Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 200 Planning the Spirit Land
South of Qifu City lies a vast area of ​​independent cultivators, spanning fifty to sixty thousand miles. Most of the independent cultivators in the entire Baishan region consider this place their paradise.

Compared to the Five Elements Alliance, the strength of the Artifact City is not enough, but compared to the current land of rogue cultivators, it is a behemoth.

In the City of Artifacts and Symbols, five Golden Core families have joined forces to govern the area. Among them, Luo Feng, a female Golden Core cultivator, has already extended her influence to the edge of the land of rogue cultivators.

This place, a haven for independent cultivators, is resource-scarce and considered one of the most desolate and dangerous areas in the Baishan region. Because it borders all the major powers of Baishan, it has always been a melting pot of all sorts of people, making the situation extremely perilous.

But this place is also a paradise in the hearts of those who are unwilling to be bound by spiritual practices, and a nest for the disheartened and the defeated to lick their wounds.

Fang Jingxuan stayed in the Artifact City for a few days. After learning that Wang Xuan needed a considerable amount of time to refine the true water, he came to this land of rogue cultivators.

Even after becoming a Foundation Establishment cultivator, one still has to work hard to make a living. Of course, if someone provides for him, Fang Jingxuan would be happy to find a cave to cultivate in. But if he is provided for, he can forget about being independent. If danger comes, they will rely on him.

Moreover, which Foundation Establishment cultivation family in this area would hire a rogue cultivator with an unclear background as their guest?
Even if one wanted to make offerings, how many spirit stones would it take to satisfy Fang Jingxuan?

If you encounter danger, shouldn't you immediately send your expensively hired retainers to the front lines? Otherwise, wouldn't you be wasting your spirit stones?

Rather than being passively drawn into the incident with an unknown level of danger, Fang Jingxuan wanted to take the initiative, not wanting to live a life of dependence on others, nor wanting to be driven by others.

Therefore, Fang Jingxuan's main purpose in coming to the land of rogue cultivators this time was to learn from the Chu family and establish a great foundation.

Occupying a mountain, gathering some Qi Refining cultivators, and enjoying annual offerings—that kind of life is actually quite nice.

The main reason is that Fang Jingxuan feels that going out to rob as before is becoming increasingly difficult as his cultivation level increases.

Nowadays, the cultivators who can meet his needs for spirit stones are basically all Foundation Establishment cultivators, and every Foundation Establishment cultivator has a background.

Unless you pull off a heist and immediately flee, you're just waiting to be hunted down.

Fang Jingxuan has moved around to several places over the years, and he feels that it's time to find a place where he can develop steadily.

In the land of rogue cultivators, might makes right. Fang Jingxuan believed that his current strength was not bad, and the possibility of him becoming the king of this mountain was very high.

Just like when he plotted to kill Chen Heichan, having learned from his previous experience, Fang Jingxuan would certainly not be so reckless before taking any action.

Plan before you act; this is the principle Fang Jingxuan set for himself after learning from his mistakes.

On the eastern side of the land of rogue cultivators, bordering the Luo family's territory, Fang Jingxuan appeared at a spontaneously formed market, wearing a cloak.

As far as the eye could see, there were many Qi Refining cultivators, but only one Foundation Establishment cultivator could be seen occasionally.

It seems that Foundation Establishment cultivators are rare no matter where they are. Fang Jingxuan has never personally experienced the scene of Foundation Establishment cultivators in groups of three or five, which can be seen everywhere.

Fang Jingxuan tried to find bargains among the market vendors, hoping to use his Foundation Establishment cultivator cultivation level to see if he could find anything good.

But as Fang Jingxuan looked at each shop, he secretly curled his lip. It was obvious that the few good deals were just bait deliberately laid out, waiting for fat sheep to come to their door.

After wandering around for a while, Fang Jingxuan lost interest and then strolled to his destination, a large hall that resembled a mission center.

This is where many independent cultivators are hired. Independent cultivators also need to eat and do work, so they need places like this to accept tasks.

From hiring hitmen to scouting spirit fields, from kidnapping and extortion to searching for spirit pets, the tasks here are incredibly diverse. As long as the reward is generous, no matter how dangerous the task, someone will definitely take it.

To use the words of the most common type of corrupt cultivator in the land of rogue cultivators, I really have nothing left but this life.

A dignified immortal master, reduced to such a state, fallen to this point, what is there left for him to hold onto?

Fang Jingxuan stepped inside, browsed the task list hanging on an entire wall, and fell into deep thought.

There is no doubt that I need help.

To conquer Mount Ling and seize its foundation, one can be the main force, but one also needs to strategize, gather intelligence, and at the very least, have Qi Refining cultivators cheering for one's success.

