Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 67 Free from worldly entanglements

The land was acquired.

Subsequent matters included building the house, and the uncle and nephew officially registering their household registration in Guling Town after owning the property... and so on.

Fang Shu was handed over to his second uncle, Yu Le.

This time, he earned a fortune for his second uncle, and while he was overjoyed, he was also extremely relieved.

With this house, Second Uncle can live a more peaceful life in Guling Town. Even if he falls into the situation of having to sell his blood to make ends meet, he should not become a blood demon.

With a job and a family business, Fang Shu thought he had done everything he could for his second uncle, except for not having a wife.

What he needed to do next was to devote himself wholeheartedly to his own cultivation and not get involved in any other matters.

In an instant, Fang Shu felt as if a shackle had been removed from his heart.

He seemed to sense something.

That day, he entered the quiet room of the Dugu Pavilion, using the feeling of ease in his body and mind to promote his blood circulation and strengthen his muscles and bones.

Just one night later, the text in the Taoist talisman changed:

[Realm Level: First Tribulation Refining Human Immortal (89% complete)]

His cultivation progress did indeed improve dramatically. Although it was only by "three points", it was still a rare and valuable gain compared to his usual cultivation.

In particular, Fang Shu is now only "one point" away from achieving 90% of the First Tribulation Realm!

According to what the book says, in such cases, impatient immortals can try taking potent medicine to make up for the last bit of damage in one go and try to get through the second tribulation.

In his joy, Fang Shu suddenly realized:

"Besides having clear thoughts, having no mental hindrances can also benefit one's spiritual practice."

The night passed.

He felt no fatigue at all, and taking advantage of his current detached state of mind, he continued to cultivate in the quiet room, attempting to increase his cultivation progress to 90% in the shortest possible time.

With a mind free from all attachments, one should strive diligently and courageously!
..............................

the other side.

After selling his house ticket and other valuables, Xiao Hu finally managed to purchase another precious medicine.

With the precious medicine in his hand, he quickly returned to the Shaowei Inn and headed straight for the backyard.

Along the way, some disciples from the Burning Tail Pavilion saw him.

Seeing Xiao Hu's hurried demeanor, so unlike his former managerial bearing, they couldn't help but chuckle.

"If only they had known this would happen, they wouldn't have done it in the first place. It's only because the headmaster is kind-hearted that these two—one of them embezzled the temple's money and still dared to buy a house, and the other of them left town without permission and got cursed—would have been kicked out of any other temple long ago."

A disciple responded:
"That's right. It's purely because the owner is kind-hearted. Considering that this old dog had worked hard and his daughter had suffered such a misfortune, he not only didn't kick him out, but also forgave his debts and even gave him several doses of precious medicine to prolong his daughter's life."

Xiao Hu overheard the disciples' discussions on the road. His eyes darkened, and he clenched his teeth, but he did not stop walking. He pretended not to hear and continued to hurry towards the inner courtyard.

Even after he had walked a little further away, the disciples were still talking amongst themselves, their voices drifting back, and now they were even louder:

"I heard that this fellow was jealous of your senior brother and wanted to turn around and bite him with his daughter, saying that your senior brother had harmed his daughter. He even tried to take it to the Black Tiger Pavilion, almost making our family scandal public."

"Yes, yes... Later, that old dog chickened out again. I guess it was because his attitude was still acceptable that the museum master was willing to provide the precious medicine to prolong his daughter's life."

"Speaking of which, it seems her daughter went out of town to risk her life in order to make up for his losses. Now, it can be said that she got what she wanted?"

The constant whispers behind him made Xiao Hu feel like he was about to grind his teeth to dust.

He wished he could rush to the inner courtyard's quiet room right now and call out the white dog that was nominally under house arrest but was actually just in seclusion for cultivation.

The two fought fiercely, battling to the death.

Although he, the Tiger, is an old dog, even an old dog has a few teeth!

However, the next moment, he saw a room ahead where the smell of medicine wafted over even before he got close.

He muttered to himself, "No, I still have Lili to take care of."

A squeak!
Xiao Hu pushed open the door and entered. The gloom on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a look of great joy.

He carried a bag of medicine in one hand and a pastry in the other, feigning smugness as he said:

"Look what your father brought back for you. Osmanthus crystal cake from Granny Wang's pastry shop. They make it with fresh osmanthus flowers."

