Chapter 48 Departure
At Tulongkou in Wuliang Mountain, Xu Yuanlang waved and bowed to the clan chief and others who were seeing him off.
"Chief, there's no need to see me off."
The clan chief looked at him with some concern and handed him a storage bag. Xu Yuanlang knew that the clan chief must have prepared a spiritual item for him inside. He hurriedly shook his head, but the clan chief insisted on giving it to him.
"A poor family needs to be well-off on the road. We don't know how long it will take to get to the Cao family, so it's always good to prepare some spiritual items."
"And the family prepared these things for you so that you could return safely. Be careful on your journey."
Xu Yuanlang accepted it with emotion, and then bowed deeply to everyone.
Take care, everyone!
"You better come back safe and sound."
"Maybe I can become a Foundation Establishment cultivator."
"Uncle, come back and teach me the skills of a spirit plant grower!"
A group of people stood at Tulongkou, reluctant to wave goodbye to him. He silently turned around and waved back to them.
The mountains are high and the roads are long; who knows how many years will pass on this journey.
Only when he could no longer see Wuliang Mountain did Xu Yuanlang stop and take out the storage bag that the clan chief had prepared for him.
"One thousand spirit stones, five bottles of first-grade high-quality Qi-restoring pills, one bottle of first-grade high-quality detoxification pills, and five bottles of high-quality Yuan Qi pills."
These spirit stones and pills alone moved Xu Yuanlang deeply. His family was not well-off; an ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivator would only have a hundred or so spirit stones in their storage bag at most. The family's preparations were undeniably generous.
"A drop of kindness deserves a great return."
He turned back and bowed again in the direction of Wuliang Mountain.
The most important item in the storage bag is a few pieces of earth energy carefully packed in bamboo tubes.
The four rare earth elements—the Qi of Yinji, the Qi of Luanzhang, the Qi of Xuangu, and the Qi of Cuiwei—can be combined with one's own earth-elemental spiritual root and, after circulating the Azure Wood Soaring Dragon Technique, forge an earth-elemental natal magic weapon.
"Hmm? What is this thing?"
After carefully examining the storage bag, they finally found an exquisite jade box at the very back.
The jade box was carved with mountains and hills, and there was a special array on the surface to prevent the leakage of spiritual energy. This must have been done intentionally by the family. The array was easy to break, so Xu Yuanlang quickly opened the jade box.
A burst of light shot almost into the sky, and he instinctively closed his eyes. Only when the light faded did he see what was inside the jade box.
There were two items in total. One of them was a pitted, fist-sized black stone, from which the spiritual light just now came from.
He reached out and took it out. It was very heavy. It looked tiny, but it actually weighed several tens of kilograms. The stone was of extremely high quality, and there was a letter pressed under the stone.
The inscription read "To be opened by Yuen Long," and it was in the clan chief's handwriting. He quickly opened it.
"Yuan Lang, this thing is called the Falling Star Stone. It is a spiritual object left behind by stars that streaked across the sky. I, the clan leader, have had it for decades but it has not been of much use to me."
"Here you go. You can use it as the foundation for your natal magic weapon. Infuse it with the four elements of earth to forge your own natal magic weapon. Be careful in all things when you're out and about."
After reading the clan chief's letter, Xu Yuanlang's eyes welled up with tears.
"Chieftain, you're not one to gossip."
He carefully put the letter away, then released his spiritual power to refine the fallen star stone. Soon, under the cleansing of the spiritual power, the fallen star stone slowly shed its surface impurities and began to become increasingly profound.
Xu Yuanlang didn't have time to refine it silently, so he directly put the Falling Star Stone into his dantian and used the spiritual power in his dantian to slowly polish it.
"While traveling, first refine the Yinji Qi to form the foundation of your earth-elemental natal magic weapon."
Among the five elements, earth is the most stable, hard, and capable of bearing all things. Therefore, an earth-elemental defensive magical artifact should be crafted, so that even if one encounters a formidable enemy in the future, one can remain invincible.
As he traveled, he pondered what his defensive artifact should look like.
After spending several days, he arrived at a town called Baishangji, which was a no-man's-land for five... no, four Foundation Establishment families in the vicinity.
"Baiqi Trading Company is now recruiting guards. Requirements start at the late Qi Refining stage. The entire journey will take two years, traversing the Thousand Liang Mountains, crossing the Black Dragon Swamp, and finally reaching Qiuqi City of the Golden Core Cao family."
The guard's salary is eighty spirit stones per year, plus a bottle of high-grade Qi-building pills.
"The Li family caravan is recruiting independent cultivators as bodyguards. Those interested..."
This place is called Baishangji (Hundred Merchants Market) because it is a stop for many caravans. They would stop to rest, buy and sell spiritual items, and replenish the guards lost on the way.
These caravans were a mixed bag, including those from large merchant guilds and those from Foundation Establishment families.
Some independent cultivators even pooled their resources to form a caravan. After all, a spiritual item that is common in one region might become a rare item in another. As long as the caravan travels smoothly, it can make a fortune.
These are all normal caravans that want to make money, whether good or bad.
In addition, there were some merchant caravans disguised as evil cultivators, who deliberately used the pretense of needing guards to recruit cultivators.
They recruit dozens of people in one place, kill them in another place after they leave, and then recruit them in a different place, repeating the cycle endlessly.
If they are efficient, they can play this trick for decades.
Of course, there were also times when the guards would turn around and rob the caravan of everything. Both sides needed to choose carefully.
A clean and generous merchant caravan is a rare find, and when it appears, many cultivators will scramble to acquire it.
Xu Yuanlang wanted to reach Nanpingfang City, the core area of the Jindan Cao family, but it would be difficult for him to safely cross the vast wilderness and swamp on his own.
These places are not only teeming with monsters, but also home to many demonic and evil cultivators. Some of these places are insurmountable barriers for cultivators, and it is difficult for ordinary people to know how to cross them. It is much easier to travel by following a caravan.
"Fellow Daoist, I would like to apply for the position of guard!"
Xu Yuanlang quickly set his sights on Baiqi Trading Company, a well-known trading company that was safer than other caravans, and their target was the Cao family, a Golden Core cultivator.
"Fellow Daoist, you must be aware of the reputation of Baiqi Trading Company. The late stage of Qi Refining is just the minimum requirement."
The captain of the guard was a burly man who sat there like a small mountain. He looked Xu Yuanlang up and down and said with some contempt.
"Please feel free to tell me your requirements, fellow Daoist!"
The burly man laughed heartily, clapped his hands, and a guard at the eighth level of Qi Refining walked over from the side.
"Simple, my brother is the weakest, you just need to defeat him."
"Let's go then!"
Xu Yuanlang looked at him and casually spoke.
"Big brother, can you please not make me do things for just anyone?"
The guard stood arrogantly with his arms crossed, looking displeased at the captain of the guard, who waved his hand dismissively.
"Should I call it a start?"
"Need not!"
Xu Yuanlang extended his finger and beckoned.
"bring it on!"