Chapter 1: Siblings

  Hurriedly returning to the inn, Lu Chen rushed into his room and began to ponder...

  To be honest, Lu Chen didn't feel tired at all after killing the lone Fire Wolf by himself, and he was even less tired than when he was training in Qianyu Gate. However, this back-and-forth trip had delayed his cultivation for quite some time. It seemed that from now on, he couldn't afford to waste any more time on traveling every day.

  "Tomorrow, prepare more bottles for beast blood, buy more talismans and cinnabar, and enter the Desolate Land. Although I don't dare to guarantee that I can kill more than three lone wolf flames at once now, I also need to stay there for a long time, otherwise, just the cost of the inn, one spirit stone per day, is a waste."

  Lu Xue sat on the bed with her back against the headboard, carefully pondering...

  "The pack of Lone Wolves usually consists of six to over ten individuals, rarely three together. If not, I'll use the Flowing Sand Technique and Golden Repair to control a few, and then deal with the rest myself. After absorbing most of the spiritual stones, I estimate that I can gain quite a bit of fur and horns, which will sell for a good price when I return... At least I won't lose money... Within half a year, I must break through to the sixth layer of Qi Refining, then we'll see... Hmm, that's what I'll do..."

  With this in mind, Lu Chen's future cultivation plan had roughly taken shape.

  He took the jade pendant off his neck, and Lu Chen observed it for a while. No matter how hard he tried, even using his killing intent, the jade pendant still didn't react. He couldn't help but feel annoyed: "What is this thing? Why hasn't it reacted since I killed Li Can?"

  "Ugh, forget it, this thing is too evil, better put it away..."

  Can't think clearly then don't think, Lu Chen put the jade pendant away again and fell onto the bed to sleep soundly.

  ……

  At dawn, when the sky had just lit up, Lu Chen lazily got out of bed, sat cross-legged for a while, then went downstairs to check out and walked out of the inn...

  Spent half a time, strolled around the city, got a lot of news, and put nearly 10,000 small bottles into Li Can's Qiankun bag...

  "It's all good, last time I managed to snatch Li Can's stuff and got a spare warehouse for myself, heh heh, no need to buy a Qian Kun bag anymore..." Lu Chen thought with a pleased expression.

  The Xianmeng City also has a place to sell the Qiankun Bag, but the price is two hundred pieces of lower-grade spirit stone, and it's still the smallest Qiankun Bag with only three cubic meters of space, which is not worth it.

  Li Can's Qian Kun bag was relatively larger, a full ten cubic meters, and could hold many things.

  Everything was ready, and when Lu Chen passed by the Western City Gate again, he saw that the person guarding the gate had changed to someone else except for Lin, a familiar person made things easier. Lu Chen consciously came to Lin's side and handed over the iron plate.

  Lin surname scholar saw Lu Chen, first was stunned, then didn't have yesterday's disdainful gaze, although he still hadn't reached the point of looking up to Lu Chen, but at least his expression softened a lot. No longer so high and mighty...

  He took the iron plate in his hand, made a few measurements, and handed it back to Lu Chen. Lin, the surname repairman, suddenly said: "You were cheated yesterday, the price of one piece of spiritual stone for fur and two pieces of spiritual stone for horns is normal, but 10 bottles of beast blood can be exchanged for one piece of spiritual stone, that shopkeeper took advantage of you..."

  The sudden harsh words made Lu Chen stunned, and he turned to look at the hateful shopkeeper who was still busy in the nearby store, and couldn't help but curse: "Damn it, this swindler."

  "Hehe." Lin surname scholar smiled and said, "No need to get angry, he is also seeing you come to Xianmeng City for the first time, just taking some advantage, this kind of thing is very common here."

  Lu Chen curled his lip, clearly not taking kindly to Lin's words. He took back the iron plaque and was about to head out of the city...

  Lin surname scholar saw this, suddenly called out to Lu Chen: "Fellow Taoist, stay your step..."

  "Anything wrong?" Lu Chen turned his body sideways and asked with a slanted gaze.

  Lin surname repair master slightly smiled and said: "Fellow Taoist, next time if there is again goods, can look for me, other do not dare to say, on beast blood, I can use one piece of spiritual stone exchange nine bottles of beast blood."

  "Huh?" Lu Chen looked at Lin in surprise, thinking to himself: "This is a good deal, this way I can sell more spirit stones."

  Lu Chen turned around and walked over, looking at Lin, and asked: "Really?"

  Lin surname Shu Shi nodded and said: "Of course it's true."

  "How much is needed?" Lu Chen had come out of the city this time with the purpose of cultivating, vowing not to return until he had exhausted all the spiritual stones on him. The longer he stayed out, the more he would gain.

  "Hmm..." Mr. Lin was taken aback for a moment, but immediately let out a wry smile: "This is really like trying to tame an unweaned calf..."

