Budding Signs (Seeking Collection)

"How is Fellow Daoist Situ Ying?"

Fang Xi looked at the Situ Family's new An Tian Envoy, unable to find a topic for a long time, so he could only ask the question in his heart.

Situ Qingqing's expression turned serious, "After investigation... this person was negligent in his duties, deceived his superiors and subordinates, extorted bribes, and has already been apprehended by the family, subjected to the Thunder Whip punishment, and ordered to reflect in solitary confinement... Were you in seclusion before? Otherwise, you would have known long ago."

"So that's how it is."

Fang Xi nodded, secretly delighted in his heart that the stingy Situ Ying finally got his comeuppance!

He even felt a sliver of goodwill towards the Situ Family.

But he quickly extinguished this sliver of goodwill, because he was a tenant farmer; being grateful for the slightest favor from the landlord was simply a sign of ingrained servility!

However, outwardly, Fang Xi showed extreme emotion, "The Situ Family's investigation is thorough. With Miss Qingqing's arrival, the heavens will clear..."

This person... is too obsequious.

Situ Qingqing felt a bit disgusted. She had originally intended to ask more questions since Fang Xi was in the middle stage of Qi Refining, but now she directly said, "If you need anything in the future, you can find me directly at Cave Mansion Number Three, Ground Character, in the marketplace."

With that, she controlled her Iron Leaf Boat and sped away.

Watching Situ Qingqing leave, Fang Xi narrowed his eyes slightly, "Heh heh..."

He didn't quite believe Situ Qingqing's explanation.

Through Di Qi, he had learned something about the attitude of these immortal cultivation families towards their own kin.

Even though the Situ Family was a Foundation Establishment family, every clan member with a spiritual root was important. How could they be punished for such a trivial matter?

Yes... for cultivators, extorting a few more dou of spiritual grain from spiritual farmers was a trivial matter!

Therefore, Situ Qingqing's reassignment was very unusual!

That person might have other plans, or be investigating something in secret!

It couldn't be that they're investigating me, could it?

Fang Xi arrived at the Jade Bamboo Forest and began pulling weeds with his bare hands, then sighed again.

This marketplace... was no longer peaceful!

Or rather, after just settling down from the fervor of the Purple Nether Mountain secret realm, less than a year had passed, and it seemed that undercurrents were already stirring!

I hope this doesn't implicate me...

But I am a spiritual farmer hired by the Situ Family. If the nest falls, how can the eggs remain intact?

Should I just run? Anyway, I no longer care about the profits from this land... but the channels in the Green Bamboo Mountain Market are still very important...

Fang Xi hesitated for a moment.

However, he soon decided to observe first.

Due to Situ Qingqing's appearance, Fang Xi became somewhat suspicious and paranoid. He temporarily abandoned his plans to travel to the Great Liang World, disguise himself as an itinerant cultivator, and sell Yao Beast meat in the market. Instead, he diligently cultivated the Evergreen Art, the Entanglement Technique, and worked as a spiritual farmer.

As a result, Fang Xi also discovered something.

Without consuming pills and cultivating in an inferior spiritual environment, the progress of his fourth-level Evergreen Art was incredibly slow.

He would meditate and refine Qi for three to four hours a day, yet his cultivation progressed as slowly as a snail.

By his estimation, if things continued like this, it might take over ten years to fully cultivate the fourth level of the Evergreen Art—not including the bottleneck of breaking through to the fifth level.

This illustrated the difficulty of immortal cultivation for itinerant cultivators and those with poor aptitude.

"It's so difficult just to accumulate Magical Power... let alone break through bottlenecks. This low-grade spiritual root is truly pathetic..."

"And according to the information I've gathered, the disadvantage of a low-grade spiritual root is all-encompassing. Even when refining the spiritual energy from pills, the absorption rate is significantly lower than that of medium or high-grade spiritual roots. How can one not feel miserable?"

After another meditation session, Fang Xi stood up, his brows filled with helplessness.

With his aptitude and spiritual vein environment unchanged, without the aid of pills, he might not even be able to cultivate to the Great Perfection of Qi Refining in his lifetime!

"The only good news is that after mastering the Primordial Chaos Energy, I can already lock my entire body's Qi and Blood... Even at a hundred years old, the Blood Qi Gate won't be a problem for me!"

"But without my Magical Power reaching Great Perfection, I won't even qualify to attempt Foundation Establishment!"

Fang Xi's expression turned stern.

In reality, cultivators at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, even without Foundation Establishment Spirit Items and Foundation Establishment Pills, had a chance to attempt Foundation Establishment on their own.

However, the success rate was pitifully low, reportedly less than ten percent, and failure meant immediate death.

Fang Xi never liked gambling on success rates. If he were to attempt Foundation Establishment, he would at least obtain a Foundation Establishment Pill to ensure that he wouldn't die even if he failed.

As long as he didn't die, everything could be started anew!

He stood up, cleaned himself, and walked out the front door.

"Yo, little brother next door, would you like to explore the Way of Yin and Yang with this concubine?"

Next door, in the wooden house where Chen Ping used to live, a seductive female cultivator emerged, smiling and extending an invitation.

"Thank you, Fairy, but please don't tease me!"

Fang Xi refused seriously and headed towards a certain location in Green Bamboo Mountain.

