Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Mental!”

Jiang He cursed. He walked up to the graves where Dumbo and Trumbo were lying upon and snoring away. Unfortunately, there was no grass growing over the graves.

Casually grabbing a handful of blended qi pellets, Jiang He chewed slowly on them.

The days when he could not farm were such a bore.

“There might be a heritage site on Mount Dadong. Should I go there?”

Jiang He mused to himself for a long time, but eventually gave up on that idea.

Mount Dadong was too dangerous!

One must be practical in doing things!

Though he was confident that he could retreat unscathed from any rank-nine, he was not sure if he could survive a Feral King.

“I’m rank-seven advanced and there’s a lot of room for improvement. If push comes to shove, I could wait until I reach rank-eight or nine.” Jiang He said, leaving his farm while taking out more blended qi pellets.

Truly…

The blended qi pellets were several times better and tastier than the qi pellets. Three million dollars per pill was not expensive to Jiang He either, and he would feel unsettled if he did not eat at least thirty of those pellets per day.

Returning inside his mansion, he took a bath.

Then, Jiang He went back to his bedroom, logged in to Warrior Home, and started browsing.

This time, he set his sights on rank-nine Ferals, since leveling up his farm still required two portions of rank-nine Feral flesh.

In the Western Xia province, most rank-nine Ferals were concentrated on Mount Dadong, but with its Feral King there, Jiang He had to set his sights outside the province. Still, after searching through the forum panel, he did find many posts about rank-nine Ferals.

Shock! The Monster of Lake Qinghai spotted. It’s as massive as an ancient crocodile, and is a suspected rank-nine Feral!

The white-snake I rescued actually evolved into a rank-nine Feral!

13th of September, 2019. Luoyang City was struck by a wave of Ferals. The military and many martial artists bled in battle, before Pei Dongshan, the military’s elite slew the purple-eyed giant ape, a rank-nine Feral and repelled the Feral wave…

The posts about rank-nine Ferals were often tragic, with county cities suffering their attacks which left thousands of deaths in their wake, including martial artists and Awakened…

However, there were many posts that left Jiang He fuming.

For example, the one who posted The white-snake I rescued actually evolved into a rank-nine Feral! even showed off a photo of herself and the snake. The beast was as thick as it was humongous, just as the chick was as beautiful as she was hot.

Was she trying to stage a new gender bent version of the White Snake Legend?

Could she be a lesbian too?

Another post was even more outrageous, claiming that a nephew’s poodle evolved after being mistakenly fed a goldfish from a pool of sacred lotus, becoming a…

Rank-nine poodle?

Whether others would believe it, Jiang He would doubt it regardless.

Most post tend to use adjectives such as ‘alleged’, ‘suspected’, and ‘rumored’, which offered no confirmation regarding rank-nine Ferals. After all, such creatures were extremely intelligent, and tend to live within mountain forests.

And following the Revival of Qi, there was no way normal martial artists could venture into those areas, which makes the obtaining of actual information difficult.

Still, after browsing through the posts for half an hour, Jiang He finally got something.

“The Chongming Island at the Yangtze Delta… the rank-nine Black King Drake?”

As most were aware, Ferals above rank nine were often dubbed as kings, although from the posts, Jiang He generally understood why the creature was named the Black King Drake.

For one, it had brute strength and ruled over a wide span of wildlands, and appeared to command other rank-nines as well as hordes of rank-eights and sevens.

Secondly, the post seemed to have been reuploaded from another site. The real date was May, making it four-months-old, and at the time, the title Feral Kings were still obscure and not commonly used.

“Black King Drake?”

“A powerful rank-nine Feral that rules over other rank-nines…”

“The only drawback here is that it’s too far. The Yangtze Delta is all the way out at Jiangnan…”

“Eh?”

“Auction?”

Suddenly, Jiang He shifted his gaze.

He had seen another post, and the gist seemed to be that several martial arts clans and factions in the martial world with years of history were organizing an auction in Jiangnan City. The items on sale included cultivation manuals, weapons, floral spirits, young Ferals, Feral eggs, and even Oricrocks.

But of course.

With the Revival of Qi and the popularization of martial arts, those items would eventually have become a giant cake of profits, and the smart ones were already on the move.

Incidentally, the auction would be held at Jiangnan.

“The auction date is the first of October? There are still a few days, and I could use the time to cultivate, earn farm points, and improve my abilities. The post did mention that the Black King Drake is one of the strongest rank-nine Ferals in the Hua Nation, so I have to prepare.”

Closing his laptop, Jiang He jumped off his bed.

Sleep?

Heck no!

He was brimming with vigor and not drowsy at all.

“What’s the quickest way to earn Farm Points?”

“That would be blended qi pellets, but I’ve planted all ten pellets that I’ve bought, and the ones grown can’t be replanted as seeds…”

After pondering a lot, Jiang He decided to plant the gold bricks.

Each tree planted would yield a hundred gold ingots, meaning 1000 Farm Points per harvest. If he just planted another five hundred trees, would he not be invincible?

“That’s right, planting gold bricks would be best!

“Otherwise, the Farm Points from gold brakes would be greatly reduced when my farm levels up. Even if there would be an excess of EXP if I plant now, excess are excesses—it wouldn’t matter.”

