17: Conquer Li Chengfeng

Hearing this, Shen Xi's heart stirred.

He thought of Zhao Minsheng.

At that time, Zhao Minsheng was hunted by a Two-Headed Sheep, and to avoid trouble from his father, who was a Senator, Shen Xi had given the same warning to Fatty.

Thinking of this, Shen Xi's gaze softened slightly, and he asked, "Last question, do you want to die or live?"

"You, what do you mean?" The Martial Artist was stunned, wondering if something was wrong with his ears.

"I don't want to repeat myself!" Shen Xi still maintained his indifferent expression.

"I want to live, of course I want to live!"

The Martial Artist quickly replied.

"Then eat this pill, and I can spare your life."

Shen Xi took out a brown pill from his storage bag and threw it in front of the Martial Artist.

The Martial Artist did not hesitate at all and swallowed it directly.

The worst-case scenario was just death.

With Shen Xi's strength, he had many ways to kill him, so there was no need for such an extra step.

"Very good!" Shen Xi nodded in satisfaction and continued, "I don't need to explain, you should know this is a poison, but it won't take effect for a short time."

"As long as you submit to me and take me to Zhu Feng City, when I leave Zhu Feng City, I will give you the antidote. Then we will go our separate ways and have no further connection."

"But if you dare to betray me, you will experience the agony of your flesh being gnawed by countless ants and insects, eventually dying without a complete corpse."

The Martial Artist heard this and nodded repeatedly.

"Don't worry, I promise I won't betray you."

To be able to keep his life was a great gift.

The Martial Artist naturally wouldn't seek his own death.

What he didn't know was that his filial piety saved his life.

Otherwise, Shen Xi would never have shown mercy.

"Wait for me here."

Shen Xi left these words and walked towards his subordinates.

After individually questioning each subordinate and confirming that the Martial Artist had not deceived him, he felt even more at ease.

Afterward, Shen Xi gave the brown pills to his subordinates, and after instructing them to treat the subordinate whose hands and feet he had broken, he returned to the Martial Artist's side.

"What's your name?"

Shen Xi's expression had softened considerably.

"Li Chengfeng!"

The Martial Artist answered respectfully.

"Later, I will distribute the stealth potion to you all, and you will go collect heavenly spirit stones."

Shen Xi said again.

Li Chengfeng had no dissatisfaction whatsoever. Now that they had all taken the poison, their lives were in Shen Xi's hands.

If he told them to go east, they wouldn't dare go west, let alone just collect heavenly spirit stones!

Moreover, with the stealth potion, collecting heavenly spirit stones was no longer dangerous; at most, it only consumed physical strength.

Soon, a day passed.

The subordinate whose hands and feet Shen Xi had broken quickly recovered his health, thanks to the combined effects of the healing potion and the Martial Artist's inherently strong physique.

The next morning, after the subordinates received a certain amount of stealth potion, they all left the camp and began collecting heavenly spirit stones.

Under the effect of the stealth potion, collecting heavenly spirit stones indeed became completely safe, and one drop of stealth potion was enough to collect one heavenly spirit stone, which resulted in a bountiful harvest for the subordinates.

As for Shen Xi, he did not follow the others to collect heavenly spirit stones. He focused on Cultivating in the camp; although he no longer had Yao Beast Lifespan, he would not waste any opportunity, however small, to become stronger.

In the evening, after the subordinates handed over the collected heavenly spirit stones to Shen Xi, he took out one-tenth of the total and gave it to them.

"These are your rewards for collecting heavenly spirit stones."

Seeing this, the subordinates were all stunned.

They looked at Shen Xi in disbelief, seriously wondering if something was wrong with their ears.

He actually shared a portion of the heavenly spirit stones with them?

One must know that now they had taken poison, and their lives were in Shen Xi's hands. In this Martial Artist world where the strong prey on the weak, they had no say in front of Shen Xi; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them slaves.

And yet, Shen Xi actually gave them one-tenth of today's harvest?

Don't underestimate that one-tenth; the quantity was already more than what they had collected before.

After all, when they collected heavenly spirit stones before, they had to guard against the attacks of the guardian demon spirits. Each heavenly spirit stone they collected required extreme caution, and they even had to make thorough preparations beforehand, so efficiency was naturally not high.

But now, they only needed to search for heavenly spirit stones, and collecting them had no difficulty whatsoever. Their speed had increased by an unknown number of times, and the quantity collected also increased dramatically.

Under these circumstances, even if Shen Xi only gave his subordinates one-tenth of the quantity, it was still considerably more than what they had collected before.

Moreover, this was a risk-free collection, and the subordinates didn't have to worry about encountering danger.

For a moment, the last trace of dissatisfaction in the subordinates' hearts about submitting to Shen Xi completely vanished.

On one hand, Shen Xi was stronger than them, and on the other hand, Shen Xi could bring them greater benefits.

Both aspects made the subordinates wholeheartedly convinced.

Following Shen Xi might not be a bad thing.

This was the common thought in everyone's hearts.

Days passed one by one.

Finally, this collection ended.

Although Li Chengfeng and his group were reluctant to end it, as the collection was incredibly easy and they had earned a lot, far more than they had previously earned by risking their lives, they still had no choice but to give up.

The reason was simple: the stealth potion had run out.

Continuing to collect heavenly spirit stones would mean returning to the stage of facing and fighting the guardian demon spirits.

Moreover, they had stayed for a week, and it was almost time to go back.

"Brother Shen, it's time for us to leave."

Li Chengfeng came to Shen Xi and spoke respectfully.

Shen Xi heard this and nodded: "Hmm! Just take me to your Zhu Feng City to have a look. I'm very curious what a wilderness city is like."

"No problem, Brother Li is willing to visit Zhu Feng City; it's my honor." Li Chengfeng readily agreed.

Shen Xi's impressive performance during this period had completely won him over.

Although the other party was clearly younger than him, his conduct, personal strength, and foresight were all beyond comparison.

"Tell the brothers to pack up and prepare to leave the Forbidden Ground!"

At Shen Xi's command, everyone immediately began to pack up the camp.

This camp, though it looked somewhat dilapidated, was actually a special, portable item.

Once packed, it could be compressed to the size of a fist, carried on one's person, and then deployed again when needed.