In terms of speed, running alone cannot compare to a vehicle.
So, while Lin Wan and Wang Gaofei had already arrived at their destination by car, Xia Wenzhuo and Xu Shan were still running amidst the astonished gazes of pedestrians.
Inside the Wang family's mansion, Wang Youqian looked at the middle-aged man claiming to be surnamed Xu in front of him, feeling as if he might lose all his hair from stress.
“Mr. Xu, how long until those two celestial masters arrive?”
Looking at the bright yellow talisman paper in his palm, which had been mostly eroded by dark ink, and recalling that he had clearly made the appointment for the morning, yet the celestial masters still hadn’t arrived, Wang Youqian felt both anxious and fearful.
Lately, every night at home felt exceptionally tense. Even with the heater on, the chill in the air couldn’t be suppressed.
Due to his instinctual drive to avoid harm, Wang Youqian had been taking his son out to stay elsewhere during these days.
As dusk approached, the two unreliable celestial masters still hadn’t shown up...
Wondering if it was just psychological, Wang Youqian felt that with the sun setting, the air around him grew increasingly cold.
If this continues, he thought, perhaps they should stay in a hotel tonight…
“Mr. Xu, why don’t we wait at the hotel instead…”
Before Wang Youqian could finish, Uncle Xu interrupted him with a smile.
“Mr. Wang, please don’t be anxious. The young lady and the others have finished their business and are currently making their way here. They will arrive shortly.”
“When they do, we will help you clean up the negative energy in your home, and you will be able to sleep peacefully.”
“Oh, okay, then let’s wait a bit longer.”
Wang Youqian forced a smile at Uncle Xu, taking a tissue from the box on the table to wipe the sweat off his face, trying to mask the resentment and dissatisfaction in his eyes.
He mentioned that they had finished their business… No wonder they were so slow; it turned out they were taking on other clients too! Even coming from the Celestial Master Association, their reliability was just too lacking.
Throwing the sweat-soaked tissue into the trash, Wang Youqian frowned again.
Where did that little brat Wang Gaofei run off to? This was about health; how could he be so inconsiderate!
Thinking about how, after his wife's death, his relationship with his son had grown increasingly distant, Wang Youqian sighed again. He absently rubbed his increasingly balding head, feeling that he was not far from being completely bald.
At that moment, the familiar sound of an engine brought Wang Youqian back to reality.
Not bad, this kid, at least he knows what’s important... or does he?!
With a relieved expression, Wang Youqian watched as Wang Gaofei tumbled out of the car, revealing his full appearance.
His foolish son had a wild, multicolored hairdo, looking around before flashing Wang Youqian a familiar, goofy smile.
Seeing his son's radiant smile, Wang Youqian’s heart dropped.
No, there are distinguished guests here today; that foolish child can’t just say anything to offend people!
He instinctively wanted to rush forward to cover his foolish son's mouth, but before he could act, Wang Gaofei had already shouted out in delight.
“Dad, guess what? I’ve brought back an amazing immortal!”
“Forget those unreliable celestial masters; with this immortal here, I guarantee nothing will happen to our family!”
In the face of Wang Youqian's desperate gaze, his foolish son successfully offended the distinguished guest right off the bat.
“Shut up!”
Thus, after Wang Gaofei’s grand proclamation, as soon as Lin Wan stepped out of the car, he was met with Wang Youqian’s furious shout.
Lin Wan: ???
Not bothering to comfort his son about whatever “immortal” he had brought back, Wang Youqian wiped the sweat from his forehead and turned to Uncle Xu, who was still smiling.
“I apologize, Mr. Xu. My son is young and ignorant; please don’t take offense.”
“It’s no trouble.”
Xu Shu shook his head and instead focused his gaze on Lin Wan.
This boy showed no signs of spiritual energy, so he appeared to be an ordinary person.
However, unexpectedly, this young man had bright eyes and an impressive appearance, exuding a calm and righteous aura, yet still engaged in such despicable behavior.
Watching Lin Wan, who was curiously looking at him, Xu Shu shook his head, a trace of barely noticeable cold light flickering in his eyes.
The reason why the reputation of Tianshi (Celestial Masters) among ordinary people is so poor is due to these con artists who claim to be "great immortals."
Young people often do not realize the limitations of the world…
At that moment, Lin Wan, the "young man" in Xu Shu's eyes who was "ignorant of the world," also withdrew his gaze in confusion.
