Wild Dogs

"Hey kid, did you stay up all night last night?"

Upon arriving at the main hall, Wang Mazi patted Yang Fan on the shoulder, noticing his dark circles under his eyes.

"Young man, how old are you? You need to be more restrained!"

Yang Fan shook his head, too lazy to say anything more to Wang Mazi.

The day passed quickly, and Yang Fan returned to his room, preparing to continue his cultivation, when suddenly an idea struck him.

Since this thing can turn the Qingfeng Technique into the Qingyun Feather Transformation Scripture, will the previous experience of burning fire also change if it is put in?

Just do it.

Yang Fan put his fire-starting tips into the small cauldron. After a while, Yang Fan took out the booklet and his eyes lit up.

Fire Control Technique

Yang Fan was almost dumbfounded when he saw the three big characters on the cover.

Yang Fan's heart skipped a beat when he opened the booklet.

This booklet is clearly written about how to better control flames.

This is much more advanced than my previous experience with starting a fire.

"With this kind of control over flames, you could probably refine your own pills, right?"

The most crucial aspect of alchemy is the control of flames.

This fire control technique involves incredibly detailed manipulation of flames.

After reviewing the Fire Control Technique, Yang Fan put the booklet away and continued cultivating his immortal arts.

A few days later, Yang Fan finally refined the first wisp of spiritual energy into his body, thus officially entering the Qi Refining stage.

However, the amount of spiritual energy he had refined into his body at this moment was so little that it could be ignored.

Although Yang Fan wanted to cultivate for a longer period of time, time waits for no one, and tomorrow was the day he had agreed upon with the old Taoist priest.

Although his stomach didn't seem to be showing any unusual signs, Yang Fan didn't dare gamble with his life.

"Senior Brother Wang, I'd like to go down the mountain tomorrow, but I'm afraid Chief Zhou won't agree."

Upon hearing this, Wang Mazi smiled and patted Yang Fan on the shoulder.

"It's alright, I'll take care of the alchemy tomorrow, you can go down the mountain."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Mazi brought out a jar of wine from the side.

"Here, take this to Chief Zhou. After you drink your wine, he will definitely let you down the mountain."

"However, it's several hundred miles from here to the nearest town. Do you think you'll make it in time?"

Yang Fan was taken aback; how could he have forgotten about this?

Fuyun Town is several hundred miles away from here. At his current pace, it would probably take him several days to get there.

"Fine, I'll be a good Samaritan to the end, senior brother."

Wang Mazi took out a yellow talisman and carefully handed it to Yang Fan.

"This is a speed talisman. With this talisman, it will only take three hours to reach the nearest town, and a round trip will take six hours."

"But let me make this clear: the day after tomorrow morning, I want this pill hall to be spotless, without any problems."

Yang Fan nodded repeatedly. He had to admit that this Senior Brother Wang was truly loyal.

Although he took his spirit stones, he did actually do the job.

"After you go down the mountain, don't forget to buy me two jars of wine. You have a spirit stone on you, so you can buy whatever you want."

Yang Fan thanked him happily, then took the wine and went to find Zhou Bantou.

"You want to go down the mountain? What about the front hall?"

Zhou Bantou looked at Yang Fan with bleary eyes, still drunk.

"Senior Brother Wang will keep an eye on things over there for me. Here's a small gift for you, Class Leader, just a token of my appreciation."

As he spoke, Yang Fan took out a jar of wine and poured it for Zhou Bantou.

"Hmm, you've become much smarter in just one month here."

Zhou Bantou was very satisfied with Yang Fan's sensibility.

He patted Yang Fan on the shoulder.

"Go ahead, and come back soon so as not to delay things."

Yang Fan quickly agreed twice.

The next day, while it was still barely dawn, Yang Fan took Xiao Hei down the mountain.

After leaving Qingyun Temple, he immediately used a speed talisman to head towards Fuyun Town.

Taking advantage of the rare opportunity to go down the mountain, Yang Fan decided to visit the town.

I don't know if I'll live or die next, but even if I die, I'll die with a full stomach.

The Swiftness Talisman, once attached to the leg, allows one to run very fast. Three hours later, Yang Fan had already arrived at Fuyun Town.

He longed to go home for a visit, but he was terrified that the old Taoist priest was guarding the vicinity of Xujiazhuang.

Once he returned home, the old Taoist priest would likely target his family, so to be on the safe side, Yang Fan had no choice but to suppress his longing.

Looking at the bustling Fuyun Town, Yang Fan couldn't help but feel a surge of emotions.

"Come on, Xiao Hei, I'll go buy you some meat buns."

Yang Fan had a gold coin in his hand, so he went to a nearby gold shop and exchanged it for some copper coins.

