical armor, and even the Bodhi Bead were all gone. Only his storage bracelet, spirit beast bracelet, wolf-head jade ruyi, and soul-nourishing wood remained. It seemed that Liu Qi had taken special care of him.

Liu Qi's voice rang in my ears: "Young friend, when you transmigrated, you landed in none other than the Cleansing Pool of the Gray Realm."

Lu Yan's lips twitched. What kind of luck is this?

Liu Qi said calmly, "The Bone-Cleansing Golden Lightning instantly destroyed your talisman and all the defensive magic artifacts on your body. Fortunately, I intervened in time to pull you out and place you by the pool. Your physical body was injured by the golden lightning, and your soul was unstable, so I used the Dream of Nanke to stabilize your soul, allowing you to spend tens of thousands of years in a dream."

Lu Yan opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.

Liu Qi pointed, and Lu Yan looked in the direction he was pointing.

A huge stone pillar stood beside the pool, and a fox was tied to the pillar.

Its body was pierced by chains and nailed to a stone pillar, the chains shimmering with a hazy gray light and radiating a suffocating pressure.

"This is me," Liu Qi said.

Lu Yan was stunned.

Liu Qi continued, "I have been trapped here for countless years, and you are the first person to appear here."

He turned around, looked at Lu Yan, and said earnestly, "Young friend, I would like to ask you to come to the Gray Realm and rescue me from my predicament when you have achieved success in your cultivation."

Lu Yan smiled wryly: "Senior, what merit do I possess to deserve this..."

"You just need to cultivate to the level of Dao Ancestor," Liu Qi said casually.

Lu Yan nearly choked on his own saliva. Dao Ancestor? He's only at the mid-stage of Core Formation, not even close to the Nascent Soul stage, and they want him to cultivate to the Dao Ancestor level? This is a pie in the sky bigger than he is.

Liu Qi seemed to see through his thoughts and said calmly, "I have seen that fragment of yours, young friend. It allows you to travel between realms without being restricted by any restrictions or bound by the Heavenly Dao. With your talent and that fragment, it's only a matter of time before you cultivate to the level of a Dao Ancestor."

Lu Yan's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously pressed down on the broken piece.

Liu Qi waved his hand: "No need to be nervous. That fragment has already recognized you as its master, so even if I take it, I can't use it."

He paused, looking at Lu Yan: "I know what you're thinking, young friend. Don't worry, I won't harm you. I just want to escape, I just want to leave this hellish place."

Lu Yan fell silent, remembering the original story. The person before him was not Liu Qi.

Liu Qi has already been killed by Liu Tianhao, the evil corpse he slashed out, in conjunction with the Gray Realm Dao Ancestor.

However, Liu Tianhao was also trapped here by Yin Chengquan, unable to live or die.

"I've been trapped here, and you're the only person I've ever seen," Liu Qi said wearily. "You are my only hope for escape."

He held up three fingers: "Young friend, I'll give you three things in exchange for a vow to break your inner demons."

Lu Yan looked up at him.

Liu Qi said, "First, a Thunderclap Stone. I will put it into the Cleansing Pool and use a secret method to absorb the Bone-Cleansing Golden Thunder, refining it into a magic weapon embryo for you. You can take it back and refine it into your own natal magic weapon."

Lu Yan's heart skipped a beat. Thunderstone? That's a top-tier refining material, second only to Heavenly Gold Diamond. It contains the Law of Thunder, and even Taiyi Jade Immortals would fight tooth and nail to get it.

Liu Qi continued, "Secondly, it originates from the secret technique of the Heaven-Mending Sect: divination. After cultivating it, one can foresee good and bad fortune. Although your fragment is useful, its landing point depends entirely on luck. By learning this secret technique, you can cast a divination before transmigrating to know whether it will be auspicious or inauspicious. After all, I don't want you to die halfway through."

Lu Yan's eyes lit up. This thing was practically tailor-made for him.

Liu Qi extended his third finger: "Third, the three secret techniques in the 'Five Thunder True Heaven Scripture': the Thunder Sacrifice Technique, the Thunder Fusion Technique, and the Secret Method for Purifying Lightning."

Your lightning technique is decent, but it's far from sufficient. Only after learning these three secret arts will you be able to truly control all lightning.

He lowered his hand and looked at Lu Yan: "I taught you these three things in my dream. When you wake up, I will give you the embryonic form of the magic weapon. You must swear an oath to your inner demons, promising to come to the Gray Realm and rescue me from my predicament when you have achieved mastery in your cultivation. What do you say?"

Lu Yan remained silent for a moment before deciding to agree. After all, it was something to do when he reached the Dao Ancestor level in the future. If he died before becoming a Dao Ancestor, the oath would naturally be meaningless.

He clasped his hands in a fist and solemnly said, "Senior, I, Lu Yan, hereby swear an oath against my inner demons. If I succeed in my cultivation in the future, I will surely come to the Gray Realm to rescue you from your predicament. If I break this oath, may I be haunted by inner demons and my path to cultivation be severed."

As soon as he finished speaking, an invisible force descended upon the depths of his soul, and the oath of the inner demon was fulfilled.

Liu Qi nodded in satisfaction: "Okay."

He raised his hand and waved, and Lu Yan's vision blurred, and he was back at the entrance of the construction site.

The gray realm, the cleansing pool, the stone pillars, and the chains had all vanished. Only he and Liu Qi remained, standing face to face.

"Next, I will teach you the art of divination," Liu Qi said.

In dreams, time flies by.

Liu Qi began by discussing the divination techniques of the Butian Sect, then moved on to the silver tadpole script, the gold seal script, and the secret techniques in the "Five Thunder True Heaven Scripture".

Lu Yan listened with rapt attention, wishing he had more heads to remember it all.

Lu Yan grew increasingly alarmed as he learned. Any one of these secret techniques, if it fell into the human realm, could cause a bloodbath. And Liu Qi had taught it to him so casually.

After an unknown period of time—perhaps a year, perhaps ten—Liu Qi suddenly stopped.

"That's about it," he said.

Lu Yan was taken aback: "Senior?"

Liu Qi didn't explain, he just raised his hand and waved.

The world spun around.

Lu Yan suddenly opened his eyes.

He lay prone beside the cleansing pool, his face pressed against the cold ground.

The Golden Thunder of Cleansing Bones surged in the pool, and his charred skin was slowly healing, but his body was completely empty, without a trace of spiritual power.

A stone the size of a fist landed beside him.

The stone was purplish-black all over, with countless fine lightning patterns on its surface and faint lightning flowing inside, radiating a chilling pressure.

Thunder Stone.

No, this is no ordinary thunderstone. This stone contains the Bone-Cleansing Golden Thunder.

Liu Qi's voice rang in his ears: "After you go back, use the secret method I taught you to refine it, and you can forge your natal magic weapon."

Lu Yan took the stone; it felt heavy in his hand, and his palm went slightly numb.

"I'll remember that."

"Go."

The next second, the world spun around.

Lu Yan landed on the floor of the cave dwelling, panting heavily.

The spirit stones were exhausted, and the storage bag, which had been piled up like a small mountain of spirit stones, was now completely empty.