24: Harvest

Lu Xian licked his lips, a flash of excitement in his eyes.

The Formation Plate is truly useful... Although it takes time to charge and its activation speed is far less swift than a Talisman.

But for the same grade, the power of an offensive Formation Plate is much greater than that of a Talisman.

In fact, it is better suited for stationary ambushes.

"The two of you, are you satisfied with this gift?"

Lu Xian smiled, slowly took out a few Spirit Stones, re-inserted them into the Formation Plate, and made a gesture to activate it again.

The remaining two Bandit Cultivators exchanged a glance, their eyes revealing fierce glares!

Their figures erupted, lunging straight at Lu Xian, intending to kill him before the Formation Plate finished charging!

A mere Level 5 Qi Refining, as long as I get close, I can take his life with one strike... The lead Cultivator was actually quite disdainful in his heart.

Mana flowed at his fingertips, and a sharp, icy Spell was instantly unleashed!

The other Bandit Cultivator also condensed a heavy palm print, pressing down from above!

Lu Xian was not afraid in the slightest, his blood and Qi surging as he met it with a single palm.

A faint aura of blood and killing intent permeated the air!

"Sss—!"

The moment the two Spells made contact with the blood aura, they were forcefully extinguished!

"Body Refining!" The lead Bandit Cultivator's mind trembled violently.

In this day and age, how could there be a Cultivator practicing Body Refining?

Taking advantage of his lapse in concentration, Lu Xian stomped hard, shattering the bluestone ground, and charged straight at that Bandit Cultivator.

In terms of pure sprinting speed, a Late Stage Qi Refining Cultivator cannot possibly compare to Lu Xian without the aid of Spells.

In just a single breath, his figure was already close!

"It's too late—!"

The lead Bandit Cultivator faced a formidable foe; casting Spells required time to form seals. A fierce look flashed in his eyes, "Brother Zhang, help me!"

The other Bandit Cultivator was just about to retreat, but caught off guard, he was pulled forward by a massive force!

His forehead, squarely and without deviation, met Lu Xian's fist, which was wrapped in overwhelming power!

"Puff!" It exploded like a ripe watermelon.

Lu Xian shook the red and white matter off his hand and sneered, "What a good brother."

The lead Bandit Cultivator's face twisted: "I will avenge them! Take this!"

While throwing out two Fireball Talismans, he suddenly turned around and darted into the room like a ghostly shadow!

"Not good, the hostage."

Lu Xian frowned, activated a Golden Shield Talisman to tank the fireballs, and also wanted to enter the room.

But at the very next moment.

"Ah—!"

A long scream came from the house, and then it returned to dead silence.

Lu Xian's Divine Sense swept over.

He saw the lead Bandit Cultivator lying in a pool of blood, already dead.

Beside him was the blood-stained Du Qinghong, clutching a short dagger, squeezing out a miserable smile: "Fuck... fuck your mother... I... I was just waiting for you!"

After finishing his words, his head tilted, and he completely passed out.

It seemed Du Qinghong had still held onto a bit of strength, waiting for someone to get close to launch a sneak attack while they were off guard.

Looking at this scene, Lu Xian couldn't help but chuckle.

This little fatty actually has some backbone.

The commotion caused by the exchange of Spells here was a bit too loud.

Lu Xian breathed a sigh of relief and quickly cleaned up the scene.

The two Level 5 Qi Refining lackeys were poor; he only scavenged a few Spirit Stones from them.

The three Level 7 Qi Refining bosses had four Storage Pouches hanging from their waists.

After taking them down, Lu Xian piled the five corpses together and then activated a Bone Burning Talisman.

Flames rose, and the bones turned to ash.

Lu Xian picked up the unconscious Du Qinghong and left rapidly.

After a while, a few shadowy figures snuck closer, glanced at the scorch marks, and hurried away.

Two hours later, the Qingyun City Law Enforcement Department finally arrived late, conducted a hasty investigation, and confirmed the conclusion: The five people were careless with fire and burned themselves to death; no abnormalities found.

...

Lu Xian did not return to his own courtyard immediately, but instead found an inn in the city.

After throwing Du Qinghong onto the bed casually, he extended his Divine Sense to check.

Mana exhausted, internal organs damaged, multiple fractures, severe blood loss... but he was still alive, and the rest was not a major issue.

As long as a Cultivator doesn't have issues with their Divine Soul or is missing limbs, they can all recover.

After Lu Xian stuffed a Vitality Pill and a Blood-Generating Pill into Du Qinghong's mouth, he waited quietly, taking the opportunity to review today's events.

There was no problem on his side; that group of Bandit Cultivators had followed him several times but never found his address.

On the contrary, Du Qinghong was often in the city, setting up large-scale stalls to sell goods and frequently entering the black market to purchase Materials for him, so it was normal that he got targeted.

