Chapter Fifty-Five: Return to the Countryside

After Qin Ming departed, four figures clad in black robes descended upon the spot where Qin Ming and his opponent had just dueled.

"Damn it, someone cut in ahead of us!"

"That brat was ripe for the taking, and we finally managed to wound him badly."

"Should we give chase?"

"It's too late, the pursuers from the Spirit Feather Sect are nearly here. We'd better run."

"Curse it! If I ever find out who snatched my bounty, I'll make them pay!"

As the four argued, a Spirit Feather Sect spellboat sped toward their location in the distance.

"Not good! Let's go!"

An elder aboard the spellboat frowned as he watched the four retreat, and when he drew closer and saw the corpse already reduced to ash, he was shocked.

He abandoned the boat and flew off in pursuit of the four fugitives.

...

After winding his way through the countryside for over an hour, Qin Ming finally slipped back into Qingyang Market.

Returning to his Cool Retreat, he felt his anxiety gradually ease.

Hoo—

Qin Ming let out a heavy sigh.

Yet a hint of excitement lingered on his face.

Having dealt with that bastard Jiang Kun by his own hand, peace was restored to his life.

He entered his meditation chamber and began tallying his spoils.

Among Jiang Kun’s possessions, the item that most caught his eye was the exquisite magic sword.

Qin Ming played with it for a while in his hand, then, relying on his powerful spiritual sense, easily erased Jiang Kun’s imprint of magic power left within the blade.

This superb sword was called the Azure Nether Sword.

After refining it, it would become Qin Ming’s personal weapon.

However, when Qin Ming tried to channel his magic power through it, he discovered the sword required an astonishing amount of energy to wield.

Even with his fifth-level Qi Refinement—double the magic power of peers at his stage—he could barely sustain it, and estimated it would last less than half an incense stick’s time.

He would need at least late-stage Qi Refinement to fully command the sword.

In the storage pouch, there was also a top-tier sword manual, the Azure Nether Sword Technique, consisting of six levels, suitable for cultivation up to late Foundation Establishment.

The first three levels matched the Qi Refinement stage, while the latter three were for Foundation Establishment.

Qin Ming had experienced the sword technique firsthand and knew its power well.

A single Azure Nether sword aura could pierce his Glass Treasure Garment and formidable physique.

He put away the sword and manual and continued to examine Jiang Kun’s storage pouch.

There were fifty middle-grade spirit stones, and over three thousand low-grade ones.

Altogether, they were worth more than eight thousand low-grade spirit stones.

The greatest surprise was a pill for breaking through to late-stage Qi Refinement—the Bone Washing Pill—the very one Jiang Kun had tried to bribe him with at Mingzhen Tower.

After all that, it had found its way back into his hands.

There were also various healing and detoxifying pills, some to enhance magic power, and the rest were spiritual materials and talismans.

At the very bottom of the pouch lay a golden talisman, its spiritual energy faded and dull.

Qin Ming took it out and, upon closer inspection, broke out in a cold sweat.

"A talisman treasure!"

Talisman treasures are crafted by Foundation Establishment cultivators or higher, usable multiple times, and their spells are as powerful as a full-force strike of a Foundation Establishment expert.

But upon checking its condition, he saw its spiritual essence was gone; Jiang Kun had exhausted it during his escape, rendering it useless.

Qin Ming felt fortunate—if Jiang Kun hadn’t drained the talisman while fleeing from those bandits, the outcome might have been different.

It was a sobering reminder: robbing and killing always carries enormous risk.

Farming peacefully yields far sweeter rewards.

But if Qin Ming hadn’t caught Jiang Kun in his weakened state, he wouldn’t have acted so rashly.

Such an opportunity might not come again for a long time.

Overall, the harvest was rich.

In Qingyang Market, Qin Ming dared not openly use Jiang Kun’s belongings. He would wait until his strength improved and he left the Spirit Feather Sect, or perhaps find a black market to dispose of them discreetly.

He packed up his goods, cleared his mind, took a pill in the meditation chamber, and entered cultivation.

