"Fifteenth Great Grandfather, thank you for your trouble!" Ling Pengyun thanked him, then waved his hand and stored the thirty-two jade boxes of spirit fruit floating before him, along with that green leaf shimmering with spiritual charm, into his Storage Bag.
"No matter. Stay for a day before leaving, just like last year!" Ling Rushui asked, his eyes carrying a hint of expectation.
"Alright!" Ling Pengyun naturally understood Ling Rushui's little thoughts and agreed with a smile.
That night, Ling Rushui and Ling Pengyun, grandfather and grandson, once again chatted through the entire night as they always had.
Ling Pengyun told the solitary old man Ling Rushui everything about the Ink Cloud Poisonous Snake, the Blue-Scaled Demon Serpent, and the Mystic Water Iron Mine he had encountered recently.
As a listener, Ling Rushui was greatly alarmed upon hearing about the Ink Cloud Poisonous Snake and Blue-Scaled Demon Serpent, breaking out in a cold sweat for Ling Pengyun. When he heard the detailed account of how the Mystic Water Iron Mine had been discovered, he was delighted for him instead, inwardly sighing that little Pengyun's fortune was truly remarkable.
Time always passed too quickly in the midst of conversation.
At dawn, while Ling Rushui was preparing breakfast, Ling Pengyun took the chance to absorb the First Sun Power for a while. After breakfast, he also made a trip to the Azure Bamboo Talisman Pavilion to replenish the Spirit Talisman Cave he had used up some time ago.
In total, he bought five Fire Arrow Talismans and five Shield Talismans, spending forty Spirit Stones.
This caused Ling Pengyun's once-bulging Storage Bag to lose another large sum of Spirit Stones. It was already showing signs of running dry, making Ling Pengyun ache with heartache for quite some time.
After returning to the rice hall to bid Ling Rushui farewell, Ling Pengyun took advantage of the early morning, when there were few people in the market, and quietly left Cloud Mist Market, where only a handful of Rogue Cultivators were about.
Meanwhile, Ling Rushui stood alone at the entrance of Lingxiao Rice Hall, blankly gazing toward the market entrance.
Only after a long while did he come back to himself. His expression lonely, he muttered softly to himself.
"Let little Pengyun keep me company for another three years. Once his five-year assignment guarding Azure Stone Mountain is over, this old man should return to Clan Mountain and enjoy some peace and comfort!"
Only after saying this did he return to the shop.
Shen Hu had been born a mortal. Because he possessed a Spirit Root, he was found by chance by a Rogue Cultivator in the Qi Training Middle Stage who was nearing a hundred years of age.
As this hundred-year-old Rogue Cultivator was already advanced in years, he took Shen Hu as his disciple and bestowed upon him a Qi Refining cultivation method, the "Golden Spirit Art."
Over the following days, he carefully taught Shen Hu how to cultivate.
When Shen Hu was twenty years old and at the Qi Training Second Layer, his master's lifespan ran out.
Shen Hu thus became alone in the world. Possessing great power, he was naturally unwilling to return to an ordinary life. Carrying his master's final wish, Shen Hu began wandering the Cultivation World by himself.
As a Rogue Cultivator with such low cultivation, he naturally drew the attention of many Rogue Cultivators and even demonic cultivators.
Fortunately, before his death, his master had left Shen Hu quite a few powerful magical artifacts and Spirit Talisman Cave.
With those spiritual items, Shen Hu safely resolved one crisis after another, even counter-killing those who had sought to ambush him.
After enjoying the wealth gained from killing a cultivator once, Shen Hu came to understand the meaning of "murder and arson bring golden belts."
Gradually, he too began taking up the trade of "interception and killing" with increasing frequency.
Over these years of roaming the Cultivation World alone, no fewer than twenty and perhaps as many as thirty Rogue Cultivators had died by his hand.
The wealth gained from killing those cultivators had pushed his cultivation as high as the Qi Training Sixth Layer, where he was stuck before the most difficult bottleneck of the Qi Refining realm—the Qi Training Seventh Layer.
In order to break through that bottleneck as quickly as possible, Shen Hu had come to Huai River County several years earlier, a place newly developed by the Hundred Spirits Sect and still home to many demon beasts. He relied on hunting demon beasts or intercepting cultivators for wealth, gathering Spirit Stones to purchase a Barrier Breaking Pill.
