This is how immortals are cultivated

In the village, the pale and thin villagers all turned pale when they saw the tax collector in his black clothes, and their fear and worry were evident in their expressions.

The tax collector seemed to enjoy the awe-inspiring gaze, his chin slightly raised. When he reached the center of the village, he spoke with an extremely arrogant and rude attitude:

"Let me tell you all that, in order to pray for the Emperor's blessing, the county government has decided to collect 'prayer money' starting from the second half of the month, one penny per ten days. Remember to prepare it by then, otherwise, you will be in trouble."

Compared to the ferocious beasts in the mountains, for the poor farmers in the countryside who have been farming and struggling to survive for generations, these words undoubtedly represent a more terrifying blood-sucking and marrow-draining creature.

But the tax collector ignored the villagers' cries and complaints that they would not be able to survive if the county raised taxes again. Instead, he went straight to the end of the village with his hangers-on, looking even more arrogant.

There are only a few families at the end of the village.

The tax collector stopped in front of one of the houses.

This family's yard has only one wall made of firewood. There is a broken wooden board that can't even be called a door blocking the wall. It is obvious that the family is extremely poor.

The tax collector didn't care about that. He took out an old book from his pocket that had obviously been read many times.

Flipping through the book, the tax collector found a page and read aloud the words on it:

"Fang Aniu from Fangjia Village... well, Fang Aniu is dead, and now his only son, Fang Xi, has inherited the household. Fang Xi's family didn't pay their summer grain and autumn taxes last year, and now they owe the government a sum of twelve taels and four cents..."

The tax collector came from the county specifically to the countryside to collect the overdue taxes.

In fact, the drunkard's real intention is not to drink.

Although the Fang Xi family is poor, they still have high-quality assets.

That’s right, there are three acres of high-quality paddy fields to the south of Fangjia Village that belong to Fang Xi.

Recently, the local tyrant Mr. Huang happened to annex land here, and naturally the three acres of paddy fields of the Fang Xi family were also taken notice of.

Mr. Huang wanted to buy it outright, but Fang Xi naturally refused. Land was the lifeblood of farmers. Only those who owned land were considered farmers, not tenants or servants.

But it doesn’t matter. There are ten thousand ways to take land away from the untouchables.

"This is the one, come on!"

Following the order from the tax collector, the three hangers-on he brought with him rushed forward, kicked open the wooden board, and broke into the room.

Several neighbors hid behind the low courtyard wall and watched this scene, their faces numb, but there was still some grief:

"What a sin... Xi'erzi was already in poor health, and we've lost everything at home to buying medicine. I'm afraid we won't even be able to keep our land this time."

The hanger-on led the way in front, and the tax collector followed behind, slowly walking into the yard.

There were only two houses in the yard, both thatched huts with walls plastered with yellow mud, which were peeling in many places but had never been repaired.

There was nothing in the yard except a bundle of straw piled in the corner.

A young man was standing in the yard, wearing a patched linen shirt and a pair of tattered straw sandals.

He was hunched over, with a pale face, and stood there in a daze, seemingly frightened.

---

Fang Suichu was coming back to his senses, or rather, matching his original memory records with the characters in the world of this book.

As he gradually integrated into this body, Fang Suichu also roughly understood the situation he was in now.

"Is this... the next dungeon?"

Fang Suichu murmured as he read the background information of the world in the book revealed in the memories contained in this body.

The system was activated after Fang Suichu completely took control of this body.

[You are about to break through and enter a trial. Please work hard to pass this trial.]

Tongzi said it very clearly.

In reality, he should have fallen into the realm of true disaster-level magical power, but Tongzi transformed it into a trial.

"Is this the so-called great opportunity mentioned earlier? It's actually related to breaking through the realm?"

After listening to Tongzi's words, Fang Suichu suddenly became energetic.

Indeed, the last hurdle in the realm of refining orifices is the three courts and one palace. Now he has opened up the three orifices of [Lower Huangting], [Middle Huangting] and [Golden Palace].

The degree of development and the accumulated foundation are fully sufficient to open the Upper Huangting and refine the golden elixir of life.

But I don't know why, it's like a loading progress bar, the breakthrough is stuck at 99%, just a little bit away, but I can't break through.

Continuing to accumulate, Fang Suichu didn't think that quantitative change could turn into qualitative change. In other words, qualitative change could happen, but it still needed a certain opportunity.

And now, this opportunity seems to have arrived.

It really lives up to Tongzi's description of it as a 'great opportunity'.

However, then the problem arises:

"What exactly is this trial about...why don't you explain it clearly?"

Tongzi fell silent after giving the hint, which made Fang Suichu quite unhappy. He could only complain:

"Isn't this just like an open world game with no main storyline..."

But the casual complaints allowed Fang Suichu to grasp some inspiration.

"Wait... open world? A game?"

"And it seems the use of various magical powers is prohibited here... The so-called trial level, isn't it a game like 'Mount & Blade'?"

Thinking of this, Fang Suichu's eyes gradually brightened.

"However, this is a really bad start..."

Fang Suichu now enters this world as Fang Xi, a villager of Fangjia Village under the rule of the Great Xia Dynasty.

According to the "background" setting, Fang Xi's parents are deceased, and even their relatives on both sides are almost all dead. Fang Xi is an only child, and now he is completely alone and without any relatives. A typical bachelor's start.

Moreover, he was born with a weak buff. Adding to his original peasant status, his basic stats were pitifully low.

