"Lu Tao, you're finally back. I thought something had happened to you."

As soon as Lu Tao led his horse home, he found the town mayor and others anxiously waiting in the yard with someone in tow, their expressions filled with worry and even panic.

Only when they saw Lu Tao return did they finally relax. The town mayor asked, "Lu Tao, where did you go? You scared us to death!"

Lu Tao smiled and said, "I went to Rongxing Town."

Upon hearing this, the town mayor guessed, "You went to burn down the Three Wolves Gang again?"

The word "again" made Lu Tao pause for a moment. He chuckled awkwardly and said, "Haha, since the Three Wolves Gang wants to kill me, of course I can't let them go."

"Yes, these people are just like the Axe Gang, they all deserve to die."

The town mayor didn't say much, but instead strongly agreed with Lu Tao's approach. He then pulled a very thin middle-aged man in front of Lu Tao and said, "This man is Fan Jian. What do you think we should do with him?"

"Why did you betray me?" Lu Tao asked in a deep voice.

Fan Jian had already been dealt with, but when Lu Tao asked him, he hurriedly said in order to save his life, "I was forced to take poison by the Three Wolves Gang and I need to take the antidote regularly to survive... I was forced into it, please spare my life, Young Master Lu."

"Antidote?"

Lu Tao searched through the system space for a while, quickly took out a bottle, and extracted the white powder inside. "You mean this?"

"Yes, yes, that's it."

Upon seeing the antidote, Fan Jian became excited and couldn't help but lunge at Lu Tao to snatch it, only to be kicked to the ground by Lu Tao.

Fan Jian didn't care. He got up and knelt in front of Lu Tao, saying, "Young Master Lu, please save me. From now on, my life belongs to you. I am your dog. If you tell me to go east, I will never go west."

Lu Tao looked at Fan Jian with a half-smile, then tossed the bottle to him.

"Lu Tao, you..."

The others were puzzled and wanted to stop him, but Lu Tao shook his head and remained silent.

"Thank you, Young Master Lu, thank you. Um... From now on, I'll be your dog."

Fan Jian grabbed the bottle and wolfed down all the antidote. He quickly felt his body lighten up, and the poison in his body was completely eliminated.

"Thank you, Young Master Lu, thank you, Young Master Lu." Fan Jian knelt on the ground, repeatedly expressing his gratitude to Lu Tao for saving his life.

Lu Tao smiled faintly and said, "Your life is mine now, isn't it?"

"That's right, Fan Jian's life is now yours, Young Hero Lu..."

Fan Jian was thrilled. It felt good to be alive. He would be willing to be Lu Tao's dog, at least it was much more comfortable than working for the Three Wolves Gang.

Especially since Lu Tao is already at the Blood Refining Realm at such a young age, he dares not imagine how high he will go in the future. Following such a person, even if he is given a bone in the future, it will be enough to save him a lot of trouble.

Just as I was imagining the future, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my chest. Looking down, I saw a chopstick piercing right through my heart.

"Young Master Lu, why...why?"

Fan Jian's excitement hadn't faded yet. He stared blankly at Lu Tao, not understanding why Lu Tao wanted to kill him, since he had already planned to follow Lu Tao.

Lu Tao said calmly, "No one can betray me and still live a good life."

Lu Tao would never forgive betrayal or treachery. Such a person could betray someone once, and would betray them countless times.

Even if he was trying to save his own life, Lu Tao only had one life, no more than anyone else.

Since he had chosen to betray him, exchanging Lu Tao's life for his own, then Lu Tao would personally end his life.

In this chaotic world, Lu Tao would not repay evil with kindness.

"That's right, people like that deserve to die."

The town mayor and others approved of Lu Tao's actions. They had all thought that Lu Tao lacked experience and would be soft-hearted enough to let Fan Jian go, but they did not expect such a reversal.

Lu Tao saved Fan Jian and then killed him, which seemed unnecessary, but the shrewd mayor understood that Lu Tao had his own set of principles, his own way of doing things, and his own moral standards.

Such a person will not suffer losses or get into trouble for no reason when navigating the world.

At the same time, this scene also made everyone realize that they must never deceive Lu Tao in the future, and must treat him with sincerity.

"Thank you all for working so late for Lu Tao. I'm sorry to have kept you from resting. These things are just a small token of my appreciation. Please accept them."

Lu Tao took out dozens of bottles of medicine and gave them to everyone; they were taken from the Three Wolves Gang.

"We...we haven't been of much help, Lu Tao, you're too kind." Everyone declined, feeling really embarrassed to accept.

