Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 808 - Chapter 808 Chapter 808 Forced Buy and Forced Sell

Chapter 808: Chapter 808: Forced Buy and Forced Sell Chapter 808: Chapter 808: Forced Buy and Forced Sell Feng Jun knew all too well how dangerous the battlefield was in the mobile phone realm.

He had fully recovered his qi on Earth Realm before switching back to the mobile phone realm, which was the prudent thing to do.

But the appearance of the Sand Mirage King reminded him that, despite his low profile over there, who knows who else might be secretly watching him.

Not to mention the spatial fluctuations caused by his switching between realms, which could be detected by others, just the fact that his spiritual energy went from sixty percent to fully replenished in one second could easily arouse suspicion.

So, he honestly returned to the Pillar of Clouds and swallowed a Qi-Recovery Pill to restore his qi.

The ceasefire at noon didn’t last long, just half an hour, before the fierce battle resumed.

This time, Feng Jun did not go to offer support again, but honestly stayed on the Pillar of Clouds to recover his qi. Joking aside, if the dignified Sand Mirage King was hunkering down on the battlefield, why couldn’t he?

After another three hours of fierce combat, the ground trembled violently, followed by an angry roar that sounded like that of the Scaleless Earth Python.

As the roar sounded, the attacks of the spirit beasts became even more frenzied, and the white fog in the sky grew thicker and thicker.

Feng Jun’s brows furrowed slightly. The Sand Mirage King was dead, yet the Mirage Qi seemed to intensify. Could it be… there wasn’t just one Sand Mirage King?

However, he was mistaken about this. Such a large scope of Mirage Qi could not have been created solely by the Sand Mirage King. The efforts of the thirty-plus Mirage Insects were key; the Sand Mirage King merely provided an additional enhancing effect to the Mirage Qi.

The wild beasts had already agreed to launch a total assault starting this afternoon. They would continuously attack for one full day and night. If they could not achieve a satisfactory outcome, then they would have to consider whether to persist.

The total assault began, and the Mirage Insects desperately released Mirage Qi. As for the enhanced effect of the Sand Mirage King, everyone was certain of its existence but no one could state an exact figure. But then again… wasn’t that normal?

In the midst of battle, various unexpected factors could arise, and many things were not precisely quantifiable.

Because the Mirage Qi was getting denser, Feng Jun continued to lay low, resolute in not going up to support. He felt that staying on his Pillar of Clouds was also of significant importance.

The fight lasted a whole day and night. The next afternoon, the spirit beasts suddenly withdrew en masse, and cheers erupted from the walls.

The Mirage Qi had not yet dissipated, but many cultivators deduced from experience that the spirit beasts were probably retreating.

Feng Jun, however, became tense. He suspected there might be some wild beast coming to the aid of the Sand Mirage King’s escape.

As expected, a Vine Snake King shot towards the Pillar of Clouds, completely ignoring Feng Jun atop it–as if it thought he was merely an illusion created by the Sand Mirage King.

Feng Jun sat motionless until the enemy was less than a hundred meters away. Then he suddenly raised his hand, and a bolt of thunder fiercely struck the Vine Snake. Right after, he drew his Treasured Soldier Blade and soared out.

His long blade cast three beams of white light, slashing down with incredible speed.

His use of the Falling Thunder Technique was truly sudden, and even the Vine Snake King, being a wild beast, was frozen for a moment.

The three subsequent strikes were the Mysterious Primordial Saber Technique. The Vine Snake had scales, and its natural defense was extremely high, but even so, a large gash was cut into it, which was somewhat aided by its quick recovery from the paralysis in the nick of time.

If it had not dodged urgently, it might even have been killed by those three strikes.

This is where the talk of outclassing one’s opponent in a fight came from. The possibility really existed. Feng Jun, who was fully prepared, came close to success.

It was only because they were on the battlefield, where the Vine Snake King didn’t take Feng Jun seriously but was somewhat alert in its heart, that it escaped this calamity. In another situation, the outcome would have been difficult to predict.

After taking that slash, the Vine Snake King didn’t tangle with Feng Jun but zipped away without looking back. Why linger when cultivators at the out-of-dust phase could be in pursuit?

As for the Sand Mirage King it was supposed to aid–it was sneaky and cowardly; who knows whether it had already slipped away.

Half an hour after the spirit beasts retreated, the fog cleared. The Mirage Insects, having released Mirage Qi non-stop for so long, also needed to rest.

The walls were a mess. The surviving cultivators were mostly ragged and bloodstained, yet all were spirited.

Outside the city walls, among the dozens of Pillars of Clouds, some were damaged, some were empty, and only seven or eight pillars had cultivators on them, all in wretched states.

On one particular Pillar of Clouds, however, the person was not only unscathed but was also meditating calmly.

More than one out-of-dust phase cultivator became curious and took a look. But a casual scan revealed that this person was at the Qi Refining Peak, and their minds were put at ease–such a battle record was not unusual for someone at the Qi Refining Peak.

Two days later, the spirit beast army slowly withdrew. The cultivators, due to their severe losses, lacked the strength to pursue relentlessly. They dispatched only twenty out-of-dust phase cultivators in a symbolic chase, killing about a hundred spirit beasts.

Next was the time to record merits. According to convention, each spirit beast was worth one to two points, and each wild beast was worth ten to twenty points.

