Taoist cultivation begins with being a miner

Since that's the case, the only option is to kill Dan Haoteng.

"Manager Zhang, spare me—uh—"

Dan Haoteng had barely finished uttering the word "life" when Zhang Zixu stabbed him in the heart with a sword, killing him instantly.

Dan Haoteng, who was at the fourth level of Qi Refining, had no strength left to fight back against Zhang Zixu, who was at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

Meanwhile, dozens of people were already standing in the courtyard, including patrol guards who had come after hearing the commotion, and tenants who had come to watch the excitement.

The scene inside the house was clear at a glance; it was obvious that the couple had been caught having an affair by their wives, and then killed each other in a fit of rage.

The guards intended to capture Zhang Zixu, but they didn't care about any love triangle or revenge killings; breaking the rules here meant punishment.

However, seeing that Zhang Zixu was dressed in a steward's uniform and was a mid-level steward, the guards were unsure what to do and could only ask the steward of Qingfeng Lane to handle the matter.

……

Lu Yan, having finished watching the show, had already returned.

With a simple trick, Dan Haoteng perished, and the perpetrator remained unscathed. It has to be said that the Pen of Truth and the Whispering Demon are a perfect match.

With these two things, one can kill without leaving a trace.

With Dan Haoteng dead, I can finally mine in peace tomorrow.

The next day at dawn, Lu Yanxing rushed to the mine. In the morning, he mined and fed the chickens. In the afternoon, he made talismans and absorbed the essence of the soul. In the evening, he practiced the Eight Trigrams.

The day has passed.

But what happened yesterday did not stop there. Zhang Zixu, the intermediate supervisor, was a minor celebrity, and there were dozens of people present that day.

In less than half a day, the incident caused quite a stir at Zhang Zixu's workplace in the northern part of Zhongcheng.

Especially for lower-level cultivators, who are usually on edge and often teetering on the brink of life and death, they are naturally eager to chat about this rare piece of gossip.

……

Ten days later, Lu Yan had collected three hundred talismans and decided to sell them in the market to exchange for spirit stones.

This time, Lu Yan went to 158 Square again, since there were many familiar faces there and sales were fast.

Unsurprisingly, they encountered Huang Ying once again.

It has to be said that Lu Yan and he really are destined to be together.

"Yo~ Brother Lu is here again~" Huang Ying was as enthusiastic as ever.

"Brother Huang." Lu Yan greeted him and then continued setting up his stall.

"Brother Lu, you don't know, while you were away, quite a few female cultivators inquired about you. Tsk tsk tsk, I'm really envious."

"Ahem~ Brother Huang, you flatter me. It's all out of necessity," Lu Yan replied awkwardly.

During that period, I really went all out to sell talismans, showering customers with compliments and sweet talk no matter what they looked like.

The influence of the Prime Minister's undergarments, coupled with Lu Yan's robust physique and handsome appearance, made him very popular among the female cultivators for a time.

His fellow talisman sellers even gave Lu Yan a nickname: "Friend of Female Cultivators."

To cater to the market, most of the talismans in Lu Yan's possession are also giant strength talismans.

In one day, Lu Yan successfully sold more than seventy copies, earning seven spirit stones.

In the evening, Lu Yan bought some Spirit Nourishing Pills to take back and cultivate.

The following day, Qin Wan from Yin Yang Pavilion, having received the news, arrived again, wanting to continue persuading Lu Yan, leaving Lu Yan quite speechless.

Even when offered fifty spirit stones a month, Lu Yan remained unmoved.

In order to avoid being entangled with the Yin Yang Pavilion, Lu Yan changed to another market on the third day and continued to sell. It took him four and a half days to finally sell all the talismans in his hand.

The thirty spirit stones he received were enough for two months' expenses, so Lu Yan continued to mine at the mine.

During the mining operation, Zhao Yu, Sun Zhe, and Pang Ziyue successfully broke through to the third level of Qi Refining, further enhancing the team's overall strength.

Moreover, Zheng Qu borrowed five spirit stones from himself and ten spirit stones from the other seven people, spending a total of twenty-five spirit stones to buy a low-grade magic weapon, a large axe.

With this thing, the group began hunting hidden beasts, which were much more valuable than red-clawed rabbits.

By the end of the month, Lu Yan still had several clumps of divine soul essence that he hadn't absorbed, so he decisively pressed the "Demon" roulette wheel to get some bloodline fruits to improve his aptitude first.

As before, it consisted of seven bloodline fruits and three kinds of medicinal herbs that would last for several decades.

The long-awaited fruit of destiny did not appear.

So Lu Yan re-planned his schedule: mining and feeding chickens in the morning, making talismans and absorbing the essence of the soul in the afternoon, and cultivating, digesting the bloodline fruit, and gossiping in the evening.

Even so, I still always feel like there's not enough time.

A month passed in the blink of an eye, during which Zheng Qu returned three spirit stones to himself.

In order to repay everyone's spirit stones, he has had a hard time lately, cutting his expenses to a minimum, stopping all cultivation and keeping only rent and necessary living expenses.

Lu Yan admired him greatly, as he spent his days either hunting monsters or practicing axe skills.

Although Zheng Qu was taciturn all day long, he had a ruthless streak and was very loyal to his friends; he was just not good at expressing himself.

The other seven are basically the same; those who have come this far from the bottom are all people with great perseverance.

At the end of the month, Lu Yan spun the Ghost Character Wheel and obtained seven clusters of divine soul essence and three kinds of Yin attribute materials.

Currently, I can draw eighteen talismans every day. After absorbing these seven clusters of divine soul essence, I should be able to increase to twenty. At that time, I should be able to try to draw intermediate first-tier talismans.

Meanwhile, his cultivation level had also improved rapidly during this period. With the blessing of the bloodline fruit, coupled with mid-grade spirit stones and spirit-nourishing pills, his progress was remarkable.

Lu Yan roughly calculated that he would break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining in one or two months.

……

Time flies, and another month has passed. Lu Yan has become even more adept at using the Mine God's Pickaxe, and can even use it as a knife for a while.

Lu Yan felt that he was now incredibly strong. If he encountered someone like Ji Ba Mao again, he could kill him with a single blow of his pickaxe without wasting a second one.

I've already accumulated ten mid-grade spirit stones, but unfortunately I can't openly spend them. Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to such lengths to sell talismans.

During this period, his divine sense has also been greatly enhanced. With so much divine soul essence being absorbed, his divine sense can now cover a radius of five zhang, which is more than one-third more than that of an ordinary Qi Refining Level 3 cultivator.

With enhanced spiritual awareness, he can now draw twenty talismans every day.

As for his cultivation, which is of utmost importance, Lu Yan felt that he was about to break through to the next level, so he decided not to go to the mine or make talismans next month and to focus on cultivation.

Aside from himself, Zheng Qu and the others are also doing well. Zheng Qu has paid off all the spirit stones he owed and can now live a normal life.

The other seven people didn't have Zheng Qu's boldness, so they could only save up spirit stones slowly by living frugally before making purchases.

It has to be said that hunting monsters is really not easy. Although you can earn a lot of spirit stones, they are all earned by risking your life.

While drinking with them, we chatted for a bit. They all knew that if they were not strong enough, anyone could bully them. Once they had a low-grade magic weapon, they would start cultivating with all their might, striving to break through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining as soon as possible.