Ordinary person: What to do with unused treasures? (On Zhuanzhuan)

Chapter 118 Refining the Heart in the Mortal World

What does it feel like to suddenly have a whim?

Qin Fang couldn't explain it either.

But I always feel like something's wrong with me!

until!

Until Qin Fang returned to the vicinity of the blacksmith shop, which had changed beyond recognition.

Decades have passed, and all traces of Qin Fang's past have now completely disappeared.

The surrounding neighbors—except for a few who still looked somewhat familiar—most of them had changed their appearance.

Standing in the crowd, Qin Fang felt a sense of relaxation he had never experienced before.

That strange, vague feeling was finally soothed by the warmth of everyday life.

A few days later, the shop changed hands several times before being bought by a young man.

He opened a fish market shop.

The young man looked to be only in his early twenties, but he was extremely handsome and was once known as a handsome young man by the neighbor aunt.

Surprisingly, since buying the shop, the young man has hardly left the house and doesn't seem particularly interested in his business, spending his days engrossed in reading a book.

Occasionally, customers will come to buy fish, but they don't say much. If it weren't for the cheap prices, probably not many people would be willing to buy fish from this remote shop.

This young man was none other than Qin Fang, who had come to temper his heart in the mortal world.

Although I don't know why I experienced the Tribulation of the Mortal World, which should have appeared in the fourth level of the Great Evolution Technique cultivation stage, ahead of time.

But he still chose to follow his heart and come to a place where ordinary people gather, gradually tempering his worldly mindset.

Qin Fang didn't live in the mortal realm all the time; every few days, he would return to his cave dwelling!

The reason I would return to my cave every few days was simply to nurture the four spirit dragons.

After completely abandoning his plan to advance to the mid-stage of Core Formation, Qin Fang's spiritual pills were replenished once again.

The person who consumes the most pills is Qin Fang himself! As long as he doesn't need to take pills—even with all four spirit dragons together, there won't be a shortage of pills.

After all, no matter what, regardless of their previous aptitude, these spirit dragons are now genuine demon beasts bearing the bloodline of the dragon race!

It is far beyond the advancement speed of ordinary spirit beasts.

One day, three years later.

A child of about ten years old walked into the store carrying a basket of fruits.

"Brother Qin~"

"My grandfather asked me to bring you some seasonal fruits!"

The child had a dark blue birthmark on his cheek, which was quite easy to spot.

"Just leave it there!"

"When you go back, remember to catch two big fish for your grandfather!"

Qin Fang didn't even look up, focusing on the array formation manual in his hands.

Although he was cultivating the Great Evolution Technique, he had so much free time that Qin Fang even started idly studying formations.

"Okay~"

"I'll make sure you take the two biggest fish from your shop back with you! Don't regret it, Brother Qin!"

The child seemed to know Qin Fang very well, speaking in a chubby-cheeked manner.

Qin Fang thought the child would immediately grab fish from the basket—

But I never expected this!

"Brother Qin————"

"I heard from my grandfather that your grandfather—was also a cultivator back in the day?"

The child leaned closer, lowered his voice, and spoke what he believed to be a secret.

There are quite a few mortals in Tianxing City, and the children among them are particularly precocious! By the time they are almost ten years old, they can help out at home and barely stand on their own.

Why are you asking these questions?

Qin Fang put down his book and asked with some curiosity.

The twelve or thirteen-year-old child in front of him was a descendant of Zhang Xiaobai, whom he had mentored when he opened his blacksmith shop.

This child is his descendant, or more precisely, Zhang Xiaobai's grandson, Zhang Yunhu!

"I heard from my dad that my grandfather was once a cultivator of immortality—"

"But he was later killed by his enemies, which is why he is now in his final, dying state."

"I----"

"I want to cultivate immortality!"

Zhang Yunhu spoke hesitantly.

No matter how precocious they are, they are still just twelve or thirteen-year-old children, and their emotions are written all over their faces.

"Want to cultivate immortality?"

"Then why don't you go find your grandfather?!"

