A Way Forward

Several li away.

Fang Xi pulled the Green Grain Sword from the old Martial Artist's heart, splashing blood everywhere.

"The old bastard didn't play fair. Fortunately, I'm used to it by now."

Ever since making a large purchase at the market several months ago, he had rarely ventured out without being waylaid.

Fortunately, the highest level among those reduced to robbery was merely the True Force Martial Artist level, so he could easily deal with them. It was just that searching their corpses yielded little, which left Fang Xi somewhat regretful.

He entered an already-abandoned civilian house and activated his traversal.

The best way to evade pursuit is to disappear completely!

I'll stay in the Cultivation World for a while, master my Martial Arts, and then return...

Black Stone City.

The sky remained perpetually gloomy, with eerie light filtering down through layer upon layer of Black Mist.

At the boundary between the inner and outer cities.

A large residence.

Several scattered Cursed Persons were wandering about aimlessly.

According to the experience of the rapidly developing scavengers, once one entered the area covered by the tree canopy, one would inevitably suffer attacks from aerial roots, as well as assaults by large numbers of 'Wood Persons' and Cursed Persons. The chances of survival were practically one in ten!

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

Even against a Cursed Person, a Martial Disciple of the Three Changes of Qi and Blood would find it extremely troublesome.

But now that supplies were gradually running dry, many people still risked their lives by prowling along the edge of danger, searching for opportunities.

The wooden residence's gate opened slightly, and two children slipped out.

They did not even know where they had come from. These orphaned wanderers had formed a small team and were risking their lives to search for supplies.

"Hurry up, the monster's coming!"

A braided girl lowered her voice.

"Don't worry, Xiaoyun. Brother Gou has always been quick!" A half-grown boy ran out from the inner residence. He wore a set of tattered cloth clothes, and his arms were bulging with something.

At that moment, the footsteps they thought they had concealed so carefully still attracted the attention of a Cursed Person.

"Not good, Xiaoyun, you go first!"

Brother Gou shoved the bundle in his arms at Xiaoyun and pushed the little girl away.

The Cursed Person turned its head. It had the appearance of a woman, with most of its face covered in pitch-black runes. Its vacant eyes locked onto the two living people.

Suddenly, it accelerated and charged over at incredible speed.

"Go!"

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

"Brother Gou!"

Xiaoyun ran toward the outer city while crying.

If they did not bring the food back, the several children in the dilapidated shack—some even younger than them—would starve to death.

Bang!

Unfortunately, she was too grief-stricken to watch her step and took a heavy tumble while fleeing.

The little girl did not cry out in pain. She merely clutched the bundle in her arms with all her might.

Even so, several pieces of cured meat still rolled out.

Slap!

One piece of cured meat rolled several times across the ground before stopping beside a shoe.

Xiaoyun looked up. The first thing she saw was a pair of legs like iron pillars, followed by a man built like an iron pagoda.

Terror immediately spread across her face.

Every child still alive now knew to stay away from anyone stronger than themselves, because any stranger might harbor malicious intent!

"F-for you!"

Xiaoyun spoke timidly, her voice thick with tears. "But... could you leave me a little?"

The big man picked up the cured meat and placed it in the little girl's hands. He smiled and said, "I, Zhang Junming, have never taken ill-gotten gains!"

As he spoke, the big man flashed forward and attacked the female Cursed Person.

As he moved, the muscles across his body rippled like flowing water. He was clearly an expert who had advanced through external training to the Martial Hall Master realm.

Bang!

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

Zhang Junming tucked one child under each arm and swiftly fled the danger zone. He did not set them down until they reached the edge of the outer city.

"Many thanks, great hero!"

Brother Gou hurriedly forced a smile, his nimble eyes darting about.

"Haha, relax. I'm not up to anything underhanded. But I do like that quick wit of yours. If this were before, I would certainly have taken you as a disciple. Alas..."

Zhang Junming sighed. "Unfortunately, most of my disciples are already dead..."

"Big Brother, here!"

Xiaoyun's eyes curved with her smile as she held out a piece of cured meat to the big man.

Zhang Junming froze. Then he burst into hearty laughter, picked up the piece of cured meat that he would have absolutely scorned several months ago, dirt and all, and bit into it fiercely. "Delicious. Truly delicious..."

"Delicious!"

On Green Bamboo Mountain.

Fang Xi had caught a wild chicken. He did not even use a pot, directly plucking off the feathers and cleaning out the innards before stuffing it with spirit bamboo shoots and mushrooms, adding various seasonings, coating it in mud, and making a beggar's chicken.

At that moment, he bit into a chicken wing, and the freshness was so exquisite it nearly made his eyebrows fall off.

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

Chen Ping sat beside him, rapidly tearing at a chicken leg. The leg was fragrant enough to make one's mouth water, and with the slightest shake, the meat naturally separated from the bone.

Also gathered around the fire were two Rogue Cultivators. They looked far more down-and-out than Yunmeng Fairy and the others, and both were in the early Qi Refining stage.

After Chen Ping had returned from Mingqing Pavilion, he had felt somewhat guilty.

He then reintroduced two fellow Daoists to Fang Xi.

This time, he had learned his lesson and selected people from roughly the same level of circle.

He had also chosen a location beside the shantytown, directly arranging an outdoor barbecue.

"Hehe... Fellow Daoist Fang's culinary skills would absolutely make him a divine chef in the mortal world. I wonder, would you be interested in developing into a Spirit Chef?"

