Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments-Chapter 79 - 77: Natural and Man-made Disasters - Calamity at Wind Howl Mountain

Chapter 79: Chapter 77: Natural and Man-made Disasters - Calamity at Wind Howl Mountain

After acquiring the Sword Bamboo, Xiao Chen flatly refused the Xiong Family’s invitation.

He had achieved his goal and had no interest in the upcoming matchmaking event the Xiong Family was holding.

Although the Xiong Family hinted they would be selecting a talented young man to be engaged into their family, he had no desire to become a live-in son-in-law.

He rejected the invitations from the other families as well.

On this trip to Shattered Stone Valley, he had tasted the specialty Spirit Wine, dealt with One-Eyed, repaired the Cyan Gourd, and bought the Thousand-Year Sword Bamboo. It was, by all accounts, a worthwhile journey.

He’d been away for nearly a month, and it was time to head back.

’Since I’m already here, I might as well bring back some local specialties.’

Walking through the small town outside the valley, Xiao Chen saw that even more stalls had been set up along the street.

But surprisingly, as his eyes swept over both sides of the street, he didn’t spot a single vendor selling Spirit Grass.

He walked a while longer, almost to the edge of town, but still hadn’t seen a single one.

That was very strange.

Xiao Chen spotted a Loose Cultivator selling elixirs. He walked over, picked up a bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills, and asked, "Friend, are you an Alchemist?"

The man shook his head. "An Alchemist? Hardly. I’ve only learned a bit of the craft, just enough to scrape by. How many bottles can I get for you, Senior?"

"It’s ten Spirit Stones for a bottle of Qi Nourishing Pills. If you buy two bottles, I can take five grains of Spiritual Sand off the price."

Xiao Chen was shocked. "Ten Spirit Stones? Since when is that the price?"

Compared to two years ago, when they were five Spirit Stones a bottle, the price had doubled.

While some Cultivators could afford to take Qi Nourishing Pills, or even Qi Gathering Pills, like they were meals...

...the truth was that for low-level Loose Cultivators, they would only use a Spirit Pill on special occasions.

Some Loose Cultivators at the Early Stage of Qi Refining would often have to pool their money just to buy one bottle to split among themselves.

With the previous, continuous price hikes, many Cultivators already couldn’t afford them.

He truly never expected the price could continue to rise.

The stall owner explained with a bitter smile, "You may not know this, friend, but here in Li State, there are two main places that produce common Spirit Grass in abundance: Pingyuan County and Bigfoot Basin."

Xiao Chen actually knew of it; Bigfoot Basin was a natural basin located southwest of the Azure Flame Sect, amidst a cluster of volcanoes. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

It was named Bigfoot Basin because, from the sky, its overall shape resembled a giant footprint.

The stall owner sighed. "But just before the year’s end, on the twenty-ninth day of the twelfth lunar month, earthfire suddenly erupted. The entire Spirit Grass harvest in the basin was completely wiped out."

"And that’s not all. Last month, the Pingyuan area was raided by a group of Tribulation Cultivators."

"It’s said that if a powerful Foundation Establishment Cultivator from the local Liu Family hadn’t intervened and forced the lead Foundation Establishment Tribulation Cultivator to retreat, every last bit of Spirit Grass would have been destroyed."

"So it’s not that elixir prices are just rising; the truth is, the Spirit Grass supply has been completely cut off."

HISS!

’This is pretty serious.’

Granted, many families had their own Spirit Fields, but it was doubtful they were even enough for self-sufficiency.

The Spirit Grass shortage across all of Li State would likely be difficult to alleviate for the next several years.

Xiao Chen couldn’t help but frown. This was not good news.

At the same time, he was a little puzzled. He had already heard about Pingyuan being hit by Tribulation Cultivators last autumn, during the last Spirit Grass price hike.

He hadn’t expected them to come again this spring, and from the sound of it, there was even a Foundation Establishment Cultivator among them.

’What on earth are they after?’

