Chapter 42 - 38: Exotic Beast Shang Fu, Might of Foundation Establishment

Chapter 42: Chapter 38: Exotic Beast Shang Fu, Might of Foundation Establishment

"Uncle Tian, Lu and I will head back to school first. Keep up the good work!"

"Mm, be careful on the road."

"Don’t worry, Uncle Tian. Lu and I are practitioners now. We’ll be fine!"

Yu Tianqi smiled and waved goodbye to Lu Chen and Mu Xiaoye, then returned to the shop. He casually closed the glass door, temporarily suspending business.

"Uncle Tian, after all these years, have you found the lair of those guys?"

Yu Tianqi sat opposite Bai Ling, silently took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and began to smoke.

"If those guys were that easy to find, I wouldn’t have been stuck here for ten long years."

"But you must have uncovered quite a bit by now, haven’t you?"

Yu Tianqi didn’t answer immediately but remained silent for a long time. After all, he had already guessed the reason for Bai Ling’s visit.

After a moment of silence, Yu Tianqi took out a list from his pocket and placed it in front of Bai Ling.

Bai Ling took the list and examined it carefully. There were many names on this list, ranging from the upper-class elites of Luocheng to people from all walks of life on the city streets. The scope was incredibly broad, covering almost every aspect of Luocheng.

Looking at the names on the list, Bai Ling’s pupils suddenly shrank. She asked, "Are you... sure it’s them?"

"I’m not sure, but someone among them is definitely not clean."

"Understood."

After memorizing all the names on the list, Bai Ling put it away. Then she took out a box and handed it to Yu Tianqi, saying, "Uncle Tian, this is something the boss specifically asked me to deliver to you before I came to Luocheng this time.

"He also asked me to pass on a message...

"A monster is destined to be unable to live together with ordinary people, no matter how hard he tries to pretend to be ordinary."

After saying that, Bai Ling politely and neatly stacked the bowls and chopsticks she had used, then stood up to leave.

Just as Bai Ling was about to step out of the shop, Yu Tianqi suddenly spoke.

"The Five Spirit Blood Pill Skill is an evil skill used specifically by the Black Lotus Sect to bewitch ordinary people. You just need to keep an eye out for anyone who was previously unremarkable but suddenly experienced a surge in talent or cultivation over a short period of time. It’s highly likely they’ve used the Blood Pill Skill."

"I’m aware of this, and I know how to handle it."

"Then you should also know that they won’t easily admit it, and others might not necessarily understand you," Yu Tianqi said.

"After all, without conclusive evidence, you can’t be absolutely sure that they’ve used the Blood Pill Skill."

Bai Ling looked at Yu Tianqi and changed the subject.

"Uncle Tian... is there really nothing else you want to tell me?"

Hearing this, Yu Tianqi took a deep drag of his cigarette, then shockingly snuffed it out with his bare hand instead of using an ashtray. He stood up, his tall figure stretching long and narrow under the dim, yellowish lights of the shop.

At this moment, the tables, chairs, bowls, and chopsticks in the shop began to shake violently, as if affected by some invisible force.

He looked at Bai Ling, his expression turning unprecedentedly serious.

"If, and I’m just saying if...

"If Lu really used the Blood Pill Skill... please leave him to me."

"Okay."

After saying that, Bai Ling directly pushed open the glass door of the shop and walked in the direction Lu Chen and Mu Xiaoye had left.

Yu Tianqi watched Bai Ling’s retreating back and silently opened the box she had delivered.

Placed inside the box was, astonishingly, a broken black iron rod. And in the center of the rod were two large, blood-red characters... Qi Tian.

The features of someone who had used the Five Spirit Blood Pill Skill were clear: originally unremarkable, followed by a sudden surge in cultivation or talent in a short amount of time.

And these two points... the current Lu Chen fit perfectly!

