Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 178 - 177 Treasure Pattern (Seeking Subscriptions)_1

Chapter 178: Chapter 177 Treasure Pattern (Seeking Subscriptions)_1

Two years later.

Inside the closed-door cultivation room.

Fang Xi’s hands incessantly formed seals, and a trace of joy flashed across his face, "The second layer of the Thousand Thread Puppet Controlling Skills... finally succeeded!"

He had been diligently practicing this puppet-controlling magic spell, and thanks to the steadily increasing power of his Divine Consciousness, he had finally managed to master the second layer today!

With the second layer of the magic spell, one could divide their spirit and thoughts, controlling four major combat puppets!

He thought for a moment and then slapped his Storage Bag.

Two second-order lower-grade beast puppets appeared before him.

One was a giant praying mantis with a green body all over. It was this very monster insect that had almost cunningly taken Fang Xi’s life in the past. He had a deep impression of its natural monster skills in playing dead and concealing its aura.

The other one was more ordinary, a black-backed turtle whose back protruded like a mountain peak and had very high defensive power.

"With the eight main puppets at my disposal, the monkey specializes in offense, the crow in escape, the mantis in assassination, and the turtle in defense..."

"Add the Green Barley Sword and the Primordial Demon Stab... probably even an ordinary Foundation Establishment middle-stage is no match for me, and might even be killed outright if they’re not careful, right?"

Defeating an enemy and killing an enemy are entirely different levels of difficulty.

Of course, Fang Xi was just thinking to himself.

He always advocated for realm suppression, and now, at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, it was easy and pleasant to deal with Qi Refining cultivators. Why bother asking for trouble?

After re-sacrificially refining the puppets, Fang Xi left his room in a good mood.

"Young master... Ruan sent a Voice Transmission Talisman, requesting that if you are free, please go to her residence immediately."

Jin Ling, who was feeding the Daqing fish in the yard, immediately bowed upon seeing Fang Xi leave and reported.

"Oh?"

Fang Xi was intrigued and immediately left the Dongfu, heading to Bi Bo Cave.

"Greetings, Uncle Fang!"

The one who opened the array for him was actually Ruan Dan.

The girl was still as cold as frost, and even more so, there was an added hint of evil Qi about her, which must have been due to the benefits she gained from hunting in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range.

Fang Xi nodded and entered Bi Bo Cave.

"Brother Fang..."

Ruan Xingling, in a peach-colored palace dress, was waiting as she brewed tea.

"Good tea..."

Upon seeing the Spiritual Tea that seemed to have a small white dragon swimming within, Fang Xi couldn’t help but smile, "Today is indeed my lucky day, to be able to drink this ’Little Dragon Bunch’..."

"Please!"

Ruan Xingling poured the tea with a smiling grace, making the small dragon seem even more lively and vivid.

With a light sip, Fang Xi felt a surge of spiritual energy enter his belly, leaving a fragrant aftertaste in his mouth and even slightly nourishing his Divine Consciousness.

The two chatted idly while drinking tea.

Eventually, they came to discuss serious matters.

"Xingling, you invited me over, could it be because of your beloved disciple?"

Fang Xi thought of Ruan Dan just now and asked with a slight smile.

"Indeed..."

Ruan Xingling handed over a box, "Please take a look at this, Sir!"

Fang Xi opened the box and saw a walnut-sized blue crystal inside emitting a faint glow, raising his eyebrows in surprise, "A second-order water-attribute Demon Pill? Could it be your disciple’s harvest?"

He glanced at Ruan Dan, who was standing behind Ruan Xingling, and felt somewhat moved.

To obtain a second-order Demon Pill in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range was no easy feat; many Foundation Establishment cultivators had fallen there.

For a Qi Refining cultivator to succeed, luck, strength, and decisiveness were all essential!

"Reporting to Uncle Fang, my Demon Hunting Team was lucky enough to run into a second-order ’Water-moving Python’ on the periphery of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range. That python had already suffered grave injuries, so we were able to bring it down by working together. However, there was a fallout among us afterward. I was only lucky enough to survive because of the life-saving item my master gave me..."

