Taoist cultivation begins with being a miner

With no other option, the city lord's mansion could only send Foundation Establishment cultivators to lead patrols outside the city to prevent them from causing trouble.

Even so, the independent cultivators who went out hunting began to travel in groups to increase their sense of security.

Lu Yan didn't pay much attention to any of this; he continued to live each day in a proper and orderly manner.

It's worth mentioning that ever since Manager Liu took the "Taste Like Chewing Shit" medicine, he inexplicably developed anorexia. He didn't want to eat anything, not even fasting pills, let alone normal food. In just a few days, he became quite haggard and looked dull and lifeless.

It seems I underestimated the Taste of Shit Potion. Through the Pen of Truth, Lu Yan knew that although a drop of the potion could only last for one day, the subsequent damage caused by the potion could not be recovered in a short time.

……

Lu Yan continued this lifestyle for more than two months. He also drew the "ghost" character from both of the two lucky draws, focusing on improving his divine soul.

As his spiritual soul grew stronger, the quality of the pills he refined also improved, and he was occasionally able to refine high-grade pills.

Lu Yan had specifically researched this and found that most of the pills sold in the market were low-grade pills. Not only were their effects weak, but they also contained a significant amount of toxicity. Taking large quantities of them would be quite harmful to one's future cultivation.

In the market, a low-grade intermediate-level Spirit Gathering Pill costs only one spirit stone, but a mid-grade one can be worth two spirit stones, and even then, the supply cannot meet the demand.

Those of superior quality are rarely sold in the market; they are directly ordered internally, and I heard that one is worth four spirit stones.

If the quality of the pills reaches the highest level, they will appear at auctions, and each pill will be worth no less than ten spirit stones.

Currently, most of the pills Lu Yan refines are only of medium grade; as for high grade, it depends on luck.

During this time, Lu Yan did not give up paying attention to the Cheng family, but they were determined to be cowards. To this day, not a single one of them has left Wuyou City, and they rarely even leave their courtyard, which left Lu Yan speechless.

Furthermore, the evil cultivators who caused trouble back then did not disappear as the Foundation Establishment cultivators searched for them; instead, their influence intensified.

These heretical cultivators possessed extraordinary and secretive skills, making them impossible for Foundation Establishment cultivators to detect.

The number of cultivators killed has risen from dozens to hundreds, causing widespread panic throughout Wuyou City.

In the end, the city lord's mansion had no choice but to send Core Formation cultivators to take action, and within just three days they found and killed more than ten of them.

There's also his own situation. He works hard at mining every day and has refined seven Qi and Blood Beads, which has greatly increased his strength. Now, the Mine God's Pickaxe is as easy for Lu Yan to use as an extension of his own arm.

Lu Yan also began to study the first move of the Eighteen Styles of Pickaxe, "One Pickaxe Decides the Fate of the World." After learning it, he would have a trump card.

Lu Yan was puzzled because he had clearly mastered the steps and methods of this move but couldn't use it.

Besides these, his cultivation level did not suffer either. He practiced for two hours every day without fail, using mid-grade spirit stones and high-grade mid-level spirit-nourishing pills to rapidly improve his cultivation.

With their help, Lu Yan estimated that he would break through to the sixth level of Qi Refining faster than he would break through from the fourth level to the fifth level.

Indeed, the cultivation world has always circulated the four words: wealth, companion, method, and land, with wealth being ranked first for a reason.

It was already the end of the month, and Lu Yan didn't go to the mine to mine anymore. Instead, he drew some talismans and showed them off in the market.

As expected, they encountered the Ji family and Zhu Yuerong again.

However, this time Zhu Yuerong was leading Ji Danye, which means that the third son of the Ji family has undoubtedly run into trouble.

"Hey~ Master Lu, it's been a long time. I wonder where you've been all this time?" Upon seeing Lu Yan, the group immediately came over.

"So it's you fellow Daoists Ji and Fairy Zhu."

"The sales of talismans weren't very good for a while, so I went to other markets to sell them," Lu Yan explained, returning the bow.

"The talismans drawn by Master Lu are of good quality and very easy to use, so they should sell well. It's probably because the evil cultivators caused trouble some time ago that cultivators dared not go out of the city to hunt, which is why this situation has occurred."

"But Master Lu shouldn't worry too much. I heard that those evil cultivators have been wiped out by the City Lord's Mansion. More and more cultivators will be going out to hunt monsters during this period, and Master Lu's business will get better and better." Ji Danye advised Lu Yan.

"Thank you for reminding me, Fellow Daoist Ji. Why haven't I seen Fellow Daoist Ji Danhuang?" Lu Yan asked knowingly.

"Alas~ Brother Huang had an accident some time ago and has passed away, leaving me alone in an empty room. In the end, thanks to Brother Ye's guidance, I was able to get out of my grief."

"I'm just a weak woman with no other way to make a living, so I can only follow Brother Ye around." Zhu Yuerong explained hesitantly after hearing Lu Yan's words.

Lu Yan: ...

You call yourself a weak woman? You've already taken three of the eight Ji brothers. Even Yue Tingxin isn't as powerful as you. This is true murder without bloodshed.

"I wonder how Fellow Daoist Ji Danhuang achieved immortality?" Lu Yan was very curious about how Ji Danhuang died.

"My brothers and I were hunting a boar at the time. My third brother was facing a boar head-on, and he couldn't dodge it and was gored to death by the boar." These words were spoken by Ji Dantang, the fifth son of the Ji family.

Well, at least they left with some dignity; the sharp-toothed boar was better than the rabbit and the hidden beast.

"Please accept my condolences, everyone," Lu Yan said sincerely.

"Thank you for your concern, Master Lu. I will definitely fulfill the last wishes of my eldest, second, and third brothers and take care of Rong'er wholeheartedly." Ji Danye held Zhu Yuerong's soft hand affectionately.

Lu Yan: ...

That damn lust is a knife hanging over one's head.

"Fellow Daoist Ji Danye, you must take care of your health and exercise more when you have free time," Lu Yan reminded him before leaving.

"Thank you for your concern, Master Lu."

……

Lu Yan was speechless as he watched the crowd depart. Before he knew it, another person had left.

Damn it, they never learn from their mistakes; the paths of lustful people are always so similar.

Lu Yan observed that Ji Danye was also very thin and probably wouldn't live much longer. He wondered if this meeting would be their last.

After selling all the talismans, Lu Yan disguised himself as a yellow-faced man and went to a well-known alchemy shop in the market: Huang's Alchemy Pavilion.

The main purpose of this visit is to sell elixirs.

Since I learned how to refine pills, I refine some every day. Although I produce relatively few high-grade pills, it is enough for my own use.

Lu Yan had kept quite a few of the remaining low-grade and mid-grade pills, including some he had previously obtained from the Cheng family cultivators.

However, keeping it in hand is not a good idea; it would be better to exchange it for some spirit stones and medicinal herbs.

During this period, I spent seven or eight hundred low-grade spirit stones on alchemy, which accounted for half of all my low-grade spirit stones.

Even Lu Yan, who was quite wealthy, couldn't help but gasp. No wonder everyone said that alchemy was extremely expensive in terms of spirit stones, which most cultivation families couldn't afford, let alone the lower-level cultivators.

Making talismans is the most suitable way out for them.