Chapter 335: 3: Gathering Place of Rogue Cultivators_3
Not because the tea was particularly good, but mainly to keep himself connected with the current environment.
Though these rogue cultivators are at the bottom level, because of this, they can see things from different angles.
Through their casual conversation, he might even learn the latest happenings in Yan State.
“Senior Zhao, greetings!”
“Senior Zhao, you’re here for tea again?”
A few Qi refining stage cultivators who were chatting noticed Wang Ba and immediately stopped their conversation, respectfully standing up to pay homage to Wang Ba.
Wang Ba casually waved his hands with a smile, “Continue with your chat, don’t mind me.”
Although there are a lot of people gathered at this rogue cultivator’s gathering place, there are only a few Foundation Establishment Competitors, and even though Wang Ba kept a low profile, almost everyone, except the newly arrived cultivators, recognized him.
Everyone knew that this ‘Senior Zhao’ had a mild temperament and mostly kept to his cultivation, only occasionally coming here for tea.
He almost never had any arguments or unpleasantness with other cultivators.
Consequently, even when they saw Wang Ba, they did not feel too tense, and upon hearing his words, they all sat down again and resumed their quiet chatter.
The teahouse was primarily a place for everyone to exchange information, so as long as they didn’t speak too loudly, they didn’t have to worry about disturbing others.
So, while sipping his tea, Wang Ba listened to the whispers of the cultivators.
In their conversations, there were all sorts of strange and curious matters.
From sharing experiences of refining lower grade Class I elixirs, to a local rogue cultivator who tried to rob another cultivator and ended up getting killed himself.
There were also anecdotes like a rogue cultivator stumbling upon an immortal cave left behind by a Foundation Establishment Competitor while he was out, procuring many elixirs and magic tools. No one expected that this Foundation Establishment Competitor was a demon cultivator and his cave had many malicious traps; the rogue cultivator got entrapped, barely managed to escape, but his injuries worsened, leading to his death. The only thing he left behind was a beautiful dao companion.
Some people were interested in exactly what kind of elixirs these were, while others were more curious about the whereabouts of that beautiful dao companion.
This probably was a common fault of people, regardless of their cultivation base or realm.
Even Wang Ba couldn’t help but stop drinking and start eavesdropping.
However, soon, he paused with the tea cup in his hand.
“Have you heard? The cultivators from Xuli Sect that went to the frontlines in Wei State suffered heavy casualties, reportedly even a Golden Core master fell.”
“What? Even a Golden Core master died?”
There was an immediate gasp from the surrounding cultivators.
The speaker, clearly pleased with the reaction his words caused, boasted:
“I heard it from a senior, Xuli Sect suffered heavy losses this time, a lot of Foundation Establishment Masters died too. I reckon, after they return this time, they certainly won’t dare to lay hands on us rogue cultivators anymore.”
Immediately someone replied with a sense of relief:
“Good! Excellent! Those people from Xuli Sect have always been extremely cruel to rogue cultivators, sucking our blood dry using Xuli Market, some of our dao friends were even sold off to that devil cult in the west by them. Now that they have suffered severe losses, it can be considered a great relief to our relentless resentment!”
“Exactly, in my opinion, it is not necessarily a bad thing even if the Kingdom of Immortals comes. I’ve heard that there are no sects in the Kingdom of Immortals, everyone is of equal status and resources are divided equally, unlike those sects that ride over our heads, shitting and peeing on us.”
A cultivator with a bitter face couldn’t help but say.
These treasonous words, which would be perceived as heinous by the sect cultivators, actually garnered much approval from the many cultivators present.
“That’s right, if the Kingdom of Immortals invades, we will be the first ones to show them the way!”
“There’s not a single good person among the sect cultivators!”
Listening to these rogue Qi Refining cultivators, Wang Ba secretly shook his head.
If it were really about equal status and equal division of resources, it would be fine, but after searching the soul of a Yin God cultivator, he knew that it was far from the truth.
Incense burning Dao cultivators face immense challenges in their normal cultivation practices, even though they need resources, the demand is not so high.
Instead, they constantly need to expand their territories, propagate faith among the masses, collect incense fire for the deities in order to receive their blessings and rapidly advance their cultivation.
So, for incense burning Dao cultivators, the struggle for cultivation resources is far less important than the struggle for followers.
Additionally, the upper limit for incense burning Dao cultivators is also heavily restricted by the deities.
If one becomes an incense-burning Dao cultivator, one would probably end up following the path laid by the deities, rendering services for them for the rest of their lives.
However, there’s no point in saying these things, because even if he did, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
It would be more accurate to say that these people approve of the Kingdom of Immortals primarily due to their deep resentment towards the sect powers than actually having a belief in the former.
And just when the cultivators at another table heard the conversation of these people, they immediately chimed in:
“The loss of Xuli Sect this time is not as considerable as the loss ZhenLing Palace suffered. They lost three Golden Core masters at once, reportedly while pursuing the forces of the Kingdom of Immortals. The people of Zhenling Palace must be mourning their loss.”
“Three of them died?! Wow! Their status as the number one sect of Yan State, seems uncertain now!”
Someone exclaimed in shock.
“Hehe, do you think Zhang Daobai isn’t there? Even if all the four remaining Golden Core masters of Zhenling Palace die, as long as Zhang Daobai is there, they will remain the number one sect in Yan State.”
“Zhang Daobai? That old man who never dies? Wasn’t it said that he was heavily injured and couldn’t go when the Chu Dynasty sent people to recruit him last time?”
“You believe that? He has been injured for decades! This was just to fool you guys and Chu Dynasty’s people.”
A cultivator with silver hair and an old look scoffed.
“Heh! Regardless, I’m happy no matter how many of those sect people die, it would be best if all of them died!”
A cultivator with a horrifying scar on his face and a broken arm was grinding his teeth, expressing his hatred.
Clearly, he had a difficult, unforgettable past.
Sensing the strong resentment of the cultivators around him towards the powers of the sects, Wang Ba felt empathy.
After all, although he had been through East Saint Sect and Tianmen Cult, he had always been the one oppressed, and there wasn’t much difference between him and these rogue cultivators.
It was only now that he had some freedom.
However, just then, a cultivator spoke up, making Wang Ba’s heart leap in an instant.
“Speaking of all of them dying, I do have a piece of news, but I am not sure if it’s true or false. You all know about the devil cult in the west, right? Someone sneaked in and you know what?”
“There’s not a single cultivator in the devil cult, the whole place is empty!”