Help Me

Anping Prefecture. Ox Head Mountain.

A gaunt figure walked up the mountain along the horse trail.

"Whee-whee..."

A whistle suddenly rang out. Several men armed with sharp blades emerged from the dense woods on both sides of the trail. Every one of them looked fiercely at the man and shouted:

"Stop! Who are you? Give us your name!"

Zhang Sheng stopped and raised his head, revealing a face so thin it was scarcely recognizable. He looked at the man in the lead. "My name's Zhang Sheng. I'm from Zhang Family Village at the foot of the mountain. I've come to take my wife home!"

The men froze, looked at one another, and burst into laughter.

"Take your wife home? Who's your wife? Tell us so I can see if I've had him!"

Zhang Sheng looked at the man and said, "My wife's Liu Cuihua, from Liu Family Village next door."

"Liu Cuihua! Hahaha!"

"Isn't that the wife Scar snatched?"

The leader laughed for a moment, then his expression changed. Looking at Zhang Sheng, he snapped, "Your wife belongs to the men on this mountain now. Get lost before you dirty my blade."

Zhang Sheng looked at the blade the man was waving and backed up two steps. Then he seemed to remember something and recited a Great Peace Secret Incantation:

"When one attains the Dao, a thousand li are sheltered; my very body is Great Peace Village."

As soon as he recited the incantation, the timidity vanished from his face, and his voice grew louder. "I've come to challenge the mountain! I'm taking my wife back, and I'm going to protect my neighbors!"

The men froze again. A serious look appeared on their leader's face. "Challenge the mountain? You think you're worthy?"

Zhang Sheng suddenly looked at the leader and pointed at him. A vine shot from his fingertip like a wooden snake and burrowed into the man's body in an instant.

"Urgh!"

The man went rigid and tried to say something, but a length of vine poked out of his mouth. Like a punctured balloon, he shriveled and shriveled until, in the blink of an eye, he was nothing but a shriveled human skin.

At the same time, a blood-red color appeared on the vine and flowed into Zhang Sheng's body. His gaunt face turned rosy, as though he had eaten something immensely nourishing.

"D-d-demon..."

The remaining bandits stared at Zhang Sheng in terror. The next moment, they fled up the mountain, and a succession of piercing signal arrows rang out.

The vine rapidly withdrew into Zhang Sheng's fingertip and vanished. He licked the corner of his mouth, as though savoring some delicacy, and continued up the mountain.

There were no more obstacles along the way. Only when he reached the stronghold gate did he see the bandits holding powerful bows atop it.

Four men stood in the middle of the gate. One had the air and bearing of an immortal, looking like a divine being. A faint spiritual light appeared in his eyes, and he smiled. "I am High Person Golden Light. May I ask which fellow cultivator has graced us with a visit?"

Zhang Sheng looked up at him. "I want to protect my neighbors and keep the peace in these parts. You bandits are the greatest scourge here. If you're willing to surrender and join my Great Peace Village today, I'll spare your lives. Otherwise, I'll kill every last one of you."

"Bold words, fellow cultivator!" High Person Golden Light snorted. "A mere Qi Ingestion First Layer cultivator dares to shout threats at me?"

As he spoke, a spirit talisman appeared in his hand. He pointed at Zhang Sheng. "Go!"

The spirit talisman burned, turning into a fireball that shot toward Zhang Sheng.

"Pfft!"

A vine shot explosively from the ground and pierced the fireball when it was only halfway there, dispersing it in midair.

"What?!" High Person Golden Light was startled. Just as he was about to say something else, he heard a mighty roar.

"Lord of Thunder, help me!"

"Rumble... rumble..."

In an instant, bolts of lightning as thick as arms fell from the sky, striking the stronghold gate, High Person Golden Light, and the bandits.

A moment later.

Zhang Sheng walked into the stronghold over the ruins of the gate, which had been blasted apart. The bandits carrying all manner of weapons threw down their swords and blades in terror, fell prostrate, and loudly begged for mercy. "Immortal master, spare us! Immortal master, spare us..."

Zhang Sheng stopped on a high spot in front of Gathering Hall inside the stronghold and turned to look at the many bandits kneeling around him.

"When one attains the Dao, a thousand li are sheltered; my very body is Great Peace Village."

"I, Zhang Sheng, have received teachings from an immortal. I'm determined to protect my neighbors and establish Great Peace Village. Are you willing to join my Great Peace Village?"

The bandits looked at one another, then at their three leaders and that immortal, who had all been charred black. They immediately shouted in succession, "We're willing to follow the immortal master and join Great Peace Village!"

"I'm willing too!"

"Me too!"

"..."

Seeing this, Zhang Sheng immediately said, "Everyone, repeat after me!"

"When one attains the Dao, a thousand li are sheltered; my very body is Great Peace Village."

The bandits immediately began to recite along with him:

"When one attains the Dao, a thousand li are sheltered; my very body is Great Peace Village."

"When one attains the Dao, a thousand li are sheltered; my very body is Great Peace Village."

"..."

As the Great Peace Secret Incantation rang out again and again, Zhang Sheng's gaunt body steadily filled out. Before long, he grew strong, regaining his original sturdy build. At the same time, a spark appeared in his eyes and quickly passed into the eyes of the other bandits.

As the sparks continued to spread, the voices reciting the secret incantation grew ever more orderly. Soon they sounded as one, perfectly in unison. A spiritual atmosphere emerged and enveloped each person, linking their fortunes together.

Dao of Qi Refining.

Half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Fang Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead and leaned on his pickaxe, taking several deep breaths.

Even though he was a "Dao Foundation" great immortal with a powerful physique, the long hours of mining had left him struggling to keep going.

"I've mined nearly five hundred thousand Spirit Stones in total now. That's certainly enough for cultivation, but if I go to bid on a Foundation Establishment Pill, it definitely won't be enough. I should mine at least a million!"

After thinking it over, Fang Yu decided to mine more while the sense of "great fortune" lasted. The three hundred thousand he had planned on before certainly wasn't a safe enough sum. The markup on Foundation Establishment Pills was too high. Since one had once sold for the astronomical price of a million Spirit Stones, he ought to prepare for the worst and mine a million, or even more.

In any case, he had plenty of time. He could hide the Spirit Stones he mined on the Dao of Qi Ingestion side and wouldn't have to hand any of them over. Every stone he mined would be his.

Hmm, this Storage Bag is full. I'll take it over first!

With a thought, Fang Yu vanished. When he reappeared, he was in the cave where he had hidden the Spirit Stones.

After taking the Spirit Stones out of the Storage Bag and putting them in a specially designated large Storage Bag, Fang Yu was about to go back when something stirred in his heart.

"Hmm? This is...!"

He held out his left hand and calculated on his fingers. A smile appeared on his face. "Good, good. The sparks have been lit, and in more than one place. But the fire is still a little too small. Once it burns more fiercely and there are more people, I'll harvest the Fire of Ten Thousand Households."

With another thought, he returned to the mine.

"Pfft! Back to digging!"

He rubbed his hands together, picked up his pickaxe, and continued digging deeper.