Novels online

Chapter 44: An Encounter (Please recommend)

After a period of 'lying low', Fang Xi sensed that Situ Qing Qing's attention had waned concerning his affairs, so he finally found an opportunity to disguise himself as a rogue cultivator and enter the Green Bamboo Mountain market town.

This time, he wore a dark green robe, a bamboo hat on his head, his build burly, and an intimidating aura emanating from him.

‘Last time, I was only at the early-stage Qi Refinement, even a mere shop assistant looked down on me. ’

‘This time is much better, my mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivation can no longer be considered poor. . . ’

As he passed by the Hundred Arts Tower, Fang Xi didn't spare it a glance.

Some hatreds, if the time isn't right, he would only bury deep within his heart.

After heading to the Situ Clan's stronghold in the market and paying a Spirit Crystal for the stall fee, Fang Xi arrived at his own stall and patted his storage pouch.

A roll of snakeskin, a large pile of stark white snake bones, and snake meat preserved with ice cubes appeared.

A bloody stench mixed with a foul odor caused the stall owners on either side to wrinkle their brows.

"It's demon beast meat!"

"Cultivators who can hunt demon beasts are truly top-tier ruthless individuals!"

"I also want to hunt demon beasts, but alas, demon beasts are extremely rare in Yue Kingdom, and any that are occasionally found are long since monopolized by local cultivators. . ."

"Let me take a look!"

The onlookers exchanged scattered comments, when a cultivator dressed as a scholar stepped forward: "Esteemed brother, greetings! May I ask what grade this demon beast meat is? And how is it sold?"

"First-grade low-tier demon snake meat, ten catties for one low-grade Spirit Stone! The snake bones are five Spirit Stones for the entire lot! The snakeskin is open to negotiation. . ."

Fang Xi sat cross-legged and replied with a slight lift of his eyelids.

"What a pity, this meat looks like it's been stored for a while, even with ice, it's not very fresh. . ."

The scholar sighed regretfully and stood up, offering his evaluation.

"Poor scoundrel, scram!"

Fang Xi's eyelids opened fully, revealing faint glints of light.

This scholar wasn't a body cultivator, and his entire attire wasn't worth a single low-grade Spirit Stone. Crucially, his cultivation was only at early-stage Qi Refinement!

He simply wasn't his target customer!

"Ah, ah. . . brother, why such anger? I'll leave now. . . I'll leave now. . . " The scholar was so startled his legs went weak and he scurried into the crowd.

The rogue cultivators, enjoying the show, let out laughter, but didn't find anything amiss.

Cultivators with higher cultivation could openly humiliate those with lower cultivation; this was the law of the jungle in the cultivation world.

In the past, Fang Xi had been at the very bottom, but now, after advancing to mid-stage Qi Refinement, he could barely be said to have climbed up a bit.

Alas. . . the peak was still a distant reach.

"Oh? More demon beast meat?"

Not long after, a boorish voice drifted over.

The crowd parted in the middle, as a burly man, over two meters tall, like an iron tower, approached the stall, disregarding the snakeskin and bones, and only eyeing the snake meat.

After asking about the price, he shook his head: "Ten catties for one Spirit Stone? That's too expensive!"

Fang Xi glanced at the man, confirming he was also a body cultivator, and immediately put on a friendly smile: "Daoist friend, if you purchase fifty catties or more, I can offer a discount. . ."

After some haggling, the burly man finally tossed out four Spirit Stones and bought fifty catties of snake meat.

Unfortunately, after that burly man, there wasn't much business.

Only a talisman master apprentice came and spent one Spirit Stone to buy all the snake blood, reportedly to mix talisman ink.

Fang Xi wasn't anxious; cultivators' patience was always excellent, and the spiritual energy within the market town far surpassed that of the shack district, so it was a good time to meditate.

He meditated for an entire day.

As it approached time to pack up his stall, Fang Xi mused to himself: "The market today was decent, with nine Spirit Stones entering my account. . ."

Rogue cultivators without residency tokens were not permitted to stay overnight in the market town; this was also to prevent rogue cultivators from freeloading off the market town's spiritual energy.

