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Chapter 703: The Situation (Bonus Chapter for Subscriptions)

Chapter 703: The Situation (Bonus Chapter for Subscriptions)

Time flows like water.

In the blink of an eye, about a year passed.

Fang Xi watched as Little Bug broke through his cultivation realm, becoming a rookie cultivator at the third level of Qi Refinement.

This made him sigh with emotion; the Earthly Immortal World was indeed suitable for breakthroughs.

And this short amount of time only allowed him to barely get acquainted with Zhou Jun and Widow Liang.

A gentle breeze blew.

By the river, a few newly reclaimed spirit fields revealed tender green rice seedlings.

These few acres were naturally reclaimed by Widow Liang; according to her, "Could a living person really be choked to death by their own pee?"

For this, she even toppled several original stone cave dwellings, laboriously cleared away the rubble, forcefully carving out these few acres from the ruins, and even saved Spirit Stones from her daily expenses, specifically to buy spirit rice seeds for cultivation.

Now, it seemed, these spirit rice plants were growing quite well.

After all, Blackrock Market was once a large spirit vein; even if it was somewhat broken now, it was still much better than other places.

Every day, Fang Xi diligently practiced secret arts, made talismans. . .

In the morning, during his usual stroll, he liked to come and look at the spirit fields.

After all, he was originally a Spirit Farmer, and now an Earthly Immortal, so he had a good feeling about it.

"Oh, Fellow Daoist Liang, planting again?"

Fang Xi greeted her with a smile.

In the spirit field, Widow Liang formed hand seals, the spiritual power aura on her body gradually dissipated, clearly having just finished casting a Spirit Farmer's weed-clearing spell.

Little Bug was nearby, diligently picking up from the ground the corpses of pests pierced by streaks of Geng Metal Sword Qi.

These insects grew up eating spirit rice, so their taste was quite good, and when roasted, they made a meal of meat.

—As time passed, food in the market became increasingly scarce.

Not to mention. . . cultivators were also people.

Low-level cultivators would form Daoist Companion pairs, and the probability of them bearing offspring was quite high.

Only after reaching higher realms did having children become more difficult.

"Uncle!"

Little Bug obediently called out.

"Mmm, good boy. . ."

Fang Xi responded with a smile.

"Look how much the child likes Fellow Daoist. . . Although Fellow Daoist can abstain from grain and doesn't need much food, why not join us. . . I can reserve half an acre for you."

Widow Liang tucked her beautiful hair behind her ear and offered the suggestion again.

This woman was also intelligent; seeing the rising food prices in the market, she had planned to reclaim spirit fields.

Unfortunately, this matter couldn't bypass the Tianfan Gang steward, so she came to win over him and the nearby Zhou Jun.

Fang Xi was well aware of her past attitude towards him; she had absolutely kept her distance, avoiding him whenever possible.

It was clear that, in Widow Liang's view, "villains needed other villains to grind them down"; compared to the risk of starving to death, dealing with him superficially was a necessity.

If she didn't rope in a few powerful backers, she wouldn't dare to reclaim land in the market at all.

But Fang Xi didn't care for this at all, so he directly refused.

As for Zhou Jun, for some unknown reason, he actually agreed, taking a small share.

With the Tianfan Gang steward, it was also his intervention that made the steward reluctantly pretend not to know about it.

According to Fang Xi's observation, this person's severe injuries had never healed, and instead showed a worsening trend, likely leading to a significant loss of lifespan. Now, living in seclusion here, one reason was to live out his days waiting for death, and the second was probably to find a successor or similar.

"Too bad, I don't like eating spirit rice."

Fang Xi still refused with a smile.

Widow Liang said no more, knowing that this ruthless man at the late Foundation Establishment stage must have hidden a lot of desolate beast meat.

As long as it was stored properly, and combined with the art of abstaining from grain, Foundation Establishment cultivators could last for many years. Envy couldn't help but rise in her heart.

If she didn't have Little Bug as a burden, why would she struggle so desperately?

Fortunately, once the spirit rice harvest came, she would finally be out of this struggle; perhaps next year she could relax a bit?

"Mama. . . I'm going to help Grandpa Zhou sort herbs."

After Little Bug finished helping catch pests, he went up to Widow Liang and said.

During this period, whenever he had free time, he would run to Zhou Jun's place, mainly because Zhou Jun often gave him some berries and licorice from the herbs to eat, which tasted quite good, instantly captivating the child's palate.

"Go on, go on. . ."

Regarding this, Widow Liang was quite happy to see it happen.

Zhou Jun was a Pill Master! Even if he couldn't take Little Bug as a disciple, teaching him some knowledge about herbs would be excellent.

What's more, she currently needed Zhou Jun as a backer to safely farm, so she actually encouraged Little Bug to be more attentive.

"This child Little Bug is quite good; a superior-grade Wood spiritual root and a low-grade Fire spiritual root. . . he's quite suitable to become a Pill Master."

Fang Xi looked at Little Bug's receding figure and praised him.

He was generally certain that Zhou Jun intended to take a disciple.

"That's right, if Little Bug can become a Pill Master, then I can also set my mind at ease."

Widow Liang patted her trembling chest; just as she was about to say something, she saw a small green bird land on Fang Xi's shoulder.

"Fellow Daoist Liang, I have something to attend to, I'll be taking my leave first."

Only after Fang Xi had left did a hint of suspicion appear on Widow Liang's face.

She still couldn't see through this 'Fang Yuan'.

He was clearly at the late Foundation Establishment stage of cultivation, yet why was he content to mix in the poor district, associating with them, instead of joining the Tianfan Gang or Thunder Fire Hall, and from then on, living a life of retribution and pleasure, becoming a big shot in Blackrock Market?

