Cultivating Immortality: Starting from Ferrying Passengers

Chapter 201 Returning to the old place
After setting the initial objective, the next step was to carefully gather intelligence. Although Wu Simiao was knowledgeable about geography, he still did not know much about the inside story of Sword Shadow Mountain.

What is the best way to gather intelligence?
The second talent Fang Jingxuan wanted to recruit, Jia Shengyu, gave his answer.

"Turning people into defection and planting spies are excellent ways to obtain inside information. If you can wait patiently, my lord, I will be able to find out all the big and small things about Sword Shadow Mountain within two years."

It was the same quiet room, but this time, Fang Jingxuan was facing a middle-aged scholar dressed as a cultivator. He had two goatees and looked very shrewd.

Fang Jingxuan scrutinized his opponent with a deep, unfathomable gaze. The immense magical power brought about by his cultivation of the "Mysterious Abyss True Explanation" made Jia Shengyu feel a fear as if he were in a bottomless abyss.

Fortunately, this aura was fleeting, and then Jia Shengyu heard Fang Jingxuan's slightly muffled voice:

"How many spirit stones are needed?"

"Ten top-quality pieces."

What are the chances of success?

"Fifty percent."

"Only 50%?"

Fang Jingxuan frowned, his tone slightly cold, while Jia Shengyu quickly explained:

"A 50% probability is already quite high. There's no guarantee that something will succeed. It also depends on luck and whether there are any resentful people in Sword Shadow Mountain who have been suppressed."

Fang Jingxuan paused for a moment, then continued:
"What if I give you twenty high-grade spirit stones?"

Jia Shengyu was slightly taken aback, then immediately said:

"Then there's an 80% chance we can turn an inside agent against us. Those two Foundation Establishment sword cultivators in Sword Shadow Mountain aren't exactly a united front. If the intelligence is accurate, I can devise some other scenarios to try and make them turn against each other."

"Alright, I'll give you twenty high-grade spirit stones. Let's sign the contract. This matter must not be leaked, or you will suffer the soul-tearing of the Contract Ghost."

Fang Jingxuan took out twenty high-grade spirit stones from his storage bag and placed them in front of Jia Shengyu. Beside him was a newly drafted soul contract.

Looking at the twenty fist-sized, high-grade spirit stones brimming with spiritual energy, Jia Shengyu couldn't help but breathe more rapidly.

This is two hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones! They're right in front of me. As long as I sign this soul contract, I can do whatever I want with these spirit stones.

As for the sheer amount of energy that 200,000 low-grade spirit stones could unleash, Jia Shengyu was already envisioning this magnificent spectacle.

After a short while, the quiet room returned to calm.

At this moment, Fang Jingxuan looked somewhat pained. He had just easily taken the spirit stones, but the spirit stones in his storage bag were almost gone.

At this moment, a message came from the cultivator outside the door, saying that the last cultivator Fang Jingxuan wanted to see was already waiting outside.

Upon hearing this, Fang Jingxuan composed himself, regained his calm expression, and gestured for Han Muxian to come in.

This was a young man as sharp as a drawn sword; Fang Jingxuan sensed his intense aggression as soon as he entered.

However, in the face of Fang Jingxuan's immense Xuanyuan magic power, it was as if it had sunk into a bottomless abyss, unable to make any waves.

"If you were to attack a second-tier spiritual land, how many people would you need?"

Fang Jingxuan asked the question immediately, giving Han Muxian no time to think.

"A minimum of one hundred Qi Refining combat cultivators, with as many support cultivators as possible."

"What is the personnel composition? How will they be managed? How will war equipment be procured? What formations will be used? How will the reward system be established?"

Faced with a series of questions posed by Fang Jingxuan, Han Muxian answered fluently.

"Ten cultivators will be sent to gather intelligence, and eighty military cultivators will be assigned to the central army. Ten of them will be kept as reserves, with a squad leader in charge and a system of collective responsibility. Military equipment needs to be replenished."

Looking at the spirited young cultivator in front of him, Fang Jingxuan's thoughts seemed to return to twenty years ago, to the time in Red Leaf Workshop.

At that time, I was forced to go to the battlefield to attack Xianlin'ao. I was on tenterhooks the whole way and had no sense of the sharpness of the cultivator in front of me.

After Han Muxian finished speaking, Fang Jingxuan was quite satisfied. He didn't really care much about the cultivator team led by Han Muxian. The key to this battle was still himself, a Foundation Establishment cultivator.

If I don't win, Han Muxian's role will be meaningless.

"Okay, let's sign the contract. For the next two years, you'll be working for me."

"Wait, there are still some questions I haven't asked. Who is the target? I won't sign with a cultivation family that doesn't have a history of bad deeds."

Han Muxian's expression changed, and she quickly expressed her opinion. Fang Jingxuan did not expect that this guy still held onto these things in his heart.

