Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists

Chapter 27: Chapter 27 Solution (Seeking Collections)_1 Chapter 27: Chapter 27 Solution (Seeking Collections)_1 Several miles away.

Fang Xi withdrew the Green Barley Sword from the chest of an aged martial artist, splattering a pool of fresh blood.

“The old fellow had no sense of honor in battle, but luckily, I’ve grown used to it.”

Ever since he boldly made a large purchase at the market a few months ago, he had hardly been out without being ambushed.

Fortunately, the highest level of brigands that had fallen to robbery were Real Strength Warriors, which he could easily handle, though he felt slightly regretful that searching the corpses yielded little gain.

He entered an abandoned house and initiated transmigration.

‘The best way to avoid pursuit is to disappear completely!’

‘I’ll stay in the Cultivation Realm for a while, perfect my martial arts, and then return…’

…

Black Stone City.

The sky was perpetually dark, with eerie lights seeping through the layers of black fog.

The edge between the Inner City and the Outer City.

A large mansion.

A few scattered Cursed People roamed aimlessly.

According to the rapidly gathered experiences of the scavengers, entering the range covered by the tree canopy meant inevitable attacks from Qi Roots and hordes of Wooden People and Cursed People, resulting in a likelihood of death close to ninety percent!

The strength of the Wooden People even surpassed that of ordinary Masters of Martial Arts Schools.

Even for Martial Trainees who had achieved the Three Transformations of Qi and Blood, dealing with Cursed People was extremely troublesome.

But now, with resources gradually depleting, many who weren’t afraid to die tried to skirt the edge of danger, looking for opportunities.

The door of the wooden house opened silently, and two children crawled out.

No one knew where these orphan wanderers came from; together, they had formed a small team, venturing to search for supplies.

“Hurry, the monster is coming!”

A girl with braided hair whispered with a lowered voice.

“Xiao Yun, don’t worry, Gou is always fast!” A teenage boy wearing tattered clothes and with a bulging parcel in his arms dashed out from the house.

At that moment, the steps they thought were incredibly cautious still drew the attention of a Cursed Person.

“Not good, Xiao Yun, you go first!”

Gou stuffed the parcel into Xiao Yun’s arms and pushed the little girl away.

The female Cursed Person turned her head; half of her face was covered in dark talismanic inscriptions, and her lifeless eyes stared fixedly at the two living beings.

Suddenly, she sped up and came running at a swift pace.

“Run!”

Gou picked up a rock and hurled it at the female Cursed Person, then ran in the opposite direction, “Come on, come catch me!”

“Gou!”

Xiao Yun ran towards the Outer City while crying.

If they didn’t bring back food, the few children even younger than them in their crumbling shelter would starve to death.

Boom!

Unfortunately, she was so distraught that she wasn’t careful where she was running and took a hard fall.

The little girl didn’t cry out in pain but clutched the parcel in her arms tightly.

However, some chunks of cured meat still rolled out.

Smack!

A piece of the cured meat rolled on the ground and came to a stop next to a pair of shoes.

Xiao Yun looked up and first saw legs sturdy as iron pillars, and then a towering man like a steel tower.

A look of terror immediately appeared on her face.

Every child who was still alive knew to stay away from anyone stronger than them, for strangers could harbor malice!

“For you… for you!”

Xiao Yun said timidly, her voice carrying a sob, “But could you leave some for me?”

The giant picked up the cured meat and handed it back to the little girl, saying with a smile, “I, Zhang Junming, never take what isn’t rightfully mine!”

As he spoke, the giant darted into action, charging towards the female Cursed Person.

In his movement, his muscles rippled like flowing water, clearly a superior expert at the realm of Master of Martial Arts School of the external path.

Boom!

The female Cursed Person screamed as she was struck and sent flying.

Zhang Junming whisked away the children and swiftly fled the danger zone, only setting them down at the edge of the Outer City.

“Thank you, noble hero!”

The boy Gou quickly squeezed out a grateful smile, his agile eyes scanning around.

“Haha, don’t worry, I won’t harbor any ill intentions. As a matter of fact, I quite like your wit. If it were before, I would have surely taken on a disciple, alas…”

Zhang Junming sighed, “It’s just a pity that most of my disciples have already perished…”

“Big brother, here!”

Xiao Yun’s eyes curved into a smile as she held out a piece of cured meat to the large man.

Zhang Junming was astonished, then burst out laughing. He picked up the piece of cured meat, which he would have disdained months ago and that was still a little dirty, and took a fierce bite, “Delicious, truly delicious…”

…

“Delicious!”

Atop Green Bamboo Mountain.

Fang Xi had caught a wild chicken, didn’t use a pot, but simply plucked it, cleaned out the innards, stuffed it with spirit bamboo shoots and mushrooms, added various seasonings, then coated it in mud to make a beggar’s chicken.

At this moment, biting into a chicken wing was so delicious that he imagined his eyebrows almost falling off from the taste.

“Haha, Fang brother, this beggar’s chicken, is truly exceptional.”

Chen Ping sat at the side, swiftly tearing at a chicken leg, the aroma wafted up to his nose, a gentle shake and the meat naturally separated from the bone.

Around the fire pit were two individual cultivators who looked much more destitute than Fairy Yun Meng and the others, their cultivation was only at the beginning stages of Qi Refining.

When Chen Ping returned from Mingqing Loft, he felt somewhat apologetic.

