Which Senior Was It?

"Medicine Garden steward, come out and see me."

The entire Medicine Garden was deathly silent, utterly deserted.

Except for the Disheveled Man floating in the air.

His expression was displeased, his cold gaze fixed upon the residential area.

The night was cool as water. The dozen or so people in the Medicine Garden, Qi Refining cultivators and mortals alike, hid in concealed corners of the residential area.

Under the demonic might of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, no one dared even breathe loudly.

Not coming out?

After waiting several breaths, the Disheveled Man's face darkened.

If the other party came out obediently and behaved with due respect, then given his disposition, he most likely would not kill them.

"Since you refuse to come out, Liang will drag you out."

The Disheveled Man's voice was icy, a faint crimson glow flickering in his pupils.

Earth-Shaking Evil Sound!

The Disheveled Man's hair fluttered as he closed his eyes, muttering an incantation.

In an instant, an invisible soundwave steeped in evil intent spread from him, sweeping through every nook and cranny around the residences.

"Ahhh..."

Those living beings struck by the spiritual soundwave felt as though the earth had overturned beneath them. One after another, they screamed and revealed their positions, blood then pouring from their noses and mouths before they fainted.

Li Ergou and the other cultivators could not endure even two breaths. After shrieking, they passed out.

"These weaklings probably aren't the Medicine Garden steward."

The Disheveled Man's "Earth-Shaking Evil Sound" was a secret spiritual search technique, particularly adept at locating living beings hiding inside buildings.

So long as one possessed spiritual awareness, unless their cultivation greatly surpassed his, it was difficult to evade.

"Hiding quite deeply?"

The courtyard where Lan Chang'an was located was also among the Disheveled Man's targets. That sinister spiritual soundwave seeped into the basement.

Hm?

The Disheveled Man revealed a strange expression, nearly overlooking Lan Chang'an as though he were a piece of rotten wood.

Not only that, after being swept by the Earth-Shaking Evil Sound, Lan Chang'an merely let out a muffled grunt and showed little reaction.

"Interesting."

The Disheveled Man slowly descended toward the courtyard, extending a fair hand as a cruel smile curved his lips.

Just as he was about to strike and seize his target.

An unbelievable scene unfolded.

"Bold junior!"

From beneath the courtyard rose a spiritual pressure surpassing that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator. Accompanied by an ancient male voice, it surged straight into the Disheveled Man's heart.

"Foundation Establishment Realm?"

The Disheveled Man's mind jolted, and he immediately sensed a dangerous aura.

Soul-Startling Slash!

An invisible blade of divine sense, carrying bizarre shockwaves, slashed into the Disheveled Man's Primordial Spirit.

"Ah! Hiss!"

The Disheveled Man's face turned pale. He nearly fell into the courtyard, clutching his forehead in agony.

A bloody tear ran from the corner of his eye.

A white-robed youth appeared several yards away.

Though the youth was clearly only at Qi Refining Mid-Stage, he carried an ancient, powerful soul aura, stronger than the Disheveled Man's by half a measure.

"May I ask which Senior you are?"

The Disheveled Man steadied himself, his heart filled with uncertainty.

That youth had actually used a profound secret divine-sense attack technique just now, wounding his mind and nearly aggravating an old injury.

Even ordinary Core Formation True Persons might not have the chance to learn a divine-sense secret technique.

How could one appear on this youth?

Moreover, he sensed that the youth seemed to possess an additional soul aura.

The Disheveled Man formed a guess in his heart.

"This old man is Yan Donglai! A Nascent Soul Great Cultivator who does not belong to this era."

The white-robed youth stood with his hands behind his back. The ancient, unadorned aura around him was absolutely not something a Qi Refining youth could imitate.

A Nascent Soul Great Cultivator!

The Disheveled Man sucked in a cold breath, his heart shaken three times over.

No wonder this person knew such profound divine-sense secret arts. With merely Foundation Establishment-level divine sense, he had injured his mind.

To be called a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator, one had to be at least at the Nascent Soul Late Stage.

Even the Nascent Soul True Lords of Blazing Fire Palace would respectfully address such a great figure as Senior upon meeting them.

In the Cultivation World of Liang Kingdom, let alone a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator, not even a Nascent Soul Middle Stage cultivator had been born in thousands of years.

"So it is Senior Yan. Please forgive this junior for disturbing you."

Liang Shaotian did not dare stand with his hands behind his back. He cupped his hands in salute and spoke respectfully.

He had some guesses about Lan Chang'an's current state.

This youth likely had the remnant soul of a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator attached to him.

Such an old monster might be extremely weak now, but no one knew how many unfathomable tricks it still possessed.

"Who are you, and why have you come to violate this place?"

Lan Chang'an stood with both hands behind his back, his eyes deep and dark as he questioned him.

At this moment.

The "Clear Handsome Man" of the Nine Imprint Tablet's First Life became vividly lifelike. Its light-and-shadow figure peeled away from the first imprint frame and merged into Lan Chang'an's body.

In his First Life, Lan Chang'an's cultivation had reached the peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer. His divine sense exceeded that of cultivators at the same level and was close to Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

In this life, Lan Chang'an was at Qi Refining Mid-Stage, yet his divine sense had already surpassed that of ordinary Qi Refining Late-Stage cultivators.

With the two fused together, his divine sense slightly surpassed Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

Combined with the divine-sense secret art of his Second Life, it unleashed a terrifying spiritual deterrence that directly stunned the Disheveled Man.

"Reporting to Senior Yan, I am Liang Shaotian."

