Lu Li wandered around aimlessly and finally came to the main road in the south part of the town.
Following the main road south for another half quarter-hour, he finally spotted a gray stone square on the left-hand side. The square was about one li in circumference-not particularly large, but not exactly small either.
At the entrance to the square stood a massive stone stele, upon which the four scarlet characters 'Tiger Might Square' were carved.
To the right of the stone stele were the stone steps leading up to the square. There were only nine steps in total, but four guards stood on each side of the steps. They were all from Earth Tiger Fort. Perhaps because the hour had not yet arrived, no one had walked onto the square.
At this moment, quite a few people, like Lu Li, had stopped on the roadside, quietly observing the stone stele beside the square, the surrounding walls, and the guards protecting the square. They seemed to be first-timers as well.
The shop directly opposite the square was named Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion. What puzzled Lu Li was that despite so many people on the street today, the doors of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion were tightly shut. He had no idea what kind of business was conducted inside.
He glanced at it and simply sat down on the stone steps in front of the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion, closing his eyes to rest.
"Ahem!"
Suddenly, a light cough sounded in Lu Li's ears.
Lu Li opened his eyes and looked. When he saw the newcomer's appearance, he couldn't help but take two steps back, staring vigilantly at the old man before him. "It's you!"
That old man wore a gray robe, with a small nose and small eyes. He sported a mustache above his mouth and a goatee below-truly a crafty, shifty-eyed appearance. Who else could it be but that Wu De?
"Kid, why that expression? Afraid I'll eat you?" Wu De stared intently at Lu Li.
"Ahem, not really. Just a bit surprised, that's all." Lu Li forced a dry laugh. "It's been a long time, old brother."
Speaking of this Wu De, Lu Li truly had to admire him. A little over a year ago, they were both being pursued by Zhang Song. He had thought the other party had already died at Zhang Song's hands, yet here he was, alive and well.
"Heh, it has been a long time indeed." Wu De said with some emotion. "I thought you'd been slapped to death by Zhang Song, made this old man sad for a good while. Never expected you're still alive and kicking. Truly, the good die young..."
Lu Li was instantly speechless. Listen to that, was that something a human should say? At least he had only thought it in his heart, but this guy actually said it out loud.
So he replied without courtesy, "Likewise, likewise!"
"Heh heh, you kid, this old man is really growing fonder of you..."
"Hmph." Lu Li glanced at Wu De, his eyes shifting. "By the way, we left in such a hurry last time. Did you go check out that Earth Milk Essence?"
Wu De shook his head dejectedly. "I did go, but unfortunately, it was already gone. Even that Zhang Song has returned to White Sun Fort. This old man suspects he took the Earth Milk Essence."
"What a pity." Lu Li feigned regret, but inwardly thought, This is troublesome. That Zhang Song actually returned to White Sun Fort. How can I lure him out?
"Yes, what a pity." Wu De, unaware of what Lu Li was thinking, sighed. "That Earth Milk Essence is an indispensable material for refining the Nourishing Meridian Pill. This way, the speed of this old man's cultivation recovery will slow down again."
"Nourishing Meridian Pill?"
Lu Li was hearing about this kind of pill for the first time and couldn't help feeling very curious. "What is a Nourishing Meridian Pill?"
Wu De was taken aback. "You didn't come here to refine the Nourishing Meridian Pill?"
Saying this, he suddenly gave a self-deprecating laugh. "Right, how could something like the Nourishing Meridian Pill be known to everyone. It seems that bullshit master of yours isn't much either, not even teaching you about the Nourishing Meridian Pill."
Lu Li pretended to be displeased. "Old man, insult me if you will, but if you insult my master, be careful I turn against you!"
"Isn't it true? Still calling himself Lu Li the Real Person, with such shallow knowledge daring to claim the title Real Person. Hundreds of years without seeing, has the Eastern Desolate Lands fallen to such a state..."
What did this old man mean?
Lu Li stared at Wu De with full of suspicion. What did he mean by 'hundreds of years without seeing'?
