Crane Cry

Can't I just avoid it if I can't beat it?

"I hope I don't have the protagonist's fate, where trouble follows me wherever I go? I'm just a little newbie at the Second Level of Qi Refining, with skinny shoulders, I really can't bear such a heavy responsibility."

Wu Tao walked hurriedly, feeling very annoyed in his heart.

He just wanted to cultivate in peace, to be as steady as an old turtle. Why was it so difficult?

"Alas, it's not me who's wrong, it's the environment. My strength is too low to change the environment, so I can only adapt to it." Wu Tao sighed in his heart, having to bow to reality and compromise.

"First, let's shop!"

Wu Tao calculated the spirit stones on him. He had just sold 102 Low-Grade Spirit Stones. After deducting the 10% tax, plus the spirit stones saved from last month, he had a total of 374 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

He thought about the Ghost Shadow magic tool that targeted Demonic Cultivators just now. Someone from Demon Slaying Hall had used Evil-Breaking Talismans against it, which could annihilate the Ghost Shadow released by the demonic magic tool.

As he was thinking, the Loose Cultivator surnamed Chen who sold talismans walked past him.

Wu Tao instantly had a bad premonition:

"Oh no, this guy surnamed Chen is going to buy low and sell high, hoarding the Evil-Breaking Talismans and then selling them at a high price."

Thinking of this, he immediately rushed towards a nearby shop selling talismans.

He arrived at the talisman shop at an extremely fast speed. There weren't many people yet. It seemed that many loose cultivators hadn't thought of this. He hurriedly bought five Evil-Breaking Talismans for 150 Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

As he left the shop, he happened to brush past the Loose Cultivator surnamed Chen, who glanced at him.

Wu Tao quickly pretended that nothing had happened. He saw through the Loose Cultivator surnamed Chen's strategy, but he couldn't do the same. Firstly, he didn't have enough spirit stones and wasn't a specialized talisman dealer like the Loose Cultivator surnamed Chen. Secondly, his strength was insufficient. Selling at a high price would attract attention and easily lead to disaster.

He still had to use the remaining spirit stones to buy other things.

He went to the Spirit Herb Shop and spent another 100 spirit stones to buy medicinal ingredients for tempering his body. Then, he went to Boss Yu's Artifact Material Shop and bought 120 Starfire Stones and 40 jin of Demon Silkworm Silk, spending one Mid-Grade Spirit Stone.

He only had 24 Low-Grade Spirit Stones left.

"Let's go buy Spirit Rice from Uncle Han."

After searching for a long time in the Ding District Market, he finally found Han Tiezhu. At this time, only Han Tiezhu was guarding the stall. The news of the Demonic Cultivator appearing in the Yi District had not yet reached the Ding District.

"Little friend Li, you're here." Han Tiezhu was very happy to see Wu Tao.

Wu Tao stepped forward and said, "Uncle Han, weigh me five Low-Grade Spirit Stones worth of Spirit Rice."

Han Tiezhu was very surprised. In the past, Wu Tao always bought thirty jin at a time. Why was he buying so much this time? Was he going to eat for a month? He asked doubtfully, "Little friend Li, why are you buying so much this time?"

Wu Tao said in a low voice, "Uncle Han, I just came back from the Yi District Market. There was a Demonic Cultivator there who killed dozens of loose cultivators. People from Demon Slaying Hall are searching everywhere. This outer city might not be peaceful for a while. So, Uncle Han, you should stay home for the next few days and wait for Demon Slaying Hall to eliminate the Demonic Cultivator before coming out to set up your stall."

Han Tiezhu's pupils contracted upon hearing this, and fear appeared on his face. However, in his eyes, he was extremely grateful for Wu Tao's reminder. His movements of weighing the spirit rice couldn't help but speed up. He quickly said, "Thank you for the reminder, little friend Li. I'll stay in the fields for the next few days and take care of the Spirit Rice Crops."

Wu Tao nodded, as if remembering something, and asked, "Right, Uncle Han, has Mingxiu's Spirit Planter Certificate been obtained yet?"

He should have smiled happily, but upon hearing about the devilish cultivators, Han Tiezhu couldn't feel happy. He merely replied, "She got it ten days ago. She also went to the Wuquan Mountain Spirit Planting Hall to rent twenty mu of spirit fields. She can now farm independently. Young friend Li, here are 155 jin of spirit rice. Please take it. I'm packing up and heading back now. Devilish cultivators are cunning and insidious. My heart trembles just thinking about staying here any longer."

