Chapter 605

Chapter 605: The Temple is Small but the Evil Wind is Strong

Three cultivators arrived.

The leader was a middle-aged man with a horse-like face, triangular eyes, a pair of thin mustaches, and a prominent mole at the corner of his mouth. His unattractive appearance hardly matched his status as a mid-level cultivator from the Purple Palace.

Upon landing, the middle-aged cultivator cast a cold, disdainful glance at Wang Chen, his eyes flickering with a mix of malice and calculation.

“Recently, magical beasts have been appearing more frequently, likely due to the presence of a great beast causing disturbances. The higher-ups have ordered everyone to remain vigilant.”

He spoke lightly to Wang Chen, “Report any unusual activity to the valley immediately. No delays or mistakes are acceptable!”

His tone carried an unmistakable air of superiority.

Wang Chen nodded silently.

He had no intention of wasting words.

The members of Feixu Camp came from diverse and often dubious backgrounds—destitute cultivators wandering the wilderness, guilty cultivators wanted in the immortal city, reclusive cultivators hiding their identities…

And then there were individuals like Wang Chen, who had smuggled their way into this realm from below.

Though Feixu Camp was merely a loose organization of cultivators, the Feixu Valley was home to dozens of such factions, each vying for influence.

Open and covert conflicts were a constant.

As the saying goes, the temple may be small, but the evil winds blow fiercely.

Yet, survival was difficult, and so these disparate groups banded together, forming a fragile alliance to face external threats.

The proud cultivator was named Li Chengdong, a small leader within Feixu Camp.

Li Chengdong’s faction harbored deep-seated animosity toward Zhang Mushan’s group, and since Wang Chen was under Zhang Mushan’s protection, Li Chengdong naturally viewed him with disdain.

However, Wang Chen was also a mid-level cultivator from the Purple Palace and enjoyed a close relationship with Zhang Mushan. This made Li Chengdong cautious, and he refrained from openly provoking Wang Chen.

Still, his attitude remained far from friendly.

Seeing Wang Chen’s indifference, Li Chengdong’s irritation flared, and a glint of resentment flashed in his eyes.

He glanced at the spirit fields Wang Chen had cultivated and remarked with a sneer, “Your spirit fields look well-tended. Be careful not to let the magical beasts trample them—that would be quite the loss.”

Wang Chen smiled faintly and replied, “Thank you for your concern, fellow traveler.”

“Hmph!”

Li Chengdong snorted, flicked his sleeve, and took to the air, his two subordinates scrambling to follow.

As the horse-faced cultivator disappeared from view, Wang Chen shook his head and returned to his house.

The house stood on a hillside, its walls fashioned from clay and stone, sturdy and solid.

Yet, both its exterior and interior were undeniably simple.

Wang Chen treated it as nothing more than a temporary shelter. His true efforts were focused on the underground tunnels and hidden chambers he had painstakingly excavated beneath his new home.

The Haotian Realm was a far cry from the Mountain-Sea Realm.

In the Mountain-Sea Realm, the pinnacle of power was the Yuan Ying stage, and cultivators had no hope of advancing beyond that—unless they ascended to a higher realm. The laws of heaven and earth simply forbade it.

The Haotian Realm, however, was a different story altogether.

Here, not only Nascent Soul true immortals and True Lords exist, but there are also higher-level Dao merging true venerables and Ascendant holy beings.

As for the Purple Palace masters and Golden Core true masters, they are as common as dogs!

Feixu Camp is filled with many Purple Palace cultivators, and high-level and peak-level cultivators are everywhere.

It is said that there are no true ordinary people in the Haotian Realm; almost everyone possesses cultivation talent, and many have outstanding abilities, with astonishingly talented individuals appearing one after another.

Wang Chen, who just arrived, is merely a small shrimp!

Most importantly, small loose cultivator organizations like Feixu Camp are very unsafe; it’s possible that one day a Nascent Soul true immortal could pass by and effortlessly wipe out the entire valley with a single strike.