Although he understood that, under such a severe shortage of spiritual energy, practitioners on Earth might not have a good life, Lin Wan never expected them to be in such a state of decline.
A mere Foundation Establishment stage practitioner, one who had just stepped into the world of cultivation, was already regarded as a highly respected master?!
Seeing Xu Shu, who was struggling in the cultivation world even among the outer disciples of large sects, yet living so well on Earth, Lin Wan felt compelled.
If someone so inexperienced dares to take on jobs, then he, a practitioner whose soul had ascended to godhood and had reached the Golden Core stage, thought he could too!
Sorry, but today I have to take your business. However, you need not be unhappy; there is something suspicious about this job that you wouldn't be able to handle with your skills!
Having comforted himself to reduce his inner guilt, Lin Wan cleared his throat softly and then displayed an extremely composed smile at Wang's father.
"Please don’t worry, sir. I will take care of your family's issue."
"Oh? What a bold claim! Then tell me, how do you plan to resolve this matter?"
Xu Shu couldn't help but feel angry as a self-proclaimed con artist attempted to take over in front of him.
However, being the steward of the Xu family, he held a certain status and couldn't resort to crude insults.
So, Xu Shu suppressed his anger, preparing to criticize this little con artist in a civil manner.
"The reason the Wang family encountered problems is due to their bodies being corroded by death energy. Since that is the case, wouldn’t it suffice to remove the death energy?"
Upon hearing Xu Shu's provocative question, Lin Wan was momentarily stunned. He then looked at Xu Shu with a mixture of confusion and faint disdain, clearly expressing, "Why don’t you know even this?"
Seeing the strange looks from both Wang and his father, Xu Shu felt like he might explode from anger.
As a knowledgeable and experienced steward, how could he not know such a simple and crude method!
The problem was that it was easier said than done; did this foolish kid understand how difficult it was to remove death energy once it had contaminated a living person?!
Xu Shu thought angrily that to eliminate the death energy within a living person, one first needed to use protective talismans to shield the ordinary person's fragile soul, and then a Foundation Establishment stage practitioner would have to intervene. At the very least, it would take several hours to…
Xu Shu couldn't continue his train of thought.
Because right before his eyes, an impossible scene unfolded, abruptly interrupting his thoughts and completely shattering the worldview he had built over the years.
He saw the boy he considered a little con artist extend his delicate, fair fingers and gently tap Wang's father's plump forehead.
Then, the death energy that had been overwhelming Wang's father, which had previously given Xu Shu a headache, began to dissipate at a visibly rapid pace.
In the moment Xu Shu was stunned, the death energy within Wang's father had completely vanished.
It seemed that the boy had done something else, as Wang's father was no longer displaying the lethargy that had come from being contaminated by the death energy. On the contrary, he was now filled with vigorous life.
The abundant vitality kept the death energy that still lingered in the room at bay, preventing him from being further contaminated.
In just an instant, the boy had achieved so much. His profound cultivation was beyond Xu Shu's understanding. Who exactly was this young man before him?!
Xu Shu looked at Lin Wan with a gaze full of suspicion, his expression increasingly darkening.
On the other side, Wang Youqian, Wang's father, clenched his fists, feeling the warmth and strength flowing within him, looking at Lin Wan with great surprise.
"Master, do you see? Am I already fine?"
Lin Wan nodded proudly and calmly replied with an air of a master, "That's right, all the death energy within you has been completely extracted. Since a body that has been corrupted by death energy will be very weak and sensitive, easily falling ill, I have infused a bit of spiritual energy into you to revive the life force within you, allowing you to be free from weakness and fatigue."
"Once I resolve the source of the death energy in this room, this issue will be completely settled."
Upon hearing this, Wang Gaofei, who was beside Lin Wan, became displeased.
Out of respect for the mysterious power, he shouted in a low voice, "Great Master, why don’t you give me some spiritual energy too? I want spiritual energy!"
Seeing this, Lin Wan helplessly said, "The vitality within young people is already vigorous, making them less susceptible to such sinister energy. You have little death energy, and you recover quickly, so you don’t need me to infuse spiritual energy into you."
"Moreover, an ordinary person’s body can encounter problems when exposed to spiritual energy without proper preparations."
Noticing that Wang Gaofei still had hope and was eager to try, Lin Wan reluctantly added an explanation to dissuade him.
