Eight Heavenly Origin Forms

"Defensive spirit talisman? Damn it!"

The young man in the distance changed expression and hurriedly sped up the spell in his hands.

"Wang Chang?"

At the same time, Zhou Changwang also spotted the figure in the distance. Anger flared in his heart as he pulled out a flying sword as thin as a feather and activated it instantly.

Whoosh!

In a flash, the flying sword pierced straight through Wang Chang's head in the distance.

In an instant, Wang Chang died.

Zhou Changwang looked at the Golden Light Shield around him, which was on the verge of collapsing, his heart still pounding with lingering fear.

Everything just now had happened far too quickly and suddenly.

If he had not remained vigilant and activated his spirit talisman in time, the Earth Spike Talisman would have pierced him through.

By then, he had also figured it out. Wang Chang must have only decided to make him his target after seeing him leave Heavenly Fragrance House.

After all, spirit farmers were famously weak in combat within the world of cultivation.

And in Wang Chang's eyes, he was carrying a large sum of money and frequently visiting the Six Directions Pavilion's Miscellaneous Affairs Hall...

It seemed that I needed to be even more meticulous in the future.

If I cannot change my appearance, I should at least make some sort of disguise.

Though Zhou Changwang remained on guard, he also knew this was no place to linger. Taking advantage of the fact that no one had noticed, he hurried over to Wang Chang at top speed.

He first picked up his own Magical Flying Sword. After searching briefly, he found a black cloth bag in Wang Chang's robes, then took out a small bottle from his Storage Bag and aimed it at Wang Chang's wound after opening it.

In an instant, Wang Chang's corpse was rapidly corroded until it no longer looked human.

Only then did Zhou Changwang hurriedly leave.

Fortunately, the rest of the journey went smoothly, and Zhou Changwang returned directly home.

After entering the courtyard gate, he saw his father practicing martial arts in the yard.

Though his path in martial arts had already been severed, Zhou Qiankun had not become discouraged. Whenever he had time, he practiced every day.

What he was practicing now was a special kind of boxing art. His movements were extremely slow, somewhat like the elderly men doing tai chi Zhou Changwang had seen in his previous life. Every gesture carried a lingering charm.

Yet upon closer inspection, Zhou Changwang realized that the two were completely different.

He could clearly see that although his father's movements were slow, every move seemed incomparably strenuous, as though there were a massive millstone before him that he had to push forward with great effort.

In only a short while, he was already drenched in sweat.

But upon seeing Zhou Changwang return, Zhou Qiankun immediately stopped and asked, "How did it go? Did everything go smoothly? Did you rent a house?"

"I bought everything I needed, but the houses in the market district's inner city are still too expensive. I haven't found a suitable one for now."

Zhou Changwang did not mention the ambush he had encountered, lest his father worry. He merely shook his head helplessly.

"This is an important matter. There is no need to rush. If it does not work out, make a few more trips."

Zhou Qiankun nodded and comforted him.

"I know."

Zhou Changwang naturally understood that. Then he asked curiously, "Father, the martial art you were practicing just now seemed a little different. What martial art was that?"

Deep down, he was still somewhat curious about martial arts.

"Eight Heavenly Origin Forms.

"But this is not a martial art. It is a body-cultivation technique.

"It is also the only set of moves I have discovered over the years that ordinary people can practice.

"Though I do not know whether it is truly useful, after practicing it for several years, I have indeed felt my physique grow much stronger."

As he spoke, a smile could not help appearing on Zhou Qiankun's face.

For a martial artist whose road ahead had been severed, even the slightest progress was enough to bring joy.

What was more, Zhou Qiankun believed that he had improved quite a bit.

Zhou Changwang nodded. He wanted to learn it, but after considering his current situation, he could only temporarily suppress the thought in his heart.

He needed to turn the spells he had purchased from the Six Directions Pavilion into strength as soon as possible.

He had no time to learn any martial arts.

Afterward, Zhou Changwang returned to his room and immediately opened the black bag he had taken from Wang Chang.

He had been in too much of a hurry to leave earlier to inspect what was inside. But when he opened it now, disappointment was hard to hide from his face.

Three Low-Grade Spirit Stones, forty-five Spirit Fragments, two jade slips, and a land deed.

"One battle cost me a Golden Light Shield Talisman, yet I only gained three Low-Grade Spirit Stones. I did not even recover my losses..."

Zhou Changwang compared the gains in silence and shook his head helplessly.

He could only hope that whatever the two jade slips recorded would be worth some Spirit Stones.

As for the land deed, he glanced at it once before burning it with Fireball Art.

It was a contract Wang Chang had signed with the Spirit Plant Hall for leasing spirit fields. Wang Chang's finances had indeed been fairly substantial before. At thirty Low-Grade Spirit Stones per mu, he had leased fifteen mu in all.

Of course, he had leased them on credit at the time, owing ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones per mu. They had agreed that when the spirit fields matured, he would make up an additional fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones for each mu.

Zhou Changwang also had such a land deed in his possession, though he generally did not carry it on him.

"But something is not right.

"With a yield of only two or three hundred jin of Spirit Rice per mu, how did he repay the fifteen Low-Grade Spirit Stones owed on each of those fifteen mu?"

A question immediately arose in Zhou Changwang's heart. He had seen the words indicating that the rental debt had been repaid on the land deed, along with Manager Chen's signature.

Judging by how Wang Chang visited Heavenly Fragrance House every few days, he should have run out of Spirit Stones long ago.

But when Zhou Changwang recalled that Wang Chang had attacked him, it was clear that this was not the first or second time he had done such a thing. Realization dawned on him.

Then, he turned his gaze toward the two jade slips.

"Breath-Concealing Art, Spirit Farmer's Manual."

Zhou Changwang's eyes lit up slightly.

He had long heard of the Breath-Concealing Art.

It was a spell that could restrain one's aura and conceal one's presence.

The reason Wang Chang had managed to avoid detection even while Zhou Changwang was on guard was partly due to this spell.

"This spell is quite useful. It is priced at ten Low-Grade Spirit Stones in the Six Directions Pavilion as well. At least I did not lose out completely."

Zhou Changwang secretly breathed a sigh of relief, then turned his gaze to the Spirit Farmer's Manual.

Only after a long while did he withdraw his consciousness from the jade slip, filled with emotion.

This so-called Spirit Farmer's Manual—who knew where Wang Chang had acquired it? It was actually a jade slip recording nearly a century of spirit-field planting experience from a spirit farmer named Wan He.

Throughout his life, Wan He had not only cultivated nearly ten kinds of spirit rice, including Spirit Grain Rice, Crescent Rice, and Blood-Spirit Rice, but had also grown many exotic flowers, rare grasses, spirit medicines, and spirit materials.

The many problems he had encountered while planting, as well as the methods for resolving them, were all recorded and explained in detail.

What was more, Zhou Changwang found several methods for cultivating spirit soil within it. Used properly, they could increase the yield per mu of spirit fields by several tenths.

"Good stuff. This is truly good stuff.

"No wonder Wang Chang could produce seven hundred jin of Spirit Grain Rice per mu. The methods for cultivating spirit soil in here truly deserve great credit."

Zhou Changwang sighed with emotion. He naturally understood how valuable the Spirit Farmer's Manual was.

The experience and insights of a farmer with a century of experience were simply beyond measure in value.