Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists-Chapter 43 - Signs (Seeking Collection)_1
Chapter 43 -43 Signs (Seeking Collection)_1
Chapter 43 -43 Signs (Seeking Collection)_1
“I wonder how Mr. Situ Ying is doing?”
Fang Xi looked at the new rent collector for the Situ Family, unable to find a topic of conversation for the longest time, and could only voice the doubts in his heart.
Situ Qingqing’s expression became stern, “Upon investigation… this man has been negligent in his duties, deceitful, and exploitative. The family has already taken him down, subjected him to the Punishment of the Lightning Whip, and penalized him to face the wall for introspection… Were you in seclusion earlier? Otherwise, you should’ve been aware of this.”
“I see,” Fang Xi nodded, inwardly pleased. That skinflint Situ Ying had finally gotten his comeuppance!
Even so, he began to feel a slight fondness for the Situ Family.
But he quickly snuffed out that bit of goodwill, for he was a tenant farmer—grateful for small favors from the landlord, which, to be blunt, was still servility at its core!
However, on the surface, Fang Xi was effusive with emotion, exceedingly moved, “The Situ Family has keen insight. With Miss Qingqing’s arrival, righteousness has prevailed…”
‘This man… is excessively sycophantic.’
Situ Qingqing suddenly felt somewhat nauseated, originally planning to inquire further since Fang Xi was in the mid-stage of Qi Refining. But now she directly said, “If you have any issues in the future, you can find me at Alphabet 3 Cave Mansion in the market.”
And with that, she maneuvered her Iron Leaf Boat and soared away.
Watching Situ Qingqing depart, Fang Xi slightly narrowed his eyes, “Hehe…”
He didn’t quite believe Situ Qingqing’s words.
Through Di Qi, he also knew somewhat about the attitudes of those Cultivating Immortal Families toward their kin.
Even if the Situ Family was a Foundation Establishment Family, each member with a Spiritual Root was important—how could they punish someone over a minor issue?
Indeed… To Immortal Cultivators, extracting a few more bushels from a Spirit Farmer is a minor issue!
Therefore, Situ Qingqing’s transfer was very unusual!
The other party might have other strategies at play or was investigating something in the dark!
‘It couldn’t possibly be an investigation into me, could it?’
Fang Xi went to the Jade Green Bamboo Forest, pulling weeds by hand, and suddenly sighed again.
This market… wasn’t peaceful again!
Or rather, it had just settled down from the fervor of the secret realm at Purple Dark Mountain, not even a year had passed, and now there seemed to be undercurrents lurking!
‘I hope it doesn’t involve me…’
‘But as a Spirit Farmer employed by the Situ Family, when the nest is overturned, how could the eggs remain intact?’
‘Should I flee first? Anyway, I don’t care about the income from this kind of land… but the channels in the Green Bamboo Mountain Market are still very important…’
For a moment, Fang Xi was caught in hesitation.
Yet he quickly decided to wait and observe.
…
Owing to Situ Qingqing’s appearance, Fang Xi became somewhat paranoid and temporarily gave up his plans to head to the Da Liang World and to disguise himself as an Individual Cultivator from afar to sell Monster Beast Meat in the market, and simply focused on cultivating the Eternal Spring Skills, Entanglement Skills, and being a Spirit Farmer.
As a result, Fang Xi also realized something.
Without taking pills and cultivating in a subpar spiritual energy environment, the progress on the fourth layer of his Eternal Spring Skills was excruciatingly slow.
Sitting and refining Qi for three to four hours every day, his cultivation technique still crept along as slow as a snail.
By his estimates, if he continued like this, it might take him over a decade to fully cultivate the fourth layer of the Eternal Spring Skills— and that doesn’t include the bottleneck of advancing to the fifth layer.
The difficulties of Individual Cultivators and those with poor talents in the path of cultivation were laid bare.
“Simply accumulating Magic Power is so difficult… Not to mention breaking through bottlenecks. This low-grade Spiritual Root is truly tragic…”
“And according to the news I’ve gathered, the downside of a low-grade Spiritual Root is all-encompassing. Even when refining and absorbing the Spiritual Power from pills, the absorption rate is substantially lower than that of medium or high-grade Spiritual Roots… how tragic can it get?”
After another meditation session, Fang Xi stood up, his brows filled with helplessness.
Assuming both his talent and spiritual environment remained unchanged, without the aid of pills, it’s uncertain if he could ever attain the Great Perfection in Qi Refining in his lifetime!
“The only good news is that after reaching the pinnacle of the Mixed Origin Strength, I’ve been able to lock in all the Blood Qi in my body… even at a hundred years old, the Blood Qi Realm won’t be a problem for me!”
“But without reaching Great Perfection in Magic Power, I don’t even qualify to attempt Foundation Establishment!”
Fang Xi’s expression grew stern.
In fact, a Cultivator who had achieved Great Perfection in Qi Refining could attempt to break through to the Foundation Establishment stage on their own, even without the aid of Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects or Foundation Establishment Pills.
However, that success rate was pitifully low, reportedly less than ten percent, and failure meant immediate death.
Fang Xi never liked to gamble on success rates. Once he decided to attempt Foundation Establishment, he would at least secure a Foundation Establishment Pill to ensure he wouldn’t die in case of failure.
As long as he lived, he could always start again!
He stood up, cleaned himself off, and walked out the front door.
“Oh, the young man next door, would you care to join me in discussing the Yin-Yang Way?”
Next door, in the wooden house where Chen Ping used to live, a seductive female Cultivator had just emerged, inviting him with a playful smile.
