Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 772 - 700: Ruins (Additional Release, Monthly Ticket Requested)_1

Chapter 772: Chapter 700: Ruins (Additional Release, Monthly Ticket Requested)_1

Black Rock Market Town.

Fang Xi exhibited his Turtle Breath Secret Skills, his breath almost imperceptible, his Escape Light flickering in and out of visibility, as he stealthily approached.

His target was naturally those two Tri-Horned Yuan Rhinoceroses.

But at that moment, his expression involuntarily became somewhat odd.

Then, Fang Xi took out an ultra-small puppet shaped like a bat and blew on it.

Click-clack, click-clack!

The puppet immediately sprang into action, fluttering its wings and disappearing into the ruins of the market town...

A moment later...

Fang Xi sighed helplessly.

After some thought, he landed on the ground, transforming into a stern young man wearing black clothes, adjusting his aura to around the level of Foundation Establishment, and openly walking towards the outskirts of the market.

The entire market town had been reduced to ruins, only a few broken walls still stood stubbornly, and some of them even flickered with the weak radiance of array patterns...

It was the remnants of the ’Six Brahma Water Gate Array.’

The original two Tri-Horned Yuan Rhinoceroses hadn’t been able to destroy all the arrays here, and the remaining array patterns had become entangled with the local Spiritual Vein, forming some hazardous and erratic prohibitions.

Most of what the Cultivation World called ’Ruins’ came about in this way.

The position of the city gate was already demolished, and the city walls had several large gaps, which seemed to be the pathways used by the Wild Beasts during their advance; they now allowed free passage.

Fang Xi entered and saw the broken streets, in many places still stained with blood.

He arrived at one street and discovered it seemed to have been tidied a bit, barely resembling its former self.

In a few of the uncollapsed buildings, it was evident that people were living.

Even further inside, he could see several shops, all huddled into nooks and corners, protected by low-ranking arrays, with the Cultivators inside ready for any threat.

’The Wild Beasts of Black Rock Market Town have actually retreated...’

’Not only have they retreated, but there are also some survivors, though when added up, they only number about a thousand... Spread throughout such a vast market town, it’s barely different from living in a ghost city...’

Fang Xi seemed to understand.

Perhaps those two Tri-Horned Yuan Rhinoceroses had their own nest and, after a hunt, left the area satiated and content.

What he didn’t know was why the other Wild Beasts had also left.

However, after carefully sensing around, Fang Xi made a discovery.

The Inner City Area seemed to be the most severely damaged place, and the rich aura of the Spiritual Vein was surprisingly broken in many places. The prohibitions and Great Arrays of numerous private Dongfus had interconnected, turning into the most complicated and peculiar ’Mixed Array,’ extremely dangerous for low-rank Cultivators...

’That night, who knows how many Transcendent Gods had fallen...’

’However, I am no longer a Transcendent God, so they are no longer my peers...’

Fang Xi chuckled inwardly, walking into a shop.

This shop was constructed like a fortress, piled up on the outside with countless boulders and wooden planks, and inside hid a cleverly disguised array, with the fluctuation of Magic Power being very slight.

Such design even aroused a trace of interest in Fang Xi.

Once inside the array, he saw an old man with a head full of silver hair, wearing a black robe, holding a Spiritual Instrument in his hand.

On seeing Fang Xi enter, the silver-haired old man’s face was full of vigilance, "Stranger Cultivator... where are you from?"

"Sigh... I’m from this market town. That night I escaped, only to find it even more dangerous outside; most of my group died, so I had no choice but to come back..."

Fang Xi answered with a sigh.

"Heh, must’ve had a rough time, hadn’t you? These days the wilderness isn’t somewhere our kind can roam. Without those Transcendent Masters there to clear the Wild Beasts and evil spirits day and night, it’s only going to get more dangerous... It’s better to just stay holed up in the ruins of this market town, and who knows, maybe we’ll even get rescued."

The silver-haired old man’s expression relaxed slightly as he started drumming up business, "Do you need some Spirit Rice? Or some Wild Beast meat... you’re quite fortunate, let me tell you. This Wild Beast meat is extremely rare, had it not been for a few that died earlier, which we scavenged, you wouldn’t even get a taste..."

"Wild Beast meat?"

A conflicted expression appeared on Fang Xi’s face, "Is it edible?"

"This Wild Beast meat has been processed by alchemists, it’s certainly edible, and it even staves off hunger remarkably well. At our level of Cultivation, just a piece the size of a fist can sustain us without Spirit Rice for three days... though you can’t eat too much. Some Qi-Refining juniors didn’t know better and ate a bit too much, even exploding to death..."

The silver-haired old man sighed: "Nowadays, Spirit Rice is even scarcer than Wild Beast meat..."

Fang Xi looked at the several types of Spirit Rice in the shop and found them all to be of low grade, leaving him speechless.

Within the territories of the human race, such Spirit Rice simply couldn’t compare to Wild Beast meat.

But prices are only influenced by the market.

Wild Beasts are immense, and just one could feed tens of thousands for quite a while.

Despite many dying earlier, even if most of the flesh was consumed by their kind, the leftovers were enough to sustain these survivors for a long time.

Although some Wild Beast meat might be poisonous or too rich in vital essence to be consumed by low-rank Cultivators.

But that’s precisely what alchemists and Spiritual Chefs are for, specifically to address such issues.

It seems that Black Rock Market Town still retained such talented individuals.

"Thank you, I’ll take ten pounds then."

Fang Xi took out some Spirit Stones and finalized the transaction before asking, "What should one be wary of when trying to survive in this town nowadays?"

"Seeing as we’ve done business, I’ll tell you..." The white-haired elder sneered, "In this city, you can live in any house you take a fancy to, as long as there is no one living in it... Of course, even if there is someone living there, you can throw them out, as long as your cultivation is high enough!"

