Little Blackie

Zhou Changwang fell silent.

He knew his father had made up his mind.

Moreover, it was a decision made only after careful consideration.

As his father had just said, he had spent the first half of his life living for others—Zhou Changwang did not know what he had been like before, but at least for these past twenty years, he truly had been busy for Zhou Changwang, running about for his mother's vengeance. Now that he wanted to live for himself, Zhou Changwang truly could not bring himself to refuse.

"Fine. It's enough that you know about this.

From now on, be careful in the cultivation world. Whether it is a thousand spells or ten thousand Dharma Treasures, none are as important as your own life.

As long as you're alive, there will still be opportunities.

Only then can one truly speak of having a future."

Zhou Qiankun warned him solemnly.

Zhou Changwang nodded heavily.

After some persuasion, apart from a few Spirit Farmers who were either short on funds or dismissive of the idea, most of them still handed over two Low-Grade Spirit Stones for the safety of their own Spirit Fields.

Thus, the night watch plan organized by Old Xu and the others proceeded smoothly.

There were five people in total who, tempted by Spirit Stones, voluntarily became night watchmen in the Spirit Fields.

Among them were Old Xu, Xu Fugui, and Xu Zhong, whose Spirit Field had suffered severe damage.

Old Xu had tried to persuade Zhou Changwang to join the night watchmen as well. After all, guarding for just one night would bring in at least two Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

But Zhou Changwang refused.

It was not that he looked down on such a small amount of Spirit Stones.

Even though he had quite a few Spirit Stones on him, he had never believed earning them was an easy matter.

If possible, he naturally wanted to earn more.

But he had always understood that the dangers of the wild did not cease to exist simply because others had passed through safely. It might be a matter of probability, but he would never gamble his own safety on so-called luck.

As long as he appeared somewhere, he assumed danger would inevitably occur.

Before he possessed sufficient strength to protect himself, all he could do was minimize his trips outside and avoid placing himself in dangerous situations.

Over the next few days, with the night watchmen patrolling, no one indeed dared steal Spirit Rice anymore.

However, the frequency with which demonic beasts appeared gradually increased.

The five night watchmen were all merely Immortal Farmers from the Spirit Fields, their strength limited. The strongest among them was only at the Third Level of Qi Refining. Relying on their numbers, they only dared drive the demonic beasts away. Asking them to eliminate demons would truly have been making things difficult for them.

Thus, some Spirit Farmers still suffered losses.

Fortunately, those losses remained within an acceptable range. Though complaints occasionally arose, no one questioned the night watchmen.

After all, their presence had indeed prevented everyone's Spirit Fields from once again being visited by rice thieves.

"The third day already."

Zhou Changwang's expression was somewhat grim.

In his Spirit Field, a large patch of Spirit Grain Rice had been crushed flat, while a smaller area had been gnawed completely clean.

This was already the third consecutive day.

A demonic beast had been ravaging his Spirit Field the entire time.

In fact, after discovering this on the second day, he had gone straight to Old Xu.

The man had hemmed and hawed, saying only that he had indeed seen the demonic beast and confirmed it was an adult Ironclad Boar. But it was simply too large. None of the night watchmen dared make a move, and even driving it away made them shrink back. Thus, they could only watch helplessly as it slowly ambled out of his Spirit Field and back into the forest near dawn.

Now, on the third day, that demonic beast had come again.

It seemed to have treated Zhou Changwang's Spirit Field as its own little nest, rolling around here every night...

"I can't sit back and wait for death any longer.

I have to deal with this trouble."

Zhou Changwang looked at the large swath of flattened Spirit Grain, his heart aching.

For a Spirit Farmer, the most unbearable thing was someone destroying the crops he had planted.

Over three days, his Spirit Field had lost no less than three hundred pounds of Spirit Rice.

Those were all Spirit Stones.

At the current rate of thirteen pounds per Low-Grade Spirit Stone, that was more than twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

After working hard for an entire year, once the Spirit Plant Hall's rent was deducted, he might not even earn that many Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

How could he not be furious?

"Little Blackie, it's time for you to make your move."

Zhou Changwang called out.

After thinking for a long while, he ultimately decided to act.

This was because he knew that people from the Spirit Plant Hall often patrolled around Long Ridge Mountain, so the danger was not particularly high.

The demonic beasts living there were mostly low-level demonic beasts comparable to the First Layer of the Qi Refining Realm or the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

Even if an occasional fish slipped through the net, it would at most possess the strength of the Third Level of Qi Refining.

As for anything stronger?

The Spirit Plant Hall was no small force. No matter how careless the patrols might be, every deployment was certainly led by one or two experts at Qi Refining, Fourth Layer or above.

Under the probing of Spiritual Sense, demonic beasts above the Third Level of Qi Refining had long since been slaughtered clean.

It was precisely for this reason that Zhou Changwang dared decide to personally deal with the demonic beast ravaging his Spirit Field.

At Zhou Changwang's call, the Little Spirit Hound immediately came running toward him in high spirits.

After several days, the Little Spirit Hound had grown sturdier still. Seeing its glossy black fur, Zhou Changwang naturally gave it a nickname.

Little Blackie.

Casual and easy to say.

When the Little Spirit Hound rushed up before Zhou Changwang, he rubbed its head. Then, a Soothing Art descended upon it. Pointing at the patch of flattened Spirit Grain Rice, he said, "Go. Find out where this fellow is hiding."

"Awwooo..."

The Little Spirit Hound gave a low growl. It seemed to understand Zhou Changwang's words as it began sniffing around the Spirit Field.

The Little Spirit Hound was, after all, a Mountain-Piercing Hound, a spirit beast with keen senses of smell and gifts countless times greater than those of ordinary dogs.

Though it was still young, the Ironclad Boar had no ability to conceal its aura.

Thus, after only a short while, the Little Spirit Hound growled again. Moving its short little legs, it swiftly gave chase in a certain direction.

Zhou Changwang did not hesitate and followed directly behind it.

Before long, Zhou Changwang crossed his own Spirit Field and arrived at the edge of Long Ridge Mountain's foothills.

Here stood a fence of Spirit Thorn Vines, effectively preventing demonic beasts from Long Ridge Mountain from running down and ravaging the Spirit Fields.

It had been specially arranged and planted by cultivators of the Spirit Plant Hall, dense and stretching onward for an unknown distance.

But at this moment, a huge gap was clearly visible in the middle of the fence.

Evidently, a demonic beast had charged through by force, smashing open the fence covered in Spirit Thorn Vines.

"It really is no small thing.

Five hundred pounds was still an underestimate."

Zhou Changwang compared the size of the gap, and a trace of gravity appeared on his face.

An adult Ironclad Boar generally possessed the strength of the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm. An Ironclad Boar this large... if not for the trump cards he had, he truly would not dare act rashly.

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