A dark stone the size of a fist was easily crushed by the large claw of a young Iron Claw Crab. The crab waved its sharp claws at Lu Xuan, its bulging eyes showing a hint of disdain.
"It seems your strength has improved after not working for a while!" Lu Xuan chuckled, handing the split iron ore to the crab.
The crab quickly split the piece into smaller parts, reducing the stone's size at a visible pace. With every crack, Lu Xuan's thoughts drifted.
This trip to the secret realm made him realize how powerless he felt as a loose cultivator. Usually, he lived a peaceful life, farming and avoiding conflicts, only showing his talent as a Spiritual Plant Cultivator. To avoid unnecessary trouble, he even established a cooperative relationship with the Hundred Herbs Hall, where he was affiliated.
However, when the Wang family invited him, he felt trapped. Even though he didn't want to help identify spiritual plants in the secret realm, he had no choice but to agree. This highlighted the helplessness of lower-level loose cultivators.
After this experience, he began to think about leaving Linyang Market Town. The Hundred Herbs Hall had recommended him to the Wang family, and regardless of their intentions, it was clear that trouble was brewing, which would ruin any goodwill between them.
Of course, this didn’t change his feelings toward Steward He. Over the years, the thin old man had taken care of him, and that kindness was undeniable.
As for the Wang family, two high-level Qi Refining cultivators had perished in the secret realm. They would surely come to question him in their anger. Even if he felt innocent, he might still get caught in their troubles.
But where could he go after leaving Linyang Market Town?
A new market town?
He guessed that even if he changed towns, he would still face the same restrictions.
Maybe he could find a forest and live in seclusion, growing spiritual plants alone?
That seemed unrealistic. First, growing spiritual plants required pure spiritual energy, ideally from a spiritual field near a spiritual vein. Second, being alone could expose him to evil spirits and monsters. Lastly, it would be hard to find high-quality spirit seeds.
So, the best option would be to join a sect.
With his current cultivation at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and his unique skills in growing spiritual plants, he would qualify to join a sect.
Joining a sect had obvious benefits: purer and denser spiritual energy would help plants grow, and it would provide a safe and stable environment. There was also a chance to obtain high-quality spirit seeds and young spiritual beasts.
Once he made that decision, Lu Xuan immediately thought of the Tianjian Sect mentioned by the cold female cultivator. With the Qingyun Token she gave him, it would be much easier to join a sect, and he was also quite interested in the variant sword grass she spoke of.
“Next, I need to prepare to leave the market town and deal with the Wang family issue,” he said to himself.
He stood up and focused on the young Iron Claw Crab beneath him. Its claws were trembling, raised in the air, but whenever a piece of iron ore came close, it couldn't help but try to crush it.
Lu Xuan tossed the crab into the Spiritual Spring Pool, collected the iron fragments, opened the Mist Concealment Array, instructed the Straw Puppet to guard the spiritual field well, and set off for the Hundred Herbs Hall with the Cloud Stepping Leopard.
Inside the Hundred Herbs Hall, the scent of medicine was strong. As Lu Xuan entered, he immediately spotted the thin old man staring blankly at the counter.
He walked over and waved his hand in front of the old man’s eyes.
Steward He snapped back to reality, his eyes lighting up when he saw Lu Xuan, a smile spreading across his face.
“Lu kid, you’re finally back!”
“I heard you went to that secret realm. I’ve been worried about you. It’s good to see you back,” the thin old man said, gently patting Lu Xuan on the shoulder.
“Thank you for your concern, Elder He,” Lu Xuan replied, feeling warmth in his heart as he bowed his head in gratitude.
Steward He glanced around to ensure no one was watching and whispered to Lu Xuan, “A spiritual plant cultivator who entered the secret realm with you said you encountered evil spirits. What happened?”
“That is true,” Lu Xuan nodded seriously. “We were picking and processing spiritual plants under the guidance of a Wang family cultivator when one day, a spiritual plant cultivator suddenly disappeared.”
“Then, a high-level Qi Refining cultivator from the Wang family found his companion was tainted by evil spirits, leading to a deadly fight. We, the lower-level spiritual plant cultivators, were worried about getting caught up in it, so we all fled.”
“I don’t know what happened afterward. I managed to escape and found a few cultivators who helped me get out of the secret realm and back to the market town.”
Lu Xuan told the truth but left out some key details.
He didn’t mention reporting the evil spirits to Li Jianfeng, eliminating the infected Li Jianfeng, avoiding the treacherous evil spirits, or dealing with the scheming cultivator teams.
The biggest lies aren’t the ones that are completely false, but rather those that are made up of truths that create a false narrative.
From Steward He, Lu Xuan learned that apart from him, five or six other spiritual plant cultivators had returned, but only He Ping was still missing from the Hundred Herbs Hall.
Lu Xuan felt a bit more at ease. With more people back, his words would carry more weight, and the risk of being blamed by the Wang family would be shared.
He paused, pretending to hesitate, then gritted his teeth and said to the thin old man, “Steward He, it’s possible that He Ping won’t return. I saw him from a distance while escaping, and he was targeted by the evil spirits. There’s a high chance he met with misfortune.”
“Really? If that’s the case, the Wang family won’t be able to give us an explanation,” Steward He said, knowing that He Ping had connections with the alchemists in the hall, making his loss significant.
“There’s something else I need to clarify. While we were identifying and picking spiritual plants, Wang Ruhai from the Wang family left the camp without permission to explore the secret realm, which led to the evil spirit incident.”
“Is that true?” Steward He asked seriously.
“Other spiritual plant cultivators can testify to this.”
“If that’s the case, the situation changes.”
If it was just a case of being tainted by evil spirits, it could be seen as an accident, and the Wang family would have the right to question the surviving cultivators.
But since Wang Ruhai neglected his duty to protect the spiritual plant cultivators and instead brought disaster upon them, it had nothing to do with Lu Xuan and the others.
In fact, the deceased spiritual plant cultivators would be blamed on Wang Ruhai of the Wang family.
Every one of the more than ten spiritual plant cultivators who entered the secret realm was a valuable asset to the various forces in the market town. Losing any of them would cause significant losses.
Knowing that the outcome was due to the Wang family's negligence, the other families and forces in the market town would definitely seek an explanation and wouldn’t let it go easily.
In this power struggle, they would have no time to worry about a small loose cultivator like Lu Xuan.
(End of Chapter)