The male supporting character was actually myself.

"Young master, don't worry. The School Affairs Department is full of talented people and will definitely be able to help you find your lost items." Gu Ling'er quickly stepped forward and gently comforted him.

Lu Fan was burning with anxiety but couldn't show it, so he waved to the kneeling servants to disperse, called the steward to greet everyone from the Treasure Pavilion, and went to see the gentlemen of the School Affairs Department out first.

"Your Majesty, you just asked the steward to go find the servant who asked for leave and the maid, but he hasn't returned yet."

Upon hearing the steward's trembling report, Lu Fan remembered this matter and instructed the steward to lead the people in first.

After much persuasion and reassurance, and finally by stuffing in the few taels of silver he had, the School Affairs Department's guards relented and stopped mentioning the matter of using private punishment.

"Damn it, when you're down on your luck, even drinking cold water can cause problems!" After seeing off a group of powerful men he couldn't afford to offend, Lu Fan turned around, his face darkening, and hurried back to the courtyard to deal with the people from the Treasure Pavilion.

He had already thought of a reason: he would say that something was stolen from his house today, which delayed the delivery and asked the other party to come again tomorrow.

We can procrastinate for as long as we can, because we can't give away a single drop of the remaining elixir to anyone else!

If all else fails, we can return the gold we received. Even a treasure pavilion can't bully people and force them to buy or sell, right?

As long as I can get through this period, I will no longer have to depend on others after I break through to level five using the remaining spiritual medicine!

"Oh? It seems a bit unreasonable for us to postpone delivery on our first large transaction, doesn't it?" The owner of the Treasure Pavilion raised an eyebrow upon hearing Lu Fan's delaying tactics, his eyes subtly glancing at the servants standing at the door.

Lu Fan remained calm and composed, sitting in his chair, taking a sip of tea before explaining, "Spiritual herbs are not so easy to refine, Master Fan should understand."

I didn't expect this to happen when we reached the agreement, but the loss of something at my residence today took up too much time and affected my mood, naturally slowing down the medicine-making process.

“Alchemy does require a calm mind, and it’s inevitable that Young Master Lu will make mistakes due to his youthful vigor.” Master Fan nodded in understanding and gave his beloved disciple a wink.

Gu Ling'er immediately understood and volunteered, "Young Master Lu, it must be too hard for you to refine so many spiritual herbs all by yourself. Why don't I stay and help you?"

Having someone knowledgeable in pharmacology do some classification work within their capabilities would surely lighten your workload considerably, as it involves tasks that require little technical skill.

Ha, is this someone trying to steal the technology and derive a prescription based on medicinal plants?

Lu Fan instantly understood that the other party had ill intentions, but the current situation was even more troublesome. Without the Imperial Bottle, where would they get any spiritual medicine?

Just as he was about to make an excuse to decline the "kind offer," the owner of the Treasure Pavilion saw one of the servants wink at him and shake his head.

“Young Master Lu, since you haven’t been able to refine enough spiritual herbs to deliver, you can’t expect us to have made this trip for nothing, can you?” He put down his teacup, his expression still showing a faint smile, but in his heart he held a hint of contempt for Lu Fan, and his words were no longer as respectful. “It’s not much, it’s not little. We’ll take whatever spiritual herbs you have for now, and we’ll come back to collect them tomorrow when you’ve finished refining them all.”

Having come this far, Lu Fan couldn't come up with a legitimate reason to refuse, so he could only darken his expression and prepare to back down.

At the same time, he had already planned in his mind that if the Treasure Pavilion and others did anything even slightly improper, he could seize the opportunity to back out of the cooperation, and at worst, he could return the gold and never deal with it again.

Once he dedicates himself to cultivation, devours and refines the remaining spiritual herbs, and breaks through to the fifth level, how could a dignified demon king not earn enough money to squander?

If I'm even luckier, the School Affairs Department might be able to find the unremarkable Imperial Bottle for me. Wouldn't my future still be infinitely bright?

At the invitation of the owner of the Treasure Pavilion, the expert disguised himself as a servant and concealed his aura. At the same time, he had already used his unique judgment ability to roughly understand the other party's situation.

Whether he was abandoned by the mysterious bigwig or something else happened, Lu Fan was no longer able to supply spiritual medicines. He even considered stalling for time to get rid of everyone so he could run away with a huge fortune.

“The Wild Pseudo-Master Aura is no longer effective.” Jiang Chen, who was squatting on the opposite rooftop and watching this scene, said to the little white cat in a low voice, “The plan is progressing smoothly, it’s just a pity that the Treasure-Hunting Rat’s aura is too fragile.”

The fluffy little cat was enjoying petting and cuddling the cat, and replied with a humming voice: "Meow~ It's quite normal. After all, this is a halo that was stolen from the real chosen one, Ling Qiye, through improper means. Without the support of the laws of heaven, it is definitely not stable."

