Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 141 Dire Situation
South China Sea, Meteor Island.

Fang Jingxuan, now with a new look, arrived at this place with Tuoyuan, intending to gather some information.

This is one of the few large island markets on the second island chain of the South China Sea archipelago. It is only two or three thousand miles away from Black Toad Island, where Chen Hei Chan is located, so it is considered relatively close.

Last time, Fang Jingxuan felt that he was rather reckless. He only listened to a few words from the other island lords before going to Chen Heichan's door, attempting to kill him.

But the result was a disgraceful end, which is the harm of not planning carefully beforehand.

Looking back on his state of mind at the time, Fang Jingxuan felt that his crushing defeat of the cultivators twice in Baishan had made him arrogant.

Although Fang Jingxuan had lived two lives, he was not a cunning or shrewd character in his previous life, and in this second life, he was still at the bottom of society, spending most of his time at home meditating and cultivating. Therefore, he inevitably lacked experience.

As the saying goes, experience teaches you everything. Having learned his lesson from the last time, Fang Jingxuan naturally became more composed. Therefore, now that his strength has greatly increased, he did not go directly to their door. Instead, he chose to come to this market first to gather some information before making a decision.

The market town on Meteor Island is not large; it is much smaller than Red Leaf Town.

After putting Tuoyuan into his spirit-controlling bag, Fang Jingxuan went alone to the market and casually browsed around a shop.

After exploring for more than half an hour, Fang Jingxuan discovered that the shops here were not large in scale, and the magic artifacts they sold were only of the highest grade one, with the highest grade one being extremely rare.

Moreover, Fang Jingxuan had never heard of most of the merchants. Most of them were named after the Liu family or the Li family, and there were no such names as Datongxing or Lingbaoge here.

No wonder. Fang Jingxuan found a teahouse, ordered a pot of spiritual tea, and asked the waiter to explain the situation. He then gained a better understanding of the place.

The mastermind behind this market is a Foundation Establishment family, but only one person has Foundation Establishment combat power, and that person only advanced in recent years, so their foundation is not high.

For a Foundation Establishment cultivator to open this market, this cultivator must have been incredibly bold.

You must understand that in this outer sea, the market is a fat sheep. Without strong military protection, it's like a child holding gold, easily attracting the plundering of bandits.

If we could break through a market town and plunder freely, the amount of spirit stones we could obtain would probably be in the tens of thousands.

Thinking of the spirit stones, Fang Jingxuan sighed inwardly, realizing that he didn't have many left.

How can I find a way to earn spirit stones?

Or is it that if we kill Chen Hei Chan directly and take over Black Toad Island, we can get rich?
Chen Hei Chan has been roaming this place for so many years, and his accumulated wealth is probably equivalent to ten high-grade spirit stones.

But how can I prevent Chen Heichan from hiding in the protective array again? If he is determined not to come out, what can I do?

Sipping the spiritual tea, Fang Jingxuan fell into deep thought. After the last battle, Chen Heichan must have learned his lesson. Going directly to his doorstep was definitely not the best option.

The safest approach would be to know his whereabouts accurately and ambush him on the way.

Well, just to be on the safe side, it would be best to find one or two more helpers and ask a cultivator skilled in setting up formations to trap him. Then I can fight him myself. With my powerful reserves of magic power, I can wear him down.

As Fang Jingxuan finished the spiritual tea, his plan became more and more complete. Now, when he recalled how foolish he had been to go directly to her door, Fang Jingxuan couldn't help but laugh.

After bidding off a low-grade spirit stone, Fang Jingxuan left the teahouse. He couldn't let the news of his search for help leak out, lest Chen Heichan become suspicious.

He has been operating here for many years and must have planted many spies. As an outsider, I certainly can't win in terms of information channels.

So what other forces could keep track of Chen Hei Chan's every move, and even help him contact allies?
At this moment, an organization flashed into Fang Jingxuan's mind: The Black Hand! "Guest, based on your current token rank, you are unable to issue missions."

Seven hundred nautical miles off Meteor Island, on an island shrouded in thick fog year-round, Fang Jingxuan appeared.

Previously, he found a mark made by the black market in the Meteor Island Market, and after showing his token, someone contacted him.

After confirming that the token was correct, Fang Jingxuan was transported to this place by the spirit boat, where he finally met a manager of the black market.

After Fang Jingxuan expressed his desire to recruit helpers, he was told that his token was not of a high enough rank.

In other words, the people in the black market thought he spent too little. There were only two transactions in total: a Spirit Control Bag for 1,300 yuan and a Breakthrough Pill for 2,500 yuan. In total, it didn't even amount to 5,000 low-grade spirit stones.

"How much spending is required to issue a mission to the Black Hand?"

Black Hand is the assassin organization behind the black market. Rumor has it that they can even kill Golden Core cultivators as long as the price is right.

However, Fang Jingxuan clearly did not have that ability. He only wanted to hire a cultivator who was proficient in formations to help keep Chen Heichan, which would reduce the price considerably.

At this moment, Fang Jingxuan concealed his body in the Ghost Cloak and then used the Breath Concealment Technique to maintain his cultivation level at the level of an ordinary cultivator, the sixth level of Qi Refining.

"It will take at least 10,000 low-grade spirit stones to upgrade the guest's token to a bronze one. A bronze token can then be used to issue corresponding missions to Black Hand. Although these are the lowest-level missions, I guarantee that our bronze token assassins will be absolutely worth the price."

"Minimum ten thousand? That means I still need to spend six thousand two hundred low-grade spirit stones here?"

Fang Jingxuan spoke slowly, cursing inwardly, "This damned black market that only cares about money."

"Yes, I also suggest that guests prepare more spirit stones, since the price for hiring our black-handed methods is quite high."

Fang Jingxuan walked out of the quiet room where they had been talking, his face expressionless. He felt a little defeated.

I feel so strong, so why am I still short of spirit stones?
How many spirit stones are enough?

Fang Jingxuan calculated his current shortage of spirit stones. Upgrading the token required 6,200 spirit stones, and he also needed to set aside some for issuing tasks.

As a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining, dealing with Chen Heichan would certainly cost a fortune.

Based on this calculation, at least 10,000 spirit stones would be barely enough, while 15,000 low-grade spirit stones would be considered a safe bet.

If we consider them as magical artifacts, this is the sum of fourteen or fifteen first-tier, mid-to-high-grade magical artifacts.

Where can I get so many spirit stones?
With such a large sum of spirit stones, it's definitely not feasible to rely on selling talismans and cultivating various spiritual plants; these require long-term management.

However, I currently lack both spiritual space and time.

Only by taking over Black Toad Island can everything get back on track. Before that, without a stable base, any task will be difficult.

So for now, the only option is to go back to my old ways and accumulate start-up capital.

Thinking of this, Fang Jingxuan's eyes flashed with a fierce light.

(End of this chapter)