Yu Xuan and the others stepped out of the tunnel or the boulder which had swallowed them and found themselves standing on a farm.
Stretching fields of spirit rice swayed gently in the warm breeze.
Yu Xuan inhaled deeply.
"The air is great here," he said.
The earth here was rich, far richer than normal.
The soil practically humd with abundant earth energy.
Number One nodded seriously.
"Boss, this is the outer ring. For now, we need to move stealthily to avoid the man-eating crickets."
Yu Xuan blinked.
"There’s no need to be that cautious. They’re just crickets."
"No, Boss," Number Four corrected firmly.
"It’s man-eating crickets, not normal crickets. And their numbers are absolute."
Yu Xuan shrugged.
"Today, let show you what it ans to be strong."
He confidently strode forward—
"Boss, that way is opposite," Number Two said politely, pointing in the exact opposite direction.
He was good with geography, astronomy, directional sense and much more.
Yu Xuan paused, coughed lightly, and turned around.
They continued through the fields.
On the way, Yu Xuan noticed Number Three, who was slightly plump harvesting enormous amounts of spirit rice.
"...Is it okay to steal this much?" Yu Xuan asked.
Number Three looked at him with the purest expression imaginable.
"Boss, what are you talking about? I am rely harvesting this for the children of the sect Elders."
A noble sentint.
But Yu Xuan watched him employ extended spirit sense, puppets, specialized storage talismans, and farming treasures to harvest at frightening efficiency even while walking.
Number Three had terrifying farming potential.
Elsewhere, in the Sa Field...
Six people arrived where Yu Xuan’s group had passed.
All of them wore dark expressions.
One disciple clenched her fists.
"Senior Sister, is this demon mocking us?"
Another pointed at the few lonely grains of spirit rice left behind.
"He only left us crumbs! Are we beggars?!"
"Even beggars get more than this!"
The green-haired Senior Sister trembled with barely contained rage.
"He dares steal right in front of us?!"
A junior whispered, "Senior Sister, what should we do?"
Her eyes glinted coldly.
"We follow them, wait for an opening and stea— I an, apprehend the demon."
Her group nodded, completely convinced of their righteousness.
They began tailing Yu Xuan’s group with burning determination.
anwhile, Yu Xuan and the others arrived at the region populated by the Man-eating crickets.
A loud, ominous chittering echoed across the field.
Yu Xuan extended his spirit sense outward, ten kiloters in every direction and his brows rose slightly.
What he saw was bloody.
Millions of crickets sward across the terrain, devouring local spirit beasts and wildlife.
Thick, iron-scented blood mist clung to the air, almost tangible.
Yu Xuan exhaled lightly.
"Let show you how to deal with them."
They stepped forward.
CHIRP! CHIRP!! CHIRP!!!
The chirping intensified into a maddening chorus as tens of thousands of crickets surged toward them, exuding bloodlust.
Each one was the size of a fist, with gleaming black exoskeletons and jagged mandibles.
Number One said, "Boss how are you going to handle this?"
Yu Xuan didn’t answer imdiately.
Instead, he smiled faintly.
The first wave of crickets lunged and before they could even touch the group.
A terrifying physical force erupted from Yu Xuan’s body.
The air rippled.
Every incoming cricket froze — then, suspended mid-air, began to pop one after another.
POP! POP! POP!
Tiny shockwaves rippled outward as crushed exoskeleton fragnts rained down.
Yu Xuan lowered his hand slightly, expression thoughtful.
He could have simply crushed them using [Telekinesis] directly, but he had wanted to try sothing new.
Instead of manipulating the crickets, he used raw physical pressure, his body alone to generate an intangible suppression field.
He wasn’t using Qi.
He wasn’t using elental force.
This was pure, overwhelming physical cultivation.
Normally, suppression ca from higher-realm Qi pressure.
But when one cultivated the body to an extre, their presence alone could exert a force strong enough to distort the air, even producing intangible physical power.
[A/N: Similar to Haki, but not Haki.]
Yu Xuan clicked his tongue.
"Still not perfect," he murmured.
He had attempted to rge gravity and anti-gravity while using [Telekinesis], but he hadn’t achieved the seamless overlap he wanted.
Even so, the field of exploded crickets around them was proof enough that Yu Xuan had transcended the level of "normal Core Formation cultivator."
Behind him, Number One and the others stared, completely dumbfounded.
"Boss are you also a body cultivator?" Number Four finally asked, voice trembling slightly with awe.
"You could say so," Yu Xuan replied casually.
