Chapter 75: Chapter 74: Decayed Wood (Congratulations to Elvin2016, the Silver Alliance Leader!)_1 Chapter 75: Chapter 74: Decayed Wood (Congratulations to Elvin2016, the Silver Alliance Leader!)_1 Clang!
The Green Snake Drill, with a strike comparable to a superb magical artifact, was moments away from boring into Fang Xi’s forehead.
The next instant, a radiant crimson glow suddenly appeared on Fang Xi’s forehead, resembling a helmet.
As the poison horn drilled onto the helmet, it actually emitted a loud noise and then was deflected!
“How is this possible?”
“Could it be that he’s hiding another top-grade defensive artifact? But where is the magic power to activate it?”
Miao Dong’s face drastically changed.
At that moment, however, a hint of a smile appeared on Fang Xi’s face.
With a light shout, he shot out like a serpent, skimming over the water’s surface in eight swift steps, and arrived in front of Miao Dong.
“Secret Skill, Mixed Origin Without Limit!”
Fang Xi raised his hand, and Gang Qi surged violently, smashing down like thunder!
Boom!
The Golden-backed Turtle screamed, its water shield exploded, turning into a sky of water vapor.
Fang Xi, momentum unabated, delivered another punch, hitting Miao Dong’s forehead, who could not dodge in time!
Thump!
The man’s head burst open on the spot, like a watermelon, with red and white substances scattering all over the ground.
“Hiss, hiss!”
“Roar!”
Behind Fang Xi, Qing’er, the beast that was chasing him, cried out in grief and likewise lost its breath.
Even the Golden-backed Turtle under Fang Xi’s feet let out a miserable cry and instantly died!
Beast Controlling Masters and monster beasts usually form contracts of enslavement, where, should the Beast Controlling Master die, the contracted beasts are certainly doomed…unless they didn’t use a Blood Pact, but methods such as a Beast Controlling Card, or if the Master proactively released the contract, otherwise they are certainly fated to die!
“You thought I was at the fourth level of Qi Refining, but little did you know I’ve reached the third level of Body Refining, capable of contending with late-stage Qi Refining practitioners…”
Fang Xi sighed, and began to clean up the battlefield.
The Golden-backed Turtle and the Water Old Crow were both lower-tier level one monster beasts, and the mid-tier level one Green Blood Python was worth quite a few Spirit Stones, although they would not be easy to sell off in Baochuan Market.
The Gold Dragon Sword descended from mid-air, pressing down the Black Claw to return to Fang Xi’s hand.
Fang Xi inspected it and found that the mid-grade Black Claw was severely damaged, nearly on the verge of collapse, and he couldn’t help but sigh.
His Black Iron Shield had also been corroded by the Green Blood Python’s core poison fog, leaving its surface pitted and nearly useless.
“If there’s no income, this would’ve been a huge loss.”
In the end, Fang Xi took a Storage Bag from Miao Dong’s body and, after destroying the corpse and erasing all traces, gathered up the slight restoration of his magic power and flew away wearing the Black Cloud Cap.
…
In the Thousand Island Lake, islands are scattered like stars across the sky, especially those desolate islands devoid of spiritual energy, which could be found almost anywhere.
Fang Xi picked one out and established a secret Dongfu.
Inside the Dongfu.
He took out Miao Dong’s Storage Bag and spent a considerable amount of time erasing its magic power imprint, then emptied its contents onto the ground.
Clatter!
A large pile of assorted items appeared.
Aside from some clothes, the main items were a large number of bottles and pots, which Fang Xi inspected and found most likely to be feed for the three Spiritual Beasts.
Besides that, there were several dozen Spirit Stones and some low-grade Talismans.
Among them was also a piece of beast skin with many symbols drawn on it in blood, which was a “Blood Pact Document”!
“It seems that Beast Controlling cultivators are quite poor too, they’d likely spent it all on their Spiritual Pets…”
Fang Xi felt somewhat sentimental.
In fact, Miao Dong was truly not weak, and even if he had encountered a seventh-layer Qi Refining Cultivator, with the cooperation of his Spiritual Pets, he could have put up a fight.
Unfortunately, he faced Fang Xi, who feigned weakness, and step by step, lured him into a trap.
The aura and external characteristics of the Great Liang Blood Qi Martial Arts were very different from the Body Cultivators from the South Wilderness, making it extremely easy to overlook, which served as Fang Xi’s trump card.
He turned to the last few jade slips and books, leafing through them one by one.