Just as Fang Xi was about to pack up his stall, he saw two cultivators approaching, laughing and chatting, his eyelids couldn't help but twitch slightly: ‘It's actually those two? ’

The ones who arrived were none other than Chen Ping and Lu Zhi.

At this moment, Chen Ping was wearing a lake-blue silkworm silk magic robe embroidered with gold edges, looking spirited and full of vigor. Lu Zhi, meanwhile, had changed out of her mourning clothes and donned a vibrant red dress, making her appear even more alluring.

The two strolled along, looking around, and soon arrived before Fang Xi's stall.

"Not bad, not bad, as expected, there's demon beast hide for sale here!"

Chen Ping poked the snakeskin with his finger, then expressed some regret: "What a pity. . . it's only a first-grade low-tier demon beast. Daoist friend, how much for this roll of snakeskin?"

Evidently, he hadn't recognized Fang Xi.

After all, Fang Xi had used a cultivation technique to adjust his physique, appearing tall and burly, a completely different person from his previous slightly slender self.

"One price, ten Spirit Stones!"

Seeing a 'sucker' appear at his stall at this moment, Fang Xi thoughtfully glanced at Lu Zhi, and immediately raised the price.

Men, you see, in front of women, especially beautiful ones, always like to spend unnecessarily, putting on a show of wealth they might not have.

"Deal! " Chen Ping, as expected, agreed without a second thought.

Lu Zhi, on the other hand, frowned slightly: "This snakeskin is worth five Spirit Stones at most. . . isn't ten a bit too high?"

"Ah. . . this snakeskin is in perfect condition. If carefully processed, it can produce at least a hundred talisman papers, and special talisman papers made from demon beast hide are much better than ordinary paper. It's even said to increase the success rate of talisman crafting, so it's really not expensive. . . " Fang Xi was, after all, good friends with Chen Ping, and knew a thing or two about talisman papers, so he spoke casually, fabricating his words.

"Precisely, and. . . Sister Zhi, this kind of demon beast hide talisman paper is even more special to me. . . Besides, as you know, I'm already a first-grade high-tier Talisman Master. This slight premium is a mere drop in the ocean; I'll earn it back by drawing a few more talismans."

Chen Ping gazed tenderly at Lu Zhi.

‘Have these two's relationship progressed to this extent? Should I expect a wedding banquet soon? ’

‘Wait. . . has Chen Ping's talisman dao truly advanced so quickly? Last I heard from Jiu Xuan, he was still attempting to refine first-grade high-tier talismans, and now he's succeeded? That's not logical. . . no, that's not cultivation! ’

Just as Fang Xi was complaining internally, Lu Zhi was actually convinced and nodded, saying: "Fine, I'll go along with you!"

Chen Ping immediately tossed out ten Spirit Stones and took the demon snakeskin.

Fang Xi watched the 'sucker' depart, still feeling a tinge of regret.

‘If I had known this, I should have sold the chameleon hide too. . . Alas, bringing it out now might be too conspicuous. ’

He had already disposed of the chameleon demon beast to Di Qi; if he sold the hide again, it might expose this identity.

Besides, this demon beast hide had special properties; Fang Xi preferred to keep it for himself.

Just as he was watching Chen Ping leave, he suddenly caught a glimpse from the corner of his eye and saw a flash of green.

Fang Xi's pupils constricted slightly, but he immediately continued packing up his stall and leaving as if nothing had happened. . .

It wasn't until he had left the market town that he let out a long breath: "It was actually Situ Qing Qing. . . was she tailing Chen Ping?"

"Could it be. . . she's truly investigating Chen Ping, and not me?"

"Did I just overthink things before?"

"No. . . why would the Situ Clan be so interested in Chen Ping? Do they want to win him over, or perhaps kidnap him and use him as a tool? No. . . Chen Ping isn't worthy of such treatment yet, unless he can break through to a second-grade Talisman Master, but how could that be possible?"

