I have Immortality In The Cultivation World

Linyang County.

The streets were cold and desolate, and the few pedestrians hurried on their way.

The tavern handyman busily wiped down the tables and floors, afraid of being fired by the owner if the business was too poor.

In these days, countless people would fight for a job that just provided enough food to eat without asking for pay!

Four consecutive years of natural disasters had brought misery to the people, despite the protection of the Earth God.

Some sold their children in desperation, while others saw their entire families perish.

Nine out of ten homes were empty, and white bones littered the wilderness.

“People always say how wonderful it is to be a god…”

Zhou Yi muttered to himself. Now, when he spoke these words, they felt full of irony.

The townsfolk of the county, as well as the nearby villagers, built Land God temples everywhere out of gratitude, but little did they know that the disasters of the past years were actually caused by the very gods they revered and praised.

“I am troubled in mind, ’tis a cause for celebration.”

Zhou Yi instructed the handyman to look after the shop and then, with his hands clasped behind his back, he strolled leisurely through the streets.

From time to time, he encountered acquaintances and lamented that business had been poor lately. At this rate, he might as well return to the countryside and farm the land.

“Boss Zhu’s gone to listen to opera music again? You’re not getting any younger. You should settle down and get married!

The owner of Hui Xiang Building suggested, “I have a distant niece who can keep accounts and do needlework. She’s quite a catch. Shall I arrange a meeting for you?”

“You scoundrel, making me lower my status for no reason!”

Zhou Yi subtly rejected the offer. He looked to be thirty-five or thirty-six years old, well into middle age, and in recent years, many had tried to find him a match.

He had declined them all, reasoning that as the Earth God’s lifespan was not long, and having acquired the Incense Secret Techniques, he wouldn’t need the identity of a tavern owner for much longer, so there was no need to hold anyone back.

Not long after.

East City.

Xiao Xiang Building.

Unlike other businesses suffering from poor trade, the building was lively and bustling, full of patrons even in broad daylight.

Sons of the nobility and tradesmen, dressed in extravagant clothing, were all smiles and full of life, showing no signs of suffering from the disasters.

As land prices plummeted, they could buy up the commoners’ land for next to nothing. At the same time, grain prices soared. The large local clans had their private granaries, and with just a little grain, they could recover the money spent on purchasing the land and even turn a profit by acquiring a contract for indentured servitude.

Essentially, the poor rushed to surrender their lands and were eager to become slaves or servants!

After several good years like this, it was time to enjoy the pleasures of the brothels.

Zhou Yi had just walked in when the madam, swaying her hips, came over to greet him with a beaming smile, as if she had seen a relative.

This was a regular of Xiao Xiang Pavilion, a steady customer for twenty years, who had seen off three generations of madams!

“Master Zhu, Miss Xiao is waiting for you upstairs.”

The madam’s words were pleasing to the ear, as if she were welcoming an esteemed and honored guest, but in truth, Zhou Yi visited so frequently that there were always girls available no matter when he came.

Zhou Yi nodded slightly and was following the madam upstairs when he caught sight of a young girl in the arms of Young Master Sun.

The Sun family was a powerful local force in Linyang County, regularly controlling positions like Official Sun and Government Official, and effectively served as hereditary chiefs of county security. Since Official Sun had a penchant for wine and money, he was quite familiar with Zhou Yi.

The girl looked unfamiliar, her expression one of panic and resistance, seemingly unaccustomed to her situation.

The more she looked this way, the more she inflamed Young Master Zhang’s desires, making his words and actions towards her even more blatant.

Zhou Yi felt no pity; most of the women in the brothel had tragic backgrounds, and one simply couldn’t feel sorry for all of them. His eyes sparkled, noticing a wisp of black energy growing within the girl’s body.

It wriggled and slithered like a sinister insect, burrowing through her channels and organs.

Young Master Zhang, having been in frequent contact, had been infected with a trace of the black energy, which was feeding off his Qi-Blood to grow stronger.

“Evil spell…”

Zhou Yi’s Divine Sense swept across the entire Xiao Xiang Pavilion, finding black energy within many people, big and small. Most had not suffered any effects yet, but three were lying in the firewood room moaning in pain.

Their faces were sunken, their bodies emaciated, clearly breathing out more than they could breathe in.

“The power of the Spell is quite weak; it couldn’t even harm cultivators, much less suppress martial arts experts. So, is this spell specifically targeting commoners?”

Zhou Yi had a hunch that the Earth God was responsible, once again.

After the drought, locust plagues, floods, and earthquakes, was another epidemic about to begin?

“This guy has gone mad. What on earth does he want to achieve?”

Zhou Yi consulted the records of Linyang County and compared disasters over the last three hundred years, which typically occurred once every five or six years.

Moreover, not all of them were the work of the Earth God; there were also Mountain Gods, Water Rulers, and actual natural disasters. It could be said that overall, they protected the land as benevolent deities.

“Is he wildly collecting Wish Power Beads to extend his lifespan?”

Zhou Yi frowned slightly, thinking this was the most likely reason. In the Nine Continents Cultivation World, it was not unusual for cultivators to engage in frenzied Blood Sacrifices in search of extended lifespans at the end of their days.

There is great fear in life and death!

Cultivators accustomed to being exalted above all feared death even more than commoners did, unable to let go of their power and status.

“For now, continue watching and see what kind of scheme this guy is really playing!”

Zhou Yi’s eyes were deep and somber. An epidemic was not like other natural disasters; if it were to spread rapidly, it might obliterate an entire county.

The Daheng Empire might not care about gods in the wilds, but it did impose laws on the official deities of the prefectures. If a massive catastrophe were truly provoked, they would surely send someone to hold the Earth God accountable.

It is the role of a deity to shepherd the people, yet even they must not cut even the roots of the chives!

…

In the seventy-fifth year of the Yuanding era.

Summer.

An outbreak of a strange epidemic occurred in Linyang of the Qingyun Prefecture, infecting tens of thousands.

The disease devoured Qi-Blood, leaving sufferers emaciated like skeletons, wandering and wailing like living corpses.

…

There Is a Tavern.

The door was firmly shut, and windows were nailed closed.

The handyman guarded the front and back doors with a stick, nervously watching the street through the holes.

The sparse passersby on the street moved aimlessly, with lifeless eyes and shambling gaits, dragging and staggering along. Occasionally, the thud of bodies hitting the ground could be heard, signaling someone had collapsed.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!