Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Lurking in the Shadows
Wei Yun Xi was extremely alert. She secretly informed Wei Zong Hao at once, and the two of them met up during the lunch break.

“Yun Xi, are you sure someone has their eyes on us?” Wei Zong Hao asked.

“Yes. If it happened once, you could call it a coincidence, but it’s been like this three days in a row. Something’s definitely wrong,” Yun Xi replied firmly.

“Then do you think they’re targeting our spirit fields, or us?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” Yun Xi said, shaking her head.

She had a few guesses in her heart, and she worried it might be Chen Feng’s friends following the trail to her. If that was true, it would be trouble.

Wei Zong Hao rubbed his face. “They sure picked their timing. I’ve been getting ready to break through to Qi Refining level seven lately. If something happens…”

Yun Xi was worried about that too. After thinking for a moment, she leaned in and whispered a few words into Zong Hao’s ear. He looked conflicted. “Will that work?”

“Even if it won’t, we have to make it work. We can’t let them lead us by the nose,” Yun Xi said.

“Alright. I’ll listen to you,” he said.

After that, the two of them split up and made preparations for any sudden incident, waiting for those people to come knocking.

The one who had her eyes on Wei Yun Xi and the others this time was none other than Tang Ru, Chen Feng’s former lover.

Tang Ru had become a concubine to a Golden Core Master, and she had already raised her cultivation to Qi Refining level nine. That was only because she had given half the cultivation resources she obtained to Chen Feng; otherwise, she would have broken through to Qi Refining level ten long ago. By then, as long as she had a Foundation Establishment Pill, she could break into the Foundation Establishment Stage.

But for two whole months, Chen Feng never went to see her. He also never went to collect the cultivation resources she had left for him in secret, and she grew anxious. Quietly, she spent spirit stones to ask around about where Chen Feng had gone.

Yet when Chen Feng went to the Outer Fifth Peak to find Wei Yun Xi, his plan was to get his revenge, snatch her resources, and then kill her to silence her. He believed his cultivation was higher than hers, and he was sure the trip was foolproof, so he never told anyone.

The sect forbade disciples from killing each other. Chen Feng could not possibly hand such a huge weakness to anyone, so he never told even Tang Ru. That led to no one knowing after he was killed.

As an Outer Sect disciple, he was not qualified to have a soul lamp lit, so his death passed without a sound. Only Tang Ru still kept him on her mind.

Tang Ru felt deeply uneasy. Using the jade hairpin Chen Feng had given her, she cast a tracking technique and confirmed that the last place he appeared was in the Class-B spirit fields of the Outer Fifth Peak. She could not find the exact spot.

But Tang Ru understood that Chen Feng was likely in grave danger. She wanted to know who had harmed him, so she paid spirit stones and hired people to investigate, and the two Wei siblings fell within the scope of her inquiries.

At first, her suspicions fell on the two of them, but after she confirmed their movements, she set them aside.

She knew Chen Feng well. Without absolute certainty, he would never go up against someone with the same cultivation as him. If he had dealt with the little girl from the Wei Family alone, that might have been possible, but her cultivation was two levels below Chen Feng’s. She simply did not have the ability to handle him.

After that, she shifted her suspicions to someone else, and Yun Xi avoided disaster.

Still, Yun Xi and Zong Hao could not tell whether the people wandering near the spirit fields were targeting the fields or targeting them. For the past two days, they did not cultivate at all, and they kept watch over their spirit fields around the clock.

On the other side, Wei Yun Qing had been living very comfortably lately. She took on a task sorting spirit herbs at Pill Peak, and she gradually grew familiar with the senior brothers there.

With her obedient, eager-to-learn image, she earned the approval of a Senior Brother Ye and received a long-term sect task. She was responsible for sorting spirit herbs at Pill Peak, earned spirit stones, and could even buy some pills at a low price. She grew smug again.

If the Wei Family disciples would not play with her, she would be beautiful on her own. She also saw the benefits of becoming an alchemist, so she decided to follow the path of pill cultivation.

She had water and wood dual spiritual roots and a talent for nurturing spirit plants. Before Foundation Establishment, she could use earthfire to refine pills. After she reached Foundation Establishment and found a strange flame to refine, she would be like a tiger with wings.

She also wanted to confirm that Illusion Realm one more time. She remembered clearly that there was a place inside Illusion Realm where a strange flame might be, and she planned to try.

But right now, her cultivation was too low. Even if she knew where the strange flame might be, she had no way to retrieve it. She had to build up her strength first.

The next day, she brought the good news back to the small courtyard, but she only saw Wei Yun Ying. From her, she learned that Yun Xi was planning to stay at the spirit fields on the Outer Fifth Peak to grow spirit rice. She felt nothing but contempt and mocked Yun Xi twice.

Wei Yun Ying did not want to deal with Yun Qing at all. Seeing Yun Qing start talking in a mocking, backhanded way about her sisters again, she used cultivation as an excuse and returned to her room, leaving Wei Yun Qing feeling utterly bored.

When Yun Qing went next door to complain to Zong Jin and Zong Yu, the two of them did not give her a chance at all. They claimed they were going to take sect tasks and left her with nothing but their backs. So angry that she could only stomp her foot, Wei Yun Qing went back to Outer Sect Pill Peak.

At this point, the eight Wei Family siblings all stepped onto their own chosen paths of cultivation, drifting farther and farther apart. Some watched over and helped each other along the way, while others devoted themselves to tripping up their own brothers and sisters. Some were left behind and finally vanished into the Cultivation World, while others never stopped striving and eventually walked their own broad road. All of that was for later.

Back in the present, Wei Yun Xi and Zong Hao made complete preparations and waited for those people to make a move. But before that, they met the owner of spirit field No. 59, a Qi Refining level eight cultivator named Fan Si.

When Yun Xi and Zong Hao saw that the protective barrier above his spirit field had been taken down, they went forward together to greet him.

Fan Si looked at the two siblings, who only reached up to his chest, and smiled. “I was planning to rent the spirit fields on both sides too. I didn’t expect the two of you to get there first.”

Yun Xi smiled at once. “Senior Brother Fan, Steward Senior Brother Wang assigned these to us. Since it’s our first time growing spirit rice, he took pity on us and gave us a fertile spirit field. If you want to grow with the fields connected, then after this season’s spirit rice harvest, my brother and I can switch to two other spirit fields.”

Hearing that, Fan Si felt much better. This junior sister had good sense and knew how to act, so he smiled. “I’m familiar with Steward Senior Brother Wang. When the time comes, I’ll swap you into two spirit fields that are about the same, and they’ll even be connected. I definitely won’t let you suffer a loss.”

“Then thank you, Senior Brother Fan,” Yun Xi said.

Their conversation went smoothly. After laying the groundwork, Yun Xi gave Zong Hao a meaningful look. Zong Hao understood, stepped forward, and lowered his voice. “Senior Brother Fan, you might not know since you just came out of seclusion, but people have been wandering around our spirit fields lately. We don’t know what they want. Could they be eyeing the spirit rice that’s about to ripen? Please give us some guidance.”

Fan Si frowned. He had met people who wanted to pick someone else’s fruit before. These were Class-B spirit fields, and once the spirit rice ripened, after you handed in the required amount to the sect, the rest was yours. If you worked hard, you could still put a hundred low-grade spirit stones into your storage pouch.

So he said at once, “It’s normal for you to be targeted since it’s your first time growing spirit rice and your cultivation isn’t high. I advise you to spend some spirit stones to make the spirit rice ripen early, then harvest early and hand it in early. It’s better than getting wiped out in one go.”

Zong Hao asked in shock, “This… the sect has people like that?”