The north wind was like a knife, rolling up a thousand piles of snow.
The harsh winter was like a prison, turning drops of water into ice.
Amid the vast expanse of white, a piece of verdant bamboo forest thrived, its green leaves like jade, shining with a translucent luster. Droplets of water clung to them, sparkling like brilliant pearls, each emitting a dazzling light.
Wisps of dreamlike, snowy mist lingered, making this place seem like a land of immortality.
On the ground of the bamboo forest, a creature resembling a four-legged snake hurriedly scurried across the brush, leaving trails of its scales shimmering with a strange color in the air.
Hiss!
Suddenly, a burst of cold air appeared and landed on the four-legged snake.
The temperature plummeted all around, and in an instant, the four-legged snake was frozen on the ground, turned into an ice sculpture as lifelike as the real thing.
"Finally caught this damned little thief who's been stealing food."
There was a stir in the bamboo forest, and a young man emerged.
He moved agilely, his figure tall and straight as a pine, with fine features and eyes clear as the depths of a tranquil lake. He was dressed in a thick cotton-padded jacket, and now his face carried an expression of relief.
Fang Xi approached the ice sculpture, lifted the frozen four-legged snake with his hand and weighed it, his face gradually sagging as he murmured incessantly, "What a loss, what a loss!"
"A non-stage demon insect—Stone Dragon, worth one Spirit Crystal. It took me three days to catch it, and I wasted a 'Cold Ice Talisman'. Although the talisman is just a low-grade, first-stage one, it still cost me almost half a Spirit Stone!"
Fang Xi's face was brimming with frustration.
The so-called 'Spirit Crystal' was a fragment of a Spirit Stone. Generally speaking, ten Spirit Crystals could be exchanged for one low-grade Spirit Stone.
Of course, this was a losing deal.
Yet, he had no choice but to do it!
Because Fang Xi was the Spirit Farmer of this bamboo forest, and next year's harvest depended on the growth of these bamboo trees—he couldn't let this demon insect ravage them.
Whoosh whoosh!
A gust of cold wind blew, causing Fang Xi to shiver from the cold.
He looked up at the sky, where snowflakes were starting to fall once again, and wrapped his cotton-padded jacket tighter around himself, sighing inwardly, "Before I knew it, has a year already passed since I crossed over? If I hadn't crossed over, I wouldn't dare believe that Immortal Cultivators could feel cold too..."
Yes, Fang Xi was a transmigrator!
There was nothing remarkable about his transmigration, nothing special to speak of. In his previous life, he worked hard and got into college, later becoming dissolute and neglecting his studies, unable to find a decent job. After graduation, he was pressured by his parents to join the army of public sector exam candidates, only to be tormented by the math section of the civil service exam to the point of despair.
As it turned out, desperate as one might be, the math problems still couldn't be solved!
Regrettably, before the results of the civil service exam were out, Fang Xi had already transmigrated on the spot!
Upon opening his eyes, he found himself in a world where Immortal Cultivators existed and was reincarnated into a youth with the same name as his—Fang Xi.
This Fang Xi was at the Qi Refining third level, alone in the world, a Spirit Farmer attached to Green Bamboo Mountain Market in the Yue Country of the Southern Wilderness Cultivation Realm.
Originally, Fang Xi had some disbelief about transmigration, but after fumbling for several hours and releasing his first small magic spell with trembling hands according to the body's memory, he finally became convinced that he truly possessed supernatural power and had become an exalted Immortal!
Of course, Immortal Cultivators weren't yet true Immortals; they still had human aspects, had to endure the elements, and experienced birth, aging, sickness, and death.
However, Fang Xi also knew from his memories that with the growth of an Immortal Cultivator's power and the ascension of their realm, one could indeed extend their lifespan, become immune to all diseases, and even achieve true immortality.
The best example was the Situ Family, which controlled the Green Bamboo Mountain Market. It was said that the family had more than one 'Foundation Establishment great Cultivator'!
As Cultivators of the Foundation Establishment stage, they fully met the mortal's imagination of immortality—at least, their lifespan was doubled, easily living past two hundred years!
Two hundred years! In his previous life, that was enough time to witness the rise and fall of most dynasties.
Therefore, Fang Xi chose to inherit everything from the original owner and continued to work as a Spirit Farmer in the market, embarking on his own path of cultivation.
At this moment.
Although he was very disparaging verbally, after his complaints, Fang Xi still carefully put away the Stone Dragon. After all, it was worth a Spirit Crystal!
All of the savings he had inherited from the original owner only amounted to a few dozen Spirit Crystals!
The 'Jade Green Bamboo Forest' he was in charge of spanned six parts, and after yielding jade bamboo rice once a year and paying half of it as taxes, he was left with only about a hundred jin, approximately one shi, valued at thirty Spirit Crystals...
An entire year of hard work in farming, for an income of three low-grade Spirit Stones...
"Alas, cultivation is hard, survival is even harder!"
Fang Xi sighed and shook off the snowflakes from his body, beginning to clear the weeds from the bamboo forest.
These weeds, nourished by spiritual energy, grew exceptionally tough. If not careful, they would compete with the Jade Bamboo for nutrients, affecting the harvest.
Hence, being a Spirit Farmer required proficiency in small magic spells like Spring Rain Skills and Metal Grass Mowing Sword.
Although Fang Xi had inherited the original owner's memories, farm work was still tough and life painful.
Being at the third level of the Qi Refining stage, he was only in the early stages among Qi Refiners. In Green Bamboo Mountain Market, there were many Cultivators above the fourth level of Qi Refining, and occasionally, great masters above the seventh level would appear. In the Cultivation World where the law of the jungle prevailed, the strong preyed on the weak, and looting was common.
