Chapter 6

The night grew deeper, and there was a little rain, drizzling.

The workers who were painting in the mansion had all left, and the continuous group of houses that could accommodate hundreds of people was left with only the master and apprentice huddled in the small alchemy room. Lu Xingzhou took out the spirit stones he got from the Danxia Gang and set up a spirit-gathering array by the flickering furnace fire.

The master and apprentice sat cross-legged and practiced. After a while, the spirit stones lost their spiritual energy and became dull.

This was a high-quality spirit-gathering array that cost a lot of spirit stones, and it was absorbed in an instant.

If an outsider paid close attention, they would find that Lu Xingzhou actually absorbed only a small part of the spiritual energy, and most of it went into Anuo's small body.

In just a few days, the large amount of spirit stones blackmailed from the Danxia Gang had been exhausted. It really is not enough for this gold-swallowing beast to swallow no matter how much money is earned.

Anuo opened her eyes first.

The window was not closed tightly, and the autumn wind rolled into the room with rain, with a bit of murderous aura.

Anuo sat on the side with her chin in her hands, looking at Master's handsome face with eyes closed cross-legged. It was still so calm and gentle, but she always felt that since Master returned to Xiazhou, his heart was as murderous as this weather.

That is an evil ghost crawling out of hell, returning to claim his life. No matter what kind of demeanor he has outside, as soon as he returns here, he suppresses the murderous intent that rushes to the sky.

Anuo is not six years old at all this year; she is ten. She is a direct participant in the past events of ten years ago. It's just that her physique is special, and she won't grow up no matter how much she eats. She must be fed high-quality pills, so she is extremely difficult to raise, looking many years younger.

Lu Xingzhou racked his brains to earn pills and money, and most of it was fed to this four-legged gold-swallowing beast, and it took great pains to pull her up to this size.

Anuo is not only special in physique, but also special in other aspects. Even if she was just in swaddling clothes, she knew everything that happened clearly.

The year she was raised, Lu Xingzhou was only nine years old.

That year his name was Huo Qing.

Although his surname was also Huo, Huo is a big surname in the village and has nothing to do with the Huo family.

Although Sheng Yuanyao has asked whether the Huo family has oppressed the villagers and formed enemies, in the end, she will only fix her gaze on the seventh young master Huo. After all, it is interesting if Huo Shang seeks revenge; it is the noble family grievance script that everyone from the government to the people loves to see, especially eye-catching.

Those oppressed people who were easily skipped over have no stories, no gimmicks, and no one cares.

Even if their whole family of more than ten people died, and the bodies were rolled up in rags and thrown down from the back mountain, no one cared.

There was a nine-year-old child left with one breath, and no one cared even more.

If anyone could take a look, they would find that in the mountain col between the Huo residence back mountain and Danxia Mountain, a baby was "growing" in the soil at some point. When Huo Qing was thrown down, he happened to roll beside the baby, and his teeth hit the baby's little head, knocking a trace of blood into his mouth.

The dying Huo Qing inexplicably came alive. Opening his eyes and seeing the little ball in front of him crying, he didn't know what kind of potential was aroused, and he stubbornly held the child and climbed up Danxia Mountain, fainting at the door of the Daoist temple.

There is no story of a kind old Daoist priest adopting children.

The old Daoist priest did save Huo Qing, but it was not adoption, but because he was interested in how this child, who should have died long ago, could still climb up the mountain alive. So as an experimental medicine person, he tortured him with various drugs for two years.

In order to cope with the government's population check, the old Daoist priest really entered his name into the register, becoming a proper successor of Danxia Temple.

After two years of torture like torture, Huo Qing's body was tortured like a rag, and the broken leg that could have been connected if treated in time completely lost the hope of healing.

In order not to let the medicine person die too easily, the old Daoist priest taught Huo Qing a little basic cultivation.

Being disabled at such a young age, and with his physique stirred up into a mess, it is equivalent to cutting off the martial arts path he had learned since childhood. He could only consider switching to Daoist methods, but there were also many obstacles.