“Geography of Thousand Island Lake? Good stuff…”
“Gold Water Skill? Suitable for cultivators with a Gold Water Spiritual Root? The synergy of metal and water seems to be a little better than the common techniques?”
“Yue Country Customs? I’ve already read through that…”
Fang Xi checked several jade slips but found no Beast Controlling heritage, which slightly disappointed him.
Still, he was not a person who expected everything to be perfect, so he casually flipped through a few books:
“Accidentally obtained the Green Blood Python egg, named Qing’er, bathing it in ‘Hundred Fragrance Snake Fruit’, ‘Wood Spirit Liquid’… combined with powdered Spirit Stone, concocted into Spiritual Liquid for soaking… hatched in one month…”
“In the second month, the greedy Water Old Crow flew back with a ‘Fruit-scented Carp’, ignoring the ‘Green Jade Carp’, punished it with three days of fasting…”
…
On the yellowed pages, there were detailed records of how Miao Dong raised his three Spiritual Pets!
This was a Beast Controlling diary!
“Although there’s no heritage, the methods for raising three types of Spiritual Beasts are mostly there… could it be combined into an incomplete heritage?”
Fang Xi stroked his chin and suddenly felt not so unfortunate.
…
Half a month later.
Fang Xi discreetly arrived on Baochuan Island and hid among the mortal towns for a few days, switching locations several times, until finally, in his true appearance, he reached the entrance of Baochuan Market.
“Esteemed Cultivator, would you require a guide?”
Another group of local natives crowded around him, with Mo Qingyi among them, seemingly completely unaware of what had happened to Miao Dong.
“How many Spirit Stones?”
Fang Xi, with a tinge of greenness on his face, was wearing a patched, green Taoist robe that had been mended, clearly indicating he wasn’t wealthy.
“Only one Spirit Crystal per day!”
“Too expensive, don’t want, don’t want!”
Upon hearing this, Fang Xi immediately shook his head and made his way into the Market.
“Alas… It seems this Immortal Master is short on money, there will be no business done today.”
Various guides sighed one after another.
…
Inside the Green Bamboo Mountain Market, within a tea house.
Fang Xi had arrived at the information exchange that Mo Qingyi had introduced him to before.
After entering the tea house, Fang Xi ordered a pot of Spiritual Tea and stared into the cup, lost in the steam rising from it.
Within the tea, leaves exuded a spiritual light, transforming into colorful little fish that frolicked and chased one another.
“This Spiritual Tea contains only average spiritual energy; the shop can only try hard in terms of flavor and novelty…”
Fang Xi had changed a lot since before; after careful inspection to confirm there were no problems, he took a sip.
A black little fish disappeared, making the other little fish swim even faster.
Just then, he heard a man and woman at the next table say, “The Market has been quite unsettled recently… It’s said that several cultivators have disappeared. It’s probably the ‘Kou Dual Fierce’ at work again.”
“Those Kou brothers originally had three, but somehow the third son died, and after they couldn’t get along in Green Bamboo Mountain, they came here to disturb us, truly detestable!”
Another man with a purple face seemed to know some inside information and spoke indignantly.
Fang Xi’s first reaction was — ‘They’re not here for revenge against me, are they?’
But he quickly came to his senses, recalling that the third son of the Kou family was killed by Situ Qingqing, and Situ Qingqing only knew that she had been saved by a mysterious body cultivator. What would that have to do with him, a weak and poor Spirit Farmer?
‘It’s just that I better not openly brandish the Gold Dragon Sword or that three-way Storage Bag…’
‘Just as well, the persona I’ve created for this Spirit Farmer, Fang Xi, is that of a poor devil, and I had planned to switch the magical weapon back to the Green Barley Sword anyway…’
Fang Xi thought about it and, finding no flaws in his identity, lowered his head again and casually played with the little spiritual energy fish.
He heard quite a bit of gossip throughout the day, adding more spring water until the little fish in his cup blurred.
Only then did Fang Xi stand up and go over to an elder in a Taoist robe.
The elder had salt-and-pepper hair, a meticulously combed goatee, and bright, piercing eyes.
Upon seeing Fang Xi come over, he immediately smiled and said, “What would you like to inquire about, Sir? I’m quite well-informed about the various secret channels within the Market and even the news from Thousand Island Lake.”
This elder was, indeed, another ‘information broker’, but surely knew much more about secret news than ordinary folk like Mo Qingyi.
And therefore, his information wasn’t free.
“I know the rules, let’s go to a private room, order a pot of top-grade ‘Clear Skies and Drizzling Rain’!”
