Seeing Lu Ming and the others bolt without a second thought, Senior Brother Lin and his group were stunned.
They had thought the two boys and a dog would be so frightened upon seeing them that they would beg for mercy on their knees, crying for their parents.
After all, they had six Foundation Establishment stage cultivators on their side.
They had even planned out exactly how they would humiliate them before killing them.
Yet, the other party had simply turned and fled.
But did they really think they could escape?
“After them!”
With a wave of his hand, Senior Brother Lin led his junior brothers in hot pursuit.
By now, Lu Ming was no longer dragging Huang Tianbao along. Instead, he had hoisted him directly onto his shoulders.
As he sprinted, he shouted to Big Yellow, “Big Yellow, quick, send a message to your relatives! Tell them we’ve brought them some snacks!”
Big Yellow threw its head back and let out a long howl as it ran: “Awoooo!”
Lu Ming was startled. Holy crap, Big Yellow actually speaks a foreign language! Impressive!
But if you howl like that and your relatives respond, won't that scare the snacks away?
Obviously, Lu Ming was overthinking things. Big Yellow's relatives were actually quite clever.
Senior Brother Lin watched the two boys and a dog fleeing for their lives and smiled mockingly. “Hmph... I’ll run you to death today. Let’s see just how much spiritual energy you have!”
“Hahaha!”
Hearing Senior Brother Lin's words, the disciples behind him also broke into bloodthirsty grins.
In particular, the Foundation Establishment stage cultivator whom Lu Ming had beaten earlier smiled with utter cruelty. He had already decided that once they caught Big Yellow, he would skin it, debone it, and stew it in a dog meat hotpot.
However, Lu Ming carried Huang Tianbao as if spiritual energy cost him nothing, his legs moving so fast they became a blur of afterimages.
Even as Lu Ming expended spiritual energy, his dantian spun furiously, absorbing more energy than he was actually consuming.
Meanwhile, Big Yellow ran as if pumped full of adrenaline, its four legs churning even faster than Lu Ming’s.
After chasing them for quite a while, Senior Brother Lin realized that the boy and the dog ahead showed absolutely no signs of slowing down. He had grown tired of this cat-and-mouse game and decided to finish off Lu Ming and his companions right then and there.
“Awoooo! Roar!”
Just as they were about to make their move, the howling of Gale Wolves suddenly echoed from all directions.
“What’s going on?”
Senior Brother Lin and his group froze, only to realize they had been completely surrounded by a pack of Gale Wolves.
“This is bad! Run!”
Honestly, if they hadn't been so hyper-focused on Lu Ming's group, they would have noticed the wolves much earlier. But by the time they realized, it was already too late.
At the same time, they were somewhat baffled. Why weren't these Gale Wolves attacking Lu Ming and his group? Did Gale Wolves actually have selective appetites?
“You Qingshan Sect bastards, you shameless cowards!”
“To play so dirty and use such underhanded methods to harm us—aren't you afraid of divine retribution?!”
“Acting like this is utterly devoid of conscience! You’re even more wicked than evil cultivators!”
Hearing the curses of the Chixia Sect members, Lu Ming was dumbfounded. What kind of absurd logic was this?
So, it was perfectly fine for them to kill him, but if he fought back, he was an evil cultivator?
An evil cultivator? Lu Ming sneered. He didn't care what kind of cultivator he was, as long as he could put them in their place.
“Roar!”
“Ahhh!”
Boom!
Amidst flashing spiritual light and the roar of sword qi, Senior Brother Lin and his group were already locked in a fierce battle with the wolf pack.
Lu Ming didn't hesitate. Hoisting Huang Tianbao back up, he hurried away from the scene.
Who knew how strong Big Yellow's family ties actually were? What if the snacks weren't enough to fill them up, and the wolves decided to have them as a main course?
Carrying Huang Tianbao, Lu Ming ran for an unknown amount of time until the wolf howls had faded completely into the distance. Only then did he finally stop.
“Phew... That was exhausting.”
“Eldest Senior Brother, you can put me down now...”
Only then did Lu Ming realize he was still carrying Huang Tianbao. He quickly set Huang Tianbao down on the ground.
