Calabash Fairy

It was noon that day.

Under the expectant gazes of every household in Xiahe Village, the convoy, laden with its cargo, drove back to the village, eliciting a burst of excited and enthusiastic cheers from the villagers who lined the road to welcome it.

"Thank the mountain god, everyone has returned safely!"

"Salt! It really is salt! They really brought salt back!"

"Tiedan!! Well done!"

The young people in the convoy seemed to have accomplished something of paramount importance, and they were all very excited. Even Wang Shi, who was usually stern and unsmiling, showed a smile.

Salt is indeed a matter of utmost importance for Xiahe Village.

Xu Hu and Qiu'er sat in the carriage at the front. When the man saw the excited boys and girls waving at him in the crowd, he also smiled and waved back at the two children.

Before long, the caravan arrived at an open space in the village. The able-bodied men stepped forward and unloaded bags of salt from the carriages, stacking them neatly together.

Yang Xiaoshan followed behind Yang Sheng, his brush constantly jotting something down in his notebook.

"...Father, I've calculated it. Based on the situation in the past few years, this batch of salt is more than enough to feed our village for seven years."

"it is good."

Yang Sheng looked at the stack of salt bags in front of him and nodded with satisfaction.

"Now that everyone has returned safely, it's time for us to fulfill our vow."

..........................

Within the Qingfeng Secret Realm.

Fang Yan was sitting opposite Shu Yu, who had come to visit, at a stone table, which was filled with spiritual wine and spiritual fruit.

"I see..."

"To die and be reborn, to be transformed into a demon race—the things that happened to Qi Lian, a disciple of the Hundred Beasts Sect, are things that even I have never heard of."

Shu Yu stroked his beard and shook his head, clearly quite amazed by the matter.

Fang Yan smiled and said:

"I made a deal with Qilian and received some benefits from him. In return, I will help him resolve his spiritual problems in the future."

The seventy-two Earthly Fiend Techniques he inherited, whether it was pill manipulation or talismanic water, contained extensive and comprehensive formulas and talismanic knowledge.

Fang Yan clearly remembered that there were several rather obscure and rare elixirs and talismans inside that could suppress and resolve Qi Lian's soul problem.

Even Qi Lian, who came from the Hundred Beasts Sect, had never seen or even heard of any of the names Fang Yan mentioned.

Qi Lian was particularly shocked and pleasantly surprised.

With the help of the mountain god of Qingfeng Mountain, the incense offerings from those deities will at least buy him a few more years.

But unexpectedly, the hidden problem within his body that had nearly driven him to despair would find a solution here...

However, these rare elixirs and talismans are probably worth thousands of Wanbao coins. Fang Yan had no prior dealings with this person and they were not friends, so naturally he wouldn't help him without a reason.

Therefore, Qilian needs to find the spiritual materials himself, or bring back treasures of equal value, and he will help with the refining process as a separate reward.

"Alas... The Ten Thousand Mountains have too many secrets. My skills are meager, and I only know many things through hearsay. In the future, I may have to rely on you, my fellow Daoist, to learn more about them."

The tree sighed.

When he arrived earlier, he found that he could no longer detect any trace of Fang Yan's presence.

Several years have passed since we last met, and it is clear that Fellow Daoist Fang Yan's cultivation has far surpassed his own. Just as expected, he broke through the tribulation and reached the realm of a thousand-year-old great demon.

Shu Yu knew in his heart that, just as he had witnessed Jun Heng's rise, the gap between him and Fellow Daoist Fang Yan would only widen in the future...

Fortunately, the passage of hundreds of years has long since allowed him to accept these things with equanimity.

Fang Yan shook his head and said:

"Fellow Daoist Shuyu, what are you saying? Over the years, you have helped me so much, and I will need to rely on you in the future."

As Fang Yan spoke, he picked up the blue jade wine pot on the table and refilled the wine cups in front of Shu Yu and himself with Phoenix Spirit Wine.

Shu Yu watched this scene with some surprise.

He had been there for quite some time. In the past, this small wine pot would have been empty, let alone the wine jar. But today, it seemed like the wine pot would never run out.

Little did he know that Fang Yan, who practiced the Pot Heaven Technique, had also used this wine pot for practice.

Although this pot is only the size of an adult's palm, the interior space is as large as a water vat, and it is filled with Phoenix Spirit Wine.

Limited by the material of spiritual materials, ordinary spiritual materials cannot support expansion to an excessively large pot-shaped space, but with the material of blue spiritual jade, there is still potential for further expansion.

However, the water tank is large enough for the wine jug for now.

"Speaking of which, it's been several years since we last met. I wonder how Fellow Daoist Shuyu's chess skills have progressed? How about we play a game together?"

Upon seeing this, Shu Yu readily agreed and took out the chessboard that had been prepared beforehand.

...................................

A few days later, Shu Yu regretfully lost and took his leave.

Before parting, Fang Yan also gave this person two Thousand-Mile Transmission Talismans that he had refined a few days ago, to be used to transmit information in a timely manner.

In Fang Yan's view, alchemy is more about improving oneself, while talismanic arts are more about affecting the external body.

It encompasses a wide range of functions, including attack, immobilization, breaking restrictions, protection, and telepathy, and can solve all sorts of problems. Its wide range of uses is too numerous to list.

Both being among the top of the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Techniques, each has its own advantages, but both can be of great help to him on the path of cultivation.

Especially in his upcoming plans...

At this moment, Fang Yan was looking at the jet-black eagle feather in his hand, lost in thought...

This document records the location of the ruins that Qilian had previously promised, as well as the methods and details for entering it.

"Thousands of years ago, I was invited by my senior brother from the Crane Sect to come to the Ten Thousand Mountains with my two junior sisters, Hu and Bai, from the Cloud Wanderer Sect, to explore that ruin."

"That ruin seems to be a corner of the battlefield where humans and demons fought a great war many years ago, but it was broken and left to roam in the void."

"Although many treasures and even inheritances were left behind, the resentment and demonic energy remaining in the battlefield also nurtured a strange being called the Evil Beast."

A monstrous beast...

In Qilian's words, those monstrous beasts caused them, the four disciples of the immortal sect, a great deal of trouble back then. These things were extremely difficult to kill, except when their core was shattered.

The four of them joined forces and entered the secret realm three times during the opening of the ruins, obtaining many treasures.

Unexpectedly, the senior disciple of the Immortal Crane Sect made a mistake in his deduction of the ruins. Shortly after the four entered for the last time, the ruins once again drifted into the void...

"The spiritual energy within the ruins is mixed and the environment is complex. Over thousands of years, under the constant attacks of the monstrous beasts, the four of us perished one after another..."

"I was the only one who was transformed into this inhuman, demon-like state by accident. It wasn't until more than ten years ago, when the ruins in the void completely connected with this land and stopped drifting, a large amount of spiritual energy surged in again, awakening me..."

Qi Lian made a solemn oath to his inner demons to ensure that everything he said was true, and since the Plum Blossom Divination technique did not send any warnings, Fang Yan naturally had no doubts.

Recalling the cave dwelling Jun Heng found at the foot of White Horse Gorge, along with the Immortal Crane Sect's insignia and the Pure Yang Sword Blade within, perhaps that was where the four of them rested after their first two entries into the secret realm...