Convoy (Seeking Recommendations)

Three days slipped away in the blink of an eye.

Fang Qing stared at the spring water before him, which had faintly darkened, his face full of frustration. "It's going to fail..."

To be honest, he had fully expected his first attempt at refining spirit water to fail.

But not knowing where it had gone wrong was truly a headache.

"Fire nature changes in a thousand ways, which makes controlling fire difficult... but water nature shifts beneath the surface. By the time you notice something is wrong, it is like a dam collapsing—too much has piled up to turn back. The mistake was actually planted long ago... the key is that I still don't know where it lies."

Fang Qing scratched his head miserably. This was the suffering of having no teacher constantly drilling instruction into his ears.

Next, he either had to spend a huge sum to hire an established alchemist for some guidance, or burn through money himself and buy more materials to build proficiency.

Unfortunately, he could do neither.

"Alas... one failed refinement, and all my savings have flown away with the chickens and scattered with the eggs."

Fang Qing sighed, but his gaze gradually hardened. He took out his flying boat from his storage pouch and headed straight for the Miscellaneous Affairs Hall on Myriad Treasures Island.

Inside the bronze hall, countless disciples came and went, as noisy as ever.

After making several rounds, he began searching for a suitable task.

"Junior Brother Fang?"

At that moment, a gentle male voice rang out.

Fang Qing looked over and saw Senior Brother Hua Lianhua, with Yu Taohua standing beside him.

Both of them had entered the inner sect as well, though one was on Myriad Treasures Island and the other on Formation Island.

"Senior Brother Hua, Junior Sister Yu..."

Fang Qing greeted them.

"What is it? Are you planning to take a task, Junior Brother? Would you like to join my fishing team?"

Senior Brother Hua smiled. "I rented a Double-Fang Ship. It can venture into the deep sea."

If Fang Qing had not had other plans, joining a fishing team would indeed have been a fine idea.

Not only could he hone his combat skills, but he would also have a steady supply of demon beast fish meat to eat.

Even if its effects were somewhat weaker than medicinal pills, over time, the accumulated benefits would still be far from trivial.

"Thank you for your kindness, Senior Brother, but I still prefer acting alone."

Fang Qing refused directly, took a task that required leaving the sect, and hurried away.

Watching his retreating back, Yu Taohua looked somewhat displeased. "He merely had the luck to latch onto a disciple with hopes of becoming a True Disciple... Senior Brother Hua, hadn't we already found out that Junior Sister Zha Zhu has gradually distanced herself from him? Why be so polite to him?"

"It is merely surface courtesy. It does not cost us any actual benefit, so what does a few polite words matter?"

Senior Brother Hua smiled meaningfully. "Who knows... perhaps Junior Brother Fang may yet turn his fortunes around someday. After all, he has middle-grade aptitude, not something those low-grade ones can compare to..."

Fang Qing casually accepted a task to purchase Treasure Fish, then left the Azure Sea Sect's gates.

These purchasing tasks required traveling through many fishing villages. They were extremely tedious and offered little reward, making them little more than chicken ribs.

But for him, a task that gave him a legitimate excuse to leave was the best possible task.

Fang Qing controlled the Green Leaf Boat and flew for an entire day and night before landing in a wilderness. He found a cave to rest in.

With a thought, heaven and earth changed at once. He had arrived in the Land of Ancient Shu!

"Rather than risk capturing demon beasts in the sea, I might as well explore the Ancient Shu World... clearly, the gains here are greater!"

His gaze was deep as he began taking stock of what he possessed.

"My cultivation is at the initial stage of the Qi Refining Third Layer... I have mastered the Water Control Technique, Water Arrow Technique, Wind-Riding Art, and Heavenly Eye Technique..."

"One storage pouch. Inside are two bottles of Grain-Escaping Pills, one Golden Blade Talisman with the strongest offensive power, and one Earth Wall Talisman... as for magical artifacts, I only have the Green Leaf Boat for travel."

"No matter how I look at it, I seem utterly shabby. I don't even have an offensive magical artifact or a defensive magical artifact..."

Fang Qing sighed.

Even if he had not chosen to bankrupt himself through alchemy, his savings would still not have been enough to purchase even a low-grade offensive magical artifact.

Moreover, his risky venture into alchemy had been for the sake of attaining a stable life.

If he had been given a choice, he definitely would have chosen to lie low in the Azure Sea Sect and cultivate until reaching a bottleneck before coming to this world to seek opportunities.

But by now, he was already nearly at a dead end.

If he remained in the Azure Sea Sect, he could already see the course of his future: repeated failures in alchemy, losing everything, perhaps even delaying his cultivation, and ultimately having no hope of Foundation Establishment...

For the hope of Foundation Establishment, he had to take a gamble!

"Besides... I am only conducting an initial exploration. So long as I can find cultivators, or even trade channels in a marketplace, and proceed cautiously, I can use the two worlds to acquire immense wealth!"

"Go!"

Within the forested mountains, Fang Xing casually pointed a finger. A water arrow shot forth like lightning and flint, plunging into the forehead of a striped tiger with hanging eyes and a white brow.

The beast did not even make a sound before collapsing to the ground.

"The spells from the Azure Sea Sect can actually be used here..."

Fang Qing withdrew his hand seal, somewhat surprised. "That makes things much more convenient... I can sense spiritual energy in the void as well, but for some reason, it feels somewhat wrong."

In his perception, the spiritual energy here was thin, and faintly different from that around Jade Island. Metal and fire spiritual energy were especially abundant.

"Could it be because Ancient Shu Land lies inland? Or is it due to the two worlds themselves?"