Fang Xi nodded and followed the old Taoist to a private room in the tea house.
Upon entering, the sound from the outside world was immediately cut off, clearly thanks to a soundproof prohibition in place.
Such a private room, for just one use, would cost at least a Spirit Stone.
But Fang Xi glanced at the so-called ‘Clear Skies Gentle Rain,’ only to find that it was mere tea that mortals drank, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
He was spending Spirit Stones not on tea, but on information!
“This humble one is ‘Prime Taoist Xiumu,’ may I ask what this young friend wishes to inquire about?”
Prime Taoist Xiumu said courteously, clasping his hands together.
“Sir is too kind. I am Fang Xi, merely a Spirit Farmer from the Green Bamboo Mountain Market…”
Fang Xi responded candidly, with a hint of pain over the expense, “I’ve come to Thousand Island Lake this time only in search of a tranquil place to diligently cultivate. I wonder if Sir could offer any recommendations?”
“So Sir turns out to be a cultivator wholly devoted to arduous practice!” Prime Taoist Xiumu expressed some surprise, asking, “Would Sir wish to join any powers? Many family clans and sects are always looking to recruit Spirit Farmers.”
“No desire for that, I truly wish no longer to be bound by others.”
Fang Xi replied with a bitter smile.
“Perhaps long-term renting of a Dongfu in the market and other places?” Suggested Prime Taoist Xiumu with another idea.
“Well… In truth, I am looking for a rather large Spiritual Field and having been a tenant for long enough, I now wish to be a landowner,” Fang Xi revealed his inner thoughts. To plant trees, isn’t a sizeable piece of land needed?
“A large Spiritual Field, a landowner…” Prime Taoist Xiumu’s mouth twitched as he began to understand Fang Xi’s requirements, “So Sir is looking for unclaimed Spiritual Vein Land, or even to become an Island Master? Unfortunately… unclaimed spiritual islands were common hundreds of years ago, but in the last decade, it has become quite rare to hear of any cultivator discovering one.”
“That is indeed most regrettable…”
Fang Xi shook his head, looking quite disappointed.
“Sir need not feel regretful, the Dragon Fish Zhong Family occasionally releases some minor Spiritual Vein islands to individual cultivators for long-term renting, which is always an opportunity… Or some cultivators on Spiritual Islands who wish to form partnerships might extend generous offers. Long-term leasing of vast swaths of Spiritual Land is possible, and there are even cases of becoming a second or third Island Master… If Sir is interested, you could leave your information here, and this old Daoist will keep an eye out for you.”
“Thank you very much, Daoist.”
Having heard this, Fang Xi was moved and sincerely thanked him, then asked, “Where in the market can one purchase arrays? I want to buy a set to protect the Dongfu…”
“They are available in Dragon Gate Attic, with the highest being a top-tier first-order ‘Cloud Mist Thunderstorm Array’… In this market too, there resides an Array Master, surnamed Xu, who if given a sufficient price, would be induced to personally create an array, capable of setting up to a mid-tier first-order array…”
Prime Taoist Xiumu said with a smile.
As for second-order arrays? Like with second-order Prohibition-breaking Talismans, these belong to strategic resources, unavailable for trade to those without significant power.
Fang Xi raised a few more questions, eventually steering the conversation toward the Foundation Establishment cultivation techniques of Dragon Gate Attic.
Prime Taoist Xiumu continually shook his head, “How could those Foundation Establishment immortals possibly give us individual cultivators the truly good techniques? The techniques they release tend to be underwhelming in strength, and some are very difficult to cultivate… especially those few Body Refining techniques; most of them are traps, claiming that if cultivated to the extreme, one could rival a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, but in reality, they are full of bottlenecks and challenges, with most finding it hard to even break through to the third level of Body Refining…”
He spoke with bitterness in his tone, “Body refining consumes too many resources. Rather than spending hundreds or thousands of Spirit Stones and still not necessarily advancing to the third level of Body Refining, it’s better to save up and bid on a Foundation Establishment Pill at the Baize Immortal City auction!”
“Baize Immortal City, there’s actually Foundation Establishment Pill auctions? Do you know how much they sell for?”
Fang Xi’s eyes lit up.
“There have been a few great auctions, with a starting price of three thousand Spirit Stones, no cap… Moreover, getting one isn’t the hard part, keeping it securely is the real skill,”
Prime Taoist Xiumu replied with implied meaning.
It was clear that after every round of Foundation Establishment Pill auctions, there inevitably followed several rounds of bloodshed!
Just the thought of it was enough to send chills down one’s spine!