Heh Heh Heh...

"Can you get away?" Lu Bu asked with a light chuckle.

A look of grim resolve rose on Xiao Yan's face, his gaze fierce. "Teacher, let's risk it all!"

Yao Lao nodded, gripping the Mysterious Heavy Ruler as he faced Lu Bu. "Though I can't defeat you, if you want to kill me... you'll have to pay a price as well!"

Yao Lao's gaze sharpened. His black robes fluttered without wind as the powerful aura of Venerable Yao erupted from him, just as Xiao Yan had said...

Risk it all!

"Mm... about that..." Lu Bu shrugged. "You're right. Killing you would indeed cost me quite a bit."

Yao Lao, who had been preparing for a fight to the death, suddenly faltered. The expression of desperate determination on his face froze stiffly.

Why was this guy not playing by the rules? Shouldn't he have said something like, "Go ahead and try," or "Today, one of us dies"?

Lu Bu curled his lip. Beating Yao Lao earlier had merely been to display his strength and lay the groundwork for the coming negotiations with a show of force. He had no grudge against Xiao Yan, so why fight to the death?

Besides...

Lu Bu glanced toward a patch of shadow beneath the trees. If he was right, that was the bodyguard Xiao Xun'er had assigned to her lover. He was confident he could take down Yao Lao in his current state, but he was not confident about fighting two at once.

"Uh... Teacher, it seems he doesn't intend to kill us?" Xiao Yan asked tentatively. He did not dare make decisions on his own. He had made two mistakes in a row just now; without Yao Lao, he would have died at the puppet's hands.

"That does seem to be the case..." Yao Lao agreed with Xiao Yan's words. There was not the slightest killing intent on this man. He truly did not seem to want to kill them.

"In that case, may I leave now, sir?" Yao Lao asked.

"Of course." Lu Bu chuckled. "But you disturbed me. Leave something behind before you go."

"Pills, cultivation methods, treasures, Dou Techniques, whatever." Lu Bu smiled. "Or, if you're willing, an arm will do."

Yao Lao sighed. He had not expected to encounter such a troublesome expert in a backwater place like the Magical Beast Mountain Range.

"Fine. Take this." Yao Lao waved a hand, and a scroll shot forth.

Lu Bu caught it. It was a Mysterious-tier Advanced fire-attributed cultivation method. He weighed it in his hand and shook his head. "This doesn't quite match your status..."

"Senior Venerable Yao."

The instant those words fell, Xiao Yan's eyes turned sharp, and the Mysterious Heavy Ruler in his hand once again lit up with crimson radiance.

"Don't get so worked up." Lu Bu waved a hand indifferently. "Your identity wasn't hard to figure out. Once the Bone Spirit Cold Fire appeared, even an idiot could tell."

The light on the Mysterious Heavy Ruler slowly faded. Yao Lao lowered his weapon. They had already fought, and he could not beat the other party.

"Teacher, y-you... you're actually a Dou Zun?" Xiao Yan became wildly excited. He had only heard of experts of that level in legends.

"What do you want?" Yao Lao ignored the excited Xiao Yan and looked up to ask.

"Replace this with an Earth-tier Advanced one." Lu Bu waved his hand and tossed the scroll back.

"I don't have one!" Yao Lao snorted coldly. "I treasure those things myself!"

"Then we fight!"

Lu Bu immediately gave a ferocious grin. Array patterns emerged beneath his feet, and an illusory silver skull flickered into view.

Yao Lao instantly developed a headache. He could not win in a fight, nor could he escape. It truly was a tiger fallen to the plains, bullied by dogs.

What gave him an even greater headache was that he could not even stay behind to cover Xiao Yan's escape. That puppet was no ordinary fighter; Xiao Yan could not handle it alone.

"Wait, I can give you an Earth-tier Low-level one..."

"Heh heh heh, Yin Demon Howl—!"

Lu Bu grinned cruelly and remained unmoved. His hand seals slowly changed, and the skull's mouth opened bit by bit.

"Earth-tier Intermediate!" Yao Lao shouted. "I'll give you an Earth-tier Intermediate one!"

Lu Bu abruptly withdrew his aura and smiled warmly, his face as refined as jade.

"Okay, dear. No problem, dear. Earth-tier Intermediate it is!"

"Damn it..." Yao Lao's face darkened. If only he had held out for a few more minutes...

With a wave of his hand, a fiery-red scroll shot out. Lu Bu caught it, finding an Earth-tier Intermediate cultivation method called the Heavenly Gang Crimson Flame Art.

"Mm, very good. You may leave." Lu Bu waved a hand, staring at the cultivation method without even glancing at Xiao Yan or Yao Lao.

"This guy... he really doesn't care about me at all..." Xiao Yan was speechless. Then, with a tap of his foot, he ran into the forest.

