Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 171 - 170: Evergreen Wood (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1

Chapter 171: Chapter 170: Evergreen Wood (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1

The old man was speechless for a long while before he finally thought of something, "There actually is..."

He fumbled in his Storage Bag for a moment, then pulled out a jade slip, "Take a look..."

Fang Xi took it and his Divine Consciousness entered within.

A fragmentary magic spell immediately appeared before him—"Sky Demon Dismemberment Skill"!

"Hehe, this Secret Skill is a simplified version derived from a very famous Demon Path Divine Skill... Once used, a cultivator’s Magic Power can increase threefold, but afterwards, one’s Primordial Energy will be greatly damaged, and even a reduction in lifespan is unavoidable..."

The old man said with a cheery grin, "I wonder if this satisfies the customer’s need?"

"Not bad!"

Fang Xi nodded in approval.

Though this technique consumed one’s lifespan, at moments of life and death crises, nothing else could be taken into consideration.

Moreover, he had a long lifespan, a full four hundred and twenty years to be precise, and he could continue to plant trees to extend his lifespan in the future, so this consumption really wasn’t a concern for him.

"I’ll take this one, and the Hundred Illusions Skills from earlier! What’s the asking price?"

Fang Xi asked with a smile.

"Well... a total of eight hundred Spirit Stones!" The elder felt the excitement of stumbling upon a fat sheep and quickly quoted the price.

"How about using this item in exchange?"

Without bargaining, Fang Xi directly tossed over the smallest Storage Bag.

"A broken Storage Bag..."

The old man muttered, but as his Spirit Sense swept through the Storage Bag, his eyes suddenly bulged, "This... this..."

"This should be enough to cover the price, right?"

Fang Xi asked with a beaming smile.

"Of course, the... Sir is indeed very generous." The old man was at a loss for words for a long time and finally replied with a forced smile, "I will retrieve the complete texts right away..."

...

After completing the transaction, Fang Xi, holding the two complete Secret Skills, quickly disappeared into the crowd, feeling quite pleased.

The item he traded was naturally the White Bone Spirit Tool of Situ Jia.

This item had too many Demon Path characteristics and many implications; he couldn’t use it outright, so he simply laundered it.

"It’s just a pity... After looking around, I still haven’t found a third-rank Spiritual Tree."

Fang Xi sighed and suddenly made a decision, heading towards the central most part of the black market.

Although the stall owners at several stalls concealed their figures, they unabashedly emitted fluctuations of Magic Power from the Foundation Establishment realm, making the surrounding Qi Refining cultivators very cautious.

In front of one cultivator, who was dressed in a green robe and had a covering of blue light over his face, a vast array of centennial Spirit Medicines and several pieces of Spiritual Wood were displayed, but alas, they were only second rank.

Fang Xi approached this person’s stall and picked up a piece of purple bamboo.

"This junior has good taste. This ’Purple Heart Bamboo’ is already two hundred years old, suitable for refining a mid-grade Spiritual Instrument..."

The green-robed cultivator laughed heartily, apparently not realizing that Fang Xi was also a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

"It is indeed fine..."

Fang Xi put down the Purple Heart Bamboo, but he sighed softly, "Alas... this item does not meet my expectations."

"Oh? May I inquire what the junior actually requires?"

The tone of the green-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator was neither happy nor sad but carried an indescribable pressure.

"A third-rank Spiritual Tree, do you have one?"

Fang Xi asked with a faint smile, speaking through Divine Consciousness Transmission.

This was a skill essential for Foundation Establishment cultivators; the green-robed cultivator paused for a moment, and then also replied with Divine Consciousness Transmission, "So it is a middleman after all... You require a third-rank Spiritual Tree?"

"Exactly..."

Sometimes, deliberately concealing one’s cultivation could invite trouble.

Instead, the identity of a Foundation Establishment cultivator seeking to purchase third-rank items was easier to understand.

