Treasure Gathering Immortal Furnace

As Lu Fan left the vicinity of Chunfeng Tower, he was quite moved. Although mortals have short lives, if they live a carefree and unrestrained life without illness or disaster, they can be content.

But once you embark on the path of cultivation, there is no turning back.

Everyone has their own way of living.

Although he had arrived in Qingniu Town, Lu Fan did not know where Li Niu's home was.

So he could only wander around the town like a headless fly, while simultaneously using his full spiritual sense to detect if Li Niu's presence was in the town.

But after searching around, he couldn't find any trace of Li Niu, which made Lu Fan feel uneasy.

Just then, three patrolling officers seemed to notice Lu Fan, who was looking around, and immediately stepped forward to stop him.

"Kid, I've been following you all this way, and you've been looking around aimlessly. You don't seem like a good person either," the leading officer said menacingly as he stopped Lu Fan.

"Brothers, I'm from out of town visiting relatives. I'm not a bad person," Lu Fan said, unsure how to address them, and cupped his hands in greeting.

"Who the hell is your brother? Call me 'Sir'!" the leading officer shouted arrogantly.

Upon hearing this, Lu Fan looked displeased and said, "You think you're so great? Get lost!"

Lu Fan had endured humiliation and subservience in the sect for over a decade. Now that he had left the sect, was he really going to suffer the humiliation of these mortals again?

"How dare you talk to me like that? You're asking for trouble! You look like a notorious bandit recently wanted by the authorities. Take you back and give you a good beating!" the lead officer shouted immediately.

Two officers beside him quickly drew their swords and stepped forward to seize Lu Fan.

But the hand had just touched Lu Fan's shoulder.

boom!

"what!"

Lu Fan's protective spiritual energy suddenly erupted, and the intense shock caused the two officers to scream and fly several meters away. Both of them spat out a mouthful of blood, clearly indicating that they were seriously injured.

Upon seeing this, the leading officer's legs went weak: "True, true qi is being released!"

Clearly, this person possessed internal energy; they were undoubtedly a martial arts master. This immediately intimidated the leading officer, who bowed and begged for mercy: "Senior! I was blind to your presence; please forgive me!"

"Stop talking nonsense, do you know someone named Li Niu in Qingniu Town?" Lu Fan immediately asked.

"I know, I know! The Li family is the third house at the west end of town! But they moved away three days ago," the leading officer hurriedly pointed into the distance.

"They moved away?" Lu Fan frowned slightly.

Seeing Lu Fan deep in thought, the officials hurriedly scrambled away, and Lu Fan had no time to pay them any attention.

Since he moved away, doesn't that mean Li Niu came back and did indeed take care of things? But why didn't he return to the sect?

Still worried, Lu Fan went to Li Niu's house again.

But upon arriving at the dilapidated courtyard, a scan with divine sense revealed that the courtyard was indeed empty, with some white banners and paper money scattered around.

Moreover, there were no signs of a struggle, so it's likely that after Li Niu returned, he held a funeral for his relatives and then left with his mother and younger sister.

"Junior Brother Li, please don't get me into trouble. If you just leave like this, how am I supposed to go back and explain myself?" Lu Fan thought that Li Niu didn't intend to return to the Dao Sect.

That's why he went far away from home. If that's really the case, then Lu Fan's help this time has backfired.

"Sigh, it seems I should learn my lesson from now on. It's best to avoid helping others with things that don't benefit me," Lu Fan sighed, then released his flying sword, leaped onto it, and planned to return to his sect.

This matter is both a small and a big deal, mainly because Lu Fan is worried that it will affect his participation in the Demon Extermination Conference ten years later.

If that's the case, then he'll have nowhere to cry.

Along the way, Lu Fan flew towards the Dao Sect with a distracted mind.

But as he flew, Lu Fan scanned the area with his divine sense and discovered that a certain forest below seemed to have been burned. Lu Fan immediately conducted a precise investigation and found signs of a fight below.

This route was the fastest straight-line distance back to the Dao Sect, and Lu Fan felt a bad feeling rising in his heart. He then immediately jumped down.

As expected, after landing on the ground, some spiritual energy fluctuations still remained, proving that a battle between cultivators had taken place.

Moreover, this place is less than a hundred miles away from the Dao Sect. What cultivator would be bold enough to fight within the Dao Sect's territory?

Lu Fan continued his investigation and, in that moment of distraction, discovered a corpse lying in the grass.

Lu Fan quickly stepped forward, pushed aside the bushes, and there stood Li Niu's corpse!

"Junior Brother Li!" Lu Fan's face darkened instantly when he saw the burn marks all over Li Niu's body.

It turned out he had misunderstood Li Niu. He hadn't taken his mother and younger sister away; instead, he had settled them in and then rushed back. Clearly, he had been intercepted and killed.

Judging from the signs of the fight around him, Li Niu had clearly fought desperately, but the difference in their cultivation levels was too great, which led to his severe injuries and death.

Moreover, he died with his eyes wide open, his eyes still staring into the distance.

Lu Fan couldn't bear to see this scene, so he raised his hand and closed Li Niu's eyes. Then he realized that the low-grade magic weapon he had given Li Niu was also gone.

"Kill and rob?" These four words flashed through Lu Fan's mind.

As expected, the cultivation world is fraught with danger. But this also raises a question: Li Niu is wearing Daoist robes, and this is Daoist territory.

Which sect would dare to come here to ambush and kill Dao Sect disciples? If they are discovered, the Dao Sect's retaliation could be terrifying.

Moreover, observing the burn marks around him, it was clear that this was a fireball spell. Li Niu had been hit by at least dozens of fireballs, and his internal organs were charred.

The ruthlessness with which they attacked clearly showed they didn't want Li Niu to live.

Upon seeing this fireball spell, a name instantly flashed into Lu Fan's mind: Zhou Shan, an inner disciple!

Several years ago, he fought with Zhou Shan, who used a fireball spell.

Moreover, the fact that Li Niu could be intercepted so accurately must have been done by a disciple of the Dao Sect!

"Damn bastard!" Lu Fan clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead.

Sure enough, his good deed still harmed Li Niu, but this also shows that Zhou Shan regarded Li Niu as himself.

Moreover, Zhou Shan also said that he should not let him be alone, otherwise he should be crippled.

So this was aimed at him, but Li Niu was killed by mistake.

Lu Fan took the mission token from Li Niu's waist and put the corpse into his storage bag.

"Junior Brother Li, don't worry, I'll avenge you!" After saying that, Lu Fan immediately set off to return to the Dao Sect.

Since Zhou Shan is so inhuman, daring to harm his fellow disciples and using such vicious methods, Lu Fan absolutely cannot tolerate it!

Blood must be paid for!

...

After returning to the Dao Sect, Lu Fan went to the inner sect first and handed in his mission token. Since the mission failed, Lu Fan did not receive any contribution, but that didn't matter.

Lu Fan then returned to the outer gate and handed over Steward Ma's token.

"Has Li Niu been found?" Steward Ma asked, taking back his token.

Lu Fan then released Li Niu's body.

Seeing the charred corpses on the ground, Deacon Ma shook his head helplessly: "Alas, this is why the sect doesn't allow these disciples below the sixth level of Qi Refining to take on missions outside; they have no ability to protect themselves."