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

Afterwards, Lu Zaian spent two spirit stones to select three ancient books from a small stall.

These paper books were widely circulated, and since rubbings were inexpensive, they were very cheap.

Unlike cultivation techniques, which are engraved on jade slips and can only be read a limited number of times, these techniques are different.

Apart from that, Lu Zaian had no other expenses related to spirit stones.

As for the spirit rice, spirit wine, and monster meat in the restaurants in the market, they are beyond my means to consume.

As dusk approached, Lu Zaian decided to spend the night on the outskirts of Black Rock Market.

The area surrounding Black Rock Market is still under protection, and fighting among cultivators is prohibited.

There are restaurants run by ordinary people here. Although they do not provide spiritual food or rich spiritual energy, they are cheap and only cost ordinary silver.

"Waiting here for the night before continuing my journey doesn't feel very safe at night."

Lu Zaian leaned against the headboard of the guest room bed, flipping through the books he had bought that day.

Whether it was just his imagination or not, Lu Zaian felt uneasy, though he couldn't pinpoint the source of it.

Having heard that cultivators have very keen intuition, Lu Zaian dared not be careless.

Having made up his mind not to actually fall asleep, Lu Zaian decided to read a book and meditate for the night.

"The Basic Spiritual Materials Collection" is the title of one of the books.

Lu Zaian discovered that it contained detailed records of the properties and uses of various common and rare spiritual materials in the cultivation world.

From common medicinal herbs to rare minerals, the appearance or illustrations of each spiritual material, as well as how to harvest and use them, are all included.

This allowed Lu Zaian to brush up on his knowledge of cultivation.

Previously, when he stayed on the outskirts of the Black Soil Mountains for a long time, Lu Zaian would sometimes encounter one or two spiritual herbs.

Unfortunately, Lu Zaian couldn't tell the difference; he only knew that it was a spiritual herb containing spiritual energy, and he didn't dare to pick it rashly.

"Collection of Famous Elixirs" is the name of another book.

Similarly, it lists countless names of magical pills and their effects, and also provides practical information on how to distinguish their color and smell.

Anyway, I should be able to recognize most of the pills inside the Blood Spirit Pearl.

The last book.

The Journey to the Immortal Realm of Mountains and Seas

"I never expected that this book would record the travel experiences of a Core Formation expert!!"

Lu Zaian carefully examined the pages and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

This book was written by a powerful cultivator who had traveled the world after reaching the Core Formation stage.

According to the book, the world they live in is a world called "Mountain and Sea Realm".

The Mountain and Sea Realm is a spherical world with only one continent, surrounded by boundless seawater.

It is divided into five major regions and four major sea areas.

The regions are: the Eastern Divine Continent, the Southern Barbarian Ten Thousand Mountains, the Western Wilderness Golden Sand Sea, the Arctic Ten Thousand Mile Ice Plain, and the Central Heaven Mountain and Sea Heart.

The sea areas are: East China Sea, South China Sea, West China Sea, and North China Sea.

Each region is further subdivided into several smaller areas based on different mountains, rivers, and landforms.

Surprisingly, it also contained information about the Black Soil Mountains.

"Eastern Divine Continent - Northern Skies - Black Soil Mountains: This mountain range has vast underground spiritual veins, stretching for nearly a thousand miles. The mountains are rich in spiritual energy and filled with spiritual plants, making it a rare sacred place for cultivation."

"I never imagined I was in the cultivation world of the northern part of the Eastern Lands?"

The book also recounts many strange tales and interesting stories about the Core Formation expert's travels through various regions, which truly broadened Lu Zaian's horizons.

Before I knew it, it was dawn.

After checking out and packing, Lu Zaian left Heiyanfang City and drove in circles in a different direction than when he came.

As for the recruitment by the Fire Refining Sect, Lu Zaian simply chose to ignore it.

"Just in case, let's take a detour first. I'm being so low-key, I don't think anyone will notice."

Lu Zaian didn't have any magical artifacts to travel by flying, so he had to run on foot all the way, winding his way away from Black Rock Market.

Half an hour later, nothing unusual happened.

Lu Zaian breathed a sigh of relief and was about to circle back to the Black Soil Mountains in the south.