Fortunately, it was only a business of 150 Spirit Stones per month, which didn't attract stronger attention.

If a Peak Qi Refining had come today, he would have been truly helpless and would have considered running away immediately.

"Let's look at today's harvest; I hope it wasn't all for nothing."

Lu Xian took out the three Bandit Cultivators' Storage Pouches and poured out all their contents.

214 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

One High Grade Talisman, three Medium Grade, and eight Low Grade.

A dozen or so Qi-replenishing and healing Medicinal Pills.

Surprisingly, there was a bonus: a spirit gathering pill!

This pill can accelerate Cultivation and assist in breaking through a Bottleneck; the market price is around two hundred Spirit Stones!

Finally, there were two small booklets, "Cold Soul Finger" and "Object Manipulation Technique".

"This group of Bandit Cultivators is indeed bold. Although Spells are not strictly regulated, not many dare to copy them down... Right, there is also a Magical Artifact."

Lu Xian took that long sword out of his own Storage Pouch.

Upon careful sensing, he was somewhat surprised; this turned out to be a Flying Sword!

It seems that the Bandit Cultivator's Object Manipulation Technique hadn't been Cultivated to a proficient level yet, as he only knew how to hack and slash at close range when attacking.

"Adding all these scattered items together, the value must be around one thousand Spirit Stones. Especially the Flying Sword, which is worth four hundred, and the Spells are also expensive; in the Ten Thousand Laws Department, they would cost at least two or three hundred..."

A smile finally appeared on Lu Xian's face.

This trip was not a loss; his biggest loss was merely the wear on the Formation Plate, which was less than one hundred Spirit Stones.

As expected, killing and arson lead to golden belts.

He worked hard selling spirit eggs for half a year, yet only earned less than seven hundred, most of which was used to upgrade his Immortal Cave and for Cultivation.

But Lu Xian had no interest in switching professions to become a Bandit Cultivator.

Upgrading his own buildings allows him to earn Spirit Stones while lying down, without having to risk his life to strive for resources.

As for the remaining Storage Pouch belonging to Du Qinghong, Lu Xian did not check it privately.

Let's wait until he wakes up...

Lu Xian closed his eyes and adjusted his breath slightly.

The next day, he was woken up by a loud snoring sound and couldn't help but frown.

This little fatty is sleeping quite comfortably. He stood up, released his mana, condensed it into a fine needle, and pointed it out.

"Ouch! It hurts, it hurts..." Du Qinghong yelled, instantly springing up.

He sat up, enduring the pain, looked around blankly, and his face lit up with joy: "Brother Han, did you save me?"

Lu Xian nodded slightly, looking somewhat serious: "I told you to be more careful, but you wouldn't listen. How was it this time? Feeling great?"

"Hehehe..."

Du Qinghong chuckled awkwardly and continued, "Those Bandit Cultivators were just bluffing; they didn't have any Soul Searching Technique at all! Fortunately, Brother Han, you still came. I knew it, I knew you would definitely come to save me..."

"Alright, stop with the nonsense, be more careful in the future." Lu Xian tossed his Storage Pouch over, "How is the collection of items going?"

For the past half year, Lu Xian has been entrusting him to collect Materials for upgrading buildings.

Currently, except for the 【Immortal Cave】, which was upgraded to Level 2 after gathering 300 Spirit Stones and engraving enough Formation Flags and Formation Plates, all other buildings are stuck at Level 1.

The bonuses could not keep up with the increase in his Cultivation level, causing his progress to become increasingly sluggish after reaching Level 6 Qi Refining.

Seeing that the conversation turned to serious business, Du Qinghong said seriously: "The 5th Golden Origin Grass Root has been obtained, and I have also found 2 pieces of Warm Sun Stone."

"As for the Heaven Formation Stone, Ruyi Pavilion does have stock, but one piece costs two hundred Spirit Stones, so I didn't make the decision on my own. As for the remaining Wisdom Grass and Soul Nourishing Jade, there is absolutely no news."

Lu Xian nodded.

Five sets of Golden Origin Grass Roots and Warm Sun Stones have been collected, enough to upgrade the 【Spirit Field】 and 【Chicken Coop】.

These two buildings are the Foundation for him to earn Spirit Stones.

However, the 【Cultivation Chamber】 and 【bedroom】 are the keys to his rapid improvement in strength, yet the Materials remain unfound, which makes him somewhat annoyed.

Du Qinghong observed his expression, hesitated slightly, and lowered his voice: "Brother Han, in half a year, the Lin Clan Immortal Family of Qionghua Ridge in the south will hold an auction. I heard that various rare treasures will be released. What do you think..."

Hearing this, a flash of light shone in Lu Xian's eyes.

"Tell me in detail!"