Chapter 24: Setting Up a Stall

“Old man, he dropped coins!”

Fang Xing stepped forward and began searching the corpse with his nanoglove-covered hands.

At that moment, the drone alerted: a cultivator was approaching nearby.

He dared not linger, snatched up his loot, and immediately departed in the opposite direction…

Inside the temporary camp.

“That old man was quite well-off…”

Fang Xing picked up the elder’s money pouch and poured out five low-grade spirit stones and eight spirit sands; his eyes lit up: “Killing and looting really is faster than my hard work selling herbs!”

The elder’s loot was sparse, but every item was top-quality!

Besides the money pouch, there was also that pipe—entirely forged from an unknown metal, heavy to the touch, capable of firing poison needles, its craftsmanship rivaling the finest ancient artistry.

Finally, there was an ancient book.

“Green Wood Technique?”

Fang Xing read the text on the title page and drew a sharp breath: “This is a cultivation scripture?”

He flipped through several pages with interest and found only instructions on how to calm the mind, sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and absorb and refine it into one’s own spiritual power.

The ancient text bore clear signs of heavy use—obviously flipped through countless times.

According to the Green Wood Technique, this scripture had nine levels: the first three were Initial Qi Refinement, the next three were Mid Qi Refinement, and the final three were Late Qi Refinement.

Once one reached the peak of Qi Refinement Level Nine, it was also called “Qi Refinement Full,” allowing one to prepare for the breakthrough to the higher Foundation Establishment realm.

“This Green Wood Technique is a wood-attribute scripture, sufficient to cultivate all the way to Qi Refinement Level Nine…”

“Too bad—for those without spiritual roots, it’s as useless as trash.”

Fang Xing turned to the last page and saw a marginal note—“No spiritual root, cannot cultivate. HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE! HATE!”

Seven “HATE” characters, each etched deep into the paper, clearly written with furious rage.

Fang Xing, upon seeing it, felt a pang of sympathy.

“No spiritual root, cannot cultivate… it seems to be an unbreakable law…”

He sighed, tucked the scripture away, and then stuck a “Spirit Detection Talisman” onto his own body.

Moments later, the talisman turned to ash—no miracle occurred.

The next talisman, same result…

“Of course—I have no spiritual root, cannot cultivate…”

Fang Xing shook his head: “Good thing… I can still practice martial arts! And in the Federation, martial arts, when mastered to a high level, can also grant longevity!”

…

Several days later.

Inside the cave.

Fang Xing sat cross-legged, calming his mind.

He had held this posture for over three hours, yet his posture remained upright, not a single tremor.

Before him, the Green Wood Technique lay open, revealing the first level: “Guiding Qi Into the Body.”

“Still no luck…”

After a long while, he opened his eyes, his expression neither sorrowful nor joyful.

Fang Xing was naturally still very interested in studying this cultivation scripture.

In fact, he understood every single character, and could grasp their combined meaning.

But unfortunately… the first step—sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth—was utterly impossible!

“Indeed, without a spiritual root, one cannot cultivate… not even enough to become a marker on the status panel…”

If he could just enter the door, even with a one-in-ten-thousand chance, Fang Xing would grind himself to exhaustion!

But what can you do against a monster that doesn’t even show a health bar?

“If I could cultivate, this world’s value would be far greater… but as it stands? Still not low.”

Fang Xing stood up, brushed the dust off his body, and walked to another cave.

Inside, a small electric rice cooker was keeping warm—clearly already cooked.

The entire base’s power came from a single “nuclear fusion” battery, sufficient to run the entire camp for a thousand years.

After all, for the Blue Star Federation, controlled nuclear fusion had long been solved.

“He Xiang Spirit Rice—truly fragrant…”

After the rice was cooked, a faint lotus leaf aroma spread through the cave.

Fang Xing took a deep breath and immediately felt hungry; his saliva began flooding his mouth.

“My body is craving spirit rice?”

He opened the rice cooker; as steam rose, the aroma intensified tenfold.

Inside the cooker was a full pot of rice that seemed to glow faintly.

Each grain was plump, radiating astonishing fragrance.

Fang Xing picked up his bowl and chopsticks, filled his bowl to the brim, and took a large bite.

The spirit rice melted instantly on his tongue, carrying a rich rice fragrance, even superior in taste to Blood Fang Rice.

“More importantly… it’s far more nutritious.”

Even without side dishes, Fang Xing ate with complete satisfaction, continuously refilling his bowl until he finished the entire pot clean.

“Mmm… truly satisfying.”

After eating his fill, Fang Xing patted his belly, a look of contentment on his face: “Unlike swallowing Blood Qi Pills, there’s no violent surge of blood qi—instead, it feels like a clear, pure stream flowing gently through my entire body…”

“No wonder spirit rice—absolutely no toxic residue, and feels wonderfully comfortable… if consumed over years, it must subtly improve one’s constitution.”

He felt that if he kept eating spirit rice, even without Primordial Pills, his foundation for advancing to Jade Purity, Courage Realm… and even higher realms would become far stronger, and breakthroughs would become much easier.

