Chapter 36: First Arrival in a Blessed Land

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Listening to Liu Yunxi’s explanation, Feng Xue was sorely tempted to complain, “What is this nonsense about water and fire herbs generating and countering one another?” But compared with that, he had a more urgent question to ask.

“So, by your reasoning, if a spirit ghost absorbs vitality, won’t it turn into a fierce ghost as well?”

“That’s not how it works!” Liu Yunxi immediately denied it, then began to explain. “A ghost becomes corrupted by absorbing the vital essence of a living person because it is forcibly seizing it. When a living person loses their vital essence, their lifespan is shortened. That essence naturally becomes tainted with resentment and evil karma. Once a ghost consumes it, being affected is almost unavoidable.

“It’s like how the soul of a good person, if worshiped by certain evil cults through blood sacrifices, might gradually fall and become an evil god. As for those vicious ghosts that deliberately harm others in order to remain in this world, the consequences are even more obvious.

“As for spirit ghosts, Fox Immortal Granny never mentioned the matter. But the vitality you extract is given willingly, and carries neither resentment nor evil karma. If a spirit ghost absorbs it, at most it will incur a little karma; it won’t become corrupted. After all, don’t arcane cultivators also use their souls to absorb vitality? You’ve never seen them become demons just for that, have you? Of course, I’ve heard that some arcane cultivators seize other people’s vitality to accelerate their cultivation. Even if they’re still human, practicing that way for long enough will eventually corrupt them.”

“That’s good, then.”

Feng Xue nodded and finally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he did not raise a spirit ghost into something twisted, that was all that mattered. As for demonic cultivation, he was not concerned. His pitifully weak soul could not even consume all the vitality it produced itself, so there was no need to covet anyone else’s.

As the sky grew steadily darker, Feng Xue’s drowsiness returned. He chatted idly with Liu Yunxi about this and that, then drifted into sleep once more.

…

“Yaaawn…”

Accompanied by a huge yawn, Feng Xue slowly awoke beneath the morning light filtering through the tent. He crawled out of his sleeping bag, swiftly straightened his clothes, and opened the tent.

Perhaps because it was the agricultural slack season, the villagers did not rise particularly early. Feng Xue paid it no mind. He packed away the tent and placed it back in his Grotto-Heaven Bag, then prepared to continue on his way.

Since he could keep the cultivation exploit known as the Spirit Attachment Spell active, Feng Xue no longer practiced while traveling. With his attention focused on riding, he overturned his bicycle far less often. By noon, a county town considerably larger than Ping’an County had already appeared in his view.

“We’ve finally arrived!”

Before Feng Xue could say anything, the little white snake spoke first. Speechless, Feng Xue tapped the bicycle bell, and Liu Yunxi immediately said, “I have to cultivate too! You want a bicycle that moves without you pedaling, don’t you? Hurry up and enter the city so we can rent a place and cultivate properly! Oh, and what should we eat for lunch? My cooking skills have gotten rusty since I learned them. We need to buy some ingredients and let me practice!”

“…”

Faced with Liu Yunxi’s uncharacteristic enthusiasm, Feng Xue felt a strange mixture of emotions. Still, he did intend to find a stable place where he could cultivate in peace. He pressed down hard on the pedals twice, accelerating toward the gate tower bearing the words “Deer County.”

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Compared with the bustle of Harbor City, Deer County was far more tranquil. Though it was not as peaceful and serene as Ping’an County, at least there were no ragged beggars crouching along the streets.

The main road leading into the city was broad, with vendors calling out their wares from stalls on either side. Feng Xue casually chose an establishment called the Cauldron Wind House, rented a private room, and ordered four dishes and a soup costing forty copper coins.

Only after the traditionally dressed waiter announced that all the dishes had arrived did Feng Xue suddenly call him back.

“Waiter, let me ask you something!”

