At noon five days later.

Lu Li was about to go out to the medicine garden on the east side of Tianjue Peak to help Xiao Jue collect medicinal herbs when he suddenly heard a knock on the door. He couldn't help frowning.

In the past few days, Lu Li had been accompanying Xiao Jue in refining pills. It was only last night that they had to stop because they were short of Black Pearl Grass among the four medicinal herbs needed for refining the True Qi Condensing Pill.

During this period, seeing that Lu Li had performed well, Xiao Jue even let him have a try at controlling the fire.

However, after he shook his hand and directly burned the spiritual herbs in the furnace to ashes, Xiao Jue's face showed a look of pain, and he didn't let Lu Li refine pills anymore.

Because of continuous pill refining, Xiao Jue's spiritual sense had also been severely consumed. So he planned to take a two-day break and told Lu Li to go to the medicine garden on Tianjue Peak to collect ten Black Pearl Grass.

Lu Li couldn't wait. Because he had seen the Thunderfire Orchid in Xiao Jue's hand last time, this time he could just go to the medicine garden to see if there was any Thunderfire Orchid there. If there was, he might have to make some careful plans.

Opening the door, Lu Li was surprised to find that the person who came was the fat man from the kitchen, carrying several plates of fragrant stir-fried dishes and a pot of wine in his hands.

This fat man hardly ever went out on weekdays. Why did he come here today?

"Junior Brother, shall we have a chat?" Min He said with a smile.

"Senior Brother, please come in." Lu Li stepped aside.

Entering the room, Min He walked straight to the stone table and sat down. He took out the dishes and wine, poured a bowl of wine for Lu Li after he sat down, didn't wait for Lu Li to drink it, and drank a bowl by himself. Then he said:

"Junior Brother, tell me... What are we cultivating for?"

Lu Li was confused by the other party's behavior. After thinking for a while, he said, "If it were three years ago, I think my biggest dream was to be able to fly in the sky like what was described in the books."

"What about now?"

"Now." Lu Li pondered for a moment and said, "I want to become stronger so that I don't have to look at other people's faces."

"Yes. I thought that after cultivating, I could live freely. But until now, I've just found out that even a dog in the secular world lives a more carefree life than us..." Min He said, shaking his head, and then gulped down another bowl of wine directly:

"So... What exactly are we here for?"

Lu Li shook his head. "Cultivating is like climbing a mountain. In order to reach the top, sometimes we have to crawl. The crawling road may be long or short. If we persevere, the peak will be right in front of us, and we can overlook all the other mountains. If we can't hold on, the way back is easy, but if we want to come up again, it will be difficult..."

"And we are currently in the stage of crawling. We not only have to be careful not to fall because we can't hold on tightly, but also have to be careful that those in front of us throw stones at us."

"Sometimes, being a dog is just to prevent those in front of us from hitting us when we're down. Of course, if we can get help from those in front, that would be a pleasant surprise."

"We can be a dog, but we can't be a dog for a lifetime. When you surpass those who once treated you like a dog, you can kick them down the mountain and make them doomed..."

Having said this, Lu Li didn't continue. He said so much just because he thought this person had the intention of giving up. Out of the little kindness hidden deep in his heart, he just gave him some advice.

For Lu Li himself, no one could shake his will to cultivate. In this lifetime, he must stand on the peak in person and take a look at the people crawling below this magnificent land.

"So, this is what cultivation is all about."

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After hearing this, Min He's eyes instantly became clear. He stood up and saluted Lu Li heavily. "Junior Brother, I will never forget your kindness. If I can continue on this path, I will definitely repay you."

Then he put a jade bottle on the table, said, "Open it tomorrow." And then left in a hurry.

Lu Li frowned and stared at the jade bottle for a while. Just as he was about to speak, Min He had already disappeared.

He shook his head, put the jade bottle into the Space Hall, and then went out and walked along the path on the west side.

Lu Li could have such insights actually because of what happened on Qingliang Mountain and the death of Qin Shouren. Everyone in the cultivation world was striving to become stronger for themselves. It was hard to tell right from wrong in this, but there were friends and foes.

On the other side, after Min He returned to the kitchen, he put on a backpack, picked up another package, and walked along the path on the east side. He still limped when he walked, but his eyes were full of light.

After a while, Min He came to the cliff in the back mountain again, in front of the cave dwelling where Deng Qingsheng was confined.

He knocked on the door, shook the package in his hand, and blood was dripping from the bottom of the package. "Senior Brother Deng, here's what you want."

