Lu Yuan thought it over, then shook his head.
No.
Absolutely not.
In his previous life, he had struggled at the bottom for a full ten years, living humbly for ten years.
Now that he had a chance, no matter what, he couldn't choose to give up!
If he didn't seize the opportunity now...
Forget whether he'd regret it later. Once the world changed, getting his hands on it would be even harder.
With that thought, Lu Yuan looked up and continued, "I really do want this item. Could I trouble Manager Lin to help me meet the seller? I'll be sure to show my gratitude if it works out."
He didn't know who the seller was, so he could only ask Jubaozhai to make the introduction.
"Mr. Lu, there's no need to say that."
Manager Lin spoke up. "You're our valued guest. Serving you is our duty. Since you've asked, I'll certainly give it a try."
"That said, Mr. Lu, you should still prepare yourself. This seller isn't sincere to begin with. Asking twenty million is already excessive. Someone approached him before, but in the end, they couldn't bring themselves to pay."
"Couldn't bring themselves to pay?"
Lu Yuan smiled. "That's because they hadn't met a buyer like me."
The Eleven-story Blood Futu was far too important. Even now, he couldn't forget the sight of it back then.
As long as he got his hands on it, twenty million would be nothing.
"All right, Mr. Lu. Just wait for my news."
Manager Lin saw how determined Lu Yuan was to get the item and immediately nodded, promising to do everything he could.
Afterward, the two chatted for a while.
Seeing that there was nothing else he needed, Lu Yuan picked up the Ghost Seal and left the sixth floor.
By the time he left Jubaozhai, the sun was almost setting.
He got into his car and drove somewhere else. It still wasn't the villa in the north of the city, but an old neighborhood on the outer ring.
On the way, Lu Yuan even made a point of stopping to buy some fruit. It wasn't expensive, just ordinary fruit.
It was nearly seven.
The car pulled up in front of a single-story house.
There was a courtyard outside, and from the street, he could see wisps of green smoke rising inside.
On closer inspection, the smoke carried the smell of Chinese herbs.
"Old Master Ge, I've come to bother you again without an invitation."
Pushing open the gate, Lu Yuan lifted the bag in his hand and smiled. "I even bought you some fruit."
At that moment,
a thin old man, around sixty or seventy, sat in the courtyard with a fan in hand, repeatedly fanning the medicine pot in front of him.
When he saw Lu Yuan, he merely raised his eyelids, then went back to tending the medicine, giving a quiet "Mm" without any warmth.
Lu Yuan was used to it.
After setting the fruit on the table, he came over, took the fan, and took over the job of tending the medicine.
Old Master Ge frowned, but ultimately said nothing. He walked over to the rocking chair and lay down without a word.
Lu Yuan, however, felt a flicker of delight. Since being reborn, he had come by every day.
On the first day, the old man had kicked him straight out.
But as time passed, he had eventually been allowed through the door. Now Old Master Ge didn't even mind him bringing gifts and helping out. To Lu Yuan, that was a pretty good sign. At least his persistence was paying off.
The truth was, he and Old Master Ge weren't related at all. They hadn't even known each other before.
He'd come here and tried to grow closer to the old man, of course, for a reason.
He simply hadn't revealed it yet.
At that moment,
he was just like a kind-hearted younger relative, helping the old man tend the medicine and take care of things.
One old, one young: one sat, the other lay down.
At last, the older man couldn't sit still any longer. He straightened up and said, "All right, Xiao Lu. The medicine's nearly done. You should head home."
"It's fine. I'm not in a hurry." Lu Yuan smiled, still sitting right where he was.
Old Master Ge was helpless. He continued, "Xiao Lu, I know your family's well-off, and you went to college. You don't believe those ridiculous rumors going around, do you? The ones saying my family descends from Ge Hong?"
Ge Hong, also known as Baopuzi, was a famous alchemist in Chinese history. He was renowned, and legend had it that he was an immortal.
But he had an even more famous relative: Ge Xuan, one of the Four Great Celestial Masters!
"Legends aren't always true, but perhaps this one is?" Lu Yuan smiled. "Of course, that's not why I've been helping you these past few days."
"Really?" The old man didn't believe him.
"Really!"
Lu Yuan answered firmly, though his eyes casually glanced toward a medicine furnace not far away in the courtyard.
The furnace wasn't large. It had three legs and no lid, and was about the size of a basketball. It was clearly an antique, but it had been poorly preserved and left lying around carelessly. The patterns on its surface had worn smooth, making it impossible to determine its exact age.
In an ordinary person's eyes, the furnace was worth, at most, eighty or a hundred yuan.
But in truth, only Lu Yuan knew that the item was extraordinary. It was yet another divine artifact.
It looked utterly unremarkable, yet it was one of the rare objects with all manner of mysterious properties even before the global transformation.
Because
its true name was Zi Wu Bu Tian Lu, the furnace Immortal Master Ge had used to refine pills.
As for how Lu Yuan knew, that was because he had obtained the thing himself in his previous life.
It was thanks to this very item that he had managed to survive for a full ten years in the world after the global transformation. Obtaining it had been a matter of sheer coincidence, after many hardships. And it was also because of this furnace that Lu Yuan had ultimately been killed.
He had died without ever managing to unleash the true power of Zi Wu Bu Tian Lu.
It had been one of his greatest regrets.
Now
was the time to make up for it.
But the furnace wasn't his only purpose.
Of course, he couldn't say that out loud. It would be far too obvious and would only annoy the old man.
He had made inquiries about Old Master Ge. The old man didn't have much money, but he was stubborn and eccentric. That was why Lu Yuan hadn't tried to solve things with money. With someone like this, he had to trade sincerity for sincerity.
"All right. I suppose I'll believe you."
Old Master Ge shook his head. Though he said that, he clearly didn't mean it. He lay back down.
Lu Yuan didn't mind. He patiently tended the medicine until it was done.
And so, time trickled by.
At last, night fell completely.
The medicine was ready too.
"Old Master, it's done. Remember to eat the fruit; it's good for you. I'll head back now." Lu Yuan stood up and walked out of the courtyard without looking back.
"What a young man." Old Master Ge froze, ready to get angry, but in the end, he only muttered, "He didn't even have a cup of tea."
After leaving the old neighborhood,
Lu Yuan finally set out for the villa. It was quite a long drive, and he had to cross the city center.
As he drove, he went over his plans while gazing at the city aglow with neon lights.
It was bustling, yet peaceful, as if it would go on like this forever.
But Lu Yuan knew the truth.
In a little over a month, everything would change.
Skyscrapers would collapse, cities would be ravaged, and heaven and earth would be transformed completely. The new era would bring opportunity, but for most people, it would also bring an unprecedented disaster.
Before long, it was nearly ten.
Lu Yuan finally arrived home. But when he parked and walked into the courtyard, he couldn't help freezing.
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