Ruan Dan calmly explained a bit, but even Fang Xi felt somewhat alarmed by the bloodshed she implied.

"Good fortune for my niece..."

He smiled and closed the Demon Pill box, "Is Xingling perhaps seeking my help with alchemy? Although I’ve collected the Foundation Establishment Pill Recipe, I have yet to try my hand at it..."

On the side, Ruan Dan nervously clutched her clothes.

Of course, she trusted Uncle Fang, but she was even more aware that in recent years, Fang Xi had only ever made lower-grade second-order pills.

For something as crucial as a Foundation Establishment Pill, naturally, she would prefer to seek those widely renowned upper-grade second-order alchemy masters.

After all, with a key second-order Demon Pill in hand, as soon as the news got out, there would always be Qi Refining cultivators who had completed gathering supplemental materials like the Dragon-transforming Ginseng to seek cooperation. And if the pill succeeded, she would certainly get first pick.

With two Foundation Establishment cultivators backing her, there was no fear of being cheated in this regard.

If she let Fang Xi practice with it, it would truly be a case of putting all her eggs in one basket...

Even for alchemy masters, the first attempt at making a Foundation Establishment Pill often had a seventy to eighty percent chance of failure.

"If Brother Fang has confidence, Xingling would naturally be happy to help!"

Ruan Xingling generously said.

"Never mind, never mind... my alchemy skills are far from those masters, I wouldn’t want to ruin the Demon Pill that my talented niece has worked so hard to obtain..."

Fang Xi bitterly smiled and declined.

Though, he felt that the number of times he had attempted to make a Foundation Establishment Pill might even surpass those of the masters.

But this was something he couldn’t disclose to others.

Hearing Fang Xi speak so, Ruan Dan silently sighed with relief.

However, it was Ruan Xingling who seemed somewhat disappointed, "Xingling asked Sir Fang over here today because Dan’er noticed that something is rather abnormal..."

"Oh?"

Fang Xi raised an eyebrow and looked towards Ruan Dan.

Ruan Dan then said, "Recently, every Individual Cultivator’s Demon Hunting Team has had substantial gains: many Monster Beasts have left their original territories and migrated from the depths of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range to the outside world..."

She recounted her own observations before turning her gaze to the two Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

"Monster Beasts migrating out of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range?"

Fang Xi’s expression became more solemn, "In such a case... the history of the Fairy City does have records of this situation. Generally, there are only two possibilities: one is that the Monster Beasts multiplied too much, competed for territories amongst themselves, and the losers had to exit the stage to seek new territories... The second is that within the depths of the mountain range, a new tier-three Monster King was born, driving the other Monster Beasts to expand outward..."

"Whichever the case, neither is good news. It means... a Monster Tide is coming!" Ruan Xingling added, "Sir Fang... we might have to start preparing early."

In the history of the Cultivation World of the Three Kingdoms, there have actually been cases where the Monster Tide from the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range swept through and ravaged an area.

Even the establishment of markets and passes in various parts of the mountain range were originally points of defense against Monster Tides.

Among them, ’Baize Immortal City’ was of utmost importance!

Every time there was a Monster Tide, this place was always hit first!

However, danger also presented opportunities - whenever a Monster Tide occurred, many Cultivators would rush over to hunt the Monster Beasts, which were usually hard to come across, and even manage to obtain second-tier Demon Pills, making it possible to advance to Foundation Establishment!

"Since the establishment of Baize Immortal City, there has never been an instance where it was broken through by a Monster Tide..."

Fang Xi was just a bit anxious but soon relaxed quite a lot, "Besides, neither you nor I are guests of the Fairy City, and there is no employment relationship. If it turns out impossible to handle, we could simply walk away... Xingling, do you want to return to Thousand Island Lake?"

The Song Family had once pacified Thousand Island Lake and afterward, allegedly supported a ’Yan’ surnamed Individual Cultivator in establishing a Foundation Establishment Family - the Thousand Island Yan Family!

"Xingling still wants to Cultivate within the Fairy City..."

Ruan Xingling shook her head, rejecting Fang Xi’s suggestion, "Today was just a word of caution, hoping that Sir Fang will prepare early..."

