Chapter 77: First Knowledge of Outside Cultivators

Seeing that everyone present had taken a heart demon oath, Lu Zhiyuan breathed a huge sigh of relief—he should be able to survive now, right?

Lu Zhiyuan raised the Complete Book of Talismans high again: "I present this talisman book to the immortal lady."

Hua Changxi did not take it, but instead looked at Old You and the others: "Please leave here."

The four of them, Old You and the others, exchanged glances, knowing that Hua Changxi had something to say to Lu Zhiyuan. Without asking further, they quickly led Guo Yu and the four servants far away.

After they left, Hua Changxi looked at Lu Zhiyuan, who was still kneeling on the ground, and frowned: "Can you still stand up?"

Lu Zhiyuan was startled for a moment, then quickly scrambled to his feet.

Only then did Hua Changxi ask: "The Heart Demon Curse and this Complete Book of Talismans both appeared out of thin air. Do you have some kind of storage magical artifact?"

Upon hearing this, Lu Zhiyuan thought Hua Changxi wanted to take his storage ring. Though his heart ached, he still quickly removed the storage ring from his finger: "I present it to the immortal lady."

Hua Changxi took it and examined it. It was a very ordinary ring, nowhere near comparable to the old Daoist's. That old Daoist's storage ring had runes engraved on it, and the material was also superior.

"You have the Heart Demon Curse, the talisman book, and even a storage ring. Where did you get all these things?"

Lu Zhiyuan hesitated for a moment. Seeing Hua Changxi staring straight at him, and fearing she had means to detect lies, he could only confess truthfully: "Immortal lady, these were all left behind by the Lu family ancestors."

Hua Changxi raised an eyebrow: "So that means the Lu family is a cultivation clan?"

Lu Zhiyuan quickly shook his head: "No, before me, no one in the Lu family could cultivate. My own entry onto the path of cultivation was purely accidental."

"The year before last, I went home to perform ancestral rites. Wanting to test the martial skills of the younger generation in the clan, I failed to hold back during a spar and collapsed the ancestral hall."

"It was while rebuilding the ancestral hall that I discovered a secret chamber beneath it. Inside that chamber, I found the relics left by the Lu ancestors, and it was through fumbling around that I stepped onto the path of cultivation."

Hua Changxi looked at the storage ring and asked casually: "Did your ancestors also leave instructions on how to use magical artifacts like this?"

Lu Zhiyuan: "Being able to open the storage ring was also a lucky coincidence. I injured myself during cultivation, and some of my blood happened to get on the storage ring. After that, I was able to use it."

Hua Changxi looked at him and remarked: "You really are quite lucky."

Lu Zhiyuan smiled sheepishly. Before today, he really had thought himself quite fortunate—stumbling onto the cultivation path by accident, and just when he was worrying about lacking cultivation resources, Zhuo Fan had shown up and told him about the Fire Spirit Mine.

But his good luck seemed to have run out the moment he made a move to test this lady before him.

Having learned how to use the storage ring, Hua Changxi tossed it back to Lu Zhiyuan, keeping only the Complete Book of Talismans and the Heart Demon Curse, which he had used to buy his life.

"You may go."

Holding the storage ring, Lu Zhiyuan looked at Hua Changxi in surprise, quite astonished that she had returned it to him. Recalling Zhuo Fan and the others' assessment of her—"a naive little lady, inexperienced, fond of fair exchanges, and a bit innocent"—he felt relieved.

"Thank you, immortal lady."

Lu Zhiyuan bowed and stepped back. After a few steps, he stopped and said, "Immortal lady, though the Lu family is not considered a prominent house in the Central Province, we do have some foundation. If there is ever a day the immortal lady finds the Lu family useful, please do command us."

Hua Changxi looked at him without giving any indication.

After the unpleasant experience of cooperating with Old You and the others, she would no longer rashly decide to collaborate with people as she had before.

Still, in terms of character, this Lu Zhiyuan was far better than Old You and his group.

Before meeting him, she had only felt aversion toward this man, but after this whole exchange, much of that resistance had faded.

Lu Zhiyuan hadn't expected Hua Changxi to agree anyway; at least he had made his attitude clear. Perhaps one day, when the immortal lady needed someone, she would remember him.

Hua Changxi watched Lu Zhiyuan leave, returned to her quarters, and gave the Complete Book of Talismans a rough skim.

Invisibility Talisman, Concealment Talisman, Water-Avoidance Talisman, Fire-Avoidance Talisman, Lightning-Avoidance Talisman, Body-Binding Talisman, Qi-Concealment Talisman, Message Talisman, Teleportation Talisman...

