Chapter 24

"Old man, you dropped loot!"

Fang Xing stepped forward, and his hands covered in nano-gloves began to loot the corpse.

Just at this moment, the drone gave a warning, discovering that a cultivator was approaching nearby.

He didn't dare to stay, hurriedly took the harvest, and immediately left in the opposite direction...

Inside the temporary camp.

"This old man was quite rich..."

Fang Xing picked up the old man's money bag, poured out five low-grade spirit stones and eight spirit sands from inside, and his eyes involuntarily lit up: "This killing and robbing is just faster than me working hard to sell herbs!"

The loot on the old man was not much, but every item was a premium piece!

Besides the money bag, there was also that tobacco pipe, which was actually crafted entirely from some unknown metal; it was extremely heavy in the hand and could also fire poison needles; the craftsmanship could be called ingenious in ancient times.

Finally, there was an ancient book.

"Elder Qingmu Technique?"

Fang Xing looked at the text on the title page and gasped: "It's actually a cultivation method for immortality?"

He flipped through a few pages with interest and discovered that it was all content about how to calm one's mind, sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and absorb and refine it into one's own magic power.

The traces on the ancient book were evident, and looking at its appearance, one couldn't tell how many times it had been flipped through.

According to the "Elder Qingmu Technique," this cultivation method was divided into nine layers in total; the first three layers were the early stage of Qi Condensation, the fourth to sixth layers were the mid-stage of Qi Condensation, and the last three layers were the late stage of Qi Condensation realm.

And once cultivated to the 'peak of the ninth layer of Qi Condensation,' there was another name, which was a 'Qi Condensation Perfection' cultivator, who could prepare for the 'Foundation Establishment' to break through to a higher realm.

"This 'Elder Qingmu Technique' is just a wood-attribute cultivation method, enough to cultivate to the ninth layer of the Qi Condensation stage..."

"It's just a pity that for those without a spirit root, it's no different from trash."

Fang Xing flipped to the last page and saw a line of annotations—'No spirit root in the body, unable to cultivate immortality, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate!'

There were seven 'hate' characters in total, each one piercing through the paper, clearly showing that the person who wrote it was extremely indignant.

Fang Xing saw this and felt somewhat sympathetic.

"No spirit root, unable to cultivate immortality; it seems to be a cognition like an iron law..."

He sighed, put away this cultivation method, and then stuck a 'Spirit-Testing Talisman' on himself.

A moment later, this 'Spirit-Testing Talisman' turned into ashes, and no miracle happened.

The other one that followed was the same...

"Sure enough, I don't have a spirit root and cannot cultivate immortality..."

Fang Xing shook his head: "Fortunately... I can still practice martial arts! And the Federation's Martial Way can also achieve longevity if practiced to a profound realm!"

Several days later.

Inside the cave.

Fang Xing sat cross-legged, calming his mind and spirit.

He had maintained this posture for over three hours, yet his figure remained upright without the slightest sway.

In front of Fang Xing, that "Elder Qingmu Technique" was spread open, revealing the content of the first layer, 'Guiding Qi into the Body.'

"Still not working..."

After a long while, he opened his eyes, his expression neither sad nor happy.

Regarding this cultivation method for immortality, Fang Xing was naturally still very interested in studying it.

He could even understand every word on it, and could understand the meaning when they were connected.

However... the first step of sensing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was something he just couldn't sense no matter what!

"Sure enough, without a spirit root, one cannot cultivate immortality... I can't even make it a mark on the attribute panel..."

As long as he could get started, even if it were one in ten thousand, Fang Xing could grind until he exploded!

But facing a monster that didn't even show its health bar, what other way could there be?

"If I could cultivate immortality, the value of this world would be even higher... As for now? It's not low either."

Fang Xing stood up, patted the dust off his body, and came to a cave nearby.

Here, a small rice cooker was keeping warm, clearly having finished cooking the rice long ago.

The power inside the base now came entirely from a 'nuclear fusion' battery, enough to supply the entire camp's operation for thousands of years.

After all, for the Blue Star Federation, controllable nuclear fusion had long been a solved problem.

"Lotus Fragrance Spirit Rice, it really is very fragrant..."

After the rice was steamed, a faint fragrance of lotus leaves permeated the cave.

Fang Xing took a deep breath, immediately feeling a bit hungry, and his saliva began to secrete crazily.

"Is my body craving spirit rice?"

He opened the rice cooker, and as the steam rose, the fragrance of the rice became ten times richer.

In the rice cooker was a full pot of rice that seemed to be emitting a fluorescent glow.

Every grain was incomparably plump, carrying an astonishing fragrance.

Fang Xing picked up a bowl and chopsticks, served himself a full bowl of white rice, and took a big mouthful.

The spirit rice melted in his mouth and carried a strong fragrance of rice; the taste seemed to be even better than Blood-Tooth Rice.

"The key point is... the nutrition is better."

Even without side dishes, Fang Xing ate with complete satisfaction, kept serving himself rice, and finally ate the full pot of rice clean.

"Mmm... truly satisfying."

After eating and drinking his fill, Fang Xing touched his stomach, a look of comfort appearing on his face: "Unlike swallowing 'Blood-Qi Pills,' there is no violent surge of blood-Qi, but it feels like a small stream, clear and pure, surging through my whole body..."

"As expected of spirit rice, it truly doesn't have a bit of pill poison, and it feels especially comfortable... If this continues for a long time, it will definitely have the effect of subtle influence and can also improve my physique!"

He felt that if he kept eating spirit rice, even without 'Primordial Pills,' the foundation for his future promotion to the Unpolished Jade and Courage and Resolve realms... or even higher realms, would become more solid, and breaking through bottlenecks would become easier.

