"This..."
Wen Cai was instantly left speechless, and couldn't help feeling even more terrified.
How had Senior Disciple Brother suddenly become so powerful?
He hadn't seemed that impressive before!
Qiu Sheng stood to the side in silence, glancing at Lin Fan from time to time.
He felt indescribably dispirited and envious.
He had always thought that Senior Disciple Brother's talent was only so-so, and that he might not even be as strong as himself.
He was simply too lazy. As long as he worked hard, he could surpass Senior Disciple Brother.
But now?
The gap between them had become so enormous that he couldn't even hope to match him.
That was a demon at the half-step Xiantian realm!
If he had gone instead, he probably would have become a corpse within seconds!
But Senior Disciple Brother?
He had killed it effortlessly, even looking utterly unconcerned, as if it had been nothing worth mentioning!
The disparity was far too despairing.
"Let's all get some rest early. It's truly over now."
Lin Fan chuckled and waved his hand.
He had just obtained Merit Points, so he could optimize something again!
How could he waste time sighing here?
"Let's go."
Uncle Jiu took another look at Lin Fan, his heart filling with delight.
Without saying anything else, he led the three of them toward the Ren residence's main hall.
Before they could even enter the Ren residence's main hall,
another faint trace of demonic aura suddenly began to coil through the air!
"That's not right. There's more!"
A glint flashed through Uncle Jiu's eyes as he exchanged a look with Lin Fan.
Wen Cai and Qiu Sheng had yet to react.
The two of them had already dashed toward the courtyard on the left!
Left courtyard, main room.
Uncle Jiu and Lin Fan hurried all the way there.
Following the remnants of the demonic aura, they stopped before a resplendent room.
"Master Ren's room?"
Uncle Jiu immediately recognized the room before him.
"Let's go in and see."
Lin Fan didn't waste words. He advanced together with Uncle Jiu.
Creak!
The two of them pushed open the door.
A middle-aged man in cream-colored pajamas was walking with his eyes closed.
Master Ren seemed to have been bewitched, completely unaware of what he was doing.
He searched through every corner of the room, while large and small storage boxes from the cabinets covered the floor.
Beside the bedside table stood a withered, strange red flower that still radiated wisps of demonic aura!
"Master, it should be that."
Lin Fan looked toward Uncle Jiu and spoke with certainty.
Uncle Jiu held a talisman between his sword fingers, recited a spell, and pressed it against Ren Fa's forehead.
"Uncle Jiu... why are you..."
Master Ren opened his eyes, which were filled with haziness and confusion.
It was as if he had just awakened from a great dream.
Uncle Jiu stepped forward and examined Ren Fa. Only after confirming that he was fine did he slowly say, "The Flower Demon was causing trouble in the residence just now. Lin Fan has already killed it."
"Good, good, good!" Ren Fa's eyes lit up, but he immediately asked in confusion, "Was I bewitched by the Flower Demon?"
"Not exactly. It was caused by this flower!" Uncle Jiu pointed at the withered red flower. "Can you tell me who gave you this potted flower?"
"That's impossible. This flower was..."
As Ren Fa spoke, he suddenly froze. Looking at the withered flower covering the floor, he wailed, "My Prosperity Flower! How did it wither?"
"Prosperity Flower?"
Uncle Jiu stepped forward and pressed him for an explanation.
"This red flower is called a Prosperity Flower. They said it could bring wealth and prosperity to the family. More than ten years ago, a merchant from the southwest went to great lengths to sell it to me. It cost several hundred taels..."
Ren Fa's face was bitter as he looked at the withered flower, his heart bleeding.
Uncle Jiu said solemnly, "This isn't some Prosperity Flower. The Flower Demon was nurtured inside it."
"What?"
Ren Fa was startled and widened his eyes.
Lin Fan chuckled and reminded him, "Ordinary demons and ghosts only bewitch people so they can absorb their yang energy and strengthen themselves. But you weren't merely drained of yang energy—you were bewitched into rummaging through your room..."
"Rummaging through my room..." Ren Fa suddenly cried out in alarm, shouting repeatedly, "This is bad! This is bad!"
Ren Fa hurriedly ran toward a hidden compartment in the corner, turning his back to block Uncle Jiu and Lin Fan's view.
Only then did he slowly lift the partition, revealing a thick stack of land deeds inside.