All kinds of spiritual talismans dazzled Hua Changxi.

The spiritual talismans were also divided into grades, from first to ninth, a total of nine grades.

The first grade corresponded to the Qi Refining realm, the second to the Qi Sea realm, the third to the Core Formation realm, the fourth to the Nascent Infant realm, and after the fifth grade, the Complete Book of Talismans had no further records.

"So beyond Core Formation is the Nascent Infant realm."

"Judging by the talisman grades, a cultivator's realm should have nine major stages in total."

After flipping through the Complete Book of Talismans, Hua Changxi stored the book and the Heart Demon Curse together into the Divine Farmer Cauldron, then took out the old Daoist's storage ring.

She was still very curious about what was inside the old Daoist's storage ring.

Although Lu Zhiyuan's method of opening the storage ring—staining it with blood—could work, Hua Changxi dared not be careless. The experience of burning the Buddhist hand had left a considerable shadow over her.

The old Daoist was so cunning and had so many tricks up his sleeve; she really didn't dare to directly drip blood onto his storage ring.

Hua Changxi first condensed a fire lotus, then placed the storage ring into the center of the fire lotus to be burned.

Afraid that the fire lotus's power might be too strong and melt the storage ring, she carefully controlled the delivery of spiritual energy.

Sure enough, as it burned, the character "Jiang" gradually emerged on the storage ring.

Seeing this, Hua Changxi's wariness of the old Daoist deepened, and she became even more convinced that he wasn't dead—that escaping wisp of spiritual light must have been his life-saving trump card.

After the character "Jiang" disappeared, Hua Changxi continued burning for a while. When the storage ring showed no further anomalies, she didn't directly retrieve it and drip blood. Instead, she broke her finger to force out a drop of blood, sent it with spiritual energy into the center of the fire lotus, and let it sink into the storage ring.

As soon as the blood entered the storage ring, Hua Changxi perceived a space the size of a football field.

The space didn't contain many items—mostly spirit stones, some spirit plants and medicines, and ten chests.

Hua Changxi thought about taking out the chests, and they appeared on the floor of the dormitory.

Five chests contained various pills. Hua Changxi glanced at them—most were first-grade and second-grade pills, only about a dozen bottles of third-grade pills, a few bottles of fourth-grade pills, and not a single pill above fifth grade.

Three chests held stones, minerals, or bones and claws of demon beasts.

The remaining two chests: one contained books, and the other held spirit talismans, weapons, some banners, and a round disk resembling a Bagua plate.

"Alchemy Saint's Handbook," "Jiang's Alchemy Art," "Five Elements Art," "Qianyuan Travelogue," "Yin-Yang Harvesting," "Qi Concealment Technique," "Eternal Spring Art," "Burning Flame Art," "Introduction to Four Arts."

There weren't many books. Hua Changxi quickly flipped through each one. She didn't expect that the one she would end up valuing most was a travelogue.

"The Qianyuan Realm..."

"That old Daoist surnamed Jiang was actually an outsider cultivator."

Hua Changxi was a little stunned—this meant that beyond the Great Jin Dynasty where she lived, there existed another world, and perhaps more than one.

Well, for cultivators who could fly through the sky and burrow into the earth, one world was still too small. Roaming the universe and traversing various realms was true freedom.

But, Mountain Spirit had said that their plane was sealed. Since it was sealed, how did the outsider cultivator get in?

If the old Daoist surnamed Jiang could enter, were there other outsider cultivators who had also come in?

Moreover, before the spiritual energy revival, their world should have been impossible to cultivate in. Yet outsider cultivators faced no such obstacle. So on the path of cultivation, outsider cultivators were definitely ahead of native cultivators, and the gap between them was not small.

"No wonder Old Daoist Jiang had such high cultivation and so many tricks."

Hua Changxi thought that there couldn't be only one outsider cultivator, Old Daoist Jiang. He was a Nascent Infant stage cultivator. So other outsider cultivators lurking in Great Jin were bound to be on par with him or even stronger.

"I'll have to be cautious in my future actions."

The reason Old Daoist Jiang had fallen into her hands was partly due to the formidable power of the fire lotus and Buddha's hand, and partly because he had been severely injured earlier at Five Finger Mountain.

If it were another Nascent Infant cultivator whose combat power wasn't impaired, she might not have gotten the better of him.

