This is the martial arts world, what are you cultivators interfering in?

Chapter 87 Mine Ghost

"Young man, bear with it. It will hurt a little at first, but afterwards, you will never feel pain again..."

Zhu Xianchou looked at Li Lan calmly, having already opened the jade box in his hand.

Inside the jade box, a pale white four-winged flying insect slowly unfolded its wings and floated in the air, its sharp mouthparts opening and closing continuously, as if searching for prey.

This flying insect was no bigger than a fingernail, but the moment it flew out, it gave people a chilling feeling, as if it had been born from a pile of corpses, feeding on endless resentment and sorrow, and its antennae even seemed to be covered with the ashes of the dead...

"Puppet worm!"

A name came to Li Lan's mind. In Zhu's "True Explanation of Elixir", this kind of insect was of extremely high grade and difficult to refine. However, once refined, it could be used to control others as if they were his own limbs.

Ordinary cultivators use Gu worms to control people, but only by threatening them. If they cannot obtain medicine from the worm master, the Gu worms will devour the infected person, causing them to die a miserable death. But in the end, the infected person still retains their sanity.

However, this kind of puppet insect is a cut above. Once infected, the mind will be subtly affected, and the person who cast the insect will be regarded as the master in the subconscious!

A plan flashed through Li Lan's mind. This puppet worm was not without its weaknesses. It would take three days and three nights to successfully activate its power, but as long as Li Lan could endure the excruciating pain of the first few days, accumulate strength, and launch a counterattack at the last moment...

Although he remained calm inside, fear showed on his face as he exclaimed, "What is this?!"

Before he could resist, Zhu Xianchou had already walked over, grabbed Li Lan's chin, and fed the worm into his mouth!

"Lock me up for three days."

Li Lan was then taken away.

“This Gu worm is not easy to refine. If it weren’t for encountering a Gu master like Mr. Qiu, I’m afraid we would have had to wait several more years.”

The young man in brocade clapped his hands and said with a smile, "Mr. Qiu, how about you accompany me to the mine this time? After we get the Dao Yuan Grass, I'll need your help to refine the Dao Yuan Pill!"

Zhu Xianchou bowed and said, "Young master, how dare I disobey your request for my life!"

……

Inside the stone chamber.

"Zhu Xianchou has indeed found the Zhu family..."

Li Lan was quite moved.

Back in the Abyss Realm, Li Lan already knew about Zhu Xianchou's background: his ancestors were from the Zhu clan of the Immortal Realm, but they were harmed by members of the Zhu clan, causing them to suffer from poisonous Gu for generations!

Zhu Xianchou's relatives... all died because of this.

His greatest goal in life was revenge!

Ironically, that young master of the Zhu family seemed to trust Zhu Xianchou quite a bit...

This is not surprising. Zhu Xianchou is a figure of great stature. In the treacherous turmoil of the Dali Dynasty, he was able to navigate the situation with ease and control the overall situation. His character and wisdom are first-rate. He wants to deal with a young master from a powerful clan in the Immortal Realm who has not experienced much danger...

It's really not difficult!

In reality, although the struggles within the Great Li are among mortals, the level of intrigue and deception is no less than that in the Immortal Realm.

The winners of the mortal dynasties, once they reach the immortal realm, aside from their cultivation levels, will never be any less resilient in character or as insightful as anyone else.

It's just unknown what Zhu Xianchou is planning to do...

Without giving it much thought, he calmed his mind and clearly felt the puppet worm's activity within his body.

"The erosion of me by this puppet worm... seems to be far weaker than described in the book!"

Li Lan pondered. Even if he did nothing, the puppet worm would not be able to control him in three days!

Could it be because I have been practicing the True Dragon Technique, and my blood and qi are now completely different from those of ordinary people?

Probably!

As time drew to a close, Li Lan could no longer wait. With a thought, his blood and qi surged, and the power of his divine sense pressed down, instantly annihilating the puppet worm that had entered his spiritual platform, leaving only its lifeless shell!

Where is Ming Lanli now?

The door to the secret chamber opened, letting in light, and the young man in brocade robes entered with Zhu Xianchou, Xueju, and others.

