The first night of arriving in the coveted Cultivation World.
Chen Dengming, the renowned Nanxun Saber King of the Nanxun Kingdom martial world, had braved the wind and dew, curling up under the eaves of a shantytown household to make do for the night.
Early the next morning, a beauty who had stayed out all night returned, yawning, and even took pity on him, sending the leftover scraps she had packed and brought back to his feet.
Chen Dengming abruptly awakened from his half-sleep, half-cultivation state, staring blankly at the oil-paper-wrapped meal at his feet before hearing a soft and weary female voice from behind.
"Eat this meal and there won't be a next one~~ My life is bitter too."
The moment he turned his head, he only saw a slender figure enter the doorway, and with a 'bang', the neighboring door closed shut.
What a good girl!
Yet he was not a beggar, but merely a newcomer who had not yet the money to rent a house.
Though feeling slightly gloomy inwardly, Chen Dengming's stomach rumbled, and opening the oil paper package, he took a look.
Although the food inside was cold, it actually carried a faint trace of spiritual qi fluctuation, making his initial sense of rejection instantly soften somewhat.
"What's the catch? This woman doesn't seem to be a cultivator either, yet she can afford to eat food containing spiritual qi?"
Chen Dengming muttered inwardly, but he was also someone who could let go of his pride; rubbing his face, he quickly tucked into the feast, knowing he had to go try and catch that spiritual fish once he was full.
Otherwise, if he failed to earn enough money for rent, it would also be hard to set his mind at ease to study Daoist arts and cultivate.
As for cultivating in the wild, selling Pure Spirit Pill, or other alternative choices, unless forced to the absolute last resort, Chen Dengming temporarily did not wish to try them. As the saying goes, a hidden dragon should not act; some survival methods required him to familiarize himself with the situation first before making a decision.
He continuously admonished himself in his heart that this was already the Cultivation World. If he wanted to get ahead, he had to keep a steady mindset, making sure never to conceit himself into arrogance just because he possessed a Golden Finger.
For this was an incomparably realistic and cruel realm of cultivation where killing and being killed were simply too easy. The class divide between immortals and mortals was manifested even more vividly and terribly than all the class divides of the martial world of the past.
Soon, several consecutive days passed.
Although Chen Dengming had experienced some setbacks and failed to catch any spiritual fish, he had used the Luo Family waist token as collateral to borrow some tools and bait for catching spiritual fish. The spiritual fish had not taken the bait, but he had caught plenty of other ordinary fish. Not only did this solve his personal food and clothing needs, but many of the trash fish could also be traded and bartered with mortals inside the gathering place.
This could also be considered getting on good terms with some of the mortals within the gathering place.
As a result, he became much more familiar with the situation inside the gathering place, but he had truly become a fishmonger, earning the nickname of the "West Old Shed Street Fishmonger".
Among the thousands of households in the entire rogue cultivator zone, mortals occupied the majority, Xiantian martial artists were also quite numerous, while Qi Refining Stage rogue cultivators accounted for only about thirty percent.
The resources here were naturally controlled in the hands of cultivators, and even the right of residency was controlled by cultivators split into more than a dozen factions.
If mortals wished to live within the rogue cultivator gathering place, they had to pay resources.
Channels for obtaining resources could include helping cultivators plant spirit rice, mining spirit grains, probing dangerous places with one's body (such as catching spiritual fish, luring demon beasts), or acting like those Xiantian women. In short, there were many ways.
The advantage of living within the rogue cultivator gathering place was that a certain degree of safety could be guaranteed; at least one did not need to worry about the invasion of demon beasts from the wild.
Moreover, the rogue cultivator gathering place was built on an abandoned spiritual vein, and there was still some residual spiritual qi left in this place. For some Xiantian martial artists with extremely poor aptitude, being able to live here was considered the best cultivation ground they could strive for.
This day.
It was precisely the fifth day of coming to the Cultivation World.
Early in the morning, Chen Dengming placed the fish he had caught yesterday at the doorstep of the beauty's house where he had frequently stayed these past days, and then shouldered his fishing gear and left the gathering place.
As the saying goes, a drop of water's favor should be repaid with a gushing spring.
During these days, he often slept out in the open at the doorstep of the beauty who had bestowed him the favor of a meal that day, and would also gift her some of the fish he caught for free, treating it as the rent for lingering at her doorstep.
However, that beauty engaged in that kind of nighttime work nearby at the Golden Character Workshop, and was frequently away from home at night, returning only at dawn.
The two of them thus frequently missed each other, and Chen Dengming had long since grown accustomed to it.
By now on the fifth day, he had also basically figured out the movement patterns of the spiritual fish, and had set up some traps using the rented fishing gear and bait in coordination with the Stone Gu.
