Since Yellow Bamboo Island lacked spiritual energy, medicinal pills were hard to find, and there was no instruction deacon to lecture on cultivation or resolve his doubts.
Qing Chen decided to carve out another path, fighting demonic beasts and obtaining their blood essence as his means of cultivation.
After all, tempered by the secret art, the Demon Seed Golden Lotus, the strength and resilience of his soul had already fully met the requirements for cultivating the first level of the Brahma Demon-Refining Art.
He could even begin cultivating the second level of the Brahma Demon-Refining Art.
Now, all he lacked was a large quantity of blood essence containing spiritual energy to aid his cultivation.
With those resources, he would accumulate magical power at a tremendous speed.
"There are actually so many martial artists on the island. Heh heh heh!"
Hearing the old mayor's words, Qing Chen changed his mind.
He had originally planned to use the island's mortals' vital energy and blood as bait to lure demonic beasts from the sea.
However, mortals' vital energy and blood were too weak, as well as turbid and scattered.
He had estimated that he would need to gather the vital energy and blood of at least a dozen, or even several dozen, mortals to barely produce any attraction.
Doing so would cause large numbers of mortals to die.
In just a few attempts, he might kill hundreds or even over a thousand mortals.
The disappearance of so many mortals would inevitably spark panic on the island.
If the matter came to light, the sect would certainly intervene and investigate.
By comparison, using martial artists as bait seemed far more feasible! There were fewer of them anyway, making for a smaller target.
There were dozens, even over a hundred martial artists, with no shortage of Second-Rate Masters among them.
Their immense internal force, vital energy, and blood would be far more attractive to demonic beasts than the vital energy and blood of over a thousand mortals.
"If I use them sparingly, they should be enough for five years of cultivation!"
Although Qing Chen was very curious about the spirit stones in the old mayor's possession.
He also understood that now was not the time to investigate the matter.
"Mm, indeed. You have bent your backs and devoted yourselves utterly to Yellow Bamboo Island for thirty years, rendering great service through hard toil. These mortals have indeed gone a little too far."
Qing Chen deliberately paused, watching the old mayor bend his back a little further before continuing:
"However, as the cultivator stationed on this island, they are all my subjects as well. This does put me in something of a difficult position..."
"Huh? Th-this..." Hearing this, the old mayor was instantly dumbfounded. His face went white, his hands clutched the hem of his clothes, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.
"Great immortal, those unruly people have truly gone too far. If they aren't dealt with, this old man..." He had not expected Qing Chen to suddenly say such a thing and became flustered.
Qing Chen chuckled inwardly, but kept his face stern. "Old mayor, you know that my cultivation consumes certain resources. Don't you think you ought to...?"
The old mayor became even more panicked at this and hurriedly said, "Ah, well... this old man only has these two spirit stones. I truly cannot produce any more."
Qing Chen said nothing and simply closed his eyes, seemingly resting.
The Demon Seed Golden Lotus had long since sharpened his hearing, and he could hear the old mayor's heartbeat.
It raced like a pounding drum, and the hand he had hidden in his sleeve kept trembling.
This old man definitely wasn't telling the truth.
After roughly half a quarter of an hour, the old mayor suddenly dropped to his knees again with a thud, his voice choked with tears:
"Great immortal! This old man has three more! They were all bestowed upon me by great immortals who passed through over these thirty years. As long as you are willing to help, this old man is willing to offer you all these spirit stones in exchange for protection."
Only upon hearing this did Qing Chen slowly open his eyes, his gaze falling on the spirit stones the old mayor held up.
The five pale blue stones clustered together, their faint glow considerably brighter.
The doubts in his mind deepened: Where would a cultivator stationed on the island find the inclination to bestow spirit stones?
In a place with such thin spiritual energy, spirit stones were scarce resources even for cultivators. How could they possibly give them to a mortal?
This old man apparently knew nothing of cultivators' hardships. The excuse he had chosen had quite a few holes.
This old man definitely had some other means hidden away.
The cultivators who could be stationed here were all people without patrons or backgrounds, with poor connections and low cultivation. They wished they could split one spirit stone into two to use.
But he did not expose the lie. He merely raised a hand to have the old mayor stand, his voice flat and unruffled:
"Old mayor, you have rendered great service through hard toil. These unruly people's crimes are unforgivable. I will deal with this matter for you. Rest assured."
The old mayor hurriedly kowtowed, his knees banging against the stone floor. His legs were weak when he rose, and he had to brace himself against the doorframe to stand steadily before retreating, his back still bent.
Meanwhile, Qing Chen reckoned inwardly that the old fellow definitely had more than five spirit stones and must be hiding something from him.
Qing Chen was not as simple-minded as the previous cultivators stationed on the island-they had cultivated within the sect from childhood and knew nothing of worldly affairs, like fledglings venturing out of their nests for the first time.
He, Qing Chen, had weathered storms and tasted the warmth and coldness of human relations. He had killed people, swindled people, harmed people, and even deceived people in matters of the heart.
There was virtually nothing he had not done.
He had his own reckoning when it came to such an old fox's tricks, having long since honed fiery eyes of golden discernment that could see into people's hearts.