After seeing off the absolutely thrilled Jin Sidao and the Taixu Sect Mahayana elite who kept sighing, Jiang He headed straight into his farm and resumed his plan to farm overnight!
“Spirit stones, paper talismans…”
“There are just four of the latter and I would finish planting them soon… but I would have to plant these spirit stones for at least two days without sleep!”
“And in two days…”
Jiang He glanced at the demi-immortal Clear Sky Mirror and the combat garment that were now blooming and nodded in satisfaction, smiling. “In two days, the Clear Sky Mirror would become an immortal item. Add that to the demi-saint combat garment and I’ll be a lot more confident in dealing with the Green Hill Foxes.”
On the other hand, Jiang He frowned when he looked at the weirdly-shaped tree that had grown from the Epiphany Pellets.
What was with that tree?
It had been growing for dozens of hours but was still only around a meter tall.
And Jiang He was hoping that there were a few trees worth of Epiphany Pellets to munch on as snacks.
“Well, the longer the growth cycle, the higher the value…”
“Could this tree be more valuable than the Clear Sky Mirror?”
Jiang He complained a little, but soon stopped thinking about it began to dig holes and plant the spirit stones… of course, Dumbo would not allow Jiang He to do a tough job like digging holes by himself.
Standing on its rear legs, its paws glinted with earthen-yellow light as it rapidly conjured hole after hole. “Take a break, Master,” it said with a smile then. “I’ll help you with such wild work.”
Hence, Jiang He took out a stool and sat down beside the Epiphany Pellet tree, along with his grill rack, condiments, coal, and various Feral meat.
“It has been so long since I grilled anything.”
“Since I have the time, I could cook a little supper… Hold on!”
Jiang He, who was fiddling with the meat, suddenly did a double take and exclaimed in surprise, “Didn’t I forget something?”
Feral meat?
Ferals?
Damn it!
Where were the two little daemons the Foxes of Mount Changbai supposed to have loaned him?
There were two very adorable small vixens… but since Jiang He was preoccupied with talking to Jin Sidao and the others about the Green Hill Foxes, just as he left in a hurry, he forgot about those two critters entirely.
“Hmmm…”
“I’m afraid it would be a little inappropriate if I had to turn back to borrow it from the Foxes of Mount Changbai, especially after they sealed their own mountain. I should borrow two critters from the Green Hill Foxes when I visit them in the next two days.”
As for whether the Green Hill Foxes were willing to lend them to him?
That was not a question to consider.
Because it was not up to them to decide.
***
Meanwhile, after leaving Jiang He’s house, Jin Sidao did not return to the Ten Thousand Swords Sect right away, but instead made a beeline for the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s mystic ship.
The second floor above deck was the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s atelier.
He was still crafting Nine Retribution Talismans, but upon sensing Jin Sidao’s presence, he went to him in a flash, bowing and asking, “Ancestral Master, you’re here?”
When it comes to rank, Jin Sidao was a fellow disciple of the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s grand-master.
However, the Thunder Talisman Daoist had never met his ancestral master.
Word was that he had been struck down by one of the thunderbolts of retribution in his Sufferance, a few years before the Thunder Talisman Daoist joined the Ten Thousand Swords Sect himself.
“I had some business with Jiang He, so I came by to visit you as well.”
Jin Sidao appeared to be in a great mood, and he asked about the Thunder Talisman Daoist’s progress with crafting the talismans, instructing, “You must do your best to craft those talismans for Jiang He. By the way, do you have enough spirit stones for your arrays and the talismans?”
The Thunder Talisman Daoist replied, “It’s barely enough. With the gradual return of Spirit Qi, the energy absorbed from the world is enough to lay an array.”
“How could you do that?”
Jin Sidao said seriously, “One must not commit even the tiniest of error when crafting the Nine Retribution Talisman. If something happened and the power of the thunderbolts of retribution erupted, there would not be a single piece of you left. Here, I’ll be giving you these three thousand mediocre-grade spirit stones and three hundred superior-grade spirit stones—use them for now, and I’ll bring you more if these are not enough.”
That naturally left the Thunder Talisman Daoist dumbstruck.
Being another leader of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, he had a rough idea of the number of spirits his sect had. After Jiang He robbed… to be precise, after they paid Jiang He in compensation, they would not even manage 2,000 mediocre-grade spirit stones. So where did those 3,000 spirit stones come from?
An idea occurred to the Thunder Talisman Daoist then.
“Ancestral Master… did you resort to banditry?”
Jin Sidao could not help laughing out loud and said, “Why rob? Earning spirit stones is as easy as eating drinking for me. We, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect are the richest cultivators, bar Jiang He—merely 3,000 spirit stones is not even worth mentioning.”
After leaving the Thunder Talisman Daoist with three thousand mediocre-grade spirit stones and three hundred superior-grade spirit stones, as well as the words ‘focus on crafting talismans’ and ‘you must listen to Jiang He’, Jin Sidao left in a hurry.
