A small casual cultivator!

Next, he followed Yao Chong's instructions, passed through two small houses, and arrived at a courtyard behind the temple.

The courtyard was about four meters long and wide. At this time, there was a drizzle and a thin cold fog. A house next door had collapsed due to erosion by wind and rain, and broken bricks and tiles were piled on the ground, looking very desolate.

The lifeless temples are very eerie. People in the town at the foot of the mountain are afraid of disturbing the ghosts and gods here, so few people come here. So over time, this place has become the home of the small animals in the mountains.

Lu Luan glanced around and soon found the stone well overgrown with weeds in the corner of the broken wall.

"This is?"

As soon as he approached, he was surprised to see that there was a white toad by the well, lying quietly on the thick moss, like a jade stone.

After hearing the noise, the toad jumped into the well with a plop.

Lu Luan ran over quickly, lay down on the side and looked around, but he could only see the rippling well water below.

"Strange, the spiritual energy in this place is much richer than other places. Is it because of the toad just now?"

Lu Luan stood up, feeling his surroundings, with a look of confusion between his brows.

"It can absorb spiritual energy. Could it be a rare spiritual beast? Its body is as white as jade and crystal clear. It looks like a jade toad." He thought.

When he was traveling with his master in the early years, he had the good fortune to see it once at an auction. He still remembers it clearly now. At that time, the Jade Spirit Toad was auctioned for a sky-high price of 500 Essence Pills!

But that one was much bigger than this one.

Thinking of this, looking at the well, his eyes suddenly became hot.

"The Jade Spirit Toad is full of spiritual essence and energy, which can improve my cultivation. If I can catch it and eat it, I should be able to break through to the third level of Qi Refining."

Lu Luan suppressed his excitement, returned to the eaves, sat cross-legged on the ground, stroked his chin and began to think of a solution.

Since it was not clear whether the toad had come here along with the undercurrent at the bottom of the well, they did not consider scooping out the water and then catching it.

"There is."

Soon, he had an idea in his mind. He took out a fine net from the storage bag and set it up at the edge of the well.

After being fully prepared, he lurked not far away, observing the movements.

Wow... Wow...

The rain outside is getting heavier.

"It's a bit cold."

Lu Luan shook his body. The ground here was high and a cool breeze blew, and he even felt a little chill. For fear of disturbing the things in the well, he did not dare to use his true Qi to warm his body.

Time passed slowly.

Until the third night.

Under the bright moonlight, the mountains were as bright as day, but the already dilapidated temple looked even grayer and more gloomy under the moonlight.

"Quack... quack..."

In a daze, Lu Luan seemed to hear the sound of frogs croaking in his ears and woke up suddenly.

"Damn it, why did I almost fall asleep?"

He cursed and rubbed his heavy eyes.

"Out!"

When he turned his gaze towards the stone well, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he saw, under the moonlight, a toad with soft light lying by the well, croaking.

"rise!"

Lu Luan seized the opportunity and pulled the rope hard, and the dense fine net unfolded in the well.

"Cuck!"

The toad sensed the movement and screamed as it jumped into the well, but was caught by the net!

"Haha, I caught you!"

Looking at the figure struggling in the net, Lu Luan rushed over quickly and caught it. He was so excited to see its chubby body.

"The flesh and blood are full of spiritual energy. It looks like it is indeed the Jade Spirit Toad. I have found a great treasure today!"

After tying up his limbs, Lu Luan felt it. It was the first time he got such a treasure. He was so excited that his heart was about to jump out.

The Jade Spirit Toad usually lives in deep mountain valleys where few people go. It is very rare. Once it appears, even masters of the fifth level of Qi Refining will be extremely excited.

"This one weighs almost two taels. If I sell it to other cultivators, it should be worth a hundred Essence Pills. But I'd better eat it myself and break through the realm first." He thought to himself.

Essence Pill is a very common medicine pill, which is of some help to cultivators in the low-level stage of Qi Refining. Eating it can increase Qi and blood, and also help to resist hunger. Since it is the most common, it has become the currency used by ordinary cultivators for transactions over time.

After all, spirit stones are too precious and not everyone can afford them.

After making up his mind, Lu Luan took out the food from his storage bag, picked up some firewood from the surroundings, put the pot on the stove and started a fire. Although this would cause some spiritual power to leak, he could only make do with it.

The Jade Toad lives by absorbing spiritual energy and does not eat insects, so its body is crystal clear and without any impurities. After simple processing, it is thrown into a small pot and boiled.

......

Half an hour later, when the pot has cooled down, a small pot of jade-like frog soup is ready.

"smell good!"

As soon as he opened the lid of the pot, he was greeted by a fragrant aroma, and Lu Luan couldn't help swallowing his saliva.

After pouring out the frog soup, he did not forget his little friend. He hung the medicine bug's tail and said with a smile: "I'll give you a big bowl. It won't be a loss, right?"

After saying that, he threw it into the pot, and left the things sticking to the edge of the pot to it.

Then he picked up the bowl, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp.

As the frog soup entered his stomach, he felt as if a spiritual storm had erupted in his body. He felt as if his tendons and veins were unblocked and his whole body was relaxed. All the foul air was expelled from his pores.

"This much spiritual power is enough for me to break through."

"Old hoe skill!"

After putting the bowl in the pot, he couldn't wait to start practicing.

The martial art he practiced was called Lao Chu Gong. Although the name was ordinary, it was very down-to-earth. It meant that man was like a hoe, cultivating the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, using Dantian as the seed and Qi and blood as the spiritual spring to nourish the body and bear fruit.

