Chapter 1075: Transaction
Chapter 1075: Transaction
[Ding! You have a party invitation! ]
Fang Xi was engrossed in a concept book, feeling quite enlightened, when his intelligent butler delivered the notification.
"The 726th Imperial Daughter? I hear she's skilled at social maneuvering, but I won't be going. . . "
He shook his head, refusing directly.
After all, Fang Xi was here to deepen his own foundations, not to become a Universal Emperor.
‘Possessing the weakness of benevolence, and being merely Planetary-level, no one perceives me as a threat. . . as long as I stay far from the vortex of power struggles, I can enjoy at least ten thousand years of peace. Why bother with schemes and machinations? ’
Fang Xi's plan for himself was very clear.
As for the grand drama of the more than ten thousand imperial princes vying for the throne, he stated he had no interest.
"The 726th Imperial Daughter. . . seems to be part of the 'Sixth Lord's faction,' supporting the Sixth Prince as the crown prince. . . The Sixth Prince has already advanced to Neutron Star Immortal, and his prestige is quite high. . . "
"Besides him, the Forty-fourth Prince, and the 367th Imperial Daughter, are all Neutron Star Immortals, and their chances are also very good. . . "
"As for the Fourth Prince and the Eighth Prince. . . they died early on the battlefield. Otherwise, a 'Ninety-nine Dragons vying for the throne' would be quite interesting. "
Fang Xi merely entertained the thought, continuing his days fully immersed in reading, cultivation, and research. . . not even stepping out of his residence.
Later, although a few more banquet invitations arrived, after he declined them one by one, such invitations grew fewer and fewer, eventually tending towards him becoming completely invisible.
This was precisely what Fang Xi desired, so he remained utterly at ease.
Though to outsiders, it looked like complete decadence.
After all, while one hundred million Lanikainia coins was a large sum, in actual use, it wasn't much.
After barely cultivating to Planetary-level, the subsequent Red Giant Immortal stage was where the true money sink began.
If one didn't receive other funding or possess their own industries, they would likely remain Planetary-level for life!
Ten thousand years from now, there was an eighty percent chance they would perish on the battlefields against the Zerg and star beasts.
...
Time flew by.
In a flash, several years passed.
Fang Xi still kept to his home, remaining invisible, only occasionally consulting Wen Ge.
With the subsequent appearance and enfeoffment of the 10,070th, and even the 10,071st, imperial princes and princesses, he blended even more into the crowd.
Especially that 10,070th imperial prince; it was said his cultivation speed was incredible, making him the fastest among all the imperial princes and princesses to break through to Planetary-level, garnering much attention.
Even the Sixth Prince, the Forty-fourth Prince, and the 367th Imperial Daughter extended invitations to him.
Even His Majesty the Emperor showed great concern.
In the end, news spread that he intended to establish his own faction, leaving everyone utterly dumbfounded. . .
Inside the castle villa.
Fang Xi took a sip of fruit wine, a satisfied expression emerging on his face: "As expected of a fine wine reputed to intoxicate even Red Giant Immortals; the taste is indeed excellent. . ."
He glanced at his intelligent butler.
On the screen, countless dense book titles were categorized and integrated. . .
Ultimately culminating in one – "Kāya's Reading Notes"!
"Concept power. . . "
"Although the people of this Great Thousand World don't have a deep understanding of it, some of their perspectives are quite good. . . "
"If one can condense concepts at the Planetary-level, or even Satellite-level, it clearly bodes well for cultivation and the future. . . "
Fang Xi stroked his chin.
His path of cultivation had never been by the book; instead, he extracted the essence of various systems from across the heavens to achieve his own breakthroughs.
After a brief thought, he recalled the Da Yue world.
"That world is quite peculiar; even anomalous humans of the ninth-rank, like ants, can come into contact with the laws. . . "
"If I can extract its essence, it would be quite useful. . . "
Fang Xi felt that the Da Yue world and this cosmic world were two extremes.
For example, the Divine Thief Sect's inheritance system – a ninth-rank "Divine Thief" could actually involve void laws, manipulating objects from a distance.
There were even many sequences involving fate and time that manifested at low grades.
Though they only knew what worked, not why, their utilization of law power was indeed quite ingenious.
...
Da Yue world.
Fang Xi's body sat cross-legged on the bed like a rigid corpse, devoid of all vital signs.
Suddenly, a spirit descended, causing him to open his eyes.
"The Netherworld. . . truly interesting! "
Fang Xi smiled faintly, gazing at the withered vines and old trees outside the window, and that bright, clear moon. He felt that compared to the cosmic world's splendid scenery, while it might macroscopically fall short, microscopically, there were still many commendable aspects.
"The 'Roving Spirit Qi Manipulation,' it's truly effective. . . "
He looked at a bizarre plant with human-eye patterns in front of him, a hint of a smile appearing on his face.
At this moment, he was already an eighth-rank "Roving Daoist"! His core skill was 'Roving Spirit Qi Manipulation'!
The so-called 'Roving Spirit' meant to allow one's Yin Spirit to leave the body, and master various peculiar methods of manipulating spiritual qi.
‘To be able to manifest the Yin Spirit at eighth-rank. . . this system is indeed chaotic and bizarre. ’
‘However, with 'Roving Spirit Qi Manipulation' combined with the 'Communicate with Netherworld' ability gained from the ninth-rank 'Qi Refiner,' the Netherworld is now my backyard. . . I can go there to acquire various strange materials. ’
Fang Xi mused to himself, carefully putting away the 'human-eye flower'.
