Cultivation Begins From The Desert-Chapter 43: The Sand Bandits Attack (Part 1)

The Boundless Desert Sea, a thousand miles beyond the Baisha River Oasis.

Not long after the Chen Family Ancestor maneuvered the giant tower ship over the Baisha River Oasis, a flash of red light traversed a thousand miles, landing in the hand of a black-robed cultivator waiting there.

"Chen Yaohui has already left with his men, come quickly!"

As the voice from the fading light was heard, the black-robed cultivator's face lit up with joy and he couldn't help but laugh aloud, "Hahaha, that old thief Chen Yaohui has finally departed. Well, it's time for us to take action."

Before his laughter faded, a flash of yellow light enveloped the black-robed cultivator, and he directly employed the "Earth Escape Technique" to delve underground.

Half a day later, the underground black-robed cultivator re-emerged above ground, but he was no longer alone; there were now over a hundred black-robed cultivators clad like him.

These hundred black-robed cultivators were all masked, with only a pair of eyes showing, each emitting a greedy light akin to a voracious wolf.

Sand bandits!

These black-robed cultivators were indeed sand bandits!

Sand bandits raiding oases is a common occurrence. Not every oasis in the Boundless Desert Sea has Foundation Establishment Cultivators stationed, and many small oases without Tier Three Spiritual Veins are inhabited by small Qi Cultivation Stage clans or powerful loose cultivators.

These small clans or loose cultivators, after occupying an oasis, would cultivate spiritual veins, raise mortals, and select mortals with spiritual roots to teach them Immortal Cultivation Techniques, accepting them as disciples. Most loose cultivators originate from these small oases.

Without Foundation Establishment Cultivators to guard them, these small oases easily become targets for sand bandit raids. Once their location is exposed, they can hardly escape the pillaging.

While sand bandits dare to raid small oases without Foundation Establishment Cultivators, and even mid-sized oases like Yuquan Lake Oasis with such cultivators, they would surely not dare nor be capable of raiding large oases like Baisha River Oasis.

Yet now, after the appearance of these hundred black-robed sand bandits, they headed straight for the Baisha River Oasis, a thousand miles away.

This shows that these sand bandits are either mad, having utterly lost their minds, or they have some backing, believing that the Baisha River Oasis, lacking the oversight of the Chen Family Ancestor, a Purple Mansion Stage Cultivator, cannot withstand their pillage.

Seeing that there are even ten or so sword lights flying in the sky as these sand bandits advance, it's evident they fall into the latter category.

...

...

On the other side, Zhouyang and Zhou Xuan Yu returned to Jade Spring Tower after seeing off the old clan leader and the others.

Zhouyang continued to delve into the Foundation Establishment experiences recorded by predecessors, while Zhou Xuan Yu, as usual, shut herself away in the quiet backyard, drawing spirit talismans.

The reason Zhou Family appointed her, the Household Affairs Elder who rarely left the clan, to take charge of Jade Spring Tower, was because the magical artifact business in the marketplace temporarily had no profit after Zhouyang got involved.

Previously, the Jade Spring Tower mainly dealt in magical artifacts due to the presence of Zhou Minghan, a Tier Three High-grade Refiner in the Zhou Family, until Zhou Xuanhao, a Tier Two Top Grade Alchemist joined, allowing elixirs and magical artifacts to become the main business.

But when Zhouyang took charge, Jade Spring Tower reverted to focusing on magical artifacts, and swiftly led to the magical artifact business in the marketplace becoming stagnant.

In light of this, the old clan leader Zhou Minghan struggled and hesitated before assigning his granddaughter Zhou Xuan Yu to the marketplace, hoping her refined talisman-making techniques could alter Jade Spring Tower's main business.

Currently, Zhou Family's revenue sources are quite singular, only twofold: one through selling resources from Cyan Ping Mountain's refined iron ore vein and Golden Pearl Rice grown in the spirit fields atop Jade Spring Peak, and two from the income of Jade Spring Tower and Drunken Immortal Tower.

The first source boasts stability and longevity, but its weakness is evident — the income remains relatively fixed every year, neither soaring nor plummeting.

The second source, when encountering opportunities like Zhouyang's Great Refining, can yield as much income in a year as the clan normally earns over several years.

Especially now, Jade Spring Tower's reputation has been established, drawing many cultivators who come to the marketplace to buy spiritual objects to visit, as their quality clients.

Be it magical artifacts, elixirs, spirit talismans, or arrays crafted by Zhou Family cultivators, provided the quality is good and prices reasonable, they sell quickly at Jade Spring Tower.

Once these are sold, not only do the Zhou Family cultivators consigning their goods earn spirit stones, but the clan also garners a handsome commission, greatly alleviating the clan's strained finances.

Reputation, a delicate thing, if not maintained, it arrives swiftly and departs just as fast.

If cultivators visiting Jade Spring Tower due to its fame, discover that besides magical artifacts, there's little to entice them, it's likely they won't return to shop there again.

Thus, even though the old clan leader Zhou Minghan is reluctant to let Zhou Xuan Yu, his granddaughter, leave the clan and himself, for the sake of the clan's development, he had no choice but to have her preside over the marketplace.

Just as Zhou Xuan Yu was about to finish a Tier Two Middle Grade Spirit Talisman, the marketplace suddenly echoed with deafening bell chimes, ringing nine times in succession; the soundproofing array outside the quiet room seemed to fail, completely ineffective.

Bang!

Zhou Xuan Yu's jade hand holding the talisman brush trembled slightly, and the nearly completed Spirit Talisman instantly exploded into a burst of flames due to the Talisman Maker's distracted mind, turning to ashes.