Li Lan stood up blankly, "Ming Lan is standing here—"

Zhu Xianchou stepped forward and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Ming Lanli, and I am the direct descendant of Ming Zun."

"Very good. From today onwards, this young master Zhu Jiuhua is your master, and you are his slave. You must obey his every word and not resist him, understand?"

Zhu Xianchou spoke in a deep voice while casting his spell.

"Yes, greetings, Master."

Li Lan bowed to Zhu Jiuhua.

"No need for formalities... kill him!"

Zhu Jiuhua suddenly shouted and pointed at Zhu Xianchou.

Zhu Xianchou was taken aback, while Li Lan, without hesitation, immediately launched a deadly counterattack—

However, Li Lan was only at the third level of Qi Refining at this time, and was no match for Zhu Xianchou. He was already blocked by Zhu Xianchou.

"Young master, what do you mean?!"

Zhu Xianchou dared not harm Li Lan, so he could only hurriedly ask questions.

"Nothing special... Hahaha, let's test the effectiveness of this new puppet!"

Zhu Jiuhua was extremely satisfied. After all, this insect was refined for him by Zhu Xianchou. Who knew if Zhu Xianchou had secretly tampered with it? So he definitely had to give it a try!

Now it seems that the puppet is indeed obedient to him.

In this way, everything within the ancient road... will surely be obtained!

"Once I become the Holy Son of the Zhu Clan and marry Qin Hongyun of the Qin Family, I will never forget your contributions today!"

He patted Zhu Xianchou on the shoulder, then ordered Li Lan, "Stop and come with me!"

Li Lan immediately stopped and followed behind him blankly.

Zhu Xianchou walked at the back, a barely perceptible glint of coldness flashing in his eyes!

……

Stepping out of the secret chamber, a large group of people, about a hundred in total, were already waiting outside, including twenty Zhu clan cultivators and about eighty carefully selected miners.

In addition, Li Lan also sensed two powerful spiritual auras hidden in the shadows, clearly Zhu Jiuhua's protectors, with extremely high cultivation levels!

"set off!"

At a command, the group immediately headed towards the Wanyuan Mountain Range.

This mine is mainly a storage and distribution center, and it is more than ten miles away from the front-line mines. This is nothing to cultivators, and they arrived in front of it in no time.

The massive Wanyuan Mountain Range is already awe-inspiring when viewed from afar, but when it comes into view, it is even more awe-inspiring. It is as if what is in front of you is no longer a mountain, but a vast and boundless fortress, as if this is the edge of the world, which cannot be crossed!

The majestic mountain has been carved out into numerous mine shafts, resembling anthills, winding and densely packed.

The mine was illuminated by luminous pearls and was only seven or eight meters wide. As soon as you entered, you could feel the rich spiritual energy that rushed towards you, and the remaining immortal energy was far superior to that outside.

Li Lan glanced around and saw that the spirit stones in the mine had been completely mined out, leaving it pitted and uneven. After walking a short distance deeper, he sensed a familiar aura of immortal energy. This place must have produced immortal energy before, but not in large quantities.

"Young master, the place where traces of the ancient road were discovered is just ahead..."

One of the subordinates cautiously spoke up: "This place is extremely dangerous. Perhaps I should lead the puppet there myself..."

Zhu Jiuhua coldly replied, "Do you even know what Dao Yuan Grass is? I must personally pick it and refine it into elixirs!"

He was determined to win.

Li Lan was also surprised; it was actually Dao Yuan Grass?

This item is considered one of the most precious immortal medicines, surpassing even the True Explanation of Elixir. It contains the essence of the Great Dao and is extremely rare in the world. It is possible for it to appear after some extremely powerful figures have attained enlightenment or perished!

This herb, when refined into a Dao Yuan Pill and consumed, can transform a cultivator, causing their aptitude to leap forward. Even those with mortal bodies can become geniuses after consuming this pill.

If the news gets out, all the top powers will probably fight over it, and contemporary geniuses will flock to it. This item can lay the foundation for a genius's supreme cultivation, and even determine the fate of a major power for thousands of years to come!

There's something like this inside this mine?

No wonder this young master of the Zhu family was willing to risk his life!

