The Way of the Daoist

Li Mo was no longer the novice who had ventured into the martial world two or three years ago.

His status had changed, and so had his mindset.

He sized up Wang Ying, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"So, their target was actually you?"

Wang Ying smiled faintly, not denying it.

Li Mo knew that this woman was deep-thinking, adept at navigating various factions, and a meticulous person with great perseverance. Although he admired her from the bottom of his heart, he feared that getting too close to her might lead to him being sold out without even realizing it. Thus, he immediately drew his sword and shouted coldly.

"I recall your wanted poster. It's for unforgivable crimes, with a bounty of two hundred taels, right?"

Killing intent filled the air, startling everyone!

Li Mo didn't want to remain passive, being toyed with by the other party. When this Jade Fox, Wang Ying, voluntarily appeared, he instinctively sensed that there were problems behind this matter.

Wang Ying's smile faltered slightly but quickly regained its composure.

"My bounty is merely two hundred taels. If Doctor Li is willing to help me through this crisis, I'm willing to share a tremendous opportunity with Brother Li. What do you say?"

"A tremendous opportunity?"

Li Mo frowned, fixing his gaze on Wang Ying.

"Back then, I persuaded Brother Li to go to Anle City to test his spiritual roots. Now, Brother Li is a revered cultivator, while I am merely a mortal. But did I lie to you or mistreat you in the Eighteen Mountains?"

"No, you didn't."

Li Mo sheathed his sword, responding with a calm expression.

Seeing this, Wang Ying smiled slightly.

"Does Brother Li know why Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon, Tai Shou, who had already fled to Xia Kingdom, risked returning to Gan State and spent so much effort and resources in the Eighteen Mountains to amass wealth and refine silver essence?"

"Hmm?"

Li Mo asked in surprise, "Wasn't it to forge magical artifacts?"

"It seems Brother Li is still unaware. Forget Postnatal Realm martial artists; even Innate Realm martial artists, as long as they haven't achieved enlightenment and forged a Golden Core, cannot wield magical artifacts. At most, they can only rely on Inner Strength to unleash sword energy or fist winds."

Li Mo pondered this.

That made sense.

Martial artists were still within the realm of mortals. He didn't understand concepts like enlightenment, but the difference between having spiritual roots and not having them was something he now understood very clearly.

Inner Strength and Magical Power. Although only a single word apart, the actual effects must be worlds apart. If martial artists could wield magical artifacts, what would be the difference between them and cultivators?

"So, you mean that Tai Shou returned for another reason?"

"Precisely!"

Wang Ying smiled charmingly.

"When Nine Rivers Thunder Dragon dominated the Eighteen Mountains as the Grand Leader, besides his astonishing martial arts, he also mastered a mysterious art of geomancy, capable of finding ancient tombs. His return that time was because of a mysterious altar within a tomb he had discovered. He was refining silver essence not to make magical artifacts, but to complete the missing silver runes on the altar."

Li Mo was greatly astonished.

On one hand, he was shocked by the Jade Fox, Wang Ying's methods. He couldn't imagine how she had served Tai Shou to make him reveal such a secret.

On the other hand, he was astonished by Tai Shou's discovery. Perhaps the Spirit Reflection Sword Manual was found in this very tomb!

If that were the case...

This so-called ancient tomb might be related to Spirit Reflection Mountain, which he had heard whispers of in his ethereal dreams.

"How do I know if what you're saying is true?"

Wang Ying naturally saw that Li Mo was tempted, and her heart finally relaxed.

This person wasn't greedy for beauty and acted with strong principles. Dealing with such a person required logic and a clear understanding of mutual interests. As long as she could reason with him, he would become a good friend, but it would be difficult for him to become a subordinate who blindly obeyed.

Unless...

She could claim the moral high ground.

"Hehe, whether it's true or not, Doctor Li can judge for himself. I have five hundred taels of banknotes from the Dao Transformation Merchant Guild here. Consider it payment for my life in advance. You won't lose out no matter what. How about it?"

Li Mo inwardly sighed at her generosity.

These five hundred taels of silver were equivalent to fifty Spirit Stones. When the Pingshan Society prepared their supplies, they had only managed to gather five hundred taels.