After all, running Qi in the body, missing the foot meridian, naturally does not reach the Yongquan point. It can respond to the sky above, but does not touch the ground below, and cannot achieve the Great Circulation. Coupled with a poor physique, this spiritual energy cultivation is ultimately difficult to achieve.

Not to mention that Daoist methods require more understanding and aptitude, and it is not something you can learn just because you want to.

But Huo Qing still cherished this opportunity. Although being a medicine person is bitter, he couldn't take Anuo away with a broken leg, and it was easy to be discovered by the Huo family if he left, so he might as well endure it here first and learn. So he silently learned for two years amidst various drug-testing tortures, and at the same time saved the pitiful thin porridge to feed Anuo.

The little sticky rice ball, looking at him with bright big eyes, was the only warmth for little Huo Qing in this human purgatory.

At first, Anuo didn't grow up. The old Daoist priest thought it was normal to lack nutrition and didn't pay much attention. Anyway, they would die in a few days, so why bother. As a result, the little thing was extremely tenacious and really survived, but two years later she was still so small that her growth completely stopped, finally causing the old Daoist priest's confusion, and he planned to take Anuo for research.

This move completely angered Huo Qing.

For two years, Huo Qing had been submissive, which had already eliminated the old Daoist priest's vigilance. He didn't know that Huo Qing already had a foundation in arrays when he was young, and in the past two years, he had stolen his system, and had already secretly analyzed many of his unique means.

Taking advantage of the old Daoist priest's deep meditation, Huo Qing quietly destroyed the protective array he had set up, and a kitchen knife easily chopped off the old Daoist priest's neck.

Unfortunately, although the old Daoist priest was not a very strong immortal cultivator, he had a grade seven or eight, and the counterattack before death was not something his rag-like body could bear.

The old Daoist priest, whose neck was chopped off, had blood spurting, and the blood arrow could take his life.

At the critical moment, a jade-like slender hand brushed past, blocking the attack of the blood arrow. A pretty and charming voice sounded in his ear: "Interesting little brother... you should have died twice, this is the third time..."

Huo Qing turned his head and saw a pretty face of fourteen or fifteen years old, charming and charming.

Like a ray of light, it spilled into the dark hell.

Died twice? Once was killed by the Huo family, and another time was... traveling to this world in the previous life?

Huo Qing took a deep breath: "Who is the girl..."

"I am a life-lender." The girl's eyes rolled around: "You should have died, I lent you one, and one day you have to pay it back."

Huo Qing was silent for a moment: "The girl saved me, my life is the girl's, if the girl wants it, take it anytime."

"Hmm... how long have you been on this mountain?"

"Two years."

"Have you heard the old Daoist priest mention any pills?"

"He is refining pills every day, what is the girl referring to?"

"Hmm... of course, that kind of high-level pill that can make people ascend directly after eating."

"If he had this pill, he wouldn't only have a grade seven or eight cultivation, and die at my hands." Huo Qing was expressionless: "Perhaps he dreams of refining this kind of pill, isn't everything he does for this?"

"Ha..." The girl smiled: "Speaking of which, I think compared to here, the Huo family is more likely to have it. The divination should have some deviation."

Huo Qing immediately instigated: "Then why doesn't the girl go to the Huo family to search?"

"Ha... the Huo family is quite strong, I don't want to provoke them for now." The girl smiled: "I ran away from home to do my own career, and I lack manpower. I see you are quite interesting like a little adult, how about coming to help me?"

Seeing that she didn't want to trouble the Huo family, Huo Qing sighed with regret: "Since my life is the girl's, I will go wherever the girl tells me to go, the only prerequisite is to let me take Anuo."

The girl turned to look at the little ball in swaddling clothes, and there was some love in her eyes: "Of course."

Huo Qing nodded and began to rummage for things in the old Daoist priest's arms.