Moreover, if the conquest is successful, I can't possibly handle the subsequent management myself. I just want a stable source of spirit stones, not to be a babysitter.

Therefore, the cultivators hired this time should not be those with high combat strength, but rather those who are good at planning and management and are skilled in scheming.

That means there are many cultivators in the land of independent cultivators who meet these conditions.

Having understood his needs, Fang Jingxuan found the managing cultivator here and put forward his requirements.

For the sake of the spirit stones, the manager here was very proactive. Within a day, he had marked the candidates that Fang Jingxuan needed.

In a quiet room, Fang Jingxuan sat quietly to one side, with a plump Qi Refining cultivator beside him, holding a scroll and explaining it to Fang Jingxuan.

"Senior, based on your needs, I have selected three cultivators who can work with you on important matters."

His name is Wu Simiao, a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, currently seventy-eight years old. He has served in many cultivation families, his last being the chief strategist of the Fan family of Fengliang Mountain. Now, due to his advanced age, he has been disliked by the new family head and has voluntarily withdrawn. Now, wanting to earn some more money for his descendants, he takes on short-term jobs.

Upon hearing this person's biography, Fang Jingxuan could not deny it, but in terms of age, he was indeed quite old. Did he still have the courage and determination to make progress?

"The second one is Jia Shengyu, who is at the mid-stage of Qi Refining and is 43 years old. He is incredibly intelligent, but his reputation is bad and he is too ruthless. Many cultivators would rather give up their mission than cooperate with him. He is also ruthless when it comes to betraying his own people."

Fang Jingxuan smiled slightly and gestured for the other person to say the next person.

"The third one is Han Muxian. He is skilled at commanding large-scale battles and is said to have some military knowledge. He is 27 years old and has a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation. He has commanded the attack and defense of Cigan Mountain three times before. His plans were good and the results were remarkable, so he became famous."

Fang Jingxuan listened to the information from the three men and pondered for a while. As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise, and key positions definitely need key talents.

Wu Simiao was experienced and knowledgeable about the surrounding situation, which allowed him to assess the situation and offer advice.

Jia Shengyu devised a plan: Han Muxian would lead the recruited desperate cultivators into battle, while he would only need to deal with the enemy's Foundation Establishment cultivators. See, seizing power isn't actually that difficult; you just need to use the right people.

Thinking of this, Fang Jingxuan spoke up:

"First, decide on these three candidates. Go and invite them here; I want to take a look at them personally."

"This is Luoshanfang. This is the spiritual mountain where the various Luo families reside: Wuyang Luo Clan, Jishui Luo Clan, Xiushan Luo Clan. These dozen or so Luo family cultivation clans all separated from the main branch of the Luo family."

In a secret room, Wu Simiao, with his snow-white hair, pointed to a large market town marked with small flags bearing the characters "Luoshan" and "Luo" on a huge geomantic map and spoke loudly.

Fang Jingxuan sat opposite him, listening attentively to the old man's analysis and explanation.

"Ancestor Luo Feng is now over 450 years old. He has been out of sight for many years. Apart from the main Luo family, these branches of the Luo family have been fighting each other in recent decades, and it is not clear how the main Luo family has restrained them."

It's not that they don't want to, but that they can't. The Luo clan began to grow rapidly on this land when Ancestor Luo Feng achieved the Golden Core at the age of 180. Now, after more than 200 years of continuous reproduction, there are thousands or even tens of thousands of cultivators with the surname Luo in the land of independent cultivators alone.

With so many people, resources become scarce. Preventing them from fighting and vying for resources would require the main Luo family to shoulder the responsibility. However, even with Ancestor Luo Feng overseeing the main branch, resources are still insufficient. Therefore, they can only let things be as they are, pretending not to see anything as long as a major war involving tens of thousands of Luo family members isn't triggered.

As Fang Jingxuan listened to Wu Simiao's detailed explanation, he gained a preliminary understanding of the Luo family's hidden secrets and the clandestine tendencies of various factions.

The current branch of the Luo family reminded Fang Jingxuan of the imperial relatives of the Han Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, all of whom had become too powerful and had multiplied too much.

Furthermore, given that these branches are not even considered to be Luo Feng's descendants for generations, expecting Luo Feng to still take good care of them is wishful thinking.

However, although Luo Feng doesn't care, he still carries the name of the Luo family. Unless it seriously harms the interests of other cultivation families, the other cultivation foundation-building families are willing to tolerate it for the sake of Luo Feng, the Golden Core Ancestor.

This area, just the Zhuluo branch, has about twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators, making it the largest force. However, they cannot unite with each other and lack the motivation to expand outwards.