"Spirit rice is truly a good thing... I must buy more another day."

Thinking of spirit rice, Fang Xing couldn't help but think of the little girl who sold spirit rice, Ding Hongxiu.

Although the other party seemed somewhat inexperienced in the world, she had a grandfather with extensive knowledge, so it was worth getting to know her better to pry out quite a bit of news and intelligence.

After a night of hard cultivation, Fang Xing generally confirmed that although the efficacy of spirit rice was not as rapid as pills, it had the advantage of being subtle and long-lasting.

And considering the aspect of pill poison, it was indeed necessary to pay some attention.

The only thing that wasn't very good was the price issue.

"With my current appetite, I need at least three catties of spirit rice a day... Ten catties of spirit rice only lasts a little over three days. That's one spirit stone..."

"This isn't something that ordinary bottom-feeders should eat... Sure enough, those who are covered in silk are not the ones raising silkworms."

But for Fang Xing, since spirit rice had better effects and no side effects, even if it were a bit expensive, he should try his best to take it into consideration.

"With spirit rice, I can also temper my tendons and bones as quickly as possible, and then break through to the Unpolished Jade realm!"

The Tendon and Bone Realm is more troublesome than the Skin and Flesh Realm.

Not to mention anything else, just the hundreds of bones in the whole body have to be tempered one by one.

Not only that, but there are also vital parts like the skull, which must be handled with extreme care during cultivation, consuming a lot of time.

"Let's go!"

Fang Xing's heart moved; he took some wild flowers and fruits, as well as the medicinal herbs he had picked, filled a small basket, and prepared to go to the Green Forest Marketplace to set up a stall.

Selling at a stall meant higher prices on one hand, and on the other, it was convenient for inquiring about news.

He had already inquired clearly before that setting up a stall in the Green Forest Marketplace didn't charge any fees.

Unless it was a fixed stall or a shop, one needed to pay rent monthly.

Green Forest Marketplace.

Popularity remained the same.

"Damn it, the three Luo brothers fell..."

"It is said that a few monster beasts ran over from somewhere, and some fellow Daoists unfortunately met with disaster... Sigh, we shouldn't have opened up the wasteland in the first place."

"Although this Great Wilderness is desolate, there are also opportunities... The ancestor of the Zheng family in the marketplace, didn't he accidentally stumble into a predecessor's cave while opening up the wasteland, obtain a Foundation Establishment opportunity, and thus successfully ascend to a Foundation Establishment great cultivator, becoming infinitely glorious ever since? Now the Zheng family controls the marketplace auction house business and has made a fortune; it is said that the Zheng family ancestor is currently preparing to marry his thirty-seventh concubine..."

Pedestrians were discussing, seemingly talking about the migration of monster beasts.

Fang Xing was not very interested in this; after all, with drone exploration, he had long ago avoided several dangerous places.

At this time, after strolling around, he immediately came to the side of a stall: "Miss Hongxiu, we meet again."

On this stall were placed several baskets filled with spirit rice, and the one selling the goods was none other than Ding Hongxiu.

"So it's you..."

Ding Hongxiu also recognized the face Fang Xing had disguised, nodded, and said: "I haven't asked your name yet..."

"My surname is Fang..."

Fang Xing smiled slightly, spread out a piece of coarse cloth, took out his goods, and began to set up his stall.

Seeing Fang Xing setting up a stall right next to her, Ding Hongxiu's face turned somewhat shy, and she was too embarrassed to speak, glancing at Fang Xing's goods twice: "Fellow Daoist Fang, are you in the medicinal herb business?"

"Exactly. Your family's Lotus Fragrance Spirit Rice is not bad; if it were a bit cheaper, I would buy a few more catties..."

Fang Xing laughed, making the little girl too embarrassed to continue speaking.

He laughed in his heart, picked up a book to read on his own, occasionally chatted with people asking for prices, and looked like he was enjoying himself.

"Heavenly Gang Qi Technique?"

Ding Hongxiu saw the cover and couldn't help but be a bit curious: "Is this a martial arts secret manual?"

"Hmm, there's a stall selling them at the corner ahead; one book is only one spirit sand, very cheap..."

Fang Xing sighed.

Warriors live very difficult lives in the cultivator marketplace, and many warriors sell their own secret techniques that were at the bottom of their boxes just to exchange for a few spirit sands to make a living.

It's a pity that this kind of divine skill secret manual, which would inevitably cause a bloody storm in the martial arts world if placed in the mortal world, is the cheapest common commodity in the marketplace, especially the hand-copied versions that have been copied several times; one spirit sand per book is the market price.

In order to increase his understanding of the warriors in this world, Fang Xing bought a few books, just for fun.

The Heavenly Gang Qi Technique in his hand could be considered the best quality, capable of cultivating to the Primordial Realm, and it also came with a martial arts secret technique called 'Primordial Gang Qi.'

According to Fang Xing's view, this 'Primordial Gang Qi' could have the power of a Federation B-grade martial art, which was already considered very good.

As for A-grade martial arts?

That should be a level above divine skills and arts, capable of allowing a warrior to counter-kill a Primordial Realm warrior from the Postnatal Realm, which was still relatively rare.

'This world doesn't have much soil for the Martial Way...'

'Warriors top out at the Primordial Realm, only fit to be slaves to cultivators...'

Fang Xing sighed in his heart.

Perhaps because of the suppression by cultivators, the Martial Way was lost, which was why there had been no appearance of a realm beyond the Primordial Realm comparable to the Courage and Resolve Realm for so long.

'Given the isolation and conservatism of the Cultivation World, even if a warrior breaks through the Primordial Realm, they won't get much attention; perhaps the breakthrough secret techniques are all gathering dust at the bottom of some cultivator sect's library...'