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Lan Chang'an flew several li away, scanning the surroundings with his spiritual sense.
The battle just now had lasted only a few breaths.
For the time being, only a few cultivators from the Golden Sun Sect were aware of a part of his strength.
Such a humiliating scandal was not something Mu Jiuan and the others would want to spread to outsiders.
Lan Chang'an didn't want a direct confrontation with a Fake Dan cultivator.
Dragging things out and revealing too much of his power could easily attract the attention of the higher-ups in the Liang Kingdom’s cultivation world.
Of course, in these chaotic times, trying to conceal one’s cultivation level and travel low-key was impractical.
The mere fact of encountering sect patrol cultivators along the way was already a difficult hurdle.
Once your identity was unclear and your cultivation unremarkable, even with reason on your side, you could still find it hard to explain things to the sect’s law enforcement cultivators.
It was easy to be branded as a "spy from an enemy country" or be taken as a laborer under some pretext.
Moreover, the ambushing rogue cultivators across various regions often targeted the weak, seeking easy prey.
In such special times, it was easy to attract trouble by keeping a low profile.
Lan Chang'an had been able to travel smoothly in recent days thanks to his late Foundation Establishment cultivation and the hundred years of reputation and connections he had built up in Liang.
The sect patrol cultivators he encountered along the way were respectful to him and did not give him any trouble.
So far, no rogue cultivators had attacked him either.
...
Flying dozens of li further, Lan Chang'an used his spiritual sense to search the area and landed in a remote, deserted ravine.
He needed to quickly dispose of and destroy any suspicious items in the four storage pouches.
Among the storage pouches of the Feng Kingdom’s sect cultivators he had killed were some items for communication and correspondence.
With his powerful spiritual sense and broad experience, Lan Chang'an swiftly finished his inspection.
Among the spoils, the items that caught his eye included the prototype of a magical treasure, a quasi-third-rank talisman, and even a talismanic treasure that hadn’t been used yet.
Talismanic treasures were highly powerful, but they required some guidance from spiritual sense and its activation speed was half a beat slower than that of a normal talisman.
He had also collected twenty to thirty thousand spirit stones.
Without realizing it, the spirit stones Lan Chang'an had accumulated now exceeded one hundred thousand.
Even an early-stage True Dan cultivator wouldn’t be able to produce that many spirit stones.
A significant portion of these spirit stones came from the profits he had made over the years from war speculation, talisman-making, and puppetry.
Spirit stones were just liquid assets and could not fully measure a cultivator’s true wealth.
Especially for a cultivator like Lan Chang'an, who possessed many treasures, as well as high-quality talismans and puppets.
After a short time, Lan Chang'an’s gaze turned southwest.
"Finally arrived."
A squad of sect law enforcement cultivators was flying toward the bay where the Feng Kingdom cultivators had wiped out a family clan.
There were five or six members in this squad, the leader being a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the rest were at the early and middle stages.
Due to a shortage of personnel in the sect, the squad also included family cultivators who had been conscripted.
Two of them were holding special magical weapons that could sense the fluctuations of magical power within a certain range.
If any cultivator engaged in combat or was flying nearby, they would be detected.
At this moment, Lan Chang'an was stationary and not flying. Using the concealment ability of his Evergreen Technique, he could avoid detection.
The Liang Kingdom’s sects used this method to guard key checkpoints and monitor the movement of cultivators from various cultivation forces.
Similar techniques were used near the border to prevent cultivators from escaping to other countries. The consequences of being caught were severe.
Of course, the border was vast and inevitably had loopholes, so it couldn’t be completely foolproof.
This was mainly aimed at preventing medium and small-sized cultivation forces from relocating their entire clans.
...
Lan Chang'an sensed that the law enforcement squad was flying toward the area near the bay where the massacre had occurred.
Although it was beyond his spiritual sense range, the noise of their flight and the fluctuations of their magical power allowed him to roughly judge their position.
“Could it be that the elite cultivators of the Feng Kingdom were originally planning to ambush this squad of law enforcement cultivators?”
A flash of insight crossed Lan Chang'an’s mind as he guessed.
The nearby sect law enforcement cultivators were far inferior in quality to Mu Jiuan’s group from the Golden Sun Sect.
Even if they were at the same cultivation level, there would still be a significant gap in strength.
Of course, for Lan Chang'an, it made no difference.
Anyone below the late Foundation Establishment stage was as easy to handle as cutting vegetables or slaughtering chickens.
Unless they were a sect's heavenly pride, a Core Formation seed, like Tuoba Jin in the past.
But such prodigies wouldn’t be carrying out high-risk missions deep in enemy territory.
“Before Mu Jiuan and his group withdrew, they collected the bodies. This sect law enforcement squad shouldn’t be able to trace anything back to me. At least, not in the short term.”
Lan Chang'an muttered to himself, confident that he had left no loose ends.
Half an hour later.
On their way back, Lan Chang'an took the initiative to approach the sect law enforcement squad.
“Are you the Talisman Master Lan from Wuqi Mountain?”
Upon seeing the late Foundation Establishment cultivator riding a giant turtle, the squad of law enforcement cultivators relaxed slightly after recognizing him.
A late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator with a second-rank spirit pet as a mount was nothing out of the ordinary, so the group of fellow cultivators was not surprised.
“That’s me.”
Lan Chang'an stood up on the turtle’s back, cupped his hands in greeting, and began to converse with the elderly woman leading the squad.
As a sect elder, Zhang Tieshan was privy to some confidential information about the war, but he kept some secrets to himself. However, he didn’t hide any of the broader intelligence.
