Cultivation Starts from Farming-Chapter 445 - 253: Choice

Seeing the token in Xu Ping’s hand, a trace of surprise flickered in the eyes of the middle-aged man, whose originally dull expression changed slightly.

"Come in."

The middle-aged man said faintly, his voice low and hoarse. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

He opened the door and stepped aside to let Xu Ping in, then gestured for Xu Ping to follow him.

Xu Ping, who was confident and daring, walked in without any hesitation.

With his current strength and understanding of arrays, this set of third-rank middle-grade arrays could indeed stop him.

Stepping into the courtyard, the layout inside was as simple and unadorned as its exterior.

A narrow stone path led deep inside, with a few unidentified plants planted on either side, appearing somewhat withered against the backdrop of yellow sand.

Following the middle-aged man through the courtyard, Xu Ping arrived at a rather spacious side room.

At this moment, the atmosphere inside the room was somewhat oppressive and tense, with more than twenty cultivators gathered, all without exception at the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Upon closer inspection, most of them were early or mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, with only five or six in the late stage.

These cultivators either stood or sat, maintaining a certain distance from each other, with occasionally glances full of scrutiny and speculation.

Seeing such a scene, Xu Ping couldn’t help but frown slightly.

He originally thought he was merely here for matters related to smuggling, but he didn’t expect to find himself in a room full of cultivators, and it seemed things were far more complex than he had imagined.

"Stay here and choose the faction you want to join. When the airship arrives, someone will naturally come to pick you up."

The wooden middle-aged man said as he handed a jade slip to Xu Ping, then turned and left the room.

His steps were steady, and his motion to close the door was light, but the faint "click" sounded particularly clear in the silent room.

"Choose a faction to join?"

Hearing this, Xu Ping frowned even more, feeling deeply puzzled.

He had always thought that as long as he paid enough Spirit Stones, he could stealthily smuggle into the Wind Country without anyone knowing. How did a step of choosing a faction suddenly appear?

This completely disrupted his original plan.

However, Xu Ping also knew clearly that in such a situation, rashly leaving would not be a wise decision, and might even unnecessarily bring a lot of trouble.

Weighing the pros and cons, he decided to suppress his inner unease and see what important information was recorded in the jade slip first.

Just as Xu Ping was about to find a corner to examine the jade slip,

a scholar-dressed cultivator walked towards him.

This person’s face was thin, his eyes carried a genteel gaze, and he wore a moon-white long robe and a black square cap, acting with a scholarly demeanor.

He walked calmly to Xu Ping, slightly bent over in salute, and communicated through Divine Sense saying, "Poor Taoist Fang Yunzi, greetings to fellow Daoist."

"I am Li Feiyu."

Xu Ping felt a stir in his heart and responded politely as well.

He thought that since this person arrived earlier, he might know the reason behind this and could potentially provide some useful information.

Subsequently, both of them tacitly moved to a corner of the room, cleverly avoiding the inquisitive glances of other cultivators, and began to communicate quietly through Divine Sense.

"I just arrived here, and I’m still not quite familiar with all this. May I ask, what exactly is this business about choosing a faction to join?" Xu Ping asked straightforwardly.

Fang Yunzi sighed lightly, looking slightly helpless, and began to explain slowly, "This journey to the Wind Country is far from as easy and simple as we initially thought."

"Originally, when the Luoyun Sect had not issued a ban, going to the Wind Country was naturally unimpeded."

"But now, the Luoyun Sect has control over the outings of cultivators."

"To enter the Wind Country, an identity token is needed, and the issuance of such tokens is made exclusively by major factions in the Wind Country."

"Therefore, if we want to head to the Wind Country, we have no choice but to form a service agreement with some of the factions in the Wind Country. Moreover, the term of service is not short, with a minimum starting at twenty years."

Saying this, he paused slightly, his gaze subtly sweeping over the other cultivators in the room, then continued:

"You see the people in this room, I fear most of them are artisans, each with their talents."

"Those factions in the Wind Country precisely value the capabilities of people like us, hence arranging such a selection."

Upon hearing this, Xu Ping immediately understood what was going on.

He realized that he might have been duped, as what was initially a simple smuggling affair had turned into selling oneself to the factions of the Wind Country.

At this moment, a wave of anger involuntarily rose in Xu Ping’s heart.

If the other side had made the stakes clear from the beginning, he might have thought this was acceptable.

But that female cultivator deliberately concealed such a crucial issue, which made him feel extremely deceived.

At this moment, he silently added another faction to his list.

However, to successfully smuggle into the Wind Country, after considering for a moment, Xu Ping decided to go with the flow and choose to join one of these factions.

After all, a twenty-year service period was not something unforgivable for the powerful Xu Ping.

Furthermore, considering his own strength, he could choose to join a relatively weaker faction.