Chapter 00260: At the Wumu Market
# At the Wumu Market
Chapter 260
Novel: Abandon The Universe
Chapter 260: At the Wumu Market
Guang Jie had initially only wanted to tease Lan Xiaobu a little, as she had always been good-natured.
But now, hearing Lan Xiaobu point out the many issues in her alchemy process, she immediately asked, "Brother Lan, do you really understand the Dao of Alchemy?"
Lan Xiaobu nodded, "I know a little. The first problem in your alchemy is the incorrect purification technique for the Immortal Spirit Grass. The alchemy formulas you use when separating the medicinal liquid from the residue are too rushed and mixed with some unnecessary formulas. Remember, when purifying Immortal Spirit Grass, you need to follow the principle of 'floating clouds, slow residue, quick fire.' The formula is as follows..."
Guang Jie, who had a strong talent for alchemy, suddenly understood many things after listening to Lan Xiaobu.
Her master had never explained things in such detail, and it seemed there were many things her master didn't know either.
After Lan Xiaobu finished speaking, Guang Jie couldn't help but ask some questions she had never understood before, and Lan Xiaobu answered them effortlessly.
"Brother Lan, are you a fourth-grade Immortal Alchemist?" Guang Jie looked at Lan Xiaobu in shock.
Her master was a third-grade Immortal Alchemist, but he was nowhere near as skilled as Lan Xiaobu.
Lan Xiaobu smiled, "No."
Guang Jie breathed a sigh of relief.
That made sense.
She then took out another batch of materials to refine a furnace of Restoration Pills.
This time, it was much easier than before.
With Lan Xiaobu's guidance, when she pulled out twelve pills from the furnace, she was stunned.
Top-grade Restoration Pills? When had she ever refined top-grade Immortal Pills before? This batch not only had five top-grade pills, but the rest were all high-grade.
There were no medium or low-grade pills.
"Oh my, I actually refined top-grade Restoration Pills! Does this mean I'm already a third-grade alchemist?" Guang Jie couldn't help but exclaim in excitement.
Lan Xiaobu said, "Your foundation in alchemy is quite solid, and your understanding of the Dao of Alchemy is also good. You could have been refining third-grade Immortal Pills long ago. Why don't you start refining third-grade pills now, and I'll teach you how to do it."
"But I don't have any third-grade Immortal Spirit Grass," Guang Jie said regretfully.
If she had known there was such a skilled alchemist at home, she would have done everything possible to get more third-grade Immortal Spirit Grass.
Lan Xiaobu took out a ring and handed it to Guang Jie.
"This contains an alchemy furnace and some third-grade Immortal Spirit Grass. Refine the furnace, and then you can start refining third-grade Immortal Pills."
Guang Jie instinctively took the ring and scanned it with her divine sense.
She was immediately overwhelmed with excitement.
"Brother Lan, is this a mid-grade Immortal Artifact furnace?"
Lan Xiaobu nodded, "Yes, this furnace is yours now."
"Thank you, Brother Lan! I will definitely refine third-grade Immortal Pills and strive to rank in the top ten!" Guang Jie's confidence soared.
A mid-grade Immortal Artifact furnace was extremely valuable.
Many core disciples in her sect didn't even have one.
...
By the time Lan Xiaobu returned to the Forbidden Immortal Bureau, it was already the next day.
He had been delayed by Guang Jie and wasted another day.
"Brother Xiaobu, you're back!" Zhong Yi, seeing Lan Xiaobu return, immediately rushed up to him excitedly.
While Lan Xiaobu was away, Zhong Yi could only handle simple tasks like recording files.
Such work, even if done for tens of thousands of years, wouldn't lead to a promotion.
In the Forbidden Immortal Bureau, the only way to get promoted was through merit, and merit came from solving cases.
"Have Guang Kuo and Jian Xuanming not returned yet?" Lan Xiaobu noticed that the Forbidden Immortal Bureau was eerily quiet, with only a few officials hurriedly coming and going.
Zhong Yi whispered, "Brother Xiaobu, the case at the Wumu Market seems to be quite complicated. Not only have Guang and Jian not returned, but none of the other officials have either. Several have even died."
"What about Gongliang?" Lan Xiaobu wanted to go to the Wumu Market to investigate, but to do so, he needed the approval of a third-grade official.
"Gongliang also went to the Wumu Market and hasn't returned either. The Forbidden Immortal Bureau has requested reinforcements from above. There seems to be something strange going on at the Wumu Market," Zhong Yi explained.
Lan Xiaobu nodded, "I see. I'll go inspect the prison cells first."
Lan Xiaobu decided to discuss things with Ju Xiuruo, then go through his tribulation to advance to the Profound Immortal Realm.
After that, he would head to the Bai Duan family to find Shangguan Qian.
Once these tasks were done, he would investigate the situation at the Wumu Market.
Before entering the prison, Lan Xiaobu reattached the mark Bian Yufeng had placed on him.
Earlier, he had removed it to investigate a case.
Now that he was entering the prison, he had to put it back, or Bian Yufeng would realize he had discovered the mark.
...
When Lan Xiaobu sensed the flame within him, Ju Xiuruo's heart sank to the bottom.
But after several months passed without anyone coming for her, she realized Lan Xiaobu hadn't reported her.
This made her breathe a sigh of relief.
During this time, she had been waiting for Lan Xiaobu to come.
