Chapter 701: Ruins (Extra Chapter for Monthly Votes)
Chapter 701: Ruins (Extra Chapter for Monthly Votes)
Black Rock Market.
Fang Xi cast the Turtle Breath Secret Art, his aura faint and ethereal, his escape light flickering in and out of sight, as he stealthily drew near.
His target, naturally, was those two Triangle Yuan Rhinoceros.
But at this moment, his expression couldn't help but turn a little strange.
Subsequently, Fang Xi took out an ultra-small puppet resembling a bat and blew a breath into it.
Click-clack!
The puppet immediately sprang into action, flapping its wings, and vanished into the market town. . .
A moment later. . .
After a moment's thought, he landed on the ground, transforming into a cold, stern young man clad in black robes, his aura adjusted to roughly the Foundation Establishment level, and strutted boldly to the outskirts of the market town.
The entire market town had already become a ruin, with only a scattered few broken walls and crumbling structures still standing resiliently. Upon them, faint array formations even shimmered with a weak light. . .
These were the remnants of the 'Six Brahma Water Gate Array'.
The two Triangle Yuan Rhinoceros from before had not been able to completely break through the array formations here. The remaining array patterns intertwined with the local spirit veins, forming some unique restrictions that worked intermittently.
Most so-called ruins in the cultivation world came about this way.
The city gate area was already a ruin, and there were several gaps in the city walls, which seemed to be the paths the desolate beasts had used to advance back then. Now, one could pass through them at will.
Fang Xi walked inside, only to see dilapidated streets and bloodstains in many places.
He walked to a street and found that this area seemed to have been tidied up, barely regaining some semblance of order.
Inside a few buildings that hadn't yet collapsed, people clearly resided.
Even further in, he could see a few shops, all huddled in secluded corners, protected by low-grade array formations, and the cultivators within were poised for battle.
'The desolate beasts in Black Rock Market have actually retreated. . . '
'Not only have they retreated, but there are actually some survivors, though they number only about a thousand in total. . . Scattered throughout such a vast market town, it's not much different from living in a ghost city. . . '
Fang Xi seemed to understand a little.
Those two Triangle Yuan Rhinoceros likely had their own lairs. After hunting and sating themselves, they naturally left.
He just didn't know why those other desolate beasts had also left.
However, after a careful spiritual sense scan, Fang Xi made a discovery.
The inner city seemed to be the most dilapidated area, and the densest spiritual vein aura there seemed to have been greatly damaged. The restrictions of countless private immortal caves and large arrays were interconnected, forming the most complex and bizarre 'hybrid arrays', which were extremely perilous for low-level cultivators. . .
'That night back then, who knows how many Soul Transformation fellow Daoists perished. . . '
'However, I am no longer a Soul Transformation cultivator, so they are no longer my fellow Daoists. . . '
Fang Xi thought with a hint of amusement, and walked into a shop.
This shop was built like a fortress, its exterior piled with countless boulders and wooden planks, with hidden array formations inside, and skillfully concealed, its magical power fluctuations were very faint.
This structure even made Fang Xi reveal a hint of interest.
He entered the array formation and saw an elder with a head full of white hair, dressed in a pitch-black magic robe, and holding a spirit artifact in his hand.
Seeing Fang Xi enter, the white-haired elder's face was full of vigilance: "A strange cultivator. . . Where did you come from?"
"Sigh. . . I'm from this market town. I escaped that night, but it turned out to be even more dangerous outside. My team almost all died, so I had no choice but to come back. . ."
Fang Xi replied with a sigh.
"Heh heh. . . you've suffered quite a bit, haven't you? The wilderness now is not a place for the likes of us to venture. Without those Soul Transformation Venerables sweeping away desolate beasts and evil spirits day and night, it will only become more and more dangerous. . . It's better to just honestly hide in the ruins of this market town, and perhaps even wait for rescue."
The white-haired elder's expression relaxed slightly, and he began soliciting business: "Do you want spirit rice? And desolate beast meat. . . You're in luck, this desolate beast meat is extremely rare. If a few hadn't died earlier and we scavenged their corpses, you wouldn't even get a taste. . ."
"Desolate beast meat?"
A conflicted expression appeared on Fang Xi's face: "Is it edible?"
"This desolate beast meat has been refined by alchemists. It's edible, naturally edible, and quite filling. With our cultivation level, eating a piece the size of a fist allows us to go three days without spirit rice. . . But don't eat too much. Some Qi Refinement juniors didn't know at first and ate a little too much, some even exploded and died. . ."
The white-haired elder sighed: "Now, spirit rice is even rarer than desolate beast meat. . ."
Fang Xi glanced at the several kinds of spirit rice in the shop and found they were all low-grade. He couldn't help but feel speechless.
Within the human territories, this kind of spirit rice was simply incomparable to desolate beast meat.
However, prices are only affected by the market.
Desolate beasts are enormous, and even one is enough to feed tens of thousands of people for a long time.
Many had died earlier. Even if most of their meat was eaten by their own kind, the remaining scraps were enough to feed these 'survivors' for a long time.
Although some desolate beast meat was poisonous or too rich in blood-qi, making it difficult for low-level cultivators to eat.
But alchemists and spirit chefs were precisely for solving such problems.
It seems that in Black Rock Market, such talents still remained.
"Thank you. Then I'll buy ten catties."
Fang Xi took out spirit stones, completed the transaction, and then asked: "Now that one lives in this city, what should one be careful of?"
"Seeing as we've done business, this old man will tell you. . . " The white-haired elder sneered: "As for the houses in this city, you can live in whichever one you fancy, as long as no one is already living there. . . Of course, even if someone is living there, you can throw them out, as long as your cultivation is high enough!"