“Immortal Xie, don’t jest!”
Fang Xi solemnly declined and headed towards a certain place on Bamboo Mountain.
He had a meeting with Lord Jiuxuan and Di Qi.
…
Green Bamboo Mountain.
Near the Spirit Field Area, a place where the mountains were beautiful, and the waters were clear.
Fang Xi specifically roasted two wild chickens and sprinkled them with special spices. As they sizzled and exuded oil, they released an inviting aroma.
Lord Jiuxuan and Di Qi each sat on one side, eyeing the chickens covetously.
Fang Xi looked around and, with a hint of regret, said, “Mr. Chen didn’t come again…”
“Alas… You don’t know, Mr. Chen really made it big!”
Lord Jiuxuan said with a hint of envy in his voice, “Ever since he purchased the notes from Master Zong Symbol, Mr. Chen’s progress in talisman-making has been astonishingly fast. It’s said that he’s recently been trying to craft first-grade top-quality talismans…”
“This…”
Fang Xi was somewhat taken aback.
Could it be… that Chen Ping really was a once-in-a-century talisman-making genius who simply hadn’t realized his potential until now?
“Not only that, but Lu Zhi has also changed his attitude toward Mr. Chen. Just the other day I saw them walking arm in arm, quite affectionate…”
Di Qi began to sound sour as well.
Despite being from a cultivator family, his family was only a Qi Refining one, barely stronger than individual cultivators.
If he could get rid of Chen Ping and take his place, he would definitely want to do so a hundred times over.
So what if she’s a widow? So what if she has children?
He had a weak stomach, suitable for eating soft food, let alone the fact that Lu Zhi was quite beautiful…
“If Chen Ping becomes a first-grade top-quality Talisman Master, then his status in the market would truly be on par with those Qi Refining Great Perfection masters.”
Fang Xi sighed, looking around, “When should we prepare thoughtful gifts and pay him a visit?”
As individual cultivators, they had to have this much foresight.
“Of course, of course…” Lord Jiuxuan nodded repeatedly. Although he felt envious, it did not prevent them from trying to build a good relationship with Chen Ping. Who knows, they might need him one day!
“Heh heh… Stop dreaming about it.”
Just then, Di Qi sneered a few times, shaking his head, “Chen Ping has already moved to the Dongfu in the market. A few days ago, when I went to visit him, I was even stopped outside by someone… It was Fairy Yun Meng’s people! I see… after he has made his way up, he has long forgotten about us, his fair-weather friends…”
‘Again, Fairy Yun Meng?’
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Fang Xi intuitively felt that Chen Ping was not that kind of person, but if it had been Fairy Yun Meng and Shen Haoran’s doing, it was indeed possible.
Those two had sharp eyes. They had already been investing in Chen Ping.
Now that Chen Ping was on the rise, they naturally became more intent on winning him over and also drove away those who had been there earlier, replacing old relationships with new ones, all seemingly natural.
It is said that some overbearing sects and families, when encountering cultivators of exceptional talent in the Four Arts of Cultivation, would directly abduct them and use them as tools until they died!
‘But the speed of Chen Ping’s progress in the art of talismans is a little abnormal… Did Situ Qingqing come here for him?’
Fang Xi contemplated this and then sincerely asked the two men, “Have there been any rumors recently?”
Lord Jiuxuan’s cheeks were rosy as he spoke of many strange tales.
Di Qi, sipping his drink in silence, occasionally added a few words.
From their conversation, Fang Xi roughly understood that everything was normal in the market, and there was no particular trend of price increases for magical instruments and talismans.
Moreover, there were no whispers of war.
‘It seems I might have been overthinking things a bit.’
‘Maybe the Situ Family suddenly instated a Law Enforcement Elder who hates evil…’
Fang Xi comforted himself with these thoughts.
At that moment, Di Qi said, “If you’re talking about the biggest news… it’s definitely that Purple Dark Mountain Secret Realm was breached and completely scoured by the combined forces of Red Leaf Valley and the Situ Family. Now that the blockade has been lifted, it’s just a wasteland. Individual cultivators have gone to scavenge it a few times, but they’ve found nothing…”
“The Purple Dark Mountain Secret Realm?”
Fang Xi thought of Old Mai and fell silent.
After a while, Lord Jiuxuan enviously added, “Seems Purple Dark Mountain was just a minor secret realm, unworthy of the combined effort of two great forces… But all the spiritual objects have been taken away. Perhaps in the next few years, the Situ Family and Red Leaf Valley will have several more Foundation Establishment cultivators…”
The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was intentional!
Fang Xi heard this and felt a sudden jolt in his heart.
There’s an old saying that goes, ‘Prosperity leads to decline,’ which makes some sense.
The Situ Family and Red Leaf Valley acquired many treasures, and it wouldn’t be surprising if others coveted them.
Furthermore, if these two families produce several more Foundation Establishment cultivators, would the adjacent powers be pleased?
Even with a bit more of a mean spirit, two tigers cannot share one mountain. Once the flesh is eaten, can Red Leaf Valley and the Situ Family really live in harmony?
‘Perhaps the recent oddities stem from this event?’
Fang Xi gnawed on a chicken leg, but his mood inexplicably lightened.
Now, at the bottom of the Cultivation World, no matter how the upper echelons changed, it didn’t concern him as long as he delivered the food on time!
‘Absolutely must not get involved in cultivator wars!’
‘When it comes to fleeing, no one in the world can outdo me!’
‘If things really get chaotic here, I’ll just go and hide in Great Liang for a few years!’
