Devilish Cultivator

[Technique: Three Yang Technique: Qi Refining Chapter Second Layer: (65%)]

It had been over four months since Wu Tao came to this world, and his Sanyang Technique cultivation progress had reached 65%.

Previously, it took ten days of cultivation to raise it by one percentage point. Later, he cut down on sleep and greatly increased his cultivation time, allowing him to gain four percentage points a month.

He was still 35% away from the Third Level of Qi Refining.

At four percentage points a month, he would need nearly nine more months to advance to the Third Level of Qi Refining.

If he could cultivate with pills, he could greatly shorten that time.

Therefore, Wu Tao decided that after setting up his stall tomorrow, he would begin tempering his body with medicinal baths and cultivate the Dragon Spear Body Tempering Art; at the same time, he would cultivate the Sanyang Technique with pills.

He would advance on all fronts.

With higher cultivation, both his spiritual power and mental strength would improve. His attacks would become stronger, and it would also be enormously beneficial for refining magic tools.

For instance, he was currently in the Early Qi Refining realm. If he refined high-grade magic tools, the process would be complicated and time-consuming. His mental strength and spiritual power would not be able to keep up, and failure would be inevitable.

At his current level, he could at most refine First-Rank Level 5 Forbidden Magic Tools. Anything higher, and he would struggle to sustain it.

Cultivation realm was the foundation of everything.

In the terms of Socialism from his previous life, the economic foundation determined the superstructure. Without a sufficient foundation, trying to build a skyscraper was nothing more than a fool's dream.

After breakfast the next day, people specially responsible for collecting night soil came to Sincere Tea Street, going door to door.

That was the benefit of expensive night soil fees. He did not need to dump it himself; dedicated people came to collect it. It was said that collecting night soil was not a job just any rogue cultivator could do. Rather, it had been contracted out by small cultivation factions.

Thus arose the saying of the Night Soil Tyrant.

It was the cultivation version of Yu Shunde.

Of course, dung tyrants and Night Soil Tyrants could only arise in the Outer City. Once one reached the Inner City—the true Five Spirits Immortal City—there was no such thing as night soil. That was because those who could live within the immortal city did not need to defecate. Instead, they ate a pill called the Bigu Pill; one pill allowed them to fast for seven days.

Thus, the claim that little fairies did not shit received proof as solid as steel.

Wu Tao slung his bundle over his back. Inside were two Small Spirit Shield Robes and two Wind-Speed Magic Robes.

Setting up a stall once a week was enough for him to sell the magic robes.

However, Ding District was not prosperous after all. The rogue cultivators shopping there were mostly not well-off, so sales were more difficult.

This time, he planned to test the waters in Yi District.

If business was better in Yi District, he would consider setting up his stall there from then on, reducing the number of times he set up each month and using that time to cultivate or practice restrictions.

When he arrived at the Market Stall Rental Office and rented a stall in Yi District, the price gave Wu Tao quite a fright. A single day in Yi District cost one Low-Grade Spirit Stone. How could an ordinary person possibly afford that?

Forget it. He would treat it as spending Spirit Stones to buy time.

Yi District, Stall Number Eighty-Six.

Wu Tao found his stall and was immediately dumbfounded.

This stall was far too large.

When he looked to his left, he saw someone selling talismans, with hundreds of talismans filling the stall. To his right was someone selling spirit fruit, all kinds of spirit fruit displayed across the stall.

When he set out his four magic robes, looking utterly lonely, he could see the stall owners on either side watching him with strange expressions.

Wu Tao admitted that he had been rash. He should have wandered around Yi District first before deciding whether it suited him. He was using a butcher's cleaver to kill a chicken. Still, it had to be said that Yi District truly had a huge flow of people, and the cultivators passing through wore more expensive clothing.

Their purses were clearly much thicker as well.

An hour later, Wu Tao had sold all four magic robes.

If he had an Artifact Refiner Certificate, he believed he could have sold the robes even faster.

This showed that the rogue cultivators sheltered beneath Five Spring Mountain still held a certain degree of trust in Five Spring Mountain as an official institution.

Fortunately, he had already decided to make time tomorrow to visit the Inner City and take the test for the Artifact Refiner Certificate. Whenever he thought of having memorized One Thousand Basic Knowledge of Artifact Refining, he could not help but tear up.

After packing up his stall, Wu Tao politely cupped his hands in farewell to the stall owners on either side, then followed the crowd out, intending to head to Ding District and buy some spirit rice from Uncle Han.

After cultivating the Dragon Spear Technique, his appetite had greatly increased. He ate six pounds of spirit rice a day, two pounds every meal.

