Chapter 72: Return to the Countryside

After Qin Ming left.

Four figures in black robes landed where Qin Ming and the other had just fought.

“Damn it, someone cut in!”

“That kid was rich—we barely managed to wound him badly.”

“Should we chase?”

“Too late—the Lingyu Gate pursuers are almost here. Let’s go.”

“Damn it! Don’t let me find out who stole my kill!”

As the four were discussing this.

In the distance, a Lingyu Gate magic vessel was speeding toward them.

“Trouble! Quick, go!”

An elder aboard the magic vessel frowned at the direction the four had fled; when he drew near and saw the charred ashes on the ground, he was stunned.

He immediately abandoned the vessel and flew after the four.

…

He had taken over an hour’s detour.

Qin Ming twisted and turned, sneaking back into Qingyang Market.

Back at Qingliang Xiaozhu, his tense heart gradually eased.

Huh～ Qin Ming let out a heavy breath.

Yet a hint of excitement lingered on his face.

Having slain Jiang Kun, that bastard, he would finally have peace.

He entered the meditation chamber.

Began to inventory his gains.

The most coveted item in Jiang Kun’s storage bag was still that supreme-grade magic sword.

Qin Ming held it in hand, played with it briefly, then effortlessly erased Jiang Kun’s magical imprint using his powerful spiritual sense.

This supreme-grade magic sword was named “Qingming Sword.”

After a brief consecration, it became entirely his own.

Yet when Qin Ming cautiously tried activating it with his magic power, he was shocked to find the consumption required to fully wield it was terrifying.

Even with his Qi Refining fifth-layer power—twice that of his peers—he could barely manage it, likely lasting less than half a stick of incense.

He would need at least Qi Refining late-stage cultivation to use it freely.

Alongside the sword was a top-tier sword art: “Qingming Sword Art,” with six levels, usable all the way to Foundation Establishment late-stage.

The first three levels corresponded to Qi Refining; the latter three to Foundation Establishment.

After all, Qin Ming had personally experienced this sword art’s power and knew its strength well.

A single Qingming Sword Qi had pierced through his Liusu Armor and his robust body.

He put away the Qingming Sword and the sword art, then continued examining Jiang Kun’s storage bag.

Inside were fifty middle-grade spirit stones and over three thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Altogether, equivalent to over eight thousand low-grade spirit stones.

Most surprising of all was a single “Xixi Pill”—a late-stage Qi Refining breakthrough elixir—the very one Jiang Kun had once planned to use to bribe him at Mingzhen Pavilion.

After all that, it had come back to his hands.

There were also some healing and detoxifying pills, as well as magic power-enhancing elixirs; the rest were spirit materials and talismans.

At the very bottom of the bag lay a golden talisman, its spiritual energy long gone, dull and lifeless.

Qin Ming pulled it out, examined it closely, and broke into a cold sweat. “It’s a Talisman Treasure!”

Talisman Treasures are forged by Foundation Establishment or higher cultivators, reusable, and release a spell equal to a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s full-power strike.

But upon inspection, this talisman’s spiritual essence was entirely depleted—it had clearly been used multiple times by Jiang Kun and was now useless.

Qin Ming silently rejoiced: had Jiang Kun not exhausted this talisman while being hunted by those bandits,

the outcome might have been different.

It served as a warning to him: killing and looting carried too great a risk.

Farming quietly was far better.

But had he not encountered Jiang Kun nearly dead, Qin Ming would never have dared to strike.

Missing such an opportunity, he might wait indefinitely for another.

Still, overall, the gains were substantial.

In Qingyang Market, Qin Ming dared not openly use Jiang Kun’s items—he’d have to wait until his strength improved and he left Lingyu Gate.

Or, if the chance arose, find a black market to dispose of them secretly.

Qin Ming packed his belongings.

He cleared his mind, swallowed the pill in the meditation chamber, and entered cultivation.

The next day.

Qin Ming rose early.

After a night of cultivation, he felt full of vigor and spirit.

