Chapter 117 |
Fang Qing glanced at the fallen Zhan Hongxiu and her grandfather. He recognized this fortunate female cultivator at once.
'After the last auction, because I escaped that disaster, and today once again, it seems we really are fated...'
He secretly cast the Plum Blossom Divination and discovered she still carried a fair amount of luck.
"Her fate is decent, but unfortunately fate cannot rival divine abilities!"
After his divination arts had grown increasingly profound, Fang Qing had gradually gained some insights.
No matter how powerful divination might be, in Ancient Shu anything above the True Lord level could not be calculated at all. One attempt would be wrong, one reading would be mistaken!
Here, however, even if this female cultivator was a temporary child of fortune who could turn danger into safety, if he harbored killing intent right now she would immediately face a calamity of blood and light!
Before absolute strength, fate held little power.
Still... she remained a sample worth observing. Moreover, children of fortune brought many benefits. They could obtain quite a few magical artifacts, techniques, or even stumble upon the entrances to secret realms and ruins?
The concealing array she had set up suited his purposes perfectly. It would allow him to conduct interrogation and learn more of the Jiang Family's secrets.
"Ah!"
A miserable scream rang out, causing Zhan Hongxiu's small face to gradually turn pale.
She and her grandfather had both been poisoned and now lay paralyzed alongside the Myriad Longevity Turtle, unable to move. They could only endure the torture happening right beside them in silence.
Another hour passed before the ruthless Fang Qing finally strolled out casually and flicked his finger.
Several drops of Long-Awaited Sweet Rain fell into the mouths of the two people and the tortoise, gradually restoring their mana. They flipped over and climbed to their feet.
"This old man is Zhan Qinggen. Many thanks to Senior for saving our lives. This great kindness cannot be repaid. In the next life..."
Zhan Qinggen immediately pulled his granddaughter down to kneel and kowtowed repeatedly.
"Cannot be repaid? If doing good deeds brings no reward, who would still do good deeds in the future?"
A subtle smile curved Fang Qing's lips. "I heard everything quite clearly just now. Hand over your turtle-rearing secret technique immediately. Otherwise, see whether my sword will claim two more vengeful souls."
"How could this be?"
Zhan Hongxiu's mouth fell open wide, as if she could hardly imagine that their lifesaver would change so quickly!
I am simply giving you a lesson so you understand how treacherous the hearts of people in the cultivation world can be.
Fang Qing gave a cold snort. "Hmm?"
Zhan Qinggen knew clearly that in front of a Foundation Establishment senior they could not play any tricks. He could only present a jade tablet. "To be honest... this old man previously discovered the remains of a Foundation Establishment cultivator and obtained this technique from his body. Only then did I spend a huge price to purchase that Myriad Longevity Tutle egg..."
"Oh?"
Fang Qing swept it with his divine sense and saw dense golden small characters packed inside the jade tablet, as if frozen within.
This was clearly a technique that pointed directly toward Core Formation: the Tortoise–Crane Longevity Art! It was a beast-taming secret art that emphasized cultivating both human and beast together, with minds linked as one.
To begin this technique, one first had to find a suitable spirit pet, limited to tortoise or crane types. The higher the bloodline, the better. Then it needed to be contracted and refined into the cultivator's natal spirit pet. From then on, one prospered together or suffered together.
If the natal spirit pet died, the cultivator would suffer a severe loss of vitality, and future progress in the technique would become completely impossible.
The price was so high, but the benefits were naturally there as well.
First, the cultivator could use their own mana to nourish the natal spirit pet, accelerating its growth.
This was why Zhan Hongxiu's Myriad Longevity Turtle had grown so rapidly.
And when the natal spirit pet broke through a major realm, it would feed back a portion of lifespan to its master!
"It is actually a longevity cultivation technique?"
Fang Qing's eyes brightened. "This technique aligns perfectly with my grand strategy. Both follow the idea of exhausting enemies through abundant lifespan."
According to the Tortoise–Crane Longevity Art, the higher the spirit pet's bloodline, the greater the benefits from breaking through major realms.
If Zhan Hongxiu and her Myriad Longevity Turtle both broke through to Foundation Establishment, their lifespan could reach two hundred and fifty years!
That was a full twenty-five percent more than ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators!
"Unfortunately, this technique requires a heaven-grade wood spiritual root to cultivate, or the possession of a related spiritual body. And it has drawbacks as well: if the natal spirit pet dies, the backlash will cause all the added lifespan to drain away completely. Hmm?"
Fang Qing looked at Zhan Hongxiu. "You possess a heaven-grade wood spiritual root?"
"Of course not. My granddaughter only has a mid-grade wood spiritual root. However, she gave it a try anyway and surprisingly managed to enter the beginner stage."
Zhan Qinggen said this, his eyes flickering. He kowtowed repeatedly. "Senior, my granddaughter seems to possess some kind of spiritual body. Her aptitude is decent. Please take her as your disciple. What do you say?"
"Let me see."
Fang Qing pressed his hand to Zhan Hongxiu's forehead, injecting mana and sweeping with divine sense. "Indeed a mid-grade wood spiritual root. But there is a vigorous Yi Wood qi within her body, full of vitality. It should be the Yi Wood Spiritual Body. Paired with a mid-grade wood spiritual root, her cultivation speed should even surpass that of a superior-grade spiritual root. Unfortunately, I do not accept disciples."
He looked at the disappointed expressions on the grandfather and granddaughter and thought inwardly: ‘Not only will I not accept her, I will not even recommend you to the sect. A child of fortune should struggle and crawl in the wild so she can stumble into even more opportunities.’
While testing her aptitude earlier, he had already secretly tampered with Zhan Hongxiu to make tracking her easier in the future.
