Fang Ming should be grateful that his world-hopping talent was activated after he cultivated the "Yi Qi Gong" to the first level, rather than being activated while he was still a mortal.
That was the difference between life and death.
"Ten days..."
"I'm finally back..."
Fang Ming looked at the spiritual field and felt the hundreds of crystals in his hands, a smile on his face.
His previous intuition about the space deep within his true spirit and his talent was not wrong.
When the ten-day period arrived.
He indeed sensed that in the dark, hazy space, the light spot representing the cultivation world had become brighter.
This brightness was enough to support his interdimensional travel.
And so he returned from that world.
Moreover, he brought back hundreds of crystals obtained from the brains of zombies.
These things might be useful in this world.
By finding some excuses and asking senior cultivators, people in the Baiyun Sect, he could learn their purpose.
At this moment, Fang Ming could use his talent to sense.
His talent was sufficient for him to travel to the zombie world again after ten days.
Or, after accumulating for a hundred days, he could open a new world.
Lighting up a third light spot.
Although it was just a vague feeling.
But having successfully traveled to and returned from the zombie world.
Fang Ming had confirmed that his feelings were real.
The ability to traverse worlds made Fang Ming happier than these hundreds of crystals.
Just considering the most basic ability, once he accumulated ten days of talent energy, he could activate it to travel to other worlds when he encountered danger.
Fang Ming did not know if anyone else possessed this interdimensional travel ability besides himself—at least the Sect Master of Baiyun Sect could not travel to other worlds.
This meant that even if Fang Ming encountered immense trouble, he could simply escape to another world and return after things calmed down...
If he was relentlessly pursued and could no longer survive in this world, he could even choose not to return.
Yes.
The cultivation world Fang Ming was in was not the so-called "main world."
Fang Ming did not need this cultivation world as a transit point to travel between worlds; it was merely one world among the myriad realms, not significant enough to be called "main" or to serve as a transit hub.
When the risks far outweighed the benefits, Fang Ming could completely choose to abandon this cultivation world, never return, and wander in other worlds.
This was the ability Fang Ming possessed.
"Spiritual farmers must farm—this is mandatory. They have benefited from cultivating cultivation techniques, and it's too late to run down the mountain now. If there's no harvest after a year, they'll be in serious trouble, if not worse."
"This is the case for ordinary children."
"They have essentially sold themselves to the Baiyun Sect and must work for twenty years before they can leave. Before that, they have no personal freedom."
"However, I can leave... with the ability to traverse worlds... and return later after cultivating to a higher level..."
"If I find a suitable world, I can do that."
The handyman disciples of Baiyun Sect were generally spiritual farmers, with a very small portion serving as apprentices for alchemy, artifact refining, or other arduous tasks.
But regardless of the task, they were handyman disciples.
Handyman disciples were indeed different from formal disciples.
Formal disciples, even outer disciples, were ostensibly in Baiyun Sect to cultivate. Although their share of cultivation resources might be much less than that of inner disciples, they were true "disciples."
As for handyman disciples, Baiyun Sect merely offered them a sliver of hope for cultivation; essentially, they were recruited as laborers.
Although they were laborers, what Baiyun Sect provided was a bit more than farming in mortal villages—this was why so many people came to Baiyun Sect.
Knowing they would be laborers, they were willing to be immortal cultivators' laborers—if you don't go, there are plenty who want to.
This was how Fang Ming used to think, but this was only under the premise of having poor aptitude.
With poor aptitude, this was indeed the only way out.
But now, it was different.
Now, Fang Ming realized that since his talent allowed him to traverse worlds, he was somewhat dissatisfied with Baiyun Sect's restriction on his personal freedom and the requirement to be a spiritual farmer for twenty years.
At this point, Fang Ming had more than one way out; with his talent, he had countless ways out.
Therefore, Fang Ming had not previously considered escaping his identity as a spiritual farmer in Baiyun Sect, but now he had.
Baiyun Sect was very generous, likely relying on its sect formations to ensure no spiritual farmers would escape, and thus directly bestowed the complete "Yi Qi Gong" from the first to the ninth level.
"If I escape, I will have gained the benefits of the complete Yi Qi Gong..."
"This depends on future new worlds. The zombie world is not a good place to escape to."
What was the zombie world?
It was a wasteland of modern civilization, a world with remnants after the destruction of civilization.
There were even toxins in the air.
During his ten days in that world, Fang Ming had tried to absorb spiritual energy from heaven and earth using "Yi Qi Gong," but the spiritual energy there was already extremely scarce, and the air itself was somewhat toxic.
If Fang Ming could cultivate "Yi Qi Gong" to the first level in one month within Baiyun Sect.
Then in the zombie world, with its extremely scarce spiritual energy and toxic air, it might take twelve months to cultivate "Yi Qi Gong" to the first level.
And then there would be detoxification...
To expel the toxins from the air.
It was not a good place for cultivation—at least for cultivating cultivation techniques.
Therefore, although Fang Ming harbored thoughts of escape, he would have to find a suitable new world before doing so, such as another cultivation world.
The zombie world was out.
At best, it was a place with the new material of zombies.
Due to the short time, Fang Ming had not done much in the zombie world during these ten days.
He had only obtained water and food from survivor bases through various means.
He had not actively explored the "second-generation mutated zombies" or the so-called "tyrants" that survivors spoke of.
Nor had he left that city to go to more distant places, or even across the sea to explore more zombie species, stronger zombies, and the possibility of evolved individuals and gene potions in larger settlements.
He had only killed hundreds of zombies and brought back hundreds of crystals.
Fang Ming was satisfied with this trip.
As long as he had his talent, he could actually bring back many crystals from the zombie world multiple times—if these crystals proved useful.
"My greatest trump card is my world-hopping talent."
"Next, I'll see if these crystals can help my cultivation path. If they can, I can harvest and trade resources between two worlds."