He began his journey to becoming a true immortal by causing others to fail their tribulations.

Faced with three masked men in black who were robbing them, Huang Tao first shielded Ning Xiang behind him, and then spoke:

"I am a disciple of the Misty Sect. If you don't want trouble, you'd better leave now, and I can pretend nothing happened."

The leader of the group sneered, "So what if it's the Misty Sect? Others may be afraid of you, but we aren't. Hand over your valuables now."

"You won't listen to reason, so here comes the punishment! Take this!" Huang Tao shouted, then brandished his longsword and charged forward.

After a brief encounter, he could determine that the three of them were all in the early stages of Foundation Establishment, and were probably still rogue cultivators.

As a dignified inner disciple of the Misty Sect, he might not be able to win 100% of the time against someone of the same cultivation level from other top sects.

But how could they possibly lose to just three rogue cultivators?

The pride of being a disciple of a top sect, and the feeling of skill from killing monsters before.

He also wanted to protect Ning Xiang, and incidentally, to show off his power in front of Ning Xiang, so that Huang Tao's first move was as powerful as thunder.

"Brother Huang, let me help you!" Ning Xiang also drew her longsword and joined the battle.

Xun Yan watched the two sides locked in fierce combat and then realized something was amiss.

"Hmm... those three look like rogue cultivators, but their moves are quite disciplined. Rogue cultivators shouldn't be able to reach this level."

And Ning Xiang, when fighting the three of them, also held back her strength. It was less of a real fight and more like...acting?

While Xun Yan was pondering and continuing to observe, one of the masked men in black summoned a flying sword and headed straight for Huang Tao.

Seeing this, Huang Tao roared angrily, "What I hate most are despicable scoundrels who wield flying swords! Die!"

Xun Yan: "Hmm? Why does it feel like Huang Tao is cursing me? If I weren't waiting for you to undergo your tribulation, I'd put a sack over your head right now!"

Faced with Huang Tao's sudden outburst, the three masked men in black were clearly unable to hold him off.

One of them pulled out a black sphere and slammed it to the ground, instantly engulfing them in thick black smoke.

Huang Tao quickly held his breath, fearing that the black smoke might be poisonous. At the same time, he vigilantly looked around to avoid any possible sneak attacks.

Even so, when the flying sword appeared behind him, he was still a little too slow to dodge.

"Brother Huang! Be careful!" Ning Xiang suddenly rushed over and stood in front of Huang Tao.

The flying sword pierced her shoulder, and blood stained her snow-white robe.

"Ningxiang, my sister!" Huang Tao roared, his longsword unleashing golden sword energy that swept outwards.

The sword energy shattered and dispersed all the black smoke, but the three masked men in black were nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it!" Huang Tao cursed, then pulled the flying sword off Ning Xiang's shoulder and took it away, and quickly fed Ning Xiang a pill.

The medicine stopped the bleeding from Ningxiang's shoulder wound, and the wound began to heal quickly.

"Ningxiang, are you alright?" Huang Tao asked anxiously.

"Brother Huang, I'm fine. How about you? Are you alright?"

Hearing Ning Xiang's question, Huang Tao was slightly taken aback, and couldn't help but think to himself:

"What a wonderful girl! Not only did she help me fend off the flying sword, but she also showed concern for me immediately. She's much better than Junior Sister Mu..."

Thinking of this, Huang Tao gently embraced Ning Xiang and said, "I'm fine, Ning Xiang, let me take you back to the city!"

Ning Xiang shook her head and said, "Brother Huang, I'm fine. Let's keep going! Let's finish your mission first."

Seeing Ning Xiang's insistence, Huang Tao hesitated for a moment before nodding and saying, "Alright, if anything happens again, remember to hide behind me."

Also, if there's a similar danger again, just protect yourself. These little tricks won't hurt me.

"Okay, Brother Huang, you're the best." Ning Xiang said with a smile.

After resting for a while, the two continued their journey without encountering any further danger.

After successfully entering a mine, the two found a cave suitable for resting.

Xun Yan secretly followed the two men, and he also discovered that he was not the only one following them, but also the three masked men in black.

Judging from their appearance, they didn't seem to be planning a sneak attack at all; instead, they were secretly observing.

Inside the cave, Ning Xiang asked Huang Tao to check on her wounds. Amidst the intense heat of the fire, the two naturally became intimate.

Xun Yan was not surprised at all; he thought to himself:

"The Joyous Union Sect still likes to use this kind of trick, but as the saying goes, one trick is enough to get by. This self-inflicted injury ruse has actually fooled quite a few people, huh? A self-inflicted injury ruse!"

After those three words popped into his mind, Xun Yan immediately used his Earth Concealment Technique to arrive near the three masked men in black.

They were chatting as they looked toward the cave.

"How's the situation?" one of them asked.

"I heard the sound, it must have succeeded. They really have a lot of energy!"

"How could it not be vigorous? That's Senior Sister Ningxiang, who relied on dual cultivation to advance all the way to the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"Moreover, she knows how to heal herself, making people always think it's her first time, and thus feel like they've hit the jackpot."

"After this incident, that kid from the Misty Sect should be completely devoted to Senior Sister Ningxiang. We should be able to get a lot of information out of him."

"Maybe we can even develop him into an inside player, then we'll have accomplished another great feat."

"I heard that Senior Sister Ningxiang's strength has improved quite a bit. After her passionate encounter with that boy, is she about to undergo tribulation?"

"Don't worry, Senior Sister Ningxiang is very discreet and will definitely not forget about this while focusing on dual cultivation."

Listening to the conversation between the three, Xun Yan couldn't help but raise the corners of his mouth slightly.

"As expected, it's all a trick of the Joyful Union Sect—simple and crude, yet very effective."

Ning Xiang should be able to transcend the tribulation after a few more dual cultivation sessions. Since that's the case, let me give her a push.

Thinking of this, Xun Yan crawled out of the ground and walked towards the three of them.

Upon hearing Xun Yan's deliberately revealed footsteps, the three immediately became alert.

"Who are you?" the leader demanded.

After Xun Yan came out, he smiled and said, "Don't be nervous, fellow disciples. We are all from the same sect."

After saying this, Xun Yan, using the original owner's memories, revealed the secret code within the Hehuan Sect.

The other party was taken aback at first, then communicated with Xun Yan using a code.

Xun Yan answered fluently without making any mistakes, and the three of them immediately relaxed and were no longer as wary as before.

"Junior brother, what are you doing here?"

Xun Yan smiled and said, "Senior brother, I came here to do a mission, and I happened to overhear your conversation, so I came to take a look."

"Oh. Is there anything else?"

"Senior brother, do you have any more Aphrodisiac Powder? I just ran out. I won't take yours for nothing; I'll trade you other pills for it."

At this point, Xun Yan took out a small porcelain bottle and poured out a few pills to restore spiritual power.

Seeing the high-quality pills, the leader chuckled and said, "We're all from the same sect, why be so polite? I happen to have what you need here."

After the transaction, the leader spoke up, "Junior brother, this aphrodisiac powder is a new product, and its effects are even stronger than before."

Even our own family members could get infected, so you have to be careful and not get yourself involved.

Hearing that the effects of the Hehuan Powder were even better than he had expected, Xun Yan couldn't help but smile.