“Spirit rice is truly a wonderful thing… I should buy more next time.”

Thinking of spirit rice, Fang Xing naturally thought of the young girl who sold it—Ding Hongxiu.

Though she seemed inexperienced, she had a well-traveled grandfather—someone worth cultivating a deeper connection with, to extract useful intelligence.

…

After a night of intense cultivation, Fang Xing confirmed: spirit rice, though less potent than pills, excelled in subtle, lasting effects.

And from the perspective of toxic residue, it was indeed worth considering.

The only downside? The price.

“My current appetite requires at least three catties of spirit rice per day… ten catties last barely over three days—that’s one spirit stone.”

“This isn’t food for the lower classes… indeed, those clad in silk aren’t the ones raising silkworms.”

But for Fang Xing, since spirit rice offered better results with no side effects, even if expensive, he should still consider incorporating it.

“With spirit rice, I can quickly refine my sinews and bones, then break through to Jade Purity!”

Sinew and Bone Realm is more difficult than Skin and Muscle Realm.

Not to mention, all hundreds of bones in the body must be refined one by one.

Moreover, critical areas like the skull require extreme caution during cultivation—extremely time-consuming.

“Let’s go!”

Fang Xing activated his intent, packed a small half-basket with wildflowers, wild fruits, and gathered herbs, preparing to set up a stall at Qinglin Marketplace.

Selling at a stall means higher prices, but also makes it easier to gather information.

He had already confirmed: setting up a stall at Qinglin Marketplace incurs no fee.

Only fixed stalls or shops require monthly rent.

…

Qinglin Marketplace.

The crowd remained thick.

“Damn it, the Luo brothers are down…”

“Rumor has it some beasts have appeared nearby—some cultivators were unlucky… sigh, we shouldn’t have cleared this land in the first place.”

“Though this wild land is barren, it holds opportunities… isn’t it true that Zheng’s ancestral patriarch happened upon an ancient cultivator’s cave while clearing land, gained a Foundation Establishment opportunity, and successfully broke through to become a Foundation Establishment master, now ruling the marketplace with endless wealth? They say the Zheng patriarch is even preparing to take his thirty-seventh concubine…”

Passersby chattered, seemingly discussing the beast migration.

Fang Xing wasn’t interested—he’d already used his drone to avoid several dangerous zones.

After wandering around, he approached a stall: “Miss Hongxiu, we meet again.”

The stall held several baskets filled with spirit rice—the vendor was none other than Ding Hongxiu.

“Oh, it’s you…”

Ding Hongxiu recognized Fang Xing’s disguised face and nodded: “I haven’t had the pleasure of your name…”

“I’m surnamed Fang…”

Fang Xing smiled slightly, spread out a coarse cloth, and laid out his goods, beginning to set up his stall.

Seeing Fang Xing set up right beside her, Ding Hongxiu blushed slightly, too shy to speak, glancing twice at his wares: “Fang Daoist, you’re in the herbal trade?”

“Indeed. Your He Xiang spirit rice is excellent—if you lower the price a bit, I’ll buy a few more catties…”

Fang Xing grinned, leaving the girl too flustered to continue speaking.

He smiled inwardly, picked up a book, and began reading, occasionally exchanging a few words with curious buyers, clearly enjoying himself.

"Heavenly Gang Qi Art?"

Ding Hongxiu, seeing the cover, grew curious: “Is this a martial secret manual?”

"Hmm, there's a stall just around the corner selling them—one coin per book, very cheap..."

Fang Xing sighed.

Warriors struggling to survive in the cultivation marketplace often sold their most treasured martial arts secrets just to earn a few spirit sands for daily sustenance.

Unfortunately, these martial arts scriptures, which in the mortal world would spark bloody wars among martial sects, were the cheapest, most common goods in the marketplace—especially hand-copied editions, where one spirit sand per book was the standard price.

To better understand the warriors of this world, Fang Xing casually bought a few, treating them as mere entertainment.

The Heavenly Gang Qi Art in his hand was among the highest quality—it could be cultivated up to the Primordial Realm and included a secret martial technique called "Primordial Heavenly Qi."

In Fang Xing’s view, this "Primordial Heavenly Qi" was already quite impressive, matching the power of a Federation Class-B martial art.

As for Class-A martial arts?

Those should be ranks beyond divine arts—rare techniques capable of allowing a post-heaven warrior to overthrow a primordial cultivator.

"This world has little soil for martial arts..."

"Warriors peak at the Primordial Realm, fit only to serve as servants to cultivators..."

Fang Xing sighed inwardly.

Perhaps due to the suppressive dominance of cultivators, martial arts had been lost, which was why no realm beyond the Primordial—equivalent to the Courage Realm—had yet emerged.

"Given the isolation and stagnation of the cultivation world, even if a warrior broke through to the Primordial Realm, he would receive little attention—perhaps the breakthrough technique is already gathering dust at the bottom of some sect’s scripture library..."