The group continued deeper toward the inner region, leaving behind a vast carpet of man-eating cricket corpses.
Number Three had already harvested anything valuable along the way, so not a single exoskeleton remained.
A Short While Later
Six figures erged into the sa area Yu Xuan had just cleared.
One disciple gulped.
"Senior Sister are you sure we shouldn’t wait for reinforcents?"
Another examined the ground with horror.
"How did he even clear the crickets this fast? There were millions!"
A third cried out in anguish.
"Again?! They didn’t leave us any loot! Not even exoskeletons! Everything’s gone!"
The green-haired Senior Sister’s expression twitched.
In truth, her confidence had already taken several hits.
But she gritted her teeth and declared, "Don’t worry. According to our intelligence, his cultivation is only Tier Three, we can handle him. Besides I am Peak Tier Four."
Her juniors nodded, slightly reassured.
She, however, was not.
But the hidden realm could not be allowed to be looted by a single harvester.
"Let’s go!"
She led the group forward, determination blazing and several fanatics following right behind her.
***
Number Three was barely containing his ecstatic laughter.
Because the four brothers were going to be rich.
They traveled through the three outer territories of the hidden realm, the first was the Cricket Fields which was dominated by man-eating crickets.
Another was the Beetle Grounds, filled with dense colonies of black spirit beetles.
And the third was the Silent Pit, ho to the strangest creature yet. A sluggish insect with three eyes and two teeth, but an ability far more terrifying.
Unlike the others, this creature could eat anything soil, stone, even Qi and space itself.
It was the most dangerous inhabitant of the realm.
Even Number Four, the scholarly one, had zero recorded information on these beings.
Yu Xuan decided to take no chances.
He captured four specins alive, just in case they proved valuable and eliminated the rest.
He wasn’t certain whether the insects carried hidden diseases or corruption, so he isolated the four inside Number Three’s Living Pouch — a rare artifact capable of storing living creatures safely.
Apparently, Number Three had co extrely well-prepared.
Along the way, they also harvested Orange spirit fruits rich in Earth and Yang energy and Lemon-like fruits rich in Yin energy.
Yu Xuan finally understood why Number One’s group had failed their previous attempt.
It was all due to the three-eyed, two-toothed insect.
Not only was it absurdly dangerous, it could also consu Qi itself.
How could a Tier Three cultivator fight sothing that literally ate their attacks?
No wonder the four brothers failed back then.
But now.
With Yu Xuan clearing everything effortlessly, the group advanced smoothly.
And so, the five of them finally stepped toward the inner area of the hidden realm.
Yu Xuan glanced behind him.
’I’ll wait a little longer,’ he thought, sensing the group of stalkers still tailing them.
The Inner Region
The mont they crossed the natural boundary, the spiritual energy surged far denser than the outer territories.
Yu Xuan looked around.
"Where do we go now?"
Number One and Number Two unfurled the map, heads close together.
"All ordinary herbs here are Tier Nine or eight," Number One said.
Number Two pointed to a symbol on the map.
"This place, marked with a golden emblem. That’s where the main treasure likely is."
Yu Xuan nodded, and the group moved in that direction.
Along the way, Yu Xuan totally, absolutely did not notice Number Three harvesting every Tier Nine and other herbs in sight.
He definitely did not see rosemary blossoms, sunshy flowers, subterranean mushrooms, qi-rich spinach, and half a dozen rare dicinal plants quietly vanish into Number Three’s sleeve.
Totally didn’t see it!
Not at all.
After so ti, they reached a lone cave entrance covered in softly glowing moss.
And everyone felt it, a strong presence pulsing deep within.
Sothing powerful was waiting inside.
anwhile...
Far behind, the familiar six-person squad followed Yu Xuan’s trail again.
Their faces were a mix of rage, despair, and crisis.
Everywhere they arrived.
Treasures were gone.
Herbs were gone.
Beast corpses were gone.
Even the insects were gone.
One junior disciple, eyes red with fury, finally broke.
"Ahhh—!! My alchemy ingredients!!"
"Sob... sob... how heartless is this demon?"
The green-haired Senior Sister paused as she looked at her emotionally collapsing juniors.
But she raised a fist and declared with righteous ferocity.
"Do not despair! Everything will be recovered!"
Her juniors nodded, though their morale was hanging by a thread.
The senior sister’s eyes glead coldly.
"This ti we will catch him."
And with determined, they continued their pursuit straight toward the cave Yu Xuan was about to enter.
[A/N: Herb tiers from 9(Lowest) to 1(Highest), similar to cultivation tiers but reverse order.]
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