Chapter 140: Chapter 139 - Disposing of Stolen Goods (Please Subscribe!) _1
Two months flew by in the blink of an eye.
Fang Xi had settled down in Baize Immortal City and had also become acquainted with his neighbors in Smoke Willow Lane.
Among the neighbors he was on good terms with, besides the Su Lie couple, there was another charming neighbor named ’Fairy Teng Luo’, a Qi Refining seventh level cultivator and a first-rank superior Talisman Master.
Living in Baize was no small feat!
The Su Lie couple relied on the husband’s profound cultivation, going out daily to hunt monster beasts in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range.
Whereas Fairy Teng Luo made her hard-earned money by purchasing talisman paper and ink, then crafting them into talismans to sell.
The rent in Baize Immortal City was very expensive; the individual cultivators who could afford to stay long-term all had certain skills.
If one’s Hundred Arts of Immortal Cultivation were ranked low in the first-rank, and their cultivation had not reached the late stages of Qi Refining, then even if they wished to risk their lives hunting demons in the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range, no one would be willing to take them along!
Luckily for Fang Xi, he didn’t have to do that.
All he did was show off a bit of his excellent alchemy skill, and that made people like Fairy Teng Luo and Su Lie very willing to befriend him.
After all, the position of an alchemist on the hierarchy of disdain was far superior to that of a talisman master.
Fang Xi often purchased raw materials for elixirs, then refined and sold them to cover his ostensible expenses.
Incidentally, this also allowed him to collect materials related to the Foundation Establishment Pill.
"Baize Immortal City has Core Formation ancestors keeping watch, forbidding duels within the city... It’s also a gathering place for resources from three countries; it really is a good place for cultivation..."
In the alchemy room, Fang Xi looked at the Purple Jade Furnace in front of him, a smile flickering in his eyes.
The next moment, with a light pat of his hand!
The lid of the pill furnace opened, and several pills flew out, landing in his hand.
Crack!
One of the pills exploded, turning into black ashes.
Another pill showed a streak of gray marks on the surface, indeed a substandard pill.
"This ’Dragon Transformation Pill’ is ranked at the top of the first-grade, and even among such elixirs, is extremely hard to refine. For an ordinary alchemist to produce two or three pills in a single furnace would already be considered good craftsmanship."
"With my intervention, one furnace produced four good-quality pills and one substandard pill, my skill can be considered the peak of the first rank; it’s just a pity I still lack practice with the second-rank pill recipes..."
Fang Xi looked at the remaining ’Dragon Transformation Pills’, a trace of a smile appearing on his face.
The pill recipe for these ’Dragon Transformation Pills’ came from the Dragon Fish Zhong Family!
The main ingredient was a fifty-year-old ’Dragon-transforming Ginseng’, just right in the field, plucked by the cultivation-robber with its roots intact, sealed in a Jade Grease Box.
When Fang Xi first saw it, he even cursed the other party for wasting such treasure; if the ginseng were to be several hundred years old, then it would complete the supplementary ingredients for his Foundation Establishment Pill.
"The Zhong Family could raise a Little Green Dragon precisely because of the ’Dragon Transformation Pill’!"
He took the elixir and went to the pond in the yard.
Splash!
The big green fish seemed to smell something and excitedly surfaced.
"Good for nothing but always first when it comes to eating!"
Fang Xi glared fiercely, but still threw a Dragon Transformation Pill into the big green fish’s mouth, "This master is giving you another fifty years, if you still can’t breakthrough the second rank, then go to your death!"
This big green fish was very lazy, Fang Xi suspected it was deliberately waiting until the last moment to breakthrough.
However, it must be said, this was indeed the way to survive being useless.
If the fish broke through to the second rank at this time, with its talent of a hint of Flood Dragon blood, it might really be possible to nurture an Inner Core...
And then there would be no ’and then...’
Fang Xi needed to refine Foundation Establishment Pills and was just lacking demon pills to practice with!
