Chapter 124: A Peculiar Daoist Delicacy

The Dao Scripture gleamed brilliantly, stirring a powerful yearning within him.

This yearning was similar to what he experienced at the ruins on Linchuan Cliff.

A Dao Nourishment.

Moreover, the energy it contained was astonishing; otherwise, the Dao Scripture would not have reacted so intensely.

“According to the Scripture’s sensing, the Dao Nourishment should be right here on this Blood Earth Vein. To think that Dao Nourishment exists on this Blood Earth Vein—could there have been ruins here before as well?” Lu Yan pondered, his curiosity barely containable. He pushed open the door and sought out Wang Dao.

Numerous exotic beasts were raised on the Blood Earth Vein, and many of their enclosures were prepared with unique, secret formulas, strictly forbidding outsiders from wandering in.

To avoid trouble, he decided to notify Wang Dao first.

“Brother Lu, do you want to see how the exotic beasts are raised? No problem, I can take you around,” Wang Dao offered.

“No need, I’ll just stroll around by myself,” Lu Yan declined.

“That’s fine. Take this token to avoid misunderstandings with the patrol squads,” Wang Dao said, handing Lu Yan a bronze token.

Lu Yan accepted the token, expressed his thanks, and left his residence, wandering along the Blood Earth Vein.

This Blood Earth Vein was clearly much larger in territory than the one under the Liu family’s control. The aura of the Earth’s blood energy was thick and pervasive.

Soon, he spotted a few exotic beasts resembling spotted deer walking through the forest. The difference was their entire bodies were crimson red, and they bore three sharp horns on their heads.

Lu Yan recognized them as first-tier exotic beasts—Triceratops Deer.

It was said that if the Earth’s blood energy was sufficiently rich, the Triceratops Deer could evolve into second-tier exotic beasts known as Pentaceratops Deer.

Walking further, he came upon a large beast den housing dozens of Triceratops Deer. A beast keeper was feeding them.

The traits of exotic beasts varied; many were nocturnal, active and feeding only at night.

Some patrol members noticed Lu Yan, but with his token, he passed freely.

He entered the beast den, observing curiously.

The Triceratops Deer were fed a paste-like food that emitted a faint scent of blood.

After inquiring with the keeper, Lu Yan learned that besides absorbing the Earth’s blood aura from the vein, exotic beasts also required specially prepared feed.

This feed was concocted from various spiritual herbs combined with plants from the Blood Earth Vein in fixed proportions, greatly accelerating the beasts’ growth.

Relying solely on absorbing the Earth’s blood aura might yield better meat quality but was far too slow in growth.

Lu Yan scratched his nose, thinking this wasn’t much different from raising chickens and ducks in his past life.

After observing for a while, he pretended to wander elsewhere before heading toward the direction guided by the Dao Scripture.

From afar, he saw a valley ahead, surrounded by a patrol squad.

Ten men in total—exactly one patrol team.

Their stance subtly enclosed the valley within their perimeter.

Could this place be of such importance that it required a patrol squad to guard it, even in the dead of night?

But even if it belonged to the Li family or some other faction, Lu Yan intended to investigate.

According to the Dao Scripture’s guidance, the Dao Nourishment was supposed to be within that valley.

He did not rush forward but concealed himself in the shadows, observing.

With limited numbers, the patrol squad could not possibly cover every direction perfectly. Moreover, the night brought poor visibility and many blind spots.

Suddenly, Lu Yan activated his Bone Strength, performing the Wind-Chasing Step’s ultimate technique. With a single step, he vanished like a ghost, dashing past the patrol’s range.

Approaching the valley, he clearly heard noises within.

Instead of entering from the front, he climbed up the side to the valley’s rim, lying prone to peer inside.

He immediately spotted a two-meter-wide cave, while the rest of the valley was piled with earth.

A burly woman dressed in patrol uniform was peering into the cave.

“The Dao Scripture points to the Dao Nourishment underground in this valley. These people are digging—are they also searching for the Dao Nourishment?” Lu Yan thought.

“But how did they discover it?”

“Is there some other use for Dao Nourishment besides being absorbed by the Dao Scripture?”

Questions multiplied in his mind.

At that moment, a patrol member stepped out from the valley.

It was none other than Wu Qi.

“How much longer do you need?” Wu Qi asked.

“About seven more days,” the black-robed woman replied.

“We need to speed up. If this continues daily, we risk arousing suspicion,” Wu Qi said impatiently.

“We can’t work during the day, only at night, so the speed naturally can’t be fast. We must hold out for the last seven days. Once this is done, the benefits I promised you will be fulfilled in full,” the black-robed woman explained.

Wu Qi could only grit his teeth and leave the valley, silently praying that the two Martial Marquis lords would not come here in these last seven days.

Fortunately, this place was remote and close to their patrol area, rarely visited by outsiders. The two Martial Marquis had never come, and their careful night-only operations had kept them undiscovered.

“It seems the patrol squad has been bribed,” Lu Yan mused, having overheard their conversation.

