Gao Wu: Oh no! Young Master Zhen is a cultivator!

For the Lin family, ten million might not seem like much, considering that a single gene-enhancing drug from Lin's Pharmaceuticals costs thirty million.

However, for a welfare institution, ten million is a great help.

If necessary, this money might be enough to rebuild a welfare institution.

Of course, whatever amount the Lin family donates reflects the goodwill of the Lin couple and is also a consequence of the orphanage raising their son for them.

Now that I have taken over the original owner's place, I should also protect this orphanage for the original owner and settle my own karma.

"Since the Lin family is willing to donate money for charity, Grandma should just accept it."

"Grandma doesn't know how to use such a large sum of money." Lin Qinghe shook her head and looked towards the playground.

Lin Ran casually replied, "Buy some new clothes for the children, and optimize their diet. If we really can't spend the money, we can renovate the orphanage."

"Let's forget about rebuilding the orphanage." Lin Qinghe gently shook her head: "It was renovated a few years ago, and it's fine now."

Lin Ran then remembered that after the Chu family found Chu Xining, they also donated several million yuan to rebuild the welfare home.

Although the current facilities look a bit old, they haven't reached the point where they need to be replaced.

He stepped forward and sat down next to Lin Qinghe.

"Then use it all to improve the lives of these children. More children will come in later, and the money will eventually run out."

Lin Qinghe nodded, not saying anything more about the topic.

She turned her head to look at Lin Ran, her eyes holding a kind of insight unique to the elderly.

The two sat in the corridor for a while, chatting idly about trivial matters in the orphanage.

Which child got into which junior high school? Which aunt retired and went back to her hometown? Old Zhao in the kitchen learned a new sweet and sour pork ribs dish, and the children scrambled to eat it.

Lin Ran listened quietly, nodding occasionally.

He didn't know these people, but they all had a place in the original owner's memories.

As noon approached, Lin Ran got up to say goodbye.

"It's already noon, why don't you have some lunch before you go?" Lin Qinghe stood up.

"Maybe next time, I have something else to do."

Lin Qinghe nodded and escorted Lin Ran to the courtyard gate.

Sunlight shone on her gray hair. She reached out and straightened Lin Ran's collar, her movements gentle yet earnest.

"If you suffer any injustice at the Lin family's home, come back to the orphanage. Grandma will always have food for you."

Lin Ran was suddenly moved for no reason.

He was not the original owner of this body, and there was an insurmountable barrier between him and the old man.

But the old man's simple, almost clumsy words carried more weight than the exquisite delicacies on the Lin family's table.

"Okay, Grandma, don't worry, I've grown up now."

"Okay, okay." Lin Qinghe withdrew her hand and stood at the door watching him walk away.

Outside the iron gate, Grandpa Zhang was leaning against the wall of the guardhouse, smoking.

Seeing Lin Ran come out, he stubbed out his cigarette in the tin ashtray on the wall.

"Young Lin, you're leaving already?"

"I have something else to attend to. I'm off, Uncle Zhang, see you later."

"Come often."

"Yes."

Lin Ran waved his hand, walked a few hundred meters along the street, and hailed a taxi at the intersection.

"An abandoned mine in the eastern suburbs of the city."

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror, started the car, and drove into traffic.

Lin Ran leaned back in the back seat, planning his day.

Last night, I used up all the third-tier crystal cores in the cave, leaving only a few. Although I haven't finished absorbing the fifth-tier crystal cores yet, they won't last more than five days.

Today I'll go to the mine to hunt for some more crystal cores, enough to sustain my cultivation needs for a week.

In times of chaos, strength is the most important thing.

As the taxi drove out of the city, the street scene outside the window gradually changed into low-rise factories and wasteland.

Lin Ran's gaze swept across the rearview mirror, and he narrowed his eyes slightly.

There appeared to be a black sedan following behind.

The other party followed very discreetly, always maintaining a distance of three or four cars, with other cars occasionally cutting in between.

But after the taxi turned onto the provincial highway leading to the mine, it also turned onto the highway.

There weren't many cars on this road, and it was quite a coincidence that a black sedan kept hanging in the same position on the rearview mirror.

Lin Ran shifted his position in the passenger seat.