"If you’re looking for women, you can go to those streets on the eastern side, where there are plenty of former fairies... heh heh..."

...

’It sounds like a place with no order, a land of chaos...’ Fang Xi’s expression changed, "Is there really no one in charge? What about the Sky Brahman Army?"

"Don’t mention those bastards again, they run faster than anyone else when there’s trouble..."

The white-haired old man spat viciously.

He dared to speak this way, of course, because he saw that Fang Xi was only at the Foundation Establishment stage and couldn’t possibly be a soldier of the Sky Brahman Army, so he spoke without restraint.

"Yeah, they run faster than rabbits..."

Fang Xi thought of Lord YuanYin’s final Escape Light and could only agree somewhat speechlessly.

After the two had scolded the Sky Brahman Army for a while, they felt much closer, and the white-haired old man cheerfully said, "Young brother, take my advice, there are only two forces you absolutely cannot offend here in Black Rock Market Town. One is the ’Sky Brahman Gang’, founded by a few Core Formation Cultivators said to have ties with the Sky Brahman Army, and the other is ’Thunderfire Hall’, which worships Master Lei Huo as their leader. Both the locals and merchants have to offer tributes to them..."

’Well then... Immortal Cultivators have fallen into being part of gangs, whether it’s the foundering of morality or the distortion of human nature...’ Fang Xi critiqued inwardly, but his face showed a serious reply, "Thank you for the warning, sir. I will keep that in mind..."

"Hmm, one last thing, when selecting a house, try to choose one that is more secluded..."

The white-haired old man added this final reminder.

As Fang Xi left the rice shop, a contemplative look crossed his face: ’Selecting a secluded one... Does that mean wild beasts occasionally come here in search of food? Living in a more remote place would certainly be safer than clustering together, making it harder to be hunted...’

’Perhaps the wild beasts left these people not because they disdained them, but to keep them as seed stock...’

Even farmers and hunters know not to drain the pond to catch all the fish.

Right now, for the Wild Beasts and Primordial Chaos Beasts in the wilderness, these human race Cultivators seem to be no different from livestock, don’t they?

’This is the harsh reality of survival of the fittest, the law of the jungle...’

’But, could I perhaps wait here... The Tri-Horned Yuan Rhinoceros might sporadically come by to fill its stomach?’

Such a thought emerged abruptly in Fang Xi’s mind.

For now, he did not wish to go to Sky Brahman City, or rather, it would be better to hide in the outer world and wait for news before the situation in Sky Brahman City became clear.

’I could contact Liu Xu and Yunxi to get some information...’

’I’ve just broken through to the early stages of Returning to Emptiness, and I can’t continue my Cultivation until my main body breaks through. At most, I can practice some Divine Skills and Secret Skills. I have no need for Spiritual Veins or pills, and it would be the same wherever I go...’

...

On his way east, Fang Xi occasionally released his Divine Consciousness.

The arrays in Black Rock Market Town are now twisted, with some areas becoming extremely dangerous.

For example, the Dongfu and residencies of Transcendent Gods and those Returning to Emptiness in the Inner City have been destroyed by wild beasts, and what remains are private array patterns and noxious Prohibition. Now mixed together, even he feels a headache looking at them, and reckless Cultivators might try their luck for a chance.

It didn’t take long before he arrived at the streets described by the white-haired old man.

From a distance, the place looked desolate, with only a few secluded alleys and corners of ruins where occasionally a fleeting figure darted by.

Fang Xi observed for a while and noticed that some doors had handkerchiefs and strips of cloth tied to them, and occasionally a male Cultivator would knock on the door and then vanish in a flash. He understood the situation immediately...

’Without high-level Cultivators, the lower levels have automatically formed another kind of order...’

He smiled slightly and passed through these streets, heading toward even more remote areas.

Eventually, he stopped in an area close to the outer wall.

This place had sparse spiritual energy and was originally where lower-level Cultivators lived.

Now, only four or five households remained in a large block of the district, all living quite a distance from each other, which perfectly matched Fang Xi’s criteria.

He looked at a makeshift wooden house and a small smile emerged on his lips: ’There is also a Nascent Soul hidden here... Hm, it seems to be healing.’

’I was saying, with so many high-level Cultivators, there’s bound to be a few returning. After all, the most dangerous places can be the safest. It’s quite possible for a Transcendent God to suddenly appear out of a corner...’

So thought a mid-level Cultivator to himself.

Fang Xi surveyed the terrain and chose a sunny slope to begin constructing his Dongfu.

He had obtained the Storage Bag of a Cultivator who had changed his name, and upon remembering this, he eagerly rummaged through it to find several Spiritual Instruments suitable for a Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage.

These top-quality Spiritual Instruments had been tossed at the very bottom of the Storage Bag by the Cultivator who had changed his name, gathering who knows how much dust.

According to Fang Xi’s estimation, these were either sentimental old belongings that had accompanied him from weaker times and were too dear to discard, or they were prepared as rewards for disciples.

Otherwise, a Transcendent God Cultivator would have no use for these Spiritual Instruments.

He flipped his hand, and a black Flying Sword appeared. When he infused it with Magic Power, it quickly grew as large as a door panel, capable of slicing mountains and breaking rocks. He carved out a semi-hollow on the hillside to shape the basic outline of the Dongfu, then constructed a fence around the perimeter.

Boom Boom Boom!

Such commotion naturally attracted a few neighbors.

Some of them just peeked through the crack of their doors, while the Nascent Soul did not even bother to raise an eyelid.

But another wooden house, built by the river, opened up and a curious boy of seven or eight years old with a tiger’s head and a tiger’s brain ran out, looking around with great interest...