You Cultivate, I Farm

Chapter 283: Thousand Faces of Deception

In the courtyard of Sword Gate Town.

Lu Xuan walked around the courtyard but found no signs of intrusion. He relaxed and opened the Illusion Mist Formation, entering the courtyard.

As soon as he entered, a cold chill greeted him.

The courtyard was filled with gusts of chilly wind, accompanied by occasional wails of resentful spirits. The air was thick with the scent of blood, creating a scene reminiscent of the underworld.

"There are four Ghost-Faced Stone Mushrooms left. I wonder how many of them are fully matured."

Last time he visited the courtyard, only one Ghost-Faced Stone Mushroom was fully matured, and he obtained a strange fourth-grade artifact, the Soul-Inducing Lamp, from the luminous sphere.

Lu Xuan, considering himself a righteous cultivator, naturally wouldn't reveal such sinister artifacts to his fellow disciples in the sect and had always kept it hidden deep in his storage pouch.

Approaching the four Ghost-Faced Stone Mushrooms, Lu Xuan focused his attention on the top of the plants, where strange faces were growing.

"There are two fully matured ones."

Without checking the detailed information of the plants, he directed his attention to the luminous orbs that appeared quietly on the ground.

The white luminous orbs flickered slightly. Upon touching them gently, the orbs turned into countless points of light, forming a vague and blurry face that instantly entered Lu Xuan's body.

【Harvested one third-grade Ghost-Faced Stone Mushroom, obtained a fourth-grade artifact, the Thousand Faces of Deception.】

A thin, pale gray mask appeared in Lu Xuan's hand.

The mask had shallow grooves that constantly changed, forming various eerie faces, each expressionless and filled with resentment.

Lu Xuan felt a strong chill emanating from the part of his hand that touched the mask, and his mind focused on this sinister artifact.

【Thousand Faces of Deception, a fourth-grade artifact, refined from the souls of ghostly creatures of tiger-level fifth-grade rank. When worn, it can change the appearance and aura of the cultivator at will, making it difficult to detect.】

【Long-term wearing may be influenced by the lingering souls, gradually losing self-awareness.】

【I can take its place.】

"A fourth-grade auxiliary artifact. Although its function is singular, it is extremely powerful."

Lu Xuan sighed inwardly.

In the cultivation world, techniques or artifacts that can conceal one's form and aura, though not rare, are still difficult for many cultivators to obtain. Those that can completely change one's appearance and aura are even rarer.

He stored the almost imperceptibly thin Thousand Faces of Deception in his storage pouch and continued to pick the other fully matured Ghost-Faced Stone Mushroom.

He gently touched the white luminous orb that appeared next.

Countless points of light converged into a blurry face, which instantly entered his body.

【Harvested one third-grade Ghost-Faced Stone Mushroom, obtained a fourth-grade artifact, the Soul-Inducing Lamp.】

A thought flashed through his mind, and then, a strange lantern appeared in his hand.

The bone-white lamp emitted a faint light, and the ghastly white lampshade seemed to be made of human skin. Below the lamp base, numerous slender, dark-red lamp tassels swayed gently in the cold wind, resembling countless intertwined tiny tentacles.

The central white lamp candle was densely packed with countless resentful souls.

"Another fourth-grade Soul-Inducing Lamp artifact."

Lu Xuan was quite satisfied. A fourth-grade Soul-Inducing Lamp could attract resentful souls within a certain range, while also disturbing the minds of cultivators and demonic beasts, causing them to lose their senses.

The remaining two Ghost-Faced Stone Mushrooms were about to reach full maturity. In order to save some precious Green Wood Source Qi, Lu Xuan decided not to rush them.

Nearby, the third-grade Thorny Bone Tree was also about to fully mature. Lu Xuan decided to take it to Empty Abyss Island as well.

Although the Hundred-Eyed Enigmatic Wood was of fourth-grade rank, and many of its strange eyes had grown significantly, Lu Xuan hesitated for a moment before deciding to bring it along.

Although the Hundred-Eyed Enigmatic Wood was a fourth-grade plant, its size was much smaller than the third-grade Enchanting Peach. It could still fit in the life pouch with a little squeezing.

As for the fifth-grade Holy Infant Fruit Tree and the Bloodthorn Flower, he had no intention of taking them with him.

"But what about... the Wood Infant?"

Lu Xuan held the Purple Lightning Sword and took out the Wooden Infant from the storage pouch, gently loosening the rune chains that had bound it for a considerable amount of time, and spoke in a gentle tone.

The Wooden Infant looked at the deep purple flying sword in Lu Xuan's hand, and the numbness that had been bound by the rune chains for quite some time disappeared in an instant, and its small body couldn't help but tremble.

Before Lu Xuan could say anything, the dark abyssal orifice at its navel emitted a gloomy aura, and one by one, pale infant souls were squeezed out by it.

"Alright, that's enough."

Lu Xuan looked at the increasing number of infant souls in the courtyard and spoke to stop them.

He estimated that with the current number of souls, the Holy Infant Fruit would have enough to consume for quite some time. Then, he approached the Bloodthorn Flower.

As soon as he took out the Bloodthorn Flower from the storage pouch, the hollow blood sphere sensed the arrival of delicious food, and countless slender blood vessels on its surface wriggled slightly, trying to get as close to Lu Xuan as possible.

"Don't be in a hurry. Today, I'll let you have your fill."

Lu Xuan poured the third-grade Flood Dragon Blood he had obtained for free onto the surface of the Bloodthorn Flower, feeling the excitement of the spiritual plant, which caused the blood sea in the center to surge continuously.

The blood-red flower bloomed even more brightly.

After feeding the Holy Infant Fruit Tree and the Bloodthorn Flower, Lu Xuan left the courtyard, activated the Illusion Mist Formation, and moved the Wind Falcon out of the life pouch.

The Wind Falcon, with its round belly, spread its green wings and turned into a streak of green light, soaring into the sky.

"It truly lives up to its reputation as the Wind Falcon known for its speed. Although it has grown into a round shape and is only of second-grade rank, when flying at full speed, its speed is no less than many third-grade flying swords."

In

the high sky, streams of green aura flowed on the surface of the Wind Falcon's pale green wings, carrying Lu Xuan, swiftly passing through the mountains.

Upon hearing Lu Xuan's praise, the Wind Falcon chirped crisply, and the streamlined belly underneath swelled slightly.

Lu Xuan had obtained a map to Empty Abyss Island from the scripture pavilion long ago. For safety reasons, he deliberately chose the safest route, avoiding many other secret realms that other disciples were eager to explore.

After half a day, Lu Xuan looked at the map in his hand, lost in thought.

At this moment, the Wind Falcon had flown more than six thousand miles, and had not deviated from the route specified by Lu Xuan.

However, Lu Xuan's gaze had been fixed on the left front of the map all along.

There, a name he was once very familiar with was marked.

Linyang Fang Market.

The Wind Falcon continued to fly rapidly, and in his mind, familiar figures flashed by.

Neighbors like Zhang Hong, who took care of him like a generous elder brother, shouting "Uncle Lu" warmly every time they met, and Zhang Xiuyuan, who accompanied him to hunt demon insects and earn spirit stones when he was most destitute.

"If I were to go, it would probably take an extra two to three thousand miles, and the route has not been marked with any additional information. I wonder what risks may be hidden there."

"But... it's been so many years since I last saw those old friends..."

As Lu Xuan thought to himself, a certain emotion in his heart grew stronger and almost burst out.

"Turn left, a little to the left. I'll take you to where I used to live."

He transmitted his spiritual sense to the Wind Falcon, which chirped crisply in response, and its flying speed increased slightly.