Chapter 40: War Rumors
Time: One Week Later.
Location: The North Gate of Green Willow City.
The peace of Green Willow City was shattered not by an invasion, but by a wave of misery.
Luo Feng stood on the balcony of a tea house near the city gate, watching the scene below. He wore his bamboo hat, his hand resting casually on the hilt of his saber.
Below, a sea of humanity was pressing against the city gates.
They weren't merchants. They were refugees.
Some were mortals carrying their entire lives in bundles on their backs. Others were low-level cultivators—rogues and loose practitioners—who looked battered, their robes stained with dried blood.
"Let us in!" a man screamed, holding up a wounded child. "The Blood Sabers are burning the villages!"
The City Guards were overwhelmed. They were checking identification tokens, but the crowd was pushing too hard.
"What is happening?" a tea patron next to Luo Feng whispered, his face pale.
"War," Luo Feng replied softly, his eyes cold.
News had broken that morning. The Blood Saber Sect—a notorious demonic sect known for their brutality—had officially declared war on the Mengyuan Sect.
The Mengyuan Sect.
Luo Feng's old home.
The place where he had spent thirty years sweeping floors and being called trash. The place that had kicked him out for failing to reach Layer 4.
Now, that massive sect was under siege. The outer territories were already falling, forcing the population to flee south toward Green Willow City.
Luo Feng felt no sadness. He felt no desire to rush back and "save" the sect that had discarded him.
He felt only the calculation of a survivor.
The Market Crash.
Location: The Phoenix Spirit Pavilion.
Luo Feng entered the back door of the shop. The atmosphere inside was chaotic.
Fatty Wang was pacing back and forth, shouting orders at his clerks.
"Price check! What is the price of Spirit Rice today?"
"It doubled, Boss! 2 Spirit Stones for a 10-jin bag!" a clerk shouted back.
"And Healing Salves?"
"Tripled! The refugees are buying everything!"
Fatty Wang saw Luo Feng and rushed over, grabbing his arm.
"Brother Luo! It's madness! The war has spooked everyone. The prices are fluctuating every hour. But listen—this is an opportunity!"
Wang's eyes were gleaming with greed.
"Soldiers need courage. Cultivators need Qi recovery. If we sell the Spirit Surge Wine now, we can charge 30 Spirit Stones a bottle! We can empty our stockpile and buy half the city!"
Luo Feng looked at the fat merchant. He grabbed a flask of wine from the shelf and slammed it on the table.
"No," Luo Feng said.
"What?" Wang blinked. "Why? The demand is infinite!"
"The demand is desperate," Luo Feng corrected him. "Wang, use your brain. In peace, wine is a luxury. People buy it to show off or train."
Luo Feng leaned in close.
"In war, wine is a strategic resource. If we start selling massive amounts of high-grade recovery wine now, the City Lord will not buy it. He will confiscate it for the 'War Effort'. The Mengyuan Sect remnants will demand we donate it out of loyalty."
Fatty Wang froze. He hadn't thought of that.
"If we look too rich during a famine," Luo Feng whispered, "we get eaten."
"So... what do we do?" Wang asked, wiping sweat from his brow. "Close the shop?"
"Stop selling the wine," Luo Feng commanded. "Put up a sign: 'Supply Chain Disrupted by War. Out of Stock.' Hide the inventory in your deepest cellar."
"And then?"
"Buy Rice."
Luo Feng pointed to the ledger.
"Take all our liquid profits. Every Spirit Stone we made in the last six months. Buy Spirit Rice. Buy Healing Herbs. Buy Cured Meat. Don't buy from the city market—the prices are too high. Use your connections to buy from the southern caravans before they realize how bad the war is."
"You want to hoard grain?" Wang frowned. "But we are a wine shop."
"In a month," Luo Feng said grimly, "a bag of Spirit Rice will be worth more than a bottle of wine. People can't drink alcohol to survive siege starvation."
Luo Feng patted Wang's shoulder.
"We go dark. We hoard. We wait."
The Farm's Bounty.
Location: The Farming Space.
Luo Feng returned to his sanctuary.
The contrast was jarring. Outside, people were screaming and starving. Inside, the twenty acres were lush, green, and peaceful. The artificial sun shone warmly on the golden stalks of grain.
Luo Feng stood in front of his 10 Acres of Spirit Rice.
Usually, he harvested this just for his family and the wine production. Now, looking at the golden waves, he saw leverage.
"System. Harvest."
Telekinesis swept across the field.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
The stalks were cut. The grains were separated.
In minutes, piles of Grade 1 Spirit Rice were stacked in the storage barn.
[Harvest Complete: 8,000 Jin of Spirit Rice.]
[Quality: High Grade.]
8,000 Jin (approx 4,000 kg).
In a starving city, this was enough to feed a clan for months. It was enough to hire an army of mercenaries.
"It's not enough," Luo Feng muttered.
He looked at the 5 Acres of Vineyard.
"I don't need more wine right now. The cellar is full."
He raised his hand.
Slash.
He cut down half of the vineyard. It hurt to destroy the 20-Year vines, but he was pragmatic.
"Replant with Iron-Skin Yams and Spirit Wheat."
He needed calorie-dense, high-energy food.
If the war reached Green Willow City—and it would—the supply lines would be cut. The City Lord would lock the gates. The slums would starve first.
Luo Feng wasn't a hero. He wouldn't feed the whole city. But he would ensure that his wife, his son, and his closest allies (like Fatty Wang) would never feel a pang of hunger.
The Intruder.
Luo Feng exited the space and returned to his bedroom.
Luo Xia was rocking Luo Tian to sleep. The baby was clutching his iron-wood saber, his eyes wide open, sensing the tension in the house.
"Is it bad?" Luo Xia asked.
"The Mengyuan Sect is losing," Luo Feng said, removing his outer robe. "Refugees are everywhere. I told Wang to stop sales."
Suddenly, Luo Feng's head snapped toward the window.
Spirit Sense (40 Meters).
He felt a disturbance. Not at the gate, but at the back wall.
Someone had jumped over.
The person was erratic, stumbling. Their Qi was weak, flickering like a dying candle.
Thump.
The intruder landed in the garden and collapsed.
Luo Feng signaled Luo Xia to stay back. He drew his saber and vanished from the room.
He appeared in the garden, blade raised.
"Don't... don't kill me..." a weak voice gasped from the grass.
Luo Feng narrowed his eyes. He lowered the tip of his saber but kept his guard up.
The intruder rolled over. It was a young man wearing the robes of a Mengyuan Sect Outer Disciple. His chest was slashed open, blood soaking the grass.
Luo Feng recognized the uniform. It was the same one he had worn for thirty years.
"Help..." the disciple wheezed, holding out a bloodstained token. "The Sect... the Sect has fallen..."
Luo Feng stared at the dying boy.
The Mengyuan Sect hadn't just lost the outer territories.
They had collapsed.
The war wasn't coming. It was already here.
[End of Chapter 40]