Chapter 604: Compensation

"Many thanks to you, Uncle-Master Steward, for your help."

Yu Santian helped Yu Hua up. The man seemed to have aged several decades in an instant, his vitality and spirit completely drained away, yet he still forced himself to thank Fang Xing.

Yu Hua's failure to break through to the Dao Foundation meant that all the investments the Yu family had poured in over these many years had gone down the drain. Coupled with his age, the fact that he hadn't coughed up a mouthful of blood and died on the spot was already a testament to his strong willpower and cultivation of his temperament.

"Mm, a single failure doesn't mean anything. There will be plenty of opportunities in the future."

Fang Xing offered a casual word of comfort.

He had made up his mind not to protect Yu Hua during his Dao Foundation advancement, but he certainly had to say the polite things.

Just then, he looked toward the entrance of the valley: "Your Uncle-Master Fei has arrived. Go and welcome him."

Calculating the days, it was time for the once-a-decade harvest.

Fang Xing sensed Fei Changnong's aura and was still somewhat surprised. After all, this man should have died of old age by now; he had even been waiting to attend the man's funeral.

Fang Xing led the others to the entrance of the Qingyu Garden and saw Fei Changnong riding a beam of emerald escape light, slowly descending to the ground.

"Eh?"

Fang Xing felt another jolt of surprise internally.

He saw that although Fei Changnong still looked decrepit, the aura of decay and death on his body had dissipated by more than half. He looked like one of those energetic elderly people who, with proper care, could still live for another dozen or even several decades.

'That's not right... He is still using some kind of secret technique to conceal himself.'

'If I weren't both a Yin Spirit True Person and possessed an extremely powerful perception, I might have been deceived by him... In any case, an ordinary Yin Spirit True Person would certainly not be able to see through it.'

He stepped forward and bowed: "I have troubled you to come here, Senior Brother Fei. I am truly ashamed..."

"Hehe, it is no trouble."

Fei Changnong managed to squeeze out a faint smile: "This is my duty..."

Fang Xing watched him deliberately put on a "distressed" expression and asked a few questions in coordination.

Fei Changnong sighed again: "Sigh... Your Jiang Shijie Hong has already passed... She was concerned about my lifespan and heard that a certain marketplace was auctioning longevity pills that were effective even for the Dao Foundation. She went to investigate, but who would have thought... she would never return!"

"Senior Brother... please take care of yourself. Surely Jiang Shijie Hong would not have wanted this."

Fang Xing quickly offered a few words of comfort and took the opportunity to pat the man's arm.

In an instant, he felt goosebumps rise.

'There is an abnormality in his internal life activity. Although the auras are blended, it is indeed of external origin...'

'This Fei Changnong has changed. In order to extend his life by any means necessary, he has become a "Lifespan Demon"!'

In this world, methods to extend the lifespan of high-rank cultivators without any side effects were extremely precious.

As for other methods, most had terrifying side effects.

Fang Xing knew that Fei Changnong had likely backstabbed his own Dao companion, using dual cultivation techniques to drain her lifespan.

It was just like what the Dao companion of Tao Hong from the Blood Shadow Sect had done.

Moreover, because it wasn't a match for the Dao Foundation, the conditions for execution were even harsher and the side effects greater.

'Jiang Shijie Hong was, after all, Fei Changnong's Dao companion. After years of cultivation, their auras and True Essence were blended, which is why her lifespan could be plundered... Even so, the loss was great. Being able to keep one-third is already quite good...'

'If it were a Dao Foundation female cultivator snatched at random, I fear one would be lucky to keep one-tenth...'

'Furthermore, practicing this kind of evil longevity divine ability causes the mind to gradually descend into madness, turning one into a "Lifespan Demon"!'

A Lifespan Demon, for the sake of lifespan, will stop at nothing!

Dao companions can be killed, descendants can be sold; there is nothing they cannot do, and they are no longer the people they once were.

'The world is truly unpredictable...'

Fang Xing watched Fei Changnong happily counting the spiritual herbs, yet he thought of the scene from decades ago.

Although it looked like the same person, the core had long since changed.

'Even just over a dozen years ago, Fei Changnong was willing to sacrifice his own lifespan to protect his Dao companion. How could such a huge transformation occur?'

'That's not right either. It was probably dragging that decrepit body, feeling the body age day by day, death approaching day by day... eventually being driven mad and collapsing under this state, right?'

Although Fang Xing had never experienced it, he knew that the feeling of facing one's own constant decay was terrifying!

The body becomes a cage for the soul, constantly aging, losing...

'Many people do not fear immediate death, but a slow and painful death is more agonizing than dying right away, enough to crush anyone's sanity...'

"This batch of spiritual herbs totals over five hundred merit points, Senior Brother will count it as six hundred for you. Zhou Shidi, you still need to work hard..."

Fei Changnong said earnestly.

The breath-concealing technique Fang Xing practiced had already reached the Grandmaster Perfection level, and later, by incorporating other breath-concealing methods he had learned, he had long since concealed his own aura perfectly.

In Fei Changnong's eyes, although Fang Xing looked young, his life vitality also had the flavor of a candle in the wind.

His encouragement was highly suspicious.

'A Lifespan Demon will stop at nothing to obtain resources to extend his own life... He probably has his eyes on my inheritance, wanting to eat up my estate?'

Fang Xing thought of Fei Changnong's hint just now, which actually meant having him report false yields to obtain a large amount of merit points, and he sneered internally.

'That's not right. This obsession might have been there for a long time... and now, after falling into the demonic path, it has been magnified a thousandfold.'

