I awakened my god-tier passive skill early on and took off instantly

“Just a title.”

There wasn't much emotional fluctuation on Long Muxue's face as she took out a bamboo hat covered with black gauze from her storage bag and put it on.

“What are your thoughts?” Her faint voice came from under the bamboo hat.

“I need to inquire about it first before I can make plans.”

Lu Xin turned his head to look at Black Qu City and said, “What about you? As far as I know, the Shifting Sands Sea is very large; you can't be aimless, right?”

Long Muxue said directly: “Black Qu City has a chamber of commerce with many mercenary teams under it. These people regularly venture deep into the Shifting Sands Sea to hunt demonic beasts and collect resources.

They know the area well, so we can go and ask them for information first, and also buy some maps of the terrain inside.”

“Then what are we waiting for?”

Upon hearing this, Lu Xin took the lead and walked towards the city, with Long Muxue following closely behind.

The two quickly entered the city, and after inquiring, they learned that, for some unknown reason, the demonic beasts in the Shifting Sands Sea had become increasingly violent recently.

They had even appeared attacking the city walls.

Therefore, under the leadership of the City Lord's Mansion, Black Qu City had also newly established a mercenary guild dedicated to hunting demonic beasts, and the materials obtained would be purchased specifically.

After clarifying the situation, the two immediately decided to split up.

Long Muxue went to the mercenary guild to inquire.

Lu Xin, led by a local, came to the entrance of the chamber of commerce that Long Muxue had mentioned. Perhaps sensing his cultivation level, a steward quickly came out to greet him.

“Greetings, this one's surname is He, and I am the steward here. I wonder what you need from our chamber of commerce. We have everything here.”

“Greetings, Steward He.” Lu Xin cupped his fist in greeting and cut straight to the point:

“I do indeed have a need. I just heard Steward He say that you have everything here. I wonder if you have any True Yang Stones for sale?”

“True Yang Stone?”

Steward He frowned upon hearing this and pondered for a while before saying:

“This item is a companion to the rare natural treasure True Yang Profound Fiend and is extremely rare. Our chamber of commerce doesn't have it, but we can inquire about it for you.”

Lu Xin was somewhat disappointed upon hearing this, but he quickly composed himself. At least having a local to help inquire was helpful, so he handed over ten mid-grade spirit stones and said:

“Then I'll have to trouble Steward He. I hope Steward He will put in extra effort. I will definitely reward you handsomely if there is any news.”

“Not at all, not at all.”

Steward He took the spirit stones, his face beaming with smiles, “How about this, come back here at this time tomorrow, and I will give you an answer whether there is news or not.”

Afterwards, the two exchanged a few more words, and Lu Xin bought some hand-drawn maps from the mercenary teams before taking his leave.

Returning to their lodging, Long Muxue had not yet returned. Lu Xin planned to take out the mysterious route map he had obtained and compare it with the hand-drawn maps he had bought.

However, after taking out the mysterious route map, he was stunned to see that a small black dot with an arrow had appeared on the edge of the map.

This small black dot seemed to be him, and the direction the arrow was pointing was the starting point of the route map.

Seeing this magical scene, Lu Xin tried it out and found that no matter how he moved or turned, the direction of the arrow always pointed to the starting point.

“This is so advanced?”

Lu Xin was surprised. Isn't this the Gaode Map of the cultivation world? However, he then hesitated, not knowing whether the map was pointing to a blessed land or a death trap.

With his current strength, would going there be suicidal?

He had no confidence in any of this.

“Why can't I find even a shred of information about the Underground Maze City?”

Lu Xin sighed and put away the mysterious route map. Just then, Long Muxue walked in, still bringing disappointing news and only returning with some maps.

They could only helplessly wait for Steward He's news.

In the blink of an eye, it was the afternoon of the next day. Lu Xin and Long Muxue came to the entrance of the chamber of commerce together. Before they even entered, they saw Steward He excitedly welcoming them, “Brother Lu, good news!”

“Oh?”

Lu Xin's eyes lit up upon hearing this and quickly said, “Is there any news about the True Yang Stone?”

Steward He nodded and rubbed his hands together.

Lu Xin quickly handed over one hundred mid-grade spirit stones.

One mid-grade spirit stone can be exchanged for one hundred low-grade spirit stones, and one hundred mid-grade spirit stones is equivalent to ten thousand low-grade spirit stones, which is a considerable fortune for a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Steward He happily accepted it and said everything in one breath:

“I went back and mobilized all my connections to inquire, but no news came back until noon today when the captain of a mercenary team under the chamber of commerce said that he had once seen a fourth-level demonic beast, the Flame Falcon, carrying a piece of it in its mouth in the伏龙岭 (Fulong Ridge) of the Shifting Sands Sea.”

“Do you know the flight direction of that Flame Falcon?” Long Muxue couldn't help but ask from the side.

Steward He glanced at her and, seeing that she had come with Lu Xin, said, “It flew from the northwest to the southeast.

So I speculate that the place where the True Yang Stone is produced may be in the northwest direction of Fulong Ridge, but I don't know how far away it is.”

“Then thank you, Steward He.” Having obtained the information he wanted, Lu Xin cupped his fist in thanks.

“Not at all, not at all. I'm just doing my job for the money. If Brother Lu wants to inquire about anything in the future, feel free to come and find me.”

“Definitely.”

Afterwards, the two bid farewell and left, and then inquired about the habits of the Flame Falcon before returning to their lodging.

After activating the formation, Lu Xin said:

“I need the True Yang Profound Fiend, and you need the True Yang Stone, so I must go to the northwest direction of Fulong Ridge, and you can choose to go to the southeast direction to dismantle a few pieces from the Flame Falcon's nest.”

Long Muxue said indifferently: “I don't want to die.”

Lu Xin understood her meaning. A fourth-level demonic beast is equivalent to a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and the Flame Falcon is also a gregarious demonic beast. Asking Long Muxue to demolish the nest is indeed courting death.

“It seems you plan to come with me. It's getting late today, so we'll use the remaining time to prepare more supplies and set off tomorrow morning.”

Long Muxue had no objections.

Nothing was said overnight. The next morning, the two, having prepared many supplies such as clean water and food, left Black Qu City in the morning dew and headed towards Fulong Ridge in the Shifting Sands Sea.

In the blink of an eye, a few days passed. As they went further west, the vegetation became increasingly sparse, and the ground under their feet turned into sand, and various demonic beasts would occasionally emerge from it.

Fortunately, Lu Xin was flying in the air, and Long Muxue was also stepping on a flying sword, so there was no need to guard against the dangers underground.

After flying for a few more days, Long Muxue suddenly said, “I can't go on anymore. I need to find a place to recover my mana.”

Upon hearing this, Lu Xin scanned around with his divine sense and pointed to a sand dune, “Go there. There is a third-level demonic beast, the Devil Tail Scorpion, hidden below.”

“Huh??” Long Muxue's face was full of question marks.

Lu Xin didn't explain and went straight to the ground.

As soon as he stepped on the ground, a scorpion tail with spikes emerged from the sand and stabbed towards him.

Lu Xin didn't dodge and allowed it to stab his body. He only heard a ding sound, and the spike didn't break through his defense. Instead, he grabbed the tail.

“Come out.”

Lu Xin pulled hard and directly pulled the entire body of the Devil Tail Scorpion out of the sand, then stepped on it hard, crushing it to pieces.

“You are actually a body refiner!”

Long Muxue landed, her face full of surprise.

“I just practice occasionally and haven't had a chance to use it.” Lu Xin put the scorpion tail into his storage bag and said lightly.