He still had to return the spirit stones he borrowed…
It was only after Jin Sidao left that the Thunder Talisman Daoist came to his senses and muttered to himself, “The richest among cultivators?”
“We, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect, are famous for being poor… how did we become the richest? Could the ancestral master have suffered a traumatic stress and become possessed?”
Nonetheless, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect stop bothering himself about all that.
The Thunder Talisman Daoist felt his spirit soar. With scores of spirit stones to set up arrays and recharge his mystic energy, he could craft Nine Retribution Talismans several times quicker now. Crafting a dozen of those in two days would not be a problem, and he could even try crafting a stronger Nine Retribution Talisman.
***
Meanwhile, in the divinely beautiful Secret Realm of the Green Hill Foxes…
Unlike the dull, deathly microworlds of the other immortal sects, the Secret Realm of the Green Hill Foxes was filled with life!
While the disciples of other immortal sects and demonic sects were celibate, fox pups could be seen playing everywhere in the Secret Realm of the Green Hill Foxes.
After all, there was no helping it…
It was extremely difficult for powerful cultivators to procreate. Like the late Zhong Wanshan and his wife, they had only managed to have Zhong Yue in their three-hundred years marriage.
On the other hand, the Daemon Foxes’ procreating ability was more than ten times that of cultivators.
Most importantly…
They were very fruitful!
Three to five in one brood was the norm, though a brood of up to eight was not rare.
And up in the skies above the Secret Realm, there was a massive white cloud that hovered all year-long.
Nine grand floating temples were built on top of it.
At the moment, a dozen of Daemon Foxes ranging from seven to nine retributions, as well as seven Mahayana Daemon Foxes, were sitting together.
The Daemon Fox who had suffered two strikes from Jiang He was among them too.
It was feeling miserable after being struck by Jiang He’s sword, and its aura appeared to be wilting. Now, even as it refined the Sword Will in itself, it growled, “Everyone, that Jiang He human… must die!”
“In the endless years that we, Green Hill Foxes, have stood tall, have we ever been humiliated like this?”
“Even so… Jiang He is not so easily killed.”
One Daemon Fox said hesitantly then, “And should we fail, his ability would grow enough in less than a hundred years to fight as equals against us Green Hill Foxes!”
“That’s right.”
Another Daemon Fox added, “I was there to see it when Jiang He massacred the Penglai Sect. He wields an immortal weapon and commands incredible combat power. Not only could he cut down the White Brows Daoist directly, but he also has a divine technique that could cause a terrible explosion…”
“We need at least three Mahayana and Nine Sufferance, laying out arrays and invoking the immortal items, to ensure that we Green Hill Foxes could kill him without suffering casualties of our own… even so, our immortal item exists in tandem with our Holy Grounds, and it consumes an astonishing toll each time we use it.”
“However, if Jiang He comes down our front door, we would stand the highest chance to rid ourselves of him with the smallest cost.”
There was silence inside the temple then.
One Daemon Fox laughed bitterly then. “That Jiang He is no fool. He is a friend of the Taixu Sect and would naturally how powerful we are. Would he put himself in harm’s way to come to our Holy Grounds?”
The Daemon Fox who fought Jiang He turned to look at the other fox then and said, “Perhaps he would come to us as a guest if we invite him politely.”
“Given how young and accomplished he is, he would surely be arrogant, reckless, and thinking nothing of others. That could be seen by how he dealt with the Penglai Sect and the Foxes of Mount Changbai.”
“He acted hostilely against me, even demanding that we, the Green Hill Foxes, make amends… As such, if we invite him here openly and he comes, we shall invoke our immortal items to put him down. If he doesn’t, I will spread word that he fears us, and have him lose all dignity!”
“Even so…”
One of the Daemon Fox asked then, “Is his move of blowing up Penglai Island a manifestation of his divinity? Would our Holy Grounds be in danger if we invite him here?”
“Hah!”
Another Daemon Fox laughed lightly in disdain. “When that happens, we’ll invoke our ancestor’s body to utterly unleash the power of our immortal item. He would not be able to use that move at all.”
“Very well!”
“Tomorrow, I shall go to the mortal realm and invite Jiang He to our Holy Ground!”
That young Daemon Fox sneered coolly, a ruthless look flashing through its eyes then.
***
Meanwhile, Jiang He had just harvested the first batch of spirit stones…
There was no helping it.
He had too many spirit stones to plant in one go. After harvesting the first batch, he would have to chop down the trees and keep planting.
Meanwhile, the four Nine Retribution Talismans were ripe too.
However, when Jiang He plucked the Nine Retribution Talisman, which had the power of a seven-retribution heavenly thunderbolt, he saw that it had ‘Violet Sky Thunder Talisman’ written over it.
