Chapter 38: Preparing to Depart (Seeking Recommendations)
Chapter 38: Preparing to Depart (Seeking Recommendations)
Thwack!
Fang Xi expressionlessly reached out, grabbed the earth spike from his back, and yanked it out fiercely.
His Primal Unity Vigor had reached mastery, equivalent to a second-tier Body Cultivation cultivator. Even a regular mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator casting spells might not be able to kill him, let alone a mere early-stage Qi Refinement cultivator?
After penetrating his skin and flesh, the opponent's earth spike was firmly lodged by his True Vigor-strengthened bones, unable to advance an inch.
“Mercy, please! ”
The short cultivator immediately knelt, begging loudly for mercy: “The one who wanted to kill you was Qi Ying Song from the Hundred Arts Tower. . . We two brothers were just acting on orders. . . ”
“How did you track me? ” Fang Xi's expression was icy.
The short cultivator quickly replied: “It was Ying Song; he smeared ‘Three-Day Fragrance’ on your teacup. This fragrance is almost colorless and odorless, detectable only by those specially trained to sniff it out, and it lingers for three days. . . ”
Fang Xi nodded. Suddenly, his figure darted forward like lightning, pressing a palm onto the short cultivator's head.
Splat!
The opponent instantly collapsed, his brains splattering as he died. His palm opened, and several black bone needles clattered to the ground.
“'Bone-Piercing Nail' disposable artifact? ”
Fang Xi put them away with interest.
For such enemies and vipers, he never entertained thoughts of mercy.
A quick search of the short cultivator yielded nothing of value.
Fang Xi then took the dusty storage bag from the tall cultivator's waist and meticulously searched the corpse again.
Immediately after, he retrieved the Ghost Head Saber, which had lost its master's spiritual energy infusion, its radiance now contained, and was lying on the ground. He flicked out two sparks of fire, incinerated both corpses into ash, and swiftly left the scene.
“Damn the Hundred Arts Tower. . . they moved against me for a few dozen Spirit Stones? ”
As he walked, Fang Xi grumbled inwardly: “Fortunately, there was no late-stage Qi Refinement master, otherwise I would have been in danger. . . ”
“Indeed, a few dozen Spirit Stones could only attract such riff-raff. . . ”
At this moment, he felt his decision to wait until his martial arts improved before engaging in inter-world trade was truly incredibly wise!
“And. . . I was too reckless before, not cautious enough. ”
“This time, I must properly lie low. ”
Without returning to the shantytown, Fang Xi went directly to his Green Bamboo Mountain. His figure flickered, and he vanished.
No matter where he hid on Green Bamboo Mountain, there was always a possibility of being found.
Only in the other world was it absolutely safe!
“Sigh. . . this demonic tree has grown even taller. ”
In a certain abandoned house, Fang Xi looked up. Gazing at the demonic tree that soared into the clouds, its branches trailing roots, with monsters still connected at their ends, he sighed again.
If the situation here wasn't critical, with the demonic tree possibly advancing at any moment, he wouldn't have rushed to sell large amounts of Taisui meat, inviting covetous eyes.
“The path of cultivation is truly fraught with thorns, but fortunately, this time, I won. ”
Only after arriving here did Fang Xi have the leisure to calm down and examine his spoils of war.
First was the low-grade artifact – the Ghost Head Saber!
This saber was entirely black, three chi long, and half a chi wide. Its hilt was wrapped with shadowy silkworm threads, and at the end was a terrifyingly grotesque green-faced, fanged ghost head!
“Not bad, not bad. The artifact's internal restrictions are intact; it almost cleaved my Green Reaping Sword in two. . . It should fetch at least ten Spirit Stones! ”
Fang Xi had long felt that the Green Reaping Sword was quite unwieldy to use. This was due to the artifact already being damaged; now he had finally found a replacement.
In addition, there were three disposable artifacts – Bone-Piercing Nails!
Such artifacts could only be used once and were extremely sinister. However, their single-use attack power could even reach the upper limit of low-grade artifacts, making their might quite considerable.
“Too bad body cultivators fear these ghostly tricks the least, because their survivability is the strongest, their margin for error is the highest! ”
Fang Xi's face was full of joy, without a trace of his previous disdain for low-tier body cultivation.
Next, he took out a small, dusty brocade pouch.
“It should be a storage bag. . . The short cultivator had no wealth or pills on him at all, so everything must have been in the tall one's storage bag. ”
“These two marauding cultivators weren't highly cultivated, their artifacts weren't refined, and they didn't even have a defensive one! Otherwise, I wouldn't have taken them down so easily. Clearly, they were at the bottom rung of marauding cultivators! ”
Although Fang Xi had never used a storage bag, he had at least seen pigs run.
He now held the storage bag in both hands, channeling the Evergreen Art to them, allowing faint wisps of spiritual energy to penetrate the storage bag, to wear down its original master's imprint.
What Fang Xi hadn't expected was that his spiritual energy was truly too meager. It actually took him a full five hours to barely erase the original master's spiritual energy imprint from the storage bag.
Whoosh!
When he felt that the original spiritual energy imprint within the storage bag had been dispersed, Fang Xi, without hesitation, imprinted his own spiritual energy upon it.
And through the storage bag, his Divine Consciousness seemed to leave his body, sensing another space.
It was a gray space, roughly three chi and three inches in length, width, and height.
Inside the space, there were many small items.
Including a small pile of gold, silver, and jade artifacts, thirteen low-grade Spirit Stones, and various odds and ends like bottles and jars.
