"What has happened to Daoist Situ Ying?"
Fang Xi looked at the newly appointed An Tian envoy from the Situ family, unable to find a topic for a while, so he could only ask his doubts.
Situ Qingqing's face turned serious, "After investigation... this person was negligent in his duties, deceiving superiors and subordinates, abusing power for personal gain. He has already been taken down by the family, subjected to the punishment of Thunder Whip, and forced to reflect in seclusion... Daoist, were you in seclusion before? Otherwise, you should have known earlier."
"I see."
Fang Xi nodded, feeling secretly pleased that Situ Ying, that scoundrel, had finally met his retribution!
In fact, he even had a slight fondness for the Situ family now.
But this fondness was quickly extinguished by him, as he was just a tenant farmer. He felt grateful for any small benefits the landlord gave him, which ultimately stemmed from a sense of servility!
However, on the surface, Fang Xi still showed his emotions, deeply moved, "The Situ family is truly discerning. With Miss Qingqing's arrival, the sky has cleared..."
"This person... is too obsequious."
Situ Qingqing felt a bit nauseated. Originally, he thought Fang Xi was in the middle stage of Qi Refinement and wanted to ask a few more questions. But now, he directly said, "If you have any matters in the future, you can directly come to my residence at Cave No. 3 in the market square."
He immediately controlled the Iron Leaf Boat and flew away.
Watching Situ Qingqing leave, Fang Xi narrowed his eyes slightly, "Heh..."
He didn't really believe Situ Qingqing's words.
Through Di Qi, he also learned about the attitudes of those cultivation families towards their own members.
Even though the Situ family was a Foundation Building family, each member with spiritual roots was important. Would they punish someone for a minor matter?
Yes... for cultivators, having a few more spiritual farmers was a trivial matter!
So, Situ Qingqing's transfer was very unusual!
It was possible that the other party had other plans or was investigating something in secret!
"It couldn't possibly be investigating me, could it?"
Fang Xi arrived at the Emerald Bamboo Forest, pulling out weeds with his bare hands, then sighed suddenly.
This market... is not peaceful again!
Or rather, just when the excitement from the secret realm of Purple Obscure Mountain had settled down, not even a year had passed, and it seemed like there were hidden undercurrents again!
"I hope it doesn't involve me..."
"But I am a spiritual farmer employed by the Situ family. When the nest is overturned, how can there be any intact eggs?"
"Should I run first? I don't care about the income from this land anymore... but the connections in the Qingzhu Mountain market are still important..."
For a moment, Fang Xi was hesitant.
But soon he decided to observe first.
Due to Situ Qingqing's appearance, Fang Xi became suspicious and temporarily abandoned his plan to go to the Great Liang World, disguise himself as an itinerant cultivator, and sell demonic beast meat in the market. Instead, he focused on practicing the Changchun Technique, Entwining Art, and being a spiritual farmer.
Through this, Fang Xi also discovered something.
Without ingesting elixirs and practicing in an inferior spiritual energy environment, the progress of his Changchun Technique at the fourth level was extremely slow.
Meditating for three to four hours every day, the cultivation technique progressed as slow as a snail.
According to his estimation, if he continued like this, it might take a dozen years to complete the fourth level of the Changchun Technique—without even considering the bottleneck of breaking through to the fifth level.
The hardships of cultivation for itinerant cultivators and those with poor aptitude were evident.
"Just accumulating spiritual power is so difficult... not to mention breaking through bottlenecks. With a low-grade spiritual root, it's truly pitiful..."
"And according to the information I've gathered, the disadvantages of a low-grade spiritual root are comprehensive. Even when absorbing the spiritual energy from elixirs, the absorption rate is much lower compared to those with medium or high-grade spiritual roots... How miserable is that?"
After another meditation session, Fang Xi stood up, looking helpless.
Under the premise of unchanged aptitude and spiritual vein environment, without the assistance of elixirs, he might not even be able to cultivate to the perfect stage of Qi Refinement in his lifetime!
"The only good news is that after mastering the Primordial Qi, I can already lock my entire body... Even if I reach a hundred years old, my life essence won't be able to hold me back!"
"But without reaching the stage of Grand Completion in spiritual power, I don't even have the qualification to advance to the Foundation Building stage!"
Fang Xi's expression was stern.
In reality, for cultivators at the Grand Completion stage of Qi Refinement, even without Foundation Building spiritual objects and Foundation Building elixirs, they still had the opportunity to autonomously advance to the Foundation Building stage.
It's just that the success rate was pitifully low, reportedly less than ten percent, and once failed, it would lead to immediate death.
Fang Xi never liked gambling on success rates. If he ever wanted to advance to the Foundation Building stage, he would at least need to obtain a Foundation Building elixir to ensure that even if he failed, he wouldn't die.
As long as he didn't die, everything could start anew!
He stood up, tidied himself up, and walked out of the main gate.
"Hey, young man next door, would you like to discuss the Dao of Yin and Yang with this lady?"
From the wooden house where Chen Ping used to live next door, a charming female cultivator came out with a smile, inviting him.
