Starry Sky Professional Directory 70
Aquila Star.
A bedroom.
Fang Xing lay on the bed, a sense of peace welling up from within him. Recalling the second-order avian demonic beast he had encountered, his eyes narrowed slightly: “There’s a difference between second-order demonic beasts… This second-order avian beast gave me a much stronger sense of oppression than the last one… Perhaps it was a high-grade, or even top-grade, second-order demonic beast?”
He had witnessed Foundation Establishment cultivators easily kill second-order demonic beasts in the market before.
But Fang Xing believed that if it were this one, the Qingxuan Sect elder stationed at the market would only have the option of fleeing in disgrace!
And because of its flight speed, escape would be impossible!
“As I am now, I’m probably not qualified to fight a second-order demonic beast… even a low-grade one…”
Fang Xing had a clear understanding of his own strength. Among Qi Condensation cultivators, he was definitely considered very good; as long as he didn’t encounter exceptionally talented Qi Condensation cultivators, he could basically sweep through them.
But facing Foundation Establishment cultivators, or being surrounded by late-stage and peak Qi Condensation cultivators, would be extremely dangerous.
Foundation Establishment cultivators have awakened their divine sense, greatly increasing their premonition of danger. Even if he used his laser gun, he might not be able to take them down.
Once the laser gun’s first shot missed, losing the advantage of concealment, Fang Xing would be even less likely to hit later – they couldn’t dodge the laser, but they could dodge the gun barrel!
Second-order demonic beasts have thick hides and flesh, and even stronger vitality, making them even harder to deal with.
Because of this, Fang Xing stayed on Aquila Star for several days before daring to return to Qinglinfang City.
A high-grade subworld.
The basement was as usual.
“Oh? It seems that the second-order demonic beast’s divine sense is exceptional. It didn’t detect any life aura here, so it didn’t come…”
He was very satisfied with not having to move.
Over the next few days, he followed his usual routine of consuming Spirit Rice, taking pills, and cultivating.
Although taking too many pills can lead to pill poison, when he advanced to the Jadeite Level, he had undergone a process of strengthening tendons and marrow, expelling most of the impurities accumulated in his body.
And at the Jadeite Level, the vital essence was inexhaustible, refining his five internal organs, making his tolerance for pill poison far exceed the previous two levels.
Coupled with Fang Xing’s deliberate control of the dosage, it was all within his body’s capacity, his martial arts making rapid progress while his foundation remained incredibly solid…
“…The Ferocious Tiger Stake is progressing rapidly… but the Dragon Elephant Skill is somewhat stagnant due to the lack of Whale Elephant Ointment…”
Several days later, Fang Xing glanced at his attribute panel, slightly regretful: “The matter of finding a substitute for Whale Elephant Ointment needs to be put on the agenda quickly.”
On Aquila Star, even if there were substitutes, he lacked the channels, connections, and sufficient Star Coins.
But here, it was clearly not a big problem.
Morning.
As usual, Fang Xing, wearing a black robe and concealing his face, blended into the thick fog.
Occasionally, a few scattered figures would emerge from the ruins and basements, all dressed as tightly as he was, carrying magical instruments and talismans, watching each other with wary eyes.
‘The cultivators in this world are really unfriendly…’
He mentally muttered, arriving at the ghost market.
This was actually the old stall area, but it had since been abandoned, with only a few scattered cultivators taking advantage of the early morning fog to trade without fear of being discovered by demonic beasts.
The fog was unusually thick today; you could barely see three meters ahead.
‘It feels a bit strange; maybe it’s a special effect of some kind of formation? Or a formation master taking advantage of the situation?’
Fang Xing came to a stall and found that it was selling ordinary rice.
“How about it? This rice is cheap, twenty jin for one spirit stone…”
The stall owner was a Qi Condensation cultivator, but his cultivation was probably only at the early Qi Condensation stage, with a smiling face.
“Before the market’s destruction, ten jin of Spirit Rice cost only one spirit stone…”
Fang Xing was speechless.
Although Qi Condensation cultivators cannot achieve long-term abstention from food, this showed how dire the situation had become.
“Alas, those were the times, and these are the times,”
The stall owner sighed, “It’s good enough to have something to eat… When the remaining resources in the ruins of the market are depleted, come and see!”
Fang Xing knew that the spirit fields outside the market were now all abandoned, and things would only get worse next year.
The reason these loose cultivators stayed, despite the occasional risk of second-order demonic beast hunting, was firstly that the environment in the wilderness was even worse, with the same probability of encountering high-level demonic beasts.
Secondly, there were still some resources in the ruins of the market; scavenging could occasionally yield something.
Even if demonic beasts came, there were many people, so it wasn’t necessarily their turn to be attacked—a degree of wishful thinking!
Thirdly, it was probably a faint hope that the major sects from the outside might fight their way back!
He shook his head and walked to another stall.
“Big brother, wanna play?”
At a street corner, several beautiful female cultivators stood, dressed to impress. Seeing Fang Xing, strong and without any weakness, their eyes lit up: “We used to have legitimate businesses at the Listening Rain Tower, proficient in the seventy-two styles of Master Donghuan, as well as the Nine Transformations of Fish and Dragon, and the art of Spring Cry of Combat… I guarantee you’ll linger, just give us a few jin of Spirit Rice or Cultivation Pills…”
‘Hmm, the price has dropped significantly compared to before…’
Fang Xing nodded silently, walking away without looking.