An old Daoist with a rather transcendental air was rapidly gnawing on a chicken rump. Two cleanly gnawed chicken feet lay beside him. The way he ate while licking his fingers made him look as though he were savoring some peerless delicacy.

This man called himself the 'Nine Profound Venerable.' His appearance was indeed quite impressive, but in truth he was only at the second layer of Qi Refining. It was said that he had even served as a national preceptor in the mortal world for a time. Yet after arriving at Green Bamboo Mountain, he was at the very bottom of the bottommost rung. His knowledge was genuinely extensive, particularly regarding the mortal world.

"How can there be meat without wine?"

Beside the Nine Profound Venerable sat a young gentleman in blue robes, dressed like a chivalrous hero from the mortal world.

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

This man was named 'Di Qi.' He was a member of a small Qi Refining lineage near Green Bamboo Mountain and ranked seventh in his family.

Although his Spiritual Root Aptitude was poor, among everyone present, he was unquestionably the most generous.

At that moment, he directly produced a gourd of spirit wine and distributed it among them.

"Fellow Daoist Di is generous!"

Chen Ping hurriedly took out a cup, glanced at it, then tossed it aside and replaced it with a chipped bowl. He laughed. "This gourd of spirit wine could fetch at least one spirit stone in the market!"

"No need to stand on ceremony... I've always felt that having two or three close friends with whom to cultivate and discuss the Dao is the greatest joy!"

Di Qi smiled warmly.

In truth, he still cared rather deeply about his status.

After all, lineage cultivators—even Qi Refining lineage cultivators who were little better off than Rogue Cultivators—were still a level above Rogue Cultivators!

But Chen Ping could at least become a Talisman Maker in the future, so this much face still had to be given.

The four drank wine and ate meat together, reveling to their hearts' content.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, the Nine Profound Venerable began chatting about everything under the sun. He had traveled far and wide throughout his life, and his experiences were extraordinarily varied.

Even Fang Xi listened with keen interest.

He had initially wanted to join various circles precisely to broaden his horizons and expand his connections.

At that moment, when he heard the old Nine Profound boasting about how he had once taken several great experts from the mortal martial world as slaves, Fang Xi's eyes lit up. He smiled and said, "No matter how strong mortal Martial Artists are, they still can't compare to first-layer Qi Refining cultivators, right?"

"Though that's true, they make excellent servants. And those female heroes are quite suitable for warming one's bed."

The Nine Profound Venerable wore a look of reminiscence, his smile rippling with spring breeze.

"That may not be so..." Di Qi chimed in. "If a mortal Martial Artist is fully prepared and makes use of terrain and equipment... once we early-stage Qi Refining cultivators exhaust our spiritual power, there's a real chance we could capsize in the gutter."

As a lineage cultivator, he had even been specially warned by his elders.

"Actually... the mortal Martial Artists' path of Body Refining does bear some resemblance to Body Cultivators."

Fang Xi subtly guided the conversation.

"Not so, not so..." The Nine Profound Venerable shook his head. "Even Qin Tian, the 'Body Champion' among the thirteen champions famed throughout Yue Kingdom in those days—the peerless expert known as the Ten Extremes, who was said to have cultivated ten supreme hard-body techniques and whose ferocity shook the world—was ultimately still just a sliver weaker than a Body Refining First Level cultivator. Moreover... he suddenly died after only a few years."

"He most likely died from a clash between his inner breath," Fang Xi said, his eyes flashing. "If we cultivators used Spiritual Awareness to inspect and harmonize it internally, he might not have been without a way to survive. He might even have achieved greater heights!"

"Difficult, difficult, difficult... If mortal Martial Arts could compare to Body Cultivation techniques, we would have all gone to learn them long ago." Chen Ping shook his head and swayed it from side to side.

"Actually, it may not be entirely without a solution."

Upon hearing this, Di Qi deliberately spoke in a mysterious tone.

"Oh? Then I'll trouble Fellow Daoist Di to enlighten me."

Fang Xi's heart stirred. At last, the real meat of the matter is here.

Di Qi took a muffled gulp from the gourd of spirit wine. As though savoring its taste with his eyes closed, he shook his head and said, "A cultivator's Spiritual Awareness can only temporarily suppress the clash of inner breaths. If you want to eradicate the hidden danger, you might as well purchase a 'Breath Regulating Pill' from the Pill Cauldron Pavilion. This pill is especially adept at harmonizing different kinds of inner breath. My lineage once recruited a peerless Martial Artist rarely seen in a century in the martial world as a servant, and this was the reward we offered!"

Upon hearing this, Fang Xi's eyes lit up.

It was not that he was certain the Breath Regulating Pill could resolve his problem.

Rather, the problem of his mixed Martial Arts qi and blood, which made breakthroughs difficult, might be an insurmountable shackle in Daliang.

But in the eyes of a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator from the Southern Barrens Cultivation World, it might well be a joke!

The Breath Regulating Pill is ultimately meant only to solve the problem of the mortal Martial Artists' inner breath in Yue Kingdom. Qi and blood are an entirely different matter.

But the Pill Cauldron Pavilion may well have pills that can harmonize Martial Arts qi and blood!

They might even be able to refine pills that increase one's upper limit of qi and blood, so long as someone wants them!

Fang Xi was overjoyed.

The resources and experience of the two worlds could complement each other, each making up for the other's shortcomings. His Dao Path had hope, and so did his pursuit of longevity!