Lin Luochen took advantage of Murong Xiazhu's absence to subtly inquire about the Murong Family from Murong Qiuzhi.
After all, knowing yourself and your enemy ensures victory in every battle.
Murong Qiuzhi understood his intention and revealed everything she knew without holding back.
According to her, the Murong Family's ancestors were once glorious, even producing cultivators at the Nascent Soul realm.
However, each generation was worse than the last, and after their ancestor's death, they began to decline.
Their father, Murong Nanchuan, was the only Golden Core cultivator in the clan, but unfortunately, he suffered a qi deviation during cultivation and unexpectedly perished.
Their eldest uncle, Murong Dongyue, a peak Foundation Establishment cultivator, was appointed as the family head of the Murong Family in a time of crisis.
Without a Golden Core cultivator, the Murong Family's status plummeted, becoming an insignificant family.
They were forced to move from the prosperous capital city to Qing Shi City, a remote backwater near the Broken Moon Mountain Range.
From then on, the Murong Family also lost the qualification to obtain ascension tokens from sects; the few remaining ascension tokens in the clan became their last hope.
With many wolves and little meat, conflicts and struggles naturally arose.
The Murong sisters, being dependent on no one yet possessing two ascension tokens, naturally became thorns in everyone's side.
These items couldn't be openly seized, but if the two sisters were gone, the ascension tokens would naturally become available.
Lin Luochen felt a slight sense of relief after hearing this; it turned out to be a declining family, no wonder only Foundation Establishment cultivators were in charge.
True prominent families probably wouldn't even glance at such a remote backwater.
"Qiuzhi Guniang (Miss Qiuzhi), was it your paternal uncle who attacked you this time?"
Murong Qiuzhi nodded, saying, "It should be. Those who chased us before were all people under paternal uncle's command."
Lin Luochen mused, so it was possible that others were also involved in the struggle.
As the two talked, a carriage slowly approached in the distance, driven by none other than Murong Xiazhu.
"Let's go!"
Lin Luochen led Murong Qiuzhi into the carriage and voluntarily took over the task of driving.
After all, being in the same carriage compartment with Murong Qiuzhi, he was afraid he might die inexplicably.
Rat, seeing no one around, poked its small head out from his embrace and curiously looked around.
Lin Luochen took out a spiritual ginseng to feed it, while he began to count his spoils of war.
This time, including what he confiscated from that noble young master and Murong Xiazhu, he had a bountiful harvest.
Besides spirit stones and silver, he also acquired numerous basic talismans, three low-grade spirit artifacts, and one mid-grade spirit artifact.
That mid-grade spirit artifact was the noble young master's folding fan, which Lin Luochen was not used to using, so he tossed it aside.
In addition, there were various miscellaneous items such as pills, cultivation techniques, and some clothing.
Lin Luochen only kept the Murong sisters' clothes; he directly burned the rest to avoid trouble.
He kept the Murong sisters' clothes mainly to find an opportunity to return them, with no other intentions!
Lin Luochen fed the spirit herbs to Rat, but Rat seemed uninterested.
This left him quite helpless; he didn't know why this little fellow was so picky.
With a sufficient supply of heavenly materials and earthly treasures, Rat's progress was astonishing.
In a short time, it had already reached the fifth level of Qi Condensation!
Lin Luochen suspected that in a while, it might even become stronger than him?
To avoid being inferior to a Rat, Lin Luochen cultivated against the clock, not daring to stop for a moment.
After Lin Luochen and the others left, in that abandoned inn, a strange beast, resembling both a wolf and a dog, was continuously sniffing around.
A man in luxurious clothes looked at the hesitant strange beast and said coldly, "Have you found out?"
The attendant behind him nervously replied, "I've found out. The second young master left the city with Miss Murong, and then there was no news of him!"
The young man squatted down and stroked the strange beast's head, murmuring, "Murong Xiazhu, is it?"
"Don't think that just because your Murong Family is in Lan Province, I can't do anything to you. If you dare to kill my brother, you're dead!"
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On the other side, Lin Luochen was completely unaware of the approaching danger; he was currently making a fire in the wilderness.
Although there were trees for cover in this wilderness, it was still freezing cold, so the three of them could only light a bonfire to keep warm.
Lin Luochen leaned against a tree, holding a cultivation technique for 'yin harvesting and yang replenishment' that he had obtained from the noble young master's storage bag.
