Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 168 The Current Situation of the Chu Family
Fang Jingxuan stepped slowly onto the scorched earth and entered the old site outside Hongyefang. His shoes crunched softly as they rolled over the mud mixed with charcoal dust.

The once densely packed shantytowns have long been razed to the ground, with only broken bricks and charred wooden beams scattered on the scorched earth.

A faint smell of burning still lingered in the air, like an unhealed scar lying across this land.

He remembered that every morning, the air here would be filled with the sounds of vendors hawking their wares. The rogue cultivators would set up stalls in front of their own makeshift sheds, selling spiritual herbs, magical artifacts, and even some strange and unusual trinkets that they had collected from all over the world.

Now, those scenes full of life have turned to dust, leaving only this reddish-black land, silently telling the story of the past calamities.

Fang Jingxuan followed the path he remembered to the dock area, where all he could see were broken walls and ruins.

The animal enclosures that once housed mythical birds and beasts have long since collapsed, with rotten wooden bars lying crookedly on the ground, and a few faded animal hides still hanging on them.

The walls of the warehouse had mostly collapsed, leaving only a few mottled stone pillars standing alone, as if guarding the former prosperity.

Fang Jingxuan reached out and stroked a stone pillar covered in cracks. His fingertips touched the rough stone surface, and the scene of him and Tuoyuan soliciting customers here involuntarily came to mind.

At that time, Tuoyuan would always obediently lie beside him, its massive body attracting the attention of many passing cultivators.

"Ugh……"

Fang Jingxuan sighed softly, his gaze sweeping over the desolate scene, a touch of sadness welling up in his heart.

But then he suppressed those emotions, knowing that this was not the time to dwell on memories.

The Dan Ding Sect started out by refining pills, so it's common knowledge that the sect must have a stable output of Foundation Establishment Pills.

However, the Dan Ding Sect is now a target of intense scrutiny, with countless eyes watching them and various forces stirring up trouble. Given Fang Jingxuan's current strength, going there rashly would undoubtedly be like a lamb entering a tiger's den.

Therefore, he set his sights on the four Foundation Establishment families: Chu, He, Ning, and Zhang.

The Chu and Ning families are the strongest among these four families. Fang Jingxuan had witnessed the battle between these two families back then, and he felt that with his current strength, he was not yet capable of being that monstrous crocodile in troubled waters.

Although the He family was slightly weaker, they were very wealthy because their main businesses were brewing and refining weapons.

Money can attract experts and buy loyalty, so the He family is not yet facing a life-or-death situation.

Although the Zhang family is the weakest of the four, it has unique advantages.

The Zhang family was founded eighty years ago by Foundation Establishment cultivators who broke away from the Dan Ding Sect. Relying on the alchemy skills they learned at the Dan Ding Sect, the family business is mainly based on alchemy.

More importantly, the Zhang family is located in the heart of the Dan Ding Sect. Although they have separated from the Dan Ding Sect, the sect has not completely collapsed.

Therefore, its deterrent power remains. In this area, other forces dare not easily provoke the Zhang family, so the Zhang family's safety factor is actually the highest among the four families.

However, two years of chaos had already passed. How long could the Zhang family rely on the name of the Dan Ding Sect to hold out?
Thinking of this, Fang Jingxuan turned his gaze to the Red Leaf Pavilion in the distance.

The area outside has been burned down, but Hongyefang, having retreated into its shell, is still standing strong.

Currently, the Chu family has consolidated most of its forces, placing its vassal cultivators in the market, while its own family remains steadfast on its main mountain.

Outside the market, there was a solid protective spiritual shield. This shield glowed with a faint red light, enveloping the thousands of immortals and mortals inside and isolating them from external dangers.

With its doors closed and workshops stocked with ample spirit rice and spirit stones, even staying inside for five years wouldn't be a problem.

It seems the Chu family still hopes that the Pill Cauldron Ancestor can emerge from seclusion and single-handedly settle the world. There's also their own residence behind that protective barrier in the market; I wonder how it's doing now?

After taking one last look at the heavily guarded Red Leaf Pavilion, Fang Jingxuan quietly disappeared and headed towards the Ning family's location.

The Ning family's main business is taming and raising spirit pets, and its strength is the strongest among all the vassals of the Dan Ding Sect.

However, the Ning family was also the target of everyone's attacks this time. Faced with other enemies, whether overt or covert, the Ning family could not withstand them. So they all consolidated their territory and learned to retreat into their shells.

However, unlike other families, the Ning family's territory has a large number of special environments needed to raise spirit beasts, such as river bends and ponds for raising water-breeding spirit turtles and pastures for raising spirit horses.

These places cover a large area, and the Ning family naturally couldn't hold onto them. Now, most of them have been taken away by others.

Only a few core ranches, located within the Ning family's spiritual land, have not yet been looted, but these are the most valuable, and countless cultivators want to rush in and plunder them.

It was at this time that Fang Jingxuan arrived on the Ning family's territory, and he was also very interested in the Ning family.

Perhaps the Ning family possesses secret techniques and spiritual materials that could enhance Tuoyuan's bloodline and increase its rank, since Tuoyuan was originally cultivated by them.

“Three fellow Daoists skilled in offense will serve as the main force this time. After the mission is accomplished, you can each take 20%.”

Three days later, at Mount Fuhu, 130 miles east of the Ning family's original location, a group of cultivators gathered and chatted with each other.

"Count me in!"

Fang Jingxuan was completely covered by a cloak, concealing his figure. After he stepped out from the crowd, several other cultivators quickly stood up as well.

"There are only three of us. As for how you guys discuss it, I don't care."

The cultivator who spoke had a cold and hard face and powerful cultivation, making him unfathomable to Fang Jingxuan. He was clearly a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Beside him stood several Qi Refining cultivators with extraordinary auras, clearly a small group that had been working together for a long time.

Half an hour later, Fang Jingxuan stood in front of this person again, and behind him, several cultivators looked at Fang Jingxuan with fear in their eyes.

Just now, Fang Jingxuan made a slight move and killed a foolish cultivator in the mid-stage of Qi Refining, which shocked the others.

"You're good. You can join our team. Wait at the back, we'll leave once we've recruited enough people."

Fang Jingxuan silently went to the back, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, and he noticed something quite interesting.

Among the hundreds of cultivators present, judging from their total magical power, there were more than a dozen who were clearly not ordinary rogue cultivators.

Its cultivation method is quite exquisite, and it is not the most common low-grade or mid-grade cultivation method in the White Mountain region.

Looking at the cultivator who had just recruited him, he was clearly someone of great status. Rather than acting rashly, he might as well take advantage of this opportunity and test the waters.

With this in mind, Fang Jingxuan kept a low profile and disguised himself as an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivator, waiting quietly.

Two days later, Fang Jingxuan mingled in the crowd with about twenty people, all gathered inside a phantom array on a hillside.

Ahead was a ranch belonging to the Ning family where they kept spirit beasts, which looked incredibly delicious.

(End of this chapter)