"My lords! I am helping you improve your strength. How is that breaking the rules? Don't you all want your strength to increase and your lifespans to be extended? Or are you afraid that once they improve, they will surpass you and you won't be able to control them?
It's fine, I can improve yours too. It only costs two hundred million! One pill, one formation array. I'll give it all to you! How about it?" Lu Fan smiled faintly, turning back to look at the extremely displeased faces of Hua Laoda to Hua Laowu.
"For centuries, the people of Huarong Prefecture have lived without desire or greed, a life of simplicity, contentment, and freedom. You have completely changed the way of life in Huarong Prefecture. And you, you are insatiably greedy, shamelessly making money here. Are you forcing us to impose rules on you?" Hua Laoda said angrily.
"Hmph! So I shouldn't make money? I can't compare to you old folks. I still have a whole family to support! Moreover, I haven't done anything wrong. I am improving the overall strength of Huarong Prefecture. This benefits everyone.
Only by improving our strength can we ensure that we return safely when we go out on missions in the future, and guarantee the completion of the missions. Don't you want us to return safely, or does our return depend on your mood!" Lu Fan said, curling his lips.
"Don't talk nonsense! How could we not want missions to be completed well?" Hua Laoda's expression flickered, and he immediately roared.
"Hmph! Then it's settled! I'm helping you improve and making a little money on the side. Since you are all leaders, you must have money. If you want pills and formation arrays, I won't give you any discounts! Haha! Otherwise, it would be a shame if you couldn't spend all your money!" Lu Fan finished speaking and completely ignored the few people, continuing to set up the formation.
The dozens of people nearby watched Hua Laoda and the others. In the past, no one dared to disobey them.
It wasn't rules, but strength that restrained people. There was no greed because there was no dare to hope for more.
The world wasn't devoid of people without greed or desire, but they were truly too few. They were definitely not the elderly people living in Huarong Prefecture.
"Hua Thirty-Five! Don't think we don't dare to act against you." Hua Laoda seemed truly enraged, his killing intent instantly rising. The other four immediately drew their weapons, their postures like they would teach you a lesson if you continued to act so arrogant.
"I dare say, you really don't dare! I'll also say this in advance: if you dare to make a move, Huarong Prefecture will lose five people in the future! I won't kill you, but I will definitely cripple you." Lu Fan said calmly, slowly turning back.
The people around instantly became tense. Watching Lu Fan and Hua Laoda's imminent confrontation, not a single person interjected. They all stared with heightened spirits... with even a hint of anticipation in their eyes.
"Hmph!"
With a muffled grunt, Hua Laoda and the five turned around and left.
What the heck...
The extremely tense crowd around immediately collapsed. They had expected to see some excitement, but after all that shouting, it ended with just a grunt? Couldn't you grunt twice!!!
"Hua Thirty-Five! You are truly amazing. You actually managed to subdue them."
"Yes, yes! Thirty-Five, I won't help even if the wall falls, I only admire you!"
"Thirty-Five... you... do you want to marry more wives? I..." Hua Liu and a group of old women behind her also crowded around.
"Grandma! Great-Grandma! The two of us really aren't suitable! Actually, you can find someone suitable among these old men!"
Cough...
Cough...
Cough...
Several old men nearby coughed forcefully, trying to attract the attention of Hua Liu and the other old women.
"You brat! Don't talk nonsense, I mean our family. My granddaughter is a good girl, and she's very beautiful..."
"Great-Grandma! How many years have you been in Huarong Prefecture?"
"Over thirty years... Ah! My granddaughter should also be over fifty years old! Oh! Why don't you go to our family and see if my granddaughter has any granddaughters, they must be beautiful!"
"Great-Grandma! I'll give you a piece of jade, please spare me!"
One sentence immediately caused a burst of laughter around.
With the formation array set up, Lu Fan had also effectively walked through the entire Huarong Prefecture. Except for the courtyards of Hua Laoda to Hua Laowu, and Hua Twenty-Three, who had been sitting in the pavilion at the main entrance and never came out.
Returning to his own small courtyard, Lu Fan began to cultivate.
Rustle... rustle... rustle... Extremely faint footsteps could be heard from outside the courtyard. Lu Fan's eyelids twitched slightly.
"Twenty-Three, you're finally here!" Lu Fan said faintly.
"Thirty-Five! Follow me!" Whoosh... The figure darted into the distance.
Lu Fan's body moved, and he instantly left his small courtyard, chasing after the dark figure ahead.
Hua Twenty-Three's speed was extremely fast. Only a blur could be seen, as if a gust of wind had passed.
Lu Fan secretly nodded. This guy was indeed much stronger than the others. He wasn't in a hurry, following Hua Twenty-Three at a certain distance. He let Hua Twenty-Three speed up or slow down, always maintaining a constant distance.
Swish... Hua Twenty-Three stopped at the foot of a mountain. In a spacious area, five people were standing. It was Hua Laoda and the other four.
"All six are here. It seems the six of you are the ones truly in charge of Huarong Prefecture!" Lu Fan said faintly, looking at Hua Twenty-Three.
"You guessed wrong. We are like you, people of Huarong Prefecture, and we must abide by its rules. It's just that we are responsible for more matters. Hua Laoda and Hua Laoer are responsible for arranging the missions assigned from above. Hua Lao San and Hua Lao Si are responsible for gathering intelligence. Hua Lao Wu and I are responsible for discipline and enforcement. As for the true owner of Huarong Prefecture, we haven't even seen their face in decades," Hua Twenty-Three suddenly said.
"What?" Lu Fan's eyebrows shot up. He had originally thought Hua Twenty-Three was the owner of Huarong Prefecture, but he didn't expect there to be someone above him. Then who was this mysterious person? Could it be a cultivator beyond the Transformation Realm?
"Then... what do you want by luring me here?" Lu Fan asked.
"Of course, we also want your pills and formation arrays. However, we cannot give you our family information, and thus cannot give you money. So we want to exchange them for a few things," Hua Twenty-Three added.
Lu Fan's eyes blinked rapidly. This was somewhat beyond his expectations. Family information couldn't be revealed? What kind of family was it that couldn't even disclose its family information?
"What things?" Lu Fan was even more surprised. What could these few people have that was worth two hundred million?