He was here to stroll around, relax, and look for a replacement for the ‘Whale Elephant Ointment’; he wasn’t going to be distracted by such trifles.
‘This ghost market is no good; next time, I’ll go directly to the cave black market…’
Just as Fang Xing thought he was going to get nothing again today, he paused, stopping at a stall.
This stall displayed a few bottles of pills, a rarity in the ghost market.
Although the ones for sale were all common spirit pills, in the current environment, it was already quite good.
The stall owner was an elderly cultivator, his ebony hairpins broken, his spiritual robes tattered, looking quite miserable.
Even so, he remained haughty, a faint fragrance of pills wafting from him, signifying his identity as a pill refiner.
‘Is that him? Wan Fenglin… This old boy is still alive?’
Fang Xing stared at the clearly down-and-out Grand Pill Master Wan Fenglin, somewhat surprised.
This man had been outmaneuvered in the first Five Scorpion Valley battle, having to use a life-saving talisman to escape, being one of the first to be eliminated.
After Chen Yi and the Black Tiger Gang’s leader Fu Qing clashed, it no longer concerned him.
But Fang Xing felt that the Black Tiger Gang would not let this man go, yet he was still alive.
He didn’t know, of course, that Wan Fenglin had indeed almost been driven to a dead end, even becoming a prisoner of the Black Tiger Gang. Luckily, Qingxuan Sect intervened later, suppressing the Black Tiger Gang, and the leader of the Black Tiger Gang was killed by a Nascent Soul cultivator, directly disbanding the large Black Tiger Gang, giving him a chance to escape.
But his cultivation had been severely damaged, falling back to the third level of Qi Condensation, and now encountering the great disaster in the market, he was truly living a difficult life, barely able to afford his attire.
“Fellow Daoist, would you like to buy some pills… This ‘Gold Supplement Pill’ can quickly heal any injury, and this ‘Spring Blossom Pill,’ taken regularly, can keep you eternally young…”
Wan Fenglin didn’t recognize Fang Xing, who had changed his appearance and concealed his face, and eagerly introduced the pills on his stall.
Fang Xing glanced at them and could only say they were garbage.
No wonder he had fallen so far.
He thought for a moment, taking out the box that had previously held the ‘Whale Elephant Ointment’. The ointment was gone, but the residual scent was enough for a pill refiner or pharmacist to identify it: “I used this kind of body-refining ointment before; do you have any substitutes?”
Wan Fenglin took it, sniffed it slightly, and his expression changed: “This medicinal property is extremely powerful… I’ve misjudged you, Fellow Daoist. You seem to be not a martial artist, but a body cultivator, or even a late-stage Qi Condensation body cultivator; your skill in concealing your aura is truly remarkable.”
“You know it’s good!”
Fang Xing crossed his arms, coldly saying, “So?”
“This medicine is domineering, probably containing second-order spiritual herbs and the flesh and blood of a second-order demonic beast… I can’t think of a substitute, even Qing Danfang might not be able to produce…”
Wan Fenglin returned the empty box to Fang Xing with a bitter smile.
“Is that so, then…”
Fang Xing shook his head. He had known that the Dragon Elephant Skill was difficult to cultivate, but he hadn’t expected it to be this difficult.
The matching ointment actually involved second-order materials!
‘Should I go kill a second-order demonic beast? My blood-refined magical instrument is pretty handy for cutting people, but against a second-order demonic beast, it’s almost impossible to break through the defense…’
‘But this Wan Fenglin has a terrible personality… Next time I’ll ask Little Rui girl.’
He turned to leave, but suddenly stopped.
Honestly, Wan Fenglin had tried to scheme against him before, and he still remembered that grudge.
But seeing how miserable and down-trodden he looked, it seemed that living was a greater punishment.
“Fellow Daoist, is there anything else?”
Wan Fenglin was startled to see Fang Xing stop.
Then he saw a low-grade spirit stone in Fang Xing’s hand, and his eyes went a little wide.
“I’m quite interested in that secret realm. Since Grand Pill Master Wan was there, you must know some information. Tell me everything. If you make me happy, these spirit stones are yours…”
Fang Xing took out a few more low-grade spirit stones and tossed them in his hand.
Wan Fenglin’s face changed, looking like he wanted to run but dared not, finally turning bitter: “That Five Scorpion Valley, I really don’t know what happened. Later, I managed to escape. After returning, I was targeted by the Black Tiger Gang and kidnapped…”
Actually, the Black Tiger Gang thought that Wan Fenglin knew some secrets about the secret realm and was a talented pill refiner, so they spared his life.
“But while I was in the Black Tiger Gang, I heard some news…”
Seeing the spirit stones flying in Fang Xing’s hand, Wan Fenglin swallowed, “About that secret realm, some say it’s the legacy left by ‘Master Wanfa’, extremely precious, so it attracted the Qingxuan Sect’s Nascent Soul cultivator…”
“Master Wanfa?”
Fang Xing was puzzled, but still threw a low-grade spirit stone over: “Continue…”
“Yes, yes…” Wan Fenglin’s eyes lit up. In any case, that secret realm was surely occupied by demonic beasts now, basically ruined, and selling this hearsay for a few spirit stones was excellent. “Speaking of this ‘Master Wanfa,’ he was an incredible person, a famous genius a thousand years ago… It is said that he had poor spiritual root aptitude, yet cultivated his way to the peak of Nascent Soul…”
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