Chapter 620: Chapter 618: Old Friend (Extra update, please subscribe)_1
"It seems that the Black Water Sect must have held some compromising material on the Dragon Controlling Sect to have faced such a tragic fate..."
Fang Xi thought about what Lord Hei Miao had said last time regarding the Dragon Controlling Sect allowing the evil flood dragon to devour cultivators’ Nascent Souls, and now he believed it wholeheartedly, even suspecting that the Black Water Sect might possess ironclad evidence!
Otherwise, there was no way to explain why the Dragon Controlling Sect would go to such great lengths to take action!
However, Fang Xi simply couldn’t be bothered to care.
After stepping out of the bamboo building, he began to walk along the street, visiting the shops one by one.
Having passed so many years, the goods of many shops in Mechanism City had been updated, yet there was nothing that caught Fang Xi’s eye.
"What I urgently need now is a top-quality flagpole material... and one that can match the Mysterious Dark Heavy Water..."
"If it really comes to it, I’ll have to chop off a section of a Monster Tree branch, though I feel like these two materials are not quite compatible..."
Refining a magical treasure naturally isn’t a case of any material being substitutable.
Regrettably, after making his rounds, Fang Xi had not found any of the few types of Spiritual Trees he had in mind.
"It seems I can only wait for the grand auction, then?"
Fang Xi sighed and was about to leave.
Suddenly, from a shop up ahead, there came a burst of intense arguing, or rather, one side berating the other.
Fang Xi walked over to take a look, and found that it was a Talisman shop. The door and walls were covered with a layer of hazy white mist; the signboard shimmered golden, with the four large characters ’Fu Family Old Shop’ written in Ancient Seal Script.
"You’ve always been a lazy shop assistant, and now you’ve ruined a stack of ’Void Transformation Talisman Paper’, truly infuriating me to death..."
An old man with white whiskers and small eyes that twinkled shrewdly berated one of his shop assistants while spitting flew everywhere.
This assistant seemed young, with his head lowered and fists clenched, signaling the dissatisfaction in his heart.
Fang Xi watched with interest; the old man’s cultivation was around Core Formation, while the assistant was just at the beginning of the Foundation Establishment, clearly unable to resist.
But this assistant gave him a vaguely familiar impression.
With a little thought through his powerful Divine Consciousness, Fang Xi recalled, "Must be an offspring of the Li Family from Flying Sun City..."
The Setting Sun Plain was vast, and even with Core Formation cultivation, one wouldn’t dare claim to have traveled all the nations easily, let alone venture out for adventures.
Selling oneself into service to a trade caravan like Mechanism City was almost the only option.
After several reprimands, the old man proudly pulled out the account book: "Today, you’ve ruined six hundred Spirit Stones’ worth of Talismans, which you obviously can’t compensate for as a poor soul, so according to the contract, we’ll extend your servitude to pay the debt..."
At this point, the young assistant finally couldn’t contain himself: "Shopkeeper... these talisman papers have many incomplete spiritual runes, clearly they are defective products, and accidents are normal occurrences. They are not worth six hundred Spirit Stones... Moreover, you previously found excuses to extend my indenture contract. Now it’s already thirty years longer than the original contract, are you still not satisfied?"
If he didn’t fight for his rights, he might end up bound here till death.
Seeing more and more cultivators gathering around, he finally retorted loudly.
"Li Ruoling!" The old man’s expression immediately turned cold: "You’ve always been deceitful, ruining so much precious material of the shop, and now you have the audacity to accuse me? Go ahead and make a fuss... Call the Mechanism City’s enforcement cultivators and see who is in the right?"
Holding the contract in his hand, he was fearless.
Moreover, while the law enforcement cultivators of Mechanism City were known for being fair and strict, they naturally tended to favor him, as a native Core Formation cultivator.
Li Ruoling clenched and unclenched his fists several times but eventually, helplessly, let go: "This stack of talisman papers is simply not worth six hundred Spirit Stones... Shopkeeper, if you don’t believe me, we can randomly invite several cultivators to take a look... I’m willing to recognize the damage, but the price should be lower..."
After the commotion, the many cultivators dispersed satisfied.
Fang Xi’s eyes flashed beneath his face covering, and he had no intention of standing up strongly for this Li Ruoling.
Only after the crowd had dispersed did he move his lips slightly, sending a few sentences of Divine Consciousness Transmission over.
With his strong Divine Consciousness, none of the surrounding cultivators noticed a thing.
Half a day later.
The back door of the Fu Family Old Shop opened, and a figure sneaked out surreptitiously, walked a few streets, and entered a quiet corner.
Seeing that the alley was empty, disappointment crossed his face.
"You are very bold, not afraid that I might harbor ill intentions?"
Suddenly, a voice rang out as Fang Xi’s figure appeared in a flash.
"Li Ruoling greets the senior..."
Li Ruoling bowed deeply, "With the senior’s strength far exceeding mine, if there were ill intentions, I wouldn’t be able to resist... Besides, my life is but a shoddy one, bound to be enslaved for the rest of my days."
"Good, a meticulous mind, daring and willing to fight..."
Fang Xi nodded, not having strongly intervened during the day as he wanted to observe more.
Now it seemed that there was some potential to work with: "It’s a pity... cultivators like you are countless in the Cultivation World, and most end up dead by the roadside, worse than stray dogs..."
Li Ruoling’s complexion suddenly turned pale: "If that’s my fate, then it must be so... At least, I have seen more of the Cultivation World, I would die without regrets..."
"Heh heh..."
Fang Xi offered no comment, then suddenly tossed over a jade slip and a jade bottle.
