Stealthily cultivating in the chaotic world of demons and martial artists
Chapter 1070 - 924: Hot and Cold (Congratulations to our Kill-Ten-Steps Alliance Leader)

Chapter 1070: Chapter 924: Hot and Cold (Congratulations to our Kill-Ten-Steps Alliance Leader)

Several years later.

The doors of Yongyun Small Shop were tightly closed.

Within the protection of the Array, a low humming sound reminiscent of a flute could faintly be heard.

Moments later, the doors of the shop reopened.

Yong Yunmian, with her bare hands stained with danruo, cast a somewhat resentful glance at Fang Xi, "Elder Ge is interested in taking a registered apprentice. What a wonderful opportunity this is, and yet you still refuse? You should know that it’s rare for him to make such an offer. If you become a True Immortal in the future, that would be an incredible stroke of luck."

"Heh... I just prefer peace and quiet," Fang Xi replied lazily, lying on a soft chair without a care.

Turning up one’s nose at Elder Ge was one thing; after all, Fang Xi had already secretly learned all of his high-level talisman craftsmanship.

What Fang Xi found truly unbearable was the unspoken rule among the Talisman Masters here: a teacher could take a cut from their student’s talisman earnings without condition.

He’d have to be crazy to become such an old-fashioned apprentice.

"Ah well... never mind, Elder Ge was disappointed by your refusal... I had intended to introduce you to a few businesses, but now that’s not going to happen," Yong Yunmian said apologetically.

"So... was that your way of making amends just now?" Fang Xi rubbed his fingers together, "I am quite satisfied with that..."

"Pah, what morals!"

Yong Yunmian spat disdainfully, then seriously said, "Five packs of Ten Thousand Stars Talisman Paper, two packs of Storage Talisman Paper. That’s one hundred and twenty Immortal Jade, at cost for you."

"Agreed."

Fang Xi did the math and felt that the female shopkeeper still made a profit. He nodded in agreement.

He liked women who could lift their skirts to calculate profits and still be formidable. At least with such dealings, each party got what was agreed upon, and nobody owed anyone anything. Quite good...

Dou Beast Square.

Two Returning to Emptiness level fierce beasts viciously collided with each other, instantaneously unleashing ferocious winds that the Array then quickly neutralized.

"Go, Nine Wind Wolf!"

A gambler waved his betting slip, eyes bloodshot.

"Melted Gold Lion, bite it to death!"

Another gambler shouted loudly, looking as if he would throw himself down into the fray if not for the barrier of light from the Array.

This Dou Beast Square was the only place in Fiery Sun Immortal City where fighting was allowed, and it also managed the Life and Death Stage.

If Cultivators had irreconcilable disputes, they could apply to fight on the Life and Death Stage to settle their differences, only ending when one perished.

For Cultivators, prolonged comfort and cultivation could indeed incite restlessness in the heart.

Therefore, coming to Dou Beast Square to vent was also a method to prevent the rise of a Heart Demon.

"Brother Fang!"

A swordsman saw Fang Xi and his eyes lit up.

"It’s Brother Feng," Fang Xi greeted with a bow, "Back again for... honing your Sword Intent?"

"Precisely."

The Feng surnamed swordsman smiled modestly, then inquired through a Voice Transmission Talisman, "Brother Fang, what do you think? Between these two fighting beasts, who will win?"

"From what I see, the Nine Wind Wolf is exceedingly swift but lacks defense..." Fang Xi began to give his assessment slowly.

"So I should bet on the Melted Gold Lion winning?" the Feng surnamed swordsman’s eyes shone.

"Wait... Although that is the case, the wolf’s claws have some peculiar golden patterns, albeit very faint. It’s probably related to some rare wolf king lineage. If it awakens some kind of variant Divine Skill, it might have a chance to win!"

Just as Fang Xi finished speaking, the Nine Wind Wolf howled and suddenly turned into nine gusts of wind, escaping under the Melted Gold Lion’s jaws. Then the winds converged, forming a green wolf’s head that bit back viciously, its astonishing bite force instantly severing the lion’s spine.