"Master, we're not going to the mine."

"what?"

"Turn back into the city and head to Xinhai No.1 Middle School."

The driver muttered something, turned on his turn signal, and made a U-turn at the intersection ahead.

Lin Ran turned his head to look out the window.

The black sedan did not make a U-turn but drove straight through the intersection and continued towards the mine.

The tinted windows made it impossible to see how many people were inside.

"It seems they know I've discovered them, and they're quite alert."

Lin Ran silently noted down the license plate number, thinking that he would find an opportunity to investigate who was following him later.

Upon arriving at the school gate, Lin Ran paid the fare and got out of the car.

I stood at the school gate for a while, but the black sedan never appeared.

It seems the other party knew they had been exposed and didn't follow.

So he hailed another taxi and headed to the abandoned mine once more.

After all that trouble, it was already 2 PM when we arrived at the mine entrance.

The guards on duty were the same ones I'd seen yesterday. When they saw Lin Ran coming over, they immediately stepped aside.

The mine tunnels were dimly lit, and the air was filled with a familiar, fishy stench.

Lin Ran walked less than a hundred meters in when a familiar figure emerged from the side passage, carrying a faded canvas bag on his shoulder.

"Senior, you've arrived!" Zhang Jiafei said eagerly.

Lin Ran nodded: "Are there any other places where mutated beasts of rank three or higher gather?"

"There aren't any left here." Zhang Jiafei shook his head. "The only difficult ones to kill are the mineral crystal toads in the pool. The rest of the area has been almost completely wiped out, and there are very few Tier 3 toads left."

"Besides this mine, where else near Xinhai are there gathering places for mutated beasts?"

"There are definitely none nearby. The city defense forces clear out the area regularly, and even Tier 2 beasts are rare within a 50-mile radius. If it were a more distant area, deep in the mountains to the north, there should be high-level mutated beasts."

"However, it might be very dangerous there." Zhang Jiafei paused, his tone becoming serious.

"The Cangling Mountains are not within the city defense army's clearing range. No one is managing the mutated beasts inside. There are fourth and fifth-tier beasts, and there may even be sixth-tier mutated creatures."

Lin Ran understood immediately: "Never mind, let's go check out the rat nest you mentioned."

Trying to break into the territory of a sixth-tier mutated beast while only having reached the third level of Qi Refining is practically suicide.

Moreover, the distance is too far, so it's not worth it.

Perhaps after I break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, I can consider going there to investigate its true nature.

For now, the only option is to start by targeting the fanged rats.

Although first-tier crystal cores have less spiritual power, they are plentiful, but they are inconvenient to carry.

A few hundred of these items would fill the backpack, and their value would be equivalent to only a few Tier 3 crystal cores.

Right now, he desperately wants a storage magic item.

Zhang Jiafei led the way, with Lin Ran following closely behind.

The deeper you go into the mine, the narrower it gets, and the rock walls overhead press down low. The fishy smell in the air gradually turns into the sour, putrid odor unique to rodents.

Along the way, they encountered several lone clawed rats and armored lizards, which Lin Ran easily dealt with.

As we turned a corner, we heard rustling sounds ahead.

Lin Ran raised his hand to signal Zhang Jiafei to stop, and then walked a few steps forward on his own.

A centipede more than two meters long emerged from a crack in the side wall of the mine tunnel, emanating spiritual energy fluctuations that only third-tier mutated creatures possess.

Its carapace is dark brown, with sharp spikes protruding from its carapace, and its densely packed legs scrape against the rock face, making a soft, rustling sound.

"A third-tier rock-thorned centipede!"

Lin Ran drew his training longsword, and the rock-thorned centipede immediately became alert.

It raised the front half of its body, opened its mouth, and spewed out a foul-smelling poisonous mist.

Lin Ran dodged to the side, and the poisonous mist sprayed onto the rock wall behind him, causing the rock surface to quickly turn black and bulge with a dense layer of bubbles.

"Good heavens, it's even more poisonous than the crystal toad!"

As he spoke, he flashed forward and slashed at the centipede's neck carapace with his knife.

when!

With a crisp sound, several fine cracks appeared on the centipede's carapace, but the blade failed to cut through.