Chapter 49 - 49: Great Rift i

Chapter 49: Great Rift i

Translator: 549690339

Tonight’s luck was average, so Wang Ba had to choose to visit more villas.

The furthest one was even close to the boundary of the Sect.

Seeing what seemed to be numerous outer disciples on patrol at the boundary, he hastily turned back.

Fortunately, in the end, he collected nearly seven hundred ill chickens, gaining almost 1,400 years of lifespan.

However, Wang Ba noticed that fewer and fewer villas could provide so many diseased chickens.

Many of the sick chickens in the villas had been taken away by people from the Purification House, while others had been sold in the market.

Only some workers who raised chickens and were opportunistic were sneaking around, secretly withholding the chickens.

This situation ended up benefiting Wang Ba.

But such benefits, Wang Ba estimated, would not last much longer.

On the way back to Ding 87 Villa, Wang Ba passed by a valley and ventured in seemingly on a whim.

Under the glow of the moonlight, his heightened senses discovered a few footprints and a flattened patch of grass where someone seemed to have sat for a long time.

After a brief silence, Wang Ba carefully restored the area to its original state before his arrival and returned to the villa.

After a night of busyness, the bright moon gradually dimmed, and the night also gradually descended into darkness.

This was the darkest moment of the day.

The now somewhat weary Wang Ba lay on his bed, unable to sleep and kept tossing and turning, which startled Jia 7 who was sleeping next to his bed.

“Cluck, cluck.”

Jia 7 lifted its drowsy eyelids, staring blankly at him.

“Go to sleep, go to sleep,” he reassured it.

Wang Ba casually stroked Jia 7’s head, then turned to his panel, hesitated for a moment, and chose to use up resources.

[Current Lifespan – 2304 years]

Completion of Stage IX of the Body Strengthening Scripture.

“Finally, Stage IX is complete!” he exclaimed.

Wang Ba felt the power surging through his body and couldn’t help feeling a sense of wonder.

He had been at the Sect for almost a year, being cautious and humble, doing his best to stay away from all conflicts.

The Body Strengthening Scripture’s Stage X, which he once thought was unattainable, was now finally within reach.

Once he completes Stage X, he will be able to condense his spirit root and step into the world of cultivators, truly qualifying for eternal life.

It’s just that he only truly understood Deacon Li’s words at this moment.

“If you get a chance to practice up to Stage IX, you’ll understand…”

He certainly understood now.

At this moment, all his body’s meridians and acupoints were fully connected.

If he were a mortal, it would be as if he’d successfully activated the Ren and Du meridians, a rare martial arts genius.

But it also means that the common practice of using seeds of various grades of Meridian Grass to quickly improve the Strong Body Scripture is no longer effective.

Everyone was back at the same starting point, reliant only on their talent to go through the long cultivation of Stage X, which took 512 years.

Of course, some people take more time, and some less.

But again, how many people’s talents could easily make up for five hundred years of cultivation?

Even if there were, by the time they trained, they would probably be on the verge of old age.

How to speak of becoming a Sect Disciple, the pursuit of immortal answers.

That is almost an insurmountable gulf faced by all mortals who have completed Stage IX of the Body Strengthening Scripture.

Concerning this point, Wang Ba looked at his own panel.

[Current Lifespan: 247.9 years]

[Consumable items: “Body Strengthening Scripture” Stage X, considering the comprehensive qualification and root bone, it is estimated to take 4608 years]

Well, no problem.

He was worried when he listened to Deacon Li’s words earlier, fearing something might go wrong.

As it turned out, it was nothing more than lifespan.

At this point, as long as he continued to collect Precious Chickens methodically, converting them into lifespan, he had a chance of quickly condensing his spirit root.

This was the most significant piece of good news he had received in recent times.

Just six more days, after these six days, there will be light at the end of the tunnel!”

Through the brand-new lattice window, Wang Ba saw a faint light beginning to show at the edge of the sky.

Dawn was about to break.

Early in the morning, Wang Ba got up to clean the villa.

With the breakthrough of the Body Strengthening Scripture, he felt more and more energetic, even with little sleep night, he could recover his energy quickly.

In his spare time, he continued with Jia 7’s early training.

The power of food is infinite.

Jia 7, who was obsessed with the Tendon-Cutting Silkworm, flawlessly carried out every command Wang Ba gave.

Especially the action of providing “Cover” was trained to perfection.

But he didn’t let Jia 7 stay out too long and let it return to its room, ready for any commands at any time.

“Regrettably, if only I had a Spirit Beast Bag. Then I could be ready for any unexpected occurrences at any time.”

Wang Ba thought with a hint of regret.

Of course, even if he had a Spirit Beast Bag now, he wouldn’t be able to use it without mana.

To his surprise, Old Hou came over again.

And even casually chatted with him as if he wasn’t bothered about almost killing him earlier.

“This Old Hou, 1 thought he was just a gossiper, turns out, he’s a tough character.”

