Chapter 63: The Beginning

Lu Yuan controlled the Red-Footed Golden Crow and brought the little ones back to the cave abode.

As soon as they passed through the Primordial Taiyin Restriction, several Blood-Devouring Vine tendrils of varying thicknesses surrounded them.

Sensing the familiar aura of flesh-and-blood essence, the thick tendrils twisted in excitement. Blood could be seen flowing faster through the black-red vessels.

With his divine sense, Lu Yuan controlled the rotting flesh and blood he had obtained from the giant tree and tossed it toward the Blood-Devouring Vine.

Before the rotting flesh and blood could hit the ground, the thick tendrils wrapped around it. Sharp barbs, one after another, stabbed impatiently into the flesh.

Although it did not taste very fresh, unlike the ready-made materials inside the cave abode in the past, the Blood-Devouring Vine had been hungry for so long that it could no longer care about such things.

The barbs sank deep into the flesh and blood, frantically drawing out the essence and vitality within.

After feeding the Blood-Devouring Vine, Lu Yuan ordered the Python-Sparrow Eel to throw the corpses on its wings into the pool.

Once everything had been properly handled, life in the cave abode returned to its former dull and monotonous rhythm.

Most of his time was spent cultivating the many demonic beasts and weird entities inside the cave abode, controlling spirit energy to concentrate on accelerating the growth of the third-rank Sword-Nurturing Gourd and Earthfire Heart Lotus.

In order to ensure that cultivators who entered the cave abode in the future would have a stable and safe surrounding environment, Lu Yuan would occasionally go out to make some gains on the side, searching everywhere for demonic beasts and weird entities around the cave abode.

When he found demonic beasts and weird entities, Lu Yuan would usually convince them with reason. If any demonic beast or Aberration stubbornly resisted to the end, Lu Yuan would deal with it on the spot.

Those demonic beasts and weird entities that obediently listened would be brought back to the cave abode so he could see how much remaining value they had.

If the white light orb they brought was generous enough, he would let them enter and leave the cave abode a few more times, until the rewards decreased sharply.

If the rewards were not generous enough, and they did not possess special functions like the Stone Marrow Spirit that benefited the cave abode’s development and construction, then they would be dealt with inside the cave abode.

Unfortunately, for a period of time, everything that entered was ordinary stock. Lu Yuan did not think much of them, but they did let the Blood-Devouring Vine, the big-headed strange fish, the Ghost-Faced Spider, and the others eat until their faces shone with grease.

Inside the cave abode, there was only one more type of second-rank spiritual herb, several first-rank and ungraded spiritual herbs and medicines, as well as many strange and bizarre demonic beast materials.

“When it comes to rewards, you still have to look to those cultivators with deep fortune and plenty of treasures…”

Lu Yuan sighed leisurely. The leeks he had planted before had probably entered maturity, just like the Sword-Nurturing Gourd inside the cave abode, right?

It was time to harvest a round.

…

At the very edge of Cangxing City’s outer city.

Ma Mingyuan, who had changed his appearance and build, returned cautiously to his new residence.

Only after confirming again and again that he had not been followed, and that there were no traces of cultivators having entered his home, did he finally relax completely.

He sat down in front of the table, sent spiritual power into his storage bag, and took out item after item from within.

Many different kinds of spiritual herb seeds, all sorts of flying swords and ritual implements, rare and delicious dried or fresh demonic beast flesh and blood…

As he counted and calculated, he recorded every item.

Items were pulled from the storage bag in an endless stream, soon piling into a small mountain on the table. In the end, he had no choice but to place a heap on the ground as well.

With Ma Mingyuan’s wealth, he naturally could not have purchased so many materials and ritual implements. The spirit stones used to buy these things mainly came from those five palm-sized paper slips.

After he had been at risk of exposure before, Ma Mingyuan changed the way he sold the paper slips, switching from setting up a stall in the market to placing them on consignment at Hundred Treasures Pavilion.