The girl watched him rummage for cultivation secrets and pills with great interest, and even a land deed.

Huo Qing handed them all to her: "Nothing to repay, this is a thank you gift."

"No need, keep it yourself... From now on, you are my little brother, I am Yuan Muyu, what about you?"

"...Lu Xingzhou."

Seeking fish by climbing a tree, rowing a boat on land.

Sister Fish is Master's rebirth, but Master is Anuo's life.

…………

With a "bang," the alchemy room window was broken, and Anuo's memory was like a broken mirror, returning to reality.

Looking up, a cold light shot out in the autumn rain, heading straight for Lu Xingzhou, who seemed to be meditating by the alchemy furnace.

Lu Xingzhou stretched out two fingers, and he was already holding a talisman, burning without fire.

The cold light couldn't reach Lu Xingzhou, Anuo flicked her sleeve and intercepted it, but it was just a flying dart.

At the same time, the talisman burned out.

Thunder struck in the night sky, and a flash of lightning struck down. A black shadow outside the window was about to escape, but how could it avoid the speed of this thunder?

With a "boom," the lightning struck the black shadow accurately, and the black shadow let out a scream: "Lu Xingzhou! You, you are not a grade-eight Daoist at all, you actually dare to hide your cultivation from the Yama King!"

"I haven't hidden anything from her, I just hid it from you idiots."

"I came under the order of the Yama King, you dare to kill me!"

"You say you don't even know my cultivation, how dare you claim to be sent by her?" Lu Xingzhou said faintly: "Falsely passing the Yama King's order in front of me... you really follow your master, stupid and don't know it."

The man rolled on the ground screaming, exhausted: "You... why are you so sure I'm falsely passing it! Let me go! Otherwise... ah!"

The voice became smaller and smaller, and soon it was inaudible, and he was dying in an instant.

At the moment of death, Lu Xingzhou's sigh came to his ears: "She and I have never fallen out... My departure is not because of your master's slander and exclusion, just because... she doesn't love me."

There was no sound outside the window.

Anuo climbed up and went to the window to look. The rain outside fell on the corpse, as if it were a corpse-dissolving water, gradually corroding the corpse, not even leaving a trace of ash.

Anuo didn't know if the other party heard this last sentence before dying. I hope not, otherwise, he would have to vomit it out before dying, which would be pitiful.

"Master, why didn't you put it back like before this time? Don't you care about the incense sentiment?"

"This has been found all the way to Xiazhou, putting it back will only bring endless trouble. My affairs in Xiazhou are very important, I don't have the leisure to deal with that group of idiots who only know how to compete for dominance."

"What if Sister Fish is angry?"

"The immortal path is long... Yuan Muyu's gaze can never stay on mortals like us for a moment, no matter who it is." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "I have to ask someone to fix the window tomorrow, wasting money."

"Cut, boring." Anuo knew at a glance that this man was changing the subject again. Isn't it just that he can't lick the woman, making it seem so mysterious.

Sister Fish is beautiful, but her face is not as round as Anuo's.

The alchemy furnace shook slightly, and the pill fragrance overflowed.

Three golden pills floated out, and the spiritual energy contained made Anuo almost drunk on oxygen.

Grade-seven Soul-Nourishing Pill, three pills in one furnace, quality... top-grade.

Anuo drooled.

Lu Xingzhou was still very dissatisfied with himself, looking at the waste in the furnace, muttering to himself: "Two pills were wasted... the strength is still insufficient."

Anuo said: "It's already very powerful, Master. A grade-seven alchemist refining grade-seven pills, I've never seen anyone who can stably produce top-grade ones, let alone multiple pills."

"But if I am satisfied with this, how can I break through to grade six?"

"Uh..."

"Grade seven is ultimately just the lower three grades, and there is still a qualitative deficiency. To truly cure my legs, I must break through to grade six, only then will there be a glimmer of possibility..." Lu Xingzhou sighed: "As for the opportunity to break through... I hope the Huo family won't let me down."