Chapter 776: Medium Hermit
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The mountains remained the same, and the streams flowed as usual.
Fang Yuan was at a place dearth of Spiritual Energy, but the surrounding trees and mountains formed a tranquil scenery.
In the sky, the purple star brightly shone, suppressing the green star of the Heavenly Court and even competing with the sun.
Fang Yuan squinted his eyes as he saw traces of sinister light falling.
This scene declared that the defense of the Heavenly Court was finally broken.
When such evil force descended into the mortal world, it would give rise to many demons and tyrants. The humans in the Spiritual Realm would most likely suffer for the next twenty years, with half of the countries changing rulers.
“How will the imperial astronomers comment on this day many years later? Will they say that the activity of demon stars foretold the chaos in the world?”
Fang Yuan gazed at the purple star nonchalantly.
As he saw its bright glow fading away gradually, he immediately knew that despite the many unforeseen events, the side of the Spiritual Realm had managed to keep the situation under control.
“The evil force broke through the defense on the Mental Demon Battlefield and entered the lower realm. Countless creatures will be affected… They will gain incomparable talents through this evil force, but their unstable minds will inevitably cause much trouble to the world.
“Of course, it’s none of my business.
“What I need to do is still to absorb origin power, improve my realm, and explore and perfect my own Creation Great Dao. Just right… there’ll be plenty of places for me to hide in the chaos of the Spiritual Realm, and the other Demon Masters and Demon Gods will also divert the attention of the Heavenly Court away from me!”
Other Demon Masters aside, a demonic thought from the Lord of the Void could at least buy a few decades for Fang Yuan!
“A minor hermit lives in the woods, a medium one in the city, and a major one in the government… Which kind of hermit shall I be?”
Fang Yuan’s eyes glittered as he stared at the stream in front of him.
…
The Spiritual Realm was so vast that there were many countries solely belonging to just humans.
Country of Ye.
This was a small country consisting of only three states and located at the border of human territory. Despite the small number of citizens, the natural stronghold there kept it safe for the time being. Moreover, it was not seriously affected by war thanks to the good relationships it bought from the neighboring countries, making this country particularly prosperous.
Country of Ye, Iron State, Songxia County.
There were only around 50,000 people living in this county and growing Green Lotus Rice, which had a yield of 150 kilograms per 600 square meters of farmland. The residents could therefore sustain their lives. A small stream flowed gently across the county town, dividing it in two. The residents worked after sunrise and rested after sunset, living a carefree life.
There was a tea house in the east of the town. The red paint on its signboard had mostly peeled off, revealing the pattern of wood beneath and emanating an ancient aura.
This ‘Flying Cloud House’ had been operating in the county town for more than 100 years, specializing in selling tea, while having some interesting desserts as well.
Some guests came here to chat every morning, enjoying their leisure time.
Fang Yuan was dressed in green robes and appeared to be about forty years old as he walked up the stairs.
Upon seeing Fang Yuan, the waiter’s eyes glittered. “Mister Fang Yuan is here? We’ve just prepared new tea leaves before the rainy season! Sparrow Tongue Tip… Would you like some?”
“Give me a pot of it then!” Fang Yuan laughed and continued, “I want some vegetarian desserts as well, just the same three desserts as before!”
“No problem! Please head upstairs. The seat by the window was reserved for you!” the waiter said with a smile. Apparently, he was acquainted with Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan went upstairs and seated himself. Soon after, the waiter served the tea and desserts.
The tea was indeed fresh and contained some Spiritual Energy, and even mortal humans could live longer and stay healthy by drinking it frequently. The vegetarian desserts were sweet but not greasy, melting immediately in the mouth.
Only at this moment could Fang Yuan feel that he was in the human world.
Fang Yuan casually sipped his tea, occasionally nodding to some acquaintances who also frequented the tea house. As he looked at the busy traffic outside, he could hear many voices:
“I heard that there’s a new lady named Zhi Hua in the Yichun House in the northern part of town. She’s talented in music, chess, calligraphy, and art, and her drawing skill is incomparable…”
” Sigh… Life is hard in our country. All the money given to the neighboring countries ultimately comes from the taxes we have to pay.”
“The harvest has been all right these last couple of years, and we’ve finally recovered from the disaster that happened more than seven years ago.”
“Don’t talk about this… Here, have some tea!”
Everyone shivered at talk of what had happened more than seven years ago, actively trying to avoid mentioning it.
“More than seven years have passed without notice…” Fang Yuan sipped the tea and let out a long breath.
He had been living in the country of Ye since the upheaval in the Heavenly Court. As a teacher in a small county town, he could be considered a medium hermit that had completely left the cultivation realm in order to absorb his harvest from the Mental Demon Battlefield.
And the activity of the demon star had indeed had a prolonged influence on the secular realm.
Flood, drought, and the demon invasion were not the most devastating disasters; the worst was a command!