One should know that the conflict between these two major gangs was becoming increasingly fierce, and they were actively trying to win over those high-level cultivators.

Of course, for low-level Rogue Cultivators, although there was oppression, they would let go of those who appeared difficult to provoke.

This was entirely a historical issue; after all, this place was once inhabited by a large number of high-level cultivators, who knew if there were any hidden individuals "playing the pig to eat the tiger"?

Or, with good luck, picking up powerful talismans or single-use treasures from the corpses of high-level cultivators.

If gang members were too aggressive, there were examples of being dragged down to mutual destruction by inconspicuous Qi Refinement cultivators, which was not unheard of in Blackrock Market!

Mutual apprehension, mutual concession, was what formed the current ecosystem of Blackrock Market.

Although chaotic, it still had some order. . .

...

Inside the cave dwelling.

Fang Xi closed the door, and a layer of restriction automatically appeared.

"Master. . ."

On his shoulder, Xiao Qing finally couldn't hold it in anymore and spoke, "I didn't slack off at all, you know. I flew to that cave dwelling, met those two, and immediately brought the reply back. . ."

Even Soul Transformation cultivators, visiting a friend's cave dwelling, would take about a year for a round trip!

If they went to Tianfan City, who knew how long that would take?

This was also why these low-level cultivators were restricted from migrating and could only passively wait.

"You didn't cause any trouble on the way, did you?"

Fang Xi asked cautiously.

"Wuwuwu. . . Master, it's so dangerous in the wilderness, Xiao Qing encountered powerful desolate beasts several times, and almost couldn't make it back. . ."

The little green bird chirped, seemingly complaining.

Fang Xi rolled his eyes: "I knew you were eyeing my meager possessions. . . Afterwards, I will naturally reward you with a Numinous Treasure. Where's the reply?"

Anyway, Numinous Treasures were indeed of little use to him now; they needed to be upgraded.

It was also very normal to pass down the replaced ones for spirit pets and subordinates to use.

Only then did the little green bird nod contentedly, open its beak, and spray out a ray of light.

Within the ray of light, a jade slip faintly appeared.

Fang Xi grabbed it in his hand and swept his divine sense over it to examine it.

This letter was written by Liu Xu; according to her, they had left then and gone to seek refuge with that 'Uncle-Master Qianhua', gaining protection.

That Uncle-Master was a Return to Void cultivator, who had occupied a fifth-tier spirit vein in the wilderness to open a cave dwelling. Because they were few in number and didn't draw attention, the greatest danger they encountered was merely a few desolate beasts besieging them, which was easily resolved. . .

In the letter, Liu Xu also expressed concern for Fang Xi. That night, Blackrock Market was besieged by Primordial Ancient Beasts, and after she learned of it, she was truly a bit worried about Fang Xi.

Unfortunately, Fang Xi had not told her that he had already returned to the market to continue hiding.

He habitually kept a trump card hidden from everyone.

Skipping over the initial greetings, Fang Xi finally turned to the intelligence about Tianfan City that he most wished to see.

If Tianfan City was completely fine, and reinforcements had arrived, or even if the super teleportation array had been repaired.

Then he might as well give up on waiting for the Tri-horn Rhino to stumble into his trap, go directly to Tianfan City, redeem himself along the way, and then take the super teleportation array back to the Human Race.

This way, this identity would be truly clean; even if he were to join a Void Amalgamation or Mahayana sect in the future, it would stand up to investigation.

Unfortunately, as he continued to read, Fang Xi's expression gradually darkened.

Finally, he let out a wistful sigh.

"Tianfan City was repeatedly besieged by several waves of Primordial Ancient Beasts, and although it ultimately held out, it suffered heavy losses?"

"That injured Void Amalgamation cultivator has not shown himself; he wouldn't have secretly fled, would he?"

"Liu Xu and Yunxi both advised against going to Tianfan City at this time; after all, going there would mean being conscripted as cannon fodder!"

Fang Xi thought for a moment, and naturally gave up the idea of going to Tianfan City.

Although he was currently at the early Return to Void stage, Tianfan City was the core of the Tianfan Domain, and the Return to Void cultivators there were more than a handful, even having late Return to Void cultivators.

If he went, he still wouldn't gain any power, and would instead easily be schemed against.

Better to be outside, "where the sky is high for birds to fly."

That Return to Void cultivator from the Heavenly Charm Sect most likely thought the same.

'Given the influence of the Heavenly Charm Sect, the intelligence should be true! '

'From this perspective, it's better to continue cultivating in seclusion here for a while. . . anyway, cultivating secret arts and divine abilities doesn't have many requirements regarding spirit vein locations. '

Fang Xi continued reading, and his expression shifted again.

Liu Xu and Yunxi Xianzi were both Soul Transformation cultivators, considered mid-to-high-level in the Heavenly Charm Sect. This time, they greatly pleased 'Uncle-Master Qianhua', and were informed of many high-level secrets!

"So the reason for this reclamation. . . was mainly promoted by Jin Gangzi, one of the Human Race Five Sons."

"And his basis. . . was a divination by a friend, that rapidly reclaiming land now would yield more benefits than drawbacks? !"

Fang Xi was a little speechless.

However, many cultivators believed in fate and divination, which was something that couldn't be helped.

As he continued reading, he was slightly moved: "That friend of Jin Gangzi. . . is extremely skilled at divining heavenly secrets, and is renowned as the human race's foremost divination master. No wonder as soon as the divination came out, Jin Gangzi truly began to take action. . ."

Let me recommend a few books: "I Have a Cultivation World," "Into the Unscientific," and "Welcome to the Demonic Cultivation World."