### Chapter 38: Three Years  

Aside from escaping disaster by staying at Wei Fan's house and discovering that the Foundation Establishment True Person was a crafty old fox, He Song reflected for a long time but found no other significant takeaways. 

However, in the following days, while cultivating, He Song also gained some understanding of the situation on the outskirts of the Immortal Market. 

Although the outskirts had suffered under the rampage of evil cultivators, not all the cultivators there had been killed. 

Some survived because their cultivation was too low to attract the attention of the evil cultivators. 

Others had enough life-saving items to endure the ordeal. 

And some had hidden well, managing to survive and eventually gather together. In the end, about a quarter of the cultivators had survived. 

From the accounts of these survivors, He Song learned what had happened on the outskirts of the Immortal Market during the attack. 

The outskirts had gone through three distinct phases during the crisis. 

The first phase was marked by widespread panic. 

Cultivators were terrified and spent their spirit stones on life-saving items. 

This was when the prices of such items in the Immortal Market skyrocketed. 

The second phase began when the law enforcement team clashed with the evil cultivators for the first time and was forced to retreat to the inner circle. 

During this phase, the rogue cultivators on the outskirts suffered greatly. 

Some cultivators had practiced the Breath Concealment Technique, hoping to hide in their homes and avoid detection by the evil cultivators. 

However, the Breath Concealment Technique only concealed one's aura—it didn't make one invisible. As a result, they were quickly discovered. 

Their fate was predictable. 

Other rogue cultivators tried various methods to survive. 

Most of them were found by the evil cultivators and met tragic ends. 

Only a few survived—those who were strong enough to kill the evil cultivators, those who hid exceptionally well, and those with such low cultivation (like early-stage Qi Refining cultivators) that the evil cultivators didn't bother with them. 

The third phase was the period of rampant destruction by the evil cultivators. 

By this time, there were few cultivators left on the outskirts, as most had gone into hiding. 

Unable to find many targets to plunder, the evil cultivators turned their attention to the inner circle of the Immortal Market. 

However, with the help of the late-stage Qi Refining cultivators in the inner circle, the evil cultivators' attack was repelled. 

Realizing the futility of their efforts, most of the evil cultivators left. Only a few, hoping to make some quick gains, remained on the outskirts. 

Their fate was what He Song had witnessed: the Foundation Establishment True Person's wrath wiped them out. 

However, some of the survivors, particularly those with strong cultivation, suddenly found themselves much wealthier. 

The reason for this was unclear. 

Hearing all this, He Song couldn't help but feel a chill. 

He was deeply grateful that he had followed Wei Fan to the inner circle. Otherwise, with his cultivation at the third level of Qi Refining, he would likely have died on the outskirts. 

Just look at the types of people who survived on the outskirts: 

Either they were strong enough to repel the evil cultivators, 

Or they had exceptional hiding abilities, 

Or they were so weak (early-stage Qi Refining cultivators) that the evil cultivators didn't even bother with them. 

As for those who weren't strong, didn't have good hiding abilities, and were at the mid-stage of Qi Refining or higher—they were the unlucky ones. 

He Song was certain that, with his current survival skills, he would have been one of those unlucky ones. 

"It seems that, in addition to caution and cultivation, I need to improve my survival skills," He Song thought to himself, setting a new goal. 

Shaking his head, he got up and headed to the spirit fields he managed. 

He Song's five acres of spirit fields were now back under his care. 

The spirit farmer who had been managing them for He Song had died during the disaster. 

The twenty spirit stones He Song had promised him no longer needed to be paid. 

That poor man had tended He Song's spirit fields for three months, only to end up with nothing and lose his life in the process. 

It was tragic. 

After returning to the outskirts, He Song also sent Sound Transmission Paper Cranes to a few friends he knew. 

However, only Zhao Lin from the Spirit Medicine Pavilion and Lin Cong, who had fled the Immortal Market early, replied. 

The others were all silent. 

It was unclear whether they were dead or simply hadn't seen He Song's messages. 

But He Song suspected that most of them were dead. 

Three-quarters of the cultivators on the outskirts had died, leaving only a quarter alive. 

Those who weren't strong, didn't have good hiding abilities, and were at mid-stage Qi Refining or higher had been almost entirely wiped out. 

After this disaster, the Immortal Market felt much emptier. 

Although the Spirit Construction Pavilion quickly restored the Immortal Market to its former state, the rogue cultivators who had died would never return. 

The number of cultivators in the Immortal Market would only recover slowly over time. 

In the mortal world, new rogue cultivators emerged every year. 

In a few years, or perhaps a decade or two, the Immortal Market would once again become as bustling as before. 

Time flew by. 

Three years had passed since the Foundation Establishment True Person left and the Immortal Market was attacked by evil cultivators. 

During these three years, the Immortal Market had remained peaceful. He Song continued to study the introductory chapter on array formation, but even now, he still hadn't successfully set up even the simplest Spirit Gathering Array. 

This wasn't because He Song lacked talent in array formation. 

On the contrary, He Song now had a deep understanding of how to set up a Spirit Gathering Array. 

Currently, He Song was practicing carving array patterns onto spirit stones, which had consumed almost all the spirit stones he had earned over the past three years. 

Carving array patterns onto spirit stones was one of the requirements for setting up a Spirit Gathering Array. 

However, the process often damaged the spirit stones, causing the spiritual energy inside to leak out, which He Song had no choice but to absorb. 

As a result, He Song had been unable to save up any spirit stones. 

On the other hand, his cultivation had reached the peak of the third level of Qi Refining due to the frequent absorption of spiritual energy from damaged spirit stones. 

Now, all he needed was to make a breakthrough, and he could become a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator, just like Lin Cong had done before. 

Moreover, thanks to his constant practice with spirit stones, He Song's skill in carving array patterns had improved significantly. 

It shouldn't be long before He Song could successfully set up a Spirit Gathering Array. 

On the outskirts of the Immortal Market, inside He Song's house, in a quiet meditation room, He Song sat with his eyes closed. 

Beside him were over a dozen spirit stones—the last of his savings. 

To increase his chances of successfully breaking through to the mid-stage of Qi Refining, He Song had placed these spirit stones around him without hesitation. 

This was a method Lin Cong and Wei Fan had taught him. 

Placing spirit stones nearby during a breakthrough could slightly increase the chances of success. 

Although the boost wasn't significant, it was still a valuable little trick. 

If He Song hadn't been close friends with them, such a tip would likely never have been shared. 

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(End of Chapter)