Star Sky Professional

"Ding District number 57, is this the place?"

At the foot of the mountain, in the shanty area.

Fang Xing arrived and saw a row of shacks scattered along the edge of the Red Leaf Forest.

Not far away, there was also a clear stream babbling past.

These shanties were all made of wood, with doorplates nailed above their doors.

He found his own home, only to discover it was locked, so he promptly took out a brass key to unlock the chains.

A 'creak' sounded as the door opened, and a waft of dust mixed with a musty smell assailed his nostrils.

"The environment's not so great, but at least it's private..."

Fang Xing put on a mask and started to clean.

Half an hour later, he finished cleaning the room and went out with a basket full of trash.

The neighbor's door opened, just as someone was coming out.

"Eh? Is that you?"

A voice of surprise came through.

Fang Xing turned his head and saw a beautiful young woman in the prime of her life, looking at him in astonishment.

"Are you... the youngest of the Five Righteous of Qing Mountain, Yuxin?"

He recognized her in an instant—it was that couple's wife. He couldn't help but inwardly sigh at the twist of fate.

"It is indeed I, fellow Daoist. Do you live next door?"

The thought of her eldest brother's evaluation of Fang Xing made her feel quite peculiar.

"I just moved in today. From now on, we're all neighbors; let's take care of each other if anything comes up..."

Fang Xing smiled, only to see a small head poking out from behind Yuxin, looking rather cute with his tiger-like spirit: "Is this your son?"

"Indeed, Zijin, come and greet your uncle."

Yuxin pulled the boy forward, her face showing a hint of pride.

"Uncle..."

Meng Zijin called out.

"Good boy, someday your uncle will buy you some candy..."

Fang Xing smiled, but in his heart, he was thinking: 'Am I that old? Calling me uncle? Brother would be more like it...'

After exchanging a few polite words with Yuxin, he returned to his own house, closed the door, and made his way to the kitchen.

"Cooking with firewood, this could be nice..."

After lifting the lid of the pot, he saw a full pot of Spirit Rice giving off an alluring fragrance.

Fang Xing thought for a moment and decided not to start eating right away. Instead, he cut another strip of beef.

This beef was bought from the market and came from a Demon Beast. It was robust and sturdy with snowflake-like marbling, clearly top-notch meat.

"Having rice without a dish, wouldn't that be a waste?"

Fang Xing took out a bottle, inside was barbecue seasoning from the Blue Star Federation.

He chopped the beef into small pieces, skewered them with redwood roots, and placed them over the fire to roast slowly, occasionally sprinkling some spices on them.

Before long, a sensational fragrance wafted from the kitchen and then drifted over to the neighbors' places.

Next door.

"… Head of the house, today we've become neighbors with that young man we saw."

Yuxin was recounting the day's events to Meng Yi, who had just returned home.

"What?"

Meng Yi's previously good mood vanished in an instant as he felt over his Money Bag at his waist.

The Five Righteous of Qing Mountain had only just managed to bring down a Demon Beast and divided up quite a few Low Grade Spirit Stones from the sale. Had someone set their sights on them?

"Do you think... he came for us?"

Meng Yi's voice dropped lower, unintentionally filled with a touch of murderous intent.

"In my opinion, not likely... just a single piece of his clothing is worth more than all of our worldly possessions..." after some thought, Yuxin shook her head.

"As long as it's not, but if it is, we're not pushovers!"

Meng Yi pondered: "We'd better tell the elder brother about this... Alright, let's have Zijin come out; tonight we'll eat Tiger Demon meat with Spirit Rice. Keep a close eye on these few jin of Spirit Rice, make some Spirit Rice Porridge for Zijin every day. He's already five years old; next year he can officially undergo 'Spirit Testing.' Even if he doesn't have a Spirit Root, we can still lay a good foundation and diligently practice martial arts..."

For the Martial Artists in the square market, who had mostly reached a dead-end in their progression, the thoughts of their descendants were all that occupied their minds.

"Zijin is naturally intelligent, I believe he's bound to have a Spirit Root."

Yuxin offered her husband some comfort before she prepared to cook.

Suddenly, a strange yet delightful barbecue smell drifted over.

"What's this? So fragrant?"

Meng Yi couldn't help but swallow his saliva.

He had eaten a lot of barbecue, but such a fragrant one, he had never smelled before.

And no wonder.

After all, there were only so many chefs in Qinglin Square, and being at the very bottom, they were lucky to add a pinch of salt to their barbecued meat.

How could they compete with the specially prepared barbecue seasonings of the interstellar era?

Just the spices alone included dozens of varieties, an inconceivable luxury in ancient times.

"Could it be that the young brother has ordered meals from the Heavenly Meal Building as well? Those are delicacies made by Spirit Chefs, only Qi Cultivation Late Stage experts can afford to splurge on such a luxury..."

Shen Yuxin was also somewhat puzzled.

"Daddy... I want barbecued meat!"

At that moment, Meng Zijin stuck his head out, "I want to go next door to Uncle Fang's house for barbecue... wuu wuu wuu..."

...

"Ah, as expected, the meat of the Demon Beast is of extremely high quality... Add in the barbecue spices of the interstellar era, and it's simply unbeatable."

Fang Xing picked up a skewer of beef strung on red tree roots, chomped down fiercely, and a look of satisfaction instantly spread across his face, "It tastes even better than the barbecue I had for my birthday... Indeed, ingredients trump all!"

