Organizing Night Watches

"Sure enough, murder and arson bring golden belts.

No wonder so many people were so keen on becoming robbery cultivators.

That feeling of getting rich without lifting a finger was indeed intoxicating."

Zhou Changwang took a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the crooked thoughts in his heart.

He knew that all robbery cultivators were people who licked blood from the edge of a blade.

They might plunder others and profit greatly, but the risks were just as immense. One careless misstep, and they could encounter a powerful enemy and be killed in return.

Walk the night road often enough, and sooner or later, one would run into ghosts.

There were far too many powerful people in the world of cultivation, and everyone had one or two trump cards up their sleeve... The road of seeking the Dao was full of hardships, so if one could avoid fighting, it was best not to fight.

Afterward, Zhou Changwang placed everything into his Storage Bag one by one, leaving only the Magical Flying Sword outside.

After turning it over in his hands fondly for a while, he hurriedly guided his mind into it and began refining it.

For a Dharma Artifact to display its proper power, one had to place one's mind within it, then control it with the spiritual power inside one's body... Only then could the Dharma Artifact wield its due might.

However, even if Zhou Changwang completed the refinement of the Dharma Artifact, he could only unleash a single strike at most.

After that strike, the Dharma Artifact would fly out.

And with the strength of his mind, it would already be difficult for him to summon the Dharma Artifact back. Even if he forcibly recalled it, the drain on his mind would be enormous.

Only when a cultivator's strength reached Qi Refining, Fourth Layer, and their mind underwent transformation, merging with spiritual energy to become Spiritual Sense, could they freely control a Dharma Artifact's flight and return, wielding it as easily as an arm and launching continuous attacks upon enemies.

Zhou Changwang immersed his mind in the flying sword, continuously attuning himself to it. At the same time, the spiritual power within his body slowly flowed into the flying sword, nourishing it.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

Only after the time it took to burn an incense stick did Zhou Changwang stop, placing the Magical Flying Sword back into his Storage Bag.

What he was using now was the Three-Day Refinement Method.

As long as he refined the flying sword with his mind and spiritual power for three days, spending only the time of one incense stick each day, he would be able to directly wield the Dharma Artifact and unleash its power.

Thus, he was in no hurry.

After putting away the Dharma Artifact, Zhou Changwang took out a wooden box. Opening it, he found three pitch-black seeds lying inside.

They were precisely the three Spirit Rice seeds he had previously obtained from Chen Yushu.

He did not know whether these three Spirit Rice seeds had already completely died or still retained the faintest trace of vitality. He merely treated them as vessels for practicing his spell.

Placing the three seeds before him, he stirred his thoughts, and spiritual power circulated, forming one intricate rune structure after another.

One breath, two breaths...

In less than three breaths, the spiritual power had been woven together, and specks of spiritual light gathered in his hand.

Growth Technique +1

He pointed forward.

The specks of spiritual light scattered from his fingertip and landed upon the three pitch-black seeds.

Naturally, the three seeds showed no change whatsoever.

Zhou Changwang did not mind and continued controlling his spiritual power to cast the spell.

One time, two times, three times...

After several dozen times, he stopped.

He then put the three seeds back into the wooden box and placed it inside his Storage Bag.

It had to be said that once he had a Storage Bag, everything became much more convenient.

It contained its own space and could store or retrieve things freely.

Convenient and swift.

The only thing that disappointed him somewhat was that the space inside this Storage Bag was too small—only about one cubic meter—so it could hold limited items.

Of course, even this already satisfied him.

The next day, as soon as Zhou Changwang arrived at the Spirit Field, he saw Old Xu standing with a group of spirit farmers, his face dark as thunder as he cursed under his breath.

Besides him, many other spirit farmers also wore extremely ugly expressions.

There was no need to ask around. Zhou Changwang knew that someone's Spirit Field had been robbed again.

And Old Xu had been especially unlucky, suffering another theft.

Of his ten mu of Spirit Fields, nearly every plot had been visited. This time, his losses were even greater than yesterday's: a full three hundred jin of Spirit Grain, which would still amount to two hundred and thirty jin of Spirit Rice after husking.

What was more, aside from the stolen Spirit Rice, many people's Spirit Fields bore traces of having been ravaged by demonic beasts.

One person had been the unluckiest of all. In a single mu of Spirit Field, nearly half the Spirit Grain Rice had been trampled and eaten by demonic beasts. The losses could be called devastating.

Zhou Changwang's Spirit Field had not escaped either.

There were also traces of trampling by demonic beasts. A large patch of Spirit Grain Rice had been flattened, while a small portion had been bitten through and eaten.

"These are the rolling tracks of an Ironclad Boar. Judging from the situation, the one in your Spirit Field weighed at least five hundred jin."

Old Xu had just returned from the crowd of spirit farmers. Seeing the state of Zhou Changwang's Spirit Field, he felt somewhat comforted and almost wanted to laugh. But recalling the miserable state of his own Spirit Field, he could not laugh at all and could only speak with a sigh.

"There are actually such large demonic beasts on Long Ridge Mountain?

Do those cultivators from the Spirit Plant Hall patrol every day just for show?"

Zhou Changwang said gloomily.

He quickly entered the field and propped up each stalk of flattened Spirit Grain Rice.

Seeing the Spirit Grain Rice that had been chewed down to half its length made his heart ache even more. These were the fruits of his hard work, of toiling every day with his face to the earth and his back to the sky, yet they had been ruined so brutally.

"Those grandfathers only go through the motions every day.

How could they truly put their hearts into patrolling and hunting demonic beasts for us?"

Old Xu said indignantly, then explained, "Besides, Long Ridge Mountain is enormous. They only patrol the outermost area near the Spirit Fields.

Most demonic beasts hide deeper inside."

"But the Spirit Rice will be ready for harvest in just a few days. This cannot go on."

Zhou Changwang frowned. With a casual gesture, he cast the Growth Technique, and specks of spiritual light fell over the Spirit Grain Rice. The stalks that had been flattened and looked somewhat wilted immediately regained their vitality, straightening up almost visibly to the naked eye.

"It can't.

So just now, I discussed it with the other spirit farmers. We plan to join together and organize people to keep watch at night.

There are only a little over three hundred mu of Spirit Fields at the foot of Long Ridge Mountain altogether. Sending out three to five people would be enough to protect this area.

Changwang, do you want to join as well?

If you do, hand over two Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Once we hire people to stand watch at night, your Spirit Field will also be included under protection.

When the time comes, whether it is those little rice thieves or the demonic beasts coming down the mountain to wreak havoc, they will all be driven away and dealt with for you."

Old Xu immediately continued, speaking with great enthusiasm.

"Two Low-Grade Spirit Stones? Who would be willing to keep watch?"

Zhou Changwang asked with a frown.

Yesterday, a whole crowd had clamored about keeping watch over the Spirit Fields at night, but in the end, not a single person had stayed behind.

Clearly, most people still cherished their lives.

They did not dare casually spend the night in the wilderness.

Perhaps it was precisely because of this that the rice thief had grown even more brazen, striking again and stealing a great quantity of Spirit Rice.