63: Chapter 63: A Bountiful Harvest

The secret room was filled with a faint earthy stench.

Qi Yang took off the sallow human-skin mask on his face, removed his night-suit, and changed into that ragged hemp robe reeking of sour sweat.

Only at this moment did his taut nerves completely relax.

"Phew... That was close. The backlash of a Qi Condensation 11th Layer, even one suffering from Qi Deviation, almost shattered my protective spiritual light."

Qi Yang exhaled a long breath of turbid air and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.

Although that strike earlier was swift and decisive, the out-of-control Spiritual Qi inside Deacon Pan Ping still vibrated through the Scythe of the Grim Reaper.

If not for the Five Elements Grindstone formed by his Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Roots forcibly dispersing most of the force, he probably would have suffered significant internal injuries by now.

"The gap in Realms is truly like a heavenly chasm. My Qi Condensation 9th Layer cultivation is still too forced against a Qi Condensation 11th Layer."

Qi Yang muttered to himself, a glint of solemnity flashing in his eyes.

He knew very well in his heart that being able to kill Deacon Pan Ping this time relied entirely on scheming and a sneak attack.

If the two had faced off directly in an open fight, even if Deacon Pan Ping stood still and let him attack, his Spiritual Qi would have been hard-pressed to pierce the thick Protective Aura of a Qi Condensation 11th Layer.

"To survive in this man-eating Cultivation World, I must push my cultivation to the Qi Refining Tenth Layer as soon as possible! Only when my Spiritual Qi begins to liquefy will I truly have a life-saving trump card!"

Qi Yang turned around and heavily slammed Deacon Pan Ping's Storage Pouch and that Storage Ring onto the bronze stone platform.

Clatter!

Accompanied by a burst of dazzling spiritual light, the stone platform in the secret room was submerged by a mountain of resources!

"Hiss... This grandson is simply dripping with wealth!"

Qi Yang gasped, a terrifying sharp light bursting from his cloudy old eyes.

Deacon Pan Ping had been running smuggling operations for three years, scraping away nearly half the profits of the Materials Hall.

On the stone platform, a full thirty thousand Low-Grade Spirit Stones were piled into a small mountain!

Even an inner sect Personal Disciple would go mad with envy seeing such a massive fortune.

Besides the Spirit Stones, there were dozens of jade boxes Sealed with Formations, containing Second-Grade Spirit Medicines and precious Ores rarely seen in the outside world.

What excited Qi Yang even more was that he found three jade caskets with black Seals stuck on them in a corner of the Storage Ring.

Qi Yang carefully tore off the Seals and opened the jade caskets.

A pungent foul stench mixed with a sickening bloody malevolent aura rapidly permeated the entire secret room.

Inside the three jade caskets were a jet-black bone-corroding demon vine, a century-old miasma inner core emitting dark green poisonous gas, and half a bloody flesh lingzhi still wriggling slightly!

"Top-grade poison and malevolence spirit materials! These are priceless treasures for refining Second-Grade deadly poisons!"

Qi Yang was so excited that his hands were trembling.

Any single one of these three items could sell for an astronomical price in the black market.

Deacon Pan Ping obviously intended to smuggle these things to demonic Cultivators in exchange for Barrier-Breaking Pills, but now they all benefited Qi Yang!

"With these resources, plus my black gourd, breaking through to the Qi Refining Tenth Layer is just around the corner!"

Qi Yang decisively pulled out the black gourd, dripped out that mysterious emerald green liquid, and began frantically ripening these top-grade poisonous plants.

He wanted to transform all of Deacon Pan Ping's legacy into the domineering and unmatched Poison Wood Spiritual Power in his body!

For the following period, the Nether Grass Field was surprisingly peaceful.

Deacon Pan Ping's death created a ripple before subsiding into total silence.

The Spirit Plant House sent a new steward to take over. Knowing that the Nether Grass Field was a miserable chore, the steward didn't even bother to come take a look. As long as Qi Yang handed over his required quota on time every month, he left him to fend for himself in this remote corner.

This was precisely the low-profile survival lifestyle Qi Yang craved.

By day, he carried a hoe in the field, pretending to weed and water, looking just like an old farmer with one foot in the grave.

By night, he burrowed into the underground secret room, swallowing those ripened Second-Grade deadly poisonous Spirit Plants raw like a madman!

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

Muffled rumblings echoed from the secret room every night.

The Five Elements Grindstone in Qi Yang's body ran on overload, grinding down and transforming those lethal toxins bit by bit.

Under the impact of a massive quantity of top-grade poisons, his Qi Condensation 9th Layer cultivation began to steadily rise.