"Ha ha, I won!"

"Damn useless lion, not as good as my family’s Spiritual Beast dog!"

Many gamblers hysterically tore their betting slips, with pieces fluttering down like snowflake.

"It’s the ’Wind Spirit Body’; damn it... If I had known, I would have..." The Feng surnamed swordsman was full of regret.

"Sir Feng, it’s time for cultivation," Fang Xi reminded him.

The Dou Beast Square was, strictly speaking, closely related to Sword Grinding Mountain, and the Cultivators from there loved coming to the square. Not for the sake of betting or maintaining order, but to draw upon the myriad emotions of people to sharpen their swords!

This was a secret method of the Sword Grinding Mountain lineage, using the emotions of others to temper their Flying Swords, achieving in one year what would take ordinary sword Cultivators ten years of hard work!

And naturally, the emotions of Cultivators were even more effective!

"Oh!"

The Feng surnamed swordsman snapped out of it and then took out a piece of sword scabbard, mumbling incantations.

In an instant, strands of emotions such as anger, vengefulness, and disappointment were gathered and absorbed into the scabbard.

Before long, a dark red liquid began to emerge at the bottom of the scabbard.

Seeing this, Fang Xi just grinned without saying a word.

A true disciple from Sword Grinding Mountain who came here to sharpen his sword would have at least filled half of their scabbard.

This Mr. Feng seemed to be not so focused on the purpose of his visit. He most enjoyed gambling on beast fights, a pity he lost nine out of ten times. After a chance encounter with Fang Xi, impressed by Fang Xi’s insights, he became like a gambling buddy at the horse races, gradually forming a close relationship.

Although Fang Xi had already connected with the Abundant Karma House that managed the auctions, he had not given up on Sky Blue Academy and Sword Grinding Mountain.

After all, it was only a little more effort each day, but these were backup paths he prepared. They might seem unimportant on a daily basis, but in critical moments when the Abundant Karma House might fail, they could turn the tide.

...

After dealing with the formality, Fang Xi went to have some fun at Hundred Flower Pavilion.

Afterwards, he returned to his own residence in Vermilion Bird Lane.

"Senior Fang..."

An old woman in splendid brocade clothes happened to come outside and performed a curtsy.

"Zhang Xiaoyou..."

Fang Xi nodded with a faint smile and was about to return to his dongfu.

"Senior Fang, please wait..."

At that moment, the old woman from the Zhang family suddenly called out to Fang Xi.

"Oh? What is it, Xiaoyou?"

Fang Xi turned around, staring at the old woman from the Zhang family with interest.

This old woman was dark-hearted and ruthless; he had truly seen what she was capable of, as she did not hesitate to viciously dispose of those two, Ma Jing and his companion.

On the day Shi Yushu argued with her, she nearly shattered his Dao Heart with but a few words.

Perhaps, included in that was Shi Yushu’s experience with the annihilation of his sect and the tragic death of Ma Jing, among a series of other blows that had already brought him close to the brink of falling into devilment, which was also quite rare.

One could say that without shedding a drop of blood, she had eliminated a great threat to the family.

Shi Yushu was shaken in his Dao Heart, leading to a backlash from his cultivation practice, causing his cultivation level to plummet, nearly unable to maintain his Nascent Soul.

Fortunately, after taking a Spiritual Pill, he barely managed to remain at the Nascent Soul stage, avoiding death in a single breath.

Even so, he no longer dared to compete with the Zhang family in cultivation disputes and had to leave Fiery Sun Immortal City in a most disheveled way.

As for the means of the Zhang family, Fang Xi estimated that upon the other’s departure, they would likely receive a full ’cultivation-robber’ package.

He was fully aware of this, yet he had no intention of lending a helping hand.

After all, they were merely ordinary neighbors.

He had not intervened to save Ma Jing and his companion, and naturally, he would not see Shi Yushu in a different light.

Although, such people were becoming increasingly rare in the Cultivation World.