But then a streak of rainbows swept across the sky behind them!

Lu Zaian's expression changed drastically. He felt a powerful aura locking onto him, and he feared that the visitor was up to no good.

'No way? They're targeting me too? Or is it that every cultivator who steps outside Blackrock Market is being watched?'

Running away was definitely too late, and I didn't have any magic weapon to speed things up.

The figure swept closer and turned out to be a cultivator riding a large, wine-yellow gourd.

The aura emanating from him was clearly that of the fifth level of Qi Refining!

Lu Zaian's heart sank, and he immediately shouted:

"Who are you? Why are you chasing me?"

"Hahaha, you stinky fly, you almost made Grandpa dizzy!"

The cultivator had a fierce expression and looked down at Lu Zai'an with a mocking smile, as if he were a cat playing with a mouse.

"I have no grudge against you. If it were for money, I'm just a Qi Refining Level 3 cultivator, I don't even have a storage bag, why would I bother?"

Lu Zaian shouted loudly, looking as if he wanted to know how he was going to die.

The cultivator on the gourd chuckled, seemingly unwilling to explain himself to a dead man.

"Hehe, even a mosquito's leg is meat, right? Fellow Daoist, rest in peace and be a muddle-headed ghost..."

"call out!!!"

However, before he could finish speaking, a flying sword, transformed into a cold light, pierced through his heart with a speed he couldn't react to!

His eyes widened as he slowly lowered his head to look at the fatal wound in his chest.

He glanced again at the talisman torn in two in Lu Zaian's hand and immediately understood.

"You...won't...talk..."

He made a hissing sound of blood and foam coming from his throat, and fell from the sky along with the gourd magic weapon that had gone out of control between his legs.

"If you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Go to sleep!"

Lu Zaian flew forward with incredible speed and waved his hand.

He directly stored the cultivator's corpse and the gourd magic weapon into the Blood Spirit Pearl's storage space.

Immediately afterward, Lu Zaian, without looking back, identified a direction and continued speeding away.

……

The sun was blazing.

Around noon, Lu Zaian finally returned to the Black Soil Mountains, to the cave where he had been hiding.

"Phew, damn, that was exciting!"

Lu Zaian sat down heavily on the ground, panting as he tried to regain his strength.

After finally recovering, Lu Zaian waved his hand again, and a corpse and a half-human-sized wine-yellow gourd fell to the ground.

"I'd like to see who you are."

Lu Zaian felt he was really unlucky. It was his first time going to Black Rock Market, and he had been so low-key.

Even though they dared not spend spirit stones lavishly and pretended to be poor, they were still targeted.

I didn't buy anything on the trip, but I wasted a first-grade high-quality flying sword talisman.

That's right. When Lu Zaian was caught up by this cultivator, he just pretended to be tough on the outside but weak on the inside.

The purpose was to find out why he was chasing him.

However, realizing that the cultivator had no intention of giving him an explanation, Lu Zaian activated the talisman ahead of time.

Considering that he was a cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining, Lu Zaian, just in case, made the drastic decision to use a first-grade high-rank flying sword talisman.

That was a full-force attack comparable to the ninth level of Qi Refining!

As expected, the cultivator was instantly killed by Lu Zaian's talisman before he could finish speaking!

Although he felt a little sorry for the talisman, if Lu Zaian were given another chance, he would still replicate it without hesitation.

As for the old-fashioned routine of "waiting for the cultivator to make a few attacks first, then blocking a couple of attacks, and after a few rounds, when they really can't hold on any longer, then revealing their trump cards and unleashing their ultimate moves."

Lu Zai'an will not let it happen.

Since the incident of fighting Shen Tu Rong in the Slaughter Gang, Lu Zai'an has come to a new understanding.

That is, someone whose age, strength, and realm are higher than one's own, whether they are a mortal or a cultivator, must have their own extraordinary abilities.

This could be personality, luck, some kind of trump card, or even a conspiracy...

In short, expecting your enemy to act like you're playing house or like an idiot is absolutely foolish.

The lion fights the rabbit with all his strength.

Lu Zaian was unwilling to gamble; as long as he didn't gamble, he wouldn't lose.