This group of people were dressed in ordinary-looking shirts with short sleeves. Their hands were equipped with hoes, machetes, spades, and all kinds of farming tools, and they seemed to be ready to wage a war.
“Their cultivation realms…” Zheng Yang muttered with widened eyes.
The group of people before them were ordinary civilians who could not have appeared more normal; their counterparts on the Master Teacher Continent would not even be Fighters. Yet, every single one of them was actually at Zongshi realm!
“They haven’t cultivated at all. There’s no trace of zhenqi in their bodies…” Wei Ruyan was also taken aback.
From the heavy footsteps of this group of people, she could tell that there was no zhenqi in their dantians. Without a doubt, none of them were cultivators.
Despite never absorbing spiritual energy and refining it into zhenqi, they were already emanating the aura of Zongshi realm cultivators.
“This is likely the effects of consuming Greensprout Wheat for extended periods of time, resulting in some development in their constitution,” Zhang Xuan explained. “They are no longer ordinary humans.”
Such a situation was probably related to the Greensprout Wheat. Their genes had been refined by the Greensprout Wheat over many generations, causing a fundamental change in their constitution.
As a result of these changes, they had been born with strength superior to other humans at birth, much like the Otherworldly Demons.
“This…” Zheng Yang’s eyes lit up in excitement.
He was already moved by the idea when he heard his teacher’s words, but seeing the miraculous effects of the Greensprout Wheat in action, he felt as if he saw endless possibilities for the advancement of mankind.
If everyone on the Master Teacher Continent became like this group of people, they would really be able to stand up against the Otherworldly Demonic Tribe fearlessly even if something went wrong.
While one’s starting point was not everything, there was no denying that it played a significant role in deciding how high one would be able to reach in the future. Without a doubt, being born with strength comparable to Zongshi realm cultivators would be a huge boost.
This was really a step closer in achieving Kong shi’s ideal of creating a prosperous and powerful society for mankind.
“Who in the world are you? How dare you destroy our crops!”
The encircling crowd slowly marched up to Zhang Xuan as they bellowed furiously.
The one leading the group of men was an elder who appeared to be eighty years old. Despite his advanced age, he was brimming with energy. His hair and beard were still dyed a youthful black, and his movements were vigorous.
Even though he had not cultivated, his cultivation had reached the highest level beneath Transcendent Mortal, Zhizun realm!
Zhizun realm experts were able to snub even Emperor Shen Zhui from the Tianxuan Kingdom, but those villagers were able to reach that level just by ageing.
This was something that no one would believe possible outside!
“I apologize for my careless action; I didn’t mean to ruin your crops. I’m willing to compensate you for them,” Zhang Xuan said apologetically as he took out a pile of medicinal herbs and weapons.
While they were already the least expensive goods in his storage ring, they were still commodities that would fetch a relatively high price anywhere else.
Seeing such a sight, the crowd who had marched over here with gusto suddenly halted.
They were unable to accurately identify the value of the artifacts before them, but they were still able to feel the incredible spiritual energy gushing out from them.
The reason they had dashed there was because they had found that intruders had damaged several mu of their farmland, but even the ruined wheat could not begin to compare to the treasures laid out before their eyes.
“You are going to give those to us as compensation?” The elder dared not believe what was happening.
“That’s right,” Zhang Xuan replied with a smile. “Please feel free to take them. To be honest, I have some questions that I hope you will be able to answer.”
The elder quickly instructed the villagers to inspect the treasures, and after confirming that they were invaluable artifacts, he could not help but feel a little giddy.
He hurriedly shook his head to snap out of his state and said, “What is it? Ask anything you like!”
Given that the other party had spoken to them humbly and given them such generous compensation, there was no way that he could stay angry at them.
“It’s actually the first time that the three of us have come here, so may I ask where we are?” Zhang Xuan asked.
“You are in our Stone Village, which is located within the territories of the Estate of Edification!” the elder replied.
“Stone Village? Estate of Edification?” Zhang Xuan frowned. “Pardon me, but what is the Estate of Edification?”
The villagers were confused by the question, but a middle-aged man suddenly spoke up. “It’s one of the areas of jurisdiction under the lineage of Ancient Sage Zi Chi!”