Qin Fang lost interest.

His unintentional act of casually offering Zhang Xiaobai a few words of advice ultimately led him to embark on the path of cultivation.

Later, at the tender age of eighteen, he successfully established his foundation! He became a rare genius cultivator, joined White Feather Island, and was highly regarded within the sect.

Afterwards, Qin Fang was about to refine his own natal magic weapon. Before leaving, he gave the "Nine Nether Hammer" replica magic weapon to Zhang Xiaobai to help him complete the sect's mission and save his father.

In the end, nothing too unexpected happened. Even though there were many dangerous situations along the way, the "Nine Nether Hammer" was so powerful that the mission was completed without any major incidents.

Later, Zhang Xiaobai's cultivation level even improved! He successfully broke through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and became one of the few cultivators on White Feather Island who had the opportunity to reach the Core Formation stage.

Then~

Everything came to an abrupt end. During a battle with a rival sect, Zhang Xiaobai somehow attracted the attention of a Core Formation cultivator from the enemy sect! With just a casual slap, Zhang Xiaobai's meridians were severed, and he lost all his cultivation!

Fortunately, even without cultivation, Zhang Xiaobai was once a Foundation Establishment cultivator, and even if his lifespan was damaged, it was enough for him to live for many more years.

Then, decades passed quickly, and fate was so coincidental that after Qin Fang returned to the vicinity, he met Zhang Xiaobai, who had a full head of white hair and a pale face.

Qin Fang had no choice but to lie and say that he was a descendant of himself, and casually fooled the situation.

Similarly, it was only natural that they became connected with the Zhang family, and they interacted quite frequently.

Zhang Xiaobai seemed to have treated Qin Fang very well because of the old saying about "retirement in old age," and could almost be described as granting every request.

Over time, Qin Fang's relationship with the Zhang family descendants deepened considerably.

"I already asked—"

"But Grandpa absolutely refused to tell me!"

Zhang Yunhu looked distressed, clearly having been humiliated by his grandfather.

"Your grandfather has his reasons for not telling you."

"My family did indeed have cultivators in the past, but the techniques have long been lost, so I can't help you now."

Qin Fang said calmly.

The chubby-faced boy in front of me isn't without spiritual roots—Zhang Xiaobai's ability to advance to the Foundation Establishment stage back then shows that his aptitude wasn't too bad.

Now that this child is a descendant of Zhang Xiaobai, even if his spiritual root is not as good as his grandfather's, he still possesses a spiritual root.

Qin Fang could guess why Zhang Xiaobai did not want his descendants to enter the path of immortality!

That's not it—the enemy who injured him back then is still alive and well! If his descendants enter the cultivation world, who knows if they will be targeted by the enemy.

You should know that person was a Core Formation stage cultivator!

In just a few decades, Zhang Xiaobai, who had lost all his cultivation at the Foundation Establishment stage, was still alive and well, so the other party was naturally still alive and well.

"Huh? Brother Qin didn't have any either—"

Zhang Yunhu looked utterly disappointed.

"Go back now, and remember to catch two big, fat fish."

Qin Fang waved his hand.

Since Zhang Xiaobai doesn't want his descendants to enter the Daoist path, why should he get involved?

"oh----"

Zhang Yunhu left listlessly.

A few days later.

Sitting opposite Qin Fang was a frail old man; were it not for his still-spirited appearance, one might easily mistake him for someone on the verge of death.

"This is?"

A strange light flashed in Qin Fang's eyes.

"This was given to me by Uncle Qin—your grandfather—back then."

"We agreed that I would make up for it later when I earned more spirit stones."

"It was just that the journey home was delayed for a long time, and when I returned to Tianxing City, Uncle Qin had already disappeared. I have always felt regretful about this."

"Now I hear from Tiger that you seem to have lost the transmission of your martial arts?"

"Only then did I intend to return this item to its rightful owner! And I'll also include three introductory texts on the Dao—"

"I am now a cripple and cannot detect whether you possess spiritual roots, so you may try these three cultivation methods one by one!"