After scolding the spiritual pet, Fang Xi sat on a stone stool in the courtyard, poured himself a cup of Spiritual Tea, "The fifteen supplementary ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill, the other thirteen I’ve already collected, I’m just missing a two-hundred-year-old Dragon-transforming Ginseng and Jade Spirit Liquid!"
It is unlikely that the Zhong Family’s medicine garden had Dragon-transforming Ginseng of over two hundred years, otherwise, they would have brought it to Baize Immortal City long ago to attempt collaborating with someone to refine Foundation Establishment Pills and produce another Foundation Establishment cultivator for the family.
Fang Xi also visited various shops and inquired with neighbors, learning that there were quite a few foundation-building ready cultivators in Baize Immortal City quietly collecting materials for Foundation Establishment Pills.
To gather the supplementary materials, one had to keep a close watch on the auctions and exchanges held by the major merchant houses, aside from hoping for the once-in-ten-years grand auction in Baize Immortal City.
A two-hundred-year-old Dragon-transforming Ginseng and Jade Spirit Liquid were rare indeed, but they would occasionally appear at auctions and exchanges held by large merchant houses.
At the grand auction held once every ten years, even Foundation Establishment Pills might appear on occasion, so these two types of spirit medicines were guaranteed to show up!
"The next grand auction will be in three years; I’ll be fifty-six by then..."
"Nevermind, it’s only three years. This old man can wait!"
"In the meantime, I’ll visit other merchant houses more often; who knows, maybe I’ll find them!"
Fang Xi decided to refine Foundation Establishment Pills on his own, naturally, the amount of supplementary ingredients he needed differed from others.
To be on the safe side, he needed to prepare more than ten portions.
Of course, not all supplementary materials necessarily required a full portion; for something like Jade Spirit Liquid, only a few drops were needed to fuse medicinal properties in a batch, therefore a small bottle would suffice...
...
"Now, it’s about time, isn’t it?"
Fang Xi quietly flew out of Baize Immortal City and when he returned, he had transformed into a Taoist in green robes with a long beard.
"The entry fee is one Spirit Stone, may I ask for the esteemed name of this Sir?"
Since Fang Xi did not show a long-term lease talisman, the guarding spirit officer asked per routine.
The officer even took an extra glance at the taoist.
After all, a cultivator at the full circle of Qi Refining was quite a noteworthy figure in Baize Immortal City.
"I am... Prime Taoist Mu!"
Fang Xi tucked his hands into his large sleeves and coldly stated his name.
Then, taking the second identity token, he walked into Baize Immortal City.
After disguising himself and altering his appearance, he entered the city, naturally to adopt another identity.
With the control of his body by the Martial God, as long as he didn’t encounter Cultivators at the Foundation Establishment level, there shouldn’t be any major problems.
And the reason he’d created the alias ’Prime Taoist Mu’ was naturally for the purpose of fencing the goods.
Even the bidding at the upcoming auction would be best done under an alias.
Fang Xi entered the outer city, moving with ease as he headed toward a magic tool shop.
He had already inquired that behind this magic tool shop was a Foundation Establishment Family from Wood Kingdom with no relations to the cultivators of Yue Country.
And what he planned to sell off were, naturally, all stolen items.
For example, the magic tools and some useless resources obtained during the years when he posed as the Silver Armor, as well as those recently seized from the Dragon Fish Zhong Family.
Indeed, he had just received news that the Thirty Six Island Alliance had achieved a major victory, exterminating the Dragon Fish Zhong Family.
The reinforcements for the Dragon Fish Zhong Family had retreated midway, effectively acknowledging the Thirty Six Island Alliance’s sovereignty over Thousand Island Lake.
With this battle, families such as Taishu and the other Top Three had also suffered heavy losses and could only silently recuperate and lick their wounds.
Thousand Island Lake thus entered a period of calm.
But Fang Xi was very clear that this was far from the end, but merely the beginning!
The entire resources of Thousand Island Lake might have fallen under the control of Demon Cultivators, the hidden mastermind being the Situ Family!