  In Lin's view, even if Lu Chen was extremely powerful, he would at most bring back one or two materials of the lone horned wolf like yesterday. The other party's expression clearly had a proud meaning. Lin did not expose him and only nodded, promising: "Yes, however many you want."

  "Alright then." Lu Chen said: "If I come back, I'll come straight here to find you?"

  Lin surname repair heard the words, took out three transmission symbols and handed them to Lu Chen: "I'm not always here, these three transmission symbols have my spiritual imprint, can find me. Oh, right, I'm Lin, named Hongjin."

  "Lin Hongjin, Lin Daoyou." Lu Chen remembered the name and said: "Alright, it's settled then. You can call me Yuhu. If there's anything, I'll come to you directly. Let's go."

  Having said that, Lu Chen waved his hand and turned around to walk out of the Immortal Alliance City.

  Looking at Lu Chen's back, Lin Hongjin's face revealed a strange smile. In fact, even he himself couldn't figure out why he trusted Lu Chen so much... Maybe it was the confident gaze in his eyes.

  Lin Hongjin thought so...

  ……

  "Hmm..."

  At the edge of the vast forest, Lu Chen returned to yesterday's place, his heroic spirit had grown more than tenfold... Standing at the edge of the woods, looking at the dense and lush, tall and leafy trees, he felt a mix of emotions...

  "Hmm, looks like I'll be spending the next few days here... 200 pieces of spirit stone, enough for me to last three months. Alright, I won't leave until I've sucked them dry..."

  With a plan in mind, Lu Chen gritted his teeth and plunged into the vast expanse of the Hongyuan...

  ……

  Clarifying his memories, without a moment's delay, Lu Chen once again arrived at the place where he had killed the lone wolf yesterday. Just like yesterday, it seemed very quiet here, but further into the depths of the forest, there were occasional rumbling sounds.

  "It seems that there are many people cultivating inside... I'll go in and take a look, the vast expanse of the Desolate Lands is endless, there must be some uninhabited place for me to cultivate..."

  The lone wolf is a group-based monster, and Lu Chen didn't dare to be arrogant enough to venture into the vast wilderness alone. When necessary, he had to rely on the help of the Skull Master. The Skull Master was a creature of the Ghost Sect, and if seen by others, it would inevitably cause unnecessary trouble. Therefore, Lu Chen had long prepared another set of black robes and hoods for the Skull Master to wear...

  ……

  Deeper in the wilderness, increasingly sturdy trees appeared before his eyes. Lu Chen dodged a few small cultivation teams composed of several cultivators and arrived at a location fifty miles southeast of the wilderness. According to the annotations on the map, this was one of the best places where the Lone Fire Wolf was relatively rare, perfectly suitable for his own cultivation.

  The fact is just as marked on the map. Not far away, a team of four single-horned fire wolves was waiting for Lu Chen's arrival...

  "It's yours now..."

  Lu Chen was just about to take action when suddenly, a row of three people appeared on his right side not far away. Lu Chen snapped out of it and quickly withdrew the magic power he had just activated.

  "Just a little bit more... just a little bit and Jinxiu would have been let out..."

  Lu Chen's eyes flashed with anger, his gaze turned to the trio, and he was taken aback for a moment before letting out a long sigh: "It really is fate."

  A trio of people appeared in the distance, who were none other than the three Xue surname cultivators they had met in the Desolate Expanse. Lu Chen saw them and hurriedly smiled as he greeted them: "Haha, fellow daoists, it seems we still have a lot of fate."

  Three people with the surname Xue saw Lu Chen, and their faces also changed slightly. Yesterday, they saw Lu Chen leave very calmly, and the three Xue cultivators thought he wouldn't come back again. Who would have thought that after just one night, this kid actually came back to his death again. Doesn't he really fear death?

  The three of them exchanged a glance, and it was still the Xue surname Daoist who spoke up: "Yu Hu Daoist..."

  "Xue Daoyou..." Lu Chen returned the courtesy.

  Mr. Xue didn't know what Mr. Lu was getting at, but he also couldn't bring himself to ask. After they had exchanged greetings and asked after each other's well-being, Mr. Xue found himself at a loss for words.

  Lu Chen was a self-proclaimed expert, seeing that the three of them didn't seem to be leaving, he became even more anxious: "You've finally encountered a four-clawed lone wolf pack, and you're not leaving? Are you trying to watch me, Lord Dao, and the Skull Master fight to the death? Or are you planning on secretly taking advantage of us?"

  Lu Xian asked, "Three Taoist friends, where are you going?"

  With Lu Chen starting, the conversation became relatively easier. The Xue surname cultivator smiled and said: "Hehe, Xue and others have been tired for a night, just thinking of finding a place to rest well, Yu Hu Dao friend this is..."