Besides the Zhuluo branch, there are also the Yuanhe Shanning clan, with three members reaching the Foundation Establishment stage; the Lishan Gan clan, with three members reaching the Foundation Establishment stage; and the Beilieshan Xiong clan, with four members reaching the Foundation Establishment stage!

As Wu Simiao described it, Fang Jingxuan gained a clear understanding of the power distribution in this area.

This small, independent cultivation ground, near the City of Artifacts and Talismans, actually has more than twenty sects, with nearly a hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators in total.

Aside from the Zhuluo branch, the largest cultivation family in this area is the Naiwen clan, with six members reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, occupying the second-tier top-grade mountain gate of Qukong Mountain.

The Naiwen clan migrated from elsewhere. Back then, in order to seize Qukong Mountain, they fought a bloody war, striking fear into the hearts of all the large and small cultivation families in the surrounding area, before finally gaining a foothold.

Upon hearing this, Fang Jingxuan couldn't help but become very interested in the Nawen family. This was a successful case and worth studying further.

After a short while, Wu Simiao finished explaining the situation and then cautiously asked:
"Senior, what kind of sect do you wish to obtain? May I ask how many Foundation Establishment cultivators and Qi Refining cultivators you have?"

"I'm the only one who wants to obtain a second-tier high-grade sect. As for vassals, I don't have any yet."

After hearing this, even though Wu Simiao thought he had seen all sorts of storms over the years, he had nothing else to say at this moment.

If it weren't for the spirit stones, he would have turned around and left. How could a mere person, even if he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, dare to try and seize someone's sect? That's too childish.

"Elder Wu, you don't need to consider the other conditions for now. If you were to choose, which mountain gate do you think would be more suitable? If we were to attack, what preparations would be needed, and how many men would be sufficient?"

Upon hearing Fang Jingxuan's question, Wu Simiao instinctively entered the mindset of a strategist.

He stared intently at the geomantic map, muttering to himself as he fell into deep thought.

But only ten breaths later, Wu Simiao gave his answer.

"This is Tianyin Mountain. This place is a second-grade high-quality spiritual land. Due to its terrain, it often attracts lightning, so the underground is rich in lightning-attribute spiritual stones, hence the name Tianyin Mountain."

Within this mountain lies a sect called the Heavenly Guidance Sect. The sect has two Foundation Establishment cultivators and nearly three hundred Qi Refining cultivators, but only fifty of them are capable of engaging in combat. In terms of strength, it is not considered particularly powerful in the surrounding area.

However, these cultivators are skilled in lightning magic and possess formidable combat power. Their advantageous terrain makes them even more difficult to deal with.

Wu Simiao gave the target, and Fang Jingxuan looked in the direction he indicated and found that Tianyin Mountain was located slightly closer to Qifu City, and the surrounding Foundation Establishment families were not particularly powerful.

"Tianyin Mountain? Are there any other options?"

Fang Jingxuan thought for a moment, then asked again, "Such a big matter should have a backup plan."

Moreover, for some reason, looking at Tianyin Mountain, Fang Jingxuan always had an uncomfortable feeling, as if this small Tianyin Mountain was faintly exuding an ominous aura.

Fang Jingxuan has always had great faith in his premonitions. With the innate ability of "whims," ​​he would subconsciously avoid things that were unfavorable to him.

"If Tianyin Mountain is not an option, there are several other mountain gates to choose from, such as this Jianying Mountain, which has two Foundation Establishment sword cultivators in charge, one of whom is at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage."

Sword cultivators possess formidable combat prowess, capable of holding their own against late-stage cultivators with their mid-stage cultivation level, and even subtly suppressing them.

However, compared to other cultivation families in the surrounding area, the cultivators of Sword Shadow Mountain have weak interpersonal relationships. If they were to besiege, no one would come to their aid. Furthermore, the number of disciples within their sect is small, making them a good choice.

After that, Wu Simiao recommended several mountain gates for Fang Jingxuan to choose from, but the more mountain gates were mentioned later, the more difficult they were to attack.

Nowadays, the Foundation Establishment cultivator families that have gained a foothold here are all formidable individuals, making it exceptionally difficult for Fang Jingxuan to open a sect here.

But no matter how difficult it is, we must keep going. It is difficult for independent cultivators, and it is even more difficult for foundation-building independent cultivators. Without any power, relying solely on oneself to collect cultivation resources, all that precious time will be wasted on such things. How much time will be left for peaceful cultivation?

Therefore, in order to cultivate in the future, this hurdle must be overcome. After figuring this out, Fang Jingxuan looked at Sword Shadow Mountain with a cold gaze.

(End of this chapter)