Chapter 43: Signs (Please Collect)
Chapter 43: Signs (Please Collect)
“I wonder how Fellow Daoist Situ Ying is doing? ”
Fang Xi gazed at the Situ family's newly appointed agricultural overseer, struggling to find a topic for a long while before finally asking the doubt in his heart.
Situ Qing Qing's expression grew stern: "Upon investigation. . . this individual was found to be negligent in his duties, deceiving his superiors and oppressing his subordinates, and engaging in extortion. He has already been apprehended by the family, subjected to the Thunder Whip Punishment, and ordered to face the wall in self-reflection. . . Was Fellow Daoist in seclusion before? Otherwise, you would have known already."
"I see."
Fang Xi nodded, secretly pleased in his heart. That old exploiter Situ Ying had finally met his retribution!
He even felt a glimmer of goodwill towards the Situ family.
But that glimmer of goodwill was swiftly extinguished, for he was a spirit farmer, and if a landlord merely offered a small benefit and he became overflowing with gratitude, that, in essence, was still the slave mentality ingrained in his bones!
Nevertheless, on the surface, Fang Xi let his emotions show, profoundly moved: "The Situ family truly sees through the smallest details! With Miss Qing Qing's arrival, justice will prevail. . ."
Situ Qing Qing suddenly found it a bit sickening. Originally, seeing Fang Xi was a mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivator, she had intended to ask a few more questions, but now she simply said: "If you have any matters in the future, you can directly find me at Earth-Rank Cave Dwelling Number Three in the market town."
She immediately piloted her Iron Leaf Boat, speeding away.
Gazing at the departing Situ Qing Qing, Fang Xi narrowed his eyes slightly: "Heh heh. . ."
He didn't quite believe Situ Qing Qing's explanation.
Through Di Qi, he also knew a bit about the attitude of those cultivation families towards their fellow clansmen.
Even if the Situ family was a Foundation Establishment family, every clan member with a spiritual root was important. How could they be punished for such a small matter?
Yes. . . to cultivators, slightly overcharging spirit farmers by a few bushels was indeed a small matter!
Therefore, Situ Qing Qing's transfer was highly unusual!
The other party might have other schemes, or be secretly investigating something!
'It couldn't possibly be that they're investigating me, could it? '
Fang Xi came to the Jade Green Bamboo Grove, pulling weeds with his bare hands, and suddenly sighed again.
This market town. . . was restless again!
Or rather, it had just barely settled down from the craze of the Purple Mystical Mountain mystic realm. Less than a year had passed, and it seemed new undercurrents were already lurking!
'I hope I won't be implicated. . . '
'But I am a spirit farmer employed by the Situ family. When the nest is overturned, how can any egg remain intact? '
'Should I just run first? Anyway, I no longer care about the income from farming this land. . . but the channels of Green Bamboo Mountain market town are still very important. . . '
For a moment, Fang Xi fell into hesitation.
However, he quickly decided to observe the situation first.
...
Due to Situ Qing Qing's appearance, Fang Xi became somewhat suspicious and paranoid, temporarily abandoning his plans to go to the Da Liang world, or to disguise himself and peddle monster meat as an outsider rogue cultivator in the market. Instead, he honestly focused on cultivating the Longevity Art, Entangling Art, and being a spirit farmer.
As a result, Fang Xi also discovered something.
Without pills to consume, and cultivating in a third-rate spiritual energy environment, his progress with the fourth layer of the Longevity Art was agonizingly slow.
Even after meditating and refining qi for six to eight hours every day, his cultivation technique still progressed at a snail's pace.
According to his estimation, if this continued, it might take more than a decade to fully cultivate the fourth layer of the Longevity Art — and that didn't even include breaking through the bottleneck to the fifth layer.
The difficulty faced by rogue cultivators and those with poor aptitude in cultivating immortality was thus evident.
"Just accumulating spiritual energy is already so difficult. . . let alone breaking through bottlenecks. This low-grade spiritual root truly is miserable. . ."
"And according to the information I've gathered, the disadvantages of a low-grade spiritual root are all-encompassing. Even when refining the spiritual energy from pills, the absorption rate is significantly worse than for mid-grade or superior-grade spiritual roots. . . How can one even begin to describe the sheer misery of it?"
After another session of meditation, Fang Xi rose, his brows filled with helplessness.
Under the premise that his aptitude and spiritual vein environment remained unchanged, without the aid of pills, he might not even be able to cultivate to the realm of Qi Refinement Perfection in this lifetime!
"The only good news is that after achieving great perfection in the Primal Chaos Art, I can now lock in my entire body's blood-qi. . . Even if I reach one hundred years old, the blood-qi hurdle won't be able to stop me!"
"But if my spiritual energy doesn't reach great perfection, I won't even have the qualification to attempt Foundation Establishment!"
Fang Xi's expression was cold and stern.
In reality, cultivators at Qi Refinement Great Perfection, even without using Foundation Establishment spiritual items or a Foundation Establishment Pill, still had a chance to autonomously attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage.
It was just that the success rate was pitifully low, reportedly less than ten percent, and once failed, it immediately resulted in death and the extinguishing of one's Dao.
Fang Xi never liked to gamble on success rates. If he were to attempt Foundation Establishment, he would at least need to acquire one Foundation Establishment Pill, to ensure that even if he failed, he wouldn't die.
As long as he didn't die, everything could be restarted!
He stood up, cleaned himself off, and walked out the main door.
"Oh, young man next door, would you like to explore the Dao of Yin and Yang with this humble one?"
Next door, from the wooden house where Chen Ping had originally lived, a seductive female cultivator happened to emerge, smiling as she extended the invitation.
"Fairy, please don't jest!"
