Cultivation begins with alchemy and collecting runes.

Following the path he had come from, Li Xiuyuan walked for a while, passing through the chaotic streets where scattered cultivators gathered.

A special mark was left in an inconspicuous courtyard, resembling a five-pointed star.

This is the communication symbol of the demon hunters under the rule of the Blazing Fire Sect. Li Xiuyuan is contacting the demon hunter leader in Black Wind Market.

Having found nothing suspicious, Li Xiuyuan prepared to leave Black Wind Market.

A man walked towards them, thin and wearing a gray short hunting robe. He had a disordered breathing and a gloomy face. He walked straight toward Li Xiuyuan.

Li Xiuyuan was about to back down when someone bumped into his waist from behind.

His body trembled, and he leaped hundreds of meters away with a series of powerful leg thrusts.

He immediately became alert, unleashing his spiritual power—the peak sixth level of Qi Refining—and shouted sternly, "Get out here!"

The thin male cultivator before him quickly apologized, "I have offended you, sir, please forgive me!"

After saying that, he dropped a grayish-brown bag and hurriedly fled into the crowd.

"Hmph, a petty trick."

With a flick of his finger, Li Xiuyuan sent a ball of crimson fire that instantly incinerated the bag on the ground into ashes.

Feeling uneasy, Li Xiuyuan quickened his pace and left the market, heading east.

Blackwind City is located to the east of the market.

However, Li Xiuyuan did not head directly east. Instead, he planned to go south first, making a few detours to conceal his whereabouts.

Having walked only ten miles or so, Li Xiuyuan, with his divine sense far surpassing that of others of the same level, vaguely sensed three hidden auras following behind him.

He slightly increased his pace, only to see the three auras behind him rapidly speeding up.

"Hmph, where did this brat come from? If he really had a powerful background, why would he need to be so sneaky? So cautious, and yet he runs so fast..."

In the mountains, three people dressed in short hunting outfits realized they had been discovered and stopped pretending altogether.

Each person unleashed a speed-boosting talisman in quick succession, blatantly increasing their speed in pursuit.

They chased him to a ravine nearby.

Li Xiuyuan's figure disappeared, as if swallowed up by the dense bushes.

"Where are they? They can't have gone far!"

The three stopped in front of the ravine. The burly man in the lead cursed angrily and looked wary.

"Kid, stop hiding! We three brothers are from the Heaven and Earth Society, you can't escape!"

The Heaven and Earth Society is the largest independent cultivator organization on the second level of the mountain.

The burly man brandished a sharpened broadsword, and a flash of white light revealed a glint of spiritual light in the ravine.

The skinny man and the pockmarked dwarf beside him both summoned their own magical artifacts, a black wooden staff and a blood-red ring, both of which emitted spiritual light and bombarded the ravine.

The burly man scanned the ravine repeatedly with his divine sense, cursing under his breath, "Could this person be skilled at concealing his presence?"

next moment.

The tall man felt a chill run down his spine as he heard a whooshing sound.

A chill ran down my spine!

not good!

Before he could react, the sword was already slashing.

Hurala!

Dozens of frost arrows locked onto the burly man's aura, unleashing a terrifying frost storm that instantly engulfed him.

"Frostbite Technique? No! It's not that powerful..."

The burly man had just breathed a sigh of relief when his limbs and chest were covered in frost, and his face showed horror.

The Frostbite Technique is a group attack.

Where can you find such power!

The burly man struggled to wield his longsword to block the arrow flying in front of him, but in the next instant he was swept away by the cold wind and could hardly move.

His underlings were in an even worse situation. Their cultivation was already inferior to his, and now they were frozen in place by the cold wind, unable to move.

The burly man was about to reach for the storage bag at his waist.

Suddenly, a ghostly figure burst forth from the bushes.

Li Xiuyuan held a sword in one hand and made a hand seal with the other.

Brush brush!

The three instantly unleashed crimson fireballs sent the burly man flying, his skin torn open and ice shards flying everywhere.

"My lord, spare my life! I'm willing to be your slave..."

The burly man collapsed to the ground, his jaw clenched, having lost his fighting ability under the combined impact of the ice and fire magic.

Li Xiuyuan smiled slightly and drew three sword shadows with his sword.

Pfft!

The heads of the three burly brothers were split open like watermelons.

"Someone this weak dares to rob people?"

Li Xiuyuan arrived in front of the three corpses, picked up their respective magical artifacts, and removed their storage bags.

Without even glancing at his storage bag, he slapped a teleportation talisman onto his leg and swiftly retreated from the battlefield.

After an incense stick has burned.

Several cultivators dressed as demon hunters arrived at the scene. Upon seeing the corpses of the three members of the Heaven and Earth Society, they felt a chill run down their spines and their faces showed fear.

……

About an hour later.

As darkness fell completely, Li Xiuyuan, back in the Black Wind Pavilion, began to tally up the spoils of war.

First, erase the divine imprint on the storage bag and place it on the table.

First, open the storage bag of the burly man in the lead, and a large pile of things fell onto the table.

Li Xiuyuan burned the tattered clothes of the male and female cultivators, which were clearly stained with blood.

