Chapter 96

While Yang Junlu's brothers were still calculating the amount of spiritual materials collected by Yang Junshan, they did not know that Yang Junshan had no intention of finding that "Master Fei" to refine the magical artifacts. He would rather find someone who had never refined a magical artifact before but could become a true master of artifact refinement in the future, even if that Ouyang Xulin wasted all the spiritual materials he had prepared.

Yang Junshan walked through the civilian residential area, about to leave, when he suddenly stopped and looked far away. A green-clad figure flashed past a lane entrance, and the large bald head left a deep impression on Yang Junshan.

"Someone from the Shijia clan? It seems the timing is about right!"

Yang Junshan frowned, thinking about something, then took two steps back to a dark corner and silently stared at the wooden door the figure had entered. If his guess was correct, the person should come out soon.

Sure enough, not even a cup of tea had passed when the wooden door opened again. This time, Yang Junshan saw clearly that a middle-aged Shijia clan cultivator with a compassionate expression walked out, turned around, and bowed with clasped hands.

A fifty-year-old civilian woman stood on the steps, holding something in her hands, and spoke with great respect. The Shijia clan cultivator seemed to refuse, but the woman's expression suddenly became agitated. The cultivator then bowed in gratitude, took out a bowl from his shoulder bag, and the woman carefully placed the item she was holding into the bowl—it was a handful of spirit grains.

The Shijia clan cultivator then turned and left, and the woman bowed deeply to his back as he walked away before returning to the courtyard and closing the wooden door.

Yang Junshan emerged from the corner, gazed in the direction the Shijia clan cultivator had left, pondered for a moment, and then secretly followed him.

The world had undergone a great change, and the invasion by the demon clan had already been witnessed by Yang Junshan. He did not expect that the Shijia clan would appear so quickly and even begin to spread their teachings and collect alms in a county town. Did they not fear arousing the vigilance of the Heaven-Shaking Sect and the powerful families in Chenyu County?

The Shijia clan does not engage in production. They gather followers and rely on the freely donated cultivation resources from their followers to cultivate. Each Shijia clan member, after stepping onto the path of cultivation, will seek and gather their own followers. These followers can be anyone, civilians or cultivators. As long as you have the ability, even a True Human Realm cultivator can become your follower, which is not impossible.

After reaching a certain level of cultivation with the support of these followers, they will choose qualified, determined, and loyal believers from among their followers, grant them cultivation techniques, and transform them into Shijia clan members. These new members will then gather more followers and absorb cultivation resources, ...

This hierarchical accumulation, strict organization, and tight structure allow the Shijia clan to form a vast and intricate network, possessing formidable hidden power. Each Shijia clan member can easily accumulate a large amount of cultivation resources that are highly desirable.

In the previous life, after the great change in the world, the Shijia clan was the fastest-growing and the first to integrate with the native forces of the cultivation world.

Just as the cultivation world originally had no demon clan, the Shijia clan did not exist in the cultivation world either. However, they now appear. According to Yang Junshan's knowledge from his previous life, there are two possible reasons: one is that a cultivator was directly enlightened by a Shijia clan great adept using the great power of enlightenment in dreams and was transformed into a Shijia clan cultivator; the second is that a Shijia clan great adept had already laid out plans many years ago, personally reincarnated into this world, and is now secretly spreading teachings and gathering followers as a reincarnated spirit child.

However, from Yang Junshan's perspective, the leader behind this Shijia clan cultivator is most likely to have been enlightened through the first method, and the enlightened Shijia clan cultivator is probably a martial realm cultivator who was originally a wandering cultivator.

After all, it is too difficult to enlighten a True Human Realm cultivator, and enlightening a civilian realm cultivator would be a waste. A martial realm cultivator is the most suitable, but this martial realm cultivator cannot have a complicated background, otherwise, it would be easy to be discovered. Therefore, wandering martial realm cultivators are the most suitable.

Perhaps because of this, the low-ranking Shijia clan cultivator that Yang Junshan was following had fallen to the point of gathering civilian followers and only receiving a handful of spirit grains when collecting alms, which is far more pitiful compared to the Shijia clan cultivators from his previous life.

As for the reincarnated spirit child, it is a significant matter, and only a Shijia clan great adept can perform this technique. These great adepts are very precious and will not risk entering this unfamiliar cultivation world unless it is absolutely necessary or there is a great benefit.

