It was dawn.
There was fog surrounding the Green Peak and the spiritual land. Fang Yuan looked at the cliff with anticipation.
A white figure approached the beach, stretched out its claws and seemed as though it was rummaging through something.
"Squawk!"
Above the cliff, numerous Red-eyed White Birds were flapping their wings and pecking around, not aware of the situation on the beach.
In a short while, the white figure retreated and returned to the fog.
"Haha… Flower Fox Ferret, good job!"
The white figure was indeed the Flower Fox Ferret.
Fang Yuan was unwilling to return empty-handed, and so instructed the Flower Fox Ferret to steal some spiritual fertilizer, as what it did previously.
After all, the size, colour, and speed of the Flower Fox Ferret allowed it to escape even if it was spotted, and was the perfect candidate for the job.
And after having Fang Yuan as a buddy, it became much more efficient.
Fang Yuan retrieved the fully-filled cloth bag from the Flower Fox Ferret's neck and smiled, "Good, one more time, and we can settle the entire season's supply of Vermillion Jade Rice and spiritual tea!"
"Keke!"
The Flower Fox Ferret raised its paws, as though it was bargaining.
"All right, I'll keep your portion of the spiritual tea!"
Fang Yuan could not help but feel embarrassed, as he felt that the Flower Fox Ferret had become much wiser and knew how to bargain! It needs to be controlled!
"Go!"
With a flick of its tail, the Flower Fox Ferret went on its way to steal more spiritual fertilizer.
As long as Fang Yuan acceded to his request, nothing else matters.
"This spiritual land… What a pity I cannot own it yet, what a pity…"
Fang Yuan gazed at the Green Peak, in his eyes a tinge of regret.
He knew that although there might be treasures within this spiritual land, the Red-eye White Birds were the owners of this spiritual land and with their existence, he could never develop in the spiritual land.
Therefore, his short-term goal could only be to enter the mountains and to retrieve the spiritual fertilizer.
"The only issue with this spiritual fertilizer is…"
Fang Yuan looked up to the cliff and saw white spots falling down. His expression changed, "Oh sh*t... The Flower Fox Ferret and I are actually collecting faeces!"
That's right!
The white beach beneath the cliff was the place where the flock of Red-eyed White Birds went to defecate.
Those incredible, effective spiritual plant fertilizers, were, in fact, bird's droppings!
It was a speechless discovery for Fang Yuan.
Regardless, such a job with so much potential had to go on.
"Anyway, bird's droppings are a natural fertilizer, and since these are the droppings of the half-spiritual, or maybe even spiritual birds, then it is only natural that their droppings have such wonderful effects…"
Fang Yuan was used to manual labour since young and therefore didn't mind. After clearing his thoughts, he started to account for his loot.
From the Flower Fox Ferret's many trips to and fro, and thanks to the distracted Red-eyed White Birds, Fang Yuan obtained a huge amount of 'spiritual fertilizer', enough for him to harvest and sow another batch of Vermillion Jade Rice, and pluck another batch of spiritual tea.
He also took the opportunity and captured a few lone Red-eyed White Birds and ate them for a few meals, as a form of revenge for previously making a fool out of them.
The truth was that Fang Yuan wanted to take advantage of the spiritual effect of the bird meat, and together with the Flower Fox Ferret, they hunted a few Red-eyed White Birds.
Slowly, the birds learnt their lesson and rarely loitered outside the cliff. If they did, they would do it in packs, and the king bird would patrol around the area, which forced Fang Yuan to stop hunting.
In fact, when Fang Yuan first saw the king bird, who was gigantic and had a wingspan over a few meters, he was shocked.
It was definitely a spiritual bird!
Even a few of the bird leaders had the spiritual level of the king bird!
After this observation, Fang Yuan gave up hope on trying to claim the Green Peak for his own.
"Keke!"
The Flower Fox Ferret rushed back with another cloth bag full of spiritual fertilizer, and their mission was a success.
This was normal, as the swarm of Red-eyed White Birds had the intellect of an average human and therefore would not pay too much attention to their own faeces.
"It's time to leave!"
Carrying a full basket of spiritual fertilizer, Fang Yuan walked out of the fog, looked back at it, and recalled a sentence from his dream world, "I will be back!"
At this moment, Fang Yuan was not alone.
…
"Red-eyed White Birds, wait and see. One day, I will transform this whole spiritual land into my spiritual farm…"
To a person who loved farming, seeing such a good piece of land go to waste was an unforgivable mistake.
Even though he went back with their baskets full, his grudge against the birds remained.
Fang Yuan brought home a grudge and even more harvest.
