041: Casual Cultivator

A pair of brothers, whose cultivation reached the early stage of Foundation Building Realm was quickly flying towards Zemirah's direction.

She didn't see whose coming but the jade pendant on her face could feel the stronger aura coming. The danger they emitted brought great crisis to Zemirah who quickly hid and ran away.

By the time the two brothers arrived at the location where the fight happened, no one was in sight. This made them unhappy, "I don't believe that person is far."

"Yeah, let's go and search. After killing that person in passing, we can have fun at the brothel in the city."

"That person can only blame himself for being unlucky, who told him to bump into us, Butcher Brothers!?"

With that, one tall and one short brother, flew towards the direction of the city. They guessed from the traces that the person must've run in that direction.

They didn't even manage to fly far when suddenly, a sword light slashed, cutting their heads off their bodies. There was no warning at all, but their lives ended without them knowing what happened.

The wind whistled before a figure slowly appeared, his robe was like the ice of the northern sea and the untouched snow at the peak of a summit. 

In his hand is a sword, with cold mist emanating from it. However, the owner seems to have no sense of cold. 

The man waved his hand and the dead bodies on the ground were covered with ice, then shattered into dust. What was left on the ground were the snow particles with some blood on them and storage bags and rings.

The man took the storage artifacts and left without looking back.

The place went back to normal like death didn't just descend there to take two brothers' lives, except that the bloody dew on the grass became a testament to it.

On the other hand, Zemirah who was supposed to be chased to death by two early-stage Foundation Building Realm cultivators was leisurely.

It's not that she's not aware of the earlier danger, but that dangerous feeling disappeared not long after. Based on her intuition, she has a feeling that those two people must've been solved by her lover.

This thought brought a smile to her lovely face, her pink lips curled as she hummed softly a song from her previous life. 

She wasn't in a hurry to walk to the Azure Oak City anymore as she suddenly realized that her protector was very strong. Zemirah wanted to turn around and see Roch, to confirm that he was okay after confronting the two Foundation Building Realm casual cultivators.

But she kept in mind Roch's words to not turn back.

Zemirah walked in the direction of the Azure Oak City, this time, she was not in a hurry so she had more time to observe the surroundings.

She's in a forest a few kilometers away from the Azure Oak City, not too close or too far. Roch chose this location deliberately, but Zemirah didn't know the name of the forest.

But since Roch didn't say it, then this forest must not be particularly important. 

The trees are not as blue as the ones near the city, but she could see that they are still a bit special compared to the ones on Earth. The size of the trees is always dozens of meters tall, the leaf veins are blue and she could see normal animals running around.

The normal animals are the same as the ones on Earth, except that their ferociousness can't be compared at all. These normal animals are the ones who can't absorb the magical energy in this world, be it spiritual energy or demonic energy.

Without absorbing these energies, they wouldn't be able to awaken their spirituality. Zemirah was enjoying her walk, sometimes bending down to pick herbs or flowers, sometimes using her sword to cut plants or beasts.

Her gain is not much, but Zemirah feels a bit different while knowing that Roch is watching out for her behind.

"Hey, this is a ginseng right?" The radish-like herb with a red fruit was pulled out by a slender white hand.

"That's a ganoderma lucidum I always read in novels!"

"What a colorful mushroom, Riya must like this." A grade 1 mushroom shining with bright colors was stored in a jade box without a pause.

The herbs Zemirah picked are all rare if placed on Earth, but here, it's everywhere. Though the most important reason is that they are just mortal-grade resources, Zemirah didn't dislike it.

Swish~

A dark sword light flew to a red fox, cutting off its head without giving it a chance to dodge. Zemirah jumped lightly from her place to the dead red fox.

"This red fox is a monster beast or a demonic beast?" Zemirah asked Sia.

Ding! The Host knows the answer to your question.

"Then it's a monster beast, I just don't understand what's the difference between them." Zemirah frowned in annoyance.

The ferocious beasts with evil green eyes were dealt ruthlessly by her, knowing that they were monster beasts. Though she hasn't encountered a demonic beast yet, Sia said that they are not as evil as monster beasts she usually sees.

Spiritual beasts, demonic beasts, monster beasts.

Zemirah's head was confused at the rich variety of them. 

"Whatever, as long as it's useful." Zemirah suppressed the messy thoughts in her mind and put the fox's body in her space ring.

She doesn't know how to dissect the body but she can collect them as much as she wants. The space in her ring is vast.

This activity of Zemirah continued as she tasted the benefit of practice. Her spiritual energy became more condensed, her sword skills mastery was rising at a visible speed and her experience was broadening her horizon.

Sure enough, there is a reason why the protagonists in the novels always travel to practice and gain experience. Cultivating in seclusion may be stable, but it was not a solution.

Zemirah even feels that her breakthrough to the Peak-Stage of Energy Refining Realm is not far as long as she keeps up this pace of practice. 

