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

Lu Yan stood with his hands behind his back, his robes fluttering gently in the sea breeze, and said calmly, "Then let's see how much you're worth."

As soon as he finished speaking, he flipped his right hand, and the Nine Heavens Heaven-Slaying Hammer appeared in his palm.

The hammer body is covered with lightning patterns and entwined with electric arcs.

Lu Yan gripped the hammer handle tightly, channeling his spiritual power into it, and the three Dharma image patterns on the hammer surface lit up one by one.

Not the two from the previous battle against Mu Tianyan, but three.

He had studied it carefully these days and discovered that the reason why his natal magic weapon could condense a Dharma image was inseparable from the molten metal body and the thunder law contained in his natal magic weapon.

The Molten Gold Body is an excellent aptitude for body refining. In addition, the material used to refine the Nine Heavens Heaven-Slaying Hammer is the Thunderclap Stone given to him by Liu Qi. That stone has absorbed the essence of the Cleansing Bone Golden Thunder, and its grade far exceeds any refining material in the human world.

The combination of the two gave rise to this mutation.

Three Dharma images emerged from the hammerhead and hovered in mid-air.

Each one was over ten feet tall, its entire body shimmering with golden light, its muscles bulging, its faces indistinct yet exuding an ancient and wild aura.

Unlike the fleeting phantoms of the past, these images were solid and lifelike, with even the lines on their skin clearly visible.

The three magics simultaneously swooped down and entered Lu Yan's body.

boom!

A violent force exploded within him. His muscles swelled, his bones crackled and popped, and countless golden lightning patterns appeared on his skin. Arcs of electricity danced around him, even burning cracks into the rocks beneath his feet.

Four times.

The physical body at the seventh level of the Vajra Technique, amplified by the Nine Heavens Heaven-Slaying Hammer, quadrupled in power.

This force made his whole body swell, as if he were about to explode at any moment.

The bearded man's pupils contracted slightly, but his face showed no fear whatsoever.

He snorted coldly, and golden light shone brightly around him. A huge golden phantom rose from behind him, quickly solidified, and transformed into a golden Dharma image several meters tall.

The appearance of the Dharma image resembled that of a barbarian with a thick beard. Its entire body was radiant with golden light, and its muscles bulged like hills, exuding a world-destroying pressure.

"Boy, the difference between the mid-stage and early-stage Nascent Soul realm cannot be bridged by brute force." The bearded man's voice came from the Dharma Image.

Lu Yan's lips curled slightly as he gripped the Nine Heavens Hammer, pushed off with his feet, and shot out like a cannonball.

Lu Yan shot out like a cannonball, his Nine Heavens Hammer, wrapped in golden lightning, smashing fiercely towards the golden dharma image of the barbarian.

The bearded man neither dodged nor evaded; his massive arm swept across, colliding head-on with the hammer.

boom!

A shockwave exploded from the point of impact, creating a huge dent in the sea surface and scattering rocks from the island.

The two men each took a few steps back; Lu Yan took five steps back, while the bearded man took four.

The bearded man steadied himself, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

He had cultivated physical techniques for hundreds of years and had never encountered an opponent of the same level who could rival him in pure strength, let alone someone who was just a newcomer in the early stage of the Nascent Soul realm.

He snorted coldly, and the Dharma Image lunged forward again, its fists raining down like a storm.

Instead of retreating, Lu Yan advanced, swinging the Nine Heavens Hammer like the wind, each strike clashing head-on with the bearded man's fist.

The roar continued without end, and the sea was surging. The two fought from the center of the island to the edge of the island, and from the edge of the island to the sea. The seawater they stepped on turned into a sky full of white mist, which was then torn apart by lightning.

"Good lad!" The bearded man was increasingly alarmed as he fought. With the blessing of his Dharma form, each punch had the force of ten thousand jun. An ordinary early-stage Nascent Soul cultivator would vomit blood after taking a punch, but this person not only withstood it, but also became more and more ferocious with each blow.

The golden lightning energy traveled through his fist, making his arm go numb and even causing his dharma image to tremble slightly.