In Feng Jun’s five-person squad, Xia Pingan died in battle, one at the Qi Refining Initial Stage was crippled, another was seriously injured, and Ji PingAn fared better but lost an arm. He obtained the Endless Life Pill from Xia Pingan and managed to reattach his arm.

Of course, he also promised to take care of Xia Pingan’s younger brother, Xia Ningan, but that goes without saying.

However, inflicted with such severe injuries, he could no longer hold out; he needed at least half a year of convalescence to recover.

Truth be told, cultivators who regularly battled with spirit beasts stood a better chance of survival on such a battlefield.

Only Feng Jun emerged unscathed, which made him seem quite lucky. But then again, seeing how Feng Jun had managed to defend the Pillar of Clouds, high-rank cultivators didn’t find his unharmed state surprising at all.

Ji PingAn even received the honors for Xia Pingan’s merits, which amounted to nineteen points when tallied.

Feng Jun checked his own collection of ears harvested, and finally took out nine ears, two spider legs, a snake head, one eye.

Among them, the ears of the purple-gold eagle and the peregrine falcon were worth two points each. The viper’s head and the golden sand spider’s legs were also worth two points each.

Therefore, his total points came to seventeen.

Of course, that was because he intentionally kept a low profile. He didn’t report many of his kills. In his storage bag, he had about twenty corpses–and that didn’t include those he left behind in the Earth Realm.

Not to mention, just the Sand Mirage King alone would have been worth twenty points if he had reported it.

However, having gained so much spirit beast material and meat, he felt content. After all, if the Sand Mirage King could be so crafty, why couldn’t he be?

In their five-member squad, only the two of them could chat happily about what these merits were good for.

Ji PingAn was somewhat concerned because he didn’t know what else he could do if he wasn’t guarding here. While this place was a bit dangerous, the steady income of five spirit stones each month, plus other earnings, such as going out with hunters to kill spirit beasts, were not negligible.

On average, that could add up to about ten spirit stones a month.

As for the merit points, at the black market rate, one merit point could be exchanged for about twenty spirit stones. Adding the material fees from hunting a spirit beast, the income from killing one would comfortably range between twenty to thirty spirit stones.

It must be emphasized that the ears of spirit beasts might not always end up in one’s own hands. Ji PingAn and Xia Pingan could accumulate a total of nineteen merit points, but the number of spirit beasts they actually killed was definitely more than twenty.

Some accounts just couldn’t be settled in detail. However, the fact that both of them survived a major spirit beast invasion battle was definitely something to celebrate.

Just then, two people approached from a distance, one at the initial stage of detachment and the other at the high tier of Qi refinement.

The initial stage of detachment was none other than Qi Wusheng of Sword Forging Peak. He was brought into Geng Character Squad on an ad hoc basis due to the injury of the former member.

Qi Wusheng also sustained some minor injuries in the battle, with a bandage wrapped around his forehead.

The high-tier Qi refiner appeared well-composed, his face calm and focused. He walked up to Ji PingAn and asked with a smile, “Squad Leader Ji, I hear you did quite well this battle?”

Ji PingAn gave him a sidelong glance, too lazy to even get up, “Who are you… are we familiar with each other?”

Having been here for a long time, he had seen too many scenarios and so had little inclination for pleasantries.

The high-tier Qi refiner paused for a moment, then laughed, “Okay, we are not acquainted, but I heard that you collected a fair number of ears this battle. I came to borrow a few.”

Upon hearing this, Ji PingAn didn’t even bother to look at him, his eyelids drooping as he spoke, “You’ve been misled; I only collected two ears.”

“Heh,” the high-tier Qi refiner let out a cold laugh, “Your five-man squad has been at the front from the start, and four of you survived to the end. And you’re telling me you only got two ears?”

“How many I’ve collected is my business. Who do you think you are?” Ji PingAn replied lazily, “Do you know what crime it is to try to snatch someone else’s merits?”

“I had no intention of snatching,” the high-tier Qi refiner said calmly, “but if you’re going to talk to me like that… Are you sure you won’t regret it?”

“I have nothing to regret, just a worthless life,” Ji PingAn answered nonchalantly, “You’re high-tier Qi refinement, you’re powerful… If it comes to it, just kill me.”

Those who walked off the battlefield lived by the ethos, “Life and death are trivial; if discontent, then fight.” Let alone these cultivators who sought enlightenment.

“Cough cough,” Qi Wusheng coughed lightly, “Um… Ji, if you have any thoughts, just say it directly. No need for harsh words.”

His intervention changed the nature of the conversation. The Qi Family of Sword Forging Peak was a Golden Core Family. Apart from him being brought in, the fact that he spoke up to mediate meant that anyone without a strong enough backbone had to consider–disregarding the Qi Family’s face had its consequences.

But Ji PingAn was no ordinary person–not that he had an extraordinary background, but rather because he truly had no ties and had been mixing it up on the battlefield for many years. He was what you could call a hardened veteran.

He chuckled dryly, “Since Senior Qi has said as much, I won’t be polite. Sixty spirit stones per merit point… Let’s not talk anymore about borrowing merit points.”

The high-tier Qi refiner’s expression darkened at the words, his laugh derisive, “Sixty spirit stones per merit point… You’ve gone mad from poverty?”

“I am indeed mad from poverty,” Ji PingAn admitted unabashedly, “but make one thing clear, I’m not begging you to buy; it’s you who insists on buying from me… If you can’t afford it, stop pretending!”