The Disheveled Man did not dare be negligent and answered respectfully:

"This junior is a cultivator from northern Liang Kingdom. Because I was falsely accused, I was hunted and ambushed by a cultivation sect. I suffered grave injuries, causing my cultivation to fall. Left with no other choice, I resorted to this measure..."

"Liang Shaotian?"

Lan Chang'an murmured the name, having never heard of this person.

"Your foundation has suffered damage. You cannot withstand nourishment."

He glanced at Liang Shaotian again and shook his head.

"Cannot withstand nourishment? May I ask, Senior, how it should be treated?"

Liang Shaotian humbly sought guidance.

"You need yin nourishment. Recuperate slowly, and do not consume too many pills or spiritual herbs with excessively vigorous blood qi."

Lan Chang'an answered evenly.

Yin nourishment?

Liang Shaotian fell into thought, then cupped his hands. "Thank you for your guidance, Senior Yan. This junior has offended you greatly and will take his leave."

Hearing that the Evil Cultivator was leaving, Lan Chang'an secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

Borrowing the soul power of his First Life's possession, he could only launch the divine-sense attack from earlier twice. He could not truly threaten this Foundation Establishment Evil Cultivator.

After all, the magic power of the Qi Refining Realm was simply incomparable to that of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

"Oh, right, Senior Yan."

Liang Shaotian had flown several yards away when he suddenly turned back, his gaze flashing as he looked over.

"Could I take some of the precious spiritual herbs from the Medicine Garden?"

This turn of events made Lan Chang'an curse inwardly at the Evil Cultivator brat's cunning.

Clearly, this man doubted his strength and current condition.

That was why he had spoken up to test him.

At a time like this, he absolutely could not show weakness and let Liang Shaotian easily take the precious medicinal herbs.

Otherwise, the other party would only push his luck and see through his guilty conscience.

Of course, he could not overplay it either and scold the other party as though he were a fool.

If a Nascent Soul Great Cultivator retained even one-tenth of his foundation, that divine-sense secret technique from earlier could have sent Liang Shaotian's soul flying and scattered.

Both sides understood this point.

They merely feared each other.

"The spiritual herbs—what will you exchange for them?"

Lan Chang'an replied blandly, his expression unchanged.

"What does Senior want?"

Liang Shaotian's hair hung loose behind his back, revealing a pale face with sharply defined features. His nose was straight and prominent, his lips slightly thin, and his eyes black, shadowy, and cold.

Lan Chang'an mused inwardly that this Evil Cultivator was quite a handsome man.

"Do you have any Foundation Establishment Pills?"

"No." Liang Shaotian's lips twitched.

He guessed that this Nascent Soul Old Monster was merely a remnant soul, likely with incomplete memories, and still needed to pave a path for the youth it possessed.

"Alchemy inheritances, body-refining inheritances, Puppet inheritances... do you have any of those?"

Lan Chang'an continued asking.

"I do not have a Puppet inheritance. I do have an alchemy inheritance and a body-refining inheritance."

Liang Shaotian took out two Jade Cylinders.

Lan Chang'an wrapped the Jade Cylinders in magic power and inspected them.

He found within them a Foundation Establishment-level alchemy inheritance, as well as a body-refining cultivation art named the Cloud Sand Body Refining Art.

Lan Chang'an put away the Jade Cylinders and tacitly allowed Liang Shaotian to take away a batch of precious spiritual herbs.

"Senior Yan, a pleasant cooperation."

Liang Shaotian smiled, though there was something sinister about it.

"This junior is currently facing pursuit from a sect. After acting this time, I will travel far away. I hope that in the future, I may still receive Senior Yan's guidance..."

With that, Liang Shaotian drifted away.

Lan Chang'an stood with his hands behind his back. Only after confirming that Liang Shaotian had gone far away did he release the hand behind his back.

The [Nine Imprint Tablet] in his mind.

The First Life Imprint, which had been lit with great difficulty, had once again become a patch of dead silence.

"Ergou..."

Lan Chang'an checked on the cultivators in the Medicine Garden.

Fortunately, Liang Shaotian's "Earth-Shaking Evil Sound" was merely an auxiliary search secret technique. Not a single cultivator or mortal in the Medicine Garden had died.

"Looks like this Evil Cultivator is not one who kills innocents indiscriminately."

Lan Chang'an knew that if Liang Shaotian had used the Earth-Shaking Evil Sound more forcefully, he could have at least shaken those mortals to death.

Not long afterward, Li Ergou and the other cultivators gradually woke up, all looking exhausted.

"Brother Lu, where did that Evil Cultivator go? Did he make things difficult for you?"

Li Ergou still felt lingering fear.

"No. I was hiding in the basement earlier and suddenly passed out. Maybe because my cultivation is low, he didn't think I was the Medicine Garden steward."

Lan Chang'an's answer was perfectly reasonable.

Under normal circumstances, the steward of an important place like the Medicine Garden would be a Qi Refining Late-Stage cultivator.

Only because of the war on the front lines had the position been temporarily downgraded.

The Zheng Family was doing slightly better, having sent a young and strong Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivator.

For Family Head Mu Maode to have Lan Chang'an, a Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator, guard the Medicine Garden, there was an element of gambling in it as well.

"Haha! So having low cultivation has its advantages too."

Li Ergou felt fortunate. Though the Medicine Garden had suffered losses, everyone was safe and sound.

After waiting for an hour.

Lan Chang'an frowned. "Why haven't the lineage's reinforcements arrived yet?"

"You, go back to the lineage and report the news. See what is happening."

He pointed to a young girl and instructed her.