Organizing Night Watchmen

"Sure enough, murder and arson bring golden belts.

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

That feeling of getting fat without lifting a finger truly intoxicated people."

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

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

Though they could plunder others and reap great profits, the risks were just as immense. One careless mistake, and they might encounter a powerful foe and be killed in return.

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

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

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

After fondly playing with it for a while, he hurriedly guided his mind into it and began refining it.

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

However, even if Zhou Changwang completed the refinement of this magical artifact, he could only unleash a single strike.

After that strike, the artifact would fly out.

Then, given the strength of his mind, it would already be difficult for him to summon the artifact back. Even if he forced it back, the expenditure of his mind would be enormous.

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

Zhou Changwang immersed his mind in the flying sword, continuously attuning himself to it. The spiritual power within his body also slowly flowed into the flying sword, beginning to nourish it.

One breath, two breaths, three breaths...

It was not until the time it took an incense stick to burn that Zhou Changwang stopped, placing the Magical Flying Sword back into the 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 it took an incense stick to burn each day, he would be able to directly wield the magical artifact and unleash its power.

Thus, he was in no hurry.

After putting away the magical 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 fallen completely silent in death, or whether they still retained the slightest trace of life. He merely treated them as vessels for practicing his spell.

He placed the three seeds before himself. With a thought, spiritual power circulated and formed one intricate rune structure after another.

One breath, two breaths...

In less than three breaths, the weaving of spiritual power was complete, and specks of spiritual light gathered in his hand.

Growth Technique +1

He pointed forward.

The specks of spiritual light followed the sweep of his finger and fell onto the three pitch-black seeds.

Naturally, the three seeds showed no change at all.

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 placed the three seeds back into the wooden box and stored it in the Storage Bag.

It had to be said that after obtaining a Storage Bag, everything had become much more convenient.

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

Convenient and swift.

The only regret was that the space inside this Storage Bag was too small—about one cubic meter—so the things it could hold were limited.

Of course, even this already satisfied him.

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

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

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

And Old Xu, unfortunately, had been robbed once more.

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.

Another thing worth mentioning was that, aside from the stolen Spirit Rice, many people's spirit fields bore traces of having been ravaged by demonic beasts.

One person was especially unlucky. In his one mu of spirit field, nearly half of the Spirit Grain Rice had been trampled and eaten by demonic beasts, making his losses truly devastating.

Zhou Changwang's spirit field had not escaped disaster either.

It too bore signs of being trampled by demonic beasts. A large patch of Spirit Grain Rice had been flattened, while a smaller portion had been bitten through and eaten.

"These are the tracks left by an Ironclad Boar rolling around. Judging from the situation, the one that entered 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. Yet recalling the miserable state of his own fields, he could not laugh at all and could only speak with a sigh.

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

Those cultivators from the Spirit Plant Hall patrol every day. Are they just putting on a fake show?"

Zhou Changwang said sullenly.

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

When he saw those stalks that had been chewed halfway through, his heart ached even more. These were the fruits of his hard work, of spending every day with his face to the yellow earth and his back to the sky, yet they had been brutally ruined.

"Those lords 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. The areas they patrol are only the outermost regions near the spirit fields.

Most demonic beasts hide deeper inside."

"But the Spirit Rice will be ready for harvest in only a few more days. This can't go on."

Zhou Changwang furrowed his brows. With a casual motion, he cast the Growth Technique, and specks of spiritual light fell upon the Spirit Grain Rice. The stalks that had looked somewhat wilted after being flattened were suddenly revitalized, straightening up almost visibly to the naked eye.

"It really can't.

So just now, I discussed it with the other spirit farmers. We plan to join forces 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?

If you do, contribute two Low-Grade Spirit Stones. Once we hire people to stand night watch, your spirit field will be included in the protection.

By then, whether it's the little thief stealing rice or the demonic beasts coming down the mountain to wreak havoc, they'll 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 staying up to guard the spirit fields, yet in the end, not a single person had remained.

Clearly, most people still treasured their lives.

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

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