Wang Ba was somewhat taken aback as he watched Old Hou ride away on his donkey cart.

But soon after, he gathered his thoughts and started his routine work of fermenting chicken feed, feeding, and cleaning.

Niu Yong, who usually collected chicken dung, didn’t show up so Wang Ba collected the chicken poop himself and set it aside.

In the afternoon, he took a couple of Spirit Chickens and some eggs with him to the West Garden market.

Having not visited for several days, Wang Ba felt that there seemed to be fewer people in the market; the entrances to various shops were less crowded, giving it a deserted vibe.

Only the talisman store, elixir shop, and magic tool shop were bristling with people unexpectedly.

The sound of peddling ran high.

“A ‘lower grade armor talisman’ that doesn’t need mana, can resist the attack of Qi Refining Stage III cultivators, priced at three lower grade spirit stones each!”

“Life-saving sacred medicine ‘Yunxian Dew’, nine lower grade spirit stones a drop, can heal flesh, even save the dead!”

“A spirit stone-filled ‘lower grade magic tool- Halo Mirror’, can resist the attack of a Qi Refining Stage IV cultivator, discounted price, starting at 20 spirit stones!”

Whenever there was a hawking, many people dressed as menial workers and deacons would raise their hands to purchase.

There were even people who were bidding higher prices.

“Brother, what’s going on here?”

Wang Ba promptly stopped a young menial worker who was trying to squeeze into the crowd.

“Stockpiling supplies!”

The young menial worker impatiently shook off Wang Ba’s hand, but upon seeing the two Precious Chicken eggs Wang Ba handed over, he quickly accepted them with a sheepish smile:

“You must be a friend from Ding Villa, no time to go out, it’s understandable that you aren’t aware of the situation.”

He then glanced around and lowered his voice:

“I heard, it’s just hearsay, I heard our Sect might be going to war!”

“War?

Upon suddenly hearing these words, Wang Ba felt a sort of disconnect and disbelief.

“It shouldn’t really be called war, it should be… starting a fight, yes, that’s it right, initiating a battle!”

The young menial worker corrected himself:

“Our Sect has supposedly been invited into a coalition by the other sects to attack others, consider if we are summoned to battle, or made to guard the Sect, in case any unsighted people decide to attack us, we all need some means to defend ourselves right!”

“That’s why recently, these talismans, elixirs, and magic tools that can be used without mana are fiercely vied for!”

Hearing this, a cold shudder ran through Wang Ba’s heart. He quickly held onto the young worker’s arm:

“Brother, then do you know which sects are joining hands with our sect? When is the battle starting? And who is the enemy?”

“Which sects?”

The young menial worker thought for a moment, “I heard the Jiuling Sect,

Mountain Sea Sect, Dari School, and Chihe Sword Sect…”

“However, when the battle starts or against whom, I don’t know. As you know, we are just menial workers. Small matters can’t escape our ears, but we will not be informed of big events.”

Wang Ba acknowledged with a nod, offered two more eggs to the worker who took them hesitantly: “I truly don’t know, but…”

Amid the squabbling noises, the young menial worker glanced around to notice everyone engrossed in making their purchases, and seeing that no one was paying any attention, he lowered his voice to barely a whisper:

“It is said, not just hearsay this time, that if menial workers like us sign up to go, and perform meritorious deeds, key figures of the Sect will reward a lot of treasures!”

“They could even let us condense spirit roots immediately, and become outer disciples!”

“Thank you!”

Wang Ba expressed his sincerity.

The young menial worker waved his hand and returned to the purchasing crowd.

Wang Ba chuckled lightly, but his heart was far from the calm depicted on his face.

Perform meritorious deeds, receive rewards from the Sect, Wang Ba didn’t care about these.

However, he had seen several of the sects mentioned by the young menial worker in the travel logs he had purchased from the bookstore.

Like the East Saint Sect, they all belong to the range of ‘Chen State’ and comprised almost all of the major sects within Chen State.

The Jiuling Sect was famous for its beast control, the Mountain Sea Sect was known for body refining, the Dari School’s contemplation methods were unique in Chen State, and Chihe Sword Sect ranked first in offense…

The East Saint Sect was among these, but it seemed a notch lower as per the travel logs.

Wang Ba vaguely remembered that in the last grand comparison of the outer disciples of Chen State, East Saint Sect had ranked last.

Given these sects coming together, what kind of enemy were they going against?

Could it be, an enemy outside of Chen State?

Still, this was far-fetched and he wasn’t really concerned about it.

The key question was, the forthcoming war, would it affect his escape plan?

“No, I have to look into this!”

Thinking about this, Wang Ba lost all interest in the buying frenzy. He quickly sold the two Spirit Chickens to the grain shop and received nearly twenty spirit stones.

Perhaps due to the approaching war and the impact of chicken pestilence, products essential for cultivation like Spirit Chickens saw a surge in price.

Next, he just disguised himself slightly and hurried towards the Nanhu Village..