Rewards for Hard Work!

Rewards for Hard Work!

In the Red Cloud Sect Market, inside a shabby room,

Chen Wang was holding his breath and focusing as he drew talismans. Spiritual energy flowed slowly from the tip of his brush, every stroke meticulous and precise. Hoo! He completed the final stroke, successfully producing another Wind Riding Talisman. Chen Wang's talisman-drawing skills had become far more practiced than before, and his success rate had greatly improved. After drawing talismans in the room for half a day, the spiritual energy within him was completely exhausted, and he hurriedly sat in meditation to regulate his breath.

Whether drawing talismans or refining pills, neither actually demanded much spiritual energy. After all, these two cultivation skills were mainly meant to allow people to surpass their original cultivation realm. But while the requirements were not high, the consumption was still considerable, especially for Chen Wang at present. Besides, the Red Cloud Qi Refining Art he cultivated was a common, mass-market technique, and circulated spiritual power rather slowly.

It had been two days since Chen Wang returned to the Cultivation World.

Over the past two days, aside from drawing talismans, he had gone out to purchase basic necessities such as Spirit Rice and Demon Beast Meat. Moreover, he had learned from his neighbors that many Red Cloud Sect Disciples had appeared in the Market recently, while all unfamiliar faces had vanished without a trace.

After injecting the Second Order Genetic Potions Stormcaller and Evil Spirit, he had remained in the Great Winter World for another half month before returning here.

There was no need to deliberately seek out information. He heard plenty simply from the neighborhood and the Market.

When he passed several houses in the Slum Area while out, he casually cast a glance inside. There was no one in the rooms.

"Had those people already left, or were they simply not there at the moment?"

Chen Wang wondered.

In the Great Winter World, he had carried a shotgun and even made a Third Order Zombie die by his hand.

But in the Cultivation World, there were countless people stronger than him. He therefore acted with extreme restraint here, unwilling to stir up trouble. When that young man had left his house that day, Chen Wang had noticed many unfamiliar faces quietly following after him.

And those people had emerged from this house in the Slum Area.

Over the last two days, Chen Wang had casually kept an eye on the matter, yet he had not spotted those unfamiliar faces. Still, he had not asked anyone about them.

Given the current situation, less trouble was better than more.

After selling the Wind Riding Talismans in his hand, Chen Wang bought some basic supplies and returned. The beautiful Female Cultivator leaning against the Pleasure House railing, her clothes scanty and her figure alluring, remained highly interested when she saw Chen Wang. Sometimes, that was simply how it was—the more you ignored her, the more her heart itched.

The spiritual essence in Chen Wang's Golden Bell Talisman had faded greatly. It looked as though it could only be used once more at most. Talismans were like that: purely consumable items.

The spells briefly sealed inside were expended, releasing a small amount of spiritual energy. They differed from magical artifacts, which were equivalent to having spells permanently fixed within them and could be used repeatedly.

"I need to work hard at drawing talismans during this period and strive to buy a magical artifact. Otherwise, if I only buy more talismans, I'll still end up empty-handed."

Chen Wang thought.

The powerful physical qualities he possessed in the Great Winter World were nothing remarkable in the Cultivation World. Keeping a low profile remained the priority. Chen Wang silently drew talismans and quietly built himself up. Three days passed in a row. As he was drawing talismans at home, he suddenly heard a wild, unrestrained laugh.

"Hahaha! I made it! This Daoist master made it!"

The voice carried arrogance, obsession, and joy that could not be concealed.

Hearing the voice, Chen Wang frowned. He gently pushed open the door and went out to look, only to find that many people had already gathered outside. In the center stood a disheveled young man, holding a Peach Wood Sword in his hand and looking somewhat crazed.

Chen Wang knew this young man: Wang Qiu, an Early Stage Qi Refining cultivator with no background and no money, poor enough to piss blood.

It was said that he had once become Cultivation Partners with a Female Cultivator who was close to him. The two had been deeply devoted to each other. Later, however, that Female Cultivator encountered a middle-aged cultivator who had a higher realm and more money.

And so Wang Qiu became a lone bachelor again. The matter had dealt him a severe blow. Chen Wang often heard him muttering things like, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; do not bully the poor young man," and "My fate is mine, not Heaven's," to the point that Chen Wang had once suspected that this man might have transmigrated here as well.

Wang Qiu was responsible for guarding a patch of farmland. In other words, he farmed. Farming in the Cultivation World was somewhat similar to ordinary farmers working the land, with a strict and complicated set of standard procedures.

This Spirit Rice needed constant care, from selecting seeds and fertilizing them to removing pests and preventing disease, only it was far more tedious. Some pests in the Cultivation World even possessed spiritual power. If one carelessly got bitten, one could still come to grief.

Among Spirit Farmers in the same line of work, Wang Qiu was considered one of the most relentless grinders. Truly, lamps at the third watch and roosters at the fifth. Besides his heavy daily workload, he cultivated diligently and conscientiously, even more arduously than Chen Wang.

He had also hoped to earn a promotion through that patch of farmland.

But from the looks of things, all that grinding had not been of much use.

This year, someone had been promoted to become a farm supervisor. Wang Qiu had thought it would be him, since the farmland under his care had produced the best harvest. Yet unexpectedly, they directly promoted a young cultivator who looked frivolous and unreliable instead. That man fished for three days and lounged about for two, living quite comfortably. Wang Qiu was a rather upright person and had not been too badly shaken by it.

He had assumed that the man possessed some special method for managing farmland.

Only after quietly asking around did he discover that this young man was the farm supervisor's brother-in-law. He had come here merely to go through the motions.

From then on, whenever Chen Wang saw Wang Qiu again, the light was gone from the eyes of that once spirited young man. He was unshaven and disheveled, looking utterly dejected.

Later, Chen Wang had traveled back and forth between the Great Winter World and the Cultivation World, and had no longer paid attention to him. He had not expected to see him today, somehow having acquired a Peach Wood Sword and looking as though he had gone mad.

"Slaying demons and exterminating devils is the purpose of cultivators like us! I am the child chosen by destiny! In the future, I will ascend and become an immortal!"

"Who says you can't cultivate immortality without a background or money? This Daoist master is proof!"

Wang Qiu grinned wildly. A kind neighbor beside him reminded him, "Qiuzi, you haven't gone mad, have you?"

Wang Qiu abruptly turned his head. His eyes were wide, bloodshot, and glaring with fury. "Mad? Who's mad! You're the ones who are mad!"

He looked utterly terrifying.

That neighbor could not help taking a step back, unwilling to speak with him any further.

Fortunately, Wang Qiu did not make any major moves. He merely beat his chest and stomped the ground, laughing exaggeratedly and spouting mad words.

"The young man was quite handsome. How had he started saying such crazy things now?"

"Don't you know? His previous Cultivation Partner ran off with someone else. That man had more money and a higher realm than him. I reckon the child went mad from that very moment."

"These things always have to be experienced a few times. These days, the strong are revered. If he can't even see through that, what immortality is he cultivating?"

"Isn't that so? I think Wang Qiu is just too serious. A mud-legged nobody trying to climb upward—wasn't he asking for humiliation?"

The crowd discussed it among themselves. After watching for a while, they dispersed.