Chapter 333: Encounter (Seeking Monthly Votes)
Chapter 333: Encounter (Seeking Monthly Votes)
Half a month later.
Three streaks of light soared out of Baiyuan Market.
Leading the way was naturally Fang Xi, with Palace Master Feng and Jiang Ling following behind him, their expressions complex.
Jiang Ling gazed at the tall, broad figure ahead, recalling the scene half a month prior when Palace Master Feng had brought her to visit this person.
The second demand the other party made was completely beyond her expectations, yet the Palace Master had immediately agreed without hesitation.
After all, even the Palace Master had "sold herself"; what was she, a mere newly ascended Foundation Establishment cultivator, in the face of the sect's survival and the inheritance of its Dao lineage?
In fact, as Jiang Ling carefully replayed the past events, she realized that the Palace Master's intention in specifically bringing her along might very well have been precisely this.
And that Senior Yun Jizi seemed to have seen through it as well, openly accepting her, this "pawn."
To be a servant under a Core Formation Perfected cultivator, and perhaps even win his favor and be accepted as a disciple afterward—what a marvelous opportunity that countless Foundation Establishment cultivators could only dream of!
...
A thousand li frozen, with snow blanketing the sky.
Fang Xi's streak of light suddenly halted. He looked at Feng Bingxian: "Palace Master Feng. . . did you invite any other fellow Daoists to see you off?"
"Fellow Daoists. . . Core Formation Ancestors? " Feng Bingxian's face instantly turned ashen. "Certainly not! The Profound Ice Palace is currently facing a life-or-death crisis; how could this humble one dare to do such a thing?"
"Then it seems you leaked your whereabouts when you arrived?"
Fang Xi sighed, taking out a demonic artifact.
He didn't know which unfortunate demonic sect disciple had left it behind, but it was a low-grade third-order item—a dark black orb!
He formed a hand seal with both hands, injecting his early-stage Core Formation spiritual power into the orb. Immediately, a dense black light emerged, shielding the three of them within.
"Haha. . . could this be the newly ascended Fellow Daoist Yun Jizi?"
Not far away, a faint green streak of light flew over, revealing a Core Formation cultivator whose face was obscured by the green glow.
Judging by their cultivation, they should also be around the early-stage Core Formation realm.
"This person. . . doesn't seem to be Venerable Xuan Bing."
Fang Xi looked at Feng Bingxian: "Could it be that your Profound Ice Palace has other enemies?"
"No. . . this person is unknown to this humble one. " Palace Master Feng's face paled, and she quickly replied.
"Hehe. . . Palace Master Feng is truly forgetful. We communicated via a 'thousand-mile communication talisman' before, how could you forget so quickly?"
The figure in the green light spoke with a weathered tone.
"Thousand-mile communication talisman? It's you, then!"
Palace Master Feng's expression changed repeatedly.
"Palace Master Feng. . . who exactly is this person?"
Fang Xi looked at Feng Bingxian, a smile on his face, yet seemingly carrying a hint of malevolent intent: "Should this matter. . . not be explained to me?"
"Grand Elder, please calm your anger. . . This humble one truly had not met this person before, but did communicate with them via communication talismans. I only knew that the disappearance of the previous Grand Elder Mu Yu seemed to be related to this person. . . This person belongs to a mysterious organization, always hiding their true identity, and later, this humble one disliked them and rarely interacted with them. . . " Feng Bingxian immediately transmitted a spiritual sense message, quickly explaining the entire situation.
"A clandestine organization, and it already has Core Formation cultivators? It seems their ambitions run deep. . ."
Without reason, Fang Xi recalled the female cultivator who had tried to recruit him at the Xue Family's Old Shop in Star Moon Market.
"It seems that even in the seemingly balanced cultivation world of the Yuan Kingdom, there are still many undercurrents surging beneath the surface. . ."
Fang Xi felt a wave of emotion, then looked at the Core Formation cultivator within the green light: "I am indeed Yun Jizi. May I ask who you are, sir?"
"Hehe. . . what's my humble name worth mentioning? But Fellow Daoist, are you sure you want to involve yourself in this messy business?"
The Core Formation cultivator in the green light chuckled strangely.
Fang Xi glanced at the clearly nervous Jiang Ling and the other woman, sighing: "If Fellow Daoist had asked half a month ago, perhaps I would have refused them, but I have no precedent for going back on my word once I've agreed to something."
"Just as well, I also wanted to test the might of your newly ascended Core Formation divine ability. . ."
The Core Formation cultivator in the green light rubbed his hands together, then swept them into the sky.
Two thick strands of Core Formation spiritual energy flew out from his sleeves, expanding against the wind, transforming into two winged monstrous serpents. Their scales and feathers were lifelike, and they opened their gaping maws, biting and devouring towards Fang Xi!
"Go!"
Fang Xi's expression remained unchanged as he pointed at the dark black demonic orb.
Puffs of incredibly condensed black light, like fine black threads, lunged towards the attacking winged monstrous serpents.
After a few muffled sounds, the two winged monstrous serpents were directly torn apart, dissipating into wisps of green gas.
The black threads continued their momentum, enveloping the unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator.
"An artifact? !"
The unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator turned pale with shock: "You actually secretly refined or inherited an artifact already? !"
He opened his mouth wide and spat out an item, which appeared to be a green inkstone.
After being infused with powerful spiritual energy, the inkstone expanded in mid-air, and a cascade of green liquid rained down like raindrops.
Hissing!
As the green liquid touched the dark black threads, a large amount of white smoke instantly erupted. And a great many black threads vanished without a trace within the smoke.
Little did the unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator know, he was cursing under his breath internally. The intelligence clearly stated this was a newly ascended Core Formation cultivator, so why did he have an artifact? !