"Oh, right. Consider this time as me owing you a favor. If you need anything, you can come find me here. I'll be staying here for some time." Lu Bu called out to stop Xiao Yan. He felt a little embarrassed about extorting an Earth-tier cultivation method. Of course, those words also gave Xiao Yan and Yao Lao an opening—an opening for future cooperation.

Xiao Yan paused, looked at Lu Bu in the sky, nodded, and disappeared into the forest.

Lu Bu did not care about them. Given Xiao Yan's love of taking advantage, he might already be thinking of how to rope Lu Bu into the Misty Cloud Sect. Lu Bu had said that he owed them a favor precisely to give them an excuse to come find him.

So, they would return. There was no rush. Once they came back, it would be time to get his hands on alchemy techniques!

The black wings behind Lu Bu gave a light flap as he returned to the ground. At first, the cultivation method his original body had practiced was merely some Yellow-tier Low-level street-stall trash.

Later, Lu Bu killed Yun Yue and found a Mysterious-tier Advanced cultivation method in his Ring. At his current stage, it was decent enough—more than sufficient.

But... wasn't there something better now?

Lu Bu tossed the scroll in his hand and chuckled. He sat cross-legged, pressed the scroll to his brow, and began studying the cultivation method.

The Heavenly Gang Crimson Flame Art had no especially remarkable traits. Its only distinguishing feature was endurance.

After cultivating it, one's Dou Qi would be deep and unceasing, flowing without end. One's Dou Qi would be several times more abundant than that of experts at the same level.

This was a cultivation method comprehended from the Three Thousand Burning Flame. However, the Three Thousand Burning Flame could use starlight to restore itself, while this cultivation method used sunlight.

"Very good." Lu Bu nodded in praise.

Elsewhere, deep in the mountains, Xiao Yan stopped beneath a tree, panting heavily.

"Damn it, he actually extorted an Earth-tier cultivation method from us!" Xiao Yan cursed indignantly.

"Forget it. Let's not talk about that." Yao Lao slowly floated out. "That man was fairly decent. Even after learning my identity, he only extorted a cultivation method. If it had been someone else, they might have killed us for our treasures."

Yao Lao understood this clearly. As the greatest alchemist on the continent, he possessed quite a few treasures. Had he encountered a weakened version of himself, he might truly have killed and robbed him.

That man had only extorted a cultivation method. On the Dou Qi Continent, where human lives were treated as worthless, that already counted as exceptionally high moral character.

"Let's go. Keep looking for a place and prepare to begin cultivation," Yao Lao said.

However, Xiao Yan stroked his chin and muttered, "Teacher, he said earlier that he owed us a favor..."

Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Yao Lao raised a brow. "What are you planning?"

"Teacher, let me ask you something." Xiao Yan said, "If I can use that puppet to hone my combat skills, can it speed up my cultivation?"

"This..." Yao Lao pondered for a moment. There was no doubting that battle was the best form of cultivation. If Xiao Yan could cultivate using that puppet, it would certainly speed up his progress.

Yao Lao gave an affirmative answer to Xiao Yan's question. "Yes."

"Does that person have any intention of killing us?" Xiao Yan continued.

"Definitely not..." Yao Lao took a deep breath. At this point, he understood Xiao Yan's intentions. A superb training tool, a person who posed no danger, and that place was indeed quite good. They had no reason not to return.

"Let's go. We're heading back." Xiao Yan stood up. This time, he walked over openly and honestly.

Beneath the waterfall, Lu Bu sat cross-legged within the Spirit Gathering Array. Pale yellow Dou Qi rose from his body, but as his cultivation method circulated beneath the sunlight, the pale yellow Dou Qi slowly began turning bright yellow, gaining an inexplicable trace of nobility.

He was switching cultivation methods. As time passed, in just about half an hour, the pale yellow Dou Qi had completely turned bright yellow, and the conversion was complete.

At the same time, however, the energy vortex above his head suddenly began to stir. The energy between heaven and earth surged into his body.

"Is this... a breakthrough to Dou Shi?" Lu Bu was instantly overjoyed. His hand seals changed, and the Dou Qi vortex within him began spinning madly. Droplets of bright yellow liquid Dou Qi began falling into his dantian.

Not far away, Xiao Yan, who had just arrived nearby, stared in shock. "Teacher, he's only a Dou Shi? Could he be like me, with someone similar to you inside him?"

"This..." Yao Lao frowned slightly. His earlier battle with the boy had been entirely a clash of soul power. "It doesn't seem likely. Perhaps his soul power is abnormal, or perhaps he had some other fortuitous encounter..."

"Forget it, there's no point dwelling on it." Xiao Yan muttered, staring unblinkingly at Lu Bu.

He was currently only a six-star Dou Zhe and was not far from advancing to Dou Shi. Observing a Dou Shi's advancement was an extremely rare learning opportunity for him.

Yet he was soon disappointed. Before he could make out anything important, a layer of bright yellow energy gauze slowly emerged around Lu Bu's body.

This meant that Lu Bu had already advanced to Dou Shi.