When it comes to cultivating immortality, it naturally starts with upgrading the herb garden.

As the sun rises and sets, it releases its last rays, illuminating half the sky. The fiery clouds on the polar horizon are as red as a matchmaker's veil, a breathtaking sight.

Huanbei Middle Alley was bustling with activity, yet no one was admiring the magnificent scenery; all eyes were fixed on one person.

He had an air of otherworldly wisdom, with bright, clear eyes that gave off a sense of profound intelligence.

This person is the only cultivator in the Lower Sword Sect who has established his foundation through the Path of Wisdom, and his name is True Man Hongdao.

He descended from the sky, and with a flick of his sleeve, landed in front of the already sealed-off "Cai San Shop".

All the cultivators surrounded him, and the inner cultivators even knelt down to curry favor when they saw the real person.

They came with only one purpose: to find out the truth about the massacre that killed hundreds of people the day before.

In the past two days, people in Zhongxiang have been discussing the massacre that killed hundreds of people the day before.

Some identified it as a curse from demons and evil spirits, some misunderstood it as divine punishment, and some even believed it was a great being who had intervened to help these people be saved.

However, these claims have never gained widespread acceptance.

Furthermore, this incident has caused significant harm and has severely impacted the normal ecology of Huanbeifang City.

The Lower Sword Sect naturally sent out a True Person to appease the people and stabilize their hearts.

Now that a Foundation Establishment cultivator has come and gone, they must have made some discoveries, and everyone will naturally have their own opinions on this.

"If that's the case, then Feng Sancai must be the murderer in this case!"

"Seventh level of Qi Refining cultivation, such strength is actually a scourge, what a pity."

"From today onwards, there will be one more late-stage Qi Refining cultivator's soul lost, and one less second-grade alchemist!"

Master Hongdao stepped into the "Cai San Shop," a place he had calculated as a crucial point within his sect, where clues were bound to be found.

"Feng Sancai! A Foundation Establishment cultivator has arrived! Aren't you going to come out and greet him?"

Someone shouted loudly behind Master Hongdao, and the voice was clear to everyone.

Hong Dao turned his head and his gaze was like that of an eagle, instantly locking onto the cultivators shouting in the crowd.

The cultivator exchanged a glance with Hong Dao, then his eyes suddenly throbbed with pain. He immediately grimaced and lowered his head.

"Feng Sancai is dead, stop shouting!"

Upon hearing this, the crowd immediately fell silent, but their hearts were filled with a turbulent storm.

Master Hongdao swept his gaze across the chaotic hall, finding nothing but dried bloodstains and an exquisite alchemy furnace.

The shop has been sealed off for the past two days, and no one has been able to investigate.

Having finally gotten a chance to see it for themselves, a crowd of people outside craned their necks, doing everything they could to get a better look inside.

Upon seeing the bloodstains on the ground, they all gasped in shock.

"This looks like a fierce battle has broken out!"

"I don't think so. Perhaps Feng Sancai committed evil deeds himself and was eliminated by the people!"

"What are you saying? You were eating someone's food last week, and now you're badmouthing them behind their backs?"

Master Hongdao glanced back at the noisy crowd outside the door once more, his gaze like that of a final ultimatum.

In an instant, everyone fell silent again, with only a few people whispering among themselves.

After a long while, seeing that Master Hongdao was still motionless, the crowd began to make noise again.

"What is the real person doing...?"

As soon as someone who spoke a little louder showed his face, Hong Dao raised his hand and turned him into a bloody mist that flew into the dust.

This time, the crowd fell completely silent.

Only then did they fully realize that the cultivator before them was a Foundation Establishment True Person who could decide life and death at will and was omnipotent, not the Tom, Dick, or Harry who had some supernatural powers in the past.

A sense of dread permeated the crowd, but all of this had nothing to do with Hong Dao.

He likes quiet.

The Way of Wisdom is a magical path that can be used to plan for the world, to glimpse the truth from the smallest details, to predict major events, and to prevent minor ones.

Now, Hongdao will use the power of the Dao to calculate the cause and effect of the matter.

However, everything must be based on traceable evidence to make calculations; it must never be fabricated out of thin air.

"rise!"

Hong Dao's gaze didn't linger on the object, yet it seemed he was observing everything. He murmured, "Tracing the cause from the effect!"

Immediately, countless threads appeared in Hong Dao's eyes, each thread representing a thought, a clue.

Beneath this lies the detailed biography of Feng Sancai, which the sect had entrusted to him ahead of time.

A moment later, Hong Dao was drenched in sweat, panting heavily, and felt completely exhausted.

This is the huge cost that comes with the simulation.

Master Hongdao turned around, and just then, the patrolling disciples of the Lower Sword Sect pushed through the crowd and came to him.

"Elder Hongdao! We, the patrolling disciples, are fully at your command!"

They had just received orders to go to "Cai San Shop" to cooperate with the real person's operation, but when they arrived, they found that the place was completely surrounded.

He wanted to use a flying artifact to fly directly over the crowd, but he was worried that the fluctuations in spiritual energy would affect the emotions of the real people.