The shopkeeper saw that the boy was young and initially wanted to swindle him, but after seeing the clothes he was wearing, he immediately greeted him with a smile and offered him a large sum of silver.

"It is an honor for our shop to have an immortal visit us; how could we dare to accept anything from an immortal?"

Yang Fan looked down at his gray robe and sighed.

At Qingyun Temple, only servants wore gray robes; no one respected them.

But in this mortal world, only immortals can wear this gray robe.

Even Yang Fan, a novice who has only just begun to explore the path of immortality, is respectfully addressed as an immortal here.

True cultivators rarely come to Floating Cloud Town; most of those who do come are gray-robed servants.

Under the guise of the powerful, the locals regarded these menial servants as immortals.

"May the immortal depart slowly."

Yang Fan left the shop amidst the shop owner's calls.

"Little Black, no wonder everyone wants to become an immortal. Even a servant who works for an immortal is highly regarded."

As Yang Fan was reminiscing, a fragrant aroma wafted over from the side.

"Steamed buns, piping hot, freshly steamed meat buns!"

The aroma of the steamed buns made Yang Fan's mouth water.

I didn't get to eat steamed buns when I brought Xiao Hei here last time, so I'll have to treat myself to some today.

"I don't even know if I'll survive today, let's fill our stomachs first."

Yang Fan walked over and ordered twenty meat buns in one go.

Xiao Hei has ten, and he has ten.

Not satisfied with just twenty steamed buns, Yang Fan ordered another twenty before leaving.

After finishing the steamed buns, Yang Fan went to a nearby shop and bought a few roast chickens, which he then began to eat.

Before long, he and Xiao Hei had devoured all the roast chickens, and Yang Fan left the shop with a satisfied belly.

He didn't know why, but ever since he started channeling his Qi into his body, he found that he could eat more and more, and he even grew taller.

"Sigh, whether we can get through today or not, let's buy some alcohol and bring some to Chief Zhou and Senior Brother Wang."

He will need to go down the mountain later, so it's still very necessary for him to maintain a good relationship with Zhou Bantou.

As for Senior Brother Wang, although he had his own selfish motives, he still took good care of Yang Fan.

After browsing around the nearby restaurants, Yang Fan bought several jars of fine wine and carefully stored them in a small cauldron.

After wandering around the town twice, the sun was already setting.

Yang Fan sighed, tucked Xiao Hei into his arms, and headed towards Xu Family Village.

Because of the massacre of the Xu family, hardly anyone dares to stay near Xu Family Village anymore.

When Yang Fan arrived near Xujiazhuang, the area was already desolate.

Thinking of the tragic state of Xujiazhuang back then, Yang Fan couldn't help but shrink back.

So many rats suddenly crawled out and devoured the Xu family completely.

If he weren't still valuable, he would probably have been eaten clean by those rats.

Upon arriving at the temple, Yang Fan respectfully bowed towards the entrance.

"This humble one greets the immortal!"

It was completely quiet inside; there wasn't a sound at all.

It was dusk, and the setting sun shone on the walls of the mountain god temple, casting bizarre and fantastical shadows.

"Creak!"

A creaking sound came from the old tree next to him, which startled Yang Fan, who quickly looked over there.

A crow landed on a withered branch.

The crow tilted its head and looked at Yang Fan.

"quack!"

A harsh cawing sound came from the side.

Seeing that it was just a crow, Yang Fan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"An immortal?"

Yang Fan tentatively asked a couple of questions, but there was still no response.

Yang Fan mustered his courage and carefully pushed open the door of the mountain god temple.

"Creak!"

The dilapidated door made a sound.

Yang Fan peered inside, but there was nothing in the dilapidated mountain god temple.

It seems the old Taoist priest hasn't arrived yet.

Yang Fan breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Since the old Taoist priest hadn't arrived yet, Yang Fan could only continue to wait for him.

Upon entering the mountain god temple, Yang Fan pulled out two worn-out prayer cushions.

Yang Fan patted the two prayer cushions to remove the dust, then sat down on them and quietly waited for the old Taoist priest to arrive.

Since the old Taoist priest gave a one-month deadline, he will definitely come here.

As the sun set, darkness gradually fell around us.

Yang Fan looked outside.

The full moon, as smooth as a mirror, hangs high in the sky.

The moonlight, like water, shone brightly through the dilapidated windows, illuminating most of the mountain god temple.

"Waaaaah..."

The west wind was like a knife, howling as it swept past the window.

"Puff puff puff!"

Under the moonlight, a crow suddenly took a fright and began to circle around the withered tree.

Yang Fan was suddenly startled, and then several rats scurried out from the side.

"Creak!"

The door, which had been closed, was suddenly blown open by the wind.

"Hehe, kid, you got here even before I, the Taoist priest,!"

A biting wind blew into the dilapidated temple, making Yang Fan shiver.