However, at that moment, Zhou Xuan Yu couldn't afford to worry about that. Upon hearing the sound of the bell, she stared blankly in the direction from which the bell's sound came, towards the summit of Golden Dawn Mountain.

"The 'Alarm God Bell' ringing nine times signals an enemy attack on the Marketplace by Purple Mansion Stage cultivators and Tier Four Demon Beasts!"

"Why? How could this happen so conveniently? Why did Elder Chen and Grandpa just leave, and such strong enemies arrive?"

"No, something's wrong, this is a conspiracy! It must be a long-planned conspiracy! It's dangerous, the Marketplace is in danger!"

Zhou Xuan Yu's face suddenly changed color, she hurriedly packed up the talisman brush and rushed out of the quiet chamber towards the "Jade Spring Tower."

As she reached downstairs, she saw Zhouyang and others had already emerged from the loft, looking up towards the mountain summit.

At that time, above the summit of Golden Dawn Mountain, three Foundation Establishment cultivators who had been stationed by the Chen Family to guard the Marketplace had all emerged from their cave abodes, controlling their sword light in the sky while gazing at the countless cultivators below in the Marketplace.

"Fellow Daoists, we just received an alert from Zhou Family cultivators in the front line that a large group of sand bandits are heading towards the Marketplace, led by several Foundation Establishment cultivators and possibly a Purple Mansion Stage cultivator!"

"Due to the strong enemy this time, we cannot guarantee the protection of all cultivators in the Marketplace, so if any fellow Daoists wish to leave the Marketplace to seek another path, you will have a quarter of an hour to do so."

"After a quarter of an hour, any cultivators who do not wish to leave the Marketplace must follow our commands, and let me declare first, if anyone refuses to leave and acts passively against my orders, beware the sword in my hand that will claim their head!"

"Alright, time is tight, now fellow Daoists can make their choice!"

The cool voice of the three Foundation Establishment cultivators spread through the power of magic, permeating the entire Marketplace, as if a huge stone had been thrown into the water, causing an uproar.

Although most cultivators had some preparation in their hearts upon hearing the nine consecutive rings of the 'Alarm God Bell', truly hearing the situation from the Chen Family Foundation Establishment cultivators still left them all astounded and filled with disbelief.

"Did I hear wrong? That senior said it was a sand bandit attack? Since when do sand bandits have the guts to attack a Cultivation Marketplace guarded by several Foundation Establishment cultivators and a Tier Four Array!"

"Sand bandits! It's sand bandits! This is disastrous! Sand bandits are merciless demons void of humanity, if the Marketplace is breached, we'll be silenced even if we surrender our storage bags!"

"This is a conspiracy, a long-planned conspiracy! To unite over ten Foundation Establishment sand bandits, even an ordinary Purple Mansion Stage cultivator couldn't achieve this, the Marketplace is in danger, we better escape, their targets are the cultivators from major clans in the Marketplace, as Loose Cultivators we might be overlooked if we don't provoke them!"

Whoosh!

The flying sword sliced through the air, instantly beheading the cultivator yelling "conspiracy" to the ground.

"A clown in a rush to die, I'll grant your wish!"

A scornful cold laugh rang out from the sky. The Chen Family Foundation Establishment cultivator who had released the flying sword to kill hardened his expression, coldly sweeping his gaze at the low-tier Loose Cultivators below, trembling fearfully at the scene, and shouted: "I know there are spies sent by sand bandits among you, so to stay alive and claim your rewards, you better shut up and leave the Marketplace quietly, otherwise, when I discover any trace of you, see if this flying sword in my hand recognizes you!"

"Those who dare to spread false rumors will be dealt with as spies!"

With these words, the remaining cultivators in the Marketplace looked at each other, no one dared to discuss anything further, all began pondering their way out. freewebnσvel.cøm

The cultivator killed earlier, whether a genuine spy sent by the sand bandits or innocent, mattered little to the other unrelated cultivators.

The important thing was, although he died, his words had some truth. The sand bandits' raid on the Marketplace is obviously for profit, and many Loose Cultivators feel that compared to the wealthy clan cultivators in the Marketplace, their own possessions are too meager to attract the sand bandits' attention.

Therefore, after the Chen Family Foundation Establishment cultivators finished speaking, a daring cultivator soon cupped his hands towards the sky in front of the three Foundation Establishment cultivators, saying: "Seniors, forgive me, it's not easy for me to cultivate, and I do not wish to lose my life here, please excuse my disrespect!"

This time, the Chen Family Foundation Establishment cultivator who killed with the flying sword didn't take any action, only another elderly cultivator with white hair, wearing a rueful smile, nodded at the speaking cultivator, and responded: "Little Daoist, if you wish to leave, then leave; our Chen Family owes you all. If the Marketplace survives, I will petition the family to halve the retention fee of the Marketplace for the next ten years in gratitude for your support!"

The speaking cultivator's face lit up at these words, and he called out loudly: "Senior's righteousness commands my respect; if I survive this, I will surely spread word of Senior's and the Chen Family's prestige among fellow Loose Cultivators!"

He then immediately slapped a "Divine Movement Talisman" on himself to rush out of the Marketplace, and indeed, the three Chen Family Foundation Establishment cultivators in the sky took no action.

At this, other cultivators wishing to leave mimicked him, saluting the three Foundation Establishment cultivators, saying a few pleasing words, and calmly walked out of the Marketplace.

Within less than a quarter-hour, the Marketplace, which originally gathered seven or eight hundred people, had less than half remaining.

Outside the "Jade Spring Tower", Zhouyang, Zhou Xuan Yu, and other Zhou Family cultivators saw this scene, their expressions involuntarily changed, eyes filled with complex emotions.