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

On the lakeshore, Xu Yan'er cautiously approached.

After seeing the mess on the ground, she looked at Lu Zaian with awe.

At the same time, there was also some fear.

"Grandpa Lu... you're amazing..."

Xu Yan'er could hardly believe that Lu Zai'an, who had just fought with his clothes ripped off, was like a demon god incarnate.

The same person as the refined, easy-going, and seemingly harmless old man before me.

Out of the corner of her eye, Xu Yan'er couldn't help but glance at Xiao Yi floating beside her.

"...Hehe, Yan'er, you saw the whole battle just now, didn't you..."

Lu Zaian smiled kindly, but there was a strange glint in his eyes.

"Wh...what do you mean? Grandpa Lu?"

Xu Yan'er's heart tightened, and she asked with pursed lips.

"Hehe, both the Water Core Ore Mine and Xiao Yi are secrets that cannot be revealed to others..."

Lu Zaian's smile turned cold, and the surrounding air suddenly became tense.

"...Grandpa Lu, are you going to kill Yan'er?"

"Then please do as you wish. After all, you saved Yan'er's life."

Xu Yan'er closed her eyes tightly and said through gritted teeth.

Only her trembling eyelashes betrayed the panic in her heart.

Did I lose the gamble?

Or did I misjudge him?

Or rather, all Foundation Establishment cultivators regard Qi Refining cultivators as mere ants and weeds.

After a while.

But Lu Zaian did not make a move for a long time.

"Grandpa Lu, you..."

Lu Zaian stroked his white stubble with one hand and sighed softly:

"I did consider killing him to cover it up."

After all, only the dead can keep secrets.

However, since I once saved your life, we are destined to meet.

Killing you now because of the treasure is not what I intended.

I also admire your character.

Therefore, I can only give you two choices..."

"Grandpa Lu, what do you say..."

Xu Yan'er's eyes lit up, as if she were a drowning person grasping at a straw.

She thought she was going to die, but unexpectedly, there was still a chance.

"First, let me leave a restriction on your soul."

I cannot reveal any secrets about myself.

For fifty years, your life will be in my hands!

Second, die!"

Lu Zaian slowly began to speak.

“I choose one!” Xu Yan’er replied immediately.

Is this still a choice?

Although a soul restriction has been placed on him, his life is no longer in his own hands.

But it's better than dying right away.

“Good, a wise choice. Then open your soul and don’t resist…”

Lu Zaian nodded in satisfaction.

Being placed on someone else's soul by a restriction is almost equivalent to being enslaved.

All thoughts and actions will be controlled by the spellcaster.

If controlled by evil people, the outcome might be worse than death.

Most monks with dignity would rather die than submit.

If Xu Yan'er is unwilling.

Then Lu Zaian had no choice but to mercilessly send her to hell...

Fortunately, Xu Yan'er had a strong conviction in her heart, a desire to revitalize her family, and was unwilling to die like this.

Lu Zaian activated the "Ghostly Netherworld Tribulation" technique, planting one of its restrictive secret arts into Xu Yan'er's sea of ​​souls.

Just for a moment.

All of Xu Yan'er's memories and autonomy were completely controlled by Lu Zai'an.

If Lu Zaian wanted, he could kill Xu Yan'er with a single thought.

After Lu Zaian finished casting the restriction, Xu Yan'er's face turned completely red.

The exposure of all her privacy and memories made her feel humiliated and uncomfortable, as if she were facing Lu Zaian naked.

"Grandpa Lu... or should I call you 'Master' from now on?"

"..."

Okay, okay, this is how you play, right?

Lu Zaian coughed. Could it be a side effect of the soul restriction?

Xu Yan'er subconsciously regarded Lu Zai'an as her closest person.

He obeyed Lu Zaian's orders without question.

"Just call me Old Master Lu. Now you're practically one of my maids..."

Lu Zaian waved his hand, showing no interest in this young girl.

Of course, Lu Zaian is not averse to beautiful women.

Actually, he prefers voluptuous, mature young women.

Isn't the purpose of cultivating immortality to enjoy a carefree life?