The journey back was much smoother than the journey to the spiritual land. When he could finally see the secluded valley, Fang Yuan had already imagined how it would be like to have a bountiful harvest of spiritual rice and tea.
But as he approached the entrance of the valley, his expression changed, "Someone's here!"
Around the valley was a mess, with blood stains everywhere. It was evident that someone came by.
"From the marks, the person did not stay for long!"
Fang Yuan felt the blood on the leaves, looked into the valley, placed his basket down and walked into the secluded valley.
"Come out!"
The Flower Fox Ferret sniffed the ground and pounced.
Fang Yuan stood at the entrance and calmly requested.
A moment passed but there was no movement.
Fang Yuan frowned and waved his hand. The Flower Fox Ferret jumped in and popped his head out as though it was surprised.
"Hmm?"
Fang Yuan stepped in and saw someone lying on the ground. He was pale, and there was blood on his chest. He felt very familiar.
"Zhou Wenwu from the Zhou Family? How did he end up in this state?"
He felt for Zhou Wenwu's pulse. "It's a serious injury, but even though he's passed out, his life is not in danger… Why would this small jerk have the guts to come to my place and give me more trouble?"
Fang Yuan became speechless and came to the entrance.
Previously, the Flower Fox Ferret warned him of a stranger nearby.
"Who is it?"
He walked out of the house and saw a man in black attire. He looked sinister and was around 30 to 40 years old.
"Eh? You noticed me?"
The middle-aged man was surprised, but sounded boastful, "I am Spirit Returning Sect's Elder Song's disciple, Song San, and I am under orders to kill the bastard from the Zhou Family, and if you do know…"
"Oh! That bastard is in the house, bring him away!"
Fang Yuan nodded his head calmly, and caught Song San by surprise, making him forget what he wanted to say.
This type of 'I-have-yet-to-threaten-you-but-you-have-already-cooperated' kind of feeling was a confusing one.
This person was not the average person!
Song Zhong was confused, and witnessed Zhou Wenwu being thrown out like rubbish, "I only have a simple doctor-patient relationship with this man, so take him away!"
The Zhou Family meant nothing to Fang Yuan.
He saved Old Zhou and had gotten the martial arts manual from him, and even protected Zhou Wenxin for a little while. That was already beyond what he would normally do.
It was illogical to defend Old Zhou's son and put his own life at risk.
"He's really Zhou Wenwu!"
Song San took a step forward, recognised him and seemed satisfied. He turned around, look at Fang Yuan and asked, "You're the doctor here?"
"I only know the basics of healing…"
Fang Yuan nodded his head.
"So you were the one that treated Old Zhou's poison?"
"Poison?!"
Fang Yuan grew suspicious.
He knew that Old Zhou had contracted the Drunk Lover Poison, and Old Zhou himself had realised too, but how would this man know?
Unless he was the one that poisoned Old Zhou!
"What poison? I'm not sure!"
Fang Yuan remained resolute on his stand.
'Know your limits, and know when to take a step back!'
Seeing Fang Yuan, Song San knew that if the other disciples were sent here instead, they would let him off and make friends with him.
There were not many people who dared to play along.
He was unlucky to have met Song San because he was reprimanded by his master not long ago.
Song San remained serious, and with a smirk, "Zhou Wenwu chose to look for you at his wits ends, so you must be Zhou Family's ally!"
Fang Yuan became much more serious.
"I do not want to stir trouble…"
Fang Yuan sighed, "Why do some people seem so eager to find death?"
"Whoosh!"
He became a black flash and rushed forward, his entire body pitch black, as though he was wearing a layer of iron clothing.
"Eagle Claw Iron Skin Technique?!"
Song San heard of this famous technique before and even saw Yu Qiuleng used it.
Seeing his opponents skill, it seemed like he was at [Martial Artist (3rd Gate)] or [Martial Artist (4th Gate)]. How would he be of any match to Fang Yuan of [Martial Artist (5th Gate)]?
"You deserve to die!"
Song San smirked, with his right hand clenched into a fist, focused his strength and prepared to strike.
But at this moment, Fang Yuan smiled, "You fool, you've been tricked!"
In mid-air, his technique changed, as his claws transformed to a palm, with a black circle in the middle. It struck down with extreme power, as though it was a large hammer smashing down.
[Black Sand Palm (Grade 5)]!
"You…"
Song San flustered and flew into mid-air, spitting out blood.
"It's you!"
He laid on the floor, with blood oozing from his lips, regretful.
It was as if that he realised at that moment, that this harmless young man was Song Yujie's murderer, but he could no longer bring this piece of news out.