Yang Junshan secretly followed this Shijia clan cultivator through the county town and found that he mostly interacted with civilians and low-ranking civilian realm cultivators. These people showed great respect when they saw him, and the alms he collected were sometimes a handful or a bowl of spirit grains, sometimes a few stone coins, and sometimes a bowl of leftover spirit grain rice. He did not mind and ate it directly.

Moreover, this person clearly tried to conceal his movements. In crowded places, he behaved like an ordinary person, and when he met his followers, they would often meet in secluded areas and greet each other with Shijia clan etiquette.

Thus, Yang Junshan followed this person for two to three hours until the sky grew dark, and he headed out of the city.

After leaving the county town, the person did not walk on the main road but headed towards the wilderness. In the distance, a wooden house could be seen at the foot of the mountain, resembling a hunter's residence. The person flashed into the wooden house, and a moment later, a flickering light emerged from the house.

At this moment, Yang Junshan approached the wooden house like a large insect silently stalking its prey, moving quickly without making a sound.

After entering the wooden house, the person carefully placed his shoulder bag and then stood respectfully in front of an altar in the center of the house, holding three incense sticks. His hands glowed, and the tips of the incense sticks suddenly lit up, and three wisps of smoke rose three inches before slowly drifting towards the altar.

"Disciple Xingshen reports to the Master. It has been three months since I last reported. In Chenyu County, I have gathered 117 followers. Apart from my daily expenses, I have collected five stones and seven dou of spirit grains, four jade coins, 509 stone coins, 29 types of spirit herbs, and various spirit materials and minerals. In seven days, I will personally deliver the collected cultivation resources to Niu Shou Mountain. Please send someone to meet me."

After saying this, Xingshen bowed and said, "It is not that I am lazy, but Chenyu County has suffered from disasters for the past two years. Civilians are poor, and cultivators are struggling, making cultivation resources extremely scarce. I have the intention but lack the means, and I dare not over-exploit to avoid drawing the attention of the Heaven-Shaking Sect and the powerful families in the county. Please understand, Master."

After Xingshen finished speaking, the three incense sticks had burned halfway. He inserted the remaining incense into the incense burner in front of the altar and knelt before it until the smoke from the incense no longer drifted towards the altar.

Xingshen sighed in relief but waited until the remaining incense completely burned out before jumping up from the ground and said with a hint of fear, "Fortunately, the Master did not blame me. It seems my guess was correct. The other disciples' harvests are not much better. This will save a significant amount of cultivation resources. Once I become a Master, I will have the qualifications to enlighten disciples. Even if I cannot be on equal footing with the Master, at least I will have the power to protect myself."

Xingshen walked around the room, muttering to himself, "Sigh, if I could enlighten some high-status cultivators, the accumulation of cultivation resources would certainly speed up. Unfortunately, my current cultivation is not sufficient, so I must be cautious. However, the current rate of accumulating cultivation resources is still too slow. I need to urge my followers to contribute two-thirds of their earnings every five days and expand the number of followers. When I become a Master, I can enlighten more disciples."

At this moment, a sigh suddenly came from outside the house, "Sigh, the Shijia clan is truly shameless!"

Xingshen was startled and punched in the direction of the sound, shouting, "Who is out there, pretending to be a deity!"

A yellowish spiritual light shot from Xingshen's fist, and with a "crash," a one-foot hole appeared in the wooden wall. Night wind rushed into the house through the hole, and there was nothing but the howling wind outside.

The wooden window of the house kept opening and closing, and the light inside had already gone out. Xingshen jumped out of the house and rubbed his index and middle fingers over his eyes, which glowed faintly in the darkness.

Just as Xingshen could see clearly in the darkness, two small projectiles whistled through the air towards his eyes.

Xingshen snorted and suddenly opened his right palm, a "卍" symbol glowing yellowish in his palm, and he slapped it out. The two projectiles exploded in mid-air before they could reach him.

However, before Xingshen could relax, the fragments of the exploded projectiles flew towards his face. Realizing he had been tricked, Xingshen shouted and, without knowing when, had already taken off his monk's robe and swung it in the air, wrapping all the fragments in the robe.

At this moment, a figure suddenly flashed from behind the wooden house, leaping several dozen feet in an instant and landing behind Xingshen. By the time he noticed, it was too late. The figure suddenly extended a finger and pointed at Xingshen's back, and a voice exploded in his ear, "Shatter!"

A dull thud sounded from Xingshen's chest. His eyes bulged, and he spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with internal organ fragments, collapsing to the ground like a mountain.

---

(End of the chapter)