Little Blackie

Zhou Changwang fell silent.

He knew his father's mind was made up.

And it was a decision made only after deep 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 for at least these past twenty years, he had indeed been busying himself for Zhou Changwang, running about to avenge his mother. Now that he wanted to live for himself, Zhou Changwang truly could not bring himself to refuse.

"Alright, it's enough that you know about this.

In the world of cultivation, be careful from now on. Whether it is a thousand spells or ten thousand magical treasures, none are more important than your own life.

As long as you are alive, there will still be opportunities for everything.

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

Zhou Qiankun warned him.

Zhou Changwang nodded heavily.

After a round of persuasion, aside from a few spirit farmers who were either short of funds or dismissive of the matter, most spirit farmers 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 for the spirit fields.

Old Xu, Xu Fugui, and Xu Zhong, whose spirit field had suffered severe damage, were all among them.

Old Xu had tried to persuade Zhou Changwang to join the night watchmen as well. After all, guarding for just one night meant earning 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 considered earning them an easy matter.

If possible, he naturally hoped to earn more.

But he had always understood that the dangers of the wilderness did not cease to exist simply because others had passed through safely. Perhaps it was a matter of probability, but he was unwilling to gamble his safety on so-called luck.

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

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

Over the following days, with the night watchmen making their rounds, no one indeed dared steal Spirit Rice anymore.

However, the frequency with which demon 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 Qi Refining, Third Layer. Relying on their numbers, they only dared drive demon beasts away. Asking them to actually slay demons was making things difficult for them.

As a result, some spirit farmers still suffered losses.

Fortunately, those losses remained within acceptable limits. 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."

Zhou Changwang's expression darkened.

A large stretch of Spirit Grain Rice in his spirit field had been crushed flat, while one smaller area had been gnawed completely clean.

This was already the third consecutive day.

A demon beast had continued to wreak havoc in his spirit field.

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

The other man hemmed and hawed, saying only that they had indeed seen the demon beast and confirmed it was an adult Ironclad Boar. But it was simply too large, and none of the night-watch team had dared make a move. Even driving it away had made them shrink back. They could only watch helplessly as it sauntered out of his spirit field and returned to the forest near dawn.

Now, it was the third day, and that demon beast had come again.

It seemed to have treated Zhou Changwang's spirit field as its own little nest, rolling about here every night...

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

"I have to deal with this trouble."

Zhou Changwang looked at that great swath of fallen Spirit Grain, his heart aching.

For a spirit farmer, the most intolerable thing was someone destroying the crops he had planted.

Over three days, his spirit field had lost no fewer than three hundred catties of Spirit Rice.

Those were all Spirit Stones.

At the current rate of thirteen catties for one Low-Grade Spirit Stone, that amounted to more than twenty Low-Grade Spirit Stones.

After working hard for an entire year and deducting the rent paid to the Spirit Plant Hall, he might not even have that many Low-Grade Spirit Stones left.

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.

That was because he knew that people from the Spirit Plant Hall frequently patrolled around Long Ridge Mountain, so the danger level was not high.

Most of the demon beasts living there were low-level demon beasts comparable to the First Layer of the Qi Refining Realm or the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm.

Even the occasional fish that slipped through the net would be no stronger than Qi Refining, Third Layer.

As for anything higher?

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

Under Spiritual Sense inspection, all demon beasts at Qi Refining, Third Layer and above had long since been slaughtered clean.

It was precisely for this reason that Zhou Changwang dared decide to personally deal with the demon beast ravaging his spirit field.

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

Over the past few days, the Little Spirit Hound had grown a little sturdier. Seeing its glossy black fur, Zhou Changwang had taken the opportunity to give 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 cast a Soothing Art and pointed at the collapsed Spirit Grain Rice. "Go. Find out where this thing is hiding."

"Awwoo..."

The Little Spirit Hound let out a low growl. It actually 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 far surpassing those of ordinary dogs.

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

Thus, after only a short while, the Little Spirit Hound growled again and dashed off in a certain direction on its short little legs.

Zhou Changwang did not hesitate either, following directly behind it.

Before long, Zhou Changwang crossed his own spirit field and arrived at the edge of the foot of Long Ridge Mountain.

There stood a Spirit Thorn Vine fence, capable of effectively stopping demon beasts from Long Ridge Mountain from running down and ravaging the spirit fields.

It had been specially arranged and planted by cultivators from the Spirit Plant Hall, dense and stretching on for who knew how many meters.

But now, a huge gap was clearly visible in the middle of the fence.

A demon beast had obviously rammed through it by force, smashing open the fence covered in Spirit Thorn Vines.

"It really is not small.

"Five hundred catties 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 strength at the Second Layer of the Qi Refining Realm. An Ironclad Boar this large... if he did not have a few trump cards, he truly would not dare act rashly.

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