He already had some certainty that he could catch one or two spiritual fish, exchange them for some spirit grains, redeem the mortgaged waist token by then, and rent a house of his own to live in so he could cultivate in peace for a period of time.
Two incense sticks of time later.
Familiar with the path, Chen Dengming arrived at a lake a dozen miles away.
This was considered a fairly large lake outside the gathering place and was also one of the important resources, jointly controlled by two rogue cultivator factions: the Golden Character Workshop and Hutong Street.
It was early morning, and thin mists drifted over the lake. After a rainstorm last night, the lake water had risen, looking even more verdant and deep.
In the distance, ripples slowly pushed toward the lakeshore, shimmering with a bit of white foam and sparkling with faint wavelets, while the lush flowers, plants, and trees surrounding the lakeside presented a pleasing scenery.
Yet Chen Dengming abruptly smelled a trace of blood and putrid stench from outside the fresh water vapor, causing his expression to change slightly.
At this moment, he also saw that the stationed cultivators of the Golden Character Workshop ahead were actually two more than usual, all radiating a faint spiritual might. One of them wore the magic robe of Hutong Street, obviously a more formidable figure from the other side.
These cultivators were all gathered around a certain spot discussing something. Lying on the ground at their feet was a corpse exuding a putrid, bloody stench, its surface entangled with countless bizarre spider-web-like sticky fluids, looking extremely terrifying.
Noticing Chen Dengming's arrival, one of the cultivators over there glanced over indifferently, speaking coldly, "Mortal, there are demon beasts roaming nearby. We are taking care of business, get lost."
"Demon beasts?!"
Chen Dengming paused his footsteps, looking at the corpse on the ground that obviously also radiated a faint spiritual might, and his heart sank.
It was a cultivator who had died. He had been fishing near here these past few days and had thought the wild wasn't too dangerous during the daytime.
Yet now it seemed he had still been too optimistic.
"He's here to fish, let him catch fish one more time anyway since we haven't seen that beast right now."
Just at this moment, an old Golden Character Workshop cultivator with sparse hair and a goat-like beard spoke indifferently.
The other cultivators saw this, each harboring different thoughts, but indifferent nonetheless, they shook their heads and continued discussing and observing the corpse on the ground.
Chen Dengming immediately smiled and cupped his fists, "Forget it, since it's dangerous here, this junior won't fish anymore and will change professions."
With those words, he was about to leave, but a surge of spiritual might locked onto him, causing his heart to skip a beat and his brow to knit slightly.
"My Golden Character Workshop arranged this errand for you. You fish when you want to, and you change professions when you don't?"
The sparse-haired old man's eyes were sharp, coldly staring at Chen Dengming. Seeming to feel that in front of the Hutong Street cultivators, he could not let his own faction lose face, he blocked him from leaving.
Several cultivators on the side saw this, glanced at Chen Dengming with indifferent expressions, and then each went back to chatting among themselves without paying it much mind.
"Immortal Master!"
Chen Dengming smiled, cupping his fists and attempting to decline further, yet the old man let out a cold huff, his gaze turning dangerous as the spiritual might on his body also began to intensify.
The trees desire stillness, but the wind will not cease.
This old geezer.
Anger flared in Chen Dengming's heart, yet he immediately lowered his head so the old man wouldn't notice.
The Blood Centipede Gu inside his ear canal even grew slightly restless, brimming with a murderous aura.
"This junior will naturally see things through to the end!"
Chen Dengming suddenly took a deep breath, lowering his eyelids and drooping his head as he shouldered his fishing gear, walking toward the lakeshore opposite the old man and the others.
He continuously admonished himself in the inner depths of his heart.
A true man could bend and stretch; the other side had superior numbers, and now was not the time. If there came a moment when someone was isolated, he would unleash all his martial world bloodthirstiness without needing to endure any longer.
Yet the Blood Centipede Gu seemed disobedient; the Gu worm shared his thoughts and feelings, and perceiving his gloom, its bloodthirsty desires were continuously magnified, giving birth to the impulse to slay an immortal as a mortal and trample the stinking faces of the cultivators beneath his feet.
Gu'er, Gu'er, wait a little longer... Better not to strike, but once you strike, you must deliver a fatal blow with a single strike...
Sensing several streams of spiritual might from behind at a distance, Chen Dengming tried his best to pacify the Blood Centipede Gu to calm down. Frenzied rage without strength was impotent fury, whereas a strike planned out with a calm mind could overcome the strong with the weak. He quickly guessed the old man's intent.
Could it be that he intended to use him as bait to lure out the so-called man-killing demon beast?
If so, what favorable factors did he have that he could rapidly utilize?
My Brother Ming's fists have hardened and he can't bear it anymore, and I can't bear it either; tomorrow we get to work: Blood Centipede, I want to eat fish! Send monthly tickets!
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