But eating spirit rice had its benefits as well. As the saying went, a hundred kinds of rice nourished a hundred kinds of people. Now that he ate spirit rice every meal and occasionally improved his fare with monster meat, his body was becoming more robust and his skin fairer. He was no longer as skinny and dark as the original owner had been at the mine.

Moreover, spirit rice nourished the body and also benefited cultivation.

"I forgot to ask Mingxiu whether she got her Spirit Planter Certificate last time. I should show some concern," Wu Tao thought as he walked through the streets of Yi District.

"Murder!"

"Devilish cultivator!"

"Brazen!"

Just then, a sudden upheaval erupted among the crowd ahead. As the cry of "Murder!" rang out, Wu Tao instinctively looked over. Spells burst forth, magic tools streaked through the air, and devilish qi soared into the heavens as a bloodied head flew high into the air.

A devilish cultivator had broken into the Marketplace.

Immediately afterward, more rogue cultivators met with disaster, and screams rose one after another.

Figures flew out from the shops and pavilions on both sides, shouting furiously, "Brazen!" Then another loud voice rang out: "The Demon Slaying Hall is killing a devilish cultivator! All rogue cultivators, crouch down with your hands over your heads! Do not run about recklessly!"

The moment the people from the Demon Slaying Hall arrived, the surrounding rogue cultivators obediently crouched down with their hands over their heads.

If they refused to obey and obstructed the Demon Slaying Hall from killing the devilish cultivator, they could not bear the responsibility for that crime.

Wu Tao glanced at the surrounding stalls, and his gaze immediately shifted. He quickly stepped back two paces and crouched beside a Talisman Stall with his hands over his head.

The owner of this Talisman Stall was the Chen Cultivator he had encountered when he went out to buy Evil-Breaking Talismans, the one who sold them for sixty-five each. Wu Tao had known then that this man was not someone to provoke. Being beside him made Wu Tao feel much more at ease.

Daring not to move again, he secretly looked ahead. A black-robed devilish cultivator was surrounded by cultivators from the Demon Slaying Hall. The magic tool in the black-robed devilish cultivator's hand was a Banner Magic Tool. With a sweep of the banner, ghost shadows rushed forth in an instant, releasing shrill, miserable screams.

The surrounding rogue cultivators immediately suffered calamity. One after another, they felt their blood and qi boil as their heads spun and their vision swam.

Wu Tao was no exception. By the time he came back to himself, the black-robed devilish cultivator had already vanished, leaving behind only the resentful, grim faces of the Demon Slaying Hall cultivators.

Looking at the dozen or so severed limbs and mutilated corpses on the ground, Wu Tao could not help feeling the sorrow of a rabbit dying and a fox grieving. If he had walked a little faster, he would definitely have been among the dead.

"Damn it, Fire Sweep of the Dragon Spear Technique has only just entered the beginner stage, and I already ran into a devilish cultivator. Could I really have some kind of bad-luck magnet physique?"

Worry rose in Wu Tao's heart. That black-robed devilish cultivator was clearly no easy opponent. Even with so many experts from the Demon Slaying Hall, they had failed to keep him. How could a small fry at the Second Level of Qi Refining like him possibly face such a person?

"All of you, listen up! Pack up your stalls, line up, and take out your Residency Certificates! Leave the Marketplace one by one for inspection!" a Demon Slaying Hall cultivator shouted, his voice spreading throughout the Yi District Marketplace.

The Demon Slaying Hall was a hall within Five Spring Mountain specifically established to counter the encroachment of Devil Dao Sects. Every cultivator within it was ruthless and exceptionally skilled at spell battles. Otherwise, they would not be able to subdue devilish cultivators.

Devilish cultivators were skilled at concealing themselves. This was the beginning of a major sweep.

A Residency Certificate was the contract certificate signed with a Brokerage Agency when renting a home.

Wu Tao was glad that he carried his contract certificate with him. Watching rogue cultivators without Residency Certificates get taken away by the Demon Slaying Hall, he still felt extremely nervous when his turn came.

Fortunately, after the Demon Slaying Hall confirmed that his certificate was valid, they let him leave.

After exiting the Marketplace, the stone hanging in his heart still did not fall. Scheme after scheme flashed through his mind, until at last he made his decision.

"I'll buy a large batch of Starfire Stone and demon silkworm silk, and stockpile enough spirit rice and monster meat for a month. I won't leave home again until the devilish cultivator is eliminated by the Demon Slaying Hall cultivators."

The best method was to stay home.