He had a gathering with Nine Profound Venerable and Di Qi.

Green Bamboo Mountain.

Near the Spirit Field area, a place of beautiful mountains and clear waters.

Fang Xi specially roasted two wild chickens, sprinkled them with special spices, and as they sizzled and dripped oil, they emitted an alluring aroma.

Nine Profound Venerable and Di Qi sat on opposite sides, eyeing each other menacingly.

Fang Xi looked around and said with some regret, "Fellow Daoist Chen is not here again..."

"Alas... you don't know, Fellow Daoist Chen has truly struck it rich!"

Nine Profound Venerable's tone was a bit sour, "Since purchasing Master Zong's notes, Fellow Daoist Chen's progress in talisman crafting has been like a thousand miles a day. I heard he's recently been trying to make high-grade Tier 1 talismans..."

"This..."

Fang Xi was a bit dumbfounded.

Could it be... that Chen Ping is truly a once-in-a-century talisman crafting genius? He just hadn't awakened his talent before?

"Not only that, but Fellow Daoist Lu Zhi has also changed her attitude towards Fellow Daoist Chen. I saw them walking arm in arm a couple of days ago, very intimate..."

Di Qi also started to sound sour.

Although he was considered a family cultivator, his family was only at the Qi Refining stage, not much stronger than rogue cultivators.

If he could kill Chen Ping and take his place, he would definitely be a hundred times willing.

So what if she's a widow? So what if she has children?

His stomach is not good, he's suited for eating soft rice, and besides, Lu Zhi is quite beautiful...

"If Fellow Daoist Chen Ping becomes a high-grade Tier 1 Talisman Master, his status in the marketplace will truly be no less than those at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining."

Fang Xi sighed and looked around, "When should we prepare generous gifts and go visit him?"

As a rogue cultivator, he had to have this much foresight.

"Naturally, naturally..." Nine Profound Venerable nodded repeatedly. Although he was sour inside, it didn't stop them from building a good relationship with Chen Ping. Perhaps it would come in handy later!

"Heh heh... stop thinking about it."

At this moment, Di Qi sneered a few times and shook his head, "Chen Ping has already moved into a cave dwelling in the marketplace. I went to visit a few days ago and was actually stopped at the door... by someone from Yunmeng Fairy's side! I see... now that he's successful, he's already forgotten us old friends..."

'Yunmeng Fairy again?'

Fang Xi instinctively felt that Chen Ping wasn't that kind of person, but if it was Yunmeng Fairy and Shen Haoran doing it, it was somewhat possible.

These two had very sharp eyes and had been investing in Chen Ping before.

Now that Chen Ping had the momentum to soar, it was natural to win him over even more, and to expel the old connections and replace the network of relationships was all within reason.

It was said that some overbearing sects and families, if they encountered cultivators with outstanding talent in the four arts of cultivation, would directly abduct them and treat them as tools until death!

'But Chen Ping's progress in the path of talismans is still a bit abnormal... Is Situ Qingqing here for him?'

A thought flashed through Fang Xi's mind, and then he sincerely asked the two, "Are there any rumors recently?"

Nine Profound Venerable's cheeks were rosy as he recounted a string of strange tales.

Di Qi drank his wine dejectedly, occasionally adding a few words.

Fang Xi roughly understood from this that everything in the marketplace was normal, and there were no special price increases for magic tools and talismans.

Moreover, there was no news of war.

'It seems, perhaps I'm being a little too suspicious?'

'Maybe the Situ Family suddenly appointed a law enforcement elder who hates evil...'

Fang Xi comforted himself.

At this moment, he heard Di Qi say again, "Speaking of the biggest news... it's naturally that the Purple Nether Mountain secret realm was jointly broken through and completely swept clean by Red Leaf Valley and the Situ Family. It has now been unsealed, but it's a barren land. Rogue cultivators have searched it several times but found nothing..."

"Purple Nether Mountain secret realm?"

Fang Xi thought of Old Mai Tou and fell silent.

A moment later, Nine Profound Venerable said enviously, "It seems that Purple Nether Mountain was just a small secret realm, not worthy of the joint efforts of two major powers... It's just that the spiritual items within have all been plundered. Perhaps in the next few years, the Situ Family and Red Leaf Valley will have a few more Foundation Establishment Great Cultivators..."

The speaker was unintentional, but the listener was deeply affected!

Fang Xi heard this and felt his heart skip a beat.

As the ancient saying goes, extreme prosperity leads to decline, which has some truth to it.

The Situ Family and Red Leaf Valley obtained many treasures, who's to say outsiders wouldn't covet them?

Furthermore, if these two families produced a few more Foundation Establishment cultivators, would the neighboring powers be happy?

Even if one were to be more malicious, one mountain cannot accommodate two tigers. After the meat is eaten, can the Red Leaf Valley and the Situ Family truly coexist harmoniously?

'Perhaps the recent strangeness stems from this?'

Fang Xi gnawed on a chicken leg, but his mood inexplicably relaxed.

He was currently at the bottom of the cultivation world. No matter how the situation above changed, it had nothing to do with him, as long as he handed in his grain on time!

'What cultivator wars, I absolutely cannot get involved!'

'When it comes to running away, no one in the world can beat me!'

'At worst, if this place descends into chaos, I'll go hide in Da Liang for a few years!'