"If your spiritual roots are incompatible, this old man will try to find two other cultivation techniques that correspond to the five elements!"

The aged Zhang Xiaobai placed a small hammer and three green-covered books on the table.

For a moment, Qin felt a mix of emotions.

"Back then, I promised your grandfather that I would take care of him in his old age—but in the end, I broke my promise. Although it wasn't my fault, I was still punished by heaven and lost all my cultivation—"

Zhang Xiaobai's lips trembled slightly.

"You~"

"What's given away can't be asked for back."

Qin Fang's sudden words made Zhang Xiaobai, who was immersed in the past, feel as if he had been transported to another world.

Zhang Xiaobai raised his head, looking at the young man in front of him with a mixture of surprise and hesitation in his eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't you recognize me?"

Qin Fang activated the concealment technique, making himself appear old again.

"Uncle Qin!!"

Zhang Xiaobai was as if he had seen a ghost, but soon—after all, he was a cultivator who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage—he naturally understood everything immediately.

"Little White~ Greetings, Senior!"

Even though his body was no longer light, Zhang Xiaobai still gave a proper bow.

At this point, there's nothing left to misunderstand!

The Qin Uncle from back then has reappeared, and his face is several times younger than before—he really can't think of any other possibility except that the other party is a high-level cultivator with profound cultivation.

"Alright~!"

"I never expected that you would send me a cultivation technique just because of a casual remark I made—"

"Since you possess the cultivation method, why did you refuse to give it to your grandson when he asked for it?"

Qin Fang gently lifted his hand upwards and straightened Zhang Xiaobai.

"this----"

"Actually, it has something to do with my enemy from back then."

"Back then, in my youthful arrogance, I shared a crush on a female cultivator with a Foundation Establishment cultivator from the enemy sect—"

"They fought several times out of jealousy and rivalry."

"But in the end, that man was one step ahead and won the beauty's heart first. Later, he even took advantage of the marriage alliance to forcibly achieve the formation of the Golden Core."

"after----"

Now that Zhang Xiaobai is older, he has become more open-minded about everything. He doesn't try to hide his embarrassing past from Qin Fang at all.

"The person who competed with you for the girl was able to form a Core Formation, so your strength back then probably wasn't even at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, right?"

Qin Fang asked curiously.

"Yes, senior, your insight is truly remarkable!"

"Even my son only knows that I broke through to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, but he doesn't know that I was just one step away from reaching the Pseudo-Core stage."

"Back then, I was attracted to that person because of his family background—I was truly blinded by greed!"

Zhang Xiaobai smiled wryly.

"So, you're saying you don't allow your descendants to cultivate because you're worried about retaliation from that Core Formation cultivator?"

Qin Fang asked again.

"Yes, the reason I survived is because that person wanted to intimidate the other cultivators—"

"Over the years, even though the other party has paid much less attention to me, I still have a vague feeling that someone is secretly spying on me."

"If Tiger and the others really were to cultivate immortality, I'm afraid—"

Zhang Xiaobai answered again.

"What is the name of that Core Formation cultivator? And what is their current cultivation level?"

Qin Fang suddenly spoke.

"Senior, you—"

Zhang Xiaobai was extremely shocked. He had thought that Uncle Qin was just curious about his experiences over the years and asked the question casually.

But I never expected this!

"Since you have returned this item to me—and even brought these three manuals with you."

"I am—"

"I see!!!"

Qin Fang wanted to explain to Zhang Xiaobai why he wanted to help him.

Zhang Xiaobai's meridians were completely severed, and his dantian had been thoroughly destroyed, so Qin Fang was unable to heal him.

Therefore, it is impossible for him to regain his cultivation level, so let his worries disappear completely!

But to Qin Fang's surprise—

The moment this thought crossed his mind, the bottleneck of the third level of the Great Evolution Technique, which he had been completely clueless about, began to loosen.

"I see!"

Qin Fang finally understood why he had suddenly had this whim and why he had to undergo the "worldly trials" ahead of schedule!

At that moment, he understood everything!

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