"No, we have to raise the level quickly."

Fang Suichu raised his head and looked at the four people standing in front of him.

He naturally noticed the few people who appeared in front of him not long ago.

As soon as these people arrived, they started talking nonsense, which made Fang Suichu, who was receiving the character information, feel a little unhappy.

---

In Fang Xi's yard, the tax collector looked at the thin young man in front of him with a frown on his face.

Since entering the yard, Fang Xi seemed to have lost his soul. He called the other person's name several times, but the other person did not respond.

This made the tax collector gradually impatient.

He had seen this kind of scene many times. When faced with tax collection, the unruly people would always use various means to prevaricate.

However, if you think you can avoid paying taxes by throwing tantrums and being a bitch, you are totally wrong.

The tax collector's stick is not vegetarian.

He had already accepted the gift from the Huang family, and while drinking, he promised that he would take care of it.

My golden signboard, which is well-known throughout the county, cannot be destroyed.

We must make Fang Xi hand over those three acres of fertile land today.

"Go and wake him up!"

The tax collector pointed to the idle people around him and signaled them to teach the other party a lesson so that he would not act crazy or stupid.

The hanger-on who was called nodded immediately and was about to walk towards Fang Xi. However, just as he took a step, he was stopped by the tax collector.

"Be more measured when you strike, don't kill him all at once."

Even if they wanted to kill him, it had to be done after the other party willingly signed and sealed the land.

This bunch of idlers said they understood, then turned around and looked at the thin and sickly man in front of them with a sinister smile on their faces.

And it was at this moment that this 'Fang Xi' seemed to realize that pretending to be crazy and stupid was no longer working, and he looked like he had come to his senses.

Seeing this scene, the tax collector couldn't help but sneer.

This is how the country folk are. They will never behave themselves unless they are taught a lesson.

But then, the tax collector discovered that Fang Xi, who had come to his senses, suddenly straightened his back.

He shook his head, moved his arms, stretched them out, and crossed his fingers to stretch.

Although he only made a few movements, his whole spirit and energy were completely different from before.

His face was still pale and his body was still thin and short. Due to long-term hunger and illness, he was even skin and bones.

But those eyes, those dark pupils, were not murky like those of the untouchables who numbly struggled to survive facing the earth. Instead, they were extremely bright.

Being stared at by those dark and calm eyes, the tax collector's mind was inexplicably shaken, and he even subconsciously took a step back.

But after taking a step back, the tax collector immediately came to his senses.

What am I doing?

Are you afraid of being stared at by a pariah?

When the tax collector came to his senses, he felt his cheeks burning. He was frightened and angry, and he shouted:

"Teach him a lesson! Make him kneel!"

To be honest, not only did the tax collector take a step back, but even the hanger-on who was specifically asked to step forward and teach Fang Xi a lesson felt a palpitation for no reason and instinctively stopped.

He came to his senses only after being reminded by the tax collector behind him.

Looking at the young man whose arms were not even half as thick as his own and who could be knocked to the ground with a slight push, he revealed his ferocious expression again and strode forward.

Just as he stepped forward, Fang Xi took a few steps to the side and picked up the hatchet next to the straw.

The blade of the hatchet was rusty and even had several cracks on it, so it was doubtful whether it could be used to kill chickens.

The physical disparity between the two gave the henchman considerable confidence. Even if the other party had a hatchet in hand and wanted to defend himself, would he really be able to chop someone? Would he really have the courage to swing it?

The hanger-on strode forward a few more feet, and sure enough, Fang Xi stood there motionless as if he was frightened silly.

The hanger-on suddenly pounced straight towards Fang Xi's arm holding the hatchet, as if he wanted to knock him down and snatch the hatchet from his hand at the same time.

But just as this hanger-on rushed forward, he felt as if his legs were hit by something. Then, his legs went numb, causing his center of gravity to shift, and his head hit Fang Xi's hand.

With a "whoosh" sound, the sharp side of the rusty hatchet directly tore open the hangman's throat and the artery, and a large amount of blood spurted out and spread all over the ground.

"Tian San!"

The two hangers-on were stunned for a moment, then came to their senses and immediately called out to him, while rushing towards Fang Xi.

In the eyes of several people, the scene just now was that Tian San rushed forward, but seemed to slip and hit the hatchet. It was an accident that couldn't be more coincidental.

These two hangers-on had a really good relationship with Tian San, and they were even temporarily confused because of Tian San's accident.

'Fang Xi' pulled out the hatchet at this moment, blood splattered, and Tian San's body fell directly to the ground.

Seeing this scene, how could the two gangs bear it?

"You damned bastard!"

One of them immediately became furious and punched Fang Xi in the face.

This was because if the punch, thrown with all his strength in anger, had really hit Fang Xi, Fang Xi might have been killed by the punch because of his weak body.

But when this bunch of idiots swung their fists, what was heard even faster was the sound of a heavy object breaking through the air.

The blood-stained hatchet came from the side, pierced through the hangman's arm, and accurately hit his carotid artery.

In an instant, half of the blade of the hatchet sank into the strong man's neck, and blood flowed down the hatchet like a stream.

The blood dripped onto the back of the neck of the last hanger-on who was checking Tian San's injuries.

The last hanger-on subconsciously touched the back of his neck. When his fingertips felt the warm liquid and the smell of blood on the tip of his nose, he suddenly came to his senses and turned his head away.