You Cultivate, I Farm

"Friend, please wait!"

Lu Xuan called out to three cultivators standing tens of feet away.

After resolving the possession of his corporeal body, he had been heading towards the outskirts of the realm, distancing himself from its core.

Luck was on his side as he managed to collect a few spirit plants along the way and even took down a recklessly aggressive third-grade demon beast.

However, he was clueless about how to exit the realm. It wasn't until nearly half an hour later that he stumbled upon the figures of these three cultivators.

Upon hearing Lu Xuan's call, the three cultivators turned, their artifacts swirling with spiritual power, eyes vigilant.

Approaching them at a distance of about twenty feet, Lu Xuan observed: two men were at the sixth level of Qi cultivation, while one was at the fifth. They seemed weathered, indicating they had spent considerable time within the realm.

"Friends, rest assured, I mean no harm. In fact, I seek your assistance," Lu Xuan said, his tone friendly and open, palms open in a peaceful gesture.

"Please, speak," the leading cultivator, wielding a dark flying sword, responded.

"I am but a common spirit plant cultivator from the Lin Yangfang Market. I was invited to gather some challenging spirit plants here," Lu Xuan began. "Unexpectedly, we encountered malevolent forces en route. Fellow cultivators were continuously slain by these forces. I barely escaped with my life."

"However, this is my first time entering this newly opened realm. I'm clueless about its interior. After escaping, I don't know how to leave this realm. Could you, friends, assist me in leaving? I will express my gratitude with spirit stones."

The three cultivators scanned Lu Xuan, their spiritual senses revealing he was at the fourth level of Qi cultivation. A silent exchange of understanding occurred among them, a tacit understanding built over years.

"Friend, surviving such tribulations indicates a blessing awaits. We were just planning to depart from the realm. You can accompany us," warmly offered the leading middle-aged cultivator.

Lu Xuan expressed his gratitude and followed behind the trio.

"Friend Lu seems to be injured. Is it severe?" queried the middle-aged cultivator as they walked.

Lu Xuan, appearing pale and fatigued, explained, "Thank you for your concern. To evade pursuit by malevolent forces, I resorted to a technique that required burning my essence and blood. It resulted in my current state, but I'll recover soon after taking a Blood Essence Pill."

Understanding his situation, the middle-aged cultivator offered a healing elixir, which Lu Xuan politely declined, maintaining a safe distance out of caution.

This created a minor rift, the cultivators feeling slightly disheartened by Lu Xuan's wariness. Yet, they understood the need for caution in the perilous realm.

"Shall I come closer?" Lu Xuan tentatively inched towards them.

...

"I told you to keep a safe distance, didn't I? But no, you insisted otherwise."

"The distance was for your protection, not mine!"

On the ground lay three small heaps of black ashes, remnants of the recent skirmish. In the center of the triangle, Lu Xuan placed a ward against evil spirits. Pure spiritual light diffused, causing no disturbance.

Lu Xuan relaxed, eyeing the three storage bags in his possession.

Moments ago, the trio had attempted to deceive him, but he was well-prepared. Easily overcoming them, he reduced them to ash, claiming their storage bags.

"Surviving such danger does bring fortune. Looks like luck is on my side," Lu Xuan grinned, probing the bags with his spiritual energy.

"Ha, three paupers!"

The contents were meager—a hundred odd spirit stones, a few talismans, and materials from demonic beasts and spirit plants, collectively far less valuable than Li Jianfeng's bag.

...

In the core area of the realm stood a massive palace.

Over a dozen cultivators relentlessly assaulted the seals outside the palace, which seemed on the brink of collapse.

Among them, the weakest was at the high-level Qi cultivation, with more than half at the pinnacle of Qi cultivation or even at the early Foundation Establishment stage. Even the head of the Wang family, at Foundation Establishment, joined the fray.

The red-robed girl Lu Xuan had seen before stood in a corner, her shoulder adorned with a Four-eyed Crimson monkey, her gaze fixed afar, her face bearing two blood streaks like tears.

A robed figure had several dark-green little ghosts crawling on them.

Beside them, a young man and woman in white wielded flying swords, attacking the seals.

Breaking through numerous formations, including the Wang family and other forces, they finally shattered the final seal.

This realm was speculated to be a cave left behind by a late Foundation Establishment or even Core Formation cultivator. Hence, the fervor to access its treasures intensified.

As the last seal shattered under their relentless onslaught, flashes of light shot out.

While they scrambled for the treasures within, outside the realm's periphery, Lu Xuan suddenly felt the Qi within his dantian lose control, the Sword Marrow Pearl he had been nurturing seemingly about to burst forth.

"What's happening?" Lu Xuan wondered, facing an unprecedented situation since acquiring the Sword Marrow Pearl.

In that moment, a streak of light shot from the sky toward Lu Xuan. Before he could react, it adhered to his chest—a quaint sword sheath sliding downward.

"No... not there..." Lu Xuan attempted to grab the falling sheath, but it stopped at his dantian automatically.

"What is this?" Lu Xuan grabbed the sheath, about to inspect it closely when, realizing something, his expression changed. Threads from the concealed robe draped around him surfaced, frantically moving.

In an instant, Lu Xuan vanished from the spot.

Immediately, a sharp, wailing sound echoed from a distance. Before the sound could fade, a cloud of blood drifted over.

Within the blood cloud, an almost materialized hostile aura swept over the location where the sheath had disappeared.

"Huh?"

A faint exclamation emerged from the blood cloud as a blood-colored skeleton popped out, peering at the ground.

The skull's hollow eye sockets flickered with pale flames, swaying unpredictably.

"Although I sensed the sheath's presence here, there's no trace of it. Where did it run off to?"

The blood-colored skeleton re-entered the blood cloud and floated northward.

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