“Ancient Sage Zi Chi?” Zhang Xuan nodded slowly in realization.
Ancient Sage Zi Chi was one of the seventy-two Sages under Kong shi’s lineage. While his reputation paled far in comparison to Ran Qiu, Bo Shang, and the others, his name had still appeared frequently back in Kong shi’s era.
Ancient Sage Zi Chi was known to be skilled in agriculture. Perhaps, while the idea of the Greensprout Wheat was conceptualized by Kong shi, he was the one who had carefully cultured it.
Since this area was under the jurisdiction of Ancient Sage Zi Chi, it meant to say that they were within the territories of the Hundred Schools of Philosophers.
He had still been thinking of conducting a thorough investigation after arriving at the Tianxuan Kingdom, but who could have known that Zheng Yang and the others would stumble upon it so swiftly?
“May I know where I should go in order to reach Ancient Sage Zi Chi’s residence?”
Given that tens of thousands of years had passed then, Ancient Sage Zi Chi himself was bound to have already passed away. Nevertheless, he should still have descendants living in the area. If he wished to trace Kong shi’s footsteps and uncover what he did and where he went after capturing a deity, he would have to first find the experts of the Hundred Schools of Philosophers.
“The residence of the Ancient Sage is located in Fan City. It’s quite far away from here though. If you are in no rush, why don’t I have Xiu Ru from our village to take you there?” the elder asked. “Xiu Ru is our village belle. She is a cultivator, and she has a spirit beast under her command. If you were to ride her spirit beast, you should be able to get to Fan City faster…”
“Village belle?” Zhang Xuan shook his head politely. “It’s fine. That would be imposing too much on you. It’ll be fine as long as you point out the direction of Fan City to me.”
“No no, you aren’t imposing on us at all. It’s our pleasure to be of assistance to you! Fan City is a major city, and not just anyone can enter it. If you attempt to go in despite not being a local, it’s very likely that you’ll be arrested and interrogated. It’ll be much safer for you to have Xiu Ru lead you there. She’s more familiar with the area, and it’ll be more convenient for you to move around with her by your side!” the elder replied affirmatively, not leaving any room for rebuttal at all.
It was true that the group before him had destroyed their farmland, but they had willingly offered generous compensation while maintaining a polite attitude. Naturally, they would welcome them with hospitality.
Seeing that the elder was adamant on the matter, Zhang Xuan could only hesitantly nod in agreement.
The Stone Village was not a large village. All in all, there were only around a hundred households. When they heard that there were guests, they swiftly rushed out of their houses to welcome them warmly.
Soon, the rumored ‘village belle’ appeared as well. She was not a top-notch beauty, but her looks were decent and pleasing to the eye. In a small village like this, it was understandable that she would be considered the village belle.
As the village belle walked over, Zheng Yang looked at her and murmured beneath his breath, “Transcendent 2-dan.”
Just as the elder had said earlier, she was a cultivator. Through the zhenqi flowing through her body, it was not too difficult to see that her cultivation was at Transcendent Mortal 2-dan.
Xiu Ru walked up to Zhang Xuan and the others and spoke haughtily with raised eyebrows. “I can take to Fan City, but I would like to remind you that the residence of Ancient Sage Zi Chi is not a place where anyone can come and go as they please. You’ll have to submit your name scrolls in advance if you wish to pay a visit. Know that if you make any trouble such as rudely barging into the residence and offending those living there, I’m not going to save you!”
As the village belle, she had her own pride and dignity.
“Rest assured, we don’t intend to stir any trouble,” Zhang Xuan replied.
While their cultivation had pretty much reached the pinnacle of this world, the reason for them visiting the Kunxu Domain was not to start a fight but to uncover answers. Naturally, there was no reason for them to intentionally get into conflicts with others.
“That would be for the best. Also, I’ll just put this out here in case you misunderstand anything. It’s due to the village chief’s instruction that I’m leading you to Fan City. If I had a choice, I would never accept something as troublesome with this. So, don’t bother thinking that you will get together with me or anything just because we are journeying together; I’ll only accept the confessions of someone from the village. I have no plans of marrying into any other villages at the moment!” Xiu Ru said sternly.
Constipated looks appeared on the faces of Zhang Xuan and Zheng Yang.