Whoosh—
Just as Wang Gaofei was expressing his regret, two figures rushed into the Wang family's courtyard, pushing an unknown object quickly.
"Sorry for being late!"
As the situation was about to be resolved, Xu Shan, accompanied by Xia Wenzhuo, finally arrived, pushing a small food cart through a cloud of dust.
“What’s going on? Is there something wrong?!”
Under the strange gazes of everyone present, Xu Shan, who had just run over with Xia Wenzhuo, couldn’t help but feel a bit of unease.
Meanwhile, Xia Wenzhuo, completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere, was still carefree.
After catching his breath, he happily said to Mr. Wang, “Oh, you’re looking quite healthy! You’ve been in this dead atmosphere of a room for so long, and yet you still seem so lively, not affected by any of this ominous energy. That’s really impressive!”
Given that he had kept the employer waiting for quite a while, Xia Wenzhuo intended to compliment Mr. Wang to alleviate any potential anger he might have felt.
However, he didn’t expect that his words would only make the atmosphere even stranger.
It was so strange that even someone as carefree as Xia Wenzhuo could sense that something was off.
“What’s going on?”
Looking around cautiously, Xia Wenzhuo asked.
Since Xu Shu was the cousin of his employer’s young lady, he couldn’t say much.
So he paused for a moment before cleverly changing the subject.
“Miss, you mentioned there was an urgent matter and told me to come over to protect Mr. Wang. Has the situation been resolved now?”
Xu Shu asked this intentionally, hoping to lessen any animosity that the Wang family and that boy might hold against them.
He knew very well how reliable his young lady was, so if she had kept her employer waiting, it must have been for a very urgent reason. It was understandable that an unexpected situation might have delayed their arrival.
Xu Uncle’s plan was well thought out, but unfortunately, the situation Xu Shan encountered was too peculiar.
“Oh right, I almost forgot!”
Reminded by Xu Uncle’s words, Xia Wenzhuo slapped his forehead and suddenly understood.
“We sincerely apologize for the delay, but we have our reasons for being late!”
Pulling the small cart behind them forward, Xia Wenzhuo’s expression was filled with smugness.
“Look! What a simplified and perfect formation!”
…???
Hearing this, Mr. Wang and Wang Gaofei quickly turned to look at the small cart that Xia Wenzhuo had pushed out.
Simple and unadorned, it looked somewhat shabby, resembling an ordinary cart that could easily be overlooked if placed by the roadside.
Was there a formation on this cart?!
Exchanging glances, both Mr. Wang and Wang Gaofei wore expressions of doubt.
Just for this little junk cart, they had been kept waiting for so long. Surely, these people couldn’t be just toying with them?!
Unlike the Wang father and son, who could not sense any spiritual energy, Xu Shu had enough experience and insight.
However, even someone as seasoned as Xu Shu was deeply shocked upon seeing the wealth-gathering formation drawn on the cart.
In this world, there existed such an exquisitely crafted formation!
Caught in a moment of unconscious reverie over that formation, Xu Shu snapped back to reality and immediately used a secret technique to transmit a message.
“Abandon the Wang family’s order and focus on protecting this formation to return to Yanjing!”
Receiving Xu Shu’s urgent message, Xia Wenzhuo and Xu Shan felt a sense of confusion rise in their hearts.
Was it really necessary to be this serious…?
However, seeing Xu Shu’s stern expression, their once carefree hearts suddenly sank.
As the increasingly peculiar situation in Yanjing flashed through their minds, their feelings of joy quickly dissipated.
Right! This formation was theirs for now, but it might not be in the future. Treasures like this were ultimately safer at home than left out in the open.
Once they grasped this key point, Xia Wenzhuo and Xu Shan exchanged glances and quickly made a decision.
“Since your family’s matters have been resolved, we won’t bother you any longer.”
Xia Wenzhuo smiled obediently at Mr. Wang and then gently said, “But rest assured, the main reason for this cancellation is on our end, and we will provide appropriate compensation.”
Xu Shan took out two bright yellow talismans from her backpack and handed them to Mr. Wang and his son, smiling as she said, “Please accept these two protective talismans. Wearing them can ward off evil and prevent disasters. The deposit you made earlier will be refunded to your account shortly.”
“In addition, we will cover all the expenses incurred on the way here. If Mr. Wang is still unsatisfied, we can offer you a corresponding monetary compensation. What do you think, Mr. Wang?”