Originally, he had thought that a mysterious paper slip of unknown use, with a reserve price set at two hundred low-grade spirit stones, might possibly fail to sell.

But to Ma Mingyuan’s surprise, all five paper slips were sold. After fees were deducted, he actually received around eighteen hundred low-grade spirit stones. The final one had probably brought in five hundred low-grade spirit stones, and even the manager of Hundred Treasures Pavilion had seemed somewhat surprised during the handover.

With so many spirit stones in hand, it was impossible for Ma Mingyuan not to feel some improper thoughts. But the moment he thought of that powerful, mysterious Paper Figure, his restless heart immediately settled down.

He did not dare gamble that the Paper Figure had no hidden measures prepared against him. Besides, he had obtained quite a few cultivation methods and treasures from the Paper Figure, and Ma Mingyuan did not want to ruin the cooperative relationship between them either.

And so, following the instructions the Paper Figure had left on the paper slips, he honestly spent all eighteen hundred low-grade spirit stones, exchanging them for large quantities of spirit seeds, flying swords, materials, and other items.

While he was still taking inventory, a sudden abnormal movement came from the storage bag, and a cold, sinister aura seeped into Ma Mingyuan’s body.

He could not help shivering, but his heart filled with delight. He took a thin paper slip out of the storage bag.

Sure enough, on the paper slip, the lines flickered between light and dark. In the upper right corner, a speck of light flashed nonstop, as though drawing Ma Mingyuan toward its location.

It was here!

With the experience of the previous two times, Ma Mingyuan took a deep breath.

His cultivation had now broken through to high-level Qi Refining, and the ritual implements in his hands had been upgraded as well. His strength had increased considerably compared to before.

He wondered what he could obtain in that secret realm this time…

Ma Mingyuan lightly shook his head, throwing away the unrealistic fantasies in his mind.

He still had to be careful and cautious. After all, whether it was the secret realm itself or the cultivators entering alongside him, both posed a great threat to him. Before entering, he had to prepare as thoroughly as he could.

At the same edge of Cangxing City’s outer city, inside a dilapidated wooden hut.

A small, pale hand gently massaged a dried corpse that was nothing but skin wrapped around bone.

Bit by bit, it stripped out the remnants of flesh and blood left within the corpse.

Strange black runes were drawn on the human skin. After countless massages, not only had the human skin not suffered any damage, it had instead become increasingly delicate and smooth, faintly carrying an eerie and indescribable vitality.

It was precisely the little boy to whom Lu Yuan had once taught the Paper-Crafting Art.

Behind the little boy, two pale Paper Figures, one tall and one short, stood silently.

After all the corpse’s flesh and blood had been removed, the little boy carefully peeled off the entire sheet of human skin and examined it closely for a moment, as though admiring a rare treasure.

Finally, he soaked the human skin in a bucket filled with an unknown liquid that bubbled crimson.

He did not quite understand it. This cultivator was already the third person this month to sneak into his residence.

Ever since his parents died, cultivators had constantly sneaked into the little boy’s home, wanting to murder him for wealth and seize the right to live in this residence.

In the end, they had all become materials for the little boy to refine Paper Figures.

Those who came in never got back out. Yet there were still cultivators who refused to give up. Perhaps it was because they saw he was only in his teens? The little boy could only guess that.

As he was guessing, the little boy suddenly sensed a familiar aura coming from inside the room. Following the source of the aura, he opened a drawer. A thin paper slip was flickering faintly.

This thing…

He recalled the mysterious Paper Figure that had handed him the paper slip that day.

The thin paper slip turned over and over in the little boy’s pale palm. He seemed somewhat hesitant and conflicted.

In the end, he pressed the paper slip against his chest. The cold, sinister aura seeped into his body, yet it made him feel a sense of closeness.

He lay down on the bed with his clothes still on. The two Paper Figures, one tall and one short, swayed as they climbed onto the bed, then drifted quietly down, landing to the little boy’s left and right.

Their white paper arms rested over the little boy’s body, as if they were holding him.

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