Method (Seeking Collection)

Several miles away.

Fang Xi pulled the Green Grain Sword from the chest of an elderly martial artist, splashing a pool of blood.

"The old guy didn't fight honorably, but luckily I'm used to it."

Ever since his big spending spree at the market months ago, he'd been ambushed whenever he went out.

Fortunately, those who resorted to robbery were at most at the True Force martial artist level, easily dealt with. It was just a pity that looting their bodies yielded little, leaving Fang Xi slightly disappointed.

He entered a long-abandoned civilian house and initiated his teleportation.

'The best way to avoid pursuit is to disappear completely!'

'I'll stay in the immortal cultivation world for a while, train my Martial Arts, and then come back...'

Black Stone City.

The sky was perpetually dim, with strange light filtering down through layers of black fog.

The edge between the inner and outer city.

A large mansion.

A few scattered 'Cursed People' were wandering aimlessly.

According to the rapidly developed experience of scavengers, once one entered the area covered by the tree canopy, they were bound to be attacked by qi roots, and swarmed by a large number of 'Wood People' and 'Cursed People', leading to almost certain death!

The strength of the Wood People surpassed that of ordinary Martial Hall Masters.

Even for the Cursed People, it was very troublesome for martial apprentices at the Three Changes of Qi and Blood stage.

But now, as resources gradually dwindled, many fearless individuals, for the sake of survival, still attempted to skirt the edges of danger, searching for opportunities.

The large wooden house's gate creaked open slightly, and two children crawled out.

They were likely stray orphans from somewhere, forming a small team to venture out in search of supplies.

"Hurry, the monsters are coming!"

A girl with braided hair lowered her voice.

"Don't worry, Xiao Yun, Brother Dog is always fast!" The one who ran out from the inner house was a half-grown teenager, wearing tattered cloth clothes, his arms bulging.

At this moment, their footsteps, though they thought they were very careful, still attracted the attention of a Cursed Person.

"Not good, Xiao Yun, you go first!"

Brother Dog shoved the bundle in his arms to Xiao Yun and pushed the little girl away.

The Cursed Person turned its head. This Cursed Person was female in appearance, with most of its face covered in black runes, its vacant eyes staring fixedly at the two living people.

Suddenly, she accelerated, running with incredible speed.

"Go!"

Brother Dog grabbed a stone and hurled it at the female Cursed Person, running in the opposite direction. "Come on, catch me!"

"Brother Dog!"

Xiao Yun cried as she ran towards the outer city.

If they didn't get food back soon, the younger children in their small shack would starve to death.

Bang!

Unfortunately, she was too distraught and wasn't paying attention as she ran, falling hard.

The little girl didn't cry out in pain, just clutched the bundle tightly.

However, several pieces of cured meat still rolled out.

Splat!

A piece of cured meat rolled a few times on the ground and stopped beside a shoe.

Xiao Yun looked up, first seeing pillar-like legs, then a man built like an iron tower.

Her face immediately turned terrified.

All the children still alive now knew to stay far away from anyone stronger than them, because strangers could harbor ill intentions!

"Here... here you go!"

Xiao Yun said timidly, her voice trembling with sobs, "But can you leave me a little?"

The big man picked up the cured meat, placed it in the little girl's hand, and smiled, "I, Zhang Junming, never take ill-gotten gains!"

As he spoke, the man flashed forward and charged at the female Cursed Person.

As he moved, his muscles rippled like flowing water, clearly a master who had reached the Martial Hall Master level in external martial arts.

Bang!

The female Cursed Person let out a scream and was sent flying.

Zhang Junming, holding a child in each arm, swiftly escaped the danger zone, only setting them down at the edge of the outer city.

"Thank you, great hero!"

The young dog brother quickly forced a smile, his agile eyes darting around.

"Haha, don't worry, I won't have any ill intentions. I quite like your sharp wit. If it were before, I would have taken you as a disciple. Alas..."

Zhang Junming sighed, "It's a pity that most of my disciples are already dead..."

"Big brother, here you go!"

Xiao Yun's eyes curved into crescents as she handed a piece of cured meat to the big man.

Zhang Junming froze, then burst into laughter. He took the piece of cured meat, which he would have disdained just a few months ago, and even found a bit dirty, and took a big bite. "Delicious, truly delicious..."

"Delicious!"

On Green Bamboo Mountain.

Fang Xi had caught a wild chicken. Without a pot, he directly plucked its feathers, cleaned out its insides, stuffed it with spirit bamboo shoots and mushrooms, added various seasonings, and then covered it with mud to make a beggar's chicken.

As he bit into a chicken wing, the flavor was so fresh it almost made his eyebrows fall off.

"Haha, Brother Fang's beggar's chicken is truly exceptional."

Chen Ping sat beside him, rapidly tearing off a chicken leg. The aroma of the chicken leg was intoxicating. With a slight shake, the meat separated naturally from the bone.

Around the campfire were two rogue cultivators, looking much more down-and-out than Fairy Yunmeng and the others. Their cultivation levels were both in the early stages of Qi Refining.

When Chen Ping returned from Ming Qing Pavilion, he felt a bit guilty.

He then reintroduced two Fellow Daoists to Fang Xi.