He suffered the blow of losing the Heavenly Bottle, so his aura was already very weak.

Then, the cowardly steward tricked him into complaining to the school's guards, and after being suppressed, his fortunes dimmed even further. Now, facing debt collection from the Treasure Pavilion, it seems his good luck has truly run out.

Jiang Chen flipped through the Book of Prophecy, whose writing had disappeared, and looked up at the azure sky, sighing, "I hope that after we help Ling Qiye reclaim this part of the halo, he can quickly clear his name with his domineering aura."

Staying in a prison cell all the time won't be of any key help in preparing for the invasion of unknown forces.

"Oh? What role would you like the protagonist to play, Host?"

"Of course, it's the savior! We need to get him to initiate a campaign to artificially revive spiritual energy!"

"Everyone cultivates immortality, then strengthens the power system of the mission world to jointly resist the invasion of unknown forces? Meow~ That sounds quite interesting, meow..."

…………

As the cat and the system whispered to each other on the roof, Lu Fan, who had been sitting calmly in the main room, finally couldn't hold back anymore, and fine beads of sweat began to appear on his forehead.

“Young Master Lu, our Treasure Pavilion didn’t hesitate for a second when we paid a thousand taels of gold.” Ignoring Master Fan’s hints, the owner of the Treasure Pavilion continued to press on aggressively. “Today is the agreed delivery day. If you can’t keep your promise due to personal matters, that’s fine. But you can’t just not deliver a single bottle of elixir to us, can you?”

He's made excuses time and again, and hasn't even produced a single bottle of elixir. Could it be... that Young Master Lu doesn't have a single bottle on hand, making the transaction impossible?

Touched on a sore spot, Lu Fan remained expressionless and said in a gloomy and impatient tone, "I've explained everything that needed to be explained. If the boss doesn't believe me, we can terminate the transaction here."

"I, Lu, have never liked wasting time arguing over trivial matters. I will return the thousand taels of gold in full, and from now on, I will go my separate ways with Treasure Pavilion and cease all cooperation!"

"Huh? What's going on? Why are you all in such a hurry?" Master Fan was afraid that if the argument fell through, he would have no excuse to get close to Lu Fan, and then where would his opportunity to break through the eighth level come from?

He spoke up to mediate, and Gu Ling'er naturally chimed in.

However, Lu Fan had finally found an opportunity to vent his anger and break with the Treasure Pavilion, so he was unwilling to "cool down." He got up, walked around the screen, and went to the cellar where the gold was stored from the back room. As long as he took out the thousand taels of gold stored in the cellar and returned it to them, there would be no more messy things in the future!

The most urgent task is to use the remaining elixirs to enhance one's abilities as much as possible. Only with sufficient strength can one have a voice. Other plans can be considered later.

"Why did you suddenly..." Master Fan was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan, but he was stopped by the other party just as he was about to speak to dissuade him. "Master, there is no need to say more. Lu Fan obviously has no more spiritual medicine to produce."

He's just a discarded pawn who just broke through to the next level; there's nothing to fear.

If we don't get the gold back today, this place will probably be deserted tomorrow, and we'll suffer a huge loss with nothing to our name!

I'll post a separate chapter to explain, meow...

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Chapter Sixteen Arrest and House Arrest

"Can't produce the elixir?" Master Fan was momentarily stunned, staring blankly at the other party, clearly not understanding how he had made that judgment.

The owner of the Treasure Pavilion was in a complicated mood. He exhaled a breath of stale air and frowned slightly, saying, "Let's get the gold back first. As for that mysterious senior... we'll find a way to inquire about him later."

"Could it be that Lu Fan was abandoned by that person?"

"Luckily, I was alert and brought men to test his abilities, otherwise we would have been fooled today. Not only would we not have gotten a bottle of elixir, but we would have lost a thousand taels of gold!"

"A discarded pawn? Then... a mere level one superhuman like him is of no use whatsoever."

"That's not necessarily true. If we could glean information about that person through his memories, or figure out the principles behind how that person helped him repair and unblock his damaged meridians, any gain, however small, would be invaluable!"

Gu Ling'er listened silently to the two elders whispering, and couldn't help but exclaim, "Ah, then we must not let him have a chance to escape!"

"I've already made all the arrangements." The owner of the Treasure Pavilion smiled faintly. "When it comes to being cautious in business, I'd be shameless enough to boast a bit. Don't even mention Lu Fan being just a lowly level one; even a level six expert wouldn't be able to escape the inescapable trap I've laid!"

"Either pay back the money and provide compensation, or hand over the elixir; otherwise, he won't be stepping out of this courtyard today."

