Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 815 - Chapter 815 Chapter 815 Dont Look Around

Chapter 815: Chapter 815 Don’t Look Around Chapter 815: Chapter 815 Don’t Look Around The voice outside was none other than Huang Fu Flawless. That was the downside of a small courtyard; conversations inside could be easily heard from the outside.

Immediately after, a knock on the door sounded, and Jing Qingyang hurried to open it.

Huang Fu Flawless this time had come alone, traveling light and unaccompanied.

Once inside the courtyard, she looked around, “Hey, it’s nicely tidied up here. We’ll be neighbors from now on.”

Neighbors my foot, Feng Jun had noticed when buying the place that his little courtyard was at least five miles from Tiantong.

If it was too close, he wouldn’t have bought it–the Qiuchen Market had plenty of space to choose from, after all.

Then, he spotted something off about her, “Huh, when did you reach the Qi Refining Ninth Layer?”

“Hehe, just practiced a bit,” Huang Fu Flawless wanted to chuckle nonchalantly and reply indifferently.

Unfortunately, no matter how much she tried to hide it, she couldn’t suppress the pride swelling within her, and her smile uncontrollably spread across her face, “You know the Cultivation Technique I practise, I accumulate gradually and strike suddenly… Eh?”

In the next moment, her face shifted from smugness to shock, “You… Mid-stage Qi Refining?”

She was so focused on showing off her progress that she had forgotten her intention of coming here was to check his Cultivation Level.

At a glance now, she was genuinely startled–had his Cultivation Level actually fallen instead of risen?

Just as she was about to use her Treasure-Appraising Eye, Feng Jun waved his hand at her, visibly displeased, “Don’t just look around!”

He had looked into this Treasure-Appraising Eye before; it wasn’t as effortless to use as one might think. Although it seemed like just a blink of an eye, it actually required tranquility, focus, and intense concentration.

Put simply, this wasn’t an action one could perform subconsciously; it had to be deliberate and required full attention.

Because of this, he had purposely lowered his Cultivation Level, so he’d have a reason to warn Huang Fu Flawless: Don’t check my Cultivation Level.

If he had kept his Cultivation Level at the High Tier of Qi Refinement, he would have had no grounds to caution her. And Huang Fu Flawless was the kind of person who acted on whims; if she felt like using her Treasure-Appraising Eye, what could he possibly do about it?

Huang Fu Flawless blinked several times before speaking with a laugh, “I was just curious, what exactly is your Cultivation Level now?”

After ascending to the Detached Stage, Feng Jun’s sensory acuity had become increasingly potent. Feeling that she indeed hadn’t used the Treasure-Appraising Eye, he merely smiled, “Just think of me as being at the Detached Stage… Have you ascended recently during this time?”

The Detached Stage, huh? Seeing him admit so readily, Huang Fu Flawless became a bit skeptical inside.

She also knew that Feng Jun took great offense to her use of the Treasure-Appraising Eye on him, having warned her before. He repeated the warning today, so it wasn’t appropriate for her to pretend to use it unintentionally.

Fortunately for her, Feng Jun’s last remark touched upon a subject she was particularly proud of, “Pssh, don’t remind me. Wasn’t it mostly for running errands for you? I took the chance to ascend a level… Those measly seventy-two thousand Spirit Stones almost made my legs thin.”

“Oh, you sold an extra twelve thousand?” Feng Jun laughed upon hearing this. Originally, Huang Fu Flawless had agreed on a base of sixty thousand, with any surplus attracting a commission for Tiantong.

“I didn’t get that many Spirit Stones!” Huang Fu Flawless said with a half-laugh, half-sigh, shaking her head. She didn’t expect that the individual from Wuyou Platform at the Detached Stage would be so destitute, bringing far fewer Spirit Stones than needed–probably because they also hadn’t anticipated getting such a large piece of Aquatic Sandalwood Spikenard.

In the end, she hadn’t collected the full amount of Spirit Stones, “Shangguan Yunjin said she has five thousand Spirit Stones with you… let’s count four thousand of them towards it.”

“Hey, hold on,” Feng Jun’s eyes widened, “Whether she has left Spirit Stones with me is a secondary issue, the problem is… you need to have her come and speak to me. It’s not right for you to say so.”

“Then wait for her to come back in a few days,” Huang Fu Flawless spoke with a smile, “She has returned to Wuyou Platform and will be back soon.”

Feng Jun didn’t mind waiting; he had been planning to take this opportunity to explore the Cultivation World thoroughly.

So the day after purchasing the Spirit Gathering Array, he went wandering aimlessly through Qiuchen Immortal Pavilion with Mi Yunshan, not to buy or sell anything but to familiarize himself with the market.

He planned to visit Guanquan Valley, Sword Forging Peak and other places after touring the market, aiming to get a preliminary impression of the Cultivation World.

However, after wandering all morning, he felt something was off–it gave him an uneasy feeling.

At first, he thought it was due to the increased sensory ability from advancing to the first layer of Detachment, which might be causing some discomfort.

But as the feeling persisted, he began to have doubts, so he swiped at his mobile phone.

After about fifteen minutes, upon reaching a corner, he swiped at his phone again.

By the third time he did this, he suspected he was being watched.

The surveillant who was tailing him kept his distance, about four to five hundred meters away. The individual moved naturally, and there was no clear indication that he was tracking someone. However, Feng Jun thought to himself, “There shouldn’t be many in the Immortal Pavilion with a copper buckle wound around their belt.”

