Yan Chixia didn't want Liu Lan to just go back to growing vegetables; he had to get him into the Demon Extermination Palace no matter what.
"Since you're here, why don't you go in and take a look at our Demon-Slaying Palace? Maybe you'll change your mind." Lin Qing believed the old man would change his mind.
"Yes, yes, just go in and take a look. I won't stop you if you leave." Yan Chixia suddenly remembered the ball of light inside.
"Well, alright, I'm getting old and don't really want to move around much anymore." The old man sighed and took out his cane again before slowly walking inside.
The old man walked along the path by the pavilion, slowly entering the inner hall with his cane.
The first thing you see is a huge notice board, densely covered with information about demons, and there are eunuchs walking around all the time.
The first task that catches the eye is:
The thousand-year-old fox demon, Hu Mei, occupied Fox Mountain and commanded thousands of fox spirits. Hu Mei loved to eat the heart blood of 100-day-old babies and used their blood for bathing.
In order to absorb the heart's blood every day, she kept a city full of humans to feed the fox spirit.
Mission objective: Eliminate the vixen and her fox spirit minions, thus bringing about the destruction of Fox Mountain.
Task Reward: One copy of Thirty Years' worth of Sun and Moon Essence.
The old man didn't react much to the task at first, but when he saw the reward, he immediately stood up straight.
Then his gaze fell upon the orb of light on the table to the side: "Hmm? This is truly the essence of the sun and moon."
The old man instantly appeared beside the table and reached out to grab the ball of light.
Seeing this, Yan Chixia hurriedly stepped forward to try to stop him, but the old man simply waved his hand and pushed him out of the hall.
With a "bang!", the old man's hand was blocked by the protective measures set up by Yan Chixia.
"Hmph! A mere trick." With that, the old man brought his five fingers together into a knife shape and slashed across the ball of light, glowing red.
Suddenly, all the talismans were cut in half, and the array was completely broken. At this point, the old man reached out and grabbed the unsuspecting ball of light.
"Hehe, taking without asking is theft, Grand Master Liu is truly a good Grand Master."
Lin Qing's words reached the old man's ears, and immediately, the old man's hand stopped moving.
The old man had to stop because a tremendous pressure was pressing down on him.
He was so focused on getting the orb of light that he was immediately rendered immobile by Lin Qing's dragon might. It took the old man a while to dissipate the pressure.
Seeing that the old man had stopped, Lin Qing withdrew the Dragon's Might: "If you want it, you can do a mission. Here, just wipe out that Fox Mountain."
"Um, this old man was being presumptuous. Please forgive me." The old man knew he had acted impulsively and quickly apologized.
At this moment, Yan Chixia also ran in from outside: "Senior, you, really, this essence of the sun and moon is mine, how dare you try to steal it?"
The slightly embarrassed old man immediately stopped smiling: "You dare to compete with me? I'll go and wipe out that damn Fox Mountain right now."
"Hmph, then I'll go now. I can fly faster than you on my sword, old man. You definitely can't beat me." Yan Chixia didn't even bother calling him "senior" anymore.
"You think you're the only one who can fly? Do you think I can't too?" The old man and Yan Chixia glared at each other, their beards bristling.
The two were about to fly away to destroy Fox Mountain and obtain the mission reward.
"What's the rush, you two? As long as you can bring me rare and precious treasures, and the corpses of all sorts of monsters, I have as much of this stuff as you want." Lin Qing looked at the two of them speechlessly.
“⊙﹏⊙⊙﹏⊙……”
"Yes, yes, I forgot," Yan Chixia said apologetically.
"Really?" The old man stopped joking.
"Of course it's true. Where do you think this ball of light came from?" Lin Qing retorted.
"Here, take this. How many years' worth of the essence of the sun and moon can you give me?" The old man took out a ginseng from his sleeve.
"This ginseng is 300 years old."
"I plan to eat it in a while; it would be good if it could give me a few more years of cultivation."
"What a treasure!" Lin Qing exclaimed, sucking the ginseng directly into his stomach from the old man's hand.
"Ding! You have gained 20,000 evolution points by consuming a 300-year-old ginseng."
"Twenty thousand, not bad. It's the same as the Vermilion Fruit, but it takes three hundred years to have the same effect as the Vermilion Fruit that has grown for a few decades. The Vermilion Fruit is indeed a rare treasure."
"Liu Lan, is there anything else good?" Lin Qing felt that the old man must have other good things.
"It's gone, really gone. Rare and precious treasures are very rare these days. I only recently obtained this ginseng."
"Well, you've already eaten, so is it alright?" the old man hesitated before speaking.
"No problem, wait a moment."
"The system has transformed the essence of the sun and moon over ten years."
"It requires 1700 evolution points. Confirm the conversion?"
"Sure."
"Transformation complete. Please check it yourself, host."
"Hehe. I've made a killing, earning over 10,000 evolution points for free." Lin Qing happily made his profit from the price difference.