The next morning.

Qin Ming rose early.

After a night of cultivation, he felt vigorous and refreshed.

He first went to the corner of the courtyard to check on the Withered Blood Poison Vine.

Despite the time passed, the three purple demonic blossoms remained unchanged.

[Name] Withered Blood Poison Vine [Attribute]: Leaves of Time and Space x5 (Maturity: 1%)

Qin Ming then took out the blood bead from Jiang Kun’s death and tossed it toward the vine.

Instantly, the black vine devoured it like a starving wolf, absorbing its essence.

The vines visibly thickened.

Gradually, the three purple buds began to unfurl.

Qin Ming examined it closely and noted a change in its attribute.

[Name] Withered Blood Poison Vine [Attribute]: Leaves of Time and Space x5 (Maturity: 15%)

Absorbing the blood bead had notably increased the maturity of the purple blossoms.

"The blood and soul of a perfected Qi Refinement cultivator really accelerates its growth."

Qin Ming stroked his chin, pondering for a moment.

Then he retrieved a nest of four-winged Frost Bees from his beast pouch and hung their hive on the black vine.

Once the flowers bloomed, he would let the bees pollinate the purple blossoms.

Having finished, Qin Ming left for his spiritual fields.

He hadn’t tended to them in days, and they remained on his mind.

Arriving at the fields, he was greeted by flourishing spiritual plants, and, like a farmer, a smile appeared on his lips.

Three acres of Golden Spirit Rice had grown to half their height, lush and green.

Two golden attributes caught his eye:

[Name]: Golden Spirit Rice [Attribute]: Faint Magic Power (Maturity: 48%)

[Name]: Golden Spirit Rice [Attribute]: Quality Enhancement (Maturity: 43%)

After tending to the Golden Spirit Rice, Qin Ming moved on to the three acres of Beast Fang Rice, which were heavy with grain, awaiting harvest at year’s end.

In two acres of medicinal fields, twelve stalks of Devil Flame Grass and eleven Seven-Leaf Yellow Ginseng were thriving.

Since Beast Fang Rice and high-tier spiritual plants were cultivated here, Du Haifu, the Spirit Feather Sect’s overseer, and the record officer from the Steward Hall frequently brought people to inspect the fields.

Unless bandits of the caliber that attacked the sect's elder’s medicinal garden appeared, the fields were quite safe.

For half a day, Qin Ming cast advanced Spirit Rain Technique over the crops.

Under the nourishing rain, the spiritual plants grew even more vigorously.

The Beast Fang Rice showed signs of quality improvement—even without using the [Quality Enhancement] attribute.

"Could it be? Supreme-grade Beast Fang Rice?"

After a busy day in the fields, he returned to Qingyang Market.

At the beginning of the hour of Rooster, Qin Ming cooked a pot of top-grade Blood Locust Rice for himself and resumed his daily cultivation.

Now, as he practiced the Hundred Treasures Glass Scripture, he was just a step away from reaching the seventh level.

Still, he needed much more accumulated vitality.

Two days later.

News of the bandit gang’s brazen raid on the Spirit Feather Sect’s medicinal garden spread like wildfire.

Many independent cultivators witnessed the event that day.

No matter how tightly one tries to cover up, the truth cannot be hidden.

The outcome: the Spirit Feather Sect failed to capture the five cultivators.

Reportedly, two Foundation Establishment elders were dispatched, but they were no match for the black-robed cultivator wearing the Buddha mask.

That black-robed figure’s sinister arts were unfathomable.

Elder Jiang Minshan from the Discipline Hall nearly perished, suffering grievous wounds, while Elder Zhuang Xiran was hurt somewhat less.

Only now did the cultivators in Qingyang Market realize the truth!

"Wow! How shameless! Those bastards from Golden Cloud Valley, two Foundation Establishment experts together couldn’t defeat that fiend, yet they only offered a single Foundation Establishment Pill as a reward!"

"Do they expect us to risk our necks for this?"

"Why don’t they do it themselves?"

"He—tui—"

"Despicable! These sects are too vile!"

...