Chapter 131: Chapter 130: Demon Cultivator (Congratulations in Silver!)_1
Fang Xi didn’t know how long he had waited.
He leaned against the peach blossom tree, his breath seemingly merging with the wood, almost impossible to detect unless one came close.
The cultivation techniques of the Wooden Element were naturally adept at concealing one’s presence, not to mention his ample patience.
After half an hour had passed, a faint escape light flew out from the villa.
Standing atop a peach tree branch, Fang Xi silently calculated the other’s position, constantly shifting his figure with the help of the tree’s shadow, steadily drawing closer...
When the escape light swept over his head, Fang Xi’s Divine Consciousness swept out!
The entire disguise of the figure vanished under the Divine Consciousness, revealing a wizened and aged face with traces of Demon Qi lingering on the body!
"A Demon Cultivator!?"
Fang Xi was startled, then even more astonished to find that he actually recognized the person!
The other appeared to be around fifty or sixty years old, with an aged countenance, gaunt cheeks, but if that face were plumper and more well-nourished, and coupled with those shrewd, cunning little eyes...
"Situ Ying of the Situ Family... the former manager of the Spiritual Field! He’s lost quite some weight, used to be quite substantial..."
Fang Xi murmured to himself.
How many Spirit Farmers on Green Bamboo Mountain harbored deep hatred for this man, yet were helpless against him.
His former self included, was also often oppressed by him.
Yet upon an unexpected encounter with an enemy, Fang Xi did not act immediately.
Although he hadn’t seen the man in over thirty years, and his cultivation had barely reached the seventh level of Qi Refining, he was by no means Fang Xi’s match!
But if this man appeared here, could it represent the Situ Family?
Fang Xi’s expression turned serious as he quickly recalled information about the Situ Family.
After the Situ Family was exterminated, the surviving members formed the ’Destroy Heaven Alliance,’ a Demon Path force, and they waged an endless vendetta against the Mysterious Heaven Sect and the Song Family!
Then, it was said that after several setbacks, they had no choice but to flee to Wood Kingdom...
"It seems now, the rumors were wrong, or perhaps that bunch of remnants stealthily snuck back in? And they chose Thousand Island Lake, this remote place, to cause trouble?"
"No wonder Thousand Island Lake had been calm before, but became tumultuous in recent years. It turns out it was you stirring things up in the shadows!"
Fang Xi had no fond feelings for the Situ Family either.
Now that he discovered demonic cultivators’ shadows behind the chaos at Thousand Island Lake, his first instinct was to report them!!
The Mysterious Heaven Sect had always had a bounty out for members of the Destroy Heaven Alliance and the Situ Family!
Moreover, the reward was always extremely generous.
As long as he reported it, he could use others to kill his enemy and avenge the grievance of that year with one arrow!
But Fang Xi thought of the secrets he bore and immediately quelled that thought.
"Or... should I take action myself?"
"Or... wait until my strength increases before reporting?"
Fang Xi watched the escape light, yet remained still for a long time, letting it fly out of his range of activity.
Although he held resentment, he understood the importance of patience even more!
A mere Situ Ying was not worth much!
But behind him, the Situ Family and the Destroy Heaven Alliance must have Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivators!
If he killed just a minor enemy and provoked the hidden masterminds behind him, it would be more trouble than it was worth!
’Ruan Xingling is actually so unwise, to associate with Demon Cultivators?’
Fang Xi retracted Jia Yi and returned to Jadeite Cliff, inside the underground cave.
Sitting cross-legged beneath the Monster Tree, looking at the withered corpses of cultivators hanging from the Qi Roots, he couldn’t help but fall into deep thought.
’Perhaps, Ruan Xingling doesn’t know who she’s dealing with, but the other party offered temptations too hard to resist, such as Base-building Spiritual Objects?’
’Or maybe, even Ruan Xingling, is a spy for the Demon Cultivators? After the destruction of her family, she has traveled extensively; it’s not impossible that she had the opportunity to come into contact with Demon Cultivators and the Situ Family!’
’And then there’s Ye Sanren of the Thirty Six Islands... Rumor has it he’s an Individual Cultivator, but is he really a Foundation Establishment Individual Cultivator? Why did he suddenly break through his bottleneck at this exact time? Does he have some understanding with the Destroy Heaven Alliance?’
’The Destroy Heaven Alliance choosing Thousand Island Lake to make a move must be planning a big game. Given their appetite, they must at least be aiming to covertly swallow up the entire Thousand Island Lake, right?’
Sitting silently in the shadows, contemplating all the possible scenarios, Fang Xi was startled and alarmed!
Unknowingly, Thousand Island Lake seemed to have become the center of the storm!
"This luck of mine..."
"The Situ Family really is something else, extracting what little labor I had left back then. Now, when I’ve taken a liking to a place, they come meddling. Have they grown addicted to being my landlords?"
Fang Xi’s expression darkened.
Back then, in the spirit of honesty, he had also found it difficult to hide for many years and had never concealed his identity.
The identity of a Spirit Farmer from Green Bamboo Mountain’s Situ Family might not mean much to the Situ Family, but to the Mysterious Heaven Sect, it would still be suspicious...
This was also a problem!
"The most critical issue is that the cultivation of my Wood elemental body has reached a crucial point, and I can’t move my true self. This is the drawback of the ’Longevity Skills’."
Fang Xi glanced back at the Monster Tree, his eyes gradually darkening.
...
An isolated island.
Situ Ying rode the Escape Light, circled around the area, and after confirming that no one was tracking him, he quietly descended into a valley.
"Poof!"
As he entered the valley, the surroundings immediately transformed!