“Honored guest… please, ask whatever you wish!” The waiter had looked troubled when he turned around, but the moment he saw the few copper coins Feng Xue placed on the table, his eyes lit up and his manner became noticeably more respectful.

“It’s nothing difficult. I just want to know where the brokers’ guild is in Deer County. Which God of Wealth do people here worship? And where are the rice shops and money houses?”

Feng Xue’s question was half a coded inquiry. In ancient times, many places had strange arrangements between trades. Cloth shops were often connected with gambling dens; if one wanted to borrow money, one had to find a temple; and if one wanted to seek out a medium or a Taoist priest, one would ask at a rice shop.

As for asking which God of Wealth was worshiped, that naturally meant asking who one had to offer tribute to in order to do business locally—in other words, which side, lawful or criminal, held the real power.

He had not used this method in Ping’an County because he had assumed that another world might not follow the same customs. But once he learned that mediums in this world also had to be sought through rice shops, he knew the old method remained useful here.

Of course, such questions did not always produce an answer. The person asked might simply know nothing about these conventions. But the waiter at a large establishment was certain to understand them. If even he did not, that would instead mean the local atmosphere was exceptionally clean and peaceful.

Clearly, this waiter understood exactly what Feng Xue meant. His eyes shifted, and he immediately replied, “Here in Deer County, we worship the Orthodox God of Wealth. The brokers’ guild is straight ahead along East Street. There are five rice shops, selling glutinous rice, polished rice, and sorghum rice. There’s a century-old establishment north of this restaurant; just walk another hundred paces or so. As for the money houses… that depends on what you trust. If you believe the foreigners are reliable, there’s a foreign temple in the south of the city. But if you prefer an old-established institution, you’ll have to go outside the city to Heavenly Fortune Temple at Bright Chrysanthemum Pool.”

“A place where all sorts of people mingle… Still, at least there’s no gang,” Feng Xue said with a nod. He pushed the copper coins forward, and after thanking him profusely, the waiter took his tip and left the private room.

The fact that they worshiped the Orthodox God of Wealth meant that the local authorities were stable, leaving little room for criminal forces. Anyone wishing to do business could simply follow the legitimate channels.

Feng Xue did not know exactly what trades the local references to sorghum rice, glutinous rice, and polished rice represented, but the existence of five rice shops at least suggested that there were many arcane cultivators in the area.

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As for the foreign temple and Heavenly Fortune Temple, they were probably the two major centers of faith in the region. Places such as charity mortuaries, however, were not things one could ask about in a restaurant. If he needed to find one later, he could inquire at the brokers’ guild or a rice shop.

Having made his plans, Feng Xue picked up his chopsticks, only to feel his fingers tremble slightly.

Seeing Liu Yunxi looking as though she wanted to eat but was too embarrassed to say so, Feng Xue smiled faintly. Even if he risked triggering Stockholm syndrome, he could still indulge her once in a while. He was hardly so stingy as to refuse her a meal in a place like this.

“I think you look human.”

“Bang!”

“…”

When the smoke cleared, Liu Yunxi stood across from Feng Xue, looking somewhat awkward. Feng Xue merely waved his hand and pointed at the steaming dishes.

“All right, hurry up and eat before everything gets cold!”

“Mm!”

With Feng Xue’s permission, Liu Yunxi immediately nodded vigorously. There was only one set of bowls and chopsticks on the table, but she paid that no heed. She stretched out a hand, and two delicate strips from the lace on her sleeve extended outward and solidified into rigid rods. They began darting back and forth over the table.

She was surprisingly considerate. Though she ate extremely quickly, she touched only the half of the table in front of her and did not interfere with Feng Xue’s movements at all.

Watching the natal magical treasure change so freely, Feng Xue could not help feeling envious. In the end, he still asked, “How did you refine your natal magical treasure? Can humans learn to do it?”

At Feng Xue’s question, Liu Yunxi paused. Then, somewhat surprised, she said, “Haven’t you already started refining one?”