Immortality and Cultivation: I can extract entries from all things.

People were coming and going inside the Zhou family office.

Fang He walked in and glanced around.

There were five or six people in line in front of the counter, so he walked to the end of the line to wait.

The scattered cultivators ahead were talking in twos and threes, their expressions showing some unease.

"Have you heard? There's been a lot of sea monster activity lately."

"That's right, something happened on Qing Shi Island."

"I have an acquaintance on Qing Shi Island, and I heard that he has passed away."

Fang He's ears twitched slightly, but she didn't interrupt and listened quietly.

The line moved forward slowly. When it was his turn, the manager, Zhou Mingyuan, looked up and checked his ID card.

"Fang He, Qi Refining Level 3, registration complete."

Zhou Mingyuan handed back his identification tag, speaking in a businesslike tone, "The sea monster cleanup mission will begin in two days. The first phase will be a three-day patrol of the coastline. You will need to bring your own dry rations and talismans. The Zhou family will provide basic protection."

"clear."

Fang He nodded.

Zhou Mingyuan glanced at him, his tone becoming more serious: "The situation is bad lately, so be vigilant. Don't lose your lives."

Fang He noticed several unfamiliar faces sitting in the corner of the office. They were dressed in rags, looked tired, and smelled of the sea.

"That is?"

"Rogue cultivators who fled from other islands."

Zhou Mingyuan sighed, "Qingshi Island was swept away by sea monsters, and the survivors all ran this way. You guys were unlucky to run into this mess."

Fang He's heart sank.

The situation on Qing Shi Island was more serious than he had imagined.

"Steward Zhou, what's the situation on Qing Shi Island?"

Zhou Mingyuan shook his head: "A lot of people died. I don't know the exact number, but I heard that a settlement was razed to the ground."

He waved his hand: "Alright, you'll know what you need to know. Meet early in the morning two days from now, don't be late."

Fang He bowed and took his leave.

……

Stepping out of the office, the atmosphere in the market was clearly off.

The once bustling streets and alleys were now tense, with groups of independent cultivators whispering amongst themselves.

"Over on Qing Shi Island..."

"More than twenty people died..."

"I heard that the sea monsters rushed up at night, and there was no time to escape."

Fang He's heart stirred, and she walked towards the direction where there were more people.

There is a tea stall on the east side of the market, which is usually a place for independent cultivators to exchange information.

Fang He saw Captain Chen sitting there from afar, his face solemn, talking to several people.

"Captain Chen."

Chen Tonghai looked up and saw Fang He. He waved for him to sit down.

"You've come at the right time; I just received the message."

He lowered his voice, "Something's happened on Qing Shi Island."

"What is it?"

"The hermitage of independent cultivators in Qing Shi Bay was attacked by sea monsters three days ago."

Captain Chen sighed, "More than twenty people died, countless were injured, and the entire settlement was almost razed to the ground."

Fang He was startled: "More than twenty people?"

"They're all rogue cultivators practicing Qi cultivation; they can't escape."

Captain Chen shook his head. "The sea monsters seem to have gone mad, attacking day and night. By the time the Zhou family sent reinforcements, it was already too late."

A rogue cultivator nearby chimed in, "I heard there were originally more than thirty people there, but less than ten survived."

"Yes, it's terrible."

Captain Chen sighed, "When I passed by Qing Shi Island this time, I saw that it was a mess. The houses had all collapsed and the ground was covered in blood."

Fang He's expression changed slightly.

Of the more than thirty people, fewer than ten survived.

This mortality rate is too high.

Captain Chen continued, "I've been sailing for over a decade and have never seen anything like this before. Those sea monsters don't seem to be migrating naturally; it's more like... they were driven here by someone."

Fang He recalled what Captain Chen had said earlier and became wary.

They were driven away by humans.

Sun Er escaped, and the sea monster behaved strangely. Is there a connection between the two?

"Captain Chen, who do you think is driving away the sea monsters?"

"It's hard to say."

Captain Chen shook his head. "This kind of thing is not something we small-time cultivators can get involved in. But I always feel that something is fishy about this. Sea monsters have approached the coast in previous years, but they have never been like this this year, acting like they've gone mad."

