Xiao Fei lacked nothing in terms of resources now, and staying in the lakebed space to cultivate was a good choice.
The outside world was too dangerous. Whether it was righteous or evil cultivators, there were always scoundrels who wanted to harm him.
After making up his mind, he used earth element spells to build two small courtyards on the spot, one for himself and the other for Xiao Lan.
Xiao Lan had been cooped up in the Soul Nurturing Pearl for too long. Once she came out, she refused to go back in, and she didn't even like living in the new house.
Every day, she transformed into a ghost and wandered around the space aimlessly, neglecting her duties. Sometimes, when she was bored, she would play pranks to scare Xiao Fei.
She still remembered that Xiao Fei was very afraid of ghosts when he was a child, and she even knew what kind of ghosts he was afraid of.
Therefore, she was adept at scaring Xiao Fei, using all sorts of tricks.
Xiao Fei spent most of his time in seclusion and cultivation.
The newly acquired Wood Spirit Fruit Tree had been successfully planted in the space and, with the help of the space's 20x time acceleration, its growth rate had slightly increased.
What surprised Xiao Fei a little was that the Soul Nurturing Wood had been successfully transplanted into the space and had even grown a little during this period.
Although it had only grown half an inch taller, it was still a good omen, meaning he could cultivate longer-aged Soul Nurturing Wood.
When the time came, he would refine a super-large residence for his second sister using the Soul Nurturing Wood.
Xiao Fei sat cross-legged in the cultivation room, circulating the Primordial Chaos energy within his body, continuously emitting vitality to nourish his zombie physique.
After years of nourishment, some vitality had been restored within him, and he was no longer a mere corpse.
However, transitioning from death to life was an extremely difficult process with a very slow recovery rate. If it weren't for the special nature of the Primordial Chaos energy, ordinary cultivators would not be able to achieve this.
Ever since he obtained the Wood Spirit Fruit Tree, Xiao Fei had been contemplating using its vitality to restore his body.
At this moment, Xiao Fei, who was cultivating, slowly finished his practice, stretched his stiff limbs, rubbed his stiff face, and felt his hands and feet become a little more flexible.
His consciousness entered the space. The mu of spirit grain in the space was ready for harvest again.
After years of cultivation, hundreds-year-old spirit herbs were common in the space.
In the very center of the space was a pond of about one mu, filled with five-colored lotuses. Against the backdrop of the lush green lotus leaves, they looked alluring and beautiful.
Of course, no matter how beautiful the scenery was, it couldn't move someone like Xiao Fei, who was indifferent to such things. To him, these were just crops grown in the field, his ingredients.
Xiao Fei entered the pond, pulled out a large section of lotus root, complete with flowers and leaves, and caught two fish weighing two to three catties from the pond.
A few days ago, eating a piece of flatbread in the canyon felt like being a thief. Now, he could finally let loose and cook himself a hearty meal.
Then, he went to the ginseng patch and dug out a 200-year-old ginseng to make a soup.
In the corner of the space was the nest of the Iron Fire Ants. He had confined them to this area, and their numbers had now reached one hundred thousand.
With the resources he had at hand, he could only raise this many for the time being. Any more would bankrupt him.
Xiao Fei entered the breeding room, took out a large handful of ant eggs, and prepared to stir-fry them.
He found that these white, crystal-clear ant eggs were quite delicious when stir-fried.
Just as Xiao Fei was preparing a sumptuous dinner, at the bottom of the canyon, the Golden Core evil cultivator was also preparing his grand feast.
A few days ago, he had organized manpower to explore the lake, but there was no gain, and several people died, with one lost.
This made him lose patience with this group of Foundation Establishment minor evil cultivators. They were no longer useful, and their flesh would be too lean if he waited any longer.
Today, the Golden Core evil cultivator planned to go on a killing spree.
However, he did not act personally. The canyon was extremely lacking in resources now, and acting would consume energy, which was not worth it.
The Golden Core evil cultivator summoned Black Wind Old Demon to his side.
"I have an important task for you. After completing it, I will reward you handsomely."
Upon hearing this, Black Wind Old Demon was so happy that he immediately pledged his loyalty.
"I will give you ten spirit artifacts. Go and gather ten cultivators, and all you need to do is..."
As the Golden Core evil cultivator spoke, he took out ten shining spirit artifact swords and sabers.
Although everyone could not use their magic power now, with sharp spirit artifacts in hand, they had a great advantage in combat against those who were unarmed.
"Thank you for your trust, senior. I will definitely complete the task."
Black Wind Old Demon, carrying a bundle of spirit artifacts, accepted the order and left.
He used the Golden Core evil cultivator's name to bully others. After just one round outside, he easily recruited ten relatively strong cultivators.
Black Wind Old Demon led these ten people to form a killing squad and began to clear out other cultivators in the canyon, killing everyone they saw, leaving no survivors.
Even a female cultivator with whom Black Wind Old Demon had slept the previous day had her head chopped off by him.
As long as he could pull up his pants, he could enter a state of sagehood and would never be troubled by emotions.
By the time the remaining cultivators in the canyon thought of banding together to resist, it was already too late.
There were only twenty to thirty people left in the canyon.
These twenty to thirty people fought back with all their might at the last moment, engaging in a desperate struggle with Black Wind Old Demon's killing squad.
In the end, Black Wind Old Demon's group narrowly won, but the killing squad was reduced to only five people.
Each of the five received a reward of spirit rice from the Golden Core evil cultivator.
Black Wind Old Demon ate the long-lost spirit rice and looked at the corpses strewn everywhere, a chill running down his spine.
He found an excuse and headed towards the lake.
The remaining four members of the killing squad, after eating the spirit rice, followed the Golden Core evil cultivator's instructions to disembowel the corpses all over the ground, then marinate the processed meat with salt for long-term preservation.
In order to gain the favor of the Golden Core evil cultivator and perhaps be rewarded with some bones to taste, the four of them worked exceptionally hard.
They scraped off all the hair and washed them several times.
"Reporting to senior, the meat has been processed properly. Please review it, senior!"
The Golden Core evil cultivator scanned the marinated meat with his divine sense and nodded with satisfaction.
"Good! You have done very well and pleased me!"
The four men showed joy upon hearing this and waited expectantly for the Golden Core evil cultivator to bestow his rewards.
At this moment, a sharp sword appeared in the Golden Core evil cultivator's hand, and with a flash of light in the air, it sliced across the necks of the four men, sending their heads rolling to the ground.
"Alas! These four still need to be handled by me personally. What a bother!"
The Golden Core evil cultivator dragged the four corpses aside and then went out.
At the lake at the bottom of the canyon, Black Wind Old Demon squatted by the shore, hesitating whether to jump in.
When he saw the corpses everywhere, he thought of the idiom "when the birds are gone, the bow is put away, and when the rabbits are dead, the hounds are cooked." He was so scared that his heart trembled.
So, he found an excuse and left.
However, the canyon was only a small area, and there was nowhere to escape.
If he stayed at the bottom of the canyon, he would eventually suffer the same fate as others and be eaten by the Golden Core evil cultivator sooner or later.
The only unexplored area in the canyon was this lake. Perhaps he could find a glimmer of hope from it.
Especially since the disappearance of that zombie earlier, he suspected that the zombie had escaped on its own.
Just as he was wavering, the Golden Core evil cultivator from behind was already walking towards him.
"You are very smart. I am truly reluctant to kill you!"
Black Wind Old Demon dared not hesitate any longer and jumped into the lake with a splash.
The Golden Core evil cultivator did not pursue him further. He stared at the lake for a long time before turning and leaving.
"I hope you can bring me some surprises!"