Xiao Hu muttered something, causing the figure on the bed to sway.

The figure struggled to get up from behind the bed curtains, taking a long time to straighten his upper body. Upon seeing this, Xiao Hu's smile froze. He felt extremely distressed and wanted to help, but he could only restrain himself, feeling awkward and uneasy in place.

"Father." A weak voice rang out.

Xiao Lili lifted the bed curtain, a smile appearing on her face, and looked at Xiao Hu at the door.

The woman's face was sallow, her eyes were cloudy and lifeless, her hair was dry and yellow like grass, and her abdomen was very large.

The current state of her is completely different from her former bright-eyed and white-toothed appearance. She can no longer be described as "sickly" but rather as "lifeless" and "on the verge of death."

Xiao Hu looked at Xiao Lili and quickly replied, "Yes."

The father and daughter then exchanged a few words.

Xiao Hu first fed his daughter the medicine, then placed the pastries on the bed. After he finished everything and saw that his daughter was in a good condition, he carefully left the room to continue his busy work.

As soon as he left, Xiao Lili, who had just been forcing a smile, immediately became numb and her eyes were empty and silent.

She lay blankly on the bed, able to clearly feel the precious effects of the medicine she had just taken being greedily absorbed by the "flesh ginseng" in her chest and abdomen, while her physical body could not even enjoy one tenth of it.

But it is precisely because the "meat ginseng" has absorbed the medicinal essence that she is now barely clinging to life.

Xiao Lili's thoughts were in turmoil once again.

Although her father had always said that there would be a way to remove the "ginseng," she already knew that there was indeed a way.

However, the evil magic she had planted was deeply rooted in her internal organs, and the ginseng roots had already taken root in her bone marrow. If she were to take ginseng at this time, even if a Qi Refining Immortal were to do so, she would face certain death.

Aside from forcibly removing it, what the father and daughter now seek is the "ripe fruit falling from the vine" phrase that the curator mentioned.

They are hoping that once the "meat ginseng" matures, it will detach from the human body on its own, and then there will be no problem.

But... will this evil practice ever truly come to fruition?

Xiao Lili was unaware.

All she knew was that she had long since passed the so-called "seven days of ginseng cultivation," and the ginseng embryo inside her belly could already be extracted and used as a precious medicine.

..............................

Time flies, and another half month has passed in no time.

Fang Shu opened his eyes in a daze in the quiet room and looked up at the bright white moon overhead.

Pieces of moonlight were falling from the sky, which he swallowed.

This extraordinary sight did not last long; the moonlight stopped falling.

The remaining moonlight on him seemed to be melting away like snowflakes.

Fang Shu took a deep breath and absorbed all the moonlight into his stomach, which was considered an extra boost of spiritual energy.

This night.

He then stopped practicing his martial arts, even abandoning his stance training, and simply lay quietly at the bottom of the meditation room, gazing at the full, bright moon reflected in the well.

Fang Shu was calm and at peace, savoring the moonlit scenery.

After a period of seclusion, he had already achieved 90% of the first stage of the Refining Essence Immortal realm, and his Qi and blood were completely stable.

"It's time to press on and find a way to purchase more precious medicines so that I can cultivate to the full extent in one go," Fang Shu thought to himself.

However, purchasing suitable precious medicines and preparing for the second tribulation would require spending a considerable amount of talisman money.

Fang Shu immediately recalled the various treasures he had left behind in the wild, such as the remains of immortals and painted masks.

So he did a somersault and stood up from the bottom of the well, easily leaping out of the quiet room.

"I should go out and retrieve those things, and then go to the demon market to sell them off."

The so-called demon market refers to the black market that exists outside the town. It is said to be run by mountain monsters and has things that cannot be found in the market, as well as goods that are not allowed to be sold in the market.

Back then, Fang Shu's second uncle, Yu Le, sold his magic in the demon market outside the town to raise enough money for his apprenticeship.

In such a place, where all sorts of people mingle and it's hard to distinguish between humans and demons, dealing with the remains of a Black Tiger Pavilion disciple wouldn't even cause a ripple.

Fang Shunian got up and waited quietly for dawn.

In the afternoon, he finished his preparations, left the town, picked up his things, and headed straight for the demon market.

(End of this chapter)