"Keep going,"

Zhu Jiuhua urged him on, and his subordinates dared not say anything more, so they continued forward.

But ahead was pitch black. The mine appeared somewhat chaotic and unattended, and there was an inexplicable smell of decay in the air.

"Such rich spiritual energy and immortal essence!"

Li Lan was somewhat surprised. After traveling several miles, he actually saw an entire mineral vein: the outer layer of this mineral vein was made of high-quality spirit stones, and in the innermost core area, there were clearly many immortal source stones that had already been opened.

The Immortal Source Stone has been opened, and the overflowing Immortal Source Qi is everywhere. The light reflected from the Immortal Source Qi also makes the mine very bright and colorful.

Immortal Source Stones are extremely important to super-powerful forces, but with such a mine right here, how could the Zhu family ignore it?

Li Lan secretly used his spiritual eye to observe and immediately discovered that there was actually a gray mist flowing between the seemingly dazzling immortal source light!

"Everyone be careful, guard yourselves, and do not absorb even a trace of spiritual energy or immortal energy, or disaster will surely follow!"

An aged voice suddenly rang out, followed by a pair of golden eyes that lit up, clearly belonging to Zhu Jiuhua's protector.

Everyone was startled, and Li Lan was also taken aback. Zhu Jiuhua, this protector, was very strong and should be close to developing the "Dharma Eye".

The group cautiously moved forward. Before long, Li Lan noticed that the gray mist was becoming increasingly dense. The protector took out a portion of immortal energy and cast a spell, which protected the group as they slowly passed through.

Out of the corner of Li Lan's eye, he noticed a small gray human face inside a piece of Immortal Origin Stone that had already had its outer layer cut open within the stone wall's mineral layer. All the gray mist was floating out from that gray human face.

This is amazing!

Are there other strange things among these immortal sources?

These things seem to cause great damage and impact, and are very dangerous, but the Immortal Source can protect against them.

"Luckily, it was a miner who hadn't woken up yet... otherwise it would have been dangerous."

"Be careful, these things will revive as soon as they smell human scent, and who knows how many people will die then."

Several miners were muttering to themselves.

They kept moving forward, but suddenly, a shrill scream rang out!

"what--"

One of the subordinates in the group has disappeared!

Everyone hurriedly looked in the direction of the shouts, only to see a dark shadow flash past a certain intersecting hole.

The sound of chewing food could be heard in the darkness, and blood flowed out from the crisscrossing holes.

"This... a mine ghost, a mine ghost that has awakened!"

"The mine demons here are too ferocious! Even those protected by immortal energy were captured!"

"No wonder this place was abandoned..."

A group of experienced miners and monks were all terrified; clearly, this thing was extremely frightening.

"Don't panic!"

The protector, who was about to cultivate the Dharma Eye, spoke coldly: "There's an evil leak ahead. Get ready to seal it with Immortal Source!"

His words filled the carefully selected miners with even greater terror.

"What? There's foul air here?"

"I'm quitting, I'm leaving!"

"Yes, I don't want your spirit stones anymore, let me go!"

They were all terrified, and some of the smarter ones didn't say a word, turned around and ran, trying to escape!

"court death!"

The protector let out a cold shout and waved his sleeve. The two fleeing miners were sent flying back and landed at his feet. He grabbed them with his five fingers, and five bloody holes appeared on the tops of their heads. They collapsed to the ground, dead.

"I'm giving you two choices. First, seal off the evil flow, and you'll have a chance to survive. Those who survive will receive a Spirit Transformation Pill."

Second, die now!

His words were chilling!

Most of the miners in the arena were only at the Foundation Establishment stage. The Spirit Transformation Pill was a resource for breaking through to the Core Formation stage, so it should have been very attractive to them. However, at this moment, they seemed to be overwhelmed by fear, and they were all pale and dared not speak.

The guardian frowned: "Each survivor will receive an additional Yuan Shen Pill!"

Yuan Shen Pill, the sustenance for breaking through to the Yuan Shen realm!

With such a generous reward, after much hesitation and deliberation, the group of miners finally nodded in agreement!

Li Lan couldn't help but wonder, what exactly is this "evil leak"?

……