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Chapter 27: A Solution (Seeking Collection)

Chapter 27: A Solution (Seeking Collection)

Several miles away.

Fang Xi pulled the Green Reaping Sword from the heart of an elderly martial artist, splattering a pool of fresh blood.

"The old geezer lacked martial ethics, but thankfully, I've grown used to it."

Ever since his substantial purchases at the market several months ago, he was invariably waylaid whenever he went out.

Fortunately, the strongest among those reduced to robbery were merely at the True Force martial artist level, allowing him to deal with them easily. It was just a slight pity for Fang Xi that looting their corpses never yielded much.

He stepped into a long-abandoned civilian house and initiated his transmigration.

'The best way to evade pursuit is to vanish completely! '

'I'll stay in the cultivation world for a while, hone my martial arts, and then return. . . '

Black Stone City.

The sky remained perpetually dim, with an eerie light piercing through layers of black mist.

On the border between the inner and outer city.

Within a large mansion.

A few scattered 'curse-people' were aimlessly wandering.

According to the rapidly accumulating experience of scavengers, once one entered the area covered by the tree canopy, they were bound to suffer attacks from air roots, as well as being besieged by numerous 'wood-people' and 'curse-people,' making survival nearly impossible!

The 'wood-people' were even stronger than ordinary Martial Arts Hall Masters.

Even a Blood-Qi Transformation martial apprentice would find dealing with a 'curse-person' extremely troublesome.

But now, with resources gradually depleting, many people, for the sake of survival, still dared to venture near the perilous edges, seeking opportunities.

The wooden mansion's gate quietly creaked open, and two children squeezed out.

They were homeless orphans from unknown origins, who had formed a small team and were adventuring to scavenge for supplies.

"Hurry, the monsters are coming!"

A girl with braided hair whispered.

"Don't worry, Xiao Yun, Gou'er is always fast! " From the inner part of the mansion ran out a half-grown boy, dressed in ragged cloth, his arms bulging with something.

At this moment, their footsteps, which they believed to be very cautious, still attracted the attention of a 'curse-person'.

"Oh no, Xiao Yun, you go first!"

Gou'er shoved the bundle in his arms to Xiao Yun, pushing the little girl away.

The 'curse-person' turned its head. This 'curse-person' had the appearance of a woman, most of her face covered in dark runes, and her vacant eyes stared fixedly at the two living people.

Suddenly, she accelerated, sprinting over at a terrifying speed.

"Go!"

Gou'er grabbed a stone and hurled it at the female 'curse-person,' then ran in the opposite direction: "Come on, come catch me!"

"Gou'er!"

Xiao Yun cried as she ran towards the outer city.

If she didn't bring back food, the few children younger than them in their dilapidated hut would starve to death.

Thud!

Alas, she was too distraught and wasn't careful while running, taking a hard fall.

The little girl didn't cry out in pain, merely clutching the bundle in her arms tightly.

But, a few pieces of cured meat still rolled out.

Plop!

A piece of cured meat rolled a few times on the ground and came to a stop beside a shoe.

Xiao Yun looked up, first seeing a pair of iron-pillar-like feet, and then a towering, iron-tower-like man.

Terror instantly surfaced on her face.

All children still alive knew to stay away from anyone stronger than themselves, because strangers could potentially harbor ill intentions!

"T-take. . . take it!"

Xiao Yun said timidly, her voice choked with sobs: "But can you leave me a little?"

The big man picked up the cured meat, placed it in the little girl's hand, and chuckled: "I, Zhang Jun Ming, never take ill-gotten gains!"

As he spoke, the big man flashed, charging towards the female 'curse-person'.

As he moved, his entire body's muscles rippled like flowing water, revealing him to be an external martial artist who had reached the Martial Arts Hall Master realm — a true expert.

Bang!

The female 'curse-person' shrieked and was sent flying.

Zhang Jun Ming, with a child tucked under each arm, swiftly fled the danger zone, only setting them down at the edge of the outer city.

"Many thanks, Great Hero!"

The boy, Gou'er, quickly forced a smile, his nimble eyes darting about.

"Haha, don't worry, I won't harbor any ill intentions. In fact, I rather like your cleverness. If it were before, I would surely have taken you as a disciple, alas. . ."

Zhang Jun Ming sighed: "It's a pity that most of my disciples have died. . ."

"Big brother, for you!"

Xiao Yun's eyes curved into a smile, and she handed a piece of cured meat to the big man.

Zhang Jun Ming froze, then burst into hearty laughter, picking up the cured meat, which he would have certainly disdained just months ago and was still a bit dirty, and took a big bite: "Delicious, truly delicious. . ."

...

"Delicious!"

On Green Bamboo Mountain.

Fang Xi caught a wild chicken. Without using a pot, he directly plucked its feathers, thoroughly removed its internal organs, stuffed it with spirit bamboo shoots and mushrooms, added various seasonings, then encased it in mud to make a Beggar's Chicken.

Taking a bite of the chicken wing, it was so fresh his eyebrows nearly fell off.

"Haha, Brother Fang's Beggar's Chicken is truly a masterpiece."

Chen Ping sat nearby, rapidly tearing at a chicken leg. The chicken leg was fragrant, and with just a slight shake, the meat and bone separated naturally.

Gathered around the bonfire were two more Rogue Cultivators, who appeared far more destitute than Yun Meng and others, both with early-stage Qi Refinement cultivation.

Back then, when Chen Ping returned from Mingqing Pavilion, he felt a bit bad about it.

He then reintroduced two fellow Daoists to Fang Xi.

This time, having learned his lesson, he chose a circle of roughly the same cultivation level.

