Taoist cultivation begins with being a miner

That day, everyone was lucky and caught two rabbits, and they made fewer and fewer mistakes.

As the collaboration progressed smoothly, the relationship among the nine people improved, and with the spying of the Pen of Truth, Lu Yan gained a deeper understanding of them.

They were not evil people; because of their backgrounds, they were as cautious as Lu Yan in their daily lives.

Gradually, Lu Yan developed a friendship with them.

To be honest, Lu Yan is not a heartless person. As long as the person has good character, he doesn't mind making friends.

On the fifth day, with everyone's skillful cooperation, they captured three red-clawed rabbits, but injuries were inevitable.

Ma Hong and Sun Zhe were scratched by the rabbit, and Mei Xiaoyu was kicked in the stomach by the red-clawed rabbit, flying two zhang away and immediately losing consciousness.

Fortunately, his injuries were not serious, and he woke up slowly not long afterward.

Yue Tingxin was very happy with the good harvest that day and immediately divided a red-clawed rabbit into nine portions to give to Lu Yan and the others.

After Yue Tingxin left, the eight people were in trouble. The place where they lived was just like Lu Yan's before, with no guarantee of safety. As long as you dared to show off your wealth, someone would definitely come to visit you at night.

Finally, they turned their attention to Lu Yan, hoping that he would keep it safe for them, since Lu Yan was the only one among them who had a storage bag.

Seeing that the group trusted him so much, Lu Yan took them to his home. Because of the existence of the Pen of Truth, Lu Yan knew them quite well.

Lu Yan bought some fine wine and then personally cooked some dishes, and everyone enjoyed a delicious meal.

Slightly tipsy, the group opened up and shared their stories.

The nine people came from five states of the Great Yan Dynasty. They were all tricked into coming here at different times and then began a life of exploitation and oppression.

Now that they have something to look forward to, their biggest dream is to go home and visit their families. Unlike Lu Yan, who was an orphan from a young age, they all have parents and relatives.

Going home is their motivation to survive.

Lu Yan also fabricated a story about their backgrounds. They came from a small cultivation family in Liufeng County, Bianzhou. He was from a side branch and had been ostracized since childhood. He had no choice but to come to Wuyou City to make a living. He had also mined spirit ore for a period of time.

As fellow sufferers and teammates, they felt a sense of camaraderie and mutual understanding.

On the sixth day, Yue Tingxin began teaching everyone how to hunt hidden beasts, those large chameleons.

"Remember to be careful when facing the Hidden Beast. Although it moves relatively slowly, its attacks are difficult to defend against."

The Hidden Beast has two attack methods: one is to swing its tail, and the other is to use its tongue.

The Hidden Beast's tongue is covered in barbs; if you get licked, you'll either die or suffer severe burns.

Finding hidden beasts mainly relies on keen eyesight; they usually attach themselves to large trees or rocks, blending into their environment.

... "

Everyone listened attentively to Yue Tingxin's explanation until the actual combat began.

Yue Tingxin found a place with hidden beasts to test everyone's eyesight.

After searching for a long time, it was the observant Mei Xiaoyu who discovered the clue.

It was perched on the canopy of a large tree, and you wouldn't notice it unless you looked closely.

The Hidden Beast likes to lurk in the shadows and ambush passing birds; even the Five-colored Chicken is one of their prey.

There are many common animals in the forest, but they are not of much value, and cultivators generally do not hunt them.

Under Yue Tingxin's guidance, the group used stones to throw at the hidden beast, forcing it down from the tree, since it was hindering their performance.

Sure enough, not long after, the hidden beast couldn't stand the harassment from the crowd and jumped down from the tree. Seeing that Lu Yan's group had a lot of people, it didn't intend to fight and turned to run away.

Zheng Qu, who had been waiting for a long time, swung his axe and struck the hidden beast squarely in the back.

But it was just an ordinary weapon, and the beast's back was thick and tough, so an axe blow only tore its skin open.

With a sharp pain in his back, the Hidden Beast lashed out with its tail at Zheng Qu, who was unable to dodge in time and was sent flying, axe and all, onto the tree trunk behind him.

The force was so great that the entire tree shook violently from Zheng Qu's impact.

Thanks to Zheng Qu's intervention, the group successfully surrounded the hidden beast and attacked it with their weapons.

However, among the group, only Lu Yan could injure it. Ordinary weapons are somewhat inadequate against demonic beasts, while Lu Yan's low-grade magic weapon, the greatsword, inflicts considerable damage with each strike.

The hidden beast tried to sneak up with its tongue, but Lu Yan, quick-witted and agile, stabbed it in the mouth, ending its life.

Only then did everyone have time to check on Zheng Qu, who was still unconscious; the attack from the Hidden Beast had been quite severe.

Yue Tingxin fed him two healing pills before he recovered, but he had already lost the strength to fight again, so the group had no choice but to return ahead of schedule.

"It's a bit of a stretch to let you deal with the Hidden Beast. Your strength is insufficient. If Lu Yan hadn't used a high-grade magic weapon, there would still have been casualties among you."

Here's a method for you: use talismans to enhance your strength during battle; it will be much more effective.

"If Zheng Qu had used the Great Strength Talisman back then, the damage from that axe blow would have been even greater. If he had also used the Swiftness Talisman, he could have avoided the hidden beast's attack." Yue Tingxin reminded the group as they parted.

Lu Yan also strongly agreed with this, saying that if one's strength is insufficient, one can make up for it with talismans.

……

"Fellow Daoist Lu, you're a talisman master?" Mei Xiaoyu looked at the talisman in her hand with surprise, and the others were also incredulous.

"Just a low-level Tier 1 Rune Master, nothing to brag about," Lu Yan replied, shaking his head.

"That's still amazing, isn't it? So many people want to learn it but can't." Pang Ziyue and the other two female cultivators looked at Lu Yan with envy.

If one could earn spirit stones through their skills, who would want to risk their life hunting demonic beasts? Especially female cultivators.

Lu Yan gave each of them a Giant Strength Talisman and a Swiftness Talisman, which they could use in tomorrow's battle.

The seventh day.

Despite his injuries, Zheng Qu continued hunting the hidden beasts with the others.

Thanks to the talismans, they managed to hunt another hidden beast without any major incident. Just as they were about to continue hunting, they encountered a group of cultivators fleeing for their lives.

The team of five was all at the mid-stage of Qi Refining, and almost all of them were injured. They said they had encountered a pack of Blacktooth Wolves.

Because he was going out hunting, Lu Yan had specifically researched the monsters outside the city, and he also knew about the Black Tooth Wolf.

A type of large wolf, entirely blackish-gray in color, including its teeth, hence the name Blacktooth Wolf. Moreover, these Blacktooth wolves are social animals, with a pack ranging from seven or eight to dozens or even hundreds of members.

Adult Blacktooth Wolves possess mid-tier Tier 1 strength, and if there is a Wolf King, they can reach high-tier Tier 1 strength.

Because the teeth are also poisonous, being bitten will gradually cause numbness in the body, making it very difficult to deal with.

No one expected this thing to appear on the outskirts of the forest. Yue Tingxin led everyone away without hesitation. A group of cultivators at the early stage of Qi Refining had no ability to escape in front of the Black Tooth Wolf.

After returning, Lu Yan continued to make talismans and cultivate. On the eighth day, the group changed to a different hunting location.

However, things went awry, and they failed to catch a single hidden beast.