Then, he reintroduced Fang Xi to the two Sirs.

This time, he learned from his past lessons and chose a circle of approximately the same level.

The location was also chosen at the edge of a shanty area, directly going for an outdoor barbecue.

“Hehe… Mr. Fang’s cooking skills would definitely be considered divine in the secular world, I wonder if you’re interested in pursuing the path of a spiritual chef?”

An elderly Taoist, who looked remarkably immortal, was quickly gnawing at a chicken’s rear while beside him lay two cleanly picked chicken feet. Watching him eat and licking his fingers as he did so made it seem as if he was appreciating some unrivaled delicacy.

This person called himself ‘Lord Jiuxuan’, who despite looking the part, actually had a cultivation of only the second level of Qi Refining. He was said to have been a national advisor in the secular world for some time, but after coming to Green Bamboo Mountain, he belonged to the lowest of the low. His experiences were indeed not bad, especially his considerable knowledge about the secular world.

“How can we have meat without wine?”

Beside Lord Jiuxuan was a young master dressed in green, appearing like the chivalrous types of the secular world.

He seemed to be in his twenties, yet his cultivation had already reached the pinnacle of the third level of Qi Refining.

This person was called ‘Di Qi’, the seventh in his family, a member of a minor Qi Refining family near Green Bamboo Mountain.

Although his spiritual root aptitude was not excellent, among those present, he was considered to be the most generous.

He promptly brought out a gourd of spirit wine and shared it with everyone.

“Mr. Di is generous!”

Chen Ping quickly grabbed a cup, took a glance at it, and threw it away, replacing it with a broken bowl, laughing, “This gourd of spirit wine can sell for at least one spirit stone in the market!”

“It’s alright… I always feel that to have a couple of good friends to cultivate and discuss the Tao with is truly a joyous thing!”

Di Qi said with a smile.

Actually, he did care about his status.

After all, being a family cultivator, even if similar to individual cultivators in a minor Qi Refining family, is still regarded a notch above an individual cultivator!

However, Chen Ping was set to become a talisman master, which warranted giving him some respect.

The four of them drinking and eating meat together was absolutely delightful.

After being fully sated with food and drink, Lord Jiuxuan began to talk and tell stories. He had traveled far and wide in his life, with a wealth of extraordinary experiences.

Even Fang Xi found himself thoroughly engaged in listening.

He initially wanted to join various circles to broaden his knowledge and expand his connections.

Now, hearing Lord Jiuxuan boast about how he had once taken in several grand masters from the secular Martial World as slaves, his eyes shone, and he laughed, “Martial artists of the secular world, no matter how strong, can’t compare to a Qi Refining first level cultivator, can they?”

“Although that’s true, they are still good for menial tasks, and those female warriors are quite nice for warming the bed.”

Lord Jiuxuan’s face bore a reminiscent expression, smiling in a manner that was full of lascivious pleasure.

“Not necessarily… If secular martial artists are well-prepared, and use terrain and equipment to their advantage… If we early Qi Refining cultivators exhaust our magic power, we might indeed risk capsizing,” Di Qi interjected.

As a family cultivator, he had been specifically warned by his elders.

“Actually… the body refining methods of secular martial artists do share some similarities with body cultivators,” Fang Xi subtly steered the conversation.

“Not so, not so…” Lord Jiuxuan shook his head: “Even Qin Tian from Yue Country’s famed thirteen body armors, known as ‘Ten Absolute Experts’, renowned for cultivating ten major hard body techniques and feared by many, in the end, fell just short of a body refining first level cultivator and… died explosively not many years later.”

“This person most likely died from internal breath conflicts. If it were us cultivators, with the help of spirit sense for internal inspection and harmony, there might not be a way out, and perhaps even achieve greater success!” Fang Xi’s eyes flickered.

“Difficult, difficult, difficult… If the martial arts of the secular world were comparable to the secret methods of body cultivation, we would have all gone to learn them already,” Chen Ping shook his head vehemently.

“Actually, there might not be a way,” Di Qi said, feigning profundity.

“Oh? I’d like to hear more from Mr. Di,” Fang Xi’s heart moved, thinking the main event was finally coming.

Di Qi took a swig from the gourd, seemingly closed his eyes to savor it, shaking his head back and forth, “Cultivators’ spirit sense can only temporarily suppress conflicts of inner breaths. To completely eradicate the danger, it’s better to buy a ‘Breath-adjusting Pill’ from Pill Furnace Pavilion. This pill is best at harmonizing different kinds of inner breaths. A legendary martial artist, who our family had recently recruited as a servant, was offered such a reward!”

Fang Xi’s eyes lit up at these words.

Not because he was sure that the Breath-adjusting Pill could solve his problem.

But the issue of mixed and difficult to breakthrough martial blood and breath, which may be a shackle in Great Liang, might be laughable to a Foundation Establishment great cultivator of the Southern Wilderness Cultivation Realm!

‘After all, the Breath-adjusting Pill is meant to resolve the internal breath problems of Yue Country martial artists, and it’s entirely different from the issue of blood and Qi.’

‘But within Pill Furnace Pavilion, there might be pills that harmonize martial blood and Qi!’

‘Furthermore, there might even be pills that can increase the limits of blood and Qi. If desired, alchemists might not be unable to concoct them!’

Fang Xi’s heart was filled with joy.

By supplementing each other’s resources and experiences between the two realms, his path might be hopeful, and the pursuit of eternal life seemed possible!