Occasionally, Zhang Tieshan’s subtle hints gave Lan Chang'an insight into the cruelty of the battlefield and the severity of the situation.
From his own judgment and the information provided by the Tian Zhi Pavilion, Lan Chang'an didn’t hold much hope for the Liang Kingdom’s cultivation world.
However, Zhang Tieshan’s words carried a calm confidence. He hadn’t lost faith in this war against the enemy’s invasion.
“Fellow Daoist Lan, I presume you didn’t arrange this meeting just to discuss the war, did you?”
Zhang Tieshan said with a faint smile.
“Haha, I want to make a deal with Tianfeng Immortal.”
Lan Chang'an chuckled softly and waved his sleeve.
In the open space between the two of them appeared two pieces of third-rank gold-iron ore.
A glint flashed in Zhang Tieshan’s eyes as he smiled, “It seems Fellow Daoist Lan has done his homework.”
Third-rank gold-iron ore was a precious material for forging magical treasures, highly valuable even for Fake Dan cultivators.
Naturally, before approaching Zhang Tieshan for this transaction, Lan Chang'an had done some research.
It was said that Zhang Tieshan had been collecting superior-grade gold-iron ore for many years.
To an ordinary cultivator, this might seem peculiar.
However, Zhang Tieshan was a highly skilled artifact refiner with exceptional talent in this area, at least a quasi-third-rank refiner, so such a demand was reasonable.
“What does Fellow Daoist Lan want to trade for?”
Zhang Tieshan withdrew his gaze and asked calmly.
Lan Chang'an looked directly at him and, with his lips barely moving, transmitted a message:
“I want Tianfeng Immortal’s secret method for reforming a Core.”
As soon as he spoke, Lan Chang'an felt a powerful spiritual pressure envelop him, and the surrounding winds instantly stilled.
A sharp glint flashed in Zhang Tieshan’s eyes.
The two stared at each other in silence for a long time.
Lan Chang'an remained composed, completely unfazed by the spiritual pressure of the Fake Dan cultivator, even releasing his own spiritual sense that was comparable to a Fake Dan level.
When it came to a major transaction involving such a secret as the Core Dissolution Technique, Lan Chang'an naturally had to show some of his strength.
Whether the deal succeeded or not, he planned to leave the Liang Kingdom’s cultivation world, so he had fewer concerns than before.
...
“Where did you learn this from?”
The spiritual pressure surrounding Zhang Tieshan slowly dissipated.
“I guessed,” Lan Chang'an replied with a warm smile. “My intuition tells me that Brother Zhang’s achievements shouldn’t be limited to a Fake Dan.”
Zhang Tieshan shook his head. “Two pieces of third-rank ore are not enough.”
“Besides, even if you obtain the secret method, without a Nascent Soul True Monarch to assist with the process, the risk of shattering the core and liquefying it is immense.”
“No need for Tianfeng Immortal to worry about that. Even if there’s only a ten or twenty percent chance, it’s better than having no hope at all for forming a True Dan.”
Lan Chang'an detected Zhang Tieshan’s probing.
He thought to himself, "Don’t you also lack a Nascent Soul True Monarch for protection?"
“How about adding this magical treasure crafted primarily from gold-iron materials? Would that be enough to satisfy Tianfeng Immortal?”
Lan Chang'an had prepared well in advance and produced a black treasure ruler.
This treasure ruler was one of the spoils he had gained from killing Tan Immortal and was of decent quality for a low-grade magical treasure.
After all, Tan Immortal had been a wanted criminal of the sect, so this magical treasure ruler, as a spoil of war, couldn’t be considered stolen goods.
Zhang Tieshan’s eyes brightened slightly as he looked at the magical treasure ruler, clearly interested.
However, in the end, he shook his head and sighed. “Zhang wants something else from you.”
“Oh? What does Tianfeng Immortal desire?”
Lan Chang'an felt a tinge of surprise.
“The Five Element Spirit Soil,” Zhang Tieshan said, looking straight at him.
“How did you know about that?”
This time, it was Lan Chang'an’s turn to be surprised, his eyes turning sharp.
Zhang Tieshan knew he had Five Element Spirit Soil?
Most of Lan Chang'an’s Five Element Spirit Soil was stored in a large porcelain vat used where cultivating the Xuanmu Gourd Vine was planted, sealed with several layers of advanced restrictions and isolated with shadowstones.
In addition, there were two jars of Five Element Spirit Soil stored separately with only a standard restriction in place.
The former was sealed so tightly that a True Dan cultivator's spiritual sense sweeping through would ignore it.
Once probed by spiritual sense and touched the restriction system, Lan Chang'an would be able to detect it but it did not react just now.
It seemed more likely that the latter had been exposed.
“Fellow Daoist Lan needn’t overthink it. I have a special talent for sensing the materials I need for refining. I bear no ill will.”
Zhang Tieshan hurriedly explained.
Lan Chang'an’s sharp gaze gave him a vague sense of danger.
“Five Element Spirit Soil is extremely precious! Brother Zhang, as a sect artifact refiner, should know that very well.”
Lan Chang'an’s expression turned cold, his tone assertive.
In his past life, he had never seen Five Element Spirit Soil and had no idea what its exact value was.
“Well... actually, I don’t need that much.”
Zhang Tieshan seemed somewhat lacking in confidence and spoke in a negotiating tone:
“If Fellow Daoist Lan agrees to the trade, I can offer you a superior secret method for Core Formation. Even without a Nascent Soul True Monarch, it guarantees a success rate of over thirty percent for Fake Dan cultivators.”
(End of chapter)