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

The next morning, just as dawn was breaking.

Zhou Youyuan, unusually, did not go out to work with the other servants. Instead, he took the opportunity to find a reason that the people who had been in pain after activating the great formation yesterday, and sent out a few more gold beans.

So he was able to stay in the dormitory and secretly watch the scenes in "The Funeral Procession".

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, the ancient scroll glows with a faint light, like the moon reflected in water or flowers in a mirror, presenting a different scene altogether:

"Hey, did you guys hear? That handyman killer seems to have committed another crime last night. It seems the little monkey in the C-character herb garden was also killed."

"Really? Wasn't that little monkey a bandit? He was so skilled and had so many brothers, how could he be taken down like that?"

"Who says otherwise? I heard that not only were people killed, but their vital energy was drained, leaving them withered and dying."

"Drained all yang energy? Was the assassin a woman?"

"Hey kid, you're really not smart enough to call yourself stupid. There aren't any women in this herb garden. Come closer..."

"Holy crap! That's insane?!"

……

Hearing the crowd discussing again, Li Xiaoyu remained calm on the surface, but a slight smile still appeared on the corner of her mouth.

Ever since he found the "Spirit Absorption Technique" in a manure bucket in the herb garden two months ago and discovered that he actually possessed spiritual roots and had the potential to cultivate immortality, he began his own scheme.

Although this "Spirit Absorption Technique" is only an introductory technique, its domineering practice of absorbing the essence of others is simply outrageous.

Especially the three secret techniques that come with it.

The first technique, "Breath Observation," only requires circulating spiritual energy to barely detect the approximate cultivation level of others within a radius of ten feet and whether they possess spiritual roots.

The second method, "Seizing the Essence and Absorbing the Primordial Qi," specifically extracts the pure Yin and pure Yang Qi of those with spiritual roots and transforms it for one's own use. Before reaching the Yellow Court in the middle stage of Qi Refining, it can help you progress rapidly in your cultivation.

Unfortunately, in this spiritual herb garden full of ordinary laborers, where are there so many unlucky souls with spiritual roots for him to absorb?

Fortunately, this fragment also records the third, most domineering and forbidden secret technique, "Turbid Fire Breath Swallowing Technique".

This method is extremely vicious. Regardless of whether one possesses spiritual roots, it can forcibly drain the other person's essence, blood, and bone marrow, transforming them into worldly malevolent energy to help the cultivator break through the Xuan Guan (mysterious barrier).

However, this method is not without its costs.

Each time a user absorbs the filthy, malevolent energy of a mortal, it corrodes their meridians, causing their lifespan to be rapidly shortened. Eventually, the user will be completely transformed into a bloodthirsty monster that has lost its mind.

But he didn't care anymore. In this herb garden where he had to offer his own life essence and use his lifespan to nourish the flowers every day, who would care about whether his lifespan was shortened or not?

Moreover, according to his guess, Manager Zhao, who was in charge of the four-character medicine garden, could not have a cultivation level higher than the third level of Qi Refining at most.

Otherwise, if one could open the Yellow Court and possess the strength of a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, who would want to deal with these menial servants who offer no reward or livelihood?

In other words, if one could absorb all the servants in this entire herb garden, one could forcefully break through to the third or even fourth level of Qi Refining...

Before his lifespan is completely burned out and his body collapses, he might actually have a chance to escape this cannibalistic den of demons.

Just as Li Xiaoyu was still fantasizing about escaping Shuiyue and even attaining the Great Dao, a call suddenly came from above the herb garden:

"Li Xiaoyu, is Li Xiaoyu here? Manager Zhao wants to see you."

Manager Zhao? Why are you looking for me at this hour?

Hearing the voice from above, Li Xiaoyu's wild ideas were instantly shattered. Instead of responding immediately, a faint crimson light appeared in her eyes.

Was it because of last night's incident where he drained that strong man that he left a clue?

Or was it that my sudden increase in cultivation over the past few days had been noticed?

Should I make a move now? My cultivation level of the second stage of Qi Refining is a bit low, but everyone around here is a mortal, so I doubt anyone can stop me...

"Li Xiaoyu? Where is she? This time it was Steward Zhao who came looking for you." The voice came from above again.

Just as Li Xiaoyu's eyes were reddening and he was about to make a move, a pair of large hands suddenly pressed down on his shoulders.

"What are you thinking about? Steward Zhao is looking for you, so hurry up and go. Remember to stall for time, preferably until after the great formation is activated before you come back."

It was Old Wang. Upon seeing this older brother who had helped her leave the bullying-prone C-character herbal garden and who had often looked after her since then, the red light in Li Xiaoyu's eyes slowly faded.

Not enough; my cultivation at the second level of Qi Refining is still insufficient.

Although he had cultivated very quickly with the help of the "Spirit Absorption Technique", he had no fighting skills.

If things were to break down now, even if I could escape for a while, it would be difficult to break through the array restrictions around the herb garden that prevent servants from escaping.

The only way to truly escape this hellhole is to take down Manager Zhao and obtain the control token from him.

Besides, recalling the past few days, I don't think I gave anything away. Maybe that old guy is just suspicious. So... I should wait and see.

Thinking of this, Li Xiaoyu suppressed the heat in her heart, gave Brother Wang a look that said, "Sorry, I was just spacing out," and replied upwards:

"Yes, sir! I'm coming right now!"

Then, under the watchful eyes of the surrounding servants, some with sympathy and others with schadenfreude, he lowered his head and quickly followed the foreman who had come to announce his arrival, heading towards the independent cave dwelling belonging to Manager Zhao halfway up the mountain.

……

Inside the servants' dormitory.

Zhou Youyuan leaned quietly against the wall, just like watching a movie in his previous life, following Li Xiaoyu's perspective, all the way from the dirty and messy spiritual herb garden to the steward's cave dwelling set up with a soundproof array.

Zhou Youyuan: ⊙﹏⊙‖∣° Awkward.

To be honest, he had long expected that Manager Zhao would make a move against his Yuanren No. 2, since that was exactly what he wanted.

Li Xiaoyu alone cannot disrupt the cause and effect of the Dao Foundation. If this lightning is not delivered to the right person, it is as if it was not delivered at all.

Otherwise, do you expect Yu Miaoxian to just let it go after getting her Dao Foundation back from Li Xiaoyu, believing that this servant boy stole her treasure?

But he really hadn't expected that the old fox, Manager Zhao, would investigate so quickly and act so decisively.

He had originally thought he could hold out until his second Yuan-type cultivator broke through to the third level of Qi Refining...

Things rarely go as people expect.

The image on the screen suddenly changed.

Li Xiaoyu followed the overseer step by step through the front yard and stopped in the center of the hall.

At the very top of the hall, Manager Zhao, who was in charge of the Bingzi Herb Garden, was sitting upright on a grand chair covered with a mottled beast skin.

He casually twirled two jade walnuts brimming with spiritual energy in his hands, his eyes half-closed, staring intently at Li Xiaoyu below as if examining an inanimate object.

The hall fell silent for a moment.

The four soundproof array flags rose silently from the ground, instantly sealing off all escape routes in the entire hall.

"Bang!"

Manager Zhao slammed a jade walnut onto the table, the sound carrying the unique spiritual pressure of a Qi Refining cultivator, exploding in Li Xiaoyu's ears like thunder:

"How dare you!"

"The 'handyman assassin' who's been causing such a stir lately in the back mountain of the Water Moon Branch Academy... isn't that you, you little beast?"

There were no pleasantries, no room for pretense or prevarication; the true intentions were revealed.