Pure spiritual energy rushed toward him, and within the valley, there were numerous exquisitely carved buildings. Shadows of cultivators either sat in meditation or practiced their spells.
This place was none other than a branch of the Destroy Heaven Alliance!
"Miss!"
Situ Ying arrived in front of a palace and bowed respectfully as he called out.
"Come in."
The palace doors opened to reveal an interior bathed in verdant light from beast-head statues topped with oil lamps, which emitted an enchanting fragrance.
In the heart of countless oil lamps sat a lady cultivator with an ephemeral aura and picturesque features, as if she had stepped out of a landscape ink painting.
This woman was Situ Qingqing!
Even after more than thirty years, her elegance was no different from that of the past. Her cultivation was around Qi Refining completion, and she likely took some kind of longevity pill to maintain her youth.
"Reporting to Miss, the old man has met with that person, and our cooperation has been pleasant..."
Situ Ying recounted all that had transpired during his meeting with Ruan Xingling.
"Good, after seeing our strength, that woman had to compromise..."
Situ Qingqing’s voice, clear as a spring, carried a hint of a smile, "Even ’Ye Sanren’ is our man. The Zhong Family will meet its end sooner or later... When the time comes, we will rule over Thousand Island Lake openly as the Thirty Six Island Alliance, while we remain hidden behind the scenes, silently building our strength, waiting for the day Mysterious Heaven Sect weakens!"
By the end of her statement, her eyes were filled with hatred.
The enmity from the destruction of her family could not be washed away even by the waters of Thousand Island Lake and Great Dream Marsh!
"By the way, I’ve also found out about the person Miss asked me to investigate last time."
Seemingly recalling something, Situ Ying respectfully handed a jade slip to Situ Qingqing, his face reflecting a mixture of emotions, "Who would have thought, that a mere farmhand from our family could make something of himself in Thousand Island Lake, ha... It’s hard to tell how much he took from the market chaos!"
In his view, Fang Xi, who was just a lowly Qi Refining cultivator back then, must have managed to grab a great deal of resources during the chaos in the marketplace, or perhaps he had the good fortune to stumble upon two powerful cultivators perishing together and snatched away a Storage Bag...
While it seemed incredible, such extraordinary encounters were commonplace in the vast Cultivation World and were nothing compared to those truly favored by fortune.
Nevertheless, he despised the other man deeply!
Why was it that he, pursued like a dog and risking all manner of dangers to practice Demon Skills and surviving by a hair’s breadth multiple times to barely advance to later stages of Qi Refining, while the other could easily tend to his fields and raise fish on Peach Blossom Island and then achieve the same level?
"Fang Xi..."
As Situ Qingqing’s Spirit Sense entered the jade slip, she saw the portrait of the young man, who looked almost identical to the one who had once shouted, ’Miss Qingqing is here; the skies have cleared!’
Of course, cultivating Wooden Element techniques, along with consumption of longevity pills that maintain one’s youth, was quite normal.
What truly concerned her was Fang Xi’s identity and his cultivation.
"Over forty years old and reached the seventh level of Qi Refining? And practices body refining as well? What a pity... If he had reached the later stages of Qi Refining before the age of forty, he would have a slim chance for Foundation Establishment..."
"Now, the hope for Foundation Establishment is very faint..."
A cultivator over fifty in the seventh level of Qi Refining has hardly any chance to break through to Qi Refining completion before the age of sixty, and they are generally given up on.
In Sects and families capable of Foundation Establishment, such persons are often assigned as managers of marketplace shops or sent to the mundane world to establish branch families, procreate offspring, and hope that among their descendants, exceptional Immortal Seedlings with outstanding Spiritual Roots will emerge.
Situ Qingqing casually commented, but her heart stirred slightly.
The intelligence report also mentioned how Fang Xi, with a Green Barley Sword during his mid-stage Qi Refining combined with his body refining cultivation, had subdued the Lu Family of Peach Blossom Island.
This suddenly reminded Situ Qingqing of a mysterious body cultivator.
That body cultivator had once saved her life from pursuers and, declining the goodwill of the Situ Family, left without a word.
Indeed, the stranger’s choice was exceedingly wise!
Otherwise, had he boarded the Situ Family’s sinking ship, even if he had survived the Blackwater Pool incident, he would have been a demon cultivator hunted in every corner of Yue Country’s cultivation circles.
’Both were in the second realm of body refining, a coincidence perhaps?’
’But even if it were the same person, what of it? Over fifty and still at the seventh level of Qi Refining, the secrets this person holds are minor at best... The likelihood of reaching Foundation Establishment in the future is not high.’
’Now is the time to focus on more important matters. Once we unify Thousand Island Lake, at most I could grant him some favor to resolve our past karma...’
Situ Qingqing quickly dismissed Fang Xi’s matter from her mind.
In some ways, she considered him to be on their side...
Thinking this, Situ Qingqing carelessly placed the jade slip into her Storage Bag and turned to Situ Ying, "You did well. Both Ruan Xingling and Ruan Dan are crucial to our grand plan; there can be no mistakes. Did she accept the ’Heavy Round Continuation Pill’ you brought?"
"Hehe, since the pill is vital to the Taoist Path of her disciple, of course she took it."
Situ Ying stroked his beard, feeling a twinge of loss, "Such a second-tier specialty pill is worth thousands of Spirit Stones!"
"How else to gain trust?"
A wisp of crimson flickered in Situ Qingqing’s eyes, "As long as she dares to accept, we dare to give! In the future... it depends on which of the master and disciple has the fortune to succeed in Foundation Establishment, hehe..."
The sound of the young girl’s melodious laughter echoed back and forth within the palace.