Wu Tao took the spirit rice and bid farewell to Han Tiezhu. He then went to the Ding District Market and bought another twenty-five jin of monster meat before rushing home.

Upon returning home, he activated the Sound-Proofing and Anti-Peeping Array and took out all the items he had purchased.

Looking at these items, Wu Tao's heart was not entirely at ease. If the devilish cultivators attacked, he had no confidence in his ability to resist. The only thing he could do was rely on the five Evil-Breaking Talismans to repel some ghost shadows, and then refine the Starfire Stones and Demon Silkworm Silk into Small Spirit Shield Robes to wear.

Afterward, he would use them to stall for time and then shout for help to attract the cultivators from the Demon Slaying Hall.

The crisis should be resolved.

"No matter what, I'll do my best and leave the rest to fate. I've done all I can. If heaven insists on taking my life, I'll just transmigrate back to Earth. I'll refine the robes first."

Wu Tao took the Starfire Stones and Demon Silkworm Silk to the cultivation room. He sat in meditation for a while, forcing his restless spirit to calm down. After adjusting his state, he began refining the robes.

For several consecutive days, Wu Tao stayed in the cultivation room, refining robes day and night.

When his Essence, Qi, and Spirit were depleted, he would use spirit stones to recover.

Every time he successfully refined a Small Spirit Shield Robe, he would immediately refine its restrictions, put it on, and then continue with the refining process.

This cycle repeated.

Five days later, all 120 Starfire Stones and 40 jin of Demon Silkworm Silk were refined into Small Spirit Shield Robes. He succeeded in making twenty of them, failing four times. All failures were due to the tension in his heart caused by the devilish cultivators.

Otherwise, he might have achieved a 100% success rate.

At this point, wearing a Wind-Speed Magic Robe and twelve Small Spirit Shield Robes, Wu Tao was incredibly bulky, like a large, fat maggot, and looked extremely unsightly. If his current cultivation level allowed him to activate all twenty Small Spirit Shield Robes simultaneously, he would have certainly worn all of them.

Looking unsightly was better than losing his life.

Over the past five days, the situation outside had been extremely tense. The cultivators from the Demon Slaying Hall had been searching house by house every day. Wu Tao's home had also been searched five times. This indicated that the devilish cultivators had not yet been found.

So, he would continue to stay home.

One day, it was time for the Demon Slaying Hall's search again. The Sound-Proofing and Anti-Peeping Array gave a prompt. Wu Tao immediately moved to the door and peered through the peephole.

The Sound-Proofing and Anti-Peeping Array was specifically equipped with a peephole, allowing one to see outside but not for outsiders to spy inside.

Wu Tao saw a cultivator wearing a Demon Slaying Hall uniform standing outside the door. He quickly opened the door and invited the Demon Slaying Hall cultivator in. The Demon Slaying Hall cultivator's expression was quite interesting upon seeing the bulky Wu Tao.

However, he said nothing. He took out a treasure mirror-like magic tool and scanned Wu Tao's room back and forth. After confirming that no devilish cultivators were hiding, he said to Wu Tao, "If you discover any traces of devilish cultivators, or any suspicious loose cultivators, you can report it to the Demon Slaying Hall. There will be a reward."

Wu Tao quickly agreed and saw the Demon Slaying Hall cultivator off.

As for reporting devilish cultivators, he wouldn't dare even if given twenty more chances. If he reported them and was retaliated against by the devilish cultivators, his small frame wouldn't be able to withstand it.

After closing the door, Wu Tao sat down and began to think about his next step.

His original plan was to start tempering his body with medicinal baths, practicing the Dragon Spear Body Tempering Art, and then practicing the Wind and Thunder Form after refining the Small Spirit Shield Robe.

But medicinal baths seemed to require being naked, and wouldn't that mean he had to take off his Small Spirit Shield Robe?

What if a devilish cultivator broke in at that moment after he took it off?

Wouldn't that be disastrous?

He didn't believe such coincidences happened in the world, but fate often loved to play jokes.

For a moment, Wu Tao was very conflicted.

"Sigh, it's also my fault for being too nervous at the time, I didn't think of this. Damn devilish cultivators..." Wu Tao slapped his forehead, full of regret.