‘I have planted a seed today. I look forward to harvesting sweet fruit in the days to come.
‘What child of fortune? Treasures and opportunities gained through lucky encounters? Whatever catches my eye belongs to me. Whatever does not interest me belongs to you. Compared to how they treat children of fate in Ancient Shu, I am being quite lenient.’
Since he had already reserved a treasure-hunting tool, Fang Qing's attitude toward Zhan Hongxiu softened considerably. "Very well. I accept this technique as payment. You may leave now. After all, a Foundation Establishment battle is about to erupt in this marketplace, and it will be quite dangerous."
"Yes, Senior. Please take care."
Zhan Qinggen sighed inwardly at his granddaughter's lost opportunity, yet he dared not press the matter. He hastily pulled her along and fled in panic.
The grandfather and granddaughter had barely escaped with their lives. They had just rushed out of Sancai Marketplace when a fierce Foundation Establishment aura exploded behind them, followed by a young voice ringing out.
"The Jiang Family and Lu Family collude together to entrap trading cultivators! Where is justice in this?"
In an instant the entire marketplace erupted in alarm.
"A Foundation Establishment senior releasing his aura? Are they about to fight?"
"Where is the enforcement squad? Hurry!"
"Are you stupid? The enforcement squad dares to meddle with Foundation Establishment seniors? Quick, notify the Lu Family guard!"
"That strange Foundation Establishment cultivator just threw out... could that be Ziyan's corpse? Waaah, my beloved!"
Upon hearing this, the grandfather and granddaughter shrank their necks and immediately piloted their artifacts, flying far beyond the borders of Sanyuan Island.
They knew that chaos was about to descend upon this place and blood would soon flow like rivers.
Sancai Marketplace was currently guarded by the Lu Family. The guarding Foundation Establishment cultivator was named Lu Tianyuan and stood at early Foundation Establishment.
He flew out of his closed-door chamber and saw a young sword cultivator arrogantly tossing out the corpse of Jiang Family Elder Jiang Ziyan while shouting, "This Jiang Family cultivator tried to swindle me and even set up an array to surround and kill me. Your Jiang and Lu Families must give me an explanation!"
"An explanation? I want you to give me one!"
The moment Lu Tianyuan saw Jiang Ziyan's corpse he knew this matter could not end peacefully no matter what.
He first sacrificed an iron-tablet spiritual artifact that released a hazy black radiance to protect himself, then took out an array disk and quickly adjusted the grand array.
The opposing Foundation Establishment cultivator seemed to be at mid Foundation Establishment. He was no match.
But relying on the marketplace's second-rank inferior Water Origin Array, he could still stall for a while without much trouble.
Splash!
Black water boiled all around, faintly forming the shape of water dragons.
He rose tall, standing atop the head of a pitch-black water dragon, and shouted, "You bold bandit cultivator! You dare plunder Sancai Marketplace and kill our cultivators? The Lu Family and Jiang Family will never let this go!"
"Haha, trying to suppress me with your background? Little do you know that we sword cultivators would rather break than bend! You want to disturb my sword heart? Die!"
Fang Qing had come here to stir trouble in the first place, so he naturally had no fear of making things even bigger.
Hearing those words, even Lu Tianyuan felt a trace of doubt.
What were sword cultivators anyway? Just a group of people who cultivated sword-shaped magical artifacts or spiritual artifacts at most.
They flew a little faster, attacked a little sharper, and knew some sword arrays. That was all.
Since when did sword cultivators have this "rather break than bend" saying?
Unfortunately he no longer had time to think further.
Crack!
A sound like thunder flashed between heaven and earth.
Starlight filled the sky as a sword qi, hazy like mist and smoke, arrived with the speed of lightning. It effortlessly sliced through the iron-tablet spiritual artifact and circled once around Lu Tianyuan's neck.
"I..."
Lu Tianyuan's eyes widened in disbelief. He never imagined he could not even block a single move and would be beheaded in one strike.
In midair Fang Qing reached out, caught Lu Tianyuan's head, casually stored the storage bag, and let the headless corpse fall.
Blood sprayed across the sky. The scene left every cultivator in the marketplace stunned.
"An early Foundation Establishment cultivator... dead in one sword strike?"
"That person... is no ordinary mid Foundation Establishment. He might even be a late Foundation Establishment senior!"
"In our Minor Huan Sea, there is still such an unknown Foundation Establishment powerhouse?"
"Haha, the Lu Family's Foundation Establishment guard is dead and the marketplace has no one left! Rob them!"
Among the rogue cultivators, many eyes turned blood-red as they stared at the Jiang Family auction house and the Lu Family shops.
Someone shouted, and the cry instantly triggered a massive riot.
Many rogue cultivators were bandit cultivators to begin with. When such an opportunity appeared they reacted like sharks smelling blood; there was no holding them back.
Even the few upright ones, faced with such chaos, knew that if they did not kill others then others would kill them. The situation spiraled out of control at once.
"Tianyuan?!"
Lu Tianyuan had been dead only moments when several Foundation Establishment escape lights flew over from two nearby attached islands.
The Lu Family had one male and one female Foundation Establishment cultivator. The man was white-haired and had already reached mid Foundation Establishment. Seeing Lu Tianyuan's head held in Fang Qing's hand, his eyes nearly split with rage.
On the Jiang Family side, Jiang Zidu sat cross-legged atop a deep-green giant turtle larger than a fake mountain. His expression looked equally unpleasant.
"The people in charge of the Lu Family and Jiang Family have finally arrived. How do you plan to explain this to me?"
Fang Qing held his sword in one hand, looked disdainfully in all directions, and laughed loudly.
In this moment even Jiang Zidu felt shaken. He had never seen such an arrogant sword cultivator!