Perhaps because he had been bounced around for too long, Huang Tianbao’s footing was unsteady. With a thud, he fell flat on his face and proceeded to roll and spin all the way down a steep slope.
Thud! He fell straight into a deep crevice.
“Holy crap... Junior Brother, did you spin yourself right out of existence with that majestic roll?”
Lu Ming and Big Yellow quickly rushed over to the crevice where Huang Tianbao had fallen and jumped in after him.
“Junior Brother?”
Once Lu Ming landed, he realized they were inside a dark, eerie cavern.
“Eldest Senior Brother, I’m over here...”
By now, Huang Tianbao had scrambled back to his feet. He fished out a glowing gemstone from his storage bag to illuminate the area.
“Are you alright?” Lu Ming walked over to check on him.
“I'm fine.”
Lu Ming confirmed that aside from a few minor scrapes, Huang Tianbao hadn't sustained any serious injuries.
Huang Tianbao then pulled a milky-white pill from his storage bag. He bit off a third of it, and in an instant, his scrapes healed and his exhaustion completely vanished.
Seeing that Huang Tianbao was fine, Lu Ming finally took a moment to inspect their surroundings. He realized they were in just one section of a larger cave system.
“Woof, woof!!”
Just then, Big Yellow barked excitedly, signaling that it had found something good.
“Come on, let’s go check it out.”
Lu Ming and Huang Tianbao quickly followed Big Yellow to the source of the noise.
In front of them lay a small pool shrouded in dense spiritual energy.
Floating in the center of the pool were three blooming golden flowers with jade-like stems. Each flower had five petals that stretched outward like a five-pointed star. Shimmering silver light flowed across the petals, looking as though countless stars had been crushed and scattered upon them.
“Is this that Star Snow Lotus thing?” Lu Ming asked, feeling a bit uncertain.
“It certainly looks like it,” Huang Tianbao replied, his eyes fixed on the pool.
“Haha! Doesn't that mean we're rich? Hahaha!” Lu Ming laughed joyfully as he stared at the three Star Snow Lotuses.
As expected! This was the infuriating luck of a protagonist. Opportunities that others bled and died to find simply dropped right into his lap. He didn't even have to look for them; they practically delivered themselves to him.
“But Eldest Senior Brother, why is this guy here?” Huang Tianbao pointed toward Ye Fan, who was sitting in the pool.
Lu Ming stroked his chin, studying Ye Fan as he sat cross-legged in the middle of the pool. “Hmm... He’s probably just taking a bath. Ignore him, let's harvest our spiritual herbs.”
Meanwhile, Ye Fan, who was still healing his injuries, was seething with rage and resentment. Who the hell is taking a bath?!
In his agitated state, he nearly suffered a qi deviation. Terrified, he quickly forced his mind to calm down, refusing to let external distractions sway him.
This wretched mortal is right here. Once I recover from my injuries, I'll slap him to death.
Lu Ming had no idea what was going through Ye Fan's mind. If he did, he would have slapped him to death first. Right now, his entire focus was on harvesting the Star Snow Lotuses. After all, these were pure profit!
First, he rummaged through his storage bag and produced a large vat, which he filled with spiritual water.
Then, holding his breath, he carefully pinched the stem of a Star Snow Lotus. With a gentle tug, he uprooted the glowing, mystical flower. He then carefully transferred it into the large vat.
Big Yellow and Huang Tianbao watched with bated breath. Seeing Lu Ming succeed, they couldn't help but let out a collective sigh of relief.
Following the same method, Lu Ming harvested the remaining two lotuses.
Ye Fan, who was still healing, didn't move a muscle as he watched Lu Ming harvest the Star Snow Lotuses. He didn't care about those things; his recovery was his top priority.
He had sought out this place specifically because the spiritual water in this pool had miraculous healing properties. If his storage bag hadn't been robbed, he wouldn't be in such a pathetic state.
He assumed Lu Ming would leave as soon as he finished harvesting the Star Snow Lotuses.
Instead, he suddenly heard Lu Ming say, “Let's bottle up this pool water and take it back too. We can let the Grand Elder use it to raise fish and beautify the sect...”
Immediately after, he heard the clinking of two boys and a dog rummaging through various jars and bottles.
Rate on N.U.