The location was also chosen near the shack area, turning it into an outdoor barbecue.

"Heh heh. . . Fellow Daoist Fang's cooking skills would absolutely qualify him as a culinary god in the mortal world. I wonder if you have any aspirations to become a Spirit Chef?"

An old Daoist, appearing quite immortal-like, was rapidly gnawing on a chicken butt. Beside him lay two cleanly picked chicken feet. Watching him eat while licking his fingers, it was as if he were savoring some peerless delicacy.

This person called himself 'Jiu Xuan Shang Ren. ' In terms of appearance, he was truly not bad. In reality, he only had a second-level Qi Refinement cultivation, and it was said that he had even served as a Grand Preceptor in the mortal world for a period. However, after arriving at Green Bamboo Mountain, he was at the very bottom of the hierarchy. His knowledge was indeed not bad, especially his extensive understanding of mortal affairs.

"With meat, how can there be no wine?"

Beside Jiu Xuan was a young lord dressed in a green robe, resembling a mortal world knight-errant.

He looked to be in his early twenties, yet his cultivation had already reached the peak of the third level of Qi Refinement.

This person was named 'Di Qi,' a member of a small Qi Refinement family near Green Bamboo Mountain, the seventh in his lineage.

Although his spiritual root aptitude wasn't great, among those present, his generosity was unparalleled.

He immediately took out a gourd of spirit wine and shared it among everyone.

"Fellow Daoist Di is truly generous!"

Chen Ping hastily took out a cup, glanced at it, and immediately discarded it, replacing it with a broken bowl. He chuckled: "This gourd of spirit wine could at least fetch one Spirit Stone in the market!"

"No matter, no matter. . . I've always felt that having a few close friends to cultivate and discuss the Dao with is the true joy!"

Di Qi said with a smile.

In truth, he was quite conscious of his status.

After all, a family cultivator, even a Qi Refinement family cultivator of similar standing to a Rogue Cultivator, was still a step above a Rogue Cultivator!

However, Chen Ping was, at the very least, a future talisman master, so he still had to be given this much face.

The four of them drank wine and ate meat together, immensely enjoying themselves.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Jiu Xuan Shang Ren began to discourse on everything under the sun. He had traveled extensively throughout his life, and his experiences were extraordinarily rich.

Even Fang Xi listened with keen interest.

He had initially wanted to join various circles precisely to broaden his horizons and expand his connections.

Hearing Old Man Jiu Xuan boasting about how he had once taken several great masters from the mortal martial world as servants, Fang Xi's eyes lit up, and he chuckled: "No matter how strong a mortal martial artist is, they can't compare to a first-level Qi Refinement cultivator, right?"

"While that's true, they're quite useful as servants, or those female martial heroines are excellent for warming the bed."

Jiu Xuan Shang Ren wore a reminiscing expression, his smile as radiant as a spring breeze.

"That's not necessarily true. . . If mortal martial artists are fully prepared, combining their skills with terrain and equipment. . . then if our early-stage Qi Refinement cultivators exhaust their magical power, it's actually quite possible for us to be overturned. " Di Qi interjected.

As a family cultivator, he had been specifically warned by his elders about this.

"Actually. . . the path of body cultivation for mortal martial artists bears some resemblance to that of Body Cultivation. " Fang Xi subtly guided the conversation.

"Not so, not so. . . " Jiu Xuan Shang Ren shook his head: "Even Qin Tian, the 'Body Champion' among the Thirteen Jias of Yue Kingdom, renowned for cultivating ten supreme hard-body techniques and possessing unmatched ferocity, was still ultimately a mere hair inferior to a first-level Body Cultivator. Moreover. . . he died suddenly within a few years."

"This person most likely died from internal qi conflict. If it were cultivators like us, who could use Divine Consciousness to inwardly regulate, he might not have been without a path to survival, or even achieved greater success! " Fang Xi's eyes glinted.

"Difficult, difficult, difficult. . . If mortal martial arts could compare to Body Cultivation secret techniques, we would have all gone to learn them long ago. " Chen Ping said, shaking his head.

"Actually, it's not necessarily without a solution."

Upon hearing this, Di Qi feigned profundity.

"Oh? Then I must ask Fellow Daoist Di for guidance. " Fang Xi's heart stirred, thinking, 'The crucial part has finally arrived. '

Di Qi took a deep gulp of spirit wine from his gourd, seemingly closing his eyes to savor it, then shook his head and said: "A cultivator's Divine Consciousness can only temporarily suppress internal qi conflicts. To thoroughly eliminate the hidden danger, it would be better to buy a 'Qi Regulation Pill' from the Pill Cauldron Pavilion. This pill is most adept at harmonizing different types of internal qi. My family once recruited a peerless martial artist, rarely seen in a century, as a servant, and this was the very reward we offered!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xi's eyes lit up.

It wasn't that he was certain the Qi Regulation Pill could solve his problem.

Rather, the problem of martial arts blood-qi being impure and difficult to break through might be a restriction in Da Liang.

But to a Foundation Establishment Grand Cultivator in the South Barrens Cultivation World, it might well be a joke!

'After all, the Qi Regulation Pill only solves the internal qi problems of Yue Kingdom martial artists; it's completely different from blood-qi. '

'But within the Pill Cauldron Pavilion, there might not be a lack of pills that can harmonize martial arts blood-qi! '

'Even pills that increase the upper limit of blood-qi, as long as one desires them, alchemists might not be unable to refine them! '

Fang Xi was overjoyed in his heart.

With resources and experience from both worlds complementing each other, his path to the Dao was promising, and longevity was within reach!