He slowed down and tried a couple more experiments. This time, he even learned the name of the individual tailing him: The Innate Expert Zhu Yifei!

Zhu Yifei was quite a character. Seeing Feng Jun slow down and even stop to discuss the scenery with Mi Yunshan, he continued at a leisurely pace, soon passing by them.

Overstepping while tracking is a grave mistake for any follower, but this one seemed utterly natural. After walking six to seven hundred meters ahead, he vanished around a corner.

Less than five minutes later, the man reappeared, this time in different clothes, with his appearance and aura changed. Even the belt had been hidden beneath his robe.

This was a highly skilled tracker, but unfortunately, no matter how much he altered his appearance, he couldn’t change the name “Zhu Yifei” displayed on Feng Jun’s mobile phone.

Feng Jun didn’t take an Innate Expert lightly, but Mi Yunshan at his side definitely couldn’t withstand such a high-ranked adversary.

There were regulations in the Fang Market: cultivators were not to fight each other arbitrarily. Even outside the core area, if they wished to fight, they needed a valid reason–even if the opponent was just a cultivator on the brink between mortal and immortal.

Since the other party had tracked him quite skillfully, Feng Jun couldn’t find a reason to confront him. Thus, he could only stay alert internally, while remaining calm and composed on the surface.

By the time he and Mi Yunshan returned to the courtyard, it was already evening. The Spirit Gathering Array had been activated, and Yu Changzhu was busy preparing a curtain, making final preparations for her to consume the Water Spirit Pill.

That evening, the Tiantong Commerce Alliance delivered the Water Spirit Pill, along with two Defense Array Disks and a copy of the “Yin Yang Dual Yi Sword” technique; according to Feng Jing from the Flawless Sword Qi Gourd, this sword technique was the most suitable for nurturing the Sword Qi Gourd.

The technique was balanced and even-tempered, lacking the sharp and enigmatic moves typical of sword techniques, and slightly less lethal, but it was grand and solid, one of the high-grade sword techniques one could find.

Feng Jing proposed a price of five thousand Spirit Stones, and including the two Defense Array Disks, the total cost amounted to thirteen thousand.

However, after selling the Aquatic Sandalwood Spikenard, Feng Jun’s wallet had quickly fattened, and this sum of money was like mere pocket change to him.

He bought the sword technique not only to nurture the Sword Qi Gourd but also to arm his disciples, such as Zhang Caixin, with a method of self-defense. Feng Jun believed that it was best to teach his most prized blade techniques to his male disciples, while it was better for the women to learn sword techniques instead.

Aside from Little Celestial Master, who didn’t quite fit the typical feminine mold, Feng Jun had trouble imagining someone like Yun Shan gracefully wading into battle with a long blade in hand–the image was simply too discordant.

The next morning, after breakfast, Yu Changzhu sat down to meditate, calm and focused, before taking the Water Spirit Pill.

The Water Spirit Pill was known for its gentle nature, as “water nurtures without effort,” but the effect of an elixir that markedly enhanced one’s physical constitution was still considerably strong. Thankfully, with Mi Yunshan at her side to attend to certain matters unfit for a man to assist with, the process was manageable.

Feng Jun didn’t leave the house. Although nothing should happen within his own courtyard, the expert tracker from the previous day had left him feeling uneasy, so he planned to stay on guard just in case.

Yun Buyao watched Yu Changzhu improving her constitution within the Spirit Gathering Array with eyes full of envy, yet she dared not voice her thoughts.

Feng Jun picked up a sword, glanced through “Yin Yang Dual Yi Sword” for a while, swung the sword a few times, then pulled out his mobile phone to check again.

Fortunately, throughout the day, he never spotted that belt with the copper buckle nearby.

In the evening, the local Head of the Locality arrived with an assistant. The Head of the Locality, elected by the residents, was quite adept in cultivation at the intermediate level of Qi Refinement, and knocked on the door loudly.

Such grassroots workers usually handled matters in a straightforward and rough manner. Although he knew that someone who could spend eight thousand Spirit Stones on a house was not a person to be taken lightly, he was not overly concerned since the registered permanent resident was only a Fourth Layer mortal transcending to the next stage.

However, to his dismay, upon entering the courtyard, he noticed Feng Jun at the “High Tier of Qi Refinement.”

So he toned down his demeanor a bit and stated clearly that the middle of the month was approaching, and they needed to consider paying the management fee.

Management fees had to be paid. Similar to property or sanitation fees in the Earth Realm, essentially, if you enjoyed the conveniences of living in the Fang Market, naturally, you had to pay for some services.

Chen Junsheng didn’t show any surprise; he simply nodded slightly, “I am aware of that and will make the payment when the time comes.”

The Head of the Locality glanced at the others, hesitated, but then firmly said, “If you are to accommodate others for an extended period, it’s best to report it. It would be more convenient for both of us.”

His words were reasonable. The management system in the Fang Market did have such a requirement, even if it was seldom enforced.

However, after his departure, Chen Junsheng still expressed some astonishment, “The Head of the Locality came last month to mention this, and now he’s mentioned it again… Could it be he suspects we don’t want to pay the management fee?”

A cold smirk appeared on Feng Jun’s lips. The Head of the Locality’s real intention… might not be so simple after all.

Being followed the day before, and now someone making the effort to knock on their door, it seems someone might indeed have their eyes on me.

The person pulling the strings behind the scenes… who could it be?