  "Oh~" Lu Chen replied: "Yu Hu can't find anyone with the same ideals, so today I came to try my luck and see if there's another lone Fire Wolf like yesterday."

  "Ah..." Mr. Xue, a scholar, let out a faint sound of realization, but didn't show any expression, yet in his heart, he was secretly laughing just like the other two: "This kid is still an optimist, a lone wolf who's already lucky to have encountered this once, and yet he's coming again?"

  Xue surname scholar seems to be a good person, hearing Lu Chen say this, he felt some sympathy in his heart, and after thinking about it for a while, he said: "In that case, why not do this? Anyway, the three of us can't stay here for long. Let's invite Yuhu Daoist friend to accompany us in the following days, so we can take care of each other, how is that?"

  "Xue brother?"

  As soon as this was said, Mr. Chen and Mr. He were taken aback, their faces turning unpleasant.

  A cultivator who has reached the fifth level of Qi Refining, even if he can single-handedly kill a lone Fire Wolf, is not considered impressive. Once such a person joins a team, they will inevitably become a burden to the entire team. It's precisely because of this that the cultivators surnamed Xue have always maintained a team of three and do not invite anyone else to join their hunting party. On one hand, it's due to the factor of strength, but more importantly, it's also due to another factor - trust.

  Three people don't understand Lu Chen, how can they entrust their lives to a stranger.

  Mr. Chen and Mr. He didn't say anything, but their unwillingness was already written all over their faces.

  Lu Chen could naturally see something, but it didn't matter because he never thought of joining any team or needing others to take care of him. This not only couldn't help him quickly improve his strength, but would also restrict himself.

  "It's just as well those two weren't very enthusiastic, otherwise it would have been really embarrassing to turn them down."

  Lu Chen let out a deliberate sigh and smiled wryly, "Xue brother's kind intentions are appreciated, but I'm aware of my own limitations. Joining the three of you would only make me a burden, and that's not something I'd do."

  "Huh?" Hearing Lu Chen say that, the two cultivators surnamed Chen and He let out a sigh of relief. As for Xue surname cultivator, he knew that as soon as he opened his mouth, it wasn't going to be good, and he secretly blamed himself for being rash, not having coordinated with the other two beforehand. Of course, he was also afraid that Lu Chen would agree, which would put him in a difficult position.

  Fortunately, Lu Chen was quite reasonable and did not accept the invitation. Nor did he need to speak up, as the knife-scarred He surname cultivator beside him hastily said: "In that case, we won't disturb Daoist Yuhu any further."

  As they spoke, Mr. He and Mr. Chen dragged Mr. Xue away from the woods.

  As soon as they left the forest, Mr. Chen said with displeasure: "Brother Xue, we all know you have a kind heart, but being too kind can't be done like this. He's just a little guy who has only cultivated to the fifth layer of Qi Refining, no matter how powerful he is, he's not a match for the Lone Fire Wolf. Although he killed one yesterday, don't forget that the Lone Fire Wolf is a pack-dwelling demon beast after all."

  He Xiu, a fellow disciple, also agreed: "That's right, Chen brother is reasonable. If he joins us, not only will we not gain more, but we may also fall into danger. Moreover, the materials we obtain will have to be divided among one more person. Won't it take longer for Brother Xue to treat his younger brother's accumulated spiritual stones?"

  Xue surname cultivator should know this principle, but he couldn't bear to do it, just like what Chen surname cultivator said before, he has a kind heart... a rare thing in the Cultivation Realm.

  Xue surname Shushi sighed and turned his gaze back to the direction he came from, saying: "Alas, I hope Jade Lake Daoist has a good fate..."

  The declining voice in the forest disappeared, and Mr. Chen and Mr. He exchanged a glance, also sighing, but their thoughts were as determined as before.

  "It's strange that he survived."

  Three people left the desolate land. Unbeknownst to them, at their original location, Lu Chen was quietly listening to the movements outside and confirmed that the three had already left. Lu Chen's entire demeanor underwent a heaven-reversing and earth-shattering change.

  A strong sense of fighting spirit began to surge up from within.

  He saw him wave his hand, a golden light flashed in the forest, and the golden light grew from a small bean to a large size. In the blink of an eye, a skull monk with a golden yellow color stood beside Lu Chen.

  Lu Chen pulled out the black cloak he had bought and draped it over the skeleton monk's body, then pointed at the four single-horned fire wolves in the distance and asked, "Jin Xiu, one person, two wolves, any problem?"

  "Ga ga......" A crisp sound of teeth chattering came from the hood of the cloak, like some kind of excited declaration.

  "Alright, no problem, let's get to work..."

  "Boom!" Two figures shot out like ferocious tigers pouncing on prey, charging towards the four lone-horned fire wolves...