The Nascent Souls in the Haotian Realm are not as low-key as those in the Mountain-Sea Realm, and their numbers are countless.

It is not uncommon for young cultivators to get caught in the crossfire of battles between immortals in the Haotian Realm.

Wang Chen certainly does not want to end up as collateral damage one day when two extraordinary practitioners engage in a fight.

Thus, he dug a tunnel that was particularly deep and long, dedicating a significant amount of time and energy to this aspect over the past month, and the total length of the tunnels he has excavated has now reached several dozen miles!

One of these tunnels leads to Feixu Valley.

Through the tunnel, Wang Chen entered a quiet room for cultivation, where he first completed his daily training of the foundational technique.

Although the spells he mastered were weakened in the Haotian Realm, the Preheaven Five Element Technique remained unaffected. In fact, due to the abundant spiritual energy in the surrounding environment, both his training efficiency and effects improved.

Furthermore, the Heavenly Dragon Vajra True Method was also unaffected.

Previously, Wang Chen could defeat that strong enemy largely due to his Immortal body technique, and the Vajra Fist played a huge role.

Touching his palm, which had healed long ago, Wang Chen continued to practice the Supreme Mysterious Spirit Dragon Technique.

The Supreme Mysterious Spirit Dragon Technique is a supreme skill derived from the Supreme Mysterious Spirit Dragon True Form Image, and it is classified as a technique in Wang Chen’s training panel rather than a spell. Leveling it up requires the consumption of Heavenly Merit instead of Virtue.

However, until now, Wang Chen had mainly focused his energy and time on the Preheaven Five Element Technique and the Heavenly Dragon Vajra True Method, leaving the Supreme Mysterious Spirit Dragon Technique at the first layer without any breakthroughs.

Now that he arrived in the Haotian Realm, Wang Chen realized the potential of this technique and how it could aid him, so he dedicated some time to gaining experience in the Supreme Mysterious Spirit Dragon Technique.

He aimed to advance one or two levels in the shortest time possible.

The Supreme Mysterious Spirit Dragon Technique is a profound illusion skill that can be cultivated up to the Yuan Ying level and possesses the ability to conceal and lie in wait, making it a useful life-saving technique in critical moments.

After finishing his practice of the Supreme Mysterious Spirit Dragon Technique and noticing that it was almost time, Wang Chen left the hidden chamber.

He headed to Feixu Valley.

Although Wang Chen was currently a prospective member of Feixu Camp and did not have the qualifications to live in the valley, coming and going daily was not an issue.

Using his identity token, he smoothly passed through the valley’s entrance checkpoint.

Feixu Valley is vast; not to mention two or three thousand cultivators, it could easily accommodate ten or more times that number.

However, most people’s residences were concentrated in one area, with houses lined up side by side, basically designed for practicality and simplicity, carrying a somewhat primitive and outdated feel.

There were only a few shops in the valley, but they held markets from time to time.

Wang Chen had attended the market a few times before and used spirit stones to buy some daily necessities.

Luckily, spirit stones from the Mountain-Sea Realm could still be used in the Haotian Realm; otherwise, Wang Chen would have faced extreme hardship!

He had visited the Zhang family before; today was his third visit, so he was quite familiar with the way there.

At least he wouldn’t get lost.

Seeing Wang Chen visiting, Zhang Zhuanghu was very happy and quickly pulled him into the study.

“Daddy!”

A robust cultivator was flipping through some books and nearly became distracted by his son’s voice, almost going off track: “Brother Wang is here!”

“I know.”

Zhang Mushan put down his books and stood up to greet Wang Chen: “Fellow traveler Wang, how have you been recently?”

Although Zhang Mushan had a rough appearance, he possessed the demeanor of a scholar, giving off a refined impression.

Wang Chen replied, “Thanks to your care, it’s been quite good.”

Without Zhang Mushan to vouch for him, Wang Chen could not have established himself so easily outside the valley.

The two exchanged smiles!