Great King West Rat stared at Cry Soul True Person, dead beyond any doubt.
Its eyes went wide and blank.
Everything had happened far too quickly.
Lu Qingshan had merely told it that when he needed it, it should use the Soul Loss Technique to assist him, then charged at Cry Soul True Person without a second thought.
—It had not even had time to react, only instinctively cooperating with Lu Qingshan to cast the Soul Loss Technique.
By the time it came to its senses, Cry Soul True Person had already become a corpse.
???
This was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. How had he been slain by a single sword strike?
Great King West Rat gradually began to doubt its life as a rat.
At the same time, it felt immensely fortunate.
Thank heavens I surrendered fast enough back then. Otherwise, I'd probably be a dead rat too.
"Let's go." Lu Qingshan called out to the dazed Great King West Rat.
Great King West Rat snapped back to its senses and hurriedly leaped onto Lu Qingshan's shoulder, wearing an obedient look.
Lu Qingshan's figure flashed, and he swiftly left the place.
Inside the inn where Lu Qingshan was temporarily staying.
"What are we doing here now?" Great King West Rat looked at Lu Qingshan, who had been drinking tea at the side ever since returning to the inn, and felt puzzled.
Judging by Lu Qingshan's manner, he must have something planned.
"Waiting for someone," Lu Qingshan explained.
"Waiting for someone? Who?" Great King West Rat grew even more confused.
"Don't rush. They should be here soon." Lu Qingshan poured himself another cup of tea.
Knock—
A knock sounded at the door.
Great King West Rat's heart skipped a beat. Someone had really come?
"Is Lu Qingshan inside?" The voice was cool and clear, yet exceptionally pleasant to hear.
"Come in."
The room door was pushed open from outside.
The door had not been locked at all.
A man and a woman, both cultivators, entered. The female cultivator wore white robes, with peerless beauty and an icy temperament, like a snow lotus atop the Heavenly Mountains. Who else could she be but Tantai Qingrun?
As for the male cultivator, he appeared to be a middle-aged man, but his hair was streaked black and white, as though it had been deliberately highlighted.
Tantai Qingrun had clearly noticed that the door was not locked. She gave Lu Qingshan a meaningful glance. "You've been waiting for us for quite some time, haven't you?"
Lu Qingshan shook his head. "Not long, not long. You moved quite quickly."
"Not only did you make no attempt to conceal anything, you even deliberately left Cry Soul True Person's corpse behind. If Yuanshan Tower still couldn't quickly piece together the whole story and follow the trail here, wouldn't we be no different from useless trash?" Tantai Qingrun did not accept Lu Qingshan's praise.
The destructive force of cultivators fighting was far too terrifying, and innocents were often caught in the blast.
Thus, the Great Xia Imperial Family strictly forbade cultivators from fighting within human cities, and even more so from casually killing people in the city.
After killing Cry Soul True Person, Lu Qingshan had not disposed of his corpse, instead leaving it exactly where it was. Was that not so Yuanshan Tower could quickly track him down through it?
Lu Qingshan neither confirmed nor denied Tantai Qingrun's words. He took an item from his Storage Ring and placed it on the table, then turned to the middle-aged male cultivator. "Supervisor Qi, you came for this item, didn't you?"
Because every use of Observe Heaven required sacrificing a portion of one's lifespan, the mirror holders of Heavenly Mystery Temple all had heads full of white hair while still in the prime of life.
With such an obvious trait, coupled with the fact that he had arrived alongside Tantai Qingrun, it was not difficult to guess the middle-aged cultivator's identity.
Of course, Lu Qingshan had not identified Qi Yuan through those clues.
Qi Yuan was an important NPC in the Corpse Puppet Uprising version. As a veteran player, how could Lu Qingshan possibly not recognize him?
Qi Yuan looked at the item Lu Qingshan had casually placed on the table, and an almost imperceptible flicker of delight passed through his eyes.
The item Lu Qingshan had taken out was precisely a Heavenly Mystery Mirror Fragment.
Among the two Storage Rings searched from Cry Soul True Person, one had contained a Heavenly Mystery Mirror Fragment.
"What do you want?" Qi Yuan asked in a low voice. "Spirit stones, cultivation techniques, or Spirit Artifacts?"
