Li Xuan pretended to stagger from the blow, rubbed his arm, and said in a muffled voice, "Senior Brother Wang, why bother? I really don't have time."
Wang Mazi glanced at Li Xuan's "painful" expression, then at his own reddened wrist. He felt a mixture of surprise and suspicion, but mostly anger.
He sensed that Li Xuan's strength was even greater than rumored, which was somewhat strange.
"Fine! You just wait!" Wang Mazi said fiercely, but his words were weak inside. He then helped his two whimpering followers and slunk away.
Li Xuan watched their departing figures, his brows furrowed.
Trouble seems unavoidable. Wang Mazi certainly won't let this go easily; next time, it might not be him coming. I must improve my strength as soon as possible! Just in case!
After that, Li Xuan worked even harder to refine the spirit mud paste in the sewage pool, and the strength of his chain repair also increased.
However, good fortune never comes in pairs, and misfortunes never come singly.
That night, when he returned to the sewage pond, he noticed something was amiss.
Several blurry footprints appeared by the pool! Judging by their size, they didn't seem to belong to ordinary laborers.
Moreover, he keenly sensed that the spiritual energy in the pool seemed to be a little thinner than usual.
Someone's been here?! Li Xuan's heart sank. Had this secret hideout been discovered?
The unfamiliar footprints by the sewage pond instantly put Li Xuan on alert, and cold sweat broke out on his back.
This place is extremely remote. Who else would come here besides him? The handymen disciples rarely venture to such a deep back of the Spirit Plant Hall, and the outer disciples look down on such a filthy place even less.
Li Xuan carefully observed the footprints and found that they were quite deep and the strides were even. It seemed that the person who came had a clear purpose and was heading straight for the sewage pool. They stayed by the pool for a while before leaving.
"Was it a chance discovery, or did they come here specifically?" Li Xuan's mind raced.
He carefully examined the pool and the place where he usually hid the earthenware jars, but there were no obvious signs of disturbance.
But the feeling of thin spiritual energy is unmistakable; someone must have disturbed the "things" here, and may even have taken away some sewage or silt.
Who could it be? What is their purpose? Li Xuan's first thought was a disciple of the Spirit Plant Hall, perhaps the disciple in charge of wastewater disposal discovered the anomaly?
But if it were them, they would probably just clean up the sludge pool instead of secretly taking something. Or perhaps they are someone like him who discovered the secret of this sludge pool?
This thought made Li Xuan even more uneasy. If others knew the value of this place, his secret base would no longer be safe, and conflict might even occur.
Li Xuan dared not linger. He hastily used his mental power to collect some relatively clear sewage, leaving without even bothering to refine the silt.
For the next few days, Li Xuan lived in constant fear. He reduced the frequency of his visits to the sewage pond, and each time he went, he was much more cautious, observing from a distance for a long time before daring to approach.
He discovered that the mysterious visitor did not seem to come every day, but would appear every few days, each time taking away some water or silt from the pool.
The other party's actions were also very discreet, trying to erase all traces, but they could not escape the keen perception of Li Xuan.
"It seems they're not from the Lingzhi Hall's official staff." Li Xuan breathed a slight sigh of relief, but his doubts deepened.
Who exactly is this mysterious third party? What does he want to do with this sewage and sludge?
Meanwhile, the threat from Wang Mazi's side had not been eliminated. Li Xuan sensed several times that someone was secretly watching him, but when he looked over warily, he found nothing.
A storm is brewing.
Li Xuan felt a strong sense of crisis and knew he had to improve his strength as soon as possible and prepare for the worst.
He accelerated the pace of chain repair, ignoring his mental exhaustion, and increased the refining and use of the spirit mud paste.
Under pressure, Li Xuan's physical strength began to increase rapidly again, and he felt that his strength, speed, and reaction were approaching a certain critical point.
He even began to consciously practice how to control his aura and power, and drank various kinds of "water" for a long time, which made Li Xuan's body extremely active and his blood and qi so vigorous that it was difficult to completely conceal.
Li Xuan tried to control the flow of qi and blood with his mind, making it more gentle and restrained. To outsiders, he was just a relatively healthy servant, not a humanoid beast with terrifying power.
Progress was slow, but it was somewhat effective. As usual, Manager Zhang came for the end-of-month inspection.
This time, when he saw Li Xuan's spirit field, he suddenly exclaimed "Eh!"
Li Xuan's heart skipped a beat. Could there be a problem with the spirit field? He had been busy repairing the chain and dealing with the crisis recently, and had indeed neglected the care of the spirit field.
Manager Zhang walked into the field, pulled up a rice seedling, examined its roots carefully, and then squeezed the rice stalk, a puzzled expression on his face.
"Your field... is a bit strange," Manager Zhang muttered to himself. "The soil is still so barren, and the rice seedlings are growing crookedly, but the rice stalks... seem to be a bit more resilient than regular corn stalks?"
Li Xuan had a bad feeling. His long-term use of well water containing spiritual energy and sewage for irrigation had inevitably caused some subtle changes in these ordinary seedlings.
He quickly stepped forward and said with a simple smile, "Manager, you are wise. Perhaps it's because I often use some rotten leaves and grass from the back mountain to make fertilizer that my stalks are a bit stiff? But they just won't produce rice, which is really worrying me."
Manager Zhang looked at Li Xuan with suspicion, but couldn't see anything special about him. Finally, he snorted, "Unorthodox methods! If you fail to complete the mission again next time, you'll be in big trouble!"
After noting down the meager estimated production, Manager Zhang left.
Li Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, secretly thinking how close he had come to disaster. He would have to be much more careful with irrigation in the future, and even consider reducing irrigation altogether, sacrificing yield to ensure safety.
The pressure from all sides made Li Xuan realize that the "safe house" in the back mountain had become increasingly unsafe, and he needed a new way out.
Just as Li Xuan was overwhelmed with various troubles, news spread throughout the sect that the annual "Grand Competition" of the Haoyue Sect's outer sect was about to begin.
This is an important opportunity for outer disciples to demonstrate their strength, compete for rankings and resources, and those who perform exceptionally well may even be noticed by inner elders and accepted as nominal disciples.
Although the servants were not allowed to participate, they could still watch the excitement. Furthermore, during the competition, the sect's management would be relatively more relaxed, and various tasks would increase.
Li Xuan wasn't really interested in this, but Zhao Tie came to him with great enthusiasm.
"Junior Brother Li, the outer sect competition is a rare and exciting event. Shall we go and take a look? I heard the rewards are generous this time, and the top few will even get the chance to enter the Spirit Spring Cave to cultivate their spiritual chains!" Zhao Tie said with longing.
"Spirit Spring Cave?" Li Xuan's heart skipped a beat. What kind of place was that?
"Yes! It is said that the spring water in the Spirit Spring Cave contains pure spiritual energy, which is very beneficial to cultivation. Unfortunately, only elite outer disciples can enter." Zhao Tie clicked his tongue, full of envy.
The words "Spirit Spring Cave! Pure spiritual energy!" instantly struck Li Xuan's heart.