After seeing that the deeds were completely undisturbed, Ren Fa finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Master."
Lin Fan called out to Uncle Jiu in a low voice, then cast a sidelong glance at Ren Fa ahead.
With a slight shift of his foot, he could see everything clearly.
The two then exchanged a glance, understanding each other without words.
These land deeds represented the Ren family's greatest assets.
They included everything from shops to roadside stalls, not to mention quite a bit of land.
It seemed that the other party wasn't merely trying to take a life, but also wanted to seize their wealth.
Uncle Jiu asked, "Master Ren, did you have some kind of dispute with the merchant who sent you this flower?"
"I spent several hundred taels. What dispute could we have?"
Ren Fa spread his hands helplessly. "If there was any dispute, I'd be the one looking for trouble with him!"
"Indeed."
Uncle Jiu nodded and didn't ask any further.
But this matter was rather peculiar.
Using a demon to carry out one's plans had quite the feel of an Evil Cultivator!
"Master Ren, get some rest early. It's fine now."
Lin Fan nodded at Ren Fa and said no more.
He left together with Uncle Jiu.
As soon as they stepped outside,
Lin Fan asked, "Master, did you notice anything unusual?"
Uncle Jiu shook his head and said solemnly, "Not for now. Just be more vigilant. This matter isn't that simple."
"Understood. You should get some rest early too, Master. We still have to raise the coffin and move the grave tomorrow."
"Go get some rest."
The two parted ways and returned to their rooms.
Inside the room.
Lin Fan returned to his room and immediately shut the door.
He finally had time to improve his Daoist Magic.
Lin Fan sat cross-legged and meditated. After taking a deep breath, he slowly said, "System, improve Purple Heaven Divine Thunder!"
[ Ding! The host has consumed Skill Points. Purple Heaven Divine Thunder has been upgraded from Beginner to Minor Accomplishment! ] [ Ding! The host has consumed Skill Points. Purple Heaven Divine Thunder has been upgraded from Minor Accomplishment to Major Accomplishment! ] [ System Notification: The host has insufficient Skill Points. Purple Heaven Divine Thunder cannot be upgraded further! ]
Crackle!
Thunder erupted in Lin Fan's mind!
Bolts of lightning tore through the heavens and earth!
"Major Accomplishment is enough. What an incredible boost!"
A gleam flashed through Lin Fan's eyes, and delight appeared on his face.
Compared with the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder that had instantly killed the Flower Demon moments ago, it was more than ten times stronger!
This improvement was far too exaggerated!
Even if he fought above his realm now, he might truly be able to battle someone in the Xiantian realm, right?
As expected, the higher the level of improvement, the more Skill Points it required.
It wasn't a problem. If he lounged around for another day, upgrading it to Grand Perfection would be easy enough!
"Only Merit Points are left."
Lin Fan looked at his nearly depleted Skill Points, suppressed his excitement, and curled his lips.
Calming Heart Talisman or Soul-Calming Talisman?
He already had the powerful offensive Daoist art, Purple Heaven Divine Thunder.
The Five Thunders Spell was enough to deal with little demons and monsters with ease, to say nothing of Purple Heaven Divine Thunder.
"Soul-Calming Talisman, Calming Heart Talisman..."
Lin Fan stared at the two talisman arts and began to ponder.
He had just obtained fifty Merit Points. It was time to spend them!
"Check the Daoist arts available for optimization."
[ Detected Calming Heart Talisman (Grand Perfection). Optimization requires 30 Merit Points. ] [ Detected Soul-Calming Talisman (Grand Perfection). Optimization requires 30 Merit Points. ]
"Let's go with Soul-Calming Talisman."
Lin Fan glanced at them and decided to add another offensive method.
The Calming Heart Talisman was ultimately a little too focused on support.
At least the Soul-Calming Talisman had some ability to suppress opponents.
Lin Fan called out in his heart, "System, upgrade Soul-Calming Talisman!"
[ Ding! Thirty Merit Points have been deducted. Soul-Calming Talisman upgrade commencing! ]
The system's voice faded!
In Lin Fan's mind, wisps of evil aura began to coil upward.
The figures of ghosts and zombies swayed as they flew toward him!
In an instant!
The patterns of the Soul Locking Evil Dispelling Talisman emerged!
Golden light flickered, and the evil aura was sealed away in the blink of an eye!
Before you continue