If one can achieve immortality while remaining pure and free from desires, wouldn't that be a waste of immortality?

Now that he has entered the Foundation Establishment stage, Lu Zaian's temperament has begun to change slowly.

When facing high-level cultivators, one must continue to play it safe.

But when it's time to relax and enjoy life, you still have to relax and enjoy it...

"Yes, it's decided."

Back in Huangze City, I'll go to the brothels to listen to music when I have time...

Closer to home.

After placing a restriction on Xu Yan'er, Lu Zai'an did not rush into the Water Heart Stone Mine.

Although the group of Wood Horned Crocodiles outside has been cleared.

But he didn’t know how deep the mine was.

He didn't know if there were other dangers inside.

Therefore, the safest approach is still to conduct some investigation.

Fortunately, the "Heavenly Puppet Manual" that we had seized earlier could come in handy.

With Lu Zaian's current level of comprehension, getting started with the "Heavenly Puppet Manual" is not difficult.

The only difficulty lies in the materials needed to craft the puppets.

Lu Zaian waved his hand and threw out three corpses of first-grade high-quality wooden crocodiles.

Although their life essence has been drained, their bones and scales are still strong.

These are excellent materials for crafting puppets!

In addition, Lu Zaian also picked through the storage bags of the previously seized Jie Xiu and the Puppet Demon Elder.

They gathered all the spiritual materials needed to craft the puppet.

"Hmm... barely passable. This is my first attempt at crafting, and I estimate I can only produce a mid-grade first-tier death puppet."

The first-grade high-quality materials were used to refine a first-grade mid-quality dead puppet.

It would be a bit embarrassing to say it out loud.

But after all, this was Lu Zaian's first time refining it.

It took all night, until dawn the next day.

Lu Zaian finally succeeded.

Before him were three wooden crocodile puppets, their bodies entirely green.

The amber vertical pupils were lifeless, and the originally withered corpse, after its blood had been extracted, was filled with refined iron spiritual materials by Lu Zaian.

The overall impression is one of solemnity and eeriness.

Lu Zaian's assessment was—it's usable.

"Go! Scout ahead!"

Lu Zaian bent his arm and pointed, and the three wooden crocodile puppets came to life.

Slightly stiff limbs slid through the mud, burrowing into the mine shaft...

"Let's go too."

Lu Zaian called over Xu Yan'er and followed the puppet into the mine.

Upon entering the mine, it was shrouded in darkness.

Only a faint ray of light seeped in through the cracks in the opening.

This made the entire space appear gloomy and mysterious.

Lu Zaian activated a luminous stone to illuminate the surroundings.

Clearly, the space was vast enough to accommodate a whole group of Wood Horned Crocodile Demons.

Several passageways crisscross, leading to a secluded and mysterious place...

Only the outermost perimeter of the mine shaft is covered with silt.

Inside, solid stone walls were exposed, with pits and craters all over the cracks.

There are still some fragments of the original water-core stone on the ground.

It was probably caused by the wood crocodiles biting through the original stone and swallowing the spiritual objects inside.

Even with their limited intelligence, they knew that something good was hidden inside the water-core stone...

"It's like feeding cabbage to pigs; they're wasting all the good stuff."

Lu Zaian shook his head and continued walking inside.

Irregular water-core ore deposits began to appear on the surrounding walls.

Extremely dark, the pieces are embedded in the stone wall.

It cannot be detected by sensory exploration alone; it can only be noticed with the naked eye.

Lu Zaian's eyes lit up, and he stepped forward and casually pried off a piece of water-core raw stone about the size of a fist.

With a little effort, the outer layer of the raw stone was peeled off, revealing the spiritual object inside.

"A mid-grade first-tier Azure Marrow Jade, just so-so." Lu Zaian shook his head.

They opened several more raw stones, some of which were even low-grade first-tier spiritual items.

"Here you go, let's walk a little further in..."

Lu Zaian no longer cared about these things and casually tossed them to Xu Yan'er.

On the contrary, Xu Yan'er accepted them one by one as if they were precious treasures.

She suddenly realized that being restricted by Lu Zaian wasn't so bad after all...