Immortality and Cultivation: This old man seeks enlightenment through mere survival.

Lu Zaian carefully touched the red round gemstone with his finger.

The scorching heat, like a flame, once again seeped into Lu Zaian's flesh and bone marrow.

Lu Zaian closed his eyes and focused his mind, using his spiritual sense to look inward. He discovered that the blood and energy in his fingers and the strength of his bones had indeed increased slightly.

'It's real! What is this?'

Lu Zaian pondered for a moment, then tried to infuse the ruby ​​with the unique magical power of a cultivator.

Suddenly, the ruby ​​burst into a crimson, bloody light, like a strange, blood-red sun rising in a torrential downpour!

The surrounding rainwater evaporated instantly, creating a white mist...

In an instant, a message reached Lu Zaian's mind:

[Second-tier top-level secret treasure - Blood Spirit Orb.]

It is made by using the essence blood of several second-tier demon beasts as a guide, and supplementing it with spiritual materials such as spirit gathering stones and ethereal crystals.

Treasure Effects:

It can absorb the blood of demonic beasts and transform it into pure qi and blood power, and absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to achieve a spirit-gathering effect.

'It's actually a cultivation treasure? And a top-tier second-tier one at that?'

Lu Zaian looked pleasantly surprised, never expecting that Shen Tu Rong would possess such a treasure.

Lu Zaian, a novice in cultivation, couldn't distinguish between the terms "magic weapon" and "secret treasure" in the cultivation world.

However, I do understand the ranks. The second rank should correspond to the Foundation Establishment stage of the cultivation realm!

'What incredible luck did Shen Tu Rong have? How could a mere mortal obtain a cultivation treasure for the Foundation Establishment stage?'

'Unfortunately, without spiritual roots, one can only guard a treasure mountain but be unable to enter...'

Just as Lu Zaian had guessed.

This Blood Spirit Pearl was something Shen Tu Rong found by chance inside a fish when he was young.

However, Shen Tu Rong did not have the spiritual root for cultivating immortality, and after years of painstaking research, he only managed to discover a small part of the Blood Spirit Pearl's effects.

That is, it can absorb the blood of various animals and output pure qi and blood power.

Coincidentally, Shen Tu Rong happened to have practiced a common martial art.

So he founded the Slaughter Gang in Sea Breeze City, using the opportunity of slaughtering to collect the blood of various animals and fish.

Through the blood and qi power fed back by the Blood Spirit Pearl, Shen Tu Rong developed martial arts skills and a physical body far beyond the ordinary.

At the same time, the Blood Spirit Orb also has the effect of gathering spiritual energy.

Although Shen Tu Rong could not absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, he wore it for a long time, and under the influence of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, his physical functions were extraordinary.

So even at eighty years old, he still looks like he has a full head of black hair...

However, now it all benefits Lu Zaian.

'Shen Tu Rong used only the blood of ordinary mortal animals and fish, yet the resulting qi and blood power was so formidable.'

'If I use the blood of a demonic beast as a catalyst, what would that mean?'

'Wouldn't that allow me to cultivate an incomparably powerful physical body, just like the body-refining cultivators in the immortal cultivation world?'

Of course, even the weakest first-tier demon beast is now something Lu Zaian wouldn't dare to mess with.

Any first-tier demon beast can awaken demonic arts, and most of them have powerful physical bodies, far surpassing human Qi Refining cultivators of the same tier.

'The blood of demonic beasts can be planned slowly…'

'However, regarding its spirit-gathering effect, while mortals cannot activate the Blood Spirit Pearl, I can use my magical power as a guide to fully draw upon the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, achieving a concentration comparable to cultivating on a spiritual vein.'

Over the past year, Lu Zaian has had enough of the meager spiritual energy in the mortal world.

Every time I practice, I'm stuck in the middle, which is extremely uncomfortable.

Although he knew that rushing wouldn't help, if it weren't for the Longevity Body protecting him, Lu Zaian felt he would have become the Hasty King...

"However, it seems there's a storage space inside this Blood Spirit Pearl? It just has a magical imprint on it..."

Lu Zaian's spiritual sense carefully explored the inside of the Blood Spirit Pearl and discovered that there was a storage space deep inside it.

However, this entrance to the space was firmly sealed by a strange and powerful magical imprint.

