Treasure Gathering Immortal Furnace

Watching his remnant soul dissipate, Mo Li gave up on continuing the fight, realizing that even if he did, he wouldn't be able to kill Lu Fan.

"Boy, to use a Qi Refining stage cultivator to control a Golden Core stage cultivator like Zi Yuan to kill me, a Pseudo-Core stage cultivator, you are probably the first person in history to do so."

"Now that Zi Yuan is in your hands, please don't use her as a weapon to kill; treat her well."

Mo Li, on the verge of dissipating, said weakly.

Lu Fan, barely suppressing his urges, asked, "Haven't you killed enough people with her?"

Mo Li looked at Lu Fan, and finally vanished completely without a trace.

Lu Fan could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground.

The cave fell silent once more.

...

Lu Fan lay there for not just a day or two, but for a full twenty days without feeling or sensation, feigning death!

He was only saved by the twenty layers of spiritual energy he had cultivated; if it had been one layer less, he would have surely died.

On the night of the twentieth day, Lu Fan slowly opened his eyes and smiled from the bottom of his heart when he realized that he was not dead.

But his hair had already turned several strands white. After all, he had lost eighty years of his true energy. If he had been older, he probably would have died of old age on the spot.

"It seems that the price for a comeback against a higher level is quite high," Lu Fan sighed.

This comeback was entirely due to a combination of coincidences.

If Lu Fan hadn't reached the twentieth level of Qi Refining, or if he had controlled the Purple Kite for less than a second, and if Mo Li hadn't been nearing the end of her lifespan, then if he had been involved in any of these conditions, Lu Fan would have been completely annihilated.

Although he was awake at this moment, Lu Fan was still unable to move and lay quietly for another ten days.

Only then did they regain some mobility.

After all, the injuries were too severe. Putting aside the loss of vital energy, just the loss of divine consciousness alone meant that forcibly controlling a Golden Core stage puppet was a miracle; it was already a miracle that the divine consciousness hadn't collapsed.

With a bit of strength returning to his body, Lu Fan struggled to crawl toward Mo Li's corpse and reached out to take the storage bag from Mo Li's waist.

After easily removing the faint divine soul restriction on it, Lu Fan managed to concoct a bottle of healing medicine. Regardless of whether it was useful or not, he poured it all into his mouth.

As the healing medicine took effect, Lu Fan's condition improved slightly.

"Sigh, this is a complete disaster. I guess I only have twenty years left to live."

"I haven't even seen a trace of the Foundation Establishment Pill yet. Could it be that I've already passed away?"

Lu Fan sighed helplessly.

Although he gained a Golden Core stage puppet in this life-or-death struggle, Lu Fan would never dare to use it again.

Although it's not a particularly intense battle that requires the use of true essence, even ordinary manipulation can't withstand the cost of that one second of backlash on one's divine consciousness.

After taking the healing medicine and resting for about a day, Lu Fan was finally able to move around normally again.

They then began searching Mo Li's storage bag.

It wasn't poor; inside were two hundred spirit stones, a set of Puppet Refining Apricot Yellow Banners, a mid-grade magic weapon bone shield, a low-grade magic weapon longsword, a bottle of ten Qi-stabilizing pills, and three bottles of healing pills.

This is all of Mo Li's wealth.

"Sigh, I was hoping to find a Foundation Establishment Pill, but it seems I was overthinking it," Lu Fan put the storage bag into his pocket and prepared to clean up the battlefield.

After all, Mo Li, whom the Dao Sect treasures, has been dead for nearly a month. According to the Dao Sect's custom, someone will check the life tablet every month. Counting the days, Lu Fan has been awake for exactly one month. It's only a matter of time before he is discovered. If he is found out, he will have no way to defend himself.

Moreover, Zi Yuan, this Golden Core stage puppet, is a real hot potato. Lu Fan doesn't need it at the moment, but he can't throw it away either.