Seeing that the person in the green robe didn’t refuse but fell into deep thought, Fang Xi secretly thought there was a chance and waited quietly.

After a short while, a wave of Divine Consciousness Transmission came over, "I do indeed have a piece of third-rank Spiritual Tree, a section of millennium ’Evergreen Wood’..."

Fang Xi felt a surge of joy upon hearing this.

Evergreen Wood was a very peculiar Spirit Plant; while under a hundred years old, the spiritual energy contained within the wood was scant, merely qualifying as a first-rank Spirit Plant.

After a hundred years, the tree would advance to become a second-rank lower-grade Spiritual Tree, and even as the years passed, it could improve from a second-rank lower-grade to a second-rank upper-grade!

Once over a thousand years old, it would grow into an extremely valuable third-rank spirit material!

This was the limit for the Evergreen Wood.

Fourth-rank Evergreen Wood, no cultivator has ever seen.

"Oh? May I take a look?"

Fang Xi inquired.

"This item is precious... I don’t accept Spirit Stones as trade, and if you don’t have what I need, I won’t exchange it."

The green-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator did not bring it out, instead replying with composure.

However, Fang Xi was confident and passed a wave of Divine Consciousness Transmission over.

"What? Really?"

The voice of the green-robed Foundation Establishment cultivator immediately carried a tremor, and he quickly slapped his Storage Bag, taking out a narrow Ointment Jade Box, "Please have a look, Sir..."

Fang Xi slightly opened the box and saw a section of green wood inside, densely lined, emitting strong blue Spirit Light—indeed, it was a piece of millennium Evergreen Wood.

"Excellent, this item is exactly what I need..."

He smiled, looking at the anxious and expectant eyes of the green-robed cultivator, and tossed over a jade vial.

The green-robed cultivator’s hands were somewhat shaky as he gently opened the bottle stopper, and immediately secured it away, "Good, I too require this item."

Fang Xi traded away the inferior quality Foundation Establishment Pill.

After all, he had no use for it, and besides, its medicinal efficacy was about to expire.

"This pill is quite rare, and frankly, I feel like I’m getting the short end of the stick," he said.

But Fang Xi pretended to hesitate.

The cultivator in the green robe grimaced, "To be fair, the value of these two items isn’t far apart, yet I am willing to pay a thousand Spirit Stones to cover the difference."

The value of a Foundation Establishment Pill exceeds that of thousand-year-old Evergreen Wood, but the one in Fang Xi’s hands was just a subpar product.

Even so, at an auction, the price for a Foundation Establishment Pill would still definitely be higher.

Moreover, such private transactions involved fewer people and were therefore safer.

Consequently, the cultivator in the green robe did not want to miss the opportunity and actively proposed to pay the difference.

"Very well... The deal is done, I shall take my leave," Fang Xi said.

After completing the trade, Fang Xi did not linger and directly left the market.

After leaving the marketplace, he rode his black cloud for dozens of miles without encountering any cultivation-robbers, which made Fang Xi somewhat uncomfortable.

After chuckling to himself, he made a detour before returning to Baize Immortal City.

...

’This Foundation Establishment Pill is really useful, great for exchanging various rare resources...’

’Unfortunately, it kind of takes business from the Mysterious Heaven Sect and Baize Immortal City... One or two pills might be okay, but any more could lead to serious trouble...’

After returning to the Peach Blossom Pavilion, Fang Xi couldn’t wait to enter his closed-door cultivation room and took out his gains for the day.

More than three thousand low-grade Spirit Stones, which he could later exchange for mid-grade Spirit Stones at the Spirit Stone Shop.

Although the exchange rate was above one hundred, for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, using low-grade Spirit Stones to restore magic power or assist in breaking through was too weak an effect; it was necessary to stockpile some mid-grade Spirit Stones for emergency use.

Next, there were two magic spells - ’Hundred Illusions Skills’ and ’Sky Demon Dismemberment Skills’!

Fang Xi also took them out to set aside, planning to study them when he had time.