Yet the price of a Barrier Breaking Pill was simply far too high.
Furthermore, hunting demon beasts was his livelihood, and he was often injured, making it unavoidable for him to buy some Healing Pills.
As a result, he had not managed to save many Spirit Stones over the years, barely having enough for normal cultivation.
That day, Shen Hu arrived at Cloud Mist Market early, intending to sell the flesh of a Qi Training Middle Stage demon beast he had killed not long ago and earn some Spirit Stones. Yet a stroke of good fortune suddenly fell from the heavens onto him.
A Message Talisman flew in from outside the market and arrived beside Shen Hu, who had just set up his stall by the sides of Cloud Mist Market's main street.
Seeing the Message Talisman appear so abruptly, Shen Hu was deeply puzzled. He did not have any friends in Cloud Mist Market—who would send him a message?
He waved his hand and took the Message Talisman, carefully examining what was written on it. His heart jolted.
The Message Talisman gave a detailed account of the various spiritual items Ling Pengyun, who had just left Cloud Mist Market, had purchased there, as well as Ling Pengyun's identity as a member of the Ling Clan.
The Message Talisman had appeared out of nowhere. Shen Hu had spent long enough in the Cultivation World to understand its dangers, so he naturally did not dare believe it lightly.
But with someone who appeared to be a "fat sheep" showing up before him, he had no intention of letting such an opportunity slip away.
To verify whether what was written on the Message Talisman was true, he put away the flesh of the Qi Training Middle Stage demon beast he had just placed at his stall. He then visited the market's five shops separately, pretending to buy spirit fruit from them, and also went to Cloud Mist Weapon Refinement Hall to purchase a Green Travel Leaf, only to learn that there were none.
Then he recalled that Ling Pengyun, who had just left the market, had indeed come from Lingxiao Rice Hall. This made Shen Hu believe that what was written on the Message Talisman was true.
"That Ling Pengyun really is a fat sheep. I have this Message Talisman to thank for it, though I wonder who ordered it sent."
"But if I can kill Ling Pengyun this time and obtain the wealth on him, I will surely save enough Spirit Stones to buy a Barrier Breaking Pill. Then, with that pill, I can break through to the Qi Training Late Stage."
"By then, whether I become a Guest Elder of one of those damned Lineages or continue living as a Rogue Cultivator, my life will be far better than it is now!"
After secretly rejoicing, Shen Hu quickly rushed out of Cloud Mist Market, chasing in the direction Ling Pengyun had gone.
At the entrance to Cloud Mist Market.
Wen Xianren, a Qi Training Late Stage cultivator stationed there year-round, saw Shen Hu leave the market and pursue Ling Pengyun of the Ling Clan. A cold smile appeared on his face.
"That Ling Clan brat buying spiritual items in my Wen Clan's Cloud Mist Market the first time was one thing, but he bought so many again the second time! He wants to use my Wen Clan's resources to buy spiritual items and improve his cultivation? What a dream!"
"That Ling Pengyun... it would be just as well if he died. The Ling Clan has... too many promising clan members now!"
A trace of jealousy surfaced on his face.
The Message Talisman in Shen Hu's hand had been sent by him.
And Shen Hu would become a weapon for achieving his goal.
The Cloud Mist Wen Clan, whose younger generation was failing to produce successors, stood beside the Lingxiao Ling Clan, which possessed Ling Pengxing and his Dual Spirit Root. The gap between them was obvious.
The Ling Clan had even discovered a small Mystic Water Iron Mine some time ago, greatly strengthening its Lineage foundation. Furthermore, the clan had Ling Pengxing, a young clansman with a considerable chance of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment.
No matter how one looked at it, the Ling Clan would only travel farther and farther down the path of the Cultivation World.
The Wen Clan, in contrast, was too miserable to behold, with no obvious genius in cultivation.
An Yang County, where the Ling Clan was located, lay beside Peaceful An County of the Cloud Mist Wen Clan. Who could say that a hundred years from now, the Cloud Mist Wen Clan would not decline and fail to produce another Foundation Establishment cultivator, while the Ling Clan, with another Foundation Establishment cultivator overseeing it, would be the first to strike against its neighboring Wen Clan?
Given a chance to have talented Ling Clan members die miserable deaths, Wen Xianren naturally would not let it pass.
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