My ancestors were spiritual plant growers, so it's not surprising that I hunt demons every day,

"Sister Ying, so many spirit stones!"

Once back in the Dragon Horse Cloud Carriage, Gu Shiyin let out a soft gasp of disbelief. His father, after a lifetime of hard work, had never earned so many spirit stones at once.

It's easy to imagine how difficult life must be for ordinary, independent cultivators.

For independent cultivators, just surviving is already a struggle, and buying pills is a luxury. As for using spirit stones for cultivation, it's something ordinary independent cultivators wouldn't even dare to dream of.

As for Cui Ying, in the days to come, she can also freely use spirit stones to improve her cultivation.

The rest of the time, Cui Ying and Gu Shiyin accompanied Zhu Chaoyun to the black market to buy daily necessities and a batch of spirit herb seeds before heading back home.

When they returned to Shuangling Village, they found a large crowd gathered along the Xiushui River, most of them huddled in front of a bend in the river, pointing and discussing something.

Sitting on the carriage shaft, Zhu Chaoyun was quite puzzled by this. He looked up in that direction and his expression changed slightly. He quickly informed Cui Ying in the cloud carriage and recounted what he had seen:

"Sister Cui Ying, shall we go take a look?"

Upon hearing this, Cui Ying frowned immediately. She glanced at Gu Shiyin beside her and decided, "Let's go, let's go take a look."

Sure enough, three corpses were found crawling on the banks of the Xiushui River at the village entrance, only a short distance from the Gu family mansion.

"I recognize this man, he looks like Zhang Dayong from the neighboring Yanshan Village! How did they end up dead here?!"

By the time Cui Ying and the others got closer, some of the cultivators had already recognized the identity of one of the dead.

"I heard that several cultivators have recently gone missing from Yanshan Village. Our village is downstream, and Zhang Dayong and his two companions were probably no match for those bandits. They tried to escape through the Xiushui River, but they still died in the river! It was such a gruesome death, though. Their bodies were covered in knife wounds, and their flesh was almost completely devoured by the spirit fish in the river!"

"These thieves are too audacious. I heard that the spirit rice in their village ripened early, and many families have been robbed."

After watching for a while, Cui Ying and the others quietly withdrew from the crowd and returned to Shuangling Village.

Not far from the Gu family mansion, Cui Ying first watched Gu Shiyin enter the house, then took Zhu Chaoyun to the eldest grandson's house before slowly driving the roller coaster back home.

At that moment, everyone in the family was present.

Upon seeing Cui Ying return, Cui Yan and Cui Yue, who had been confined to the courtyard to play, immediately brightened up and rushed over:

"Third sister, you're back!"

Third sister, I miss you so much!

"Ah!"

Cui Ying patted her younger siblings' heads and pretended to be angry, saying, "I know what kind of tricks you're up to. I just wanted to ask if your third sister had bought you any delicious food."

Upon hearing Cui Ying expose their true thoughts, the two children immediately became dejected.

But unexpectedly, Wang Rong came out of the main room and smiled:

"You don't need to trouble your third sister with this. She's having her engagement banquet in a few days, and I'm going to Songlin Market to buy things. Think about what you want to eat now."

"Really, Mother!"

"Mom, you're so wonderful!"

The two little ones were beaming with surprise, mixed with a hint of disbelief.

With Wang Rong interrupting, Cui Ying quickly found Cui Zhengming, who was meditating in the courtyard. She had just finished telling him what she had seen at the village entrance when she suddenly noticed that the defensive array covering her head trembled slightly, and then there was a knock on her courtyard gate.

"Captain Chang, Fellow Daoist Ke, what brings you here?"

Cui Ying was slightly taken aback, but stopped talking, turned around and walked a few steps to the courtyard gate. After opening the gate, she looked at the two leading cultivators with some doubt, then quickly realized what was going on and asked:

"Fellow Daoists, have you come here because of what happened at the village entrance?"

"Young friend Cui is home too, that makes things much easier!"

Upon seeing Cui Ying's face, Chang Feng, carrying the golden sword and magical artifact, breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"It seems your family is already aware of the discovery of the body outside the village, so we won't waste time recounting it again. These are extraordinary times, and we just discussed it with the village chief and decided to set up a patrol team."

"It's just that due to the mission from our master, many experts have left the village, and now the patrol team is a bit short-handed. Young friend Cui, your cultivation level is now among the best in our village. Would you be interested in officially joining our patrol team?"

Although being a loner might seem a bit eccentric, it's not something Choi Young wants to do if her family gets into trouble because of patrolling.

Moreover, with her current financial resources, there is absolutely no need for her to delay important matters just because she is reluctant to spend such a small amount of money.

Seeing Cui Ying hesitate, Cui Zhengming quickly stepped forward, about to agree, but then, seeing Cui Ying signal him to be quiet, he shook his head and said:

“Captain Chang, you know I just got engaged. If something happens at this crucial moment, wouldn’t it be upsetting for both families? How about this, my family won’t send anyone on patrol this time, but we’re willing to pay thirty spirit stones as a reward, as we always do.”

"Since young friend Cui is unwilling, I will not force him."

Seeing that Cui Ying was so straightforward, Chang Feng did not force her.

He took the spirit stones from Cui Ying and nodded in satisfaction, saying:

"Don't worry, our village's patrol team is divided into four groups. In this area, Ke Daoyou and I will take turns leading the patrol. We will definitely protect the safety of your neighborhood."

"Then thank you both very much, fellow Daoists."

Then, Cui Ying watched the group leave for the neighboring courtyard with a smile before closing the gate and completely fading her smile.

"Third girl, why don't you let your father join the patrol team? That costs thirty spirit stones and only lasts for ten days. What a waste!"

Cui Zhengming felt sorry for those spirit stones and wished he could chase after them and get them back.

"Father, our family doesn't lack spirit stones right now. What we lack are high-level cultivators, do you understand?!"

Cui Zhengming, seemingly understanding but not quite, looked at the increasingly profound and reserved cultivation level of the young woman and said:

"So what? Isn't having you enough for our family?"

Cui Ying was too lazy to beat around the bush with her father, so she simply laid everything out on the table:

"Father, you have to plant spirit herbs during the day and check on the progress of the new house in your spare time. If you also have to patrol at night, don't you need to cultivate and rest?"

Cui Zhengming was taken aback by what he was said, and stood there stubbornly retorted:

"But haven't we, the independent cultivators, all gone through this process?"

Cui Ying knew she couldn't change her father's mind in a short time, so she asked earnestly:

"Father, look how long you've been stuck at the fourth level of Qi Refining. We are cultivators. Instead of always thinking about sticking together for warmth, it would be better to spend a little money to save time and improve our cultivation as soon as possible. That would be the best strategy."

"But"

"But what do you mean, 'but'?! What is it?!"

Just as Cui Zhengming was still hesitating, Wang Rong suddenly stepped over, slapped Cui Zhengming on the shoulder, and shouted:

"What are you still babbling about?! What Sanya means is that she can't stay at home forever. After she gets married, she might have to go out on errands often. As her father, you should also establish a household. Do you understand?!"

Hearing her mother's loud voice, Cui Ying smiled but didn't say anything.

She is now at the seventh level of Qi Refining. Although there are still two minor realms, the eighth and ninth, ahead of her, Cui Ying has to start thinking about Foundation Establishment.

After all, given her current cultivation speed, it would take her at least a year and at most three years to reach the threshold of Foundation Establishment. The spiritual items needed for Foundation Establishment still need to be explored.

That night, while the Cui family was cultivating at home, they indeed noticed several familiar auras passing by outside the courtyard every now and then.