Fang Xi refused with a serious expression, heading towards a certain spot on Green Bamboo Mountain.
He had a gathering with Jiu Xuan Shang Ren and Di Qi.
...
Green Bamboo Mountain.
Near the spirit field region, a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters.
Fang Xi had specially hunted and roasted two pheasants, sprinkling them with special spices. They sizzled with oil, emitting an enticing aroma.
Jiu Xuan Shang Ren and Di Qi each sat on one side, gazing covetously.
Fang Xi looked around, a little regretful: "Fellow Daoist Chen didn't come again. . ."
"Sigh. . . you wouldn't know, Fellow Daoist Chen has truly risen in prominence!"
Jiu Xuan Shang Ren's tone was a bit envious: "Ever since he acquired Talisman Master Zong's notes, Fellow Daoist Chen's progress on the path of talisman making has been simply phenomenal! It's said he's recently been attempting to create first-order superior-grade talismans. . ."
"This. . ."
Fang Xi was somewhat flabbergasted.
Could it be. . . that Chen Ping truly was a once-in-a-century genius at talisman making? Had he simply not awakened before?
"Not only that, Fellow Daoist Lu Zhi has also changed her attitude towards Fellow Daoist Chen. Just two days ago, I even saw them walking arm-in-arm, quite intimately. . ."
Di Qi also began to feel envious.
Don't look at him as a family cultivator; he was just from a Qi Refinement family, not much stronger than a rogue cultivator.
If he could kill Chen Ping and take his place, he'd undoubtedly be a hundred times willing.
What if she's a widow? What if she has children?
His stomach wasn't good; he was suited to be supported, and besides, Lu Zhi was quite pretty. . .
"If Fellow Daoist Chen becomes a first-order superior-grade talisman master, his standing in the market town will truly be no less than those experts at Qi Refinement Great Perfection."
Fang Xi sighed with emotion, looking left and right: "When should we prepare generous gifts and pay him a visit?"
As rogue cultivators, they still needed that much foresight.
"Naturally, naturally. . . " Jiu Xuan Shang Ren nodded repeatedly. Although he felt a sourness in his heart, it didn't prevent them from building good relations with Chen Ping; who knew when he might be useful in the future!
"Heh heh. . . don't bother thinking about it."
At this moment, Di Qi sneered a few times, shaking his head: "Chen Ping has already moved into a market town cave dwelling. A few days ago, when I went to visit, I was actually stopped at the door. . . by people from Yun Meng Xianzi's side! I tell you. . . after he rose to prominence, he's long forgotten us old acquaintances. . ."
'Yun Meng Xianzi again? '
Instinctively, Fang Xi felt that Chen Ping wasn't that kind of person, but if it was Yun Meng Xianzi and Shen Hao Ran doing it, it was quite possible.
Those two had very keen insight; they had already been investing in Chen Ping.
Now that Chen Ping had the momentum to soar, it was only natural for them to further secure him, and expelling his old acquaintances to replace his social network was to be expected.
It was said that some domineering sects and families, if they encountered exceptionally talented cultivators outstanding in the Four Arts of Cultivation, would simply abduct them and use them as tools until their dying breath!
'But Chen Ping's speed of progress in the talisman dao is still a bit abnormal. . . Did Situ Qing Qing come because of him? '
A thought emerged in Fang Xi's mind, and he then sincerely asked the two: "Are there any recent rumors?"
Jiu Xuan Shang Ren, with rosy cheeks, recounted a pile of strange tales and unusual occurrences.
Di Qi drank sullenly, occasionally adding a few sentences.
From this, Fang Xi roughly understood that everything in the market town was normal, and there was no particular rising price trend for artifacts or talismans.
And there was no news of war.
'It seems perhaps I'm being a bit too paranoid? '
'Maybe the Situ family just suddenly appointed a Law Enforcement Elder who hates evil like a personal enemy. . . '
Fang Xi comforted himself.
At this moment, Di Qi spoke again: "If you want the biggest news. . . it's naturally that the Purple Mystical Mountain mystic realm was jointly breached by Red Leaf Valley and the Situ family. It's been completely swept clean. The blockade there has now been lifted, but it's just a wasteland now. Rogue cultivators have scoured it several times over, but they can't find anything. . ."
"Purple Mystical Mountain mystic realm?"
Fang Xi thought of Old Mai Tou and couldn't help but fall silent.
A moment later, Jiu Xuan Shang Ren said enviously: "It seems the Purple Mystical Mountain was just a small mystic realm, not really warranting the joint efforts of two major powers. . . It's just that all the spiritual items within have been plundered. Perhaps in the next few years, the Situ family and Red Leaf Valley will gain a few more great cultivators at Foundation Establishment. . ."
The speaker had no intention, but the listener took it to heart!
Upon hearing this, Fang Xi's heart skipped a beat.
An ancient saying goes, 'When prosperity reaches its peak, it begins to decline,' and there was some truth to it.
The Situ family and Red Leaf Valley had obtained many treasures; it was hard to guarantee that outsiders wouldn't covet them.
Would they be pleased if these two families produced a few more Foundation Establishment cultivators?
Even being a bit more petty-minded, one mountain cannot hold two tigers. After the spoils were gone, could Red Leaf Valley and the Situ family truly coexist in harmony?
'Perhaps the recent strangeness stems from this? '
Fang Xi gnawed on a chicken leg, yet his mood inexplicably relaxed.
He was currently at the lowest rung of the cultivation world. Whatever changes happened above had nothing to do with him, as long as he submitted his grain on time!
'Cultivator wars? Absolutely cannot get involved! '
'When it comes to escaping, no one in the world can surpass me! '
'At worst, if chaos erupts here, I'll just go hide in Da Liang for a few years! '
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