I simply put it into my storage bag as well.

Lu Fan then collected the scattered puppet fragments on the ground, transported them outside, dug a pit, and buried them all. He also cleaned up all the traces of the fight inside the cave.

As for Mo Li's body, Lu Fan didn't dare to touch it. He simply changed Mo Li's clothes, sewed up the hole in his chest a few times, and put him directly into the secret room.

Instruct Mo Li to act as if he has exhausted his lifespan and is about to pass away.

After all, Foundation Establishment cultivators already have life tablets. Once the sect discovers that Mo Li's life tablet is broken, they will definitely send people to check it out. If they find any clues, they will investigate thoroughly.

After doing all this, Lu Fan didn't rush to leave. Instead, he used the Qi Concealing Jade Talisman to suppress his cultivation aura to nothing, and then found a secluded place to hide.

It's not too late to observe the sect's attitude first before returning to the outer sect.

...

As expected, after Lu Fan waited for about two hours, two Foundation Establishment cultivators dressed in Bagua robes arrived on their swords and then went straight into Mo Li's secluded cave.

"Senior Brother Mo Li has passed away?" One of the white-haired cultivators was also surprised to see Mo Li sitting cross-legged in the secret room.

"Senior Brother Mo said before that his lifespan was running out, but I didn't expect him to pass away so quickly," another slightly chubby cultivator said without any suspicion.

"Strange, where did Senior Brother Mo's storage bag go? He had a Golden Core stage puppet in his possession," the white-haired cultivator said, clearly suspicious after examining the bag.

"Could it be that some disciple passed by and stole the storage bag?" The fat cultivator released his divine sense, glanced around, and asked.

The white-haired cultivator stroked his chin and said, "Stealing a storage bag is a serious crime. Inner disciples would never do such a thing. However, Senior Brother Mo's behavior has always been very strange. He treats that Golden Core stage puppet as if it were his life. He probably doesn't want it to fall into the hands of our Dao Sect, so he's hiding it. Well, let's go back and report first, and let the elders decide."

The two cultivators then departed on their swords.

After confirming that the two had left, Lu Fan, who had been concealing his presence, rushed straight to the outer gate.

After arriving at the outer gate, Lu Fan ran into the woods, found the tree, and hid Mo Li's storage bag inside.

But then Lu Fan had a bold idea: since the alchemy furnace could restore all things, could he make up for the true essence he had lost?

If it could be recovered, that would be quite terrifying.

With that thought in mind, Lu Fan took out the alchemy furnace and plunged inside.

As the auspicious cloud patterns around the alchemy furnace shimmered, Lu Fan could feel his body becoming much lighter.

But after only a few moments, the light from the auspicious cloud pattern flickered a few times, clearly indicating that it did not replenish Lu Fan's true essence much, or even at all.

However, this also confirms the fact that this alchemy furnace can replenish lost true essence.

However, there is a drawback: the energy consumed by the alchemy furnace is too great and not replenished at all, making it completely insufficient for recovery.

Since Lu Fan has not yet established his foundation, he is unable to refine this alchemy furnace, so how to nurture it remains a problem.

"It seems that I can only find a way to replenish energy after I reach the Foundation Establishment stage and refine the alchemy furnace," Lu Fan muttered.

Lu Fan then put the alchemy furnace into his storage bag and stuffed it into the tree hole. Before leaving, he took out five spirit stones from Mo Li's storage bag and put them in his pocket before departing.

After returning to the thatched hut outside the gate, Li Niu was resting there.

Upon seeing Lu Fan return, he quickly stood up to greet him: "Senior Brother, you're back."

"Hmm, not many people have been here just now, right?" Lu Fan asked.

"No," Li Niu shook his head.

"Junior Brother Li, if anyone asks about me, just say I came back a month ago, and that we've been together the whole time, understand?" Lu Fan instructed.

Although Li Niu didn't know why Lu Fan said that, he still nodded.