Tricking People to Death Without Paying

With clouds and mist blocking his vision and senses, and the distance so great, Li Ming could not be sure whether Lei Jun was telling the truth.

He searched the area again, but Chen Yi was nowhere to be seen near the Middle Immortal Pool.

What Li Ming did not know was that while he had gone to inspect the Upper Immortal Pool, both Lei Jun and Chen Yi had gone to the cloud sea at the very top.

Now that Chen Yi could not be found in either the Upper or Middle Immortal Pool, Li Ming began to half-believe, half-doubt.

If it had only been Lei Jun's word, Li Ming's suspicion would have outweighed his belief.

But then he thought of something else.

That boy surnamed Chen seemed to have enjoyed deep fortune in recent years, encountering many strange opportunities.

Perhaps he possessed some mysterious gift. Could it be that he had discovered some special opportunity in the Lower Immortal Pool?

Having thought that far, Li Ming made up his mind.

He glanced back at Lei Jun, who appeared wholly unaware and continued cultivating through breathing exercises, and thought, There will be plenty of time. I'll find another chance later to prune this branch before it has a chance to grow crooked.

Li Ming quietly left the Middle Immortal Pool and descended into the Lower Immortal Pool.

The spiritual energy in the water here was comparatively thin, unable to provide the wondrous cleansing effects of the Middle Immortal Pool.

Yet after diving deeper, Li Ming truly discovered an unexpected gain.

"Heat Crystal Sand? There's actually Heat Crystal Sand in the Lower Immortal Pool?"

At the lakebed, Li Ming discovered several precious spiritual materials. Even he had not previously known that such changes had occurred in the Lower Immortal Pool.

The spiritual energy of the Cloud Sea Immortal Pool was ever-changing, often causing unexpected transformations within its waters. Li Ming could not immediately guess why the Heat Crystal Sand had formed.

But at the sight of these spiritual materials, he thought, No wonder Chen Yi came down here.

That boy truly had something strange about him, able to discover opportunities and treasures others could not perceive.

Where had he gone now?

In the depths of the lake, Li Ming looked around.

For the moment, he had no intention of personally dealing with Chen Yi directly. Instead, he wanted to first uncover Chen Yi's secrets, then slowly devise a plan.

Thus, Li Ming continued diving toward the bottom of the Lower Immortal Pool, searching for Chen Yi's whereabouts.

In the Middle Immortal Pool, Lei Jun sensed Li Ming's departure but did not follow him. He simply remained in the Immortal Pool's waters, cultivating at ease.

Everyone had seen it. If Li Ming went to the Lower Immortal Pool, then he had chosen to go there himself.

Next, the stage could once more be left to those who loved performing.

Put on a show before the curtain and prove who was the true king of actors.

Then turn around and return behind the scenes, where the king of actors became noble and selfless.

Lei Jun calmly cultivated through breathing exercises, nurturing his Dao Foundation.

When the circulation of magic power and spiritual energy within his body gradually stabilized and balanced, he opened his eyes and raised his upper body above the water.

Lei Jun moved his fingers, and a Spirit Talisman appeared.

A layer of frosty mist had formed across the vermilion inscription on the Yellow Paper.

Lei Jun rubbed the talisman paper between his fingertips, feeling the chill of the frost. The Light Sphere flickered in his mind, and inspiration came to him:

Mist-Wreathed Cloud Crystal

He remembered seeing this name in the sect's records... Lei Jun carefully searched his memories.

Once, a disciple of the Celestial Master Mansion had collected this spiritual material from the Cloud Sea Immortal Pool.

But it had happened only once, and that had been several centuries ago.

The environment of the Cloud Sea Immortal Pool was ever-changing, as were the spiritual materials it formed. Over more than a thousand years, there were likely several hundred varieties, most of which had appeared only once or twice, with few ever recurring.

Because there were too many factors, too ancient and too numerous, affecting the spiritual energy changes in the Minor Cave Heaven, even the sect elders found it difficult to reliably reproduce these treasures one by one.

The Mist-Wreathed Cloud Crystal was one of the more outstanding among its many products.

According to the records from back then, it could help cultivators at the Second Heaven Foundation Establishment realm cross the Heavenly Moat more easily and cultivate to the Third Layer Altar Realm.

"Not bad. It suits my needs, though not immediately."

Lei Jun nodded slightly and put away the Spirit Gathering Talisman containing the Mist-Wreathed Cloud Crystal.

With today's nurturing in the Cloud Sea Immortal Pool, he should soon advance to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage.

After that, however, he would still need to progress from Foundation Establishment Middle Stage to Foundation Establishment High Stage, then from Foundation Establishment High Stage to Foundation Establishment Perfection.

Only then would he consider climbing from Foundation Establishment Perfection to the Third Layer Altar Realm.

