"Where is Zone Wujiu, and what kind of fields are there?" Lou Yi asked someone randomly as he walked out of the Spirit Field Pavilion.

Earlier, Wei Jian had only mentioned Zone Jia, Zone Yi, and Zone Bing, without talking about any other zones.

Unexpectedly, the person he asked was startled upon hearing about Zone Wujiu, stammered, and turned away as if too scared to have much to do with Lou Yi.

Feeling something was wrong, Lou Yi went to find Wei Jian.

Wei Jian's face changed when he heard, pulled Lou Yi aside, and asked in a low voice, "Junior Brother, have you offended someone?"

Then he gave Lou Yi a briefing.

Zone Jia has superior fields, Zone Yi has medium fields, Zone Bing has inferior fields, and Zone Ding has the lowest quality fields.

The lowest-grade spirit fields produce very little and are basically not assigned to new disciples by the sect.

However, the fields in Zone Wujiu are even worse than the lowest grade, existing only in a few areas of the sect.

Zone Wujiu is the worst among them, famously a forbidden area for outer disciples.

It seems to hold certain dangers, posing considerable risk even to cultivators at the Qi Cultivation Middle Stage.

"If it's dangerous, why has no one cleaned it up?" Lou Yi asked.

"It seems to involve an elder who went missing long ago. Those with high cultivation don't want to get involved, and those with low cultivation don't have the ability," Wei Jian sighed. "Junior Brother Lou, you might try appealing to an elder for justice.

Otherwise, once today is over, it will be set in stone, and it will be even harder to change in the future.

After the three-month newcomer period, the condition of your spirit field planting will be included in the quarterly assessments."

After saying this, Wei Jian patted Lou Yi on the shoulder, sighed, and walked away.

He seemed to want to say more but ultimately didn't say it out loud.

Lou Yi understood that Wei Jian might have wanted to help him but had concerns.

After weighing his options, he decided not to act hastily.

Still, he appreciated how much he was warned; it was already quite helpful.

Who set this all up?

It's obvious even without thinking hard; he's only been at the Corpse-Driving Sect for a short while, and the only one he's offended is Wang Wenbai, isn't it?

With relatives in the Corpse-Driving Sect as elders, it's all too easy for them to mess with him secretly.

Thus, Lou Yi was not even bothered to file a complaint.

He planned to go over first to see what the situation was like with the fields assigned to him before making any decisions.

All of the spirit fields of the Corpse-Driving Sect are located on a plain ten miles southeast of Disciple Peak.

Lou Yi set off to the spirit field region alone, witnessing many sights along the way, greatly broadening his experience.

There were cultivators chanting secret spells, with spiritual power circulating around them, who would summon gentle rain in the blink of an eye;

There were cultivators holding talismans, their bodies glowing, with a 'rumbling' sound coming from the ground as the earth turned over on its own;

There were cultivators remotely controlling spirit corpses to plant seedlings and fertilize the fields while standing akimbo on the sidelines watching...

The spirit rice in the spirit fields generally stood as tall as a person, with plump ears of grain.

Plucking a grain, it was crystal-clear, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, with four sharp points at the base, precisely Cyan Tooth Rice.

The further Lou Yi walked, the poorer the quality of the spirit fields became.

In Zone Bing, the spirit rice was sparse, and there were hardly any cultivators visible who tended to the fields.

In Zone Ding, human presence vanished completely, and the land was barren, with many parts cracked open.

Climbing over a small hill, he reached Zone Wujiu.

Lou Yi found that the fields were overgrown with weeds taller than a person.

The spirit rice was scarce amidst the weeds, hard to find even one stalk after half a day.

'The soil seems much better than Zone Ding,' Lou Yi mused in surprise, 'So why has no one come to cultivate it?'

Suddenly, his gaze shifted as he spotted a shadow slowly crawling on the leaves.

It was a bug slightly thicker than a thumb, a foot long, with its body divided into nine segments.

