Setting Up a Stall (Please Bookmark)

"Old Geezer, drop the loot!"

Fang Xing stepped forward, his hands covered in nano gloves as he began looting the corpse.

Just then, the drone issued a warning: Cultivators were approaching nearby.

He did not dare linger. He hastily gathered his gains and immediately departed in the opposite direction...

Inside the temporary camp.

"This Old Geezer was pretty loaded..."

Fang Xing picked up the old man's money pouch and poured out five Low-Grade Spirit Stones and eight pieces of Spirit Sand. His eyes lit up. "Robbing and killing really is faster than earning money by painstakingly selling herbs!"

There was not much loot on the old man, but every item was a treasure!

Aside from the money pouch, there was also that tobacco pipe. It had been forged entirely from some unknown metal, and it felt remarkably heavy in his hand. It could even fire poisoned needles—by ancient standards, its craftsmanship was simply extraordinary.

Finally, there was an ancient book.

"Azure Wood Art?"

Fang Xing looked at the words on the title page and drew a sharp breath. "It's actually a cultivation technique?"

He flipped through several pages with great interest and found that they described how to calm one's mind, sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, then absorb and refine it into one's own mana.

The ancient book bore obvious signs of wear, as though it had been read through countless times.

According to the Azure Wood Art, the technique was divided into nine layers. The first three were the Qi Refining Early Stage, the fourth through sixth were the Qi Refining Middle Stage, and the final three were the Qi Refining Late Stage.

Once one reached the Qi Refining Ninth Layer Peak, there was another title for it: Qi Refining Completion. At that point, one could prepare to break through into the higher realm of Foundation Establishment.

"This Azure Wood Art is a wood-element technique. It can be cultivated all the way to the ninth layer of the Qi Refining Stage..."

"Unfortunately, to someone without a Spiritual Root, it's no different from trash."

When Fang Xing turned to the final page, he saw a line of annotation—"Without a Spiritual Root, one cannot cultivate immortality. Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate!"

There were seven instances of the word "hate," each stroke pressing through the paper. The writer had clearly been filled with fury.

Even Fang Xing felt a little saddened by it.

"Without a Spiritual Root, one can't cultivate immortality. It seems this is as ironclad as a law..."

He sighed, put away the cultivation technique, then stuck a Spirit Test Talisman onto himself.

A moment later, the Spirit Test Talisman turned to ash. No miracle occurred.

The next talisman produced the same result...

"As expected, I have no Spiritual Root and can't cultivate immortality..."

Fang Xing shook his head. "Good thing... I can still practice martial arts! And if Federation martial arts are cultivated to a sufficiently profound level, one can still attain Longevity!"

Several days later.

Inside a cave.

Fang Xing sat cross-legged, his mind calm and composed.

He had maintained that posture for over three hours, yet his body remained straight and steady without the slightest tremor.

Before Fang Xing lay the open Azure Wood Art, displaying the contents of its first layer, "Drawing Qi into the Body."

"Still no good..."

After a long while, he opened his eyes, his expression neither sorrowful nor joyful.

Fang Xing was naturally very interested in studying this cultivation technique.

He could even understand every word in it, and when they were put together, he understood their meaning as well.

But... he simply could not sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, the very first step!

"Without a Spiritual Root, one really can't cultivate immortality... I can't even make it appear as a marker on the Attribute Panel..."

As long as he could get started, even if the odds were one in ten thousand, Fang Xing could grind it to the limit!

But what could he do against a monster that would not even reveal its Health Bar?

"If I could cultivate immortality, this world would be even more valuable... As it is, though, it's not bad either."

Fang Xing rose to his feet, dusted off his clothes, and walked into a nearby cave.

A small rice cooker sat there on warm mode, the rice clearly having been cooked long ago.

The base's power supply now came entirely from a Nuclear Fusion battery, enough to keep the entire camp running for thousands of years.

After all, controlled Nuclear Fusion had long since been solved by the Blue Star Federation.

"Lotus Fragrance Spirit Rice really is fragrant..."

Once the rice had finished steaming, a faint lotus-leaf fragrance spread through the cave.

Fang Xing took a deep breath. His stomach immediately began to grow hungry, and saliva flooded his mouth.

"My body is craving Spirit Rice?"

He opened the rice cooker. As steam rose, the fragrance of rice became ten times richer.

Inside was a full pot of rice that seemed to emit a faint glow.

Every grain was plump and full, carrying an astonishing aroma.

Fang Xing picked up a bowl and chopsticks, served himself a heaping bowl of white rice, and took a large bite.

The Spirit Rice melted in his mouth, carrying an intense rice fragrance. It seemed to taste even better than Blood Fang Rice.

"More importantly... it's more nutritious."

Even without any side dishes, Fang Xing ate with utter satisfaction, repeatedly serving himself more until he had cleaned out the entire rice cooker.

"Mmm... that was truly satisfying."

After eating and drinking his fill, Fang Xing rubbed his stomach, a look of contentment appearing on his face. "Unlike swallowing a Qi Blood Pill, there's no violent surge of Qi-Blood. Instead, it feels like a small stream, clear and pure, flowing throughout my entire body..."

"As expected of Spirit Rice. There isn't even a trace of Pill Poison, and it feels especially comfortable... If eaten over a long period, it would definitely have a subtle, gradual effect and improve one's physique!"

He felt that if he continued eating Spirit Rice, then even without an Innate Pill, his foundation for advancing into the Uncut Jade Realm, the Courage Realm... or even higher realms in the future would become more stable, making it easier to break through bottlenecks.