’Logically, if they were going to rob something, it should be elixirs or Spirit Stones. Why keep targeting Spirit Grass?’

’There had to be a key clue here, something he just didn’t know yet.’

’Natural disasters and man-made calamities... Chaos is bound to follow.’

Xiao Chen instantly lost all interest in picking out souvenirs and hurriedly left Shattered Stone Valley.

「Not long after he left.」

Lu Wuqiang, Hall Master of the Azure Flame Sect’s Dark Hall, burst into the courtyard Xiao Chen had rented, a group of subordinates at his heels.

"Where is he? Gone already?"

CRACK!

Lu Wuqiang slapped a subordinate so hard that blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. "Useless! What the hell do I keep you idiots around for?"

"A target that big shows up in our Azure Flame Sect’s territory, and you motherfuckers wait until after he’s left to tell me?"

The other subordinates were frozen in fear, not daring to make a sound.

Only the head of the Dark Hall’s Shattered Stone Valley branch dared to stammer an explanation, "Boss, I asked around. That Xiao Chen hid in his courtyard the moment he arrived and didn’t come out for ten days."

"There have been so many new faces lately, it was really hard to spot him."

Lu Wuqiang kicked him. "Still making excuses for me? I beat him, not you. You got an itch for a beating too, huh?"

"HUFF... Also, send someone to find the Tian Family’s Three Brothers! Ask them what the hell they’re paid for!"

"Why didn’t they send word the moment Xiao Chen left the sect?"

"And one more thing. I’m giving them one more month. If they can’t take care of Xiao Chen before the seventh month, they don’t need to bother coming back."

「Twelve days later.」

Xiao Chen traveled over mountains and across rivers, eventually arriving at Wind Howl Mountain, four hundred li south of the Li Huo Sect.

He had only intended to get his bearings from the summit.

But from there, he happened to see massive, rolling black clouds about twenty li to the east. They shrouded more than half a village, with plumes of poisonous smoke rising from within.

At the uncovered entrance to the village, the bodies of villagers lay scattered everywhere.

Demonic Cultivators in black robes were collecting blood in wooden buckets.

Xiao Chen rubbed his eyes, then pinched his arm.

’For a second, he wondered if he was dreaming. How could he just run into Demon Cultivators in broad daylight?’

’He’d only been gone a month, so why did it feel like decades had passed?’

’Where are the Li Huo Sect’s Cultivators?’

’At this distance, the sect should have been able to detect the disturbance in time.’

Thinking of this, he looked up at the large black cloud. ’Could it be that they’re already trapped inside?’

With that thought, Xiao Chen began to sneak in that direction.

As he neared the village entrance, he found, just as he’d expected, a large number of lingering traces from recently cast Magic.

He could even clearly make out the remnants of the Li Huo True Decision, cultivated by Inner Sect Disciples, and the Water Explosion Technique favored by his martial brothers from Bishui Peak.

Instead of rushing forward, he took a moment to recall the Heart Method Mantra for the Stargazing and Qi Observation Skill.

Xiao Chen, a bit out of practice, used the Qi Observation Technique to examine the Demon Cultivators at the village entrance.

’To be honest, ever since he’d obtained the Qi Observation Technique, he’d had almost no opportunity to use the skill.’

’Its sole purpose, after all, was to gauge an enemy’s strength.’

’But in his previous battles... the enemy had always struck first, forcing him to retaliate without any need for prior investigation.’

Through the lens of the Qi Observation Technique, everything else between heaven and earth faded away, leaving only the gathering and flowing of different forms of Spiritual Qi.

The three Demon Cultivators at the village entrance appeared as three humanoid masses of Spiritual Qi.

’Just three at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining?’

Xiao Chen was stunned. ’That’s it?’

He turned his gaze toward the village proper, but what he saw there was no longer a mass of black clouds.

It was clearly thousands upon thousands of tormented souls, struggling desperately and screaming in silence.

Among them were six spots where the Spiritual Qi was especially dense, each one radiating fluctuations equivalent to the Late Stage of Qi Refining.