Moreover, high-ranking Demon Cultivators would carry out blood sacrifices over an area of a hundred miles to create powerful spells or even magical artifacts, although such tragedies were extremely rare, they were clearly recorded in books.
Sometimes, Fang Xi even thought about giving up the path of cultivation and returning to the mortal realm to become a wealthy man, surrounded by wives and concubines, living out his remaining years in comfort.
But soon, he cast aside such thoughts.
After all, when it comes to enjoying life, even an ancient emperor might not be able to surpass an ordinary modern person.
The only things that could outshine modern comforts were the temptations of transcendence and immortality!
Therefore, despite the hardships, Fang Xi gritted his teeth and persevered.
...
The sky was dark as ink.
Fang Xi looked up at the weather and started heading home.
Although the Green Bamboo Mountain Market was protected by a Mountain Protecting Array, it only shielded the market's main street and surrounding shops in order to save Spirit Stones. There was no hope of covering the entire mountain or the Spirit Field Area.
So, this area was not very safe at night.
Although there were patrols from the Situ Family's enforcement squads, there were still incidents of cultivation-robbers committing crimes. Naturally, Fang Xi was not about to risk his life.
The residence area for Spirit Farmers was close to the market at the mountain's summit, which was patrolled more frequently and thus relatively safer.
Fang Xi maliciously speculated that it was probably because people like him, the Spirit Farmers, had nothing of value to steal, which is why the cultivation-robbers turned a blind eye.
Walking up the mountain for a while, he saw a shanty area with low roofs coming into view, every household defined by fence boundaries, with sounds of chickens and dogs heard from neighboring yards.
On seeing this, a smile couldn't help but form on Fang Xi's face.
After taking a few steps, he met a cultivator looking like an old farmer who greeted him with a smile, "Young Fang, do you want to find a nice place to have some fun?"
His face was full of wrinkles, and he grinned, showing two big yellow teeth. His aura was actually lower than Fang Xi's, lingering around the second layer of Qi Refining Stage.
This was Old Mai, Fang Xi's neighbor.
Fang Xi wasn't sure of the other's past, but seeing each other day in and day out, they had struck up a rapport.
Seeing Old Mai's expression, Fang Xi immediately knew where he intended to go.
In the shantytown, which appeared to be hastily built from wooden planks, there were also female cultivators who didn't do much farming and lived relatively comfortable lives, with their own means of making a living.
Old Mai had been farming longer than Fang Xi, but was living in dire straits and had even borrowed Spirit Crystals before. It was easy to guess where his savings had gone.
Fang Xi shook his head, declining, "Old Mai, I have to cultivate tonight..."
In fact, soon after he had become accustomed to this body, he had already visited the 'Drunken Immortal Building' in the market once. He had spent almost half his fortune there, indulging himself for the entire night, while staggering out against the walls...
It must be said that those little demons who specialized in Charming Skills were indeed quite wearing.
Since then, Fang Xi in this world had devoted all his energy to farming. He couldn't help it, his purse was bare...
'How can I afford to treat pretty ladies to tea if I don't save up? I don't drink stale stuff...'
Fang Xi returned to his dwelling and opened the door.
His room was quite large, separated into a living room, bedroom, cultivation room, and other small rooms... Some female cultivators would even plant some spiritual vegetables and raise some Spirit Birds within their fenced areas, making full use of every inch of their land.
Fang Xi went to the kitchen and cooked himself a pot of porridge mixed with coarse grains and Spirit Rice.
The Spirit Rice was naturally 'Jade Bamboo Rice,' each grain resembling jade, emitting a refreshing fragrance. Even mixed with the coarse grains and rice of mere mortals, it was still delicious and sweet.
Especially after eating, a warm feeling spread in his stomach, followed by a faint rise of spiritual energy.
Seizing this opportunity, Fang Xi went straight to the cultivation room to engage in arduous practice of his cultivation technique.
Half an hour later, Fang Xi opened his eyes with a wry smile, "This 'Eternal Spring Skills' is truly tough. After a year of grueling practice, I'm only just able to grasp the original owner's cultivation level, not even catching a glimpse of the peak of the third layer of Qi Refining Stage, let alone the bottleneck of the middle Qi Refining Stage... It's so difficult..."
While he sighed, he pricked up his ears to listen to the surroundings and took out a talisman to paste on the wooden wall of the cultivation room.
It was a first-grade, low-quality 'Protection Talisman,' which had a certain defensive power. Most importantly, it could isolate sounds and fluctuations of spiritual energy!
As for the Divine Consciousness of those at the Foundation Establishment Stage, it couldn't protect against that, but it would immediately explode upon such scanning to alert the cultivator.
After all these precautions, Fang Xi's expression returned to calm as he snapped his fingers.
Snap!
In the blink of an eye, he was in another place.
Indoors, where the light shone brightly and it was warm like spring, an exquisite gold and purple incense burner burned high-quality calming incense.
The comfortable rosewood chair, crafted from sandalwood, enticed him into a relaxed recline reminiscent of the infamous slouch of Ge You.
With the wave of his hand, an air conditioner made by a cultivator turned on, keeping the room at a comfortable temperature and humidity.
After lying down for a while, Fang Xi casually tossed away the tattered cotton-padded coat and changed into a luxurious brocaded robe, further accentuating his youthful appearance like a graceful, carefree noble.
He opened the door, and a dazzling ray of sunshine poured in. He was indeed in a grand and opulent mansion.
In the blink of an eye, it seemed like he was in an entirely different world.
And that was indeed the case!
Fang Xi's lips curved into a subtle smile.
When pushed to the brink, a person might just do anything, including crossing worlds!!!