Lu Zaian tried to attack it with his magic, but found that the mark was like a towering mountain, completely unmoved.

'Could it be the mark of a former cultivator?'

Shen Tu Rong obtained this Blood Spirit Pearl about fifty or sixty years ago, yet it still bears such a strong imprint of magical power.

Lu Zaian guessed that it must have been left behind by a Foundation Establishment stage expert.

It's normal for a second-tier secret treasure to correspond to a Foundation Establishment stage expert.

Lu Zaian pondered to himself that there must be good things in this storage space, but unfortunately his current magical power was too weak to erase the mark.

"Constant dripping wears away a stone; as long as I pry it open a little each day, I'll eventually break the magical imprint..."

Lu Zaian was extremely envious, and could only console himself with this thought.

After carefully putting the Blood Spirit Pearl away, Lu Zaian picked up the straw hat that had been washed clean by the rain, shook it, and put it back on his head.

Suddenly remembering something, he immediately made a hand seal.

Water Mirror Technique

A blurry water mirror appeared in front of Lu Zaian.

The disheveled figure of Shen Tu Xiong, who had previously fled, was now clearly visible in the mirror, seemingly in a secret room.

The Water Mirror Technique, a spell recorded in the Water Movement Manual, allows one to pinpoint the approximate location of an enemy by observing their aura. It was a spell that Lu Zai'an had just learned at the second level of Qi Refining.

When he fought Shen Tu Xiong earlier, Shen Tu Xiong still had traces of his magic on him, so now he could track him down.

"I won't let you escape..."

……

Half an hour later,

Lu Zaian dragged Shen Tu Xiong's corpse with one hand and carried a wooden box in the other, returning to the courtyard.

The bear in his hand had a hole punched in its forehead, and its expression revealed its ferocity and fear.

Lu Zaian nodded in satisfaction as he tossed the body aside beside Shen Tu Rong's corpse.

"That's right, a family should be together all the time."

As for the wooden box on the other hand, inside was a manual of "Iron Armor Kung Fu" and some gold and silver treasures.

Take only a small amount of gold and silver treasures, so that it will be convenient for your future life in the mortal world.

This "Iron Armor Skill" was also obtained in a secret room; it was the mortal martial arts that Shen Tu Rong practiced.

The manual also contains some cultivation insights marked by Shen Tu Rong.

Although it was a mundane skill, Lu Zaian was still quite interested in it.

I just happened to have obtained the Blood Spirit Orb. If Shen Tu Rong could cultivate it, there was no reason why I couldn't.

At that time, cultivating both body and spirit can also enhance one's strength.

If I obtain a genuine body-refining technique from the cultivation world in the future, it won't be too late to switch techniques then.

Outside Shentu's residence,

The crowd of onlookers who rushed over after hearing the news formed a dense circle, but no one dared to venture inside to investigate.

"Hey, you mean Shen Tu Rong was killed by an old fisherman?"

"Of course, my second aunt's cousin's friend's brother was at the banquet just now."

"He witnessed Shen Tu Rong being killed by the old fisherman's magic. If he hadn't run away quickly, he probably would have been caught in the crossfire..."

"The Shentu family has committed numerous evils; they are now completely finished!"

Just as the onlookers were discussing the matter, the "fisherman in a straw raincoat and hat" they were talking about stepped out of Shentu Mansion.

Wow!

The crowd immediately dispersed, creating enough space for each other, for fear of disturbing the old master.

Lu Zaian looked around at the crowd and slowly began to speak:

"Shen Tu Rong and Shen Tu Xiong are dead. From today onwards, the name of the Slaughter Gang will disappear from Haifeng City completely."

Having said that, Lu Zaian channeled his magic power beneath his feet, and in a few leaps, he disappeared into the rain...

Now that the matter of the Slaughter Gang has come to an end, Lu Zaian has no intention of returning to Fengyu Village.

Today's appearance in Sea Breeze City has made countless people remember my face, and when they trace it back to Fengyu Village, some trouble is inevitable.

Shen Tu Rong's incident served as a wake-up call for Lu Zai'an.

Even with Qi Refining cultivation, it is not absolutely safe to walk in the mortal world.

If you can be modest, then be modest.

Having acquired the body of immortality, I must be even more careful in making every choice from now on.