I Have a Special Source of Intelligence...

Before long, Lu Bu slowly opened his eyes and saw Xiao Yan standing several yards away.

"Xiao Yan?"

Lu Bu raised a brow. He had expected Xiao Yan to return, but he had not expected the kid to come back so quickly. As expected of the man who would become a Dou Emperor in the future—such decisiveness was beyond ordinary people.

"You... know me?" Hearing Lu Bu call his name, Xiao Yan was deeply shocked. He had not revealed his name during their battle just now.

"Who doesn't know your name?" Lu Bu teased with a grin. "The third young master of the Xiao Family in Wutan City, Nalan Yanran's fiancé. That line of yours—thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—was deafening..."

A trace of embarrassment flashed across Xiao Yan's face. He had not expected the man before him to know so much.

But before he could finish feeling embarrassed, Lu Bu continued, "A famous pervert across the Dou Qi Continent. At the age of three, you sneaked into your cousin's room and felt her all over, even calling it nourishing her body."

"At ten, you peeped at your cousin while she bathed. When she caught you, you became angry out of embarrassment and accused her instead... Huh? Shouldn't Xiao Yu be your paternal cousin? How did she become your maternal cousin?"

"Y-you-you... how do you know that!?" With his dirty secrets exposed, Xiao Yan's face instantly flushed red as he shouted in exasperation.

"I have a special source of intelligence..." Lu Bu said with a mysterious smile.

Xiao Yan's face turned even redder. "Y-you-you... nonsense! I didn't do that! I'm not some pervert!"

"Kid, your reputation as a pervert is known to everyone from the Great Thousand World to the myriad worlds!" Lu Bu curled his lip and said disdainfully.

Xiao Yan: "..."

Damn it. If I could beat you, I'd beat you so badly even your father wouldn't recognize you!

"Back to the point," Lu Bu said. "What did you come to see me for?"

Xiao Yan relaxed slightly. Thankfully, this guy did not keep dwelling on the matter. He then stated his purpose.

He wanted to borrow the training ground and the puppet for cultivation!

"Fine. Borrow them. Go ahead." Lu Bu waved a hand and took out the rune puppet. He had already imprinted his spiritual mark on it, so no one could take it from him.

Xiao Yan nodded. Although this guy was a bastard, he kept his word.

"Not bad, kid." Yao Lao floated out of the ring and praised him with a smile. He really was a man of his word.

Since Lu Bu already knew of his existence, there was no need to keep hiding it.

Lu Bu glanced at him without responding. Forming seals with both hands, he resumed cultivating and continued stabilizing his realm after advancing to Dou Master.

Time slowly passed. In the blink of an eye, another month went by. Lu Bu cultivated and lifted iron every day, occasionally entering the Magical Beast Mountain Range to fight magical beasts. His Dou Qi cultivation steadily improved, and after another breakthrough within that month, he became a Two-Star Dou Master.

Xiao Yan's cultivation speed was no slower. With the help of Yao Lao's pills, he advanced two stars in a month and steadily approached the Dou Master level.

Clang! Clang! Clang...

Before the waterfall, Xiao Yan was once again fighting the rune puppet. Without using Dou Qi, the rune puppet's attacks were not particularly powerful, roughly equivalent to a three- or four-star Dou Master.

The reason Lu Bu had judged that the rune puppet could fight a Da Dou Shi evenly was because it felt no pain, never tired, and possessed considerable defensive power.

It had to be said that Xiao Yan had a sharp eye. The rune puppet truly was an excellent sparring partner, and Xiao Yan's cultivation speed was clearly somewhat faster than what had been recorded in the original work.

Bang!

The rune puppet's iron fist slammed viciously into Xiao Yan. With a splash, Xiao Yan flew backward and plunged into the lake.

"Alright, rest for now." Yao Lao waved his hand. His soul power spread out and activated a formation on the rune puppet. At once, the puppet stopped in place as though its power had been cut.

"Phew... I'm exhausted..." Xiao Yan stuck out his tongue and lay beside the lake, panting heavily.

The rune puppet did not have a human brain and had no sense of restraint. It attacked as if trying to kill him, and a moment of carelessness would leave Xiao Yan injured.

Recovering from injuries was not a problem, but it would waste a great deal of time. Time was what he had least of, so Xiao Yan had to stay completely focused every day to deal with the rune puppet's attacks.

Lu Bu ignored them. He held a yellowed scroll in his hand. It was an incomplete map, upon which a sinister black fire lotus could vaguely be seen.

A map of the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. It was time to draw out Yao Lao's alchemy techniques. This Heavenly Flames map in his hand was the bait.