Strength—she had to seize the time to improve her cultivation. Powerful strength was the foundation for her to stand firm and be fearless.

Hua Changxi ate some spirit fruits and then threw herself into cultivation.

Meanwhile, at the Western Mountain Stone Cliff, the four elders led by You saw Lu Zhiyuan return safely and breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhuo Fan: "That girl didn't make things difficult for you?"

Lu Zhiyuan glanced at the four of them: "You were right. Flower Fairy is indeed still somewhat... naive. If she had been a wily old fox, I would have come out of it skinned alive today."

Hearing Lu Zhiyuan also call her "Fairy" behind Hua Changxi's back, the four elders exchanged looks.

Lu Zhiyuan ignored their reaction, took out the Qi Refining stage lower volume of "Five Elements Art" from his storage ring, and handed it to the four.

"I gave you the upper volume of Qi Refining before. This is the lower volume of Qi Refining. Keep it well. When you're about to break through Qi Refining, I'll give you the subsequent chapters. Remember to deliver spirit stones to me every month."

"No, no, no. I'll come to collect the spirit stones every month myself from now on."

That way, he could also increase his chances of interacting with Flower Fairy.

This suddenly emerging fairy was extraordinary—without power or influence, she still snatched Five Finger Mountain from the major factions, and her identity remained tightly concealed.

He absolutely had to latch onto this thick thigh; if he couldn't, he would create opportunities to get closer.

The four elders noticed the ring on Lu Zhiyuan's finger and were a little surprised: "That girl didn't take your storage ring?"

They were extremely envious of this kind of portable storage treasure.

If you replaced them with Hua Changxi, they wouldn’t be able to be so generous—they would definitely have taken the storage ring for themselves.

Having known them for many years, Lu Zhiyuan still understood the four of them. He gave them a faint look. "To say something you don't want to hear, your breadth of mind really can't compare to Fairy Hua's."

"The fairy has principles in her actions. If she can keep persisting like this, her future prospects are limitless."

To this, You Lao and the other three did not refute. Cooperating with Hua Changxi, where everything was out in the open, actually gave them a sense of security.

Lu Zhiyuan looked at You Lao. "Old You, quickly tell me, what are the fairy's likes and dislikes? Next time I come, I'll know how to cater to her."

Before You Lao could speak, Zhuo Fan couldn't help but open his mouth. "You sure know how to lower yourself."

Lu Zhiyuan wasn't angered by Zhuo Fan's sarcasm. He gave a faint smile. "You four have no ancestors to rely on; you've risen through your own efforts. That's both an advantage and a disadvantage."

"You are the first generation to found your families. You simply don't understand how hard it is to preserve what's built—preserving is much harder than building."

"For me, staying on good terms with the fairy benefits the family's development. What does it matter if I sacrifice a little face?"

"Four old brothers, take my honest advice: when the choice is in someone else's hands, you have to play the part when needed. There's nothing shameful about it."

"A true man knows when to bend and when to stand tall."

Zhuo Fan snorted. Having them, a bunch of old men, bow and scrape to a little girl was too humiliating, but he didn't say anything to refute it.

Jiang Ye looked at Lu Zhiyuan. "Earlier that girl asked if you had been to Wuzhi Mountain..."

Lu Zhiyuan directly raised his hand to cut him off, his face solemn as he warned, "Don't be too curious about everything, or you'll die without knowing how."

Jiang Ye's face changed color. You Lao and the other two looked like they wanted to say something, but Lu Zhiyuan had no intention of continuing the conversation. He stood up and entered the stone chamber.

You Lao looked at his three old friends. "...From now on, we really need to be careful about our attitude when dealing with Changxi."

On the twentieth day of the twelfth lunar month, as soon as the sky brightened, Hua Changxi woke from her cultivation. She told Guo Yu, who was guarding the Medicine Valley, and without seeing You Lao and the others, she directly left the Sancha Medicine Valley.

Before returning to the Chores Hall, she had to go to the Sancha Medicine Manor first. When laborers came to the Manor to work, they had to register and file records for both coming and going.

Arriving at the Medicine Manor, Hua Changxi found that there were hardly any people in the manor.

As for Hua Changxi, almost everyone in the Medicine Manor knew her. There was no help for it—the eerie impression this young lady had left on people was too deep.

"Miss Hua, wait a moment. I'll go get Manager Mao for you."

A few young men who had stayed behind in the manor to gamble didn't want to spend more time with Hua Changxi, afraid that lingering too long would bring them bad luck. They would rather run errands to fetch someone.