At noon on this day, Qi Yang had just emerged from the underground secret room and was squatting in front of his thatched hut gnawing on a hard, dry coarse-flour bun, when a crisp sword chime suddenly sounded from the sky.

A cold sword light pierced through the clouds and landed steadily outside the Nether Grass Field.

The newcomer wore a moon-white long dress, carried a sword on her back, and had waterfall-like black hair.

Her exquisitely beautiful face carried a coldness that repelled people thousands of miles away; she was none other than the Personal Disciple of Jianzhi Peak, Su Qinghan.

"What brings Fairy to this old man's desolate wilderness?"

Qi Yang hurriedly put down the bun in his hand, wiped his hands on his ragged hemp robe, hunched his back, and greeted her with a face full of smiles.

Looking at Qi Yang's endlessly timid and submissive demeanor, Su Qinghan's eyes flickered with a hint of complexity.

Although she had no feelings for this nominal useless husband of hers, Qi Yang had at least given her a place to stay when she was at her lowest.

"Just passing by, thought I'd stop to see if your old bones have fallen apart yet."

Su Qinghan's tone was cold as she casually threw a bulging Storage Pouch into Qi Yang's arms.

"In here are fifty catties of flesh and blood from a Second-Order Spirit Demon, along with a few bottles of Medicinal Pills to replenish Qi and blood."

"The inner sect hasn't been peaceful lately. Deacon Pan Ping, the Materials Hall deacon, died from Qi Deviation, and the Law Enforcement Hall is grabbing scapegoats everywhere. Your place is remote, so behave yourself and don't wander around causing trouble."

Taking the Storage Pouch, Qi Yang felt a slight warmth in his heart.

Though this girl's mouth was cold, the meat and medicine delivered to his doorstep were genuine.

In a place like the Cultivation World where human warmth was thin, having someone remember to bring you a bite to eat was already unprecedented.

"Thank you for the reward, Fairy! Fairy is truly this old man's living Bodhisattva! This old man will definitely stay obediently in the grass field and go nowhere!"

Holding the Storage Pouch with both hands, Qi Yang put on a tearful show of gratitude and bowed repeatedly.

Seeing his humble demeanor, Su Qinghan frowned slightly.

She actually really wanted to tell Qi Yang that her current cultivation had completely stabilized at the Qi Refining Tenth Layer, and she had even vaguely touched the threshold of the Qi Condensation 11th Layer.

As a Genius with a purified Three-element Profound Spiritual Root, her status on Jianzhi Peak was at its Peak.

If Qi Yang were willing, she could easily use her connections to transfer him to an easy position with abundant Spiritual Qi that required no hard labor.

But the words reached her lips, and she swallowed them back down.

In the Cultivation World, the strong preyed on the weak. For a hundred-year-old with a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Roots like Qi Yang, being suddenly transferred to a lucrative position would definitely attract endless jealousy and covert attacks.

With his meager Qi Condensation Third Layer cultivation, he probably wouldn't even know how he died.

Remaining in this remote and ignored Nether Grass Field was perhaps the best destination for a low-level Cultivator like him.

"If you encounter any trouble you can't resolve, remember to crush the communication Jade Slip I gave you."

Leaving behind those words, Su Qinghan turned around and transformed into a streak of sword light, soaring into the sky.

Watching Su Qinghan vanish into the clouds, the silly smile on Qi Yang's face slowly faded, replaced by a deep and sharp glint in his cloudy old eyes.

"A Peak Qi Refining Tenth Layer Sword Intent... This girl's talent really makes one envious."

Qi Yang weighed the Storage Pouch in his hand and smiled slightly.

For Geniuses with Dual Spiritual Roots or Three Spiritual Roots, as long as resources were piled on them, making a Breakthrough in Realm was like water flowing naturally into a channel.

Whereas for a Five-Element Mixed Spiritual Roots like him, even with a Heaven-Defying treasure like the black gourd in his hands, he still had to risk his life, repeatedly hovering on the edge between life and death, just to make a painful step forward.

"But it doesn't matter. As long as I don't die, there will come a day when I surpass each and every one of you Geniuses!"

Qi Yang turned around, walked into the thatched hut, locked the wooden door, and immediately pressed the mechanism under the bed.

Walking down the stone steps into the underground secret room, Qi Yang casually tossed aside the Second-Order Spirit Demon flesh and blood sent by Su Qinghan.

These things were a great supplement for ordinary Cultivators, but for a poison Cultivator like him practicing the Five Poisons Nourishing Spirit Art, the effect wasn't even as substantial as a century-old heartbreak grass.

He sat cross-legged on the bronze stone platform, with the three top-grade poison and malevolence spirit materials captured from Deacon Pan Ping placed in front of him.