Although the Bull Demon beef was tough, it was just perfect for Fang Xing, a Martial Artist at the Second Realm.

With the beef, he devoured a whole pot of rice, feeling a pure surge of Qi and blood throughout his body.

"Spirit Rice paired with Demon Beast meat, the effect is stronger?"

With a hint of surprise, Fang Xing immediately assumed the 'Great Dragon Stance', slowly absorbing the streams of Qi and blood.

"Really, Demon Beast meat and Martial Artists are a perfect match? The feeling is almost like swallowing an Elixir, but without any trace of toxin..."

"Hm? Why is there crying? Who is spanking their child? Right next door? Is it that Meng Zijin today?"

"Never mind, spanking kids on a rainy day, I'm idle anyway..."

...

The next day.

Fang Xing pushed open his room door, breathed in the fresh air, and couldn't help but nod to himself.

"Training here, the efficiency is even higher than in the temporary camp... Cultivators talk about the influence of Spirit Veins, it is said the Qinglin Square is built on a piece of blessed land, this seems to be true..."

He stretched, ready to perform a set of fist techniques to warm up, when the gate next door also opened, and Meng Yi walked out, "Brother Fang..."

"Brother Meng..."

Fang Xing returned the greeting, but after thinking it over, he decided not to ask about the child.

After all, it was someone else's family matter, and besides, a biologically engineered person seeking a spanking from their parents is tough to find; the kid should know how fortunate he is.

"Yesterday, my wife mentioned that Brother Fang has just moved in, we have nothing much to offer, but here are a few pounds of tiger bones, consider it as a housewarming gift."

Meng Yi brought over a few tiger bones, with the smell of blood still lingering on them, obviously from the Demon Tiger from yesterday.

"Thanks, I'll take these tiger bones, they'll make an excellent wine infusion."

Fang Xing took the tiger bones and chatted with Meng Yi for a while.

Meng Yi then smiled ruefully, "My son can be quite naughty, if he offends you sometime in the future, I hope you won't take it to heart, Brother Fang..."

"Not at all..." Fang Xing thought for a second, then ran back to get a bag of spices: "This is my secret recipe for barbecue spices, please accept this as a return gift."

"Thank you."

Only then did Meng Yi realize that the barbecue from the previous night was made by Fang Xing himself, his praise immediate, "Brother Fang's culinary skills could even make a place for themselves in the market square. My boy made a fuss all night, today he can finally be quiet."

Mentioning his son, he couldn't help but show a hint of pride on his face.

Fang Xing inquired further and found out that in this world, children's Spirit Roots would already be set around six or seven years old, and could be detected by 'Spirit Testing Talisman' and Cultivator spells.

Naturally, Meng Yi and his wife had high hopes for Meng Zijin.

"Alas... I don't wish for the child to catch the attention of the Upper Sect's Spirit Testing Envoy, I just hope he has a Spirit Root, even the lowest grade would suffice." Meng Yi mentioned this and couldn't help but sigh.

The Qingxuan Sect is a large Cultivation sect, which always gathers exceptionally talented children with good Spirit Roots as disciples within its jurisdiction.

Those Martial Artists, who could be powerful and prosperous in the secular world, were instead willing to bash their heads bloody against the world of Cultivation, and a large part of that was putting their hopes on their descendants.

As long as the offspring have Spirit Roots, and the legacy is passed on from generation to generation, that's a small Immortal Cultivation Family inheritance.

'Spiritual continuation, bloodline continuation... If one cannot achieve eternal life, is this what they pursue?'

Hearing this, Fang Xing couldn't help but sigh in his heart.

After all, it was definite he would not be able to enter the Qingxuan Sect.

Not to mention he did not have Spirit Roots, even if he did, the Qingxuan Sect did not favor adult Qi Cultivators unless they were exceptionally talented or possessed some unique skill.

Fang Xing was clear about this; it's really just about not being easy to cultivate loyalty...

"Today, the 'Five Righteous Ones' are going to have a small gathering, would Brother Fang like to join?"

Meng Yi found himself getting along with Fang Xing more and more, so he extended the invitation.

"No, I have other matters today..."

Fang Xing was just about to decline when his expression suddenly changed, and he looked up at the sky.

Chirp chirp!

The sound of birds tweeting came, followed by the sight of a giant black bird, with feathers spread over five to six meters wide, its eyes blood-red, riding the wild winds, breaking into Qinglin Mountain's territory.

"A Demon Bird!"

Meng Yi looked up, saw this scene, and his face also changed dramatically, "Yuxin, quickly take Zijin and hide in the Square, where the great protection array can keep you safe."

"What about you, my husband?"

Shen Yuxin came out holding Meng Zijin, looking anxiously at her own husband.

"I'm going to take a look..."

Meng Yi looked towards the direction of the Demon Bird, his expression carrying a hint of excitement.

'These people here, don't they take human life seriously at all?'

Fang Xing watched Meng Yi's retreating back with a flood of silent complaints: 'Is he going to fight the Demon Bird? It's clearly just to take advantage of the chaos... Although this Square seems safe, it's only good for minor troubles, but if there's a major commotion, the more central the location in the Square, the more dangerous it is!'

'I might raise my martial arts training efficiency living here, but absolutely no sense of safety, I should make a few more trips to the black market, and once I have enough money, I'll buy a Laser Gun...'