The first night in the long-desired Cultivation World.
Chen Dengming, the famous Nanxun Blade King in the rivers and lakes of the Nanxun Kingdom, roughed it out under the eave of a house in a slum.
The next morning, a beautiful woman who had not returned all night, even pitying him, delivered the leftover food from her parcel to his feet.
Chen Dengming woke up immediately from a state of half-sleep and half-cultivation, staring blankly at the food packed in oil paper at his feet, hearing a soft yet tired female voice from behind.
"Once you eat this, there will be no more for you. My days are tough too."
As he turned around, he just caught a glimpse of a beautiful figure disappearing into a door, which was abruptly closed.
What a nice woman!
But he wasn't a beggar, he just didn't have money to rent a house since he just arrived.
Although he felt a little depressed, Chen Dengming's belly was growling. Opening the oil paper package, he saw the food inside.
The food was cold, but there were slight fluctuations in spiritual energy, which softened his original rejection.
"What's her situation? The woman doesn't seem to be a cultivator, but she can afford food with spiritual energy?"
Chen Dengming muttered to himself, but also knew to take what's given, rubbed his face, quickly wolfed down the food. Once he was full, he had to go and try to catch the spiritual fish.
If he doesn't make enough money for the rent, it will be hard for him to settle down to study Daoism and cultivate.
In terms of practicing in the wild, or selling Clear Spirit Pills and other options, he didn't want to try until the last possible moment; he was still unfamiliar with everything in this world, so he needed to make decisions after getting familiar with the circumstances.
He kept telling himself that this was the Cultivation World, wanting to achieve something meant maintaining a steady mindset, never to be complacent just because he thought he had a golden finger.
Because this World of True Cultivation is an extremely cruel and realistic place. Killing and being killed is far too simple. The class difference between immortals and mortals is far more obvious and terrible than any class difference in the rivers and lakes of the past.
...
Very soon, a few days passed.
Although Chen Dengming had experienced some setbacks and failed to catch the spiritual fish, he used the waist card of the Luo Family as collateral to rent some tools and bait for catching the spiritual fish. Although he didn't catch any spiritual fish, he caught a lot of ordinary fish. This not only solved his own food and clothing needs, but many miscellaneous fish could also be traded with ordinary people at the gathering place.
This also established good relations with some ordinary people in the gathering place.
In this way, he became more familiar with the environment in the gathering place, but he really became a fish-selling guy, nicknamed "Fish Selling Guy on the old west side of Hutong Street".
The scattered cultivation area has thousands of households, with ordinary people making up the majority, there are quite a few Innate martial artists, and cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Stage only make up about thirty percent.
The resources here are naturally controlled by cultivators, even the right to live here is divided and controlled by cultivators of more than a dozen factions.
If ordinary people want to live in the Gathering of Loose Cultivators, they have to pay resources.
And the ways to obtain resources include helping cultivators grow Spirit Rice, dig for Spiritual Grains, adventures (like catching spiritual fish, luring demonic beasts), or like those Innate women... there are many ways.
The advantage of living in the Gathering of Loose Cultivators is that it can ensure a certain safety, at least you don't have to worry about the attack of demonic beasts in the wild.
Futhermore, the Gathering of Loose Cultivators is built on an abandoned Spirit Vein, this place still has some residual spiritual energy. For some Innate martial artists with extremely poor aptitude, living here is the best place for cultivation they can strive for.
...
Today.
It's the fifth day since Chen Dengming arrived in the Immortal World.
Early in the morning, Chen Dengming left the fish that he had caught the day before at the door of the beautiful woman's house where he had often been staying during these days. Then he left the gathering place with his fishing gear.
The so-called favor of a drop of water should be repaid with a gushing spring.
During this time, he often slept at the door of the beautiful woman who gave him food that day. He would also give her some of the fish he caught for free as payment for staying at her door.
But that woman worked a night job in the nearby Gold Word Workshop and was often not at home at night, returning only in the early morning.
The two often missed each other, something that Chen Dengming had gotten used to.
On the fifth day, he had basically figured out the movement trajectory of the spiritual fish. Using the rented fishing tools and bait in combination with the Stone Gu, he set up some traps.