He couldn't help but think that these two Foundation Establishment sword cultivators from Sword Shadow Mountain must have some bad deeds on a regular basis.

"Don't worry, the other party isn't exactly a good person either. In this White Mountain, in this land of rogue cultivators, whose hands are clean?"

Fang Jingxuan was quite satisfied with signing three exceptional talents in a row; now he just had to wait for time to prove its worth.

In fact, plotting against Sword Shadow Mountain was not something Fang Jingxuan necessarily had to accomplish.

His main goal was simply to find a stable place for him to cultivate, develop his power, and build a foundation for earning spirit stones.

If Fang Jingxuan felt that the matter was too risky and posed a threat to his life in the future, he would not have been so foolish as to insist on taking over the mountain gate.

Adaptability and the ability to assess situations are the guiding principles that have guided Fang Jingxuan throughout his growth.

However, Fang Jingxuan's storage bag is almost empty of spirit stones, and it's time to find some more to earn.

Leaving the three Qi Refining cultivators who had signed the contract to go about their own business, Fang Jingxuan got up and headed towards the Dan Ding Sect.

At this moment, it has been almost ten years since Fang Jingxuan left this place. When Fang Jingxuan left, a fierce conflict broke out here, and the Dan Ding Sect was in turmoil. Now that Fang Jingxuan has returned, he wants to see the changes that have taken place since he left.

With a strange mix of emotions, a sense of returning home in glory and a longing to revisit familiar places, Fang Jingxuan set off from the land of rogue cultivators, carrying Tuoyuan, and once again sank into the Qinghe River.

The river that Fang Jingxuan used to rely on for survival still flows with clear water, and the scenery on both banks remains unchanged for thousands of years.

Fang Jingxuan sat cross-legged on Tuoyuan's back. Tuoyuan's body was now a little over two zhang but less than three zhang long. Fang Jingxuan still remembered that when he carried Tuoyuan across the river, Tuoyuan's physique was just like this.

Upon revisiting this familiar place, Tuoyuan recognized it, and its mood became excited.

The man and the tortoise walked slowly forward until they reached the place where Qinghefang used to be, where they were stopped.

"Fellow Daoist, this is the territory of the Pill Alliance. If you are here to seek pills or medicine, please state your identity."

"Danmeng? I remember this was originally the territory of Danding Sect."

The cultivators who blocked the road immediately judged that Fang Jingxuan was not a local cultivator when they saw him mention the Dan Ding Sect.

"The Dan Ding Sect ceased to exist seven years ago and has now been integrated into our Dan Alliance."

As the man explained, Fang Jingxuan gained more information. Only after revealing his identity as a rogue cultivator was he able to enter the territory of the Pill Alliance.

After two days of intelligence gathering, Fang Jingxuan gained a clearer understanding of the situation that year.

After he left, the situation here deteriorated rapidly.

When the great war broke out, the Dan Ding Sect was divided up. One-third of its territory was swallowed up by the Ling Mu Alliance, while the other third and most of the alchemy cultivators in the Dan Ding Sect were absorbed by the Dan Alliance.

Speaking of the Pill Alliance, it is also a large force, even stronger than the Artifact City. It's not that the alliance has more Golden Core cultivators, but that the Pill Alliance has a Nascent Soul cultivator named Han Tianqing.

Although Nascent Soul cultivators have to go up the mountain to cultivate and basically can't come down, their prestige is still there, and they have backup plans. When it comes to critical moments, Nascent Soul level combat power can still be brought out.

The disadvantage of Qifu City lies in the fact that it does not have its own Nascent Soul cultivators, so in terms of foundation, it cannot compare with Dan Alliance.

The territory of the Pill Alliance was not originally adjacent to the Pill Cauldron Sect; the Li Huo Alliance was in between.

However, at the critical moment when the Dan Ding Sect was being divided up, the Ling Mu Alliance and the Li Huo Alliance had a falling out due to unequal distribution. In a fit of anger, the Li Huo Alliance directly exchanged a portion of its territory with the Dan Alliance, thus getting the Dan Alliance involved as well.

Although the Dan Alliance's territory has shrunk considerably on the surface, it has actually absorbed the most lucrative part of the Dan Ding Sect's territory, resulting in a significant boost to its strength.

The Li Huo Alliance, on the other hand, gained a lot of land, which was now almost half the size of the original Dan Ding Sect, and also gained the friendship of the Dan Alliance.

As for the Spiritwood Alliance, they were also enjoying great success, but the Pill Alliance interfered, causing tension between the two sides.

By the way, there's also the matter of the Lian Shui Alliance. Some people suspect that Lian Shui was behind the falling out between Li Huo and Ling Mu.

Regardless, the Dan Ding Sect was completely dismantled, and its various Foundation Establishment families and vassals were either killed or surrendered.

As for Hongyefang, it also disappeared. It is said that the Hongye Chu family had found a way to move to the edge of Baishan and settled on the edge of Nanchumen, where Qi Yun was born.