"This..." As Li Ruoling’s Divine Consciousness probed into them, he found an exquisite set of cultivation techniques and even an inherited Talisman Craft: "Mystic Talisman Record... it primarily focuses on cultivating Talismans, while also increasing cultivation... eventually condensing a ’Talisman Pill’..."
Of course, this was a technique Fang Xi had found in the Wang family’s treasury.
Even though it only reached the Nascent Soul realm, it was still quite remarkable.
"Inside this jade bottle are pills that will prove greatly beneficial to your current cultivation... If even with these, you still can’t turn your fortunes, then it can only mean you’re suited to be a servant for life!"
Fang Xi nodded his head and turned to leave.
"Senior... please, Senior, leave your name behind so that this humble one may forever remember your kindness!"
Li Ruoling hastily shouted, but found that the light beneath Fang Xi’s feet flashed, as if shrinking the earth to an inch, his steps moved only a few times before vanishing without a trace, only a faint echo reaching him: "A western guest in Flying Sun City..."
"Western guest... Could it be that teacher from back then... Fang Yuan Fang the tutor?"
Li Ruoling’s eyes lit up.
This legendary figure within the Li family was said to have been misjudged in his spirit testing during his youth. Later, he turned to studying and became a western tutor for the Li family, only to stumble upon an immortal fate in Mechanism City.
It was said his master possessed vast divine skills and had once saved the life of the city lord Zhang Longhu. After Zhang Longhu entered the path through martial arts and formed an Immortal Path Golden Pill, he took great care of the Li family.
Later, Fang Yuan also occasionally sent letters, saying he was now settled in Kong Sang Market with his master and had even condensed his Gold Core Pill over eighty years ago!
Recently, Kong Sang Market was just nearby, and Li Ruoling had thought about asking someone to visit or even seek aid, but he was of low cultivation and didn’t have enough Spirit Stones on him.
He didn’t expect to encounter him in Mechanism City just like that.
"This Senior Fang Yuan truly is a benefactor to my Li family..."
Li Ruoling sighed, then hurriedly rushed back to the shop.
He had endured humiliations for many years and knew well that at this time of day, the Dongfu’s master needed to meditate for his ’Green Bottle cultivation technique,’ which was a good opportunity to slack off.
But in just a few more moments, the other’s cultivation would be complete, and he would come to inspect the shop again...
...
Fang Xi casually assisted, then tossed the matter to the back of his mind.
To him, whether it was the pills or the cultivation techniques, they were insignificant, not even worth a fraction of his attention.
He was simply acting on his impulses, simultaneously reinforcing ’Fang Yuan’s’ persona.
If ever his identities as Qing Hezi and the Wang Family Ancestor were exposed, and he was hunted down by the Dragon Controlling Sect, he could perhaps hide away in Flying Sun City as a Land Turtle...
He found a random inn that rented Dongfus and took one for himself, then began to wait silently for the grand auction to commence.
Time flew swiftly by.
This very day.
With a thunderous roar, Fang Xi, who was meditating, opened his eyes and walked out of the Dongfu to see a dark green column of light piercing the sky, starkly visible throughout the entire Mechanism City.
Accompanying the rising pillar of light were melodious immortal tunes that echoed continuously for three days, leaving an enduring aftertaste...
"The grand auction has begun, I hope there will be some good stuff," Fang Xi mused, heading towards the location of the auction.
On the way, he saw many high-stage cultivators, mostly at the Nascent Soul Stage, and even Transcendent Gods were not rare.
Chirp!
Along with a sharp cry of a phoenix, a woman with her hair coiled up high, dressed in a white palace gown and her face veiled, approached, riding on the figure of a white phoenix. Her demeanor was like a deity descending to the human world, moving gracefully as if treading on gentle waves, leaving traces as if her luo socks became dust.
"It’s actually ’Fairy Luan Bing’... she has come as well," Fang Xi thought to himself.
This ’Fairy Luan Bing’ was a Supreme Elder of the Transcendent God Sect ’Qingyin House,’ whose base, White Bone Mountain, was located to the north of the Mysterious Dark Abyss. She had dealings with Qing Hezi and the Wang Family Ancestor.
Moreover, they all belonged to the Dragon Controlling Sect.
Fang Xi found her to be quite adept at navigating situations.
Beyond her, there were also several well-known or anonymous Transcendent God cultivators, likely foreign cultivators attracted by the once-in-three-hundred-years grand auction.
When he finally arrived at the ancient Stone Hall of the venue, Fang Xi’s Divine Thought suddenly bristled.
He looked up sharply to see a cultivator dressed in a silver robe with rather ordinary features descending.
The hidden Spiritual Pressure emanating from the man made all the Transcendent Gods present change their expressions.
"A Returning to Emptiness cultivator!"
"Not that old dragon from the Dragon Controlling Sect..."
"Could this person be ’Master Zi Feng’... a famous Individual Cultivator from our Star Domain, known to lead a nomadic life and enjoy traveling... I didn’t expect him to be nearby just now."
Several cultivators showed shocked expressions.
"To think he’s a Returning to Emptiness cultivator."
Fang Xi felt a chill in his heart and became somewhat expectant of the auction, entering the Stone Hall.
Inside the Stone Hall stood two cultivators with mid-stage Transcendent God cultivation, their faces expressionless as they said, "To enter the auction, please, Sir, verify your funds..."
Fang Xi was speechless but still handed over a storage ring.
After verification, they nodded and allowed him to pass.
Fang Xi entered the Stone Hall and found it spacious inside, divided into many private booths. As soon as a guest entered a booth, a layer of hazy rosy light would rise, enclosing the booth completely, beyond the probing eyes of outsiders.
He smiled faintly, picked a booth, and walked in.