But after months passed without seeing him, she began to wonder if she should escape.
Just as she was considering this, she saw Lan Xiaobu approaching.
To her confusion, Lan Xiaobu spent a long time looking at each cell before finally arriving at hers.
"Kid, you're back," Bian Yufeng said as Lan Xiaobu approached his cell, though his heart sank.
He had left a message in his mark.
If his accomplices discovered Lan Xiaobu's mark, they would surely coordinate with him from the outside.
But Lan Xiaobu's mark was still there.
Months had passed, and his accomplices hadn't sent any messages.
Did this mean he had been abandoned?
Lan Xiaobu pretended to linger outside Bian Yufeng's cell for a while before moving on to the next one.
By the time he reached Ju Xiuruo's cell, half a day had already passed.
"Officer Lan, thank you," Ju Xiuruo immediately transmitted her voice to Lan Xiaobu as soon as he arrived outside her cell.
The fact that she could transmit her voice meant the chains binding her spiritual bones had been broken.
Lan Xiaobu scanned with his divine sense and indeed saw that the chains were severed.
"No need to thank me. Your case isn't my responsibility. I want to ask, since you have a flame, would you give me the materials for the Nirvana Flame?" Lan Xiaobu stood outside Ju Xiuruo's cell and transmitted his voice.
Ju Xiuruo replied, "My flame has already undergone Nirvana. If you can promise to help me overturn my case and let me leave, I will immediately tell you the location of the treasure needed for the Nirvana Flame."
Lan Xiaobu immediately understood that Ju Xiuruo hadn't broken the chains to escape immediately.
She likely knew how powerful the Forbidden Immortal Bureau was and that escape would be difficult.
She had melted the chains to ensure she could protect herself if needed.
"Tell me about your case," Lan Xiaobu said directly.
His time was tight.
If he could help, he would.
If not, he would focus on his own matters.
Ju Xiuruo was straightforward, "I killed Yang Buqing. He had an affair with my sister-in-law, Shi Yan, and caused the death of my brother, Ju Chengsang. When I investigated my brother's death, I found out that my parents were also killed by that beast. I don't know why he approached me, but it definitely wasn't to become my Dao companion..."
After listening to Ju Xiuruo, Lan Xiaobu realized the Forbidden Immortal Bureau hadn't fabricated the records.
The files were accurate—at least regarding Yang Buqing and Shi Yan being killed by Ju Xiuruo.
"If it's true that you also killed three city guards, I can't help you. Even if your case is overturned, you won't be able to leave here," Lan Xiaobu said.
Ju Xiuruo was stunned for a moment, then firmly said, "I never killed any city guards. I know that much. If I had, I wouldn't be seeking your help. How could the Forbidden Immortal Bureau falsify such records?"
After saying this, Ju Xiuruo was lost in thought for a while.
Then she murmured, "I understand."
She then transmitted her voice to Lan Xiaobu, "You don't need to overturn my case anymore. What Yang Buqing said was true. When I was about to kill him, he transmitted to me that he was the illegitimate son of King Jing. I mocked him at the time. But now it seems he really might be King Jing's illegitimate son. Otherwise, the Forbidden Immortal Bureau wouldn't have tampered with the records. I have to leave now. King Jing hasn't come for me yet, but he must have forgotten for the moment. They will come here soon."
Lan Xiaobu didn't want to get involved in these messy affairs.
He transmitted directly, "The Forbidden Immortal Bureau's defenses are lax right now. The strong ones are all out on missions. You can't leave today; you must wait until tomorrow. Outside is a defensive grand array. To get out, first go to the Kan position, where the array flag is. Then take seven steps forward, three steps to the right, and turn to the Zhen position..."
Lan Xiaobu had already studied the prison's defensive array and directly told Ju Xiuruo how to escape.
He even used his divine sense to explain which direction was right, in case she didn't know.
Ju Xiuruo stared at Lan Xiaobu in disbelief.
Could the Forbidden Immortal Bureau's array really be bypassed so easily? It was said to be a place where even Immortal Kings could be trapped.
But she knew she had no choice.
If Lan Xiaobu was lying to her, she would have to accept it.
Besides, Lan Xiaobu had no reason to deceive her.
If he wanted her dead, he could have just reported her.
Thinking this, Ju Xiuruo immediately transmitted to Lan Xiaobu, "In the Wumu Market, there's an abandoned alchemy room sealed by a forbidden array. Inside the room is a fourth-grade concealment array. Beneath the array is a void teleportation formation. To enter the formation, you need a teleportation token. The token is on my chest. I'll give it to you..."
"Wait..."
Lan Xiaobu quickly stopped her.
If Ju Xiuruo blatantly gave him the token, he would definitely be implicated once she escaped.
At this point, Lan Xiaobu didn't care about anything else.
His divine sense directly landed on Ju Xiuruo's chest.
Feeling Lan Xiaobu's divine sense on her, Ju Xiuruo's body immediately tensed up.
She even felt something moving on her chest, and her face turned red.
But she understood Lan Xiaobu's actions.
This was not only to protect her but also to protect himself.
There were likely many monitoring arrays in the prison.
It's really big...
Lan Xiaobu forcibly pushed aside his thoughts and began to try to carve concealment array patterns on the token.
When Ju Xiuruo felt a slight emptiness on her chest, she was shocked to find that the token was gone.
She had no idea how Lan Xiaobu had taken it.
(End of Chapter)