It seemed this Jade Fox, Wang Ying, had reaped a bountiful harvest after that battle.

Li Mo naturally had no reason to refuse. He was in dire need of silver right now, so he accepted the banknotes from her.

Before this, he had never seen the so-called banknotes and couldn't help but look at them with curiosity.

"Who exactly did you offend, and how do you want me to help you escape this crisis?"

Wang Ying's expression turned serious.

"That person is also a cultivator, calling himself Wen Daoren. Not long after you left, I followed Tai Shou's instructions and found that tomb. That's when I encountered Wen Daoren."

Wen Daoren?

Li Mo's heart skipped a beat!

"After he found me, he asked about Tai Shou's whereabouts. I couldn't lie to him and fled back to Eighteen Mountains in a panic. Little did I know, he actually chased me to Eighteen Mountains too. I had no choice but to flee Eighteen Mountains again and hide in Tongchao Town. Then he chased me to Tongchao Town as well, and dispatched the Black Wind Mountain bandits he had recruited to surround and intercept me everywhere."

Li Mo's expression turned extremely grim.

"You actually want me to deal with a cultivator?"

Wang Ying quickly said, "Brother Li, you might not know this, but Wen Daoren's strength is low. He must be a rogue cultivator, how can he be compared to you? Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to escape from his hands multiple times. I suspect he's a rogue cultivator skilled in runes that Tai Shou invited from Xia Kingdom to help him repair the incomplete runes on the altar. If this helper were strong, Tai Shou would definitely not feel at ease."

Even so, how could Li Mo gamble his life on this?

Jade Fox Wang Ying continued.

"Furthermore, I'm not asking Brother Li to kill him. I only need Brother Li to escort me to the vicinity of the prefecture city along the way. This is, after all, within the territory of Da Gan Kingdom, under the broad daylight. Brother Li is also a disciple of Lingmu Sect, would he dare to act presumptuously?"

"This...?"

What Wang Ying said was not unreasonable. This was within the territory of Da Gan Kingdom.

But the other party was a cultivator, and he was only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, without any magical artifacts for protection. It was still too dangerous.

Even if Tai Shou had brought a weak rogue cultivator out of caution back then, he couldn't have been that weak, right?

He would still be at considerable risk.

However, the conditions offered by Wang Ying were truly difficult for Li Mo to refuse.

He fell silent and hesitated for a long time before finally gritting his teeth and deciding to take the risk.

After all, he was a disciple of Da Gan Kingdom's Lingmu Sect. How could a mere rogue cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage, whom even Wang Ying couldn't handle, dare to fight him to the death within Lingmu Sect's jurisdiction? At worst, he could just back down then.

Besides, these people from the escort agency were also a considerable help.

And he could hide in the dark to observe. If everything went smoothly, that would be best.

Thinking of this, Li Mo glanced at the carriage and found no one else in Wang Ying's carriage. He immediately signaled Xiong Shao'an to dismount and enter the carriage with him.

"Hehe, thank you, Brother Li."

The escort agency members were relieved. After quickly cleaning up the bandits' corpses, they hurried towards the county town.

Once they set off again, Li Mo sat in the carriage and looked at Wang Ying.

"Where is that ancient tomb? I want you to tell me now."

"No problem."

Wang Ying leaned close to Li Mo's ear and detailed the information about the ancient tomb.

Li Mo nodded continuously, his eyes shining, lost in thought.

On the other side.

Wen Daoren was a man in his forties, with a deformed, short, and hunched physique.

When the escaping Black Wind Mountain bandits came to report, upon learning that a cultivator had passed by and wreaked havoc, his face changed drastically.

Facing the Black Wind Mountain bandits begging him to come out of seclusion, Wen Daoren remained unmoved, his expression as dark as water.

"No, I can't stay in this place any longer."

With that thought, he no longer hesitated and quickly shook off the Black Wind Mountain bandits, fleeing into the distance.

Wang Ying had guessed correctly.

Wen Daoren was indeed the helper Tai Shou had invited to repair the altar runes. He had considerable attainments in the Way of Runes and Restrictions, but his personal strength was negligible.

