In less than a second of consciousness, Chen Xiao felt that the scene in front of him had changed. He lowered his head and looked at himself. He had no missing arms or legs, and his head grew into his armpits. His tense heart relaxed.
He was no longer standing in a stone house. The ground was flattened dirt and the walls were neatly built brick walls. There was no door in the room, only a turmeric-colored cloth curtain hanging there. Noisy sounds came from outside.
Chen Xiao pulled aside the curtain and walked out. The bustling sounds were getting louder and louder. Leaving the building made up of cubicles, he saw a market-like street outside the door. The wooden buildings on both sides of the road made the place look quite prosperous.
Outside, there was a clear blue sky with white clouds and green trees. Chen Xiao felt hotter and hotter, so he quickly took off his cloak and put it away. He found a place that looked like a hotel, asked for a room, and changed his thick clothes.
After stuffing a spirit bead into the boss' hand, Chen Xiao inquired about where there were any bird creatures nearby, whether spirit beasts or ordinary creatures.
The boss told him that leaving this gathering point, also called Taizhen, there was a wetland a few hundred miles to the east where black cranes lived, and there was a lake a few hundred miles to the west where many white phoenixes lived on the small islands in the lake.
Although these two are not spiritual birds, they are the easiest birds to control and are the most commonly used means of transportation for most practitioners who cannot learn aerial magic or afford flying magic weapons.
Chen Xiao didn't expect that he could get the information he wanted so easily. He happily and generously rewarded the boss with another spirit bead.
The boss was very happy and smiled. Before leaving, Chen Xiao suggested that he should go to the market to buy a newest map, which would not only have symbols of mountains and rivers, but also the distribution of animals and plants.
If he is willing to spend a lot of money, he can even buy a map with spiritual beasts and plants marked on it.
Chen Xiao thanked the boss, left the hotel and headed straight for the market entrance.
Just now he was just busy looking for a place to change clothes, and when he came here again, Chen Xiao noticed that some of the stalls here were fixed, while others were temporary.
Among those hawking their wares were people dressed as farmers and hunters whose cultivation level was unclear, as well as practitioners wearing training outfits.
Listening to their hawking voices, the mixture of fruits, vegetables, tofu, eggs, Ganoderma lucidum, magical herbs, and magical weapons intertwined into a discordant tune that made Chen Xiao unsure of what expression to show for a moment.
The stall owner here, who looks like an ordinary person, has no awe of the immortal cultivators in the heavenly world. It would be fine if he was neither humble nor arrogant, but he dares to confront them without fear.
After walking for only a short while, Chen Xiao saw with his own eyes a stall owner who arrived late and drove away the cultivator who had occupied his place and set up a makeshift stall.
Originally, Chen Xiao was thinking of finding a cultivator to buy the map, but now he changed his mind and walked towards a small shop full of groceries.
"Boss, do you have a map?" Chen Xiao asked.
The boss who was counting the bills behind the counter said without even looking up: "Which one do you want? An ordinary map costs ten spirit coins, a mineral map costs ten spirit beads, a plant map costs ten spirit beads, and the same goes for an animal map. Or do you want a spirit object map..."
The boss raised his head and met Chen Xiao's eyes, and they were both stunned.
"Liu Lang! It's really you!" Chen Xiao was surprised. He felt that this person's voice was very familiar just now, and he recognized him when he saw his face.
Liu Lang put down the pen in his hand, stood up slowly, and looked surprised. "Why are you here?"
Meeting an old friend in a foreign place, Liu Lang closed his shop and returned to his residence with Chen Xiao.
This is a house built with wooden boards. The rooms are small and seem a bit cramped and dark.
Liu Lang opened the window to let the sunlight in, and then busied himself looking for a bowl. He had no tea leaves, so he boiled water and soaked some icing sugar extracted from plants in it.
After finally sitting down, he seemed to have sorted out his mood and asked Chen Xiao with a smile: "How are you doing recently? Are they...also doing well?"
Chen Xiao looked at him quietly, "I'm fine, and Brother Li is fine too. If you want to ask about Ye Jinglan's situation, I'm not too sure. I only know that she is not in Yingxian Island recently, and it seems that she is out looking for you again."
Liu Lang couldn't laugh anymore, he lowered his eyes silently, "Why is she so depressed? Separation and death are common, this is not the attitude of an immortal cultivator."
Chen Xiao paused, then said: "Anyone can let it go, but it's hard for her. After all, it was she who implicated you. You can no longer cultivate immortality. How can she not care about your whereabouts?"
Liu Lang raised his head, smiled bitterly, and said, "It seems that after so many years of getting along, she still doesn't understand me. How can I give up so easily?"
Chen Xiao looked at him in surprise: "What? Have you found a way to cure your spiritual roots?"
"My spiritual roots cannot be cured." Liu Lang shook his head, "I stayed here to find an opportunity to switch to spiritual cultivation."
Chen Xiao realized belatedly that the fact that he could see Liu Lang here meant that although his spiritual roots and cultivation were damaged, his mental strength and sea of consciousness were fine.
Chen Xiao asked hesitantly, "Then why are you running a shop at the entrance of the market now instead of practicing spiritual cultivation?"
Liu Lang said: "When I was abandoned, my cultivation was still at a certain level. If I had directly disintegrated into a physical form, I would have been dead, not to mention being able to transform into a spiritual cultivator. I stayed here because spiritual cultivators would occasionally come here, and I wanted to become their disciple. If I could gain their favor, I could ask them to help me disintegrate into a physical form, so that I could successfully transform into a spiritual cultivator."
Seeing that Chen Xiao didn't seem to understand clearly, Liu Lang explained in detail: "Do you know that thousands of years ago, a certain Zhongtian Realm was destroyed and all the anchor points recorded in the Atlas Tower were destroyed?" Chen Xiao nodded, "The practitioners trapped in the Shenzhou Atlas at that time could only stay here to reproduce and gradually formed the indigenous people. Among these indigenous people, the most were spiritual practitioners. This gathering point is the shelter of a spiritual master, who comes here every few decades."
Chen Xiao suddenly realized that those who looked like mortals were really mortals. They dared to confront the practitioners head-on because they had strong backing and were confident.
Liu Lang said: "These natives were born here and are subject to certain restrictions. Like the objects and creatures here, they cannot leave the Shenzhou Atlas and go to the Heavenly Realm World. Therefore, they don't care about the entry points built by Zhishitang. If they are not satisfied, they dare to destroy Zhishitang's station. You have seen the broken house when you first came here, right? It was destroyed and rebuilt by the spiritual practitioners, and it happened more than once. Zhishitang can't afford to waste time, so it can only compromise and give in."
This is why people who wear shoes are afraid of those who are barefoot. Before, Chen Xiao only knew that Zhishitang was powerful, but had never seen Zhishitang so poor in temper.
Chen Xiao said: "It's good that you have a plan. I think Ye Jinglan will feel relieved if she knows it."
Liu Lang just smiled. This matter was not as easy as he said. To transform from a soldier to a spiritual cultivator, one must have the support of true essence. Without spiritual roots and Dantian, where would the true essence come from? Even if a spiritual cultivator made a move, there was little hope.
It's just a life-saving straw in despair.
Liu Lang didn't want to talk about his own affairs anymore, so he asked Chen Xiao about his purpose. Chen Xiao told him that he came for soul beasts, and his target was the Black Crane or the White Luan.
But Liu Lang pondered and said, "The timing is not good recently. There have been several tragic incidents near the Black Crane Wetland. I'm afraid there are evil cultivators at work. The White Luan is too weak. It only looks good when it flies, but it's too slow. It's not a good choice."
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