Hearing this, Deng Qingsheng inside showed a look of joy on his face. With a clang, he opened the middle of the iron door, revealing a square hole, and couldn't wait to say, "You've killed him. Quick, give it to me!"

As long as he got the head, it would be regarded as evidence. There were only a few people on Tianjue Peak, and he was locked up here and couldn't get out at all. By then, as long as he made up an excuse and said that Min He killed Lu Li to deliberately please him, he wouldn't need to do it himself, and the other party would die.

It would be killing two birds with one stone. How wonderful.

Min He looked at Deng Qingsheng indifferently. "Senior Brother Deng, don't you think something is missing?"

"Missing what?" Deng Qingsheng was stunned and said in a deep voice, "At least let me take a look first."

"Of course it's okay to look."

Min He slowly opened a corner of the package. The head inside actually looked exactly like Lu Li's. The head's eyes were wide open, with a look of horror on its face.

"Great! Wonderful!" Seeing the head, Deng Qingsheng immediately felt that things were more than half done. He took out two jade bottles and threw them out. "Here you are. Quickly give me his dog's head. I want to kick it a few times!"

Min He picked up the jade bottles and took a look. Suddenly, a mocking look appeared on his face. He stuffed the package through the gap. "Senior Brother Deng, you'd better check it carefully. I'm absolutely reliable in doing things!"

Reliable?

Deng Qingsheng gave a strange look and thought to himself that you'll know what reliability means in a while. He couldn't wait to tear open the package, looked at it again and again, and suddenly pointed at Min He and burst out laughing:

"Hahaha, you bastard! You actually killed Lu Li to please me. You're dead! You're dead! Hahaha..."

"Really?"

Unexpectedly, Min He didn't panic at all. He still stared at Deng Qingsheng mockingly. "Take a look at what's under the neck."

"Neck?"

Deng Qingsheng was stunned. He stared at the break on the neck of the head and then found that there seemed to be a yellow paper in the bloody mess. He pulled it out and his face immediately changed drastically. "Illusion Talisman! Min He, how dare you use the Illusion Talisman to deceive me!"

The moment Deng Qingsheng pulled out the Illusion Talisman, the 'Lu Li's head suddenly turned into a dog's head!

"Hahahahaha..." Min He laughed wantonly. "Deng Qingsheng, did you really think I would help you kill someone? You're too self-righteous! Hahahaha... You wanted a dog's head, right? Just as you wished, hahahaha..."

"Min He, do you know the consequences of playing tricks on me? Believe it or not, I'll kill you first when I get out!" Deng Qingsheng gnashed his teeth, and his eyes seemed to be spitting fire. He didn't expect that this usually submissive and honest fat man would dare to play tricks on him like this.

"Kill me?" Min He sneered. "That will have to wait until you get out." Having said this, his face suddenly turned cold, and his eyes stared straight at Deng Qingsheng. "Deng Qingsheng, you'd better stay alive. I will take revenge for my broken leg sooner or later!"

After saying that, he turned around and left without looking back.

"Damn it, don't go! Don't go!" Deng Qingsheng was so angry that he pounded on the door crazily. In a fit of rage, he actually spat out a mouthful of blood.

Tianjue Peak was very large. At the end of the path on the east side of the small square, there was a mountain depression. The mountain depression was always covered by thick white fog all year round. On the edge of the white fog, one could vaguely see a fence made of brown logs and a thatched pavilion.

The end of the path was the thatched pavilion. At this time, an old man in gray clothes who was over fifty years old was sitting cross-legged in the thatched pavilion, seemingly cultivating.

Lu Li walked up to him, took out the restriction token given by Xiao Jue, and said respectfully, "Senior, I'm ordered by the Grand Elder to come and collect medicinal herbs."

The old man slowly opened his eyes, raised his head and stared at the restriction token in Lu Li's hand for a while before standing up. His voice was a bit hoarse as he said, "What kind of medicine?"

"Black Pearl Grass."

"How many."

"Ten... "

"There are fifteen Black Pearl Grass left in the medicine garden. They are one li to the east. Go and get them yourself." As he said this, he spread his palm, and a palm-sized jade plaque suddenly appeared in his hand.

The jade plaque was light blue, with a cyan metal chain on it.

The old man beckoned to Lu Li. "Come here."

Lu Li didn't know why, but he walked over. Suddenly, the old man waved his hand, and the jade plaque flew towards Lu Li with a whoosh. Before he could react, it had already hung around his neck. Then the chain tightened, almost strangling his neck tightly. Lu Li's face changed, and he was about to reach out and pull it off immediately.

"Don't move!"