Becoming a leader of the immortal path begins with sowing the seeds of inner demons.

"You flatter me, senior." Feng Zai silently took another step forward, completely shielding Zhou Qianqian behind him, and bowed, saying, "In the entire Tiannan Dao, who doesn't know the illustrious reputation of your family, senior?"

A clan?

Lu Ming swallowed back the words he was about to say and glanced down at Da Jin, who was secretly yawning out of boredom.

Did my tricks for comforting the child actually come true?

Is the Great Jin truly a descendant of some ancient clan?

Seeing Lu Ming's brows furrow slightly, Feng Zai's heart jumped into his throat.

He didn't even recognize which clan Lu Ming belonged to; his statement was simply flattery.

Tianxuan Mountain is located west of Chenzhou and adjacent to Tiannan Road.

This mountain range stretches for thousands of miles, forming a natural barrier that clearly separates demon cultivators from human cultivators.

The sheer variety of demon cultivators and the complexity of their relationships were beyond even the control of the Qingxia Sect in Chenzhou.

For this reason, in the past, a demon cultivator traveled the world and fought with the cultivators due to differences in customs. After several conflicts, the entire Chenzhou was almost plunged into war.

Thanks to the intervention of several powerful cultivators, things returned to normal.

However, since then, the cultivators of Chenzhou have become more cautious.

When dealing with demon cultivators of unknown origin who have clearly received a lineage, be extremely careful with your words.

Especially when facing a Golden Core demon who can take human form!

Although Lu Ming appeared to be merely refining Qi, Feng Zai was convinced that this was absolutely a smokescreen.

Since ancient times, there has never been a demon cultivator who could transform into a human form before reaching the Golden Core stage!

The sect is already in turmoil, and we absolutely cannot afford to provoke a demon cultivator capable of founding a sect... Which of my words was wrong just now?

Feng Zai felt increasingly uneasy as he thought about it, and even Zhou Qianqian behind him could sense his anxiety.

That's strange, my senior brother isn't usually like this.

"...You're from the Jade Flower Sect? The Jade Flower Sect of Jade River Prefecture?" After much deliberation, in order to avoid making any mistakes, Lu Ming decided not to continue the conversation and instead took the initiative.

Feng Zai's expression hardened, and he hurriedly explained, "Senior, you may not know this, but it's just a homonym. My sect has no connection with the Jade Flower Sect."

He was afraid that Lu Ming had a grudge against the Jade Flower Sect, which would eventually implicate his own family. However, he did not notice that Lu Ming secretly breathed a sigh of relief and looked at him with a more scrutinizing gaze.

He wasn't familiar with the sect; he was a cultivator, and his cultivation level was just right... a good candidate to bear the inner demons.

But how do I get in touch with him?

There's no handshake custom in Kyushu either...

Lu Ming fell into deep thought, and Feng Zai dared not speak either, making the atmosphere in the room inexplicably oppressive.

Just as Feng Zai was about to give up and make an excuse to leave, he suddenly noticed a golden light appearing in front of him.

Da Jin squatted on the ground, gently patted the barrier formed by moonlight with its paws, and then suddenly opened its mouth and bit down hard on it.

After a crisp snap, the barrier remained completely still.

The big golden tail stood upright for a while, maintaining the biting posture, before slowly retracting its head and taking stiff steps back to sit down next to Lu Ming.

Seeing Lu Ming cast a glance at it, its tail twitched slightly, it raised its head, its eyes glistening with tears, but its tone was nonchalant as it mumbled something.

"Dad, I've tried it for you, you can't eat that."

When are we going to the prefectural city?

I want to eat dried anchovies.

Lu Ming was both amused and exasperated. Before he could speak, Feng Zai, who was nervous because of the injury to Da Jin, hurriedly said respectfully, "I know of a restaurant in the city that specializes in fish products, and the taste is absolutely superb."

If you don't mind, senior, I will humbly offer to host a welcome dinner for you.

What is your opinion, senior?

Upon hearing this, Lu Ming shook his head slightly.

At that time, amidst the clinking of glasses and lively conversation, something will surely be said.

If you don't say anything, it will definitely arouse suspicion.

But if you talk about things you don't know, then your identity will be exposed.

But he left just like that...

Suddenly, Lu Ming had a flash of inspiration and asked in a deep voice, "Where is the prefectural city?"

He decided to take a gamble and see if he could find an opportunity along the way.

"If you don't mind, senior, I can show you the way. What do you think?" Feng Zai said quickly, his nerves were already on edge, and he coughed heavily twice.