What a pity that Jade Fox escaped. Otherwise, I would be the only one in the world who knows that secret. Damn it! But it doesn't matter. With her talent, it will take at least ten years for her Inner Strength to reach Tai Shou's level. By then, I'll be long gone, heh heh.

As for the possibility of Jade Fox Wang Ying sharing the tomb's information with others, Wen Daoren hadn't even considered it.

After all, such a great opportunity, in his opinion, unless forced, who would willingly share it with others?

What he didn't know was.

This Jade Fox Wang Ying had no idea of the value of that tomb. The great opportunity she spoke of was merely sweet talk to deceive Li Mo and escape her current predicament.

In her eyes.

Since Tai Shou had already moved everything from the tomb, leaving only an altar of unknown purpose, the most valuable things were naturally in Tai Shou's cave mansion. And after winning the final victory in the internal strife of Pingshan Society, she happened to discover the location of Tai Shou's cave mansion, which was inadvertently recorded in a passage of her Turtle Breath Technique!

As long as she reached Xia Kingdom and found his secret cave mansion, she could obtain the true wealth from that tomb!

And so.

With all parties harboring their own schemes, Li Mo, accompanied by Xiong Shao'an, first exchanged the bounty in the county town, and then, without any further incident, smoothly arrived near the prefecture city of Anbei Prefecture.

Li Mo, who had been on edge the entire journey, finally breathed a sigh of relief, lamenting that this mission was truly worthwhile.

Xiong Shao'an couldn't contain his curiosity.

"Brother Li, what you were talking about with them earlier, I didn't understand."

"That's underworld slang. It's best if you never understand it your whole life."

With that said.

Li Mo looked at Wang Ying.

"We're almost at the county town, how do you plan to leave?"

Wang Ying's face lit up with a smile.

"Thank you, Doctor Li. I'm quite skilled in disguise. If we meet again, I will surely repay your life-saving grace, esteemed doctor. Farewell."

With that, she used a patch of woods as cover and, without hesitation, leaped from the carriage. The entire maneuver was smooth and seamless.

The members of the Thunder Escort Agency hadn't noticed a thing.

It wasn't until they entered the county town that the agency members realized their employer was gone. Although Li Mo mentioned she had quietly left midway, the escort agency members, led by Manager Lei, clearly didn't believe him. However, they didn't say much, simply nodded, and departed.

"Instructor Lei, do you think that client... might have been by him..."

"Shut up!"

Manager Lei shot the man a glare before leading his men further away.

Li Mo collected a total of three hundred and eighty taels of Silver for the nine heads of the Black Wind Mountain bandits. Aside from the scarred man, the others were minor figures, and three didn't even have bounties.

Still, Li Mo was very satisfied. This was equivalent to thirty-eight Spirit Stones.

Next, Li Mo inquired about the Dao Hua Money House's branch in the county town and successfully exchanged five hundred taels of Silver. Adding the loose silver he found on the bodies of the Black Wind Mountain bandits and the official bounty, the Silver in his Storage Pouch had now reached over nine hundred taels, nearly a thousand.

If he included the Spirit Stone reward for this commission, his earnings from this outing were a hundred Spirit Stones!

As for the exchange method for Spirit Stones and Silver, one could go to the market below Qingming Mountain or directly to the Artifact Refining Hall of his sect, which was very convenient.

"I can start refining pills now."

Li Mo estimated the cost of the auxiliary spiritual herbs needed to purchase Qi Gathering Pills and felt a surge of excitement. He had originally thought it would take three to four months to gather the required Spirit Stones.

He never expected to be so lucky this time.

The next day.

Li Mo, along with Xiong Shao'an, boarded a flying ship. Amidst Xiong Shao'an's continuous excited exclamations, they returned to Lingmu Sect once more. He handed Xiong Shao'an over to Uncle-Martial-Brother Xiong, who had posted the mission. The entire task took exactly fifteen days.

"Good!"

Uncle-Martial-Brother Xiong was satisfied and immediately paid Li Mo the mission reward.

Li Mo happily put it away and turned to leave.