"Hmm, our Pill Tool Pavilion can also take the opportunity to raise prices..."

Fang Xi stroked his chin, musing aloud.

In times of war, all sorts of pills, talismans, and magical instruments will surely skyrocket in price.

...

"The Monster Tide!"

After returning to the Peach Blossom Pavilion, Fang Xi was still contemplating the matter of the Monster Tide.

Actually, once a Monster Disaster broke out, no place in the Cultivation World would be safe.

Monster Beasts would mainly attack the Baize Immortal City, but many other Monster Beast clans would scatter all over the Yue Country, wreaking havoc and causing bloody tragedies, chaos everywhere.

"Baize Immortal City has a tier-three Great Array and Core Formation Masters, even if besieged by several Monster Kings, it is unlikely to be breached... it’s actually the safest place."

"Even if by some chance the city falls, taking advantage of the momentary disappearance of the tier-three array, I could easily escape to Great Liang..."

Having thought things through, Fang Xi realized he could afford to stay put and suddenly lost much interest.

Aside from instructing Jin Ling to raise the prices at the Pill Tool Pavilion, he dove back into his cultivation room.

...

Fragment World.

"This item..."

City of Black Nirvana.

The Witch King was not present.

The bronze mirror fragment where Fang Xi was located was placed on a desk, next to it was a piece of gold-like crystal.

Inside the crystal, numerous talismans were wandering restlessly, coming together to form an exceedingly complex Treasure Pattern.

"Oh?"

"Is this... agreeing to the trade?"

Fang Xi’s heart leapt with joy at the sight; women’s demand for Wrinkle-Resisting Pills and the like would indeed never go out of fashion.

His Divine Consciousness ventured out, entered the golden crystal, and he diligently memorized the Treasure Pattern within!

"The ’Earth-shaking Treasure Pattern’, constructed with the Earth-moving Spirit Mark, the Mountain-shaking Spirit Mark, and the Space-tearing Spirit Mark as the core, can cause the earth to quake and the mountains to sway, with vast and grand might..."

"Within it, the ’Earth-moving Spirit Mark’ could be further divided into the ’Earth-moving’ and ’Turning Stone to Mud’ Magic Marks..."

"The ’Mountain-shaking Spirit Mark’ contains the ’Giant Strength’, ’Earth-breaking’, ’Earth-moving’ Magic Marks..."

When Fang Xi obtained the ’Earth-shaking Treasure Pattern’, his first impression was that it was intricate!

The various Magic Marks formed Spirit Marks, and through meticulous arrangement and recombination... it became a ’Treasure Pattern’!

The power of a Treasure Pattern could almost match the Divine Skill powered by Magic Power of a Core Formation Cultivator, perhaps it should be more appropriately called a ’Treasure Skill’.

’However, the first thing the Witch King traded definitely wouldn’t be her most valuable ’Life Treasure Pattern’; it’s probably some spoil of war?’

As Fang Xi pondered, a figure moved and the Witch King was already standing by the edge of the desk, "Artifact Spirit, you finally show yourself!"

Fang Xi felt no fear because at most he would lose a bit of Divine Consciousness.

After fully memorizing the ’Earth-shaking Treasure Pattern’, he returned to the mirror surface, which flashed a light and revealed the continuation of the Wrinkle-Resisting Pill Recipe.

Not only that, adhering to the principle of mutual benefit for both parties, Fang Xi also presented a set of second-tier Alchemy Skill inheritance.

Moreover, following the second-tier Alchemy Skill, there was also Chen Ping’s Talisman inheritance!

According to Fang Xi, Magic Marks and Spirit Marks were relatively simple, not only able to imprint on magical instruments and Array Flags, but also capable of being carried on talismans.

However, reaching the third-tier Treasure Pattern stage, there were too many talismans; talisman paper could hardly bear it and Arrays would be required instead.

Of course, Fang Xi only showed half of Chen Ping’s Talisman inheritance, then it consolidated into a line of Witch texts - [Sacrifice a Treasure Pattern, obtain an inheritance]!