Chapter 65: Yuan Zhuang Arrives
The dragon truncheon was a treasure with considerable power. But its power was not its most important characteristic, but rather its ability to deplete Fang Chen’s spiritual energy with a few swings; since each time his spiritual energy was exhausted, his cultivation would improve a little—at least, that’s what he had thought.
But from his experiment earlier, he discovered that after consuming his spiritual energy, it had to let it out, and it needed to touch a target for it to unleash its terrifying power. Therefore, the idea of using it to improve his cultivation was quickly rejected. After all, there aren't many barren, desolate mountains.
Li Daoye was secretly shocked. What’s that? A storage ring?
Storage rings were special treasures in the cultivation world! While they didn’t have any offensive capabilities, their value far exceeded any ordinary treasures. Just having one was proof of someone’s status!
Xu Ge approached and reported with his fists clasped together. “My lord, the scholars from Longdu accidentally leaked some information earlier today. It seems that a peak Qi Manipulating Stage cultivator is about to enter the Qi Core Stage.”
"Longdu already has seven peak Qi Manipulation Stage practitioners, three of them are dukes, and four are marquises. Among them, Marquis Xian Yu has the highest chance of advancing to the Qi Core Stage. If push comes to shove and Longdu decides to wage war on us, he’ll be their trump card."
"Brother Fang, those martial artists are not your opponents. Why don’t we just go over there and subdue them directly so we can focus our attention on the Spirit Blood Sect,” Li Daoye suggested.
“We cannot reveal our identities as cultivators for now. No one knows when the remaining four members of the Spirit Blood Sect will return to Grand Xia. Their cultivation levels are still unknown to us," said Fang Chen with a faint smile. He paused for a moment then added, "By the way, why did you suddenly return?"
"A gentleman knows what to do and what not to do. I—" Just as Li Daoye was about to give a long monologue, he saw Fang Chen’s ambiguous smile and cut himself short. Smiling awkwardly, he told the truth. “There's an enemy out for me. I don't know how he found out that I'm here. But if he finds me, my life will be in grave danger. After thinking it over, I can only seek your help."
Hearing his selfish thoughts, Abbess Qinghe turned angry. Naive as she was, she really had thought that Li Daoye had a change of heart and decided to help them out of his own accord. She didn't expect that he would only be here to use Fang Chen to hide from an enemy!
His eyes narrowing, Huang Sihai grabbed Li Daoye by the neck. "You want to make use of my lord?" he snapped. Xu Ge’s sword was already pointed at Li Daoye’s throat, while Tie Ma’s cold gaze scanned Li Daoye from top to bottom, as if he was deciding which part to attack first.
Li Daoye was surprised, but suddenly, a white light radiated from him, pushing Ol’ Huang and Xu Ge several steps back.
"How dare you!" In the next moment, the three of them simultaneously activated their Vajra, Divine Movement, and Strength Talismans, and hailed down on Li Daoye with a frenzy of attacks.
"What the heck! Vajra Talisman? Is that a Divine Movement Talisman? And is that a Strength Talisman, too?! Brother Fang, which talisman master’s house did you raid?!” Li Daoye exclaimed while dodging their attacks.
Talismans weren't cheap, and in total, the three of them had used up three of each talismans! How many low-grade spirit stones was that!
With the boost from the three talismans, their strength skyrocketed in an instant. As Li Daoye was only at the third stage of Qi Refining Realm, his cultivation was not much different from the three of them. The only reason he had lasted so long under their combined assault was by relying on the advantage of his spiritual energy.
The situation lasted for a dozen breaths before Li Daoye was finally defeated. He could only cover his vital points with spiritual energy as he crouched on the ground with his hand covering his head, huddling.
A chuckle rang out, and Fang Chen ordered, "Enough."
The three of them stopped and stepped aside.
“Why did y’all attack all of a sudden? Brother Fang Chen hadn’t even said anything!” Li Daoye grumbled.