Lu Fan angrily opened the mechanism on the wall, his heart aching at the thought of having to hand over piles and piles of gold.

Especially that resentful remnant soul, it had probably never been so sought after or seen so much gold in its life. It was happy to bring it in, but it was somewhat dissatisfied when it was about to spit it out.

"Alright, alright, it's just some gold!" Faced with the resentful wailing, the Demon King could only patiently persuade him, "Gold can be lost and regained. The most important thing now is to cultivate and accumulate strength."

The disappearance of the Illusion Mirror and the Celestial Bottle is truly bizarre. I suspect they've been targeted by someone with special abilities. From today onward, we must keep a low profile! It's all your fault for being too weak and lacking in knowledge. I have no idea what powerful methods cultivators in the mortal realm possess.

We've lost two sacred treasures in just a few days; we absolutely cannot afford to make another mistake.

Behave yourself lately and don't let me fall into a state of mental instability, otherwise if I die, your desire to get the Liang family's daughter and kill Ling Qiye will never be fulfilled!

Do you really want the woman you love to marry someone else?

Or would you rather your lifelong enemy, Ling Qiye, be released by the School Affairs Department on a whim and continue to live a carefree life?

"If you don't want to, then behave yourself. I, the mighty Demon King, will surely grant your wish and let your restless soul find peace given enough time!"

Sure enough, after analyzing the pros and cons and making promises, the Demon King felt that the compatibility between his soul and body had increased significantly, and the resentment of the other party's remnant soul had obviously subsided a little.

It seems I need to find time to resolve these two issues quickly, otherwise it's really frustrating to never have complete control over my body.

He pushed open the door and went inside. The dimly lit cellar was completely dark, and the eyes of a human body obviously could not adapt to the darkness. Lu Fan had no choice but to find a tinderbox, light it, and walk into the cellar to get the gold by the dim light.

"Holy crap!" The expected golden scene didn't happen the next second, and Lu Fan stood there stunned as if he had been struck by lightning.

After a long while, his face turned deathly pale, and he frantically searched the narrow cellar, crying out, "Where's my gold? Where's all my gold? Could it be...?"

Thinking of the stolen Imperial Bottle, Lu Fan felt a sharp pain in his chest that made it hard to breathe.

The treasure is lost, and now even a thousand taels of gold are gone!

Who did this?!

"Get out here! You despicable thief, I'm going to kill you!"

"Ah! Heaven is unfair! Why is it treating me like this!"

"Damn you, God! You damned scoundrel..."

…………

He went berserk in the cellar, howling, rolling around, and throwing a tantrum. Even the little white cat couldn't stand it anymore. "What did God do to you? He's so lucky to have been given a second chance at life. It's all because you're so wicked."

After obtaining the Illusion Mirror, instead of focusing on his duties, he only thought about how to show off, slap people in the face, and cheat and swindle.

Even with such a powerful artifact as the Heavenly Bottle, you still don't take the right path and only think about creating puppets and harming others. If you hadn't followed those old, violent methods of killing and robbing, the soft and cute Xiaobai would never have treated you like this.

Divine artifacts and sacred objects are only truly used when they are placed in the hands of good people and used to benefit the majority.

In the hands of a selfish, ruthless person like you, it will only become aiding and abetting evil!

"Meow~" Jiang Chen squatted on the treetop in the courtyard, listening to Lu Fan's out-of-control shouts and roars, and sighed, "I've already spoken with Ling Qiye. As long as you tell him the whole story about the demon race and hand over those precious prescriptions and cultivation techniques, he will spare your life. I hope you can cherish this second chance to live and not do evil again."

After suffering repeated setbacks, even the Demon King's state of mind became somewhat unstable.

He forced himself to calm down and carefully analyze the pros and cons.

The Imperial Bottle and the gold are both lost, and the other party will definitely not let it go if the thousand taels of gold owed to the Treasure Pavilion cannot be returned.

But if the deal were to be completed, three-quarters of the spiritual herbs he had secretly stored in the secret chamber would have to be handed over! Absolutely not, those were his last resort for advancing to the fifth level. Therefore, it would be better to…

"Damn it, I'm not playing with you guys anymore!" Lu Fan gritted his teeth, made up his mind, turned around, left the cellar, and headed towards the secret basement.

A moment later, seeing the empty basement that no one but himself knew about, even the Demon King, who had experienced many hardships and trials, could not withstand such repeated blows and immediately spat out a mouthful of blood.

"That damned scoundrel..."

He slumped to the cold ground, his face deathly pale, his eyes lifeless, muttering meaningless words to himself.

No one but himself knew about this secret basement. How did the thief manage to come and go freely without alerting the various magic arrays he had set up?

Could there really be such a powerful being in the human world?

How could one easily pass through an array set up using the secret techniques of the demon race without even touching it?