First, he walked to the courtyard corner to check on the withered blood poison vine.

After so long, the three purple demonic flowers remained unchanged.【Name】Withered Blood Poison Vine【Entry】: Temporal Leaf x5 (Maturity 1%)

Qin Ming then took the blood pearl from Jiang Kun’s corpse and tossed it over.

Instantly, the black withered vines surged like starving wolves, wrapping and absorbing its essence.

The black vines visibly thickened.

Gradually,

the three purple demonic buds slowly cracked open a fraction.

Qin Ming watched closely and noticed a slight change in the entry.

【Name】Withered Blood Poison Vine【Entry】: Temporal Leaf x5 (Maturity 15%)

Absorbing this single blood pearl had significantly increased the purple demonic flower’s maturity.

“The essence and soul of a Qi Refining peak cultivator indeed accelerate its growth.”

Qin Ming rested his chin in thought.

Then he took the four-winged frost bee hive from his spirit beast bag and hung the entire nest onto the black withered vine.

Once the flowers bloomed, the spirit bees would pollinate the purple demonic flowers.

Having finished this,

Qin Ming stepped outside and headed toward his spirit fields.

He hadn’t tended them in days and still felt some concern.

Arriving at the fields, he gazed upon the thriving spirit plants and smiled like a farmer.

Three mu of Jin Ling Rice had grown halfway tall, lush and green.

Two golden entries caught his eye:

【Name】: Jin Ling Rice【Entry】: Weak Magic Power (Maturity 48%)

【Name】: Jin Ling Rice【Entry】: Quality Enhancement (Maturity 43%)

After tending the Jin Ling Rice fields, Qin Ming walked to the three mu of Shouya Rice fields, where the spirit rice ears were heavy with fruit.

All that remained was the harvest at year’s end.

In the two mu of spirit herb fields,

twelve Mofan Grass and eleven Seven-Leaf Huangling were growing vigorously.

Because Shouya Rice and high-grade spirit plants were cultivated here,

Lingyu Gate’s field supervisor Du Haifu and the cultivation records officer from the Administration Hall occasionally came to inspect closely.

As long as no bandits of the caliber that attacked Elder Yao’s herb garden appeared, the fields remained safe.

Qin Ming spent half a day casting the Advanced Spirit Rain Art over the fields.

He summoned spirit rain to nourish all the crops, and under its moisture, the plants grew even more luxuriantly.

Even the three mu of Shouya Rice showed signs of quality improvement.

And he had not once used the 【Quality Enhancement】 entry.

“No way… supreme-grade Shouya Rice?”

After spending the entire day tending the fields, he returned to Qingyang Market.

At the beginning of You Hour.

Qin Ming boiled and ate a pot of supreme-grade Xuehuang Rice, then entered his daily cultivation.

He was currently cultivating the “Hundred Treasures Liusu Scripture,” just one step away from reaching its seventh layer.

Yet he still needed more blood qi accumulation.

Two days later.

The news of the bandit gang’s violent raid on Lingyu Gate’s herb garden spread like wildfire.

After all,

many outside cultivators had witnessed the event that day.

No paper could ever fully cover the fire.

In the end, Lingyu Gate failed to capture those five cultivators.

It was said that two Foundation Establishment Elders were dispatched, yet neither could match the black-robed cultivator wearing a Buddha mask.

That black-robed cultivator’s demonic cultivation technique was strange and unfathomable.

Elder Jiang Minshan of the Punishment Hall nearly perished, struck down and left critically wounded.

Elder Zhuang Xiran suffered slightly less severe injuries.

The cultivators within Qingyang Marketplace finally understood.

“Whoa! That’s a scam! Jin Yun Valley’s bastards—this demon who beat two Foundation Establishment cultivators together—only offered a single Foundation Establishment Elixir as a reward?”

“They just want us to take his head?”

“Why don’t they go themselves?”

“He～tui～”

“Despicable—these sects are utterly vile.”

……

(End of Chapter)