Afterwards, the two chatted intermittently. Under Lu Li's continuous probing, Wu De finally explained the efficacy of the Nourishing Meridian Pill. As for the pill formula, he absolutely refused to mention it, saying unless Lu Li exchanged it with his movement technique.
It turned out the so-called Nourishing Meridian Pill was actually a pill that repaired and nourished the qi meridians. This kind of pill wasn't common. Its main efficacy was to repair meridian damage caused by violently breaking through acupoints.
Under normal circumstances, when practitioners broke through acupoints step by step following the proper methods, the damage to their qi meridians was extremely minimal and would heal automatically very quickly. They simply had no need for the Nourishing Meridian Pill.
But some geniuses, seeking rapid breakthroughs, would choose to violently break through acupoints-meaning they aimed to shatter an acupoint barrier in one or a few impacts. This would cause cracks to appear in their qi meridians or the acupoints themselves.
In such situations, the efficacy of the Nourishing Meridian Pill came into play. It could help quickly repair these cracks, allowing one to fearlessly assault the next acupoint.
After understanding this, Lu Li lost interest in the Nourishing Meridian Pill.
Because he didn't have a situation requiring violent acupoint breakthroughs; he had always progressed gradually and systematically.
Instead, he now felt somewhat curious about why Wu De was so concerned about the Nourishing Meridian Pill. Could the other party be a single spiritual root genius?
But that didn't seem right either. At such an age, only Qi Refinement fifth level... Wait. Thinking of this, Lu Li probed with his Divine Sense and only then realized he still couldn't see through the other party's cultivation.
He was greatly shocked. This person was not Qi Refinement fifth level.
Had he been deceived earlier, or had Wu De recently broken through?
"Kid, what are you frowning about? Scheming something bad again!" Seeing Lu Li frowning while looking at him, Wu De inexplicably felt his hairs stand on end and took two steps back.
"Ahem, what bad schemes could I possibly have?" Lu Li gave a deep smile, his eyes shifting. He leaned closer again and said quietly, "Do you still want that Earth Milk Essence?"
Wu De's eyes immediately lit up. "You know where there is some?"
"Of course."
"Quick, tell me!" Wu De's breathing became somewhat hurried.
This was exactly the effect Lu Li wanted. He spoke unhurriedly, "Then... the pill formula?"
Wu De's expression turned serious. "Forget about the pill formula. At most, I'll give you two pills after they're refined."
"Deal!" Lu Li wasn't very concerned about the Nourishing Meridian Pill; he just wanted to make Wu De lower his guard. He continued, "I have a way to capture Zhang Song, but I need you to lend a hand... You have no objections, right?"
"You?" Wu De snorted disdainfully. "Stop bragging. If you could capture Zhang Song, you'd have done it alone long ago. How could there be a share for this old man?"
"What do you know!" Lu Li pretended to be displeased. "My master gave me a treasure. Once set up, it can instantly kill any practitioner below Qi Refinement tenth level. But this thing can't be moved, and I need to use my Divine Sense to detonate it."
"So, I need someone to lure Zhang Song out."
Upon hearing this, Wu De immediately felt somewhat tempted, thinking, This kid actually has such a treasure. But then he thought again and felt something was off. He looked at Lu Li suspiciously. "Take it out and let this old man have a look."
Hearing this, Lu Li's face darkened. "Old brother, don't you think that's going too far? This is my trump card, how can I casually show it to others. If you're unwilling, forget it. In the end, I'll only get two Nourishing Meridian Pills anyway. As for you... heh, that whole pool of Earth Milk Essence... what a pity."
"A whole pool?"
"Old brother probably doesn't know, but last time I saw it clearly. That Earth Milk Essence filled the stone basin completely..."
"Fine, I'll do it!" Wu De steeled his heart. "This old man will risk it one more time. I hope you won't trick me again, otherwise... I'll have it out with you, kid!"
He truly desperately needed the Earth Milk Essence, and he was confident that merely luring the other party into a trap shouldn't be a problem.
"Haha, decisive!"
Lu Li laughed heartily, thinking to himself that he finally didn't have to take the risk himself this time.