After a brief silence, Lu Ming said calmly, "Okay."

Feng Zai breathed a sigh of relief, quickly reached into his robes, took out three talismans, and with a gentle flick of his wrist, three branches with green leaves flew over from the roadside.

He muttered incantations, and after the talisman emitted a glow, he threw it onto a tree branch.

A few breaths later, the three branches grew into three tall, emerald-green horses.

"Senior, please." Feng Zai stepped aside and gestured.

Real magical techniques?!

Lu Ming was excited and couldn't wait to try it out, but considering his current persona, he could only control himself and not show any expression, saying calmly with a straight face, "It's alright."

"This junior is unworthy of such praise," Feng Zai said, bowing his head. "My skills are but a few, and I am not worthy of such high praise from you, senior."

"Um."

Zhou Qianqian, who witnessed everything from the side, was completely stunned.

The Imperial Transformation Sect was not founded on talismans, but it spent a lot of spirit stones on these three top-grade horse talismans that could travel a thousand miles a day and remain intact for five days.

When the eldest brother bought it, didn't he say it was for saving lives and shouldn't be used lightly?

Now...

Zhou Qianqian seemed to wake from a dream, and when she looked at Da Jin lying on the horse with his hands in his pockets, pretending to be asleep, her body began to tremble uncontrollably.

She had only been a disciple for a short time and didn't know much about the cultivation world. This trip was to broaden her horizons.

But she never expected that she would encounter such a life-or-death crisis as soon as she left the mountain.

Once the thought arose, it could no longer be suppressed; Lu Ming Da Jin became exceptionally ferocious and terrifying in her eyes.

Just as she was about to seek a sense of security by going to Feng Zai's side, she suddenly met Da Jin's gaze, which frightened her so much that she froze on the spot, her eyes instantly welling up with tears.

Da Jin was also stunned for a moment, then licked his aching tooth root in confusion, before narrowing his eyes and flashing a hint of disdain.

They said they couldn't eat it, but they still ate it secretly.

It makes it seem like I'm lying to you.

......

early morning.

Along the official road, the forest was shrouded in mist.

With a crisp sound of hooves, three emerald green horses emerged from the thin mist and strode briskly toward Yujiang Prefecture.

None of them spoke the rest of the way.

Zhou Qianqian sat behind Feng Zai with her head down, her knuckles white from clenching her fists, and her body trembling uncontrollably.

Feng Zai's face was unusually pale, but his hand holding the reins was steady, and he kept a subtle distance between himself and Lu Ming.

Da Jin is sleeping.

The cat lay sprawled on the horse's back, a glistening thread of silk escaping from the corner of its mouth, as if it were having a sweet dream.

Lu Ming sighed countless times in his heart.

As they drew closer to the capital, he still hadn't come up with a good solution.

Once we enter the prefectural city, there will be no more chances, and we won't know where to find other cultivators then...

"Thump."

Lu Ming turned around upon hearing the sound, only to find that Zhou Qianqian was the only one left. Feng Zai was lying on the ground with his eyes closed, his face full of pain, and his black hair was turning white at a visible speed.

Lu Ming was taken aback, but quickly recovered. He leaped off his horse and rushed to Feng Zai's side. Using his body to block Zhou Qianqian's view, he pointed a finger at Feng Zai's brow.

The next second, Lu Ming looked astonished.

He could sense that Feng's life force was rapidly draining away, and he would surely die within half an hour!

In a moment of desperation, Lu Ming circulated his internal energy, channeling it to protect Feng Zai's heart meridian, while turning back to Zhou Qianqian and shouting sharply, "Your senior brother..."

Before Lu Ming could finish speaking, Zhou Qianqian also fainted and fell to the ground.

Hearing the noise, Da Jin woke up, ran over, gently nudged the two heads with his paw, and looked up in confusion, asking, "Dad, why are they sleeping here?"

Lu Ming didn't know how to explain, so he gave a perfunctory answer, then reached out and hoisted the two of them onto his shoulders, leading Da Jin into the dense forest.

Looking at the two unconscious people on the ground, Lu Ming didn't know why things had turned out this way, but this was definitely a golden opportunity.

Let's start with Feng Zai. Even if we fail, we can learn from the experience, and with another person as a backup, we definitely won't lose out.

If I can unleash his potential and save Feng Zai, I'll have made a profit.

With this in mind, Lu Ming made no further hesitation. After instructing the Great Jin Protector, he sank his consciousness into Feng Zai's mind...