He was somewhat confident that he could catch one or two spiritual fish, exchange them for some spiritual grains, then he could redeem the mortgaged waist card, rent a house to live in, and cultivate in peace for a while.
...
Two sticks of incense later.
Chen Dengming arrived, as if he were on familiar ground, at a lake situated a dozen miles away.
This was a rather large lake outside of the gathering area, and one of the significant resources jointly controlled by the Gold Word Workshop and Hutong Street, two independent cultivator forces.
It was early morning, and a light mist hung over the lake. Following last night's rain, the lake's water level had risen, making it appear even more verdant and deep.
From afar, gentle waves slowly pushed towards the lakeside, casting a bit of white foam, sparkling with tiny wavelets. The picturesque scene was enhanced by the lush flowers, grass, and trees around the lake.
However, Chen Dengming caught a whiff of blood and rotting stench from the crisp mist, which immediately turned his face slightly pale.
At that moment, he saw more cultivators from the Gold Word Workshop stationed ahead than usual, among them was a person wearing a robe from Hutong Street, clearly a rather formidable character.
Around these cultivators lay a corpse on the ground, emitting a rotting, bloody smell. Its surface was entwined with countless ancient, cobweb-like sticky threads, creating a sight of utmost horror.
Detecting Chen Dengming's arrival, one of the cultivators glanced at him and coldly said, "Ordinary man, there's a demonic beast roaming around here. We are handling things here; you should keep your distance."
"A demonic beast?!"
Chen Dengming paused, looking at the corpse on the ground that was also emanating a faint spiritual might, his heart sunk.
The deceased was a cultivator. He had been fishing around here for the past few days, thinking that it wouldn't be too dangerous in the wilderness during the day.
However, it seemed he had been too optimistic...
"He came here to fish; let him do it again. We haven't seen that beast anyway."
At that moment, an elderly cultivator from the Gold Word Workshop with a sparse head of hair and goatee spoke indifferently.
Seeing this, the other cultivators shook their heads, unbothered, continuing their discussion and observation of the corpse on the ground.
Chen Dengming immediately put on a smile, clasping his fist. "No need. Since there's danger here, I'd better not fish. I should change my profession."
As he was about to leave, he felt encircled by a surge of spiritual might, causing his heart to jolt and his eyebrows to furrow slightly.
"The Gold Word Workshop assigned you a task, and you think you can fish if you want to and change professions if you don't feel like it?"
The sparse-haired elder glared at Chen Dengming with sharp eyes. Not wanting to lose face in front of the cultivator from Hutong Street, he prevented Chen Dengming from leaving.
Seeing this, the nearby cultivators glanced at Dengming and went back to their chats, appearing quite indifferent.
"Immortal Master!"
Chen Dengming grinned, ready to decline again. However, the elder snorted coldly, his gaze turning dangerous and his spiritual might increasing.
A tree may want peace, yet the wind does not cease.
"This old guy..."
Chen Dengming was inwardly furious, but he lowered his head to prevent the elder from noticing.
The Blood Centipede Gu in his ears became slightly agitated, emanating a murderous aura.
"Junior, of course, should follow through!"
Chen Dengming suddenly took a deep breath, dropped his gaze, picked up his fishing gear, and headed towards the lakeshore opposite the elder and his companions.
He kept reminding himself in his heart.
A man can yield and stand tall when necessary. With the odds stacked against him, now is not the time. If he finds himself alone, he'll let out all his pent-up frustrations and will not suppress them any longer.
But it seemed the Blood Centipede Gu would not listen. Communicating telepathically with it, he sensed its agitation and a bloodthirsty desire that kept growing. This made him urge to slay a cultivator and trample their arrogant faces underfoot.
"Wuer, wait a bit longer... if I don't have to act, I won't, but when I do, it'll be a fatal blow..."
Sensing the spiritual might of several people behind him, Chen Dengming managed to calm down the Blood Centipede Gu as much as possible. An impulsive rage without ability is helpless rage; only a calm, calculated strike can overpower the strong with weakness. He rapidly speculated about the elder's intentions.
Could it be that they want to use him as bait to lure the so-called murderous demonic beast?
If that's the case, what advantageous factors can he quickly exploit?...
...