The Southern Chu Clan also originated from the Qi Yun Chu family. In terms of seniority, the current Southern Chu patriarch, Chu Hongshang, seems to be related to Chu Hongye from back then as cousins.

Chu Hongshang cultivated all the way to the Nascent Soul stage, while Chu Hongye only cultivated to the late Foundation Establishment stage before passing away.

Besides the Hongye Chu family, the other Foundation Establishment cultivation families also found their own way out. The Ning family, who were good at taming beasts, joined the Spirit Wood Alliance, while the He family, who were good at brewing wine and refining weapons, joined the Li Huo Alliance.

The Zhang family was split up, with each branch housed in a separate household.

Among them, the most important Dan Ding Sect's spiritual mountain fell into the hands of the Dan Alliance.

After understanding what happened back then, Fang Jingxuan was filled with emotion. The Dan Ding Ancestor failed to break through, and the power he had painstakingly built up over many years was immediately divided up and became someone else's property.

This also sets a clear example for Fang Jingxuan: the power you build is not important; if you were to unfortunately perish, those powers would immediately disintegrate.

Therefore, there's no need to worry too much about the development of your own power. You'd be better off improving your cultivation level instead.

After understanding these past events, Fang Jingxuan accepted them calmly. However, looking at the mansion he bought back then and Wang Xinyu's residence, which have now completely changed, he still felt somewhat sentimental.

In his storage bag, there was still the house deed that Wang Xinyu had left behind. He never expected that it wouldn't even last twenty years before the deed became worthless.

The original Red Leaf Market had been demolished and rebuilt. The Dan Alliance was wealthy, and the newly built market was three times the size of the original.

Fang Jingxuan lingered in this place for several days. After observing, he found that there was no opportunity for anyone to take advantage of the chaos in the current territory of the Pill Alliance.

The cultivation atmosphere within the Danmeng territory is probably the best in the entire Baishan region, since street fights don't happen here for no reason.

The Pill Alliance, as the name suggests, is an alliance formed by a group of cultivators who love alchemy. It includes several major surnames, with Han being the most common.

Aside from the Lian Shui Alliance, this place was the most peaceful, but Fang Jingxuan was short of spirit stones at the time. He craved chaos, so after admiring the scenery here for a few days, he could only leave quietly and go to another place: the Baishan Sword Sect.

Fang Jingxuan was about to fight a Foundation Establishment sword cultivator, so he naturally wanted to understand more about how powerful the Foundation Establishment sword cultivator was.

Recently, the cultivators of the Baishan Sword Sect have had a falling out with the Ruijin Meng of the Five Elements Alliance. There have been occasional life-or-death battles between the two sides, so Fang Jingxuan crossed half of Baishan and came to the southern part of Baishan.

With Tuoyuan as his mode of transport, Fang Jingxuan didn't find traveling to be a boring or painful task. He would often sit cross-legged on Tuoyuan's back, simply closing himself off to rest and focus most of his attention on comprehending his cultivation techniques. By the time he came to his senses, Tuoyuan had already traveled a very long distance and reached their destination.

After arriving at the White Mountain Sword Sect, Fang Jingxuan followed some curious cultivators to watch the latest battle between the two sides.

Like the White Mountain Sword Sect, the cultivators of the Sharp Metal Alliance also revere the sword, but their understanding of the way of the sword is very different.

Sometimes, heretics are more hateful. The White Mountain Sword Sect just couldn't stand it. The Sharp Metal Alliance also wields swords and dares to call themselves sword cultivators.

In their view, the cultivators of the Ruijin Alliance did not understand the way of the sword at all. Instead, they used the Five Elements Techniques to drive the magic sword, which was a heretical and crooked path, not the orthodox way of sword qi, sword pellets, rainbow transformation, mist transformation, sword intent, and sword soul.

In addition, sword cultivators are all so stubborn, so the atmosphere of fighting to the death over the slightest disagreement is very popular here.

In addition to the two main protagonists, the Baishan Sword Sect and the Ruijin Alliance, there are two other large forces in the southern part of Baishan who are also getting involved.

One is the Hou Tu Alliance, which supports the Rui Jin Alliance, and the other is the Huan Jian Alliance, which, despite past conflicts and animosity with the Bai Shan Sword Sect, is willing to uphold the dignity of the sword path at this time.

These two factions each supported one side, and it's unclear whether they were trying to mediate or incite conflict. In any case, the White Mountain Sword Sect and the Sharp Gold Alliance have fought several times in recent days, resulting in the deaths of many cultivators on both sides.

And so, the latest competition is here. Just as Fang Jingxuan was filled with anticipation, a familiar scene appeared: several rogue cultivators were promoting their own betting establishments everywhere.

Ah, the Black Hand organization, I didn't expect to see them here again.

(End of this chapter)