Businesspeople often emphasize the importance of a harmonious relationship for profit. So after Xia Wenzhuo and his companions had shown their goodwill, even though Mr. Wang still felt somewhat displeased, he smiled and agreed.
However, despite his outward calm, Mr. Wang subtly pricked them with his words.
“Since you esteemed masters have other important matters to attend to, I won’t keep you. I’ll leave our family’s matters to this young friend here. How does that sound?”
Xu Shu and the others caught on to the underlying dissatisfaction in Mr. Wang’s words, but they said nothing further. They placed the two protective talismans on the large table in the courtyard and silently pushed the small cart away from the Wang family residence.
After the three left, Mr. Wang sighed, suppressing his pent-up frustration. When he turned to Lin Wan, his face was already adorned with a perfectly timed smile.
“Now, I’ll leave the next matters to you, Master. Rest assured, we understand the rules.”
“What rules are you talking about?!”
Just after eavesdropping on the conversation between Xu Shu and the others, Lin Wan was momentarily stunned by the extent of the decline (and misery) of Earth’s cultivators. Hearing this, he felt a bit guilty.
However, it wasn’t long before Lin Wan straightened his back again.
No matter what rules there were, as long as he had strength, he wasn’t afraid!
With this in mind, Lin Wan nodded and said nonchalantly, “Just do what you think is best. I’ll go get rid of the negative energy in your house.”
Entering the room, under the curious yet reverent gazes of the two behind him, Lin Wan extended one of his jade-white fingers and quietly pointed toward the air.
Suddenly, a wind began to swirl in the quiet, windless room.
The wind was chillingly cold; although it wasn’t strong, it felt like it was scraping against their bones. It made the Wang father and son, who were standing at the door, shiver.
It seemed like an instant, yet it also felt like a long time. Finally, the wind in the room settled down.
As the Wang father and son looked on, shivering, Lin Wan lowered his hand, then furrowed his brows tightly.
He reached out and drew a dark object toward him from mid-air. Turning to show it to Mr. Wang, he asked solemnly, “Where did you get this thing?”
Mr. Wang looked at the object in Lin Wan's hand.
It was a flat disc, about the diameter of a fist. The disc was inscribed with frightening-looking incantations, entirely black and dim in color, as if it absorbed the very light shining on it. It appeared ominous.
After looking closely for a moment, Mr. Wang's face turned pale.
“This isn’t ours!”
Glancing at the disc in Lin Wan's hand with panic, Mr. Wang quickly averted his gaze, fearing that looking too long would bring trouble.
“When we sensed something was wrong, we cleaned our house multiple times, even removing hair from the corners and crevices. We’ve never seen this thing before!”
“Master, does this thing have any origins?”
Mr. Wang grew increasingly anxious and couldn't help but ask Lin Wan with a quivering voice.
“As for its origins, I can’t say for sure,” Lin Wan replied, or rather, he didn’t know anything about the cultivating factions on Earth.
But he did know one thing—
“Although the formation is decently drawn, it’s still too rudimentary.”
It might work on those backward cultivators, but trying to harm him was truly overestimating their capabilities.
Spreading his five fingers, in an instant, the disc and the incantations inscribed on it turned into a pile of gray powder, losing all their effectiveness.
“Don’t worry; it’s useless now.”
Watching the Wang father and son frightfully gaze at the dispersing powder, Lin Wan smiled and reassured them, “The negative energy in your house has been completely eliminated, so you can move in normally tonight.”
Seeing Mr. Wang and Wang Gaofei nodding continuously like chickens pecking at rice, Lin Wan felt a slight anticipation rise in his heart.
This matter was resolved, the work was done, so wouldn’t it be time for his reward?
Thinking of the upcoming small money, Lin Wan felt a little light-hearted.
---
Meanwhile, a thousand miles away in Yanjing—
In a dim underground room, a figure dressed in a black robe, hiding his entire body and face, spat out a mouthful of fresh blood as he stared at the shattered jade tablet, his expression filled with rage.
“How is this possible?! How could anyone break my perfectly crafted formation?! Aren’t those idiots from the Luo family busy looking for that young master Luo who’s been missing? Why was my jade butterfly destroyed?!”
Muttering incoherently for a while, the figure suddenly threw his head back and roared, “Investigate! Go check! What’s going on?!”
“I want to see which deity dares to obstruct my path to becoming a god!!”
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