'In other words, if he doesn't eat up my estate, his thoughts won't be clear?'

Watching Fei Changnong leave, Fang Xing shook his head and instructed the various herb garden disciples to go about their business.

Mm, many excellent disciples had been transferred away, Meng Tiandong was dead, and the herb garden elder had become Yu Santian.

Although Yu Hua had just failed his breakthrough, Yu Santian still forced himself to pull it together and began arranging the daily farming tasks.

Fang Xing glanced at it a few times, felt it was passable, and returned to his own treehouse.

Now that he had been promoted to a Level 17 Druid, he had gained some additional specialties. Although the talent of 【Wild Shape】 had not improved as obviously as 【Tree Shepherd】, it was still something.

'A Level 17 Druid is already considered a high-rank Druid.'

'The specialty of 【Tiny Shape】 is also very simple.'

Fang Xing thought for a moment, and a spherical white paper ball appeared in his hand.

If one looked closely, one would realize this was a paper house.

The paper house was intricately carved and painted, exquisite beyond compare, with a cave-heaven formed within, where one could see paper people working.

They were pre-processing some talisman paper, and some were even making paper armor and paper soldiers...

And not far away, there was an armed army of paper people, led by paper generals, faintly forming a military formation.

——Spirit Illusion Paper House Cave-Heaven!

"I have mastered the art of paper folding."

After all, it was a cave-heaven refined by one person's effort; compared to the kind from the Blood Shadow Sect that one could tell at a glance was pieced together from inherited traditions, its power exceeded it by who knows how much.

It was just that Fang Xing was unwilling to follow only the paper-folding path and had merged his own Yin Spirit with the Spirit Illusion Paper House Cave-Heaven.

Otherwise, just by relying on the paper-folding art, he might have been able to rival that Great True Person Qing Yuzi, who was at the Late Yin Spirit Realm!

"Go!"

Fang Xing tossed the paper house, and countless talismans plastered themselves all around the treehouse.

From a spatial perspective, his treehouse had now been replaced by the Spirit Illusion Paper House Cave-Heaven, turning into a terrifying trap.

Even if an ordinary Yin Spirit True Person were to enter, I fear they wouldn't be able to gain any advantage.

After finishing all this, Fang Xing moved leisurely.

Swoosh!

——Wild Shape!

In an instant, he turned into a beetle like blue jade, vibrated his wings, flew out of the treehouse, and even began to move away from the valley.

The formation at the valley entrance moved slightly, and a beetle flew out, without attracting any attention at all.

【Tiny Shape】 had just this advantage: weak life force, small movements, not enough to attract any attention.

More importantly, this blue jade beetle was a mutated demonic insect that Fang Xing had focused on cultivating over these decades!

Although it had no other talents, its stealth and ability to penetrate formations had been pointed to the extreme!

Grandmaster-level Beast Taming, combined with the Druid's communication talent, was just this terrifying!

Buzz buzz!

Fang Xing vibrated his wings, flew near the Shennong Hall, and arrived at a cave dwelling.

"Small, small, small!"

In an instant, the blue jade beetle changed from the size of a fingernail to the size of a sesame seed, its aura becoming even more faint, subtle to the extreme.

After waiting for a moment, Fang Xing saw the formation light in front brighten, and a disciple walked over.

He recognized this disciple; it was one of Fei Changnong's disciples who had been exiled to the herb garden, and after the great calamity ended, he was naturally transferred away.

Fang Xing immediately flew lightly, landed on the corner of the other person's clothing, and was brought into the cave dwelling.

He could feel that this disciple, who had cultivated the Hunyuan Qi, was actually trembling slightly.

It seemed as if he wasn't facing a beloved master, but some peerless demonic monster.

"It's Old Eighteen..."

Inside the cave dwelling, Fei Changnong's voice rang out, carrying a low laugh, like a night owl.

"Greetings, Master."

Old Eighteen saw Fei Changnong and immediately knelt down.

"Is everything done?"

Fei Changnong was in front of a sandalwood table, holding a talisman brush, as if writing something, and asked without looking up.

"It has been done."

The disciple replied quickly and handed over a flying mouse bag, on which a bloody scent faintly lingered.

"Not bad..."

Fei Changnong stopped his brush, looked at that flying squirrel bag, and couldn't help but sigh: "Your Uncle Master Hong has left, and I am also very heartbroken, but those few disciples of hers are truly incompetent... and they go around shouting some inexplicable words. Under my tutelage, the most important thing is loyalty!"

"This disciple will surely serve Master with all my heart and soul."

This disciple hurriedly knelt down to express his loyalty.

"Mm, go down. Among your fellow disciples, I value you the most... I don't have many years left to live, and this vast foundation, as well as the Dao Foundation spiritual objects... will all be yours."

Fei Changnong offered a few words of comfort and raised his hand to dismiss this disciple.

Fang Xing was naturally like a speck of dust, landing on the ground.

Not long after, several more disciples entered, each handing over their flying squirrel bags, and then being fed flatbread.

'So, Fei Changnong says this to every single disciple?'

'No wonder these disciples, while fearful, are also very excited; they were probably ordered to do some bad deeds in private.'

Fang Xing watched as Fei Changnong opened the flying squirrel bags one by one and took out some resources, among which several items had faint traces of blood Qi, suspected to be demonic items.

"Zhou Shidi Fang... why haven't you died yet?"

Suddenly, Fei Changnong muttered to himself, using several demonic items to set up an altar.

He took out a piece of tattered animal skin corner, placed it on the altar, and his expression suddenly turned cold...