“Just for the mere thought that you could make use of our lord makes you worthy of death!” Xu Ge said
“Oh, how loyal you are,” Li Daoye said sarcastically. He then looked at Fang Chen, clasped his fists, and smiled wryly. “Brother Fang, since you helped me this time, I will definitely return the favor in the future.”
"How will you help me? I thought you weren't willing to become an enemy of the Spirit Blood Sect,” Fang Chen said indifferently.
"I can still help you even if I don't become an enemy of the Spirit Blood Sect. As a disciple of the Eight Trigram Sect, I’m proficient in the art of divination. That was how I found the Hall of Compassion in the first place!” Li Daoye explained in a hurry.
Divination?
Fang Chen smiled. "Tell me more."
"The art of divination is very complicated, and it's hard to explain in a few words. But as long as you can tell me roughly where they could be, I could pinpoint their locations using my techniques! This should be useful enough to you, Brother Fang, right?" Li Daoye said.
Fang Chen nodded. "That is indeed useful.” He then asked, “What is your enemy’s cultivation level?"
"He's at the fifth level of Qi Refinement Realm," Li Daoye quickly replied.
"Give me more details."
*
With that, everyone returned to the Fang Manor, where Li Maocai was waiting anxiously.
When Fang Qingyao saw that they returned, she cast a curious glance at Fang Chen, seemingly interested to know what the result of his experiment was. She was pouting, and when Fang Chen looked at her, she shifted her gaze.
Fang Chen smiled and turned to Li Maocai. "I'll accept this dragon truncheon."
"Many thanks, Divine General Fang!" Li Maocai was overjoyed and expressed his thanks many times before tactfully taking his leave. Both parties didn’t say much, acting as if this was merely an ordinary gift. But everyone knew that, starting from that day, the Soaring Dragon Chamber of Commerce had climbed onto a higher branch.
"Young Lady Fang, you can personally report the matters regarding the Hall of Compassion in the future. And feel free to visit the Fang Manor whenever you have time," Fang Chen said as he looked at Fang Qingyao and nodded slightly.
"Big Brother, even if you won't let me get involved in other matters, can't you make an exception and let me help with the Hall of Compassion? After you left earlier, I chatted with Sister Qingyao and felt that these people are really pitiful. I want to help them together with her," Fang Zhixue hurriedly pleaded from him.
"Aren't you only interested in martial arts?" he asked in curiosity.
Since young, Fang Zhixue had been a martial artist fanatic. Otherwise, she wouldn't have reached the Qi Detonation Stage at such a young age, ranking among the top amongst the younger generation in the capital.
“Father and Mother said that I shouldn’t just immerse myself in martial arts all day if I want to find a husband in the future. I’m simply listening to them and finding something else to do,” she said offhandedly.
Fang Chen thought for a moment and nodded slightly. "Alright."
With his approval, Fang Zhixue was immediately delighted, and she pulled Fang Qingyao along with her and ran away.
"Xu Ge, keep an eye on them," Fang Chen smiled.
Xu Ge understood the hidden meaning behind Fang Chen’s words and followed them silently. Since the Hall of Compassion was related to the Spirit Blood Sect, when the last four cultivators from the Spirit Blood Sect return, they’ll surely catch news of what had happened, and might develop some suspicions toward Fang Chen.
And since Fang Qingyao was taking over the hall, she might become one of their targets. Therefore, even if Fang Zhixue didn't plan to get involved today, Fang Chen would still assign Xu Ge to secretly protect her until he confirmed the identities of the four cultivators. As for Xu Ge’s strength, he had a mid-grade Purple Lightning Talisman on him. If used on an ordinary cultivator, it would be able to kill them instantly.
The next day, Yuan Yu brought Yuan Zhuang to visit the Fang Manor. Yuan Zhuang's injuries had improved significantly. It was clear that the Grand Brilliance Bureau had invited a good doctor for him.
“Thank you for saving my life, my lord!” Yuan Zhuang immediately bowed, then knelt down upon seeing Fang Chen.
Officials didn’t kneel to commoners. However, in Grand Xia, there were very few who regarded Fang Chen as a commoner, much less a nobody.
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