"It is like this, the old lady has seen that Senior Fang lives alone in his dongfu with no one to take care of matters, inevitably bothered by some mundane trivialities. My family has two granddaughters, both at the blooming age of twenty, charming and alluring... Wouldn’t it be good if I sent them to serve in the senior’s residence as maids?"

The old woman’s face seemed to bloom into a flower with her smile.

"No need."

Fang Xi waved his hand, entering his dongfu as the prohibition light screen rose immediately, blocking the old woman outside.

Given his savvy in human relations, he naturally understood that the old woman bore no ill intentions.

The Zhang family was originally just one of Righteous Yang Sect’s families, with at most one Returning to Emptiness cultivator among them.

Settling in Fiery Sun Immortal City, they naturally needed some support and relations.

Clinging to high-level cultivators was just a common tactic.

’Of course, if this were the secular world, I, a lonely old man, who was offered two maidservants like this, might end up losing even my family fortune...’

Fang Xi had no interest in playing along and thus nipped the idea in the bud from the start.

"Alas..."

The old woman of the Zhang family sighed and returned to her dongfu.

"Ancestor..."

A member of the Zhang family approached, hesitant to speak: "Zhilan and Yuxiu are good girls, sufficient to marry any competent young man; why send them away as gifts? They might even end up as mere furnaces..."

"Pah, even if they become furnaces, that’s better than sitting around here, eating for free and sharing the benefits of the dongfu’s spiritual mechanisms," the old crone glanced out of the corner of her eye, and upon seeing two lithe figures, she couldn’t help but curse, "It’s no easy feat for us to live in the Fairy City; we need to be frugal with every single detail. Only when someone in the family attains Integration, or even Mahayana, will our family be secure... now everyone in the family, each and every one, must go out to fend for themselves. The family accounts are settled each year; no freeloaders allowed! Zhilan and Yuxiu, being talentless, would not be a loss if they could secure a set of Talisman inheritance, even if they had to be furnaces!"

Upon hearing these words, the two lithe figures shuddered, unconsciously clenching their palms tightly, their fingernails digging deep into flesh.

...

As Light and Time revolved, several more years passed by.

Inside the dongfu on Vermilion Bird Lane.

Fang Xi sat cross-legged and quietly opened a Voice Transmission Talisman.

"Ever since I refused to be taken advantage of by Elder Ge, his dissatisfaction towards me has been increasing every day..."

Actually, before, Elder Ge had a good reputation, probably because he had spent his entire fortune to overcome his eighth Immortal Thunder Calamity and urgently needed to recoup losses.

Besides that, with the promotion in status came a change in mindset.

Fang Xi was well aware of this and had no intention of indulging the other party.

A bare one-strike kill item was not worth spending much thought on.

If it were in the past, he might have feigned obedience and then outlasted the other party to inherit his wealth...

But now, the method to refine a Storage Talisman was already in his grasp, so there was no need for such tactics.

"In any case, in Fiery Sun Immortal City, it is not permitted to engage in cultivation disputes."

"It’s a pity though, that the connection with Yong Shopkeeper will be cut off..."

In his mind appeared a plump figure, and then he let out a laugh, opening another Voice Transmission Talisman.

This talisman was from Huang Jing, who was inviting him to the Hundred Flower Pavilion to discuss important matters.

"It seems that matter is settled."

A thought stirred in Fang Xi’s heart.

...

At the Hundred Flower Pavilion, amidst the clinking of cups and laughter, Huang Jing burst into loud laughter, "Younger brother, you’ll have to pay for this round of drinks."

"Oh?"

Fang Xi’s eyes gleamed, waving his hand to dismiss the dancers, "Is there progress with the ’Six Immortals Turn Flying Pill’?"

"Exactly."

Huang Jing conveyed through voice transmission, "In a few years, our house will transport a batch of goods and, as usual, it will include at least a handful of ’Six Immortals Turn Flying Pills.’ The pills are precious, I’m just not sure if you have enough Immortal Jade, younger brother?"

"I was hoping to borrow some from you, brother..."

Upon hearing this, Fang Xi’s face revealed a hint of embarrassed sheepishness.