He lowered his voice: "I've heard that some people have seen strange ships at sea."

"A strange ship?"

"Hmm, a black ship, no flag, I don't know which company it belongs to."

Captain Chen said, "But this is just a rumor and can't be taken as fact."

……

The atmosphere in the market became increasingly tense.

Fang He walked up to a talisman stall.

"Are there any defensive talismans left?"

The stall owner didn't even look up: "That's all, we just sold out. Come back tomorrow, but the price will have to go up."

After making inquiries, Fang He discovered that the prices of supplies had generally increased by 20% to 30%.

The price of a defensive talisman rose from one spirit stone to one and a half, and the price of hemostatic pills also increased.

The independent cultivators complained bitterly, but they still had to buy it.

"These unscrupulous merchants are taking advantage of the situation!"

"What can we do? Saving our lives is the most important thing."

"It was a spirit stone yesterday, and it's gone up in price today. That's outrageous."

The stall owners also had their reasons: "The purchase price has gone up, what can I do? Besides, these days, even if you have money, you can't necessarily buy goods."

Fang He did not panic like the crowd.

The hoarding frenzy will pass; buying now will incur a premium.

But with the mission imminent, necessary supplies cannot be spared.

He decided to buy what he urgently needed first, and deal with the rest later.

……

Fang He wandered around the market and found a stall that still had some talismans left.

The stall owner was an elderly man in his fifties with gray hair, who was slowly arranging the talismans on his stall.

Seeing Fang He approach, the old man looked up and sized him up.

"What would you like to buy, young man?"

"Take a look at the defensive talisman."

"Small shield talisman, one and a half spirit stones."

The old man pointed to the talismans on the stall, "There are also fireball talismans, two spirit stones each."

It was much more expensive than before, but Fang He didn't haggle.

"Give me three small shield charms and two fireball charms."

The old man nodded, wrapped the talisman, and handed it over.

"Young man, are you going on a mission to eliminate sea monsters?"

"Yes."

"That fireball talisman isn't very useful."

The old man said a few more words, "Sea beasts have thick hides and tough flesh; fireball talismans can't burn through them. It's better to buy an ice needle talisman; it has strong penetrating power and is more effective against sea beasts."

Fang He considered for a moment: "Okay, one Fireball Talisman is enough, and one Ice Needle Talisman as well."

The Ice Needle Talisman costs the same as the Fireball Talisman, both two spirit stones.

The old man replaced the talisman with a total of eight spirit stones.

Fang He paid with spirit stones and kept the old man's words in mind.

The Ice Needle Talisman has strong penetrating power and is even more effective against sea monsters.

This information might be useful in the future.

……

After leaving the talisman stall, Fang He went to the pill stall.

Hemostatic pills are essential; he had one bottle on hand, but it wasn't enough.

He bought a bottle of hemostatic pills and a bottle of qi-restoring pills, for a total of seven spirit stones.

Adding the eight spirit stones I spent on the talismans earlier, I spent a total of fifteen spirit stones.

Fang He touched his pocket; he didn't have many spirit stones left.

He found a quiet spot and took inventory of the supplies.

Three small shield talismans, one fireball talisman, one ice needle talisman, five hemostatic pills, and three qi-restoring pills.

With the few spirit stones I had saved up and the hemostatic pills I had on hand, that should be enough.

He also took the opportunity to tidy up his own entries.

The skills "Dead Tree Comes Back to Life" and "Vigorous Qi and Blood" can assist in combat.

[Stealth Secrets] [Skilled in Water] Only good for survival.

[Sharp spiritual sense] and [sensitivity to spiritual herbs] can help with perception.

[Full of energy] [Nourish the dantian] Assists in cultivation.

Overall, it leans towards support and survival; direct combat is not its strength.

However, they have good escape and perception abilities.

This is in line with his style: cautious and steady.

Fang He felt more confident.

During missions, they should play a reconnaissance and support role, avoiding direct confrontation as much as possible.

If you encounter danger, saving your life is the top priority...