Chapter Forty-Six: The Wise Adapt to the Times

Zhou Changwang was startled upon hearing the news. This was no small matter.

Though the injury of the Bai family’s patriarch seemed disconnected from him, the implications ran deeper. He was currently residing in the Fengming Valley Market, which was under Bai family management. Upheaval at the top naturally caused ripples below. Especially in a world where power and martial strength determined everything, and order was fragile, the resulting turmoil would be fierce.

“Who’s making a move?” Zhou Changwang couldn’t help but ask.

“The Chen family? The Wu family? Or perhaps even outsiders? Who knows?” Qian Xiaoyue shook her head helplessly. “I’m just a solitary cultivator—my knowledge is limited. I just hope that when things erupt, we won’t be swept up in it.”

“Have you considered moving into the inner city of the market to avoid potential disaster?” Zhou Changwang recalled Steward Chen’s earlier warning and suggested it. He was familiar with the Chen and Wu families; both were nearby cultivation clans with considerable influence in Fengming Valley Market. The Chen family boasted three Foundation Establishment cultivators, with their patriarch at the seventh layer of Foundation Establishment, nearly matching the Bai patriarch. The Wu family had two Foundation Establishment cultivators; their patriarch, Wu Yongchang, was a formidable sword cultivator at the fourth layer, while their other Foundation Establishment member, though only at the first layer, was a second-tier alchemist rumored to craft Foundation Establishment pills and maintain wide connections.

Of course, the main residences of these three cultivation clans were not within the market. Here, it was merely a battleground for interests.

“Can’t afford it,” Qian Xiaoyue shot Zhou Changwang a glance. “And as for avoiding disaster… if fighting breaks out, the inner city isn’t necessarily safer than the outskirts. That’s the main battlefield for higher-level cultivators. With a single spell covering dozens of meters, our strength wouldn’t last a moment. Better to stay in the outskirts—it might get chaotic, but the threats are fewer.”

“That’s true.”

Zhou Changwang nodded in agreement. He understood that safety was relative. If chaos broke out, the inner city might still have powerful cultivators to suppress trouble, but in the outskirts, anything could happen. The more chaotic, the more dangerous. Many bandit cultivators and even seemingly honest solitary cultivators would see the chaos as a feast.

“And I live beside two bandit cultivators?” The thought weighed on his heart.

…

He returned home, worried. When his father asked, he simply said he’d bought some talisman papers from Qian Xiaoyue, without elaborating. His father was about to leave for the mundane world to live peacefully; Zhou Changwang didn’t want him to worry.

“Let’s hope nothing happens in the next few days,” he murmured to himself.

Yet the next day, Zhou Changwang still went out. He had to prepare for possible upheaval. He needed defensive talismans, even spells—especially defensive ones, vital for solitary cultivators to survive.

So, early the next morning, he hurried out. He happened to meet the brothers living next door and greeted them amiably. Not greeting them wasn’t an option—now that he knew they were bandit cultivators, who would dare give them a cold shoulder? He could only hope to get familiar with them, so they might spare him in troubled times.

“This isn’t cowardice,” Zhou Changwang comforted himself after leaving, “it’s wisdom—adapting to circumstances is the mark of a hero.”

This time, for the sake of his own safety, Zhou Changwang didn’t dare browse the solitary cultivators’ market; instead, he went straight to the commercial district on the east side.

Stepping into East Street, Zhou Changwang noticed the street was much wider, and though there were fewer people than at the solitary cultivators’ market, their auras were remarkable. Mid-level Qi Refining cultivators were everywhere; upper-level cultivators were not rare. Even the low-level ones wore exquisite robes, their bearing distinct from ordinary solitary cultivators.

This was the market’s East Street. Everything here was tied to spiritual stones.

Yet Zhou Changwang felt little out of place. He had visited many commercial districts in his previous life, enjoyed some commercial services during his sales days, and wasn’t intimidated. Only when he saw Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion did he linger for a few moments.

Though it was early morning, the patrons emerging from inside, accompanied by graceful female cultivators whose every movement radiated allure, were hard to ignore.

Especially when one of them suddenly smiled at Zhou Changwang. He paused, startled, then hurried away in small steps.

“Enchantress, truly an enchantress. No wonder those fond of this path can never quit—any man would succumb to such charms…” Zhou Changwang muttered, shaking his head.

He knew of a spiritual farmer among the cultivators who, once renowned for his skill—an average yield of seven hundred catties per acre—became obsessed with this path. His dozen acres of spiritual fields were nearly abandoned, with him tending them only every few days; at harvest, two or three hundred catties per acre was considered good.

As he prepared to leave, Zhou Changwang’s gaze froze on another patron exiting Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion.

Wang Chang? It was the very spiritual farmer he’d just thought of, infamous for neglecting his fields for the Pavilion.

Though they knew each other, they weren’t close. Xu Zhong, however, was on better terms—after all, they were often ‘comrades in arms’ at the Pavilion. Only a few days ago, he’d heard Xu Zhong complain that Wang Chang had borrowed spiritual stones from him; now, unexpectedly, he ran into him.

“Zhou Changwang? What, you want to go inside too?” Wang Chang, sharp-eyed, recognized him immediately, and walked over with a playful grin, slinging an arm around Zhou Changwang’s shoulder as if they were old friends.

“No, I’m just passing by.” Zhou Changwang shook his head, discreetly pushing Wang Chang’s arm away.

“If you’re interested, I’ll take you next time—guaranteed satisfaction, endless enjoyment,” Wang Chang said cheerfully, his face showing a peculiar delight.

“No need, I’m not interested. Brother Wang, I have things to do—farewell,” Zhou Changwang replied, cupping his hands and quickly walking away.

After shaking off Wang Chang, he felt uneasy. Wang Chang reminded him of a cousin from his previous life—first addicted to women, then to gambling, squandering his youth, accumulating debts, and once, showing up unexpectedly and borrowing money with a casual arm around the shoulder, never to be heard from again.