Therefore, without a doubt, his name and information had also appeared on the list Yu Tianqi handed to Bai Ling. That’s right, at this moment, Lu Chen had already become one of the targets Bai Ling was investigating. And his rank... was in the top three.

After all, excluding highly improbable special circumstances, the only method that could allow an ordinary person with only a Low Grade Spiritual Root to reach a level comparable to a genius in just a short month or two was the Five Spirit Blood Pill Skill of the Black Lotus Sect.

So, even though he had a very good relationship with Lu Chen, Yu Tianqi, having noticed these things, still chose to put his personal feelings aside and list him as a suspect.

After Bai Ling left, Yu Tianqi silently stared at the broken rod in the box for a long time before closing it again.

"Lu, please don’t disappoint your Uncle Tian..."

Luocheng, East City District, bus stop.

"Lu, this big meal barely counts as you passing the test, but if there’s a next time, I..."

Mu Xiaoye turned her head, wanting to say something to Lu Chen, but she found that Lu Chen, who had been standing right next to her, was gone.

"Lu???"

Mu Xiaoye looked around and found no trace of Lu Chen in the bustling crowd at the bus stop. She had clearly come here with Lu Chen to wait for the bus back to school. But in the mere time it took to turn her head, a living, breathing person like Lu Chen had vanished into thin air right from her side.

Something was wrong, very wrong.

Mu Xiaoye looked around anxiously, an inexplicable sense of unease beginning to rise in her heart. After her search yielded no results, she immediately took out her phone, trying to contact the missing Lu Chen.

But the busy tone from the phone only further intensified the unease in her heart. It seemed... something bad had happened.

Meanwhile, Lu Chen, who had been waiting for the bus at the stop, suddenly noticed the change in his surroundings.

Quiet, eerily quiet.

Even though he was in a bustling downtown area, he couldn’t hear a single sound around him. What was even more bizarre was that in just a moment of distraction, the bustling bus stop had emptied out, leaving no one else but him.

It was as if he had been abandoned by the entire world at this moment.

"Lu Chen, a current third-year student of the Human Dao Class at Luocheng First High School, Low Grade Mixed Spiritual Root, Qi Cultivation Fourth Level cultivation.

"But strangely, your situation is completely different from what I saw in the files.

"Could you explain to me how you managed to elevate your spiritual root... to the Top Grade level in just a short summer vacation?"

Lu Chen whipped his head around, only to see a five-meter-tall, three-headed monstrous bird emerge from the empty street and slowly walk toward him. And the voice questioning him came from right beside that monstrous bird.

Looking at the white-haired girl standing beside the monstrous bird, whom he had met once before, Lu Chen felt an unprecedented sense of oppression. This feeling was even heavier than what he had felt from Ye Chenglin in the Ancient Cultivator’s Tomb.

It made Lu Chen feel like he couldn’t breathe.

He wondered, "Is this the true power of the Foundation Establishment Stage?

"Or is she... not an ordinary Foundation Establishment Stage practitioner?"

Looking at Bai Ling, who stood beside the monstrous bird and with whom he had crossed paths once, Lu Chen silently took out the Magic Sword from his Storage Pouch, assuming a guarded stance. However, his defiant posture of refusing to answer also caused Bai Ling’s eyes to grow even colder.

"Refusing to answer my question, are you?

"That’s fine. Then I’ll find the answers my own way.

"Go, Shang. Take him down."

"SCREECH!"

Hearing Bai Ling’s command, the three-headed monstrous bird immediately let out an angry roar and charged toward Lu Chen with the crushing momentum of a falling mountain.

Wherever it passed, the ground cracked and rocks flew!

[Mountain and Sea Strange Beast: Shangfu Bird]

[Recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas, South Mountain Chapter: There is a bird here, whose shape is like a chicken, but with three heads, six eyes, six feet, and three wings. Its name is Shang Fu. Eating its flesh causes sleeplessness.]

[Features: Infinite strength, unaging and immortal.]