Lu Bu was determined to obtain both the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame and the Heaven Refining Ancient Formation. He certainly would not let Xiao Yan get his hands on them.

As for how he would take the map back from Xiao Yan... Heh. He was a transmigrator. He had enough bargaining chips to crush Xiao Yan into calling him daddy.

Before long, Xiao Yan, having changed into clean clothes, came over to Lu Bu while panting. Seeing that Lu Bu was not cultivating as usual but staring blankly at a sheet of yellow paper, he could not help leaning in for a closer look.

"Brother Lu, what is this?"

"Little Yan, this thing... is rather extraordinary!" Yao Lao shouted in his mind. "That lotus looks very much like the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame!"

"The Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame? The Heavenly Flame ranked third?" Delight immediately flashed across Xiao Yan's face. His Flame Mantra was still Yellow-tier Low-level, barely out of the beginner stage, and was terrible in every respect.

After less than two minutes of fighting, he would run out of Dou Qi. He was desperate to upgrade his cultivation method and longed for Heavenly Flames so badly his eyes were practically green.

"Brother Lu, this map of yours seems rather mysterious..." Xiao Yan licked his lips and asked tentatively.

Lu Bu glanced at him, knowing the fish had taken the bait.

"What? You're interested?" Lu Bu asked blandly.

"Haha..." Xiao Yan gave a fawning smile. "I'm very interested in mysterious things like this."

"Do you know what it is?" Lu Bu asked with a light laugh.

"I don't. I'm merely curious," Xiao Yan said, shaking his head. This involved a Heavenly Flame, and he did not want the news to spread. The man before him also had fire-attributed Dou Qi, so there was no guarantee they would not end up competing for it.

"Then do you want to know?" Lu Bu smiled.

"Brother Lu, you know this thing's origins?" Surprise appeared on Xiao Yan's face, but his heart sank. This is troublesome...

"This was left behind by the Pure Lotus Demon Sage." Lu Bu flicked the map and chuckled.

"The Pure Lotus Demon Sage..." Xiao Yan's expression changed drastically. Just from the name, he knew this had to be a Dou Sheng expert.

"That's right, the Pure Lotus Demon Sage." Lu Bu nodded and chuckled.

"He was a peerless expert at the peak of Nine-star Dou Sheng, with one foot already in the Dou Emperor realm. He nearly became the first Dou Emperor after Tou She Ancient God."

Xiao Yan's mouth fell open, his throat dry. He had thought this thing was only related to a Heavenly Flame, but he had not expected it to involve a Half-Emperor expert.

"Th-this..." Xiao Yan was dumbstruck and unable to speak for a long while. Upon hearing this, Yao Lao also floated out of the ring, his face filled with gravity.

Seeing their reactions, Lu Bu continued, "The Pure Lotus Demon Sage was called the Pure Lotus Demon Sage because he refined the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame."

"And the purpose of the map he left behind was to help later generations obtain the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. In other words..." Lu Bu waved the map in his hand and smiled.

"This is the Pure Lotus Demon Sage's inheritance!"

With a boom, Xiao Yan felt as though his mind had exploded. He was so shaken that he could not speak, standing there with his mouth hanging open without being able to say a word.

"Th-this... I... y-you, how did you...?" Xiao Yan stammered for a long time, unable to form a complete sentence.

Yao Lao narrowed his eyes, unsure what he was thinking. After pondering for a moment, he asked, "Kid, why are you telling us all this? And how did you learn about it?"

Even he, Venerable Yao, who had seen much and traveled the world for decades, could only identify the Purifying Demonic Lotus Flame. He knew nothing at all about the Pure Lotus Demon Sage or his inheritance. How did this kid know?

Xiao Yan immediately came to his senses. Right, why tell them? Wouldn't it be better to hide it himself?

"Of course, it's because I have a special source of intelligence." Patting the map, Lu Bu chuckled. "Do you want it?"

"What do you mean?" Xiao Yan's expression changed.

"If you want it, I can give it to you." Lu Bu smiled.

"As long as you can offer something worth trading for it."

At those words, Yao Lao's eyes lit up. He was the continent's number one alchemist. If there was one thing he did not lack, it was money!

Xiao Yan's eyes also burned with excitement. This was the inheritance of a Half-Emperor. Though incomplete, it gave him hope!

"Go on, kid. What do you want?" Yao Lao laughed heartily. "Cultivation methods, Dou techniques, pills—there is nothing in my possession that you can think of but that I cannot provide."

That was exactly what Lu Bu wanted to hear!

Lu Bu chuckled. "I want... alchemy techniques!"