*Crack!*
A fist-sized dark mineral easily snapped in two within the massive dark-blue pincers.
The juvenile iron-clawed crab raised its two massive pincers toward Lu Xuan, its bulging eyes hinting at disdain.
"Haven't pinched for a while, huh? Your skills have improved!" Lu Xuan sighed with a smile, offering the split iron ore to the crab's pincers.
Divided into halves, quarters, and eighths, the ore visibly shrank in size at the relentless efforts of the crab, demonstrating remarkable resilience.
Accompanied by successive cracking sounds, Lu Xuan's thoughts drifted.
This invite to the hidden realm made him feel a lack of control as a freelance cultivator. Normally, he tended fields peacefully, avoiding conflicts and rely displaying his talent as a skilled cultivator of plants.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, he had established a cooperative relationship with the Hundred Herbs Hall, aligning himself with their interests despite preferring his quiet farming life.
But when the Wang family's cultivators ca knocking, he found himself unable to refuse, despite his reluctance to help identify plants within the secret realm. The helplessness of a lower-tier freelance cultivator was evident.
This experience prompted thoughts of leaving Lin Yangfang Market.
The Hundred Herbs Hall's recomndation to the Wang family, regardless of their motives, had clearly brought trouble, erasing any mutual goodwill.
However, his attitude toward Steward He remained unchanged. Over the years, the lean elderly man had genuinely cared for him.
Yet, the Wang family's loss of two high-level cultivators in the secret realm would surely lead to inquiries, possibly affecting him despite his clear conscience.
Leaving the market raised the question: where to next?
Switching to another market? It seed, to Lu Xuan, that the world was much the sa wherever one went, with restrictions unavoidable.
Finding a secluded mountainous region to cultivate plants alone? Unrealistic. Cultivating required pure spiritual energy, preferably near spiritual veins, and living solo might invite malevolent entities or beasts. Furthermore, obtaining high-tier plant species would be challenging.
Therefore, joining a sect seed the best choice.
With his current cultivation at the eighth level and exceptional plant cultivation skills, he was qualified to enter a sect.
Joining a sect had clear advantages: purer spiritual energy for plant growth, a safe environnt, and access to high-tier plants and young spiritual creatures.
With this decision, Lu Xuan imdiately thought of the Tianjian Sect ntioned by the aloof female cultivator.
With the Green Cloud Token she gifted, his entry into the sect would be smoother. Additionally, her ntion of a variant sword grass piqued his interest.
"Next, it's ti to prepare to leave the market and address the issue with the Wang family."
Standing up, he shifted his focus to the trembling juvenile crab's pincers at his feet.
At this point, the pincers trembled incessantly, raising and shaking in the air whenever a piece of iron ore approached, as if wanting to violently snap it.
Lu Xuan tossed the crab into the spirit spring pool, collected the iron ore fragnts, activated the mist-concealing array, instructed the grass puppet to tend to the spiritual fields, and set off with the Cloud-Stepping Lynx toward the Hundred Herbs Hall.
Inside the hall, fragrant dicinal scents filled the air. Lu Xuan walked in and spotted the lean old man daydreaming near the counter.
Approaching him, Lu Xuan waved a hand in front of the elder's eyes.
Steward He snapped out of it, his eyes brightening upon seeing Lu Xuan, a face wrinkled with a smile.
"Lu lad, you're finally back!"
"I heard you went to that secret realm, I've been worried. It's good you're back, good you're back," Steward He gently patted Lu Xuan's shoulder.
"Thank you for worrying, Elder He."
A warmth filled Lu Xuan as he gratefully nodded.
Glancing around, Steward He, ensuring nobody eavesdropped, whispered to Lu Xuan.
"One of the plant cultivators who entered the realm ntioned encountering malevolent entities. What truly happened?"
"That's true."
Lu Xuan nodded gravely.
"At that ti, under the guidance of a Wang family cultivator, while gathering and identifying plants, one cultivator vanished inexplicably."
"Shortly after, a high-level Wang cultivator found his companion contaminated by malevolent entities. They engaged in a deadly battle. Us plant cultivators, with lower cultivation and combat skills, feared being involved and fled separately."
"I'm not sure of the subsequent events. After escaping the realm, I managed to find a few cultivators and, luckily, we all escaped together and returned to the market."
Lu Xuan spoke truthfully, albeit omitting crucial details.
Discovering malevolent entities, reporting to Li Jianfeng, eliminating the contaminated Li Jianfeng, evading a cunning malevolent entity, and dealing with several suspicious groups of cultivators...
The biggest lie isn't nine truths and one lie but ten truths that, when combined, form a lie.
Learning from Steward He that apart from Lu Xuan, five or six other plant cultivators had returned, leaving only He Ping unaccounted for within the Hundred Herbs Hall, Lu Xuan felt sowhat relieved. His words now carried more credibility with the increased number of survivors, and the risk of bla from the Wang family beca distributed.
Pausing for a mont, feigning indecision, Lu Xuan finally, albeit reluctantly, spoke to the lean old man.
"Elder He, there's a chance He Ping might not return. When I fled, I glimpsed him being targeted by malevolent entities. It's highly likely he's t with misfortune."
"Is that so? This won't make it easy for the Wang family to explain."
He Ping had affiliations among the hall's alchemists, making his disappearance of significant concern.
"There's one more thing I must clarify. When we were gathering and identifying plants, Wang Ruhai from the Wang family, who should have stayed in the camp, ventured out alone into the realm. He got contaminated by malevolent entities, causing this calamity."
"Is this true?" Steward He asked seriously.
"The other plant cultivators can testify."
"In that case, the situation changes."
If it was rely contamination by malevolent entities, it could be dismissed as an accident, and the Wang family could rightfully inquire about the surviving cultivators.
But because Wang Ruhai neglected his duty to safeguard the plant cultivators and, instead, brought calamity due to his negligence, it absolved Lu Xuan and others from any bla.
On the contrary, the deceased plant cultivators would now be attributed to Wang Ruhai's negligence.
More than ten plant cultivators entering the realm were treasured assets to various factions in the market. Losing any of them would cause significant damage.
With the knowledge that the outco resulted from a mistake made by the Wang family's cultivator, the other factions and powers in the market would surely demand an explanation.
Amidst this conflict, there would be no ti or inclination to pursue soone like Lu Xuan, a minor freelance cultivator.
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