"If you want to find women, you can go to those few streets in the east. There are many former 'fairies' there. . . Heh heh. . ."
...
'It sounds like a chaotic place without order. . . '
Fang Xi's expression changed: "No one is managing this place? What about the Celestial Brahma Army?"
"Don't even mention those bastards! When trouble arises, they run faster than anyone. . ."
The white-haired old man spat fiercely.
He dared to do this naturally because he could see that Fang Xi only had Foundation Establishment cultivation, and couldn't possibly be a soldier of the Celestial Brahma Army, which was why he acted so brazenly.
"Indeed, each of them ran faster than rabbits. . ."
Fang Xi thought of Reverend Yuanyin's final escape light, and echoed with a hint of speechlessness.
The two of them cursed the Celestial Brahma Army for a bit, and instantly felt much closer. The white-haired elder then chuckled: "Little brother, listen to this old man. In Black Rock Market now, there are only two factions you absolutely cannot offend. One is the 'Celestial Brahma Gang', established by a few Core Formation cultivators rumored to have ties with the Celestial Brahma Army. The other is the 'Thunder Fire Hall', which reveres 'Thunder Fire True Person' as its leader. Local residents and shops all have to pay tribute to them. . ."
'Alright. . . Cultivators reduced to joining gangs, is it the degradation of morality, or the distortion of human nature. . . '
Fang Xi mused inwardly, but replied solemnly on his face: "Thank you for the reminder, fellow Daoist. I'll remember that. . ."
"Hmm, one last thing. When choosing a house, try to pick a more secluded one. . ."
The white-haired elder gave his final reminder.
Fang Xi walked out of the rice shop, a thoughtful expression appearing on his face: 'Choose a secluded place. . . That means desolate beasts occasionally come here to forage? If one lives in a more secluded spot, it's less likely to be hunted than if everyone gathers together. . . '
'Perhaps the desolate beasts left these people behind, not because they looked down on them, but to keep them as seeds. . . '
Even farmers and hunters understand the principle of not draining the pond to catch all the fish.
Now, these human cultivators, to the desolate beasts and Primordial Desolate Beasts in the wilderness, seem to be no different from domestic animals?
'This is the cruelty of natural selection, the strong preying on the weak. . . '
'However, can I wait here for a while. . . Maybe those Triangle Yuan Rhinoceros will occasionally come by for a snack? '
In Fang Xi's mind, a thought suddenly surfaced.
In any case, he didn't want to go to Celestial Brahma City yet, or rather, before the situation in Celestial Brahma City became clear, it was better to hide outside and wait for news.
'As for Liu Xu and Yunxi, I can certainly contact them to get some news. . . '
'I have now broken through to the early Return to Void stage, and cannot continue cultivating until my main body breaks through. At most, I can practice some divine abilities and secret arts. I have no need for spirit veins or pills, so it's all the same wherever I go. . . '
...
Fang Xi walked eastward, occasionally releasing his divine consciousness.
Now, the array formations of Black Rock Market had been twisted, making some areas extremely dangerous.
For instance, the numerous immortal caves and residences of Soul Transformation and Return to Void cultivators in the inner city had long been destroyed by desolate beasts. The remaining ones also had private array formations and malicious restrictions, now mixed together. Even he would get a headache looking at them. As for cultivators who didn't value their lives, they could certainly try their luck.
Not long after, he arrived at the streets the white-haired elder had mentioned.
Looking from afar, it was desolate, with only a few quiet alleys and ruined corners where an occasional graceful figure flickered past.
Fang Xi observed carefully and found that on doorframes tied with handkerchiefs, cloth strips, and other tokens, a male cultivator would occasionally go to knock on a door, then vanish in a flash. He immediately understood. . .
'Without high-level cultivators, the lower strata had automatically formed another set of rules. . . '
He smiled faintly, bypassed these streets, and walked towards a more secluded area.
Finally, he stopped at a spot near the outer wall.
The spiritual energy here was relatively thin, originally a place where low-level cultivators gathered.
But now, in a large section of the street, only four or five households resided, all spaced very far apart, which perfectly met Fang Xi's requirements.
He looked at a temporarily built wooden house, a slight smile appearing at the corner of his mouth: 'There's also a hidden Nascent Soul cultivator. . . Hmm, he seems to be recuperating. '
'I knew it. Among so many high-level cultivators, a few were bound to return. It's even possible for a Soul Transformation cultivator to suddenly pop out from some hidden corner now. . . After all, the most dangerous place is often the safest. '
A certain Return to Void cultivator thought to himself.
Fang Xi surveyed the terrain and chose a sunny slope to begin building his immortal cave.
He had previously obtained the storage bag of the cultivator surnamed Yi. Recalling it now, he hastily rummaged through it, and finally found a few spirit artifacts suitable for Foundation Establishment cultivators.
These few high-grade spirit artifacts had been thrown to the very bottom of the storage bag by the scholar surnamed Yi, accumulating who knows how much dust.
According to Fang Xi's estimation, either they were old items that had accompanied him since his weaker days, to which he had a strong attachment and couldn't bear to part with, or they were prepared to be bestowed upon his disciples.
Otherwise, a Soul Transformation cultivator would have no use for these spirit artifacts at all.
He flipped his palm, and a black flying sword appeared. After infusing it with magical power, it instantly grew as massive as a door panel, splitting mountains and breaking rocks, hollowing out a space on the hillside to construct the general shape of an immortal cave, and then built a fence around it on the outside.
Rumble!
Such a commotion naturally attracted the attention of a few neighbors.
A few households merely peeked through their door cracks, while the Nascent Soul cultivator didn't even bother to lift an eyelid.
However, another wooden house built by a river opened, and a boy of seven or eight, with a sturdy, spirited appearance, ran out, curiously observing everything. . .
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