By the time Zemirah was near the vicinity of the Azure Oak City, the sun was almost setting. Knowing the fact that spending the night in the wild is dangerous, she walked faster, even using her footwork and ignoring the things she would usually be interested in.

The Azure Oak trees became denser as she neared the city walls, the blue trees were planted in specific places as if it was arranged in a pattern. Zemirah knew that it was because of the famous formation of the city.

Thinking about the information about the Azure Cloud Leaf Great Formation, Zemirah didn't dare touch the blue trees at all. For fear of triggering something in the formation, though she knew she was overthinking the situation, Zemirah still chose to be cautious.

Since the place is near the city, many people also started entering her sight frequently. All of them are cultivators, no mortals are in sight.

Zemirah didn't dare get in contact with these people at all so she quietly followed their direction. When the blue trees became clear, she finally entered the outer area of Azure Oak City.

The outer area has no city walls for protection but is still included inside the great formation. Based on her experience and information, the outer area is always the place where low-level cultivators gather. The place was the most chaotic, though blatant fights and murders were not much since it would be challenging the City Lord Mansion.

Before entering the sight of other people, Zemirah didn't forget to put on her cloak, hiding her figure. She also put her storage bag in a more conspicuous position and changed her other Superior-Quality items into Uncommon-Quality ones.

Just like the old saying, a poor man is guilty of holding a precious jade. (please tell me the correct sentence)

Zemirah still understands the darkness of the human heart.

Seeing that she was ready, Zemirah finally entered the outer area of Azure Oak City. 

It was different from her imagination, there are no messy places or chaotic noises in the outer area that she reads in cultivation novels. Here, it was still the prosperous scene of cultivation world. Even like the inner area of Teal River Town.

There are many shops and stalls, and cultivators of different origins are mixed together. However, Zemirah knew that the darker part of the outer area must be in a more hidden place. The ones in front of her is just the surface image of outer area.

Just like how a country will show its bright and clean side to outsiders but will hide the poverty and suffering of its people.

Suppressing the distracting thoughts, Zemirah's interest was caught by the lively scene. The stalls of different cultivators mean a rich variety of items, some of them sell their items on wooden tables while most just place a cloth on the ground where the items were laid.

Zemirah didn't care about it, she just cared about the appearance of the items being sold.

With her face hidden in a veil and her body in the cloak, Zemirah has no fear of being seen through. However, she wouldn't do the stupid thing of buying so much that would catch attention.

She will buy the ones she like now and come back the next day to continue. With this thought, she started mixing with the crowd. It went smoothly as she's not the only person with a cloak or hiding their figure.

Zemirah didn't look at the stalls that sells common goods, but went to the stalls that are more unique. Though she didn't think she was the protagonist who could pick up leaks when buying items on the road, she's still someone who have an awesome system.

So what Zemirah is looking for are items that can be gifted where she could receive substantial rewards from her system, Sia.

Narrowing her eyes at the herbs in the stall, Zemirah used Sia's ability to see the information panel of the items.

[Name]: White Dew Grass

[Grade/Stage/Quality]: Grade 1, Peak-Stage, Uncommon-Quality

[Introduction]: A mutated White Dew Grass that have rich wood energy and additional water energy. It can be made into White Dew Pill and the quality will be at least Rare-Grade.

It's the White Dew Grass that is the main material of White Dew Pill and an auxiliary herb for many other pills. The fact that it is mutated made it even more effective and may bring great surprise to the alchemist. Seeing it, Zemirah already determined to gift it to Riya when she came back. It would be great if there are seeds of this mutated White Dew Grass so she can ask her future spiritual planter to grow it.

By then, she will have an endless supply of this material. 

Zemirah's willingness to plant White Dew Grass in her garden came from the fact that it looks beautiful. Imagine replacing the dull green grass by a fairy like white grass, wouldn't her garden be better looking?

"I want this White Dew Grass, tell me the price," Zemirah said lowly to the seller.

The originally bored stall owner suddenly perked up at her words, his eyes rolling around in calculation after feeling that this customer must be a rich man. Otherwise, such words with no bargaining wouldn't come out from poor cultivators.

Zemirah saw it and frowned but smiled after thinking about it. She wouldn't let herself suffer any lose.

The stall owner smiled honestly and said, "This White Dew Grass was picked up by me and my team in the depths of Oak Beast Mountain and it is guarded by a demonic plant. You see-"

"What's the price?" The voice hints impatience, making the stall owners smile turn bigger and stopping his nonsense. He directly quoted, "2 spiritual stones!"

He opened his lion's mouth, saying a high-price. Even if this customer bargain with him, he will still make a profit.

"I'll buy it if there are accompanying spiritual seeds." The voice said in a flat tone.

Hearing the words, the stall owner hesitated slightly before nodding in agreement. Anyway, the spiritual seeds of White Dew Grass is not expensive. He can give it away without feeling pain.

When Zemirah finally put the mutated White Dew Grass and 12 spiritual seeds, she walked away without hesitation, leaving an ecstatic man who quickly hid the 2 spiritual stones.