Chapter 76: One Year (2/5)

But it had come at the cost of both sides suffering severe injuries.

When this news reached He Song, he was momentarily stunned.

Then his expression darkened.

"Are the demonic cultivators so audacious now? They actually dared to attack the Enforcer Team within the bounds of Azure Cliff Immortal City?"

This thought flashed through his mind, but He Song quickly accepted it.

Six years ago,

when Master Chengshan was absent,

the demonic cultivators even besieged the Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market.

If it hadn't been for Wei Fan's intervention that time, He Song might still be struggling in the mundane world.

Demonic cultivators are called such precisely because, as long as sufficient profit is involved, they are capable of utterly shocking acts.

Of course, ordinary cultivators may sometimes become demonic themselves, committing murder and robbery for treasure.

As long as no one finds out,

there is no one to pursue it.

This time, the enforcers of Immortal City eradicated all the demonic cultivators in Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market. The demonic ones could not retaliate within the market, since a Foundation Establishment master presides there; any demonic cultivator in the Qi Refining stage would be destroyed instantly.

However, just because they cannot act within the market doesn't mean they can't act outside.

The enforcers must leave the market eventually, after all.

Once outside, they lose the protection of the Foundation Establishment master.

At that point...

After a brief consideration, He Song understood the reasoning behind the events.

He sighed inwardly.

It seems the world of cultivation is not free from feuds and vendettas.

The matter of the enforcers being attacked by demonic cultivators was not closely related to He Song.

So, after hearing the news, he simply reflected on it and put it aside.

Living in Bamboo Mountain Immortal Market,

with Master Chengshan overseeing it,

as long as he stayed inside, no matter how rampant the demonic cultivators became outside, they could not touch He Song.

Still, news continued to filter in about Azure Cliff Immortal City hunting down demonic cultivators, and of demonic attacks on enforcers.

The enforcer team had lost a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator and two at the mid-stage, so naturally they would not let it go.

So, the enforcers began their own campaign against demonic cultivators within their jurisdiction.

Today, the enforcers slew several demonic cultivators in a certain place.

Tomorrow, demonic cultivators ambushed them again, causing deaths and injuries.

Both sides seemed unwilling to stop; news came frequently.

And so, the days slipped by, one after another.

He Song's life was relatively peaceful.

It is worth mentioning

that a few months after returning to the Immortal Market, He Song finally attained his wish of becoming the manager of the Spiritual Medicine Pavilion.

With Wei Fan and Zhao Lin's assistance,

He also secured the position of manager of the medicine garden.

Since then,

He Song spent his days tending to the garden and cultivating.

At night, he returned home to practice or study spells within the Spirit Gathering Array.

A year passed in the blink of an eye.

On this day,

He Song had mastered the Earth Escape Technique to the point where he could use it freely without diminishing its power.

But as for the Five Elements Array, after more than a year of study, he still had not completed it.

By his estimation, it would take nearly two more years to fully lay out the Five Elements Array.

Still,

with the Earth Escape Technique mastered, He Song began to look beyond the market itself.

With this technique,

he could enter and leave the market without being detected.

Even if he encountered demonic cultivators outside, he needn't fear discovery.

After all, He Song could use both the Earth Escape and the Breath Concealment Technique.

Hidden underground, without a trace of aura,

it would be extremely difficult for Qi Refining cultivators to track him.

Thus,

his courage grew.

Even with the ongoing conflict between demonic cultivators and enforcers outside, He Song had no need to worry about being found.

With the Five Elements Array soon to be complete,

his current goal was to find a plot—or even several plots—of land, lay down Spirit Gathering Arrays, and gradually transform them into spiritual fields.

Spiritual fields are not ordinary farmland.

Ordinary fields cannot produce spiritual grains.

Spiritual fields require constant nurturing by spiritual energy, day and night, for years, to transform from common land.

He Song calculated that laying a Spirit Gathering Array and concentrating spiritual energy over a plot for two years would suffice to turn it into a spiritual field.

When he could finally lay the Five Elements Array, he would be able to harvest spirit stones from the field without end.

But he did not know how large an area this would need to be.

If larger, fewer arrays would be required.

If smaller, he would have to set more arrays to ensure a continuous supply of spirit stones.

Rising from his meditation cushion,

He Song glanced around the quiet chamber, quickly dismantling both the Spirit Gathering and Concealment Arrays.

He collected all array bases into his storage pouch.

After some thought, a thin sheet of paper appeared in his hand.

Spiritual energy surged from his fingertips, and soon lines of writing appeared.

"Wei, I will be in seclusion for a few days. I hope you can help check the medicine garden daily in my stead."

"He Song."

With a surge of spiritual power, the paper transformed into a paper crane and soared away.

The management of the medicine garden was a significant responsibility; He Song felt uneasy entrusting it to anyone but Wei Fan.

After all, he had once served in Wei Fan's stead at the Spirit Construction Pavilion.

This made the arrangement feel natural and not at all distant.

Having finished these tasks, He Song did not leave by Earth Escape right away, but instead walked out the door toward the market stalls.

The stall area

was as lively as when He Song first arrived in this world.

But this time, he noticed many unfamiliar faces where once were familiar ones.

Some faces he once knew were gone, replaced by complete strangers.

Seeing this, He Song sighed inwardly.

But he soon dispelled his sense of loss.

He purchased two bottles of Fasting Pills at the stall area.

Each bottle held ten pills and cost two spirit stones.

Two bottles cost him four spirit stones in total.

A single Fasting Pill could sustain him for ten days without hunger. To prepare for the unexpected, He Song bought two bottles before departing.

With these, there was no need to carry spiritual rice when traveling.

Spiritual rice was delicious and could increase cultivation,

but it took up too much space for travel, which He Song found inconvenient.

(End of chapter)