Both being early-stage Core Formation cultivators and having both refined life-bound artifacts, it was simply impossible for him to defeat the other party.
"A green inkstone. . . it seems no Core Formation cultivator in our country possesses such an artifact. . ."
Palace Master Feng watched this scene, her eyes slightly narrowed, muttering to herself.
"Your artifact, sir, is quite interesting. . ."
Fang Xi's smile remained unchanged as streaks of spiritual light continuously poured into the dark black demonic orb.
Light circulated on the orb's surface, suddenly flaring brightly, and a gate of light faintly appeared within it.
Roar! Roar!
Accompanied by a heart-rending roar, a ferocious beast resembling both a lion and a tiger emerged from the gate of light. Its two long, sharp tusks glinted with a cold, keen light, and it wore a dark black collar around its neck.
"It's a Lion-Tiger Beast!"
The unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator seemed to recognize this ferocious beast, and his tone revealed deep apprehension.
"Indeed, it is a third-order Lion-Tiger Beast!"
Fang Xi let out a cold laugh, sending a hand seal into the demonic orb before him.
On the black collar around the Lion-Tiger Beast's neck, runes lit up one after another, causing its cloud-treading hooves to continuously claw and paw at the ground, letting out painful roars.
"You beast, why don't you obey? Go!"
Fang Xi pointed at the unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator.
The Lion-Tiger Beast roared, its figure flickered, actually performing the rumored wind escape art. Its figure vanished into the raging wind, then reappeared in a flash before the unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator, its raised tiger paw slamming down fiercely.
Bang!
The unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator formed hand seals, making the green inkstone block in front of him.
With a dull thud, the green inkstone was sent flying, while the Lion-Tiger Beast recoiled several steps, looking at the green liquid on its claws with an expression of pain and fear.
"Keep going!"
Fang Xi disregarded everything, directly forming hand seals, continuously chanting Heavenly Demon Incantations from his mouth.
Helpless, the Lion-Tiger Beast could only let out a roar. Blood-red runes flickered on its two sharp teeth, and it lunged forward fiercely.
"Damn it!"
The unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator rubbed his hands together, and dozens of green fireballs appeared, smashing onto the Lion-Tiger Beast.
With its ferocity roused, the Lion-Tiger Beast's two sharp fangs abruptly detached, transforming into two black and red sword lights, which violently twisted towards the green inkstone!
Screech!
After a jarring screech, the Lion-Tiger Beast recoiled several steps, its two fangs flying back, though one was broken off a small section.
The unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator also let out a muffled grunt, recalling his artifact. Looking at the crack on the green inkstone, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache: "Fellow Daoist's artifact is formidable. . . and you don't seem to cherish it much. I concede. . ."
"Hehe!"
Fang Xi cast a series of hand seals, making the dark black demonic orb float above the Lion-Tiger Beast's head, dropping rings of dark black light to temporarily halt the beast's movements. He merely replied with a cold laugh: "I don't cherish it much naturally because this item was an artifact obtained through a fortunate encounter. . . and is not my life-bound artifact. However, Fellow Daoist's life-bound artifact, if you keep fighting like this, it might be ruined. . ."
The unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator was silent for a moment, then let out a bitter laugh: "Fellow Daoist's array of artifacts and divine abilities are no less than those of an ordinary early-stage Core Formation cultivator. It seems I've played the villain for nothing."
"Oh? Is there more to this matter?"
Fang Xi stopped his assault, asking with feigned surprise.
"Sigh. . . this old man and Fairy Mu Yu were close friends. I even helped her exact a great revenge. . . Now, I cannot bear to see the Profound Ice Palace decline, which is why I offered my services. . . but Palace Master Feng seems to have misunderstood my good intentions."
The unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator sighed.
"So it was an old acquaintance of Mu Yu. . . " Fang Xi pretended to realize: "Then I apologize for my rudeness. . ."
"Haha, now that I see an old friend's sect is protected by a Core Formation cultivator, this old man's wish is fulfilled. I shall take my leave now. Take this item, Fellow Daoist; if you ever have trouble in the future, you can come find this old man."
As soon as the unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator finished speaking, he transformed into a green stream of light and shot backward, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
A green light simultaneously flew out, subtly encasing an item, which was entangled by a burst of dark black demonic light before falling into Fang Xi's hand—a green jade token!
"Palace Master, this person. . . could he really be an old acquaintance of Grand Elder Mu?"
Jiang Ling watched this scene, a bit bewildered.
"If he were an old acquaintance, why hide his true identity? Hmph. . . if it weren't for Grand Elder Yun Jizi's efforts this time, the Profound Ice Palace might have fallen into external hands, and who knows what dangerous things might have been done with it!"
Palace Master Feng saw it very clearly: this unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator had come with ill intentions. It was only because she hadn't expected Yun Jizi to have an artifact protecting him and to be quite formidable in battle that he was forced to retreat helplessly.
And Fang Xi clearly saw through the other party's bluster concealing their inner weakness, but still took the easy way out.
After all, he wouldn't truly fight to the death for the Profound Ice Palace.
He then turned around, gazing expressionlessly at Feng Bingxian, his Core Formation spiritual pressure steadily increasing. . .
Beads of cold sweat immediately appeared on Feng Bingxian's forehead: "Reporting to Grand Elder, this matter was indeed this humble one's oversight. After returning to the Palace, I will accept punishment myself. . . This humble one guarantees that, apart from this incident, the Profound Ice Palace will no longer deceive Grand Elder in the slightest. . ."
"Alright, add two more maidservants, and this matter shall be settled. . ."
Fang Xi toyed with the green jade token, a thoughtful expression on his face.
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