Clearly, the patrol was compromised, allowing people to come in and dig.

“Is it Li Wenxuan’s people?” he wondered.

After all, the last time two major factions competed for the Blood Earth Vein, one of the veins involved was this very one.

Not long after that incident, someone had already bribed the patrol squad to dig here. It was hard not to draw conclusions.

Moreover, very few people in Baicao City could afford to bribe Li Wenxin’s patrol squad.

Li Wenxuan was a prime suspect.

“Seven days left, no rush,” Lu Yan thought, retreating silently to his lodgings.

The Dao Scripture could sense the Dao Nourishment’s location at any time, so he wasn’t worried about the enemy digging it up and fleeing early.

The next day, Lu Yan practiced martial arts sparring with Wang Dao as usual.

On the night of the third day, he quietly returned to observe near the valley, confirmed the others had not succeeded, then withdrew again.

On the sixth night, he came back near the valley but stayed hidden, waiting silently.

Near dawn, a group crawled out of the cave. Among them was a thin old man carrying an iron box, his face alight with joy.

“Found it?” the black-robed woman asked.

“Yes, found it. Let’s leave quickly,” the old man said, wrapping the iron box in cloth and slinging it on his back.

Led by Wu Qi, they started moving outward.

Wu Qi instructed several patrol members to remain behind and fill in the cave.

“Dao Nourishment,” Lu Yan’s gaze fixed on the iron box on the thin old man’s back.

He could clearly sense the Dao Nourishment was inside.

It seemed their goal matched his.

Lu Yan did not strike immediately but quietly followed behind.

Striking openly on the Blood Earth Vein was clearly unwise.

If the enemy was truly under Li Wenxuan’s command, attacking here would make him a prime suspect.

His recent sparring with Wang Dao could be easily discovered with a bit of investigation.

If he acted here, Li Wenxuan would suspect all the Martial Marquis on the Blood Earth Vein first.

With the Li Cangxin incident, he had already drawn suspicion. If anything happened, he would be the prime suspect.

Therefore, if he were to act, it would have to be midway, unseen and unheard.

Soon, the group left the Blood Earth Vein, racing east toward Baicao City.

After more than two hundred miles, with only about a hundred miles left to Baicao City, they passed through a desolate mountain path.

Lu Yan struck.

He suddenly accelerated, bursting out from the forest on the side, pointing a finger directly at the thin old man’s temple.

This finger strike employed the essence of the Vajra Finger technique.

He had never used finger techniques before in public; this move was also to reduce suspicion.

The thin old man was obviously a Martial Marquis with sharp reflexes. Sensing danger, he stopped abruptly and struck out with a palm.

But Lu Yan’s attack was not so easily avoided.

With a wrist twist, his Vajra Finger pierced the old man’s palm.

A wet sound followed.

The old man hissed in pain and retreated; Lu Yan advanced and struck again.

This time, his finger hit the man’s brow, bone strength surging through the back of his head.

As the thin old man collapsed, Lu Yan slashed the cloth sack open with his finger strength and grabbed the iron box.

“Drop it.”

A fierce wind blew behind him.

The black-robed woman’s fists darkened, turning into iron hammers, crashing toward Lu Yan’s back of the head.

Lu Yan spun around, pointing his right index finger to meet her fist.

Bone strength clashed violently, and with a sharp impact, the black-robed woman staggered backward while Lu Yan stood firm.

“So you’re only a third-level Martial Marquis? Then you’re all dead,” Lu Yan’s heart settled as he strode forward, attacking the black-robed woman.

She roared like a wild beast, her body swelling grotesquely. Her clothes tore under the assault of his bone strength, revealing muscles like iron blocks—truly broad and powerful, lacking any feminine curves.

But she was still only a third-level Martial Marquis. No matter how much she exploded her power, she couldn’t match Lu Yan.

Barely enduring a few attacks, she was struck by Lu Yan’s finger on her throat, breaking both her windpipe and larynx.

The remaining eight were already terrified and scattered, but they were only limit-breaking warriors—no match for Lu Yan.

He crushed a nearby blue stone and flung it.

Infused with bone strength, the shattered fragments flew like bullets, striking five in the back, leaving them bloodied and lifeless on the ground.

Lu Yan pursued the fleeing three, killing them one by one.

He dumped the eight limit-breaking warriors’ bodies in the wilderness, where beasts would soon devour them.

But the two Martial Marquis could not be treated so carelessly.

Their powerful bodies, even in death, exerted great deterrence against wild beasts. Their corpses might not be eaten.

Although he had killed them with finger techniques, making it difficult to trace back to him, destroying the bodies was still the safer course.

He carried their corpses over ten miles away and buried them.

Then he opened the iron box to examine the Dao Nourishment inside.

“A bone segment?” Lu Yan was surprised.

He had expected strange stones or metallic artifacts, as before, but instead found a bone.

It looked like a phalanx, but not human—more like the finger bone of some fierce beast, several times thicker than a human’s.

The chapter ended here.