Last, he took out the Ointment Jade Box and examined it carefully.

Before coming, Fang Xi had already confirmed that there were no tracking marks or underhanded traps on it.

Upon opening the Ointment Jade Box, he saw a piece of Evergreen Wood, more than three feet long, emitting a strong blue spiritual light.

"Not bad at all... This is my first time acquiring a third-grade spirit material!" Fang Xi exclaimed.

"If I take this to Grandmaster Ouye, even a random refinement would result in a top-quality Spiritual Instrument..."

"Of course, that would be a bit wasteful, as this material is nearly good enough to be used for crafting magical treasures..."

Although Fang Xi was also preparing to craft Spiritual Instruments, he had his own plans.

"Using a third-grade material as the main body, even the Treasure Patterns of the Fragment World should be sufficient to bear it..."

"Thus, I can first use Spirit Marks to craft the Spiritual Instrument, leaving room for upgrading later on..."

"Just what kind of Spirit Marks should I choose?" Fang Xi wondered.

In reality, Fang Xi knew that he didn’t have a choice, at least for the time being.

After all, in the entire Black Mountain Tribe, there were only two types of Spirit Marks to inherit...

...

Fragment World.

Black Mountain Tribe.

Green Wolf’s face was filled with excitement as he finally discovered the secret that Ba Ji had hidden!

He caressed the bronze mirror, looking at the Witch texts and Magic Spells that appeared on it: "The Spirit-opening Script? This magic spell is a hundred times more exquisite than the Spirit Aperture primordial energy absorption technique taught by the Big Shaman! No wonder Ba Ji, with only a semi-Spirit Aperture, has progressed so rapidly..."

He, Green Wolf, was a genius who had opened three Spirit Apertures!

He had just completed the carving of the ’Gathering Wind’ Spirit Pattern and was now learning the ’Wind Pressure’ Spirit Pattern!

With the addition of the ’Spirit-opening Script,’ he was confident he could complete the carving of all Spirit Patterns in the shortest time!

Then, he could apply to the Big Shaman to observe the ’Xun Wind Spirit Pattern,’ learning the technique to combine the three major Spirit Patterns.

Once successful, he would be the next Big Shaman!!

"Haha... I truly am the chosen one... Brother Ba Song can’t outplay me."

Green Wolf’s face brimmed with excitement as he caressed the bronze mirror, "This Fragment is so mystical; could it possibly be a secret treasure left by the Witch King?"

After some thought, he decided he couldn’t feel safe leaving it anywhere and chose to hide the Fragment on his person like Ba Ji had done.

Within the Fragment, Fang Xi watched this scene with a cold Divine Consciousness.

"I’ve given you the skills; I hope you can quickly cultivate to the Spirit Mark Realm..." Fang Xi thought.

He was now increasingly looking forward to those Spirit Marks.

At the same time, he found the power system of this Fragment World somewhat peculiar.

"It’s too... intricate. This battle mark trajectory, from the moment the first battle mark is chosen, determines the life of the cultivator..."

Based on what Fang Xi had seen and heard during these days, a Witch cannot change his battle marks, let alone carve several more.

For instance, Ba Ji, after possessing the ’Flame’ Magic Spell, could only look for Spirit Patterns containing the flame Magic Spell, ascending all the way up.

The idea of abandoning the ’Flame’ Magic Spell was an impossibility.

And carving an additional ’Wind Blade’ Magic Spell to follow the ’Xun Wind Spirit Pattern’ pathway was also out of the question.

Because he had the ’Flame’ Magic Spell, he naturally repelled other types of battle marks, utterly unable to cultivate them concurrently.

To Fang Xi, such an ordinarily accepted rule was incredibly unbelievable.

Could cultivation truly be such a rigid thing?

"The resulting combat capability is too uniform; while its advantages are very great, its disadvantages are also very evident..."

"If the Witch King of this Fragment World were to face a Core Formation cultivator, I’m afraid the outcome would not be good..."