Both sides benefit, which is perfect.
Then Lin Qing opened his mouth and spat out a ball of light. The old man's eyes almost popped out of their sockets. He grabbed it and put it in his mouth without saying a word.
Then the old man began to meditate. After about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, the old man finished refining and stood up.
"As expected of the essence of the sun and moon, it directly increased my cultivation by ten years." The old man now desperately wanted to obtain that thirty-year light sphere.
Chapter 108 The Old Man is a Drama Queen (Please Subscribe, Please Vote)
"Well, you previously said you wanted me to join the Demon Extermination Palace, and I agreed." The old man overturned his previous statement in order to obtain the essence of the sun and moon.
"It's an honor to have you join us, but later you'll do this and that," Lin Qing whispered to the old man.
"Okay." After saying that, the old man disappeared.
Within minutes of the old man disappearing, a large group of people flooded into the Demon Extermination Palace.
"So this is the Demon Extermination Palace? It's nothing special."
"Yeah, what good treasures could possibly be found in this wretched place?"
"Go in and see for yourself first. Watch your mouths, everyone. The Imperial Advisor and the Guardian Beast Dragon King are inside. If you offend the magistrate, no one can save you."
Then a group of cultivators and exorcists entered the hall: "We pay our respects to the Imperial Preceptor and the Dragon King."
As the saying goes, a person's fame is like a tree's shadow; once someone gained fame, more than twenty people flocked to worship them.
"Rise, there's no need for such formalities," Yan Chixia said.
"Grand Preceptor, is what the imperial edict says true?" asked Wang Xiaosan, who seemed to be the leader.
"Yes, yes, is what's on the imperial edict real? Treasures, what treasures are there?"
The others started chattering amongst themselves, and the place instantly resembled a bustling market.
"Quiet, everyone quiet down. Of course it's real. Look at this, isn't it a treasure?" Yan Chixia directed everyone's attention to the ball of light on the table.
"What, what is that?"
"I feel like if I eat that ball of light, I'll break through to the next level."
"That's the essence of the sun and moon! My goodness, I never imagined that the essence of the sun and moon could be condensed into a ball of light."
Suddenly, everyone realized how precious this thing was, and they were all as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.
"Alright, quiet, quiet. You want this? Fine, just complete the task."
"This is the essence of thirty years of sun and moon. Check the tasks on the notice board yourselves!"
"Let me remind you, you need to be realistic about your abilities when undertaking missions, or don't blame our Demon Extermination Palace if you die," Lin Qing said.
Everyone ignored Lin Qing's last sentence and hurriedly looked at the task list.
"My God, we can only obtain this thirty-year essence of the sun and moon by destroying Fox Mountain. If we go, we're just throwing our lives away."
"Otherwise, do you think such treasures are so easy to obtain?"
"Look, all the missions over there reward you with thirty years of the essence of the sun and moon, but the mission requirements are all to bring back the corpses of monsters."
"Of course, otherwise how would anyone know if you were the one who destroyed it?"
"I'll take this mission, Fox Mountain. I'll go and wipe it out right now." An aged voice echoed throughout the hall.
To everyone's astonishment, the little old man appeared above them, hovering there.
"Oh? Sir, are you really going to accept this mission? Don't just throw your life away for nothing," Lin Qing kindly advised.
"Hmph, I am the one who has killed the Black Dragon King. Fox Mountain is nothing but a piece of trash, easily destroyed with a flick of the wrist," the old man said solemnly.
"What? You, you are Liu Lan, the Imperial Preceptor appointed by Emperor Renzong of Ming? The Black Dragon King who slew the most evil demon in the world?" Yan Chixia took three big steps back, looking astonished.
"Bad review, Yan Chixia's expression is too exaggerated." Lin Qing looked at Yan Chixia and almost laughed.
"Isn't Yan Chixia afraid of being exposed?" The old man was extremely annoyed.
"That's right, it's me. I didn't expect that after ten years, someone would still remember my name." The old man stroked his long beard and smiled slightly.
“I remember now, it was him, the senior Liu Lan who killed the Black Dragon King.”
"What a big shot! Senior Liu Lan might really be able to wipe out Fox Mountain."
"I wish I were that powerful."
"I didn't expect it to be Liu Lan. Then there's no problem. You can take this mission, but other people can also take it."
"I'll be right back. It's just a small Fox Mountain." With a whoosh, the old man flew out and disappeared.
Everyone looked on with excitement as they watched the old man disappear; they hadn't expected to meet such a big shot today.
People like Yan Chixia and the Dragon King, who knew who they were before? If it weren't for the imperial edict being posted, they would still be just ordinary passersby.
The old man is different; he was a big figure who was famous throughout the Ming Dynasty ten years ago.
Just as everyone was sighing, a shifty-eyed man discovered a mission.
"My Lord Dragon King, I accept the mission to eliminate the seductive ghost of Green Willow Manor outside the city!" Zou Gai, with his shifty eyes, shouted.