"Spirit Rice really is good stuff... I should buy more another day."

Thinking of Spirit Rice, Fang Xing could not help thinking of Ding Hongxiu, the young girl who sold it.

She seemed somewhat inexperienced in worldly affairs, but she had a knowledgeable grandfather. It would be worthwhile to get to know her better and draw out plenty of information.

After a night of hard cultivation, Fang Xing had more or less confirmed that while Spirit Rice was not as explosively effective as medicinal pills, its effects were subtle and lasting.

And when it came to Pill Poison, it was indeed something that needed attention.

The only downside was the price.

"With my current appetite, I need at least three pounds of Spirit Rice per day... Ten pounds only lasts a little over three days. That costs one Spirit Stone..."

"This isn't something ordinary people at the bottom can afford to eat... Sure enough, those clothed in silk are not the ones who raise silkworms."

But for Fang Xing, since Spirit Rice was more effective and had no side effects, it was worth considering even if it cost a little more.

"With Spirit Rice, I can also temper my bones and tendons faster, then break through into the Uncut Jade Realm!"

The Muscles and Bones Realm was more troublesome than the Skin and Flesh Realm.

Leaving aside everything else, there were hundreds of bones throughout the body, and each one had to be tempered individually.

Moreover, there were especially vital areas such as the skull. One had to be extremely cautious during cultivation, making the process very time-consuming.

"Let's go!"

With a thought, Fang Xing gathered some wildflowers, wild fruits, and picked herbs, filling less than half a basket. He prepared to head to Green Forest Market to set up a stall.

Setting up a stall meant higher prices, for one thing. For another, it made gathering information more convenient.

He had already asked around. Setting up a stall in Green Forest Market did not require any fee.

Only fixed stalls or shops required monthly rent.

Green Forest Market.

It was as bustling as ever.

"Damn it, the Luo Family Three Brothers got taken out..."

"I heard several Demon Beasts showed up nearby at some point, and some fellow Cultivators met with misfortune... Sigh, we never should have opened up this wilderness in the first place."

"Though the Great Wilderness is barren, it also holds opportunities... Wasn't Ancestor Zheng of the Zheng Family in the market lucky enough to stumble into an ancient cultivator's cave estate while opening up the wilderness and obtain a Foundation Establishment Opportunity? That was how he successfully advanced into a Foundation Establishment Great Cultivator and became immensely influential. Now the Zheng Family controls the market's auction house business and is making a fortune. I heard Ancestor Zheng is preparing to take his thirty-seventh concubine lately..."

The pedestrians discussed the migration of Demon Beasts.

Fang Xing was not particularly interested. With drones scouting for him, he had long since avoided several dangerous areas.

After making a round through the market, he went straight to a stall. "Miss Hongxiu, we meet again."

Several baskets sat at the stall, filled to the brim with Spirit Rice. The seller was Ding Hongxiu.

"So it's you..."

Ding Hongxiu recognized Fang Xing's disguised face as well and nodded. "I never asked your name..."

"My surname is Fang..."

Fang Xing smiled slightly, spread out a piece of coarse cloth, took out his goods, and began setting up his stall.

When Ding Hongxiu saw Fang Xing setting up a stall right beside hers, her face immediately reddened a little. Yet she was too embarrassed to say anything. She glanced over Fang Xing's goods. "Fellow Cultivator Fang, do you deal in medicinal herbs?"

"That's right. Your Lotus Fragrance Spirit Rice is quite good. If you give me a discount, I'll buy a few more pounds..."

Fang Xing spoke with a smile, making the young girl too embarrassed to continue.

He chuckled inwardly and picked up a book to read. Every so often, he exchanged a few words with someone asking prices, looking perfectly content.

"Heavenly Gang Qi Technique?"

Ding Hongxiu saw the cover and could not help growing curious. "Is that a martial arts manual?"

"Mm. There's a stall around the corner selling them. One book only costs a piece of Spirit Sand—dirt cheap..."

Fang Xing sighed.

Martial artists had a hard time surviving in cultivation markets. Many of them sold their most treasured ultimate arts just to exchange for a few pieces of Spirit Sand to make a living.

Unfortunately, such divine martial arts manuals, which would surely stir bloody storms in the martial world, were the cheapest common goods in the market. Hand-copied editions that had been copied time and again in particular sold for one piece of Spirit Sand each—the standard market price.

To better understand this world's martial artists, Fang Xing had casually bought a few for amusement.

The Heavenly Gang Qi Technique in his hands was considered the best quality among them. It could be cultivated to the Innate Realm and even came with a martial secret art called Innate Stellar Qi.

In Fang Xing's view, this Innate Stellar Qi possessed the power of a Federation B-grade Martial Art, which was already quite impressive.

As for A-Rank Martial Arts?

Those should rank above divine arts and peerless techniques, allowing Postnatal martial artists to defeat Innate martial artists. They were relatively rare.

This world doesn't offer much ground for martial arts to grow...

An Innate martial artist is the limit, fit only to serve as a cultivator's slave...

Fang Xing sighed inwardly.

Perhaps it was due to the suppression of Cultivators and the loss of martial arts inheritances that no realm beyond Innate, one comparable to the Courage Realm, had appeared for so long.

Given how closed-off and conservative the Cultivation World is, even if a martial artist broke through the Innate Realm, they probably wouldn't receive much attention. The breakthrough secret art might even be gathering dust at the bottom of some cultivation sect's Library Pavilion...