It had two sesame-sized scarlet eyes on its head and was covered with yellow hair, making it look somewhat disgusting.

'Hu!'

Lou Yi instinctively hurled an axe, easily slicing the centipede in two.

Then it flew back with a 'whistling' sound, landing accurately in his hand.

The next moment, the Attribute Panel issued a prompt:

'Energy +1, do you wish to absorb it?'

Seeing this, Lou Yi's eyes lit up.

He had been worrying about how to collect energy within the sect, and here it was, presenting itself!

Looking out over the fields of Zone Wujiu, which seemed to span over a thousand acres, who knew how many bugs were hidden there?

It was as if someone had just delivered a pillow when he was sleepy.

Lou Yi looked at the weed-covered fields again and saw several more centipedes slowly chewing on leaf blades at the roots.

'Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!'

The pure black Celestial Meteorite Iron Axe flew out, continuously hacking the centipedes, flying chaotically in the air without even having the chance to return to Lou Yi's hand.

In no time, more than a dozen centipedes had died under Lou Yi's axe, providing him with over ten points of energy.

'Rustle, rustle, rustle...'

The centipedes that provided energy possessed intelligence unlike ordinary insects.

They quickly gathered in one part of the field, and then charged out.

Who knew how many were entwined into a mass, transforming into a yellow, writhing object scrambling rapidly across the ground, aiming to cover Lou Yi.

'Swoosh!'

The axe whistled, slicing through the centipede swarm.

But they melded back together instantaneously, persistently crawling toward Lou Yi as if determined to devour him.

"Interesting," Lou Yi noted the speed of the insects, possibly faster than an average horse, making it hard for newcomers to cultivation to escape.

"Splitting Mountain."

"Dragon Piercing."

Lou Yi raised the axe, and a surge of white mist gathered at the blade.

Then it surged forward, impacting the yellow insect swarm less than three feet away.

'Boom!'

The force of over seventy thousand pounds poured entirely into the insect swarm.

The insects burst apart with 'pop-pop-pop' sounds, splattering disgusting yellow slime everywhere.

Luckily, Lou Yi retreated immediately after his strike, or he might have been splashed, dirtying the Daoist robe he had just received.

In a matter of moments, the insect swarm was almost entirely annihilated, providing Lou Yi with over three hundred points of energy!

However, after this failed attack, the centipedes seemed to realize Lou Yi's power.

They all descended from the weed roots and burrowed into the soil, avoiding any direct contact with Lou Yi.

And the other-colored insects in the field also remained still, unwilling to emerge after witnessing the fate of the centipedes.

Lou Yi naturally wasn't going to let these energy-providing bugs slip by.

He activated his Petrification Talent, covering his whole body in a faint jade-like white, charging straight into the weeds taller than a person.

'Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!'

Golden shadows flew to Lou Yi's body at lightning speed.

'Crack, crack, crack!'

Their fierce little teeth opened wide, starting to gnaw at Lou Yi's skin and flesh.

But against his petrified skin, they were useless, only weak sparks constantly flying off.

Lou Yi observed the strange bugs on him.

They were entirely golden, like they had donned golden armor, numbering twenty or thirty.

About the size of a fingernail, they had no eyes, but their mouths could open more than one hundred eighty degrees, revealing rows of sharp teeth difficult to spot without careful inspection.

Pressing down on a golden beetle with his finger, he applied pressure.

He found that though it emitted creaking sounds under the unbearable strain, it stubbornly held firm without being crushed.

Lou Yi had exerted more than ten thousand pounds of force, yet he hadn't crushed even one beetle?

Lou Yi's expression slightly changed, finally understanding why no cultivator was willing to deal with them.

An ordinary cultivator, if not properly protected, could easily be pierced by these golden insects, smashing their innards to pieces!

However, this was no match for Lou Yi.

"Armor-Piercing!"

An invisible sharp energy spread outward.

The golden beetles stopped their gnawing behavior as if they had encountered their nemesis.

...

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