Hua Changxi could see these people's fear of her, and she felt quite pleased in her heart.

"The young gentlemen don't want to be associated with you, yet you are quite happy about it, young lady."

An old man with white hair, smoking a long-stemmed pipe, leaned against the courtyard gate, smiling as he looked at Hua Changxi.

Hua Changxi looked over and laughed. "The flies no longer buzz around me; they even scurry far away as soon as they see me. Of course, that's something to be happy about."

The old man smiled. "This young lady of yours—the way you speak and act doesn't seem at all like someone your age would behave."

Hua Changxi thought to herself, Of course it doesn't—I'm an adult. But still, she put on a curious expression and asked, "How is it not like it?"

The old man spoke with the air of an experienced elder: "Most thirteen- or fourteen-year-old girls, when they see young men, put on a shy, restrained appearance. As for you... calling you a female demon wouldn't be an exaggeration."

Hua Changxi was amused and annoyed by this. "I do like young gentlemen, it's just that the quality of the young men in this Medicine Manor is too poor—none of them catch my eye. Of course I won't give them good looks."

The old man looked disapproving. "This girl of yours, you look down on everyone from too high a perch."

Hua Changxi rolled her eyes. "Old man, you don't need to worry about that." She quickly changed the subject to probe the situation. "Old man, it's almost New Year, and there's nothing much to do in the medicine fields. Where have all the people in the manor gone?"

The old man said, "Yesterday the East Red Village caught a pair of adulterers. Today the village is going to drown them in the river."

Hua Changxi frowned. "Drown them in the river? Isn't that East Red Village taking the law into their own hands?"

The old man looked at Hua Changxi with displeasure. "How is that taking the law into their own hands? Those two committed indecent acts; it's perfectly reasonable for the village to mete out punishment."

Hua Changxi fell silent. She knew that was how this era worked—imperial authority didn't reach the villages. Village affairs were decided by the clan elders. Drowning in the river or placing in a pig cage weren't uncommon occurrences.

It was like the Hua clan—the clan also had the authority to discipline and punish its members.

Seeing she wasn't speaking, the old man thought she was frightened and smiled. "Don't be afraid. As long as you behave yourself, follow the Three Obediences and Four Virtues, no one will drown you in the river."

Hua Changxi lost all desire to keep talking with the old man. She stepped out of the courtyard and stood on the edge of a medicine field for a while. Then she saw Mao Yong hurrying back from outside.

When Mao Yong got close, looking at Hua Changxi's expressionless face, he somehow felt even more pressured than before. "I'll take you to register. If it didn't require your personal signature and fingerprint, I could have done it for you, so you wouldn't have had to make a special trip."

Hua Changxi followed Mao Yong to the office, signed her name in this year's miscellaneous service logbook, and pressed her palm print.

Seeing her sign, Mao Yong smiled and handed her a slip recording the time she had worked at the herb estate: "Take this to the Internal Affairs Hall, and you can collect the monthly allowance for these past few months."

Hua Changxi took the slip: "Thank you." She paused and asked, "Is Dongchi Village really going to drown people in the river?"

Mao Yong glanced at her: "That's the village's custom. When I came back, the people of Dongchi Village had already carried that adulterous couple to the riverbank."

"By the way, you actually know the adulterer."

Hua Changxi looked surprised: "I know him?"

Mao Yong smiled: "It's A Niu, the one who tends the livestock in the animal shed."

Hua Changxi was stunned: "How old is A Niu? How could he be an adulterer?"

Mao Yong chuckled: "A Niu looks scrawny, but he's already sixteen."

Thinking of Pu Cao's delicate, lively face, Mao Yong genuinely felt it was a pity she was going to die. That woman was also foolish—why be so headstrong? She had to go head-to-head with the clan chief of Dongchi Village, preferring death over submitting to him.

Now things had turned out this way—she was going to be drowned in the river.

Mao Yong looked at Hua Changxi, whose brows were furrowed. Knowing this young woman was bold and skilled in martial arts, and having heard she seemed to treat A Niu well, his eyes shifted slightly: "Do you want to come with me and take a look?"

"You definitely wouldn't see a scene like this in the capital—consider it broadening your horizons."

Women, after all, were soft-hearted. Maybe seeing how pitiful Pu Cao and A Niu were, this girl might just step in and save them both.

Dongchi Village had a few martial artists, the strongest being only seventh rank, about on par with Guo Yu. As long as Hua Changxi acted, Dongchi Village would have no choice but to accept the loss.