This technique is quite good for a casual cultivator and can be considered top-notch. His master is over eighty years old and still has strong muscles and bones and can walk as fast as a flying bird. Even when he was seriously injured, he managed to hold on until he vomited three liters of blood before he died.

Time passed gradually.

An hour later.

Lu Luan's long hair began to flutter in the wind as he sat in meditation. Suddenly, a breath of air surged out, and then everything returned to calm.

"call……"

Lu Luan slowly opened his eyes, exhaled a long breath, looked at his palms, and said in surprise: "I didn't expect to break through so easily. The true energy is more than twice as strong! And the realm is also very solid. The Jade Spirit Toad is worthy of being a treasure to supplement cultivation. Although I still can't fly with a sword at the third level of Qi Refining, I can still cast a few decent spells."

After a long while, the joy in his heart slowly subsided. He felt his cultivation and thought, "It's better to hide it, so that people won't suspect that I have treasures that can improve my cultivation."

Although the third level of Qi Refining was not high, it was too conspicuous for a casual cultivator at his age to be at the third level, and it would easily arouse suspicion from those who had ulterior motives. Then he used the method taught by his master, and soon his aura returned to the level of the second level.

Small independent cultivators like them, who are as nimble as mayflies, have to be cautious in everything they do.

After finishing, he saw the little bug at the bottom of the bowl, which had eaten so much that its belly was turning upside down. He touched it with his hand and said with a smile, "Little guy, you are full too, right?"

This guy is also a foodie. After following him for so many years, I finally had a good meal today. He licked the pot as big as his head clean, and it was even reflecting light.

Yao Chong held his hand and nudged it affectionately with his little head.

After putting it in his palm, he had nothing to do next, so he jumped onto the roof and lay down.

The wind blew, and from time to time a rustling sound reached my ears.

"I haven't seen such a round moon for a long time." Looking at the full moon, Lu Luan's eyes gradually revealed a look of longing.

"Master, I have achieved a breakthrough to the third level of Qi Refining. Didn't you always criticize me by saying that my spiritual roots were poor and I couldn't achieve a breakthrough before I was twenty? This time, I disappointed you again."

As he spoke, his eyes unconsciously began to moisten.

When he was a child, every night he would lay his little head on his master's lap, looking at the moon while listening to him tell interesting stories about the world of immortals. Unfortunately, now he was the only one left, drifting around like a fallen leaf in the water.

"Hey, I don't know if I can avenge you."

Lu Luan's eyes flickered and when he thought of how his master was murdered, hatred gleamed in his eyes.

But deep in his eyes, there was more... powerlessness.

His master was persecuted by powerful independent cultivators. He flew dozens or even hundreds of miles. After a few years, those people had disappeared in the vast sea of ​​people. No one knew whether they were dead or alive. Even if he had the strength in the future, he would have no way to find the trace of his enemies.

After lying down for a while, he sat up, rubbed his eyes, put away his emotions, took out a sheepskin map he bought in the town, and looked at it in the moonlight.

Time to see where to go next.

"There is actually a mountain city here. There must be many herbal medicine shops in it. If we go there, we should have a good harvest."

Soon, Lu Luan's gaze stopped at the lower right corner.

What he liked most was coming across large towns, because most of the herbs in the medicine shops there were collected from the surrounding towns. There were medicinal herbs in the mountains, such as ginseng and Fritillaria, which absorbed spiritual energy over the years and occasionally produced spiritual charm, which was already of some help to immortal cultivators. Ordinary mountain people had poor eyesight, and even if they were lucky enough to pick up such herbs, they would not be able to tell them apart and would sell them together with passing medicine dealers.

"Maybe there are some immortal cultivators here, Fengcheng, right? Let's go there when daybreak and sell the spiritual medicines I've harvested in the past few months." Lu Luan said as he put the map away.

He was a wanderer, with no fixed place to live, and he went wherever he went. Since his last stop, he had traveled through dozens of small towns and villages. In his storage bag, there were more than ten medicinal herbs that produced spiritual charm. These were all picked up by him from medicine shops and villagers' homes. Although they were all ordinary goods, they were worth a few Essence Pills.

Due to his weak strength, for safety reasons, he dared not rashly go into the depths of the mountains to collect herbs. Otherwise, with his legsight, he would definitely not be able to escape if he encountered a monster.

"Oh, I almost forgot something important."

Suddenly, he suddenly thought of something, patted his head, jumped off the roof, and came to the side of the stone well.

His purpose of coming to this dilapidated temple was to find stones containing rock saliva.

"Sure enough, there is still more."

Feeling the medicine bug moving in his palm, a smile appeared on his lips.

After a while, Lu Luan held two black stones in his hand and said with a smile: "It seems that because the Jade Spirit Toad often lies on it and breathes spiritual energy, it has produced rock saliva over time."

Next, he searched around the temple carefully for a few more rounds. Seeing that he found nothing, he returned to the house and sat cross-legged to practice.

The weather in the mountains was changeable, a cold wind blew, and then heavy rain began to fall.

"Tattoo."

In the middle of the night, Lu Luan, who was practicing, suddenly frowned because he heard a series of hurried horse hooves coming from the forest path outside. He frowned and said, "It's so late, why would someone come?"

"Brother, look, there is a dilapidated temple over there. Let's go there to take shelter from the rain."

"it is good."

Outside, several middle-aged men on horseback stopped at the temple gate.