“Truly a storage bag! ”
Fang Xi fondled the storage bag, quite unable to put it down: “I was just about to relocate, and this good item was delivered. . . These two brothers are truly treasure-delivering lads. . . ”
In reality, if one didn't count that spell-breaking talisman, Fang Xi was far poorer than these two brothers!
“Damn the Hundred Arts Tower, robbing even a poor devil like me! This debt, I will settle with you sooner or later! ”
Although, according to their confession, these two hapless marauding cultivators might not have been instructed by Qi Liu to be sent by Qi Ying Song.
After all, from Fang Xi's understanding of that shopkeeper, his dealings were quite meticulous, making it unlikely he would dispatch such low-grade individuals.
But Fang Xi still squarely placed the debt on the Hundred Arts Tower's head.
As for that Ying Song, if Fang Xi ever saw him again, he would certainly make him pay.
“It's just that my current strength is still insufficient to shake such a colossal entity. I'll lie low and develop for a while first. . . ”
Fang Xi prepared to lie low in Da Liang for a while.
Just in time, he could try to lead people away from Black Stone City.
After all, the people from the martial arts hall were somewhat related to him. To truly watch them all perish here, trapped, would be a bit heartless.
Of course, once the passage opened, Fang Xi would definitely be the first to leave. Then it would be up to the fate of the remaining people.
If the demonic tree's demonic domain was too powerful, and only a few people could pass through the passage, then they could only blame their own destiny!
...
White Cloud Martial Arts Hall's Compound.
“Young Master went out again last time, I wonder when he'll return? ”
Bai He stood by the door, vigilantly staring outside.
In recent times, as Fang Xi's strength and status steadily rose, the martial arts hall members became increasingly polite to her, leaving the young girl quite overwhelmed by the unexpected favor.
But Bai He clearly knew who had granted her her current status, and she remained very mindful of her place before Fang Xi.
Previously, Fang Xi had gone out again under a pretext. She couldn't stop him, and could only wait anxiously by the door every day.
The next moment, at the end of the street, someone seemed to be walking over.
“Young Master. . . ”
Bai He's joyful words hadn't even fully left her mouth when her expression suddenly shifted slightly.
Emerging from the street corner was a swaying 'person'. Old roots of trees spiraled out from his shoulders, as if his entire being had become a fertile ground for vines and roots.
“Monster! ”
Bai He's sharp cry immediately spread throughout the entire martial arts hall.
“Prepare torches! ”
“Engage the enemy! ”
“It's a wood man! Quickly, go invite the Hall Master! ”
The entire gate district plunged into chaos.
More than one martial arts hall had been attacked, suffering extremely heavy losses.
The many monsters that had previously been lurking in the inner city, at this moment, seemed to have lost their restraints and leashes, and began madly advancing towards the outer city, and even the gate district!
“Die for this old man! ”
Mu Cang Long swept his staff, knocking a Cursed Person off the wall. Looking at the breached martial arts halls around him, his expression was as dark as water: “The demon servants' range of activity has expanded again. . . If this continues, in less than three days, the outer city will also completely fall! And Fang Xi, who knows when he'll return? ”
Just as he was pondering, two wood men actually leaped directly over the wall of fire, lunging towards Mu Cang Long.
As they lunged, countless roots suddenly sprouted from their bodies, forming a grotesque armor.
“Haha. . . come on! ”
Mu Cang Long's hands turned utterly black, and he fearlessly met them.
After a few moves, he was sent flying, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
The wood men's strength far surpassed that of the Cursed Persons. Even the Hall Master found them difficult to contend with, and could easily be poisoned if not careful!
“Father! ”
Mu Piao Miao waved her torch, guarding Mu Cang Long, her eyes filled with despair.
“Ah! ”
Even though Bai He was well-protected, when even Mu Cang Long fell into a life-or-death crisis, naturally no one could spare a thought for her.
She fell to the ground, gazing at a Cursed Person slowly approaching. Watching its face, covered in strange incantations, her heart filled with despair: “Young Master, Bai He can no longer serve you. . . ”
Pfft!
“What did you say? ”
A familiar voice sounded, and Bai He, who had been closing her eyes to await death, suddenly snapped them open, seeing none other than Fang Xi!
With a casual chop of his right hand, Fang Xi sent the Cursed Person's head flying high.
“I'll deal with you later! ”
After tossing out that remark, Fang Xi charged towards the two wood men.
Although these wood men were extremely formidable, they were still slightly inferior to True Vigor martial artists.
He struck them one by one with his Primal Unity Vigor, shattering them into pieces.
“Senior Brother, you're finally back! ”
Tang Xuan's face was filled with joy.
“Mm! ”
Fang Xi looked around, offering help wherever there was a gap in the defense.
It wasn't until half an hour later that the monsters retreated once more.
The White Cloud Martial Arts Hall members, exhausted, collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath without a shred of concern for their appearance: “We're alive! We're alive! ”
Tang Xuan saw Fang Xi holding a torch and setting two wood men ablaze. He couldn't help but ask curiously, “Senior Brother, what are you doing? ”
“Nothing much, just a small experiment. ”
Fang Xi watched intently, discovering that after the roots were burned, two seeds emerged from within the charred corpses.
“One wood man, one seed? ”
He put the seeds away, planning to research them thoroughly another day.
“Sigh. . . Fang Xi, if it weren't for you this time, who knows how many more people in our martial arts hall would have died. . . ” Mu Cang Long was helped over by Mu Piao Miao, his face filled with lingering fear.
“The monsters' range of activity has expanded; we can't stay here anymore. ”
Fang Xi looked at everyone around him, his voice heavy: “Prepare yourselves. . . We're leaving this place immediately! ”
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