It was a command given by the Heavenly Court that had been executed by numerous Immortal Cultivator sects! They had followed the command to kill all infants born within seven days of the upheaval, leaving none alive regardless of gender!
Fang Yuan could easily deduce that those infants might have been recipients of the evil force from the Mental Demon Battlefield.
Actually, if they were even more cruel and ruthless, they could have killed all humans born within a month or even a year of the upheaval!
But in that case, the fate of the humans would have been seriously impacted, which wouldn’t have been desirable to either the Immortals or Gods!
What’s more, the heavens might still have allowed some of them to escape!
The foundation of the Immortal Dao and the Divine Dao lay in the Human Dao after all!
Furthermore, the vast Spiritual Realm did not only accommodate humans. It would not be a good thing for the Immortals and Gods to severely cut down humanity’s fate energy.
Therefore, they had not killed more infants not due to mercy, but because of the consequences that would follow!
Moreover, thousands of humans inheriting the evil force were no match for a Demon Master, not to mention a Demon God!
How many Demon Gods were sealed in that upheaval, and how many managed to flee? Hmm… The Lord of the Void was definitely the fastest in escaping. Even if he’s mostly sealed, I’m sure he’ll still be able to cause some trouble!
Fang Yuan paid his bill and strolled back to his thatched hut.
He lived a quiet life in the western part of the busy county and had planted some flowers in his small garden beside the large thatched hut he had built. Occasionally, he taught some children how to read and write. As time passed by, people started to respectfully call him ‘Mister Fang’.
The residents only knew that he was a literate refugee from another country and complimented him even more after one of his students passed the national exam and became a civil servant.
In fact, this was merely a facade.
Fang Yuan only spent a tiny portion of his energy on disguising himself and experiencing the culture in the Spiritual Realm.
He was mostly focused on exploring the rules in the Spiritual Realm, comprehending magical powers, and absorbing origin power.
“There’s a barrier blocking a 10-Essence Demon Master. In fact… my origin power has met the requirement, but my realm still needs some improvement… As soon as I comprehend it, I’ll be able to observe the condensing of my Great Dao and make up for the deficiencies…”
While the Great Dao of a Demon God was not perfect like the Heavenly Dao, it could not have the slightest mistake in the Demon God realm.
As he was thinking, Fang Yuan walked into the thatched classroom.
The room was small, only having five or six desks in it, and an innocent and lively child sat behind each desk.
“Greetings, Mister!”
The little guys were originally playing with toys behind their books, but they shuddered at the sight of Fang Yuan and hastily greeted him together.
After all, Mister Fang would punish naughty children with that red ruler in his hand.
“Hmm. I’ll teach you Yi Haoran’s ‘Nine-Character Canon’ today. It’s more abstruse than the Three-Character Canon, but it suits you well. Everything about how you should behave as a person is inside this canon.”
While Fang Yuan was shaking his head, he was actually thinking about the realm traversing technique.
Although Ancient Netherworld had not told him the technique of traversing to the lower realms, Fang Yuan would still slowly comprehend this technique and fuse it into his Dao of Dream Master.
Although the Spiritual Realm’s space is firm, it’s not the Mental Demon Battlefield after all. Without the Massive Heavenly Cycle Stellar Array locking space, it won’t be too difficult for the divine spirit to traverse. However, I still need some materials… Sigh… I’m really too impoverished in the Spiritual Realm. Even as the master of the Three Mountains and Five Rivers, what I got was far from a great haul…
With all kinds of thoughts in his mind, Fang Yuan was still teaching the children how to read and write.
He was actually learning something in this process as well.
The quintessence of the Human Dao always lay in such trivial things.
But these young children would probably be scared out of their wits if they knew that their teacher was a demon wanted by the Heavenly Court.
There are a few children in this batch that have some destiny and can become talented if taught well!
Fang Yuan took a glance. “Lin Shoucheng, read the next section!”
“Yes, Mister!” A young child in blue stood up and said in a crisp voice, “Heaven’s will has always been the people’s will…”
This boy looked similar to other children around him, but Fang Yuan could observe traces of Mental Demon evil force hiding in his spiritual aura. He was obviously one of the infants that had escaped the slaughter.
After all, parents would do anything to protect their children, much less lying about the infant’s age.
And given the vastness of the world, even if there were City Gods and Earth Gods, the complex hierarchy in the system would inevitably result in some negligence.
Other than him, there was an older child who listened to the lessons with the younger ones and went to take the exam after a year. That one probably has the fate of a prime minister? Fang Yuan thought silently and glanced outside the window.
A child flinched backward like a scared rabbit, but soon popped his head up again and stared into the classroom. His dark, glistening eyes were filled with envy and a bit of fear.
Even though Fang Yuan was only having fun teaching children, he could not break the rules of society. Those who were unable to afford the tuition could only learn stealthily outside the classroom.