Immortality Cultivation: Fellow Daoists, please live for two more episodes!

"May all your wishes come true; today is a good day..."

Zhou Youyuan happily carried a heavy cloth bag, walking up the stone steps of Wanku Mountain towards the mission hall, while humming his favorite tune from his mahjong days in his previous life.

The flint stones in the bag collided with each other, making a dull sound, each sound like the tapping of abacus beads.

Seventeen mid-grade fire-falling stones, an iron sword magic weapon, a set of spirit-suppressing array plates, plus a number of pills and talismans that he couldn't identify.

That's why they say murderers and arsonists wear golden belts, while those who repair bridges and roads leave no trace.

This rate of return on investment is so high that even those fraudulent managers from my past life who were always touting 12% annualized returns would have to call him "daddy."

Moreover, his purpose in coming here was not only to save Yunniang. To be precise, saving Yunniang was just a side effect, and his only goal was to achieve a certain goal.

His main purpose was to find a fourth person with a predestined connection so that he could take the opportunity to infiltrate the inner circle.

In his plan, that group of people was bound to be wiped out, not only for the money, but even the act of killing itself was a pledge of allegiance to his next plan.

To be on the safe side, he had already used the "Breath Observation Technique" to probe the other party's strength before Fan Xiao and his group set off. They were all at the first level of Qi Refining, with low cultivation levels.

With him in the shadows and aided by Zhao Donglai's sneak attack weapon, he has at least an 80% chance of success this time, if not 100%.

The Ten Thousand Souls Banner is full of familiar guests, and the Baigu Seat is full of old friends.

Although he usually acts with a cautious and steady approach, he is not lacking in the courage to take a desperate gamble when it is uncertain when the thunder will explode.

Upon entering the mission hall, a middle-aged cultivator with a mustache and a slightly balding head sat behind the counter, holding a cup of cold tea and flipping through a thick roster that could kill someone.

Manager Lü is quite well-known in the outer sect of Shuiyue Sect, not only because he's shrewd, but also because he accepts everything—the living, the dead, and even…

In short, there's nothing he can't offer a price for.

There were still two people in line in front of the counter.

A disciple stood in front of the counter, a lingzhi root resting on it. Before he could even open his mouth, Manager Lü didn't even look up:

"Fifty."

"Shopkeeper, I haven't even finished speaking..."

"You mean to say this was gathered at the risk of your life, right? You said the same thing last month, and the month before that you changed the word to 'gathered at the risk of your life,' but it means the same thing. Fifty-three is the most you can get. Take it if you want."

The disciple accepted the bamboo tally with a bitter expression and left.

It was Zhou Youyuan's turn.

The bronze task board was placed on the counter, and Manager Lü flipped through the roster to find that line:

"Falling Star Crater, Fan Xiao, where's your identity card?"

"Junior Brother Fan had something come up and asked me to hand it over on his behalf."

"Oh?"

Upon hearing this, Manager Lü looked up at him a couple more times, let out a soft "Eh," made a mark on the roster, and put on a completely different smile:

"It doesn't matter if it's not yours, I can accept it all. By rights, I should take 10% more."

Of course, it's all smiles. They say they'll get an extra 10%, but it's obvious who gets that 10%.

As for where Fan Xiao went, will there be any other trouble from keeping this?

What are you thinking about? This is Shuiyue.

"Where's the goods?"

As soon as the bag was untied, the flint rolled all over the table.

Manager Lü picked up a stone and looked at it. Seeing that there were many stones, he simply pushed the teacups and the roster aside, freeing up the entire counter.

"You even have mid-tier ones? I haven't seen this tier in a while."

His tone was completely different from when he spoke to the Lingzhi root disciple. He probably only sees a few big customers like this once a year.

He deftly divided the ore into three piles and quoted a price.

He didn't have to haggle with him for too long during the following week of negotiations... Based on his experience, he knew that if he tried to negotiate with this kind of person, he would only end up hurting himself.

He got 1,380 yuan for the Falling Fire Stone, 15 yuan for the Spirit Herb, and 80 yuan for the Pill after two rounds of haggling. But when the last three layers of coarse cloth were removed to reveal the Spirit Essence, Manager Lü was unusually surprised and said a few words.

"You've made quite a bit of a trip to the Falling Star Crater."

"The quality is above average, I'll give you five hundred."

Zhou Youyuan was too lazy to haggle, since he had already received the "Record of Sending Off the Dead" for free. His immediate priority was to push forward with the new plan.

He earned a total of 1,975 points from clearing out the inventory. Although he was still short of the 2,000 points he needed, it didn't matter much.

After carefully tucking in the bamboo tally, Zhou Youyuan leaned against the counter.

"Shopkeeper, I'd like to buy something else. Can I pay with spirit stones?"

"Oh?"

Manager Lü perked up again. He pocketed the profits from both the purchases and the sales, effectively making a profit from both ends.

"Ten Fireball Talismans, six Dust-Avoiding Talismans, three Immobilization Talismans, a set of Spirit-Trapping Array Flags (enough to trap at least those at the third or fourth level of Qi Refining), two Spirit-Shattering Shields, and twenty Radiant Beads..."

Zhou Youyuan rattled off a long list of names until the shopkeeper in front of him looked terrified.

But he still felt somewhat unsatisfied. In Shuiyue, you couldn't lack anything but life-saving equipment, especially for the place he was about to go...

Shopkeeper Lü took out each item from the hidden compartment and arranged them on the counter. After arranging them, he turned the abacus.

"Nine hundred and sixty points, or ninety-six spirit stones."

Then, after hesitating for a moment, he took out a barrier talisman from the hidden compartment and placed it on top:

"This one's been in stock for too long and its condition has deteriorated, so I'll give it to you as a gift."

This talisman is no cheap item. Compared to the spirit-suppressing talisman, the barrier talisman can even withstand three to five attacks from a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator who has passed the Yellow Court. Converted into points, it would be worth at least three to five hundred.

But the guy in front of me brought out so many items at once, and it was obvious that they came from different people.

In his opinion, this kid is a promising talent, and might even survive in the Demonic Sect for a long time.

A small profit can win the favor of a repeat customer; it's a worthwhile trade.

Zhou Youyuan didn't stand on ceremony. These kinds of consumables usually don't have much of a lure; they're mostly the shopkeeper's investment, so he just accepted them.

He then took out another spirit marrow and began to stuff the items into his body, categorizing them as they were.

A fireball talisman was tucked close to the left lapel, a immobilization talisman was tucked into the cuff, a spirit-shattering shield hung around the neck, and the small flags of the spirit-trapping array were disassembled and stuffed into the soles of the shoes, waistband, collar, and cuffs...

He was armed from head to toe.

Everything is ready; it's time to go there and carry out his plan.

……

After leaving the mission hall, Zhou Youyuan headed straight for the Shuiyue Law Enforcement Hall.

The Hall of Law Enforcement has a black stone screen wall with a huge "Law" character at the top, but usually hardly anyone comes here. Now, only two disciples on duty are chatting idly.

Zhou Youyuan was straightforward:

"Senior brothers, my name is Sun Yunqi. I just killed two fellow disciples in the Falling Star Crater. I have come here to turn myself in."

Disciple on duty: ? ? ?