First achieve immortality, then cultivate immortality.

Xu Mu came to his senses, and the stone cave was still the same stone cave.

The incense burner in my hand disappeared and appeared in my mind, its black rust gone, revealing a dazzling golden light!

That wasn't a small incense burner, but a lidded alchemical furnace.

Upon closer inspection, Xu Mu saw a figure refining pills on the furnace cauldron, and seemed to be able to comprehend a kind of alchemy technique, a method of fire refining.

One can even directly see the "alchemy essence" of this alchemy technique.

Xu Mu gasped. Anyone who had experienced the hardships of learning alchemy would understand the significance of this scene.

What is being taught is not the technique, but the way—the way of alchemy.

"This is good stuff," he exclaimed.

"The immortal has taken a fancy to this?" The emperor was overjoyed.

This guy is clueless; he has no idea what kind of treasure Xu Mu took away.

Xu Mu nodded with a reserved expression: "This item is acceptable, I will accept it."

The emperor smiled and nodded: "I am glad that you find it pleasing, Immortal. If you do not mind, you may cultivate here and stay for a while longer."

Xu Mu suppressed his secret joy and calmly nodded, saying, "Yes, I, Xu Mu, never take things from others for nothing. Whenever Your Majesty needs them, I will certainly help you."

"Excellent, excellent."

Both of them were happy, and everyone was overjoyed.

……

In the afternoon, Xu Mu was arranged to stay in a mansion next to the palace, where he was served by servants.

The sisters, Li Zhiyuan and Li Zhihua, continued to follow him, eager to know what had become of their father.

The emperor was too busy and had no intention of seeing them, so Xu Mu had to tell them the agreed-upon arrangements in person.

This caused Xu Mu's initial excitement and smugness to gradually fade, replaced by a heavy feeling.

Only after arriving at the residence arranged by the emperor and settling in did he dare to convey the emperor's concerns and final decision to them.

The two sisters were filled with astonishment.

"Does my father's innocence not matter at all? Can this be compensated for?" Li Zhihua cried.

"You clearly said you would help us, you liar!"

After yelling, she ran out of the room crying.

Xu Mu could only remain silent.

Although he only promised to take them to see the emperor and did not say he would help them clear their names, he still felt somewhat ashamed and apologetic.

Li Zhiyuan was calmer; she had already sensed this outcome from the events of the day.

She politely bowed to Xu Mu and apologized, "I'm sorry, young master. My sister is still young and doesn't know any better. She has offended you. Please forgive her."

Xu Mu nodded gently and said, "It's alright, I understand how you feel. Go and see her."

"But you have the ability to help us, you have the ability to do better, right?" Li Zhiyuan suddenly stared at him and asked.

Xu Mu fell silent.

"But you don't do that, why? Do you really not care about us at all...?" Li Zhiyuan couldn't help but cry as well.

Xu Mu calmly said in a soft voice, "I am just a passerby, and I don't want to get involved in too much karma."

"This humble woman takes her leave."

After Li Zhiyuan finished speaking, she turned and ran away.

Xu Mu sighed, but did not intend to examine himself because of his feelings of guilt.

He felt apologetic because he could empathize with the sisters' feelings; he didn't blame or criticize them because he had his own principles and never intended to help too much from the beginning—he had done all he could.

He respects the sisters' future plans and will respect their choices.

Li Zhiyuan cried as she searched for her younger sister, finally finding her by a corner of the wall inside the mansion.

"Zhihua..." she called out, her voice choked with emotion.

"Sister..." Li Zhihua turned around and looked over, already sobbing uncontrollably.

The two sisters hugged each other and cried, feeling that they had no one left in the world to rely on but each other.

"I thought he would help us..." Li Zhihua said, burying her face in her sister's arms and crying.

Li Zhiyuan nodded through her tears.

She thought so too. Although she could tell that Xu Mu didn't really want to get involved, she still held onto hope that he could help them, or even show them love, comfort, and pity...

But all these hopes were dashed, which is probably the reason they are most heartbroken right now.

They lost their parents, and no one loves them anymore...

They cried in the corner for a long time. After they were both exhausted, they slowly stopped crying, but they still couldn't help sobbing and couldn't speak. All the words were stuck in their hearts, and all the emotions could not be released.

Many of their emotions were about Xu Mu, but Xu Mu was so cold and unapproachable that it only made them seem like they were being delusional, which made them feel even more suffocated and unable to relieve their feelings.

Just then, Xu Mu's voice rang out: "Are you two feeling better?"

The two sisters turned to look at each other, their eyes red and swollen, tears streaming down their faces.

"What are you doing here..." Li Zhiyuan said in a hoarse voice, glaring at him, clearly somewhat defiant.

Xu Mu sighed, "How could I bear to watch you cry here and do nothing?"

"Then why didn't you help us!" Li Zhihua cried as she questioned.

"How could I not help you? It's just that the situation is what it is, and I never force anyone," Xu Mu said calmly.

"At the very least, the emperor will issue an edict affirming your father's achievements. He loved the people like his own children, and the people of Shiqi will remember him."

The dead cannot be brought back to life, so why care about the emperor's attitude? As long as you and I, and the people of Shiqi City, know that he is a respectable official, why should we care about the charges the emperor leveled against him?

These words silenced the two sisters, who stood frozen in place, sobbing.

Xu Mu said gently, "Alright, let's think about how to handle their funeral arrangements. Your father and mother wouldn't want to see their two daughters in such a sorry state, would they?"

The two sisters sniffed, looked at each other, and finally helped each other to their feet.

"Could you come and help us up..." Li Zhiyuan sobbed.

Li Zhihua also looked at him with teary eyes.

Xu Mu had no choice but to go over and help him up.

As a result, Li Zhiyuan threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly, while Li Zhihua hugged her from the other side.

Xu Mu froze for a moment, then helplessly patted their backs gently to comfort them.

The two sisters hugged him, heads bowed, and stopped crying.

After a while, Xu Mu discovered that they had fallen asleep leaning against him. Both of them were like this; they really were sisters…

It was around two or three in the afternoon. He lifted them up, one in each hand, supporting their buttocks, and carried them to their room to rest.

After the two of them shared a bed, he smoothed their hair, covered them with the blankets, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He didn't want to show mercy, after all, mortals' lifespans are too short, but why has it become so ambiguous now?

He sighed helplessly and turned to leave.

After calming the two sisters down, he finally had time to study the furnace in his mind.

The alchemy technique taught by this furnace is called the "Samadhi True Fire Technique," which allows one to cultivate flames to refine pills. It possesses a complete alchemy technique that can be transformed from one to nine cycles.

However, perhaps because his cultivation level is too low, he can only see the first stage of alchemy and cannot see the subsequent content.

But there's no rush. We can take our time and learn everything eventually.

"This is absolutely a treasure! I never thought that someone as insignificant as me would be treated like a protagonist." Xu Mu couldn't help but exclaim, his heart filled with secret joy.

Because of his poor talent, he had long given up on being the "protagonist" and only wanted to be an insignificant supporting character, just to survive and develop.

I never expected to obtain a peerless martial arts technique that only protagonists possess today.

He really wanted to run away and go back to his little nest to hide and cultivate, but doing so would not be in line with his principles.

Throughout his long life, he believed that principles were very important, like a lighthouse on a vast ocean, preventing him from getting lost.

So there's no other way; I'm beholden to those who pay me, so I have to work here first to pay off my debts.