The Cunning Old Man

This junior, though cunning and sly, showed genuine emotion after receiving the inheritance just now.

He understood the wickedness of people but still possessed a conscience.

Perhaps such a person was the most suited to survive in the cultivation world.

However, whether he could survive until the end remained to be seen... Heh.

"This old man died many years ago. This wisp of residual soul was left behind solely to pass on the final cultivation techniques of the Profound Yin Absolute Pulse to future generations, preventing them from suffering further hardship. Now that my wish is fulfilled, I have no regrets."

"Take the remaining items in the bamboo house with you."

With a sigh, the old man's voice grew fainter and fainter, eventually disappearing into the depths of the secret realm, as if losing its last spark of life.

Bai Lan remained silent for a long time. After saving her progress, she took a few steps closer, crossed the threshold, and saw the scene inside the bamboo house.

A simple and dust-free room. On the futon in the center of the room sat a skeleton, aged and weathered by time.

Was this the old man who had just spoken?

"Host — Host —! Are you there —" The system's cautious voice came from outside the bamboo house.

Seeing that Bai Lan remained motionless for a long time, the little system couldn't stay put any longer and decided to come down to check on Bai Lan's condition.

Bai Lan's expression shifted. She glanced at the skeletal remains before her, a smile flashing in her eyes.

She turned around ostentatiously, exposing her greatest weakness: "I'm here, you...!"

Just as Bai Lan turned to look at the system, a faint blue light flashed in the eye sockets of the skeleton behind her.

In an instant, an invisible pressure swept over Bai Lan's entire body. Even a wisp of a soul from a Core Formation stage cultivator was enough to render Bai Lan unable to move.

An unknown blue flame tightly enveloped her, and the old man's divine sense immediately invaded Bai Lan's sea of consciousness.

It was body snatching.

Tsk, what a cunning old ghost, faking his dissipation to trick her, when in reality, a trace of his soul remained.

Bai Lan had anticipated this, so she wasn't surprised.

She let out a cold snort but didn't rush to reload her save. Instead, she quietly observed the old man's soul movements and spoke slowly.

"Old man, your soul is so weak it's just a remnant, yet you still want to play at body snatching? Wouldn't it be better to just pass on peacefully?" Bai Lan's voice held a hint of amusement.

The old man hadn't expected Bai Lan to be so calm, and his heart sank.

Could this brat really have a backup plan?

But... he had already died once. If this body snatching succeeded today, it would be a gain. If it failed, he would die anyway, so it wasn't a loss.

"If it were a cultivator who came here, I would know I was no match and wouldn't dare to have such thoughts. I would only make them swear an oath to fulfill my dying wish. But you, child, are a mortal. A mortal's soul is as fragile as paper. Such a good opportunity for body snatching, of course, I cannot let it pass."

Bai Lan started laughing. "You're really willing to lower yourself, as an old man, to snatch the body of a young girl like me. If you succeed, how will you face yourself in the future? Won't you be ashamed?"

"Hmph!" The old man snorted coldly and didn't answer. He poured his entire wisp of residual soul into the depths of Bai Lan's sea of consciousness, attempting to engage her in a final life-or-death struggle.

Bai Lan knew her limits. As the old man said, a mortal's soul was as fragile as paper, making it impossible to contend with a cultivator.

The system finally floated over, but its voice cracked in fright when it saw the scene before it: "Oh my god! Quick, quick, reload the save, Host!"

A Core Formation stage soul was devouring its host's soul, yet its host was acting as if nothing was happening... as if she was watching a show!???

The system was terrified.

"Why the panic?" Bai Lan chuckled lightly, exchanging a meaningful glance with the old man. In the old man's confused gaze, just before his divine sense collided with hers, she clicked to reload the save.

If you like this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.

Time instantly rewound to one minute before Bai Lan entered the bamboo house. Everything was as peaceful as it had been a minute ago.

The skeleton in the bamboo house still sat quietly, waiting for Bai Lan to fall into the trap.

Bai Lan stopped in front of the bamboo house and glanced at the skeleton inside with a smile. "Senior, there's no need to play dumb with me. I know you're still here."

The skeleton paused, remaining silent and continuing to play dead.

"You can stay in the house for a few more days, old man. I'll come back in three days to collect your corpse after you've completely died." Bai Lan waved at the skeleton with a smile and turned to leave.

The blue flame in the skeleton's eye sockets flickered. "Junior! How did you know this old man was still here!"

"A cunning and treacherous person like you, Senior, I wouldn't believe you if you didn't have some underhanded tricks up your sleeve." Bai Lan said this in a declarative tone, as if stating a fact, which made it even more sarcastic.

The old man knew he was in the wrong but still held onto a sliver of hope. "Child, all of this is just your speculation."

"Alright, I don't have much time, so I won't play these games of deception with you. Farewell." Bai Lan didn't argue with him, spoke plainly, and then slowly retreated from the bamboo house.

"Junior, wait!" the old man called out in a deep voice.

Bai Lan's footsteps didn't stop.

Everything that needed to be said, the old man had already said.

"Junior! Junior!!! Come forward! This old man has treasures to give you! Don't leave!" the skeleton shouted urgently.

Perhaps because he shouted so loudly, one of the ribs on the skeleton's frame snapped from the force of his voice.

The bone, weathered by years, was already brittle.

The broken rib fell onto the wooden floor with a crisp and pleasant "clang!" sound.

Bai Lan walked away, leaving the old man shouting behind her.

"Host, what were you just doing! You scared me to death, sob sob sob. If you had been swallowed by that old man and couldn't reload, it would have been really deadly." The system clutched Bai Lan's sleeve, still trembling.

"I was just curious about how cultivators perform body snatching, and about the blue flame in his soul. It was a bit strange, so I just looked for a few more seconds. Little System, you're too timid, you need more practice in the future." Bai Lan said helplessly.

"It's not that I'm timid! It's that you're too reckless!" the System retorted.

Bai Lan patted the System's head: "Let's go, let's go check out the other bamboo houses and see what good things are inside. I'm really looking forward to the inheritance that originally belonged to Long Aotian."

Of the remaining three bamboo houses, one was a library, one was an alchemy room, and the last one was filled with ashes and the skeletons of unknown creatures.

"You go to the library and find me the cultivation technique for drawing Qi into the body." Bai Lan assigned the task to the System.

"I knew I shouldn't have come down to see you. Now I'm being ordered around by you, hmph." The grey-robed youth flicked his sleeve, but still floated into the library to browse the books on the shelves.

Bai Lan went to investigate the other two bamboo houses.

She carefully identified them. One bamboo house was likely a storage room for monster bone materials, but due to the passage of time and lack of maintenance over the years, many materials were no longer usable.

The old man must have died more than a thousand years ago. Otherwise, given the toughness of monster bones and hides, these materials wouldn't have decayed to this state in just a hundred years.

There wasn't much in the alchemy room, only the cauldron in the center and two storage bags that were quite eye-catching.

The cauldron was grayish-blue, covered in a thick layer of dust.

After taking out a cloth and gently wiping away the dust, rows of complex and profound runes were revealed, carved onto the cauldron.

Just as Bai Lan was examining the cauldron...

"What's wrong with this old man? In such a huge library, there isn't even a single technique for drawing Qi into the body." The System, after being ordered by Bai Lan to search the entire library, finally spoke indignantly.