For now, he would first pave these two steps. As for the rest, he only needed to continue cultivating diligently... Lei Jun's state of mind returned to calm, and he continued silently breathing and regulating his energy, nurturing himself.

After an unknown amount of time, his heart suddenly stirred again as he sensed someone approaching.

Lei Jun turned to look in one direction.

Several breaths later, the clouds parted, and a youth emerged from within.

Like Lei Jun, the other wore an Apricot Yellow Taoist Robe. He appeared four or five years younger than Lei Jun.

"Senior Brother Lei?" The newcomer was slightly surprised.

The Young Daoist who had arrived was named Shangguan Hong, a disciple of Elder Shangguan, Lei Jun's Fifth Martial Uncle.

In terms of when they had entered the Dao Child Courtyard, this youth had actually arrived a little earlier.

However, they had all participated in the Chuan Du Initiation together, and there was no distinction in seniority once they formally entered the sect. Since Lei Jun was older, Shangguan Hong politely addressed him as Senior Brother.

"Junior Brother Shangguan?" Lei Jun said.

"I wanted to see whether the different lakes on this side of the Middle Immortal Pool had any differences, so I came around to try them all. I hope I'm not disturbing you, Senior Brother Lei."

Lei Jun shook his head. "It's no matter. Do as you please."

"Thank you, Senior Brother Lei." Shangguan Hong entered the water of this small lake and used the Immortal Pool's water to refine himself.

As he looked at Lei Jun, whom he had happened to encounter, he was actually rather curious.

Among those who had entered the Cloud Sea Immortal Pool today, aside from Li Ming and Fang Jian, whose circumstances were special, Lei Jun was the oldest, already twenty years old.

Li Ying, Chen Yi, Guo Yan, and Shangguan Hong himself were all only fifteen or sixteen.

In the eyes of people in this world, a fifteen-year-old cultivator at the twelfth level of Qi Refining and a twenty-year-old cultivator at the twelfth level of Qi Refining possessed talents and future potential as far apart as heaven and earth.

A fifteen-year-old Foundation Establishment cultivator would, in all likelihood, also have a far brighter future than a twenty-year-old Foundation Establishment cultivator.

But there was one issue.

Rumor had it that Lei Jun had only been studying the Dao in the mountains for around two years.

Two years, from no foundation at all to successfully achieving Foundation Establishment, was an entirely different matter.

Shangguan Hong secretly observed Lei Jun, while Lei Jun acted as though he noticed nothing.

Yet information about the other party had long since crossed his mind:

Shangguan Hong's master, Elder Shangguan, was also his paternal aunt.

He was not merely someone who had gotten in through connections. Back in the Dao Child Courtyard, he had already been a renowned young genius.

Shangguan Hong's reputation as a genius stemmed from his comprehension rather than his innate physique.

Compared to innate physique, comprehension was less clearly measured, but the cultivation world of this era had still roughly established grades for cultivators' comprehension.

Before Lei Jun awakened the Hidden Dragon Spirit Body, the Dao Child Courtyard had always assessed him as having mediocre innate physique but commendable comprehension.

Compared with the Average Talent of his original innate physique, his comprehension had at least reached the Middle-Upper level. Some Instructors believed his comprehension was Upper Grade.

Li Ying and Chen Yi had likewise been judged to possess Upper Grade comprehension.

Above the five basic grades of innate physique were Spirit Bodies, Saint Bodies, and even Immortal Bodies.

Above the five basic grades of comprehension were higher evaluations such as Outstanding, Profound Clarity, and Qingjing.

Shangguan Hong was a young genius possessed of Upper Grade innate physique and Outstanding comprehension.

Although he had been delayed somewhat after the Chuan Du Initiation, he had still successfully achieved Foundation Establishment before the Cloud Sea Immortal Pool opened.

As for the clan he came from, it was even more extraordinary.

The Shangguan Clan had been meritorious founders of the Great Tang, a military house with close ties to the Great Tang imperial family, producing numerous imperial relatives.

They were both meritorious nobles and relatives of the imperial house.

They even exceeded the ordinary meaning of meritorious nobles and imperial relatives.

There was not only little suspicion between the Great Tang royal family and the Shangguan Clan; most of the time, they were as close as one body, branches sharing the same breath.

Based on what Lei Jun had heard so far, the relationship between these two houses resembled that of the Cao and Xiahou clans from a period of history on Blue Star before his transmigration.

By blood, Elder Shangguan, the fifth personal disciple of the Previous Generation Celestial Master, and Shangguan Hong before him were both related to the current imperial family of the Tang Court.

That they had entered the Celestial Master Mansion and successively become true disciples was truly something that easily invited speculation...

"Aah!!"

As Lei Jun and Shangguan Hong chatted, a miserable scream suddenly came from the direction of the Upper Immortal Pool above them.

Up there?

Lei Jun raised his head.