The bearded man suddenly exerted his strength, punching Lu Yan away and causing him to stagger back several feet. He looked Lu Yan up and down, his brows furrowed: "Who exactly are you? I know every Nascent Soul cultivator in the Chaotic Star Sea, but I've never heard of you before!"

He truly couldn't understand it. Nascent Soul cultivators weren't like cabbages growing on the roadside; each one had reached this stage only after hundreds of years of arduous cultivation and countless tribulations.

Most of the renowned cultivators in the Chaotic Star Sea, regardless of whether they were righteous or evil, had at least met or heard of the Barbarian Beard, even if they weren't close to him.

But he couldn't find any clues about the face in front of him, no matter how hard he searched his memory.

What puzzled him even more was that this person's body-refining techniques and magical treasures were things he had never heard of before.

Who would believe that someone in the early Nascent Soul stage could overpower someone in the mid Nascent Soul stage?

The bearded man punched Lu Yan away, sending him staggering back several feet. He looked Lu Yan up and down, his brows furrowed. "Who exactly are you? I've roamed the chaotic star sea for hundreds of years, and I've never heard of you before!"

Lu Yan sheathed his hammer and stood up, the golden lightning around him slowly receding, a slight smile playing on his lips: "This world is not just the Chaotic Star Sea, but also a cultivation realm."

The bearded man's pupils contracted. Having cultivated for hundreds of years, he had naturally heard of such things. For example, the Great Jin Dynasty and the Five Dragon Sea—there were cultivators in those places, but they were far apart and rarely interacted.

He had previously dismissed it as mere rumor, but he never expected to actually encounter an outsider today.

"You're from the Great Jin?" The man with the barbarian beard's tone softened somewhat, replaced by curiosity.

Lu Yan smiled without saying a word, simply standing with his hands behind his back, looking at him calmly.

The bearded man waited for a moment, and seeing that he did not answer, he became increasingly suspicious and uncertain.

"What exactly do you want?" the bearded man said in a deep voice. "You smashed up my cave and stole my belongings. You owe me an explanation!"

Lu Yan shook his head, his tone calm: "Fellow Daoist Man, we are both Nascent Soul cultivators, having lived for hundreds of years. We should see some things more clearly than when we were Foundation Establishment or Core Formation. Spirit stones, magic treasures, rare and precious materials... in the end, these things are all external possessions. You can't take them with you when you're born, and you can't take them with you when you die."

The bearded man scoffed, "You're quite philosophical about it. But why didn't you think the same way when you were stealing my things?"

Lu Yan didn't respond to his comment, but changed the subject: "There is only one thing that truly belongs to you."

The bearded man frowned: "What?"

"life."

The bearded man fell silent. He had lived for hundreds of years and knew better than anyone the weight of those two words.

A Core Formation cultivator can live for five hundred years, and a Nascent Soul cultivator can live for over a thousand years, but what about after a thousand years?

He is currently in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and his cultivation has been stuck at a bottleneck for over a hundred years, unable to break through to the late stage.

If things continue like this, when my time comes, all the spirit stones and powerful magic weapons will belong to others.

"What do you mean?" The bearded man's voice deepened.

Lu Yan looked at him and slowly said, "Fellow Daoist Man, would you be interested in making a deal with me?"

The bearded man stared at Lu Yan for a long while, then suddenly sneered, "You brat, you've got some nerve. You stole my treasure trove, and you dare to come and negotiate with me?"

Lu Yan stood with his hands behind his back, his expression unchanged: "I believe there is nothing in this world that cannot be traded, it just depends on whether the price is right."

The bearded man raised an eyebrow but did not refute.

He had lived for hundreds of years and seen more things than Lu Yan had eaten, so he naturally knew that this statement was true.

Forget about robbing a treasure vault; even if it's your father's killer, as long as the profit is big enough, you can still sit down and drink together. That's how realistic the cultivation world is.

"Alright." The bearded man retracted his Dharma form and landed on a rock on the island. He crossed his arms and looked down at Lu Yan: "I'd like to hear what price you can offer."