"According to my deductions, after the eighth-rank 'Roving Daoist,' comes the seventh-rank 'Five Elements Geomancer'. . . "
"The required materials have almost all been gathered. "
"Hmm? "
Just then, he sensed something and couldn't help but smile: "Extracting the essence of this world's system to provide concept power support for the avatar in the cosmic world? That's quite interesting. . ."
"Black Hole Immortals are endowed with the Spacetime Concept by the universe, but that doesn't mean void and temporal laws are easy to acquire. . . "
"If the Satellite-level avatar can master the Spacetime Concept in advance, it would be quite interesting to achieve the Spacetime Dao Venerable realm in the future. . . "
All of Fang Xi's avatars were now telepathically connected to his main body, completely eliminating any possibility of betrayal.
Their focus of thought was also identical.
"The 'me' over there is only at Satellite-level, not yet at the point where his own cultivation can leverage the laws of that world. . . Therefore, I must find a clever way, and this clever path comes from secret elixirs! "
"Void laws, you say? It seems the Divine Thief Sect's 'Divine Thief' secret elixir is a must-have. . . "
Fang Xi looked outside, and when morning arrived, he immediately changed his clothes and walked along the flagstone-paved street.
In Black River City, there was actually a black market.
However, this black market wasn't truly 'black'; rather, it only appeared at dawn, just as the sun was about to rise, setting up a few stalls in a spacious area.
It was somewhat like a morning market, but even earlier than that.
Furthermore, what was sold there wasn't necessarily what anomalous humans needed; it could also be ordinary gold and silver goods, or even stolen items!
Whether one could buy good things depended entirely on one's discerning eye.
‘Qi Liuzhi has a lazy disposition and occasionally likes to steal valuables, which he fences here in the black market. . . ’
Thinking of this intel, Fang Xi walked through an alley with a faint smile, then saw an earthen altar.
In front of the altar was a sizable, but now desolate, square.
Amidst the thick fog, figures appeared in twos and threes, looking indistinct, like phantoms.
Fang Xi approached and saw a roll of coarse linen spread on the ground, with some scattered porcelain pieces on it.
Some of the porcelain still carried the scent of earth, likely just dug up.
"Sir, would you like a look? These are all hot, fresh goods. . . "
Squatting in front of the stall was a middle-aged man with a white turban wrapped around his head, dressed very plainly with patches on his clothes. He looked very old, like an honest old farmer.
But in reality, Fang Xi felt he was a tomb raider.
If he had lacked the 'Lone Tomb Flower' at the time, and hadn't been so urgent, he might have asked this person to acquire it.
Even if he needed corpse-related materials in the future, finding this person would surely yield results.
"No, I'm just looking. . . "
Fang Xi walked around, finding that besides porcelain, there was also grain, cloth, and other goods, all slightly cheaper than outside.
However, the quality was actually inconsistent, and in such poor lighting, it was even easier to be deceived.
He had explored half a circle when he spotted a shifty figure, and couldn't help but step forward, placing a hand on the person's shoulder: "Little Brother Qi. . ."
"Ah? "
Qi Liuzhi jumped in fright, then saw Fang Xi and half-sighed in relief: "So it's Brother Fang. . ."
He knew this person was also an anomalous human, and had some connection with Zhang Longyi, later even taking up a post in the Anomaly Suppression Division, making him half an insider.
"Little Brother Qi also comes to the black market, do you have any good things you plan to sell? "
Fang Xi smiled faintly, then saw a bundle in Qi Liuzhi's hand, revealing a section of a red bracelet, and pretended to be surprised.
"Nothing much, just ordinary stuff, sigh. . . I'm just short on cash recently, so I came to sell some things to fill my purse. . . "
Qi Liuzhi pleaded: "Please, Brother Fang, don't mention this to anyone. . ."
"Of course. "
Fang Xi nodded, a hint of difficulty appearing on his face.
"Has Brother Fang encountered something troubling? "
This time, it was Qi Liuzhi's turn to ask.
"To be honest, I'm preparing to advance to eighth-rank. . . "
Although he was already an eighth-rank 'Roving Daoist,' Fang Xi naturally wouldn't announce it to the public, instead suppressing his combat power to that of a first-grade.
This was the way of hiding one's capabilities to preserve one's life.
But for the group of ninth-rank anomalous humans in Black River City, eighth-rank was already an incredible level.
Hearing this, Qi Liuzhi's face became serious: "Brother Fang's talent is indeed the best among us. . . but I'm not doing so well financially myself."
"How could I possibly borrow money from you? "
Fang Xi was somewhat speechless, then lowered his voice: "I attended a private exchange meeting for anomalous humans, and there was a 'Nine-fingered Ginseng' there. . ."
"What? ! "
Qi Liuzhi was instantly startled. He had been stuck at ninth-rank for a long time and had always wanted to advance to eighth-rank, but he could never find the 'Nine-fingered Ginseng' for the secret elixir, which had become a persistent worry for him.
"Brother Fang, Elder Brother Fang, just give the word, and I'll do whatever it takes. I still have dozens of taels of silver's worth of goods here. . . "
Qi Liuzhi looked at the bundle in his hand, offering it over, his tone pleading.
"Sigh. . . I'm just helping someone ask around, earning a commission, that's all. "
Fang Xi sighed.
This 'Nine-fingered Ginseng' was naturally a material he had found in the Netherworld. Ever since he heard Qi Liuzhi had been looking for it, he had kept an eye out.
"It's just. . . the seller only wants to trade, not sell, and demands the secret medicine formula for the ninth-rank 'Divine Thief'. . . Besides, I, as the intermediary, also need to collect a certain handling fee. "
He continued.
"No problem, now that the Divine Thief Sect only has me left, I can handle all of this. " Qi Liuzhi's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing this.
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