It seemed that the young man truly had ill intentions and indeed wanted to cultivate by harvesting Murong Xiazhu's yin, but she had counter-killed him.
It was said that this person was also a fellow student from their academy and had always coveted the Murong sisters.
This time, he somehow got news that the Murong Family did not want the sisters to return and planned to commit acts of rape and abduction.
But Murong Xiazhu saw through him and acted first, leading to his inexplicable death.
Murong Xiazhu was puzzled by Lin Luochen's gaze, and when she clearly saw the book in his hand, she felt a chill down her spine.
This guy wouldn't be thinking of carnal desires now that he was well-fed and warm, would he?
He doesn't seem to be afraid of Qiu Zhi's Calamity Body, what should I do!
The tough fear the reckless, and the reckless fear those who don't care about their lives. What if he just wants to have a good time?
How could Lin Luochen know her wild thoughts? He casually tossed the cultivation technique into the fire.
Trash, it's not even as good as the Miaoyin Sect's "Yin-Yang Joyful Union Art"!
He continued to flip through the other captured cultivation techniques, most of which were basic Five Elements spells and saber or sword techniques.
Lin Luochen was interested in Five Elements spells and tried to cultivate them, but he was frustrated to find that he couldn't even use the simplest ones.
"No, is this damn thing that hard?"
He tried again and again unwillingly, even beginning to doubt his life.
Qu Lingyin said helplessly, "Don't try anymore, you don't have a Five Elements spiritual root, so you can't use them!"
Lin Luochen was stunned, and Qu Lingyin explained to him.
"Except for using talismans, if you want to use Five Elements spells, you must communicate with heaven and earth using your own spiritual root."
"You don't have a Five Elements spiritual root, so you can't activate Five Elements spiritual energy. It's normal that you can't use Five Elements spells."
Lin Luochen hadn't expected such complexities and nervously asked, "Could it be that I don't have a spiritual root?"
Qu Lingyin rolled her eyes and said impatiently, "If you didn't have a spiritual root, you wouldn't be able to cultivate at all, okay?"
"You should have a mutated spiritual root, and your spiritual root aptitude should be good, otherwise you wouldn't have even a trace of a Five Elements spiritual root."
Lin Luochen's eyes lit up upon hearing this, and he remembered the so-called mutated spiritual roots.
As far as he knew, besides the common Five Elements spiritual roots—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—there were also three mutated spiritual roots: ice, wind, and lightning.
Mutated spiritual roots are not only extremely rare but also stronger than Five Elements spiritual roots!
Although Lin Luochen didn't understand why this woman was suddenly so kind, it would be foolish not to take advantage of a good deal.
He decisively pressed on, "Then how do I determine my spiritual root?"
Qu Lingyin said indifferently, "Besides a specialized spiritual root testing instrument, it's by directly cultivating the corresponding cultivation technique."
Lin Luochen suddenly understood, and then he looked at Murong Xiazhu with burning eyes, startling her.
"What do you want to do?"
Lin Luochen said in a deep voice, "Can you use wind-type spells?"
Murong Xiazhu nodded, and Lin Luochen said concisely, "Teach me, and I'll give you tomorrow's antidote!"
Murong Xiazhu's eyes widened instantly upon hearing this, and she said in surprise, "Wasn't that a gathering spirit pill?"
She had tasted the gathering spirit pill, which was why she had been so bold as to abandon Lin Luochen and flee earlier.
And now you're telling me it was really some soul-scattering pill?
Lin Luochen spoke nonsense with a straight face, "Of course not, that was a soul-scattering pill disguised as a gathering spirit pill!"
Murong Xiazhu was skeptical but still didn't dare to gamble.
"I can teach you, but I don't guarantee you'll learn, after all, wind-type spells require a wind spiritual root to learn!"
"A wind spiritual root is a mutated spiritual root, extremely rare, one in ten thousand, and wind-type spells are very difficult to learn!"
Lin Luochen said indifferently, "I know, just teach me!"
Murong Xiazhu could only honestly teach him wind-type spells, crossing her arms, ready to watch him make a fool of himself.
A moment later, Lin Luochen's hand was surrounded by a gentle breeze, and he asked in confusion, "It doesn't seem that difficult?"
Murong Xiazhu, who had intended to watch him make a fool of himself, felt like a joke herself, her expression incredibly complex.
This guy must be deliberately trying to humble her, right?