Lu Qingshan replied calmly, "No reward is necessary. I am merely returning it to its rightful owner."
Qi Yuan accepted the Heavenly Mystery Mirror Fragment. Looking at the exceedingly young face of the youth before him, he fell silent for a moment before saying, "Consider it that this old man owes you a favor. Should you need anything in the future, I can do my utmost to help you once."
In other words, he owed Lu Qingshan a favor.
Using a Heavenly Mystery Mirror Fragment that was useless to a Sword Cultivator in exchange for a favor from the mirror holder of Heavenly Mystery Temple and a regional supervisor—
Naturally, that was a profitable deal.
Lu Qingshan did not stand on ceremony with Qi Yuan and nodded in acceptance.
The reason he had not asked Qi Yuan for any reward was partly a matter of advancing by retreating.
Of course, there was another very important reason.
He was not short on spirit stones right now.
The Storage Ring containing the Heavenly Mystery Mirror Fragment held treasures far beyond his expectations.
A Storage Ring with that kind of wealth could never have belonged to a Foundation Establishment Sword Cultivator.
If he had guessed correctly, that Storage Ring had originally belonged to a Golden Core cultivator.
Qi Yuan put away the Heavenly Mystery Mirror and turned to leave.
He had come this time solely to retrieve the Heavenly Mystery Mirror Fragment.
Once Qi Yuan left, only Lu Qingshan, Tantai Qingrun, and a trembling black rat whose teeth would not stop chattering remained in the room.
Good heavens, what kind of people are these?
The astonishing instincts of a demon beast allowed Great King West Rat to sense a terrifying aura as deep as an abyss from both Tantai Qingrun and Qi Yuan.
Don't move. Don't move.
Tantai Qingrun said nothing, merely staring silently at Great King West Rat.
Great King West Rat shuddered from head to toe.
"I just remembered that I have a date with Ah Fang from the kitchen, so I'll be off to keep my appointment." Great King West Rat gave an awkward laugh and hastily fled, thoughtfully closing the door behind it as it left.
Lu Qingshan looked at Tantai Qingrun with a smile that was not quite a smile. "Could it be that Tower Master Tantai has some other important matter?"
"Who are you?" Tantai Qingrun asked coldly.
"Didn't I already say it? Lu Qingshan of the Lu Family. With Yuanshan Tower's capabilities, verifying my identity should not be difficult. Why does Tower Master Tantai still ask such a question?" Lu Qingshan put away his smile and answered seriously.
"Qi Refining eighth layer. Two days ago, you were still a Qi Refining second-layer cultivator. How do you explain that?" Tantai Qingrun shook her head and questioned him again. "And setting aside your explosive rise in cultivation over just two days, Cry Soul True Person was a Foundation Establishment Late Stage cultivator. How did a Qi Refining eighth-layer cultivator like you kill him without suffering so much as a scratch?"
Lu Qingshan waved a hand, raising his brows. "Just luck. Not worth mentioning, not worth mentioning."
Seeing Lu Qingshan's indifferent manner, Tantai Qingrun fixed him with a scrutinizing gaze.
For a moment, the atmosphere became somewhat strange.
"Before your Body Seizure, were you in the Nascent Soul Realm, or even higher?" Tantai Qingrun abruptly changed the subject and asked.
Lu Qingshan froze, then finally understood. Tantai Qingrun had taken him for a Nascent Soul old monster who had seized a body.
Lu Qingshan laughed. "What Body Seizure? I am simply Lu Qingshan."
"Since you are unwilling to say, I will not force you. But this cooperation was rather pleasant. If you have any more intelligence, you may come to Yuanshan Tower." With those words, Tantai Qingrun turned and departed.
No matter what Lu Qingshan's origins were, at least for now, he stood on Yuanshan Tower's side. The benefits that could be gained from him were real and plainly visible.
She had no reason to refuse cooperation with Lu Qingshan, much less any reason to rashly make an enemy of him.
Yuanshan Tower organization favorability increased by 150. Zhishou Tower organization favorability increased by 15. Heavenly Mystery Temple faction unlocked. Heavenly Mystery Temple favorability increased by 10. Yuanshan Tower: Enthusiastic (200). Zhishou Tower: Friendly (20). Heavenly Mystery Temple: Friendly (10).
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