"Forget it... I definitely cannot figure out such high-level questions. I should first make contact with the cultivators of this world. Before that, I need to disguise myself properly."

With a thought from Fang Qing, all the mana within his dantian vanished without a trace. Most of it transformed into Origin Qi and was stored away, while only a few wisps descended and became Divine Martial Force.

This Divine Martial Force came from the Divine Martial Canon, a peerless martial art Fang Qing had casually read during his spare time over the past three years.

At this moment, even if he faced a Foundation Establishment cultivator, they would only see him as a mortal—an Innate Grandmaster with not a trace of mana in his body.

"Mm... being a master of the mundane martial world is enough to roam the jianghu."

Fang Qing touched his face.

If he had still been a youth three years ago, he had now become a tall, jade-like young swordsman, with sword-like brows and starry eyes.

Even if the Luo Family had issued a wanted order for him three years ago, the portrait surely no longer resembled him.

"Why is Ba Commandery so chaotic?"

Fang Qing casually struck out with his palm and killed a disorderly soldier who had tried to rob him, frowning.

Since setting out disguised as a green-robed wandering swordsman, this was already the third group of bandits he had encountered.

From them, he had also learned much information.

Ever since a plague had broken out in Ba Commandery three years ago, the region had never settled down. A force of disorderly soldiers had appeared from nowhere, attacking cities and seizing territory everywhere, creating countless refugees and allowing bandits to run rampant.

Even Heavenly Prefectural City, which Fang Qing had visited before, had fallen into ruin and nearly become a city of the dead.

"Three years of plague, followed by military disaster... the plague was the work of the Black Blight Sect, but what about this military disaster?"

As he pondered this, another burst of clamor came from ahead.

Fang Qing strode forward and climbed a hillside, where he saw a group of mounted riders below fiercely surrounding a convoy.

Though the convoy had few people, most of them women and children, several young martial heroes with passable skills were protecting it with swords. For the moment, the bandit riders could not take them down.

"These bandits appear to be routed soldiers as well... their movements faintly retain military discipline... they have divided into several waves to wear down the stamina of those martial arts experts. Once their internal energy runs dry, they will likely be doomed."

As an observer, Fang Qing saw the situation as clearly as a fire reflected in his palm.

"Ah!"

Sure enough, before long, a cold arrow pierced through the sword light and punched through a young swordsman's chest.

Blood foam spilled from the young swordsman's mouth as he fell to the ground unwillingly.

"Third Brother?"

The leading young swordsman's eyes nearly split with fury at the sight. "Hold them back... I'll assassinate their leader!"

The three-foot Azure Edge in his hand danced, faint dragon roars ringing out as it guarded his entire body so tightly that not even water could seep through. He actually charged alone into the enemy formation!

"Mm, faced with a desperate situation, he did not flee but instead fought to the death? He is a real man!"

Fang Qing nodded to himself and, out of caution, silently activated the Heavenly Eye Technique.

This was a spirit-eye spell cultivated by all Azure Sea Sect cultivators, capable of observing fluctuations of spiritual energy and mana.

Of course, before high-level cultivators, it was of little use.

But at this moment, he gave a startled cry. Within the convoy, he actually saw several faint points of spiritual light!

"There are spiritual energy fluctuations, but they do not belong to cultivators. Are they spiritual objects?"

"At last... I've found a clue."

Joy rose in his heart. Then he saw the swordsman roar and charge toward where the leader of the disorderly riders stood.

"Fine swordsmanship!"

The leader let out a long howl, swinging a ghost-headed saber horizontally toward him.

Clang!

Saber and sword collided, and the swordsman's heart immediately sank. "Not good... this man's skill actually surpasses mine!"

"Haha, little brat, your martial arts are lacking, yet you still dared to imitate others and right injustice on the road... now you've dragged yourself into it, haven't you?"

The leader laughed loudly, black light flickering across his ghost-headed saber.

After merely a dozen exchanges, he knocked the swordsman's longsword flying from his hand.

"My life is over..."

The swordsman's face turned deathly pale. Just as he prepared to accept his fate, a tremendous sound suddenly rang out beside his ear.

Smack!

The ghost-headed saber crashed to the ground, and beside it lay a spinning pinecone.

"This..."

The swordsman looked toward where the pinecone had come from and saw a scene he could scarcely believe.

A young man wearing a conical hat was strolling leisurely toward him.

Bandits shouted all around him, but whether sabers, spears, or feathered arrows, none could come within three feet of him.

It was as though a wall of qi stood within three feet around him!

"An immortal?"

The leader of the disorderly soldiers also underwent a drastic change in expression, then quickly shook his head. "No... he is a Martial Dao Grandmaster whose fame shakes the ancient and dazzles the present... Mother above, even if this man began practicing martial arts in his mother's womb, could he have trained to such a level?"

Without another thought, he immediately fled with his head in his hands like a rat.

Yet Fang Qing lightly tapped his foot and caught up behind him, curling the fingers of his right hand before flicking them.

Rip!

A stream of force shot straight as a spear, striking the leader's back and blasting open a bloody hole.

"The leader is dead!"

"Run!"

"That isn't a human, it's a monster!"

Seeing their leader perish and Fang Qing prove impervious to blades and spears, the surrounding cavalry fled in utter panic.

"Are you all right?"

Fang Qing looked at the swordsman, with whom he had formed a fairly favorable impression.

Though he did not claim to be a good man himself, he still deeply admired such righteous people and liked making friends with them.

After all, even a petty man hoped that all his friends were good people.