"I am already very grateful that everyone could come."

Lu Tao laughed and said, "Besides, these were all looted from the Three Wolves Gang. I didn't spend a penny, and I don't need them now, so please accept them."

Hearing Lu Tao say this, everyone stopped refusing and accepted the gifts, saying that they could contact them anytime if they needed any help in the future.

Lu Tao returned safely, and the others did not linger and dispersed.

Lu Tao tied his horse in the yard, took a shower, and went back inside to sort out tonight's haul.

First, there was the silver. After plundering the Three Wolves Gang, Lu Tao obtained 2,500 taels of silver, and then spent 700 taels to buy blood medicine.

Secondly, there were over a hundred bottles of potions. Clearly, the group of late-stage Skin Refining members from the Three Wolves Gang all wanted to break through to the Blood Refining realm as soon as possible.

Then came the blood medicine, eleven bottles.

Of these, Lu Tao had two bottles left over from his previous cultivation, then he found two more bottles from the Three Wolves Gang, and finally bought seven more bottles from the pill shop in Rongxing Town, making a total of eleven bottles.

Finally, there was the gold-threaded soft armor, a prescription for raising animals, some jewelry, and a large pile of iron.

Lu Tao was very satisfied with this achievement.

This was all unexpected wealth, delivered right to their door by the Three Wolves Gang.

"This prescription..."

Lu Tao looked at the prescription in his hand with a sense of helplessness.

He discovered that the medicinal herbs were not expensive, but the prescription stated that once the prescription was taken, one needed to consume flesh and blood, the more the better, as the deeper the blood and qi, the greater the enhancement to the animal.

Lu Tao has no flesh and blood to feed the big black dog now.

We'll have to wait and see.

After reading the prescription, Lu Tao picked up the blood medicine.

"It took five bottles of blood-refining medicine to advance from the early stage to the middle stage of blood refining. I wonder how many bottles it would take to advance from the middle stage to the late stage. It should be ten bottles, right?"

Thinking this, Lu Tao slowly drifted off to sleep.

...

The next morning.

Before dawn, Lu Tao got up early again and began his cultivation.

For Lu Tao, who is already in the middle stage of Blood Refinement, he doesn't need to rest for long in a day; one or two hours is enough.

After taking a bottle of blood-replenishing medicine, Lu Tao sat cross-legged on the bed, immersing himself in cultivation to refine the medicine's effects.

In less than an hour, Lu Tao had completely refined the blood medicine.

Just as he guessed, Lu Tao estimated that he would be able to advance to the next level after nine more bottles of blood medicine.

"It seems I can advance to the late stage of Blood Refinement tonight."

Lu Tao was very happy, but at the same time, he felt a little reluctant. Advancing to the late stage of Blood Refinement meant that the day he would leave Dafeng Town was not far away.

after all.

After he finishes using these blood medicines, he will have to wait at least ten days before he can buy more, and even then, the amount of blood medicine he buys will not be enough for him to advance to the Bone Forging Realm.

Lu Tao did not want to waste too much time, so he could only leave Dafeng Town as soon as possible and enter Mufeng County, Mufeng City.

"Sigh, I guess I should just focus on cultivation."

That day, Lu Tao did nothing else but eat and cultivate.

Lu Tao did not cook for himself, but instead accepted Wu Ming's parents' invitation to eat at their home.

Sunrise and sunset.

Dusk came quickly.

Da da da...

A beautiful woman dressed in colorful clothes, exuding charm, arrived in Dafeng Town, travel-worn.

"Excuse me, sir, how do I get to Lu Tao's house?"

The woman in colorful clothes had an excellent figure; her curves were high and full where they should be, and her body was slender and delicate. Her face was beautiful, and her eyebrows carried a hint of allure that captivated the heart.

The woman's voice was also soft and alluring, making one's heart flutter and instinctively want to answer her questions.

"After entering the town, turn right and go to the back of the mountain. The blacksmith's courtyard at the very back is his house."

Upon hearing the woman in colorful clothes' words, the old man at the town entrance stared at her intently, casually revealing Lu Tao's address. Watching her departing figure, he reluctantly chased after her for a couple of steps.

As a result, his legs and feet were not flexible, he tripped and fell to the ground.

Only then did the old man come to his senses, filled with remorse, "Oh no, this vixen has ambushed me, Lu Tao is in danger."

only.

The woman in colorful clothes had already disappeared into the street, and it was clearly too late to notify Lu Tao...