’Informing in secret is of no benefit to me... Besides, it’s easy to be discovered...’
’It’s better to wait until after Foundation Establishment when I’ve become more adept...’ Fang Xi thought as he entered the shop, where a welcoming face with a smile approached him: "What kind of magic tool does the customer need?"
"Does your esteemed shop purchase second-hand magic tools?"
Fang Xi’s emaciated Taoist face showed a smile like withered wood meeting spring, looking particularly unnerving.
"Of course, we do."
The host’s smile remained unchanged.
"I have quite a large quantity. Please call your shopkeeper over..."
The goods Fang Xi was first prepared to fence had been in his possession for over thirty years, and with the downfall of the Zhong Family, they were already safe to bring into the light.
However, for caution’s sake, he still found it best to fence them.
He had ample patience and could quietly conduct his fencing operations over several years.
A half-hour later, with a face full of smiles, the shopkeeper of the magic tool shop saw Fang Xi out of the establishment.
...
"Mr. Fang, you’re back!"
Upon returning to Smoke Willow Lane, Fang Xi saw a refined beauty wearing a green dress.
She had the appearance of a twenty or thirty-year-old, with an oval face and a demure, gentle temperament typical of a well-bred lady.
"Fairy Teng Luo!"
He nodded in acknowledgment, "That’s right... Went out to purchase some alchemy materials."
"Ah, I truly envy you, Sir, for mastering the craft of alchemy... Unlike me, who can only draw talismans every day to make ends meet... Even my talisman brush is nearly bald... yet I hardly earn a few Spirit Stones, and can barely afford to pay the rent."
Fairy Teng Luo spoke somewhat plaintively.
"This..."
For a moment, Fang Xi found himself at a loss for words.
Was he supposed to buy her a fine-quality talisman brush? Or pay her rent for her? Or perhaps... offer to live together?
’Forget it, Immortal Cultivators have many exotic Secret Skills, must be careful not to fall for one by mistake...’
He glanced over her shapely figure, smiled, and returned to his own yard, closing the door behind him.
"Tch... Just another one who’s all bark and no bite," Fairy Teng Luo spat after returning to her Dongfu.
She had begun her cultivation journey with Charm Skills and could tell what a man was thinking quite clearly. But having made powerful enemies, she had been forced to flee to Baize Immortal City for refuge and turned to drawing talismans for a living, all while quietly working side jobs.
She’d initially thought that Fang Xi, with his good looks, could widen her clientele, but to her surprise, he turned out to be so timid!
The next day.
Bearing a bottle of casually refined pills as a gift, Fang Xi visited Su Lie and his wife.
After exchanging a few casual remarks, he began to inquire about Fairy Teng Luo’s past.
"This woman is no decent female cultivator. Sir, you must be very careful. I’ve heard that many male cultivators in the outer city have become jealous and fought over her, even arranging duels outside the city!"
Jin Ling had been delighted to receive the Spiritual Pills, but her expression turned cold when it came to Fairy Teng Luo.
"I see... Well, now I know..."
Yet Fang Xi inwardly felt a bit regretful; she didn’t seem to be that big of a problem, and he could certainly afford a talisman brush...
Now that he had fenced enough goods, he had accumulated over five thousand Spirit Stones in his Storage Bag, enough to try bidding for a Foundation Establishment Pill.
But it wasn’t appropriate to continue on the topic, so he started talking about the scenic spots of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Range.
"Life is hard in the Ten Thousand Beasts Range... A seemingly ordinary group of first-order Monster Beasts may even hide a second-order Beast King behind them..."
Su Lie spoke of this with much emotion: "Just last year, a Foundation Establishment Cultivator chasing a suspected Inner-Core-bearing second-order Monster Beast inadvertently intruded into the territory of two ’Thunder Horn Pythons’ equivalent to the late Foundation Establishment phase. He was badly beaten and only just managed to arrange his affairs before Sitting and Transforming... Alas, if such a highly cultivated individual can meet such fate, how difficult must it be for us Individual Cultivators to obtain a second-order Inner Core!"