And speaking out can lead to real-person attacks.

So they had no choice but to rely on their physical bodies to push through the crowd, and finally managed to get in front of the real person when the real person finished the deduction.

The patrolling disciples were ashamed, fearing punishment from the True Man, and each of them lowered their heads, not daring to look directly at True Man Hongdao.

They were also in the crowd and witnessed Hong Dao killing people.

But what they saw was mostly not fear, but excitement and worry.

What excites me is that it's the first time I've met a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Foundation Establishment is extremely rare; even in my humble Sword Sect, there are only a handful.

Seeing this elusive Foundation Establishment cultivator today fills him with tension and excitement.

The concern is that Hung Tao is unhappy with their lateness and will punish them.

The punishment for Foundation Establishment cultivators is extremely severe; once this punishment is imposed, their future in the sect is essentially ruined.

Unexpectedly, Master Hongdao did not punish them. Instead, he waved one of them forward, whispered a few words in their ear, and then rode the wind away into the distance, leaving several patrolling disciples looking at each other blankly.

Xiajian Island is located in the middle of Wandaobo, southwest of Duanya Island.

But at this moment, Master Hongdao flew swiftly towards the northeast of Wandaobo, which is another area bordering Wandaobo—Wanyelin.

The Lower Sword Sect only sent Hong Dao to make a show of it, and that was it.

Who would really waste their Foundation Establishment time and resources on a group of rogue cultivators?

As long as the independent cultivators believe that the Lower Sword Sect cares about the market, that's enough.

......

The patrolling disciples struggled to deal with the crowd until they dispersed before returning to the patrol post to discuss the situation.

"Feng San is the murderer, but the final result was stolen by someone else. That person lives in North Alley; you can go and find them."

"The selection is approaching. Remember to finish before then. After you are done, return to the sect and report my name, Hongdao. You will be rewarded."

The disciple who was given the instructions and the others spoke truthfully.

Upon hearing this, the group was initially overjoyed.

This is a reward from a Foundation Establishment True Person, it must be incredibly generous, and there's a chance it could even help you break through several levels of cultivation!

But after their initial joy, they soon found themselves in a dilemma.

"What's the specific address in North Alley?"

"The person in question didn't say, but in their eyes it was probably a trivial matter."

"There's only one week left until the selection process, how do we find a candidate?"

"..."

The group fell silent. There were hundreds of households in the North Alley. Searching for each one would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.

A man with a buzz cut and a muscular build suddenly said:

"How about we check the register? If there's anything unusual about that area, we can prioritize investigating it?"

"Although this method isn't very reliable, it's still much better than searching aimlessly."

The others nodded in agreement, as it was a last resort.

"Tie Gang, you seem to be getting smarter and smarter?"

Upon hearing this, Tie Gang scratched his head, a little embarrassed: "Hehe! Not at all, Sister Wan!"

Wan Ruxue's red lips parted slightly, and with a twist of her body, her clothes swayed gently, causing several male disciples to exclaim inwardly, "Wow!"

"Tie Gang, you're too modest! When we're at our wits' end, you always offer the right advice. Isn't that a form of wisdom?"

"I think you can also achieve Foundation Establishment in Wisdom, just like Elder Hongdao!"

Tie Gang blushed at Wan Ruxue's praise and lowered his head, grinning foolishly.

Seeing Tie Gang's reaction, Xiao Ji, who was standing to the side, also smiled slightly.

He quickly retrieved the residential data from North Alley for the past month and indeed discovered something unusual.

"Everyone, come quick! Several families in this residential area have died, but the people in between are all unharmed!"

A group of people gathered around, especially Wan Ruxue.

She was already close to Tie Gang, and when she came closer, her soft body was almost pressed against his.

"Sister Wan..."

"What's wrong?"

Wan Ruxue turned her head in confusion, looking at Tie Gang, whose face was flushed with embarrassment, and secretly laughed to herself.

Tie Gang replied shyly, "No...it's nothing."

"Seriously! There's definitely something wrong here! Let's go check it out right away!"

Upon seeing this, Xiao Ji shouted and then walked out of the room.

Upon hearing this, Wan Ruxue quickly got up from beside Tie Gang and followed him.

Tie Gang felt the warmth in front of him disappear and felt a pang of disappointment, but he quickly stopped caring about it.

In Tie Gang's heart, Wan Ruxue was like a star in the sky, an unattainable and forever unworthy existence.

......

No. 17, South Alley.

The blood in the wooden tub was almost gone, while several drops of emerald green spiritual liquid appeared in Song Chen's dantian.

Song Chen suddenly stood up, waved his hand, and activated the fire control technique using the emerald green spiritual liquid.

The next moment, a red and green rocket appeared at Song Chen's fingertip. He narrowed his eyes slightly and examined the rocket closely.

"Too much poison gas greatly reduces its power, leaving only poison damage without any impact."

Song Chen remained expressionless and offered a simple evaluation.

He needed to control the ratio of poisonous to non-poisonous spiritual energy to achieve a strange balance in the spell he cast, so that it could inflict fatal poison damage without significantly weakening its impact.