"Thank you, Fairy, but I must decline."
Fang Xi politely refused and headed to a certain place in Qingzhu Mountain.
He had a meeting with Master Jiuxuan and Di Qi.
Qingzhu Mountain.
Near the Spiritual Field area, a picturesque place.
Fang Xi specially roasted two wild chickens, sprinkled with special spices, sizzling and emitting a tempting aroma.
Master Jiuxuan and Di Qi sat on the side, watching attentively.
Fang Xi looked around and felt a bit regretful, "Friend Chen didn't come again..."
"Sigh... you don't know, Friend Chen has truly risen!"
Master Jiuxuan's tone was a bit sour, "Ever since he purchased Master Zongfu's notes, Friend Chen's progress in talisman making has been advancing by leaps and bounds. It is said that he has already been attempting to create first-grade high-quality talismans..."
"This..."
Fang Xi was a bit dumbfounded.
Could it be... that Chen Ping was truly a rare talisman-making genius of the century? He just hadn't shown it before?
"Not only that, Friend Lu Zhi has also changed his attitude towards Friend Chen. I saw them arm in arm strolling together a few days ago, very intimate..."
Di Qi also started to sound bitter.
Despite being a family cultivator, he was just a Qi Refinement family, not much stronger than an itinerant cultivator.
If he could kill Chen Ping and take his place, he would definitely be willing.
What if he was a widow? What if he had children?
He had a bad stomach and was suitable for living off others, not to mention that Lu Zhi was quite beautiful...
"If Friend Chen becomes a first-grade high-quality talisman maker, his status in the market will truly rival those Qi Refinement experts."
Fang Xi sighed, looking around, "When should we bring some generous gifts to visit him?"
As an itinerant cultivator, one must have such foresight.
"Of course, of course..."
Master Jiuxuan nodded repeatedly. Although he felt sour inside, it didn't prevent them from maintaining good relations with Chen Ping. Who knows, they might need him in the future!
"Hehe... don't think too much."
At this moment, Di Qi chuckled a few times, shaking his head, "Chen Ping has already moved to the market cave residence. When I went to visit a few days ago, I was actually stopped outside... it was people from Lady Yunmeng's side! I can see... once someone becomes successful, they forget about us old friends..."
"Is it Lady Yunmeng again?"
Fang Xi instinctively felt that Chen Ping wasn't that kind of person, but if it was done by Lady Yunmeng and Shen Haoran, it was somewhat possible.
These two had sharp eyes and had invested in Chen Ping before.
Now that Chen Ping was soaring, they naturally wanted to further their connections and drive away old acquaintances, replacing their network.
It was said that some domineering sects and families, when they encountered outstanding cultivators with extraordinary talents in the four arts of cultivation, would directly abduct them as tools until death!
"But Chen Ping's progress in talisman making is a bit abnormal... Is Situ Qingqing here for him?"
A thought arose in Fang Xi's mind, and then he earnestly asked the two, "Have there been any rumors recently?"
Master Jiuxuan blushed and shared a lot of strange stories.
Di Qi occasionally added a few words while drinking.
From this, Fang Xi roughly understood that everything was normal in the market, and there was no particular trend of price increases for magical tools and talismans.
Moreover, there was no news of any wars.
"It seems that I may have been a bit paranoid?"
"Maybe the Situ family suddenly appointed a law enforcement elder who is zealous against evil..."
Fang Xi comforted himself in his heart.
At this moment, Di Qi added, "The biggest news is undoubtedly the Purple Obscure Mountain secret realm, which was completely breached by the Red Leaf Valley and the Situ family, completely looted, and now that place has been unsealed, it's just a barren land. Even after some itinerant cultivators searched a few times, they couldn't find anything..."
"Purple Obscure Mountain secret realm?"
Fang Xi thought of Old Wheat Head and fell silent.
After a moment, Master Jiuxuan envied, "It seems that the Purple Obscure Mountain is just a small secret realm that can't withstand the joint efforts of two major forces... But with all the spiritual treasures being looted, maybe in the next few years, the Situ family and the Red Leaf Valley will produce a few more Foundation Building experts..."
Speaking without thinking, the listener had other intentions!
Fang Xi felt a jump in his heart upon hearing this but remained calm.
There was some truth to the saying that when one reaches the peak, they decline.
If the Situ family and the Red Leaf Valley had obtained many treasures, wouldn't outsiders covet them?
Moreover, if these two families produced more Foundation Building cultivators, would the neighboring forces be willing?
Even if they had a little bit of malicious intent, one mountain cannot contain two tigers. After the meat was eaten, could the Red Leaf Valley and the Situ family really coexist peacefully?
"Perhaps the recent anomalies are related to this?"
Fang Xi thought of running away, feeling strangely relaxed.
He was at the lowest level of the cultivation world now, and no matter how things changed above, it had nothing to do with him as long as he handed in his grain on time!
"I absolutely cannot get involved in any cultivator wars!"
"As for running away, no one in the world can beat me in that!"
"If things get chaotic here, I'll just go hide in the Great Liang for a few years!"
(End of Chapter)