Zhou Changwang fell silent.
He knew his father's decision was firm.
And only made after thorough deliberation.
Just like his father said earlier, he had spent the first half of his life living for others—Zhou Changwang didn't know how the other person was before, but at least for the past twenty years, he had indeed been busy for him, seeking revenge for his mother. Now that the other person wanted to live for himself, he truly couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Alright, just be aware of this matter.
In the Cultivation Realm, always be cautious; whether it's a thousand spells or ten thousand magical treasures, none are more important than your own life.
As long as you're alive, everything remains possible.
Only then can you truly speak of having a future."
Zhou Qiankun warned sternly.
Zhou Changwang nodded heavily.
...
After some persuasion, except for a few Spirit Farmers who were either too poor or too disdainful, most Spirit Farmers handed over two pieces of Lower-Grade Spirit Stone for the safety of their own Spirit Field.
Thus, the night watch plan organized by Old Xu and others proceeded smoothly.
A total of five people voluntarily became Night Watchers in the Spirit Field, tempted by the Spirit Stones.
Old Xu, Xu Fugui, and the seriously affected Xu Zhong were conspicuously among them.
Old Xu did try to persuade Zhou Changwang to join as a Night Watcher, after all, just one night of watch could earn at least two pieces of Lower-Grade Spirit Stone.
However, Zhou Changwang refused.
It's not that he looked down on those Spirit Stones.
Even though he had quite a few Spirit Stones, he never considered earning them an easy task.
If possible, he naturally hoped to earn more.
But he always understood that the dangers in the wild never ceased to exist just because others had safely passed through; it might be a matter of probability, but he absolutely refused to stake his safety on so-called luck.
Whenever he appeared, he assumed danger would inevitably occur.
Until he had enough strength to protect himself, all he could do was minimize outings and not place himself in hazardous situations.
...
In the following days, thanks to the Night Watchers' patrol, no one dared to steal Spirit Rice again.
However, the frequency of Demon Beast appearances gradually increased.
The five Night Watchers were all Immortal Farmers within the Spirit Field, with limited strength—the strongest among them only at Qi Refining Third Layer. Relying on numbers, they merely dared to drive the Demon Beasts away, but truly eradicating them was quite a challenge.
Therefore, some Spirit Farmers still suffered damages.
Fortunately, these losses remained within acceptable limits. Though there were occasional complaints, nobody questioned the Night Watchers.
After all, their presence indeed prevented the Spirit Field from being visited by rice thieves again.
"Three days now."
Zhou Changwang's face appeared somewhat grim.
He saw a large area of Spirit Grain Rice in his Spirit Field was crushed, and even a small section was completely eaten clean.
This marked the third day in a row.
A Demon Beast continued to rampage in his Spirit Field.
In fact, after discovering this on the second day, he immediately sought out Old Xu.
The other party, hesitatingly, merely said he indeed saw the Demon Beast, confirming it as an adult Iron Armor Pig, but the other party was too large. No one in the Night Watchers dared to act, and even driving it away seemed daunting, only able to watch as it leisurely strolled back into the mountains just before dawn.
Now, on the third day, the Demon Beast returned.
It seemed to treat Zhou Changwang's Spirit Field as its own little haven, rolling around here each night...
"We can't sit idly by anymore.
We must solve this problem."
Zhou Changwang stared at the large area of collapsed Spirit Grain, feeling a deep pain.
As a Spirit Farmer, the most intolerable thing is someone destroying your own planted crops.
Over three days, his Spirit Field lost no less than 300 pounds of Spirit Rice.
That's all Spirit Stones.
With the current rate of thirteen pounds per piece of Lower-Grade Spirit Stone, that's equivalent to over twenty pieces of Lower-Grade Spirit Stone.
Whether he earns that many Lower-Grade Spirit Stones after a year's hard work, deducting the rent for the Spirit Plant Hall, remains uncertain.
How could he not be angry?
"Xiaohanzi, it's time for you to act."
Zhou Changwang called out.
After much consideration, he finally decided to take action.
Besides, he knew that near Changling Mountain, there were often people from the Spirit Plant Hall patrolling, so the risk was not high.
The surviving Demon Beasts were mostly equivalent to those at Qi Refining First Level, Qi Refining Second Level of Low-Tier Demon Beasts.
Even if there were occasional stragglers, they were at most equivalent to Qi Refining Third Layer.
As for higher?
The Spirit Plant Hall is not a small force; every patrol, no matter how careless, always consisted of at least one or two experts above Qi Refining Fourth Layer.
Under their Spiritual Sense scrutiny, Demon Beasts above Qi Refining Third Layer were long since annihilated.
Precisely because of this reason, Zhou Changwang dared to decide to personally deal with the Demon Beast rampaging in his Spirit Field.
And upon Zhou Changwang's call, the Little Spirit Dog immediately dashed over to him energetically.
Within a few days, the Little Spirit Dog became even sturdier, and seeing its shiny black fur, Zhou Changwang casually gave it a nickname.
Xiaohanzi.
Casual yet catchy.
When the Little Spirit Dog ran up to Zhou Changwang, he patted its head, then cast a Calming Technique, pointing to the collapsed Spirit Grain Rice and said, "Go, see where this guy is hiding?"
"Woof."
The Little Spirit Dog growled softly, seemingly understanding Zhou Changwang's words, and began sniffing around the Spirit Field.
The Little Spirit Dog was indeed a Spirit Beast Earth-penetrating Dog, with a keen sense of smell, its Talent far surpassing that of ordinary dogs.
Even though it was still small, the Iron Armor Pig did not possess the ability to conceal its aura.
Therefore, in no time, the Little Spirit Dog growled again and quickly chased in a certain direction with its short legs.
Zhou Changwang didn't hesitate and directly followed behind it.
Soon, Zhou Changwang passed through his own Spirit Field and reached the edge at the foot of Changling Mountain.
Here stood a Spirit Thorn Vine fence, effectively preventing Demon Beasts from Changling Mountain from running down to ravage the Spirit Field.
It was specifically arranged and planted by cultivators from the Spirit Value Hall, densely spread over unknown distances.
However, at this moment, a big gap was evident in the middle of the fence.
Clearly, some Demon Beast forcefully crashed through, breaking open the Spirit Thorn Vine-covered fence.
"Indeed quite large.
Five hundred pounds, still underestimated."
Zhou Changwang assessed the size of the gap and his face revealed a hint of seriousness.
Adult Iron Armor Pigs generally possessed strength equivalent to Qi Refining Second Layer, such a large Iron Armor Pig… if not for certain trump cards, he really wouldn't dare act rashly.
...
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