Afterwards, they counted over a hundred spirit stones, three bottles of Qi-Nourishing Pills to enhance cultivation, one bottle of Rejuvenation Pills, one bottle of Detoxification Pills, and several volumes of miscellaneous cultivation notes.

There are three Tier 1 talismans, two of which are mid-grade talismans of good quality.

The total value is nearly two hundred spirit stones.

The items included a mid-grade magic weapon, a longsword, a jade slip with a special mark, and a common cultivation technique called "Eternal Spring Skill".

After finishing with the burly man, Li Xiuyuan casually opened the storage bags of the other two men, who were just ordinary rogue cultivators from the Heaven and Earth Society.

There wasn't anything valuable in the storage bag, just a few dozen spirit stones, pills, two low-grade magic artifacts, and their respective cultivation techniques.

These cultivation techniques are all common, readily available in any market, and are not worth many spirit stones.

Looking at the pile of things that had been poured out, Li Xiuyuan estimated that the income amounted to over a thousand spirit stones and sighed slightly.

"These people from the Heaven and Earth Society are really rolling in money."

As the saying goes, a horse won't get fat without night grass, and a person won't get rich without unexpected wealth.

The wealth he accumulated from a single murder and robbery was several times that of his alchemy practice.

"Even horses can stumble, and people can make mistakes. I have a cheat code, so I can develop steadily and must never become addicted to robbing others."

Li Xiuyuan extinguished his inner greed.

Murder for treasure always carries risks.

Who can guarantee success every time?

These three people, how could they have foreseen their fate today?

With these thoughts in mind, Li Xiuyuan carefully put away his spoils.

He then probed the jade slip with his divine sense, and his expression changed drastically upon seeing it.

The contents recorded in this jade slip are too shocking.

The burly man leading the Heaven and Earth Society was named Ma Tou. Three years ago, he accidentally stumbled into the lair of the second-tier demon beast, the Azure Spirit Serpent, and found traces of the 'Blood Marrow Grass' inside the cave.

Blood Marrow Grass is a second-tier body-refining treasure, often growing near the caves of high-level demonic beasts.

It absorbs the essence of the sun and moon, grows for a hundred years, blossoms for a hundred years, and matures for a hundred years, finally reaching the limit of its medicinal efficacy.

For cultivators practicing body refinement, taking this medicine is equivalent to a hundred years of arduous cultivation, and it greatly helps them break through the physical barrier during foundation building.

Upon seeing this, Li Xiuyuan understood. This was true for any Qi Refining cultivator aspiring to Foundation Establishment.

The allure of the Blood Marrow Grass is irresistible, no wonder this person dared to rob him.

Judging from his fearless demeanor and the clothes of the cultivator who had already been killed, this person was probably a veteran of robbing cultivators.

The Blood Marrow Grass will mature in another year. He plans to quickly accumulate spirit stones by robbing cultivators to purchase high-grade magic weapons and talismans to venture into the Azure Spirit Serpent Cave.

It's a pity that all of this benefited him.

"A second-tier Azure Spirit Serpent is a troublesome thorn in our side."

Li Xiuyuan put down the jade slip, tapped the table lightly with his knuckles, and looked worried.

He had to find a way to "lure the snake out of its hole" and then use the power of the talisman to quickly get the medicine and leave, avoiding a direct confrontation with the second-tier green spirit snake.

"I need a treasure that can conceal the spiritual senses of a second-tier demon beast for as long as possible."

Li Xiuyuan pondered this, planning to take a concealing magic artifact, quietly approach the Azure Spirit Serpent's Cave, quickly pick the Blood Marrow Grass, and then use the 'Hundred Mile Divine Speed ​​Talisman' to escape.

As for who should be sent to lure the Azure Spirit Serpent?

"Migu Migu".

A small, golden mouse darted in from outside the door with lightning speed, its short legs leaping as it jumped into Li Xiuyuan's arms.

The Migu Mouse rubbed against Li Xiuyuan's cheek vigorously, as if expressing its longing for him after not seeing him for many days.

Li Xiuyuan couldn't help but laugh as he stroked the warm, glossy golden fur, having made up his mind.

"You've worked so hard this time, Migu. If you manage to accomplish this important task, I'll find you a wife."

Li Xiuyuan gave it a few fasting pills with a slight sense of apology. The Migu Mouse's bright eyes darted around, as if it sensed that its master was being particularly kind to it today.

"Migu Migu".

Li Xiuyuan put the Migu Mouse aside and played with it by himself.

He pulled out the "Detailed Explanation of Alchemy" from his storage bag and found page five:

"Bewitching Powder" has an extremely strong bewitching effect on the senses of unawakened demon beasts.

Each pound of "Bewitching Powder" can stun a first-tier monster for half an hour, and a second-tier monster for half an incense stick's time. The better the quality of the powder, the better the effect.

"Wait, something seems to be missing?"

Li Xiuyuan carefully reviewed the strange tales and records he had read in his mind, when suddenly he slapped his forehead and burst into laughter.

"Great, great, adding this will make it even more perfect!"

……