John Reed outside? The Little World are vast and boundless. Except for the areas where cultivation sects gather, everywhere else is territory of various levels of demon beasts and spirit beasts—absolutely dangerous for cultivation rookies.

The first person Sam Bolton thought of was Mark Carter. He didn’t dare wander around alone at all, and besides, Mark was especially skilled at catching birds. But after glancing at the sky outside, he could only flop down and go to sleep.

Sam Bolton lived in the Jia-character room. Although it was far from luxurious, it was clean and tidy, with all daily necessities provided. He’d traded two bottles of good wine for it.

Even though the environment was shabby—using the sky as a blanket and the ground as a bed—Mark Carter still slept soundly. He was exhausted, and dreamed of pulling weeds. As he was pulling, suddenly a crack opened in the ground and he fell right in, as if into a bottomless abyss. At that moment, a patch of crimson light caught him.

Just then, he heard Sam Bolton’s unmistakable shouting from outside.

“Mark, Mark, where are you…”

Sam Bolton was heartbroken. He’d rarely gotten up early to come looking, but never expected Mark Carter’s place to be so remote. The only thatched hut had even collapsed. Could it be he’d been carried off by a demon beast?

The more he thought about it, the more urgent Sam Bolton’s calls became.

Mark Carter finally couldn’t take it anymore and jumped straight up from the haystack. “Sam Bolton, are you calling ghosts at the crack of dawn?!”

When Jason Bolton saw Mark Carter safe and sound, his chubby face bloomed with a smile. “Mark, it’s not early anymore. What kind of training are you doing?”

Jason Bolton pointed at the sun overhead. Clearly, Sam Bolton’s “early rising” was a bit of a stretch; by the time he’d made his way here, the sun was already high in the sky.

Mark Carter brushed the straw off himself, a bit stunned. How late was it already? Normally, he’d have been up long ago.

“Why aren’t you off hunting your tiger eagle? What are you doing here?”

Mark Carter leapt out of the haystack, and Sam Bolton couldn’t help but nag, “How can anyone live here? Besides, you’re already at the edge of the Thunderfire Hall—it’s dangerous! How about I find someone to get you a new place?”

Chapter Twelve: So-called Experts

“When are you going to toughen up? This place is close to the spirit fields. So, what’s up?”

Mark Carter asked. This chubby guy never came for nothing.

Jason Bolton quickly laid out his plan: he’d help Mark Carter sort out the spirit field, then Mark Carter would go with him to hunt tiger eagles. Two birds with one stone—a genius idea.

Mark Carter didn’t answer, just took the chubby guy straight to the spirit field. When the chubby guy used all his strength and finally managed to pull out a single weed, he suddenly had an epiphany.

“Damn, Mark, isn’t this just messing with us? At this rate, you’ll never finish clearing this field! And my tiger eagle isn’t even in Thunderfire Hall—I have to go to Leiming Peak. What if we run into a demonic cultivator or a demon beast on the way? I’ll be done for… Mark… Mark… what’s wrong?”

Mark Carter stared in shock at the plot of land he’d spent all day clearing yesterday—now overgrown with weeds again. “I already cleared this yesterday, and overnight it’s all grown back!”

The chubby guy was speechless. “This holy hall is just bullying people. How about we just quit and go back?”

Bang…

The chubby guy got a knock on the head. Mark Carter squatted down, staring at the weeds in front of him. “Maybe my method is wrong. How about we burn it?”

“Great idea!”

The two of them took out firestones and started setting fires…

Not far away, Emily Harris was grinning from ear to ear. Her master happened to be out, and that five-turn golden rhinoceros had attracted quite a few cultivators. Its horn could ward off evil, and once it reached six turns, it would surely have a core, making it coveted by cultivators.

“So dumb—burning the field? I can’t believe they thought of that.”

Emily Harris munched on snacks while watching the show. “Little Ling, that chubby one is pretty funny. With such little courage, he still dares to cultivate.”

Phoenix Foster was bored out of her mind. She didn’t think those two bumpkins were worth wasting so much time on, but that golden rhinoceros did catch her attention.

Mark Carter and Sam Bolton’s plan to burn the spirit field naturally ended in failure. How could ordinary fire burn away weeds that had absorbed spiritual energy?

The fire didn’t work, and the two of them ended up covered in soot, staring at the weeds that seemed to be mocking them. Both Mark Carter and Sam Harris were a bit dizzy.

“There’s definitely something strange here—we just haven’t figured it out yet!” Mark Carter said firmly. He trusted Elder Turner; if they wanted to eliminate him, they would have done it from the start. Why go to all this trouble?

“Mark, don’t come to me for brainwork. I’m going to rest for a bit.”

Just as Mark Carter was racking his brains for a solution, a voice sounded in their ears.

“In the weed patch, there is a life grass—the true body of all the weeds in the spirit field. To get rid of the weeds, you must first find the life grass.”

The mysterious voice startled Mark Carter and made the chubby guy look around suspiciously.

Mark Carter stood up and looked around, but saw no one. He could only bow to the air. “Thank you, senior, for your guidance. May I ask, how do I find the life grass?”

“Feel!”

Feel?

Mark Carter and Jason Bolton were completely baffled.

Emily Harris burst out laughing, stroking an imaginary beard in front of Phoenix Foster. “Is there really such a cute and pretty senior?”

Phoenix shook her head. “Even if you tell them, it’s useless. For a cultivator to distinguish it, they need at least ten layers of life marks, and the right method. To rely on feeling alone, you’d need at least twenty layers.”