This time, he learned from his mistake and chose people of similar standing.

The location was also chosen near the shantytown, and they had a wild barbecue.

"Heh heh... Fellow Daoist Fang's culinary skills are definitely god-tier in the mortal world. Are you interested in developing into a spirit chef?"

An old Daoist who looked quite ethereal was rapidly gnawing on a chicken's rear, with two cleaned chicken feet beside him. Watching him lick his fingers as he ate made him look like he was enjoying some peerless delicacy.

This person called himself 'Nine Profound Venerable'. His selling skills were indeed not bad, but his actual cultivation was only at the second level of Qi Refining. It was said that he had even served as a national preceptor in the mortal world for a time. However, after arriving at Green Bamboo Mountain, he was at the bottom of the barrel. His knowledge was certainly not lacking, especially regarding the mortal world.

"With meat, how can there be no wine?"

Beside Nine Profound was a young man in a green robe, dressed like a knight-errant from the mortal world.

He looked to be in his twenties, but his cultivation had already reached the peak of the third level of Qi Refining.

This person's name was 'Di Qi'. He was a member of a small Qi Refining family near Green Bamboo Mountain, ranked seventh.

Although his spiritual root aptitude was poor, he was the most generous among those present.

He directly took out a gourd of spirit wine and distributed it to everyone.

"Fellow Daoist Di is generous!"

Chen Ping quickly took out a cup, looked at it, and then threw it away, replacing it with a broken bowl. He chuckled, "This gourd of spirit wine is worth at least one Spirit Stone in the marketplace!"

"It's nothing, nothing... I've always felt that having a few good friends to cultivate and discuss the Dao together is the greatest joy!"

Di Qi said with a smile.

In reality, he was quite concerned about his status.

After all, family cultivators, even those from Qi Refining families who were similar to rogue cultivators, were still a step above rogue cultivators!

However, Chen Ping was, after all, a future talisman maker, so he had to give him some face.

The four of them drank and ate meat together, enjoying themselves immensely.

After they had drunk their fill and eaten their fill, Nine Profound Venerable began to chat about various things. His life had been filled with travels, and his experiences were exceptionally rich.

Even Fang Xi listened with great interest.

His initial desire to join various circles was to broaden his horizons and expand his network.

Hearing the old man Nine Profound boasting about how he had once taken several great masters from the mortal martial arts world as his servants, Fang Xi's eyes lit up, and he chuckled, "No matter how strong a mortal martial artist is, they can't compare to a cultivator at the first level of Qi Refining, right?"

"Although that's true, they are still quite useful for serving as miscellaneous laborers, or for those female martial artists to warm their beds," Nine Profound Venerable said with a look of reminiscence, smiling flirtatiously.

"Not necessarily... If mortal martial artists are well-prepared and cooperate with the terrain and equipment... if our Qi Refining early-stage cultivators run out of Magical Power, we might actually capsize." Di Qi interjected.

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

"Actually... the path of Body Refining for mortal martial artists has some similarities to Body Cultivation," Fang Xi subtly steered the conversation.

"Not at all, not at all..." Nine Profound Venerable shook his head. "Even Qin Tian, the 'Body Armor' among the thirteen renowned figures of Yue Country back then, who was said to have practiced ten hard martial arts techniques alone and possessed immense power, was still slightly inferior to a cultivator at the Body Refining First Level. Moreover... he died violently within a few years."

"This person most likely died from internal energy conflict. If it were us cultivators, we could use Spiritual Awareness to internally observe and harmonize, and perhaps there would be a way to survive, or even achieve greater accomplishments!" Fang Xi's eyes flashed.

"Difficult, difficult, difficult... If mortal martial arts could rival Body Cultivation secret techniques, we would have all learned them long ago," Chen Ping said, shaking his head.

"Actually, it's not necessarily impossible."

Di Qi, hearing this, pretended to be profound and said.

"Oh? I'll have to ask Fellow Daoist Di for guidance," Fang Xi's heart stirred, thinking, The real show is finally here.

Di Qi took a swig from his gourd of Spirit Wine, as if savoring it with his eyes closed, and swayed his head as he spoke, "A cultivator's Spiritual Awareness can only temporarily suppress internal Qi conflicts. If you want to completely eradicate the hidden danger, why not buy a Breath Regulating Pill from the Pill Cauldron Pavilion? This pill is best at harmonizing different types of internal Qi. My family recruited a peerless martial artist, one in a hundred years, to serve as a servant before, and we offered this very reward!"

Fang Xi's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

It wasn't that he was certain the Breath Regulating Pill could solve his problem.

It was that the issue of mixed martial arts Qi and Blood making breakthroughs difficult might be a bottleneck in Da Liang.

But to the Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators of the Southern Barrens Cultivation World, it was probably a joke!

The Breath Regulating Pill only solves the internal Qi problems of Yue Kingdom martial artists; it's not the same as Qi and Blood at all.

But in the Pill Cauldron Pavilion, there might be pills that harmonize martial arts Qi and Blood!

Even pills that increase the Qi and Blood limit, as long as one desires them, an alchemist might be able to refine them!

Fang Xi was overjoyed.

The resources and experiences of both worlds could complement each other. His path to cultivation was promising, and his longevity was within reach!