Fang Xi chuckled to himself, casually burned his clothes, changed back into his spirit farmer attire, and returned to his shack to continue cultivating.

The path of cultivation values perseverance above all else.

Even if his daily Qi Refinement speed was like a snail's, he couldn't afford to neglect it.

‘Now that I have Spirit Stones, I can buy some pills to aid my cultivation tomorrow? ’

As he sat in meditation, a thought surfaced in Fang Xi's mind: ‘But this doesn't seem very worthwhile. . . The Spirit Stones I possess are enough to buy several 'Blood-Qi Pills' and other elixirs suitable for body cultivators. . . If I have pills to assist, my martial arts will improve faster. If I push my martial arts to the third level of Body Cultivation, then whether I sell meat or engage in other trades later, I'll feel much more at ease. Spirit Stone accumulation will be faster, and buying spiritual pills to aid cultivation later seems more efficient and can better increase my combat power! ’

Increase combat power!

As Fang Xi sensed an ominous cloud approaching, this reasoning became even more compelling.

After all, self-preservation was the top priority!

The next day.

Fang Xi rose early, ignoring the greeting from the female cultivator next door, and headed to the market town.

Hundred Refinements Workshop!

As soon as he entered, a wave of heat assailed his nostrils.

As the largest artifact crafting establishment in Green Bamboo Mountain market town, the Hundred Refinements Workshop appeared quite unpretentious.

In the front was the counter for selling artifacts, while in the back, there were many furnaces, and a dozen or so artifact refining apprentices were attempting to repair and refine artifacts under the guidance of their respective masters.

"Daoist friend, are you here to purchase an artifact?"

A blacksmith with bare arms and flushed cheeks approached to greet him and asked politely.

"I wish to commission an artifact!"

As Fang Xi spoke, he took out the chameleon hide he had previously acquired: "Although this demon beast was not of a high rank, it excelled at concealing its presence. I wish to use this hide as material to craft a special artifact suitable for concealment!"

"So that's how it is. Please come in, I'll go fetch Master Gu!"

The blacksmith led Fang Xi to a guest room. Not long after, the door was pushed open, and an old man with white hair walked in: "This old one is Gu Tian. Daoist friend, do you wish to craft a special type of artifact?"

"Precisely so! " Fang Xi nodded.

Gu Tian examined the demon beast hide thoroughly, then took out a strange artifact and inspected it for a long while, before nodding and then shaking his head: "This demon beast hide is of average grade, with average defense. . . Fortunately, it's relatively complete, and can be inscribed with formations. Does honored guest have any other requests?"

"The artifact's grade doesn't need to be high, low-grade will suffice. There are no particular requirements for its defensive power either. . . " Fang Xi stated: "The main focus is on concealment; it needs to be optimized, ideally to the point where mortals cannot detect it under any circumstances. . . As for detection by cultivators using spiritual eye techniques, there's no requirement for that."

Even though Gu Tian had encountered many strange clients, Fang Xi's request still struck him dumbfounded: "So. . . this is an artifact specifically for mortals?"

An artifact that any cultivator could see through at a glance was practically an insult to his craftsmanship!

Only then did Fang Xi reveal his true intentions: "So. . . there's no need to add any precious materials, nor any special formations. . . Can it be made a bit cheaper?"

Low-grade artifacts in the Green Bamboo Mountain market town generally cost around ten Spirit Stones, while mid-grade and high-grade artifacts ranged from dozens to hundreds of Spirit Stones.

However, customizing special types of artifacts was definitely more expensive, even for a low-grade artifact.

Master Gu was momentarily speechless, before finally speaking: "Alright, I'll charge you fifteen low-grade Spirit Stones. Pay a five Spirit Stone deposit first, and then sign the contract. . ."

Since its establishment, the Hundred Refinements Workshop had always been a highly reputable establishment.

Furthermore, after signing the contract, secrecy was guaranteed.

For Fang Xi, it was naturally everything he could wish for.

After imbuing a trace of magic power into the two-part contract to form a seal, Fang Xi paid the five Spirit Stones and walked out of the Hundred Refinements Workshop.