“I’ll buy some gold tomorrow morning!”

***

Sichuan.

Old Tai’an, beneath the foot of Mount Qingcheng.

Reasonably speaking, a small town like Old Tai’an that was so close to Mount Qingcheng should have been evacuated long ago, what with Ferals flooding mountainous areas following the Revival of Qi. However, the truth was that Tai’an was perfectly peaceful, with countless rich folks wanting to buy a property there at astronomical prices.

After all, there was a lack of Ferals in Mount Qingcheng.

Still, it not as if there were none.

In fact, there were two giant snakes: one white and one cyan, but they never hurt humans.

After all, they were the divine guardians of Mount Qingcheng.

As a matter of fact, Mount Qingcheng was one of Hua Nation’s five holy grounds, sharing the honor with the Tantra of the West, the Martial Arts Hall of Wudang Clan, the Shaolin Temple of Mount Shaoshi, and the Jiang Clan of the Yellow Emperor’s Tomb.

And at the moment, the lights were all on in a rather traditionally-style courtyard house at the center of Old Tai’an.

Plates marked with the words ‘Lin Residence’ were placed on the various entrances.

It was a famous residence in Old Tai’an, as well as various circles of martial artists.

The Lin Clan of Tai’an reigned over Sichuan. Long Mountain Lin, the clan leader was a rank-nine elite who ranked amongst the best rank-nines of the Hua Nation, and an individual who had grasped Sword Will.

And yet, he was now lying sprawled over his bed.

He was utterly unconscious, his face pitch-black and his face extremely weak.

The disciples of the Lin Clan, as well as Long Mountain Lin’s sons, grandsons, and granddaughters were standing by his bed.

All of Long Mountain Li’s progeny were learned in the martial arts, and now, even his youngest grandson was already twenty. Of his six sons, three were martial arts grandmasters, whereas his thirteen daughters and fourteen granddaughters were successful in the military, in commerce or in science and development. In fact, the most outstanding grandson was rank-seven grandmaster.

A middle-aged man entered the room then, and everyone else quickly approached him.

“Eldest Brother!”

“Eldest Uncle!”

“How did it go?”

The middle-aged man’s qi was strong and possessed an abundant aura. His name was Lin Tianzheng, a rank-eight and the chief of the Sichuan Martial Arts Department (MAD).

Nonetheless, he smiled, shaking his head. “It’s all nonsense, something about cucumbers detoxing and eggplants extending lifespan… if we weren’t talking over the phone, I would have slapped him already!”

“Father, there are all sorts of people on the forums. Don’t hold out too much hope for them—after all, grandfather was poisoned by a Six-Eyed Desert Spider, and he had been burning out on his Innate Qi and essence, consuming much of his lifespan.”

Lin Tianzheng’s son said then. “You are a ranked official in the MAD, you should put in a request with them, and if push comes to shove…”

“I’ll appeal for an antidote on Mount Qingcheng!”

Lin Tiangzheng answered, forcing a smile. “Most of the floral spirits and novelties discovered these days are specifically used to help cultivation, qi, and spirit. Treasures that extend lifespan and detoxes had always been rare and the MAD does not have stock. I’ve even asked around at the Superpower Research Department, but it seems that they are helpless against your grandfather’s condition.”

“As for Mount Qingcheng…”

Lin Tianzheng looked up at the mountain then, breathing a long sigh. “Your grandfather always felt that he had betrayed them. Even if they are willing to help, your grandfather might be too ashamed to live even if he was revived.

“That said, the Murong Clan, Long Clan, and Wei Clan had organized an auction over at Jiang Nan, and it seems poised to be a major event. I’m prepared to pay it a visit, and try to get my hands on anything that could help.”

In that very instant.

Boom!

A tremendous rumble broke out in the dark night. Lin Tianzheng and the others all reacted, darting up on the roof and looking up at Mount Qingcheng from afar.

They found a human figure clashing against a gigantic cyan serpent.

Repelling the snake with a single palm, the man shouted thunderously, “So, the Qingcheng Faction is really turning me down?”

“I’ve come with sincerity, but none of you would give me face?”

Laughing coldly, Wang Hou turned to leave, arrogantly declaring, “I’ve learnt martial arts since I was ten, rising to grandmaster even before the Revival of Qi and thereby becoming a part of the government in service of the country. Having gained the legacies of three major heritage sites, cultivating any technique and martial arts is as simple as eating and drinking for me. Now, I’m ascending by a minor boundary each month and a major one every six months, and having reached the Void, it wouldn’t be long. Five years, at most, and I would flatten Mount Qingcheng!”

Back at the Lin Clan.

On the roof, everyone traded glances, with someone muttering, “Eldest brother, that voice… is very familiar.”

Lin Tianzheng appeared surprised, and exclaimed, “Did Minister Wang… fight his way up Mount Qingcheng?”

After all, Clan Li had connections with Mount Qingcheng.

“Isn’t Chief Wang being overbearing?” Someone whispered then. “Would Mount Qingcheng fear him with their long history?”

But even before he finished, he saw a figure stepping into the air and out of Mount Qingcheng, heading straight for the direction where Wang Hou left. “Please wait, Minister Wang, let’s talk about this…”

Ah…

The Lin Clan disciple did a double take.

That was all it took?

Yielding, just like that?