Chapter 186
Once inside, Fang Xing went directly towards the western part of the city. He’d just found out from the Myriad Beasts disciple that Sea Beast City was incredibly large, extending over ten thousand miles. Not even the Myriad Beasts Sect could manage every single detail of such a grand city, and with all of the sects, clans, merchant guilds, and rogue cultivators with all sorts of backgrounds within, there would always be those seeking a fight or getting involved in grudges. Some of the conflicts couldn’t even be resolved at all, causing the city to be rather chaotic at times.
The city was further divided into five districts. The center—the safest and most secure of the districts—was where the Myriad Beasts Sect stood, while the other four had many different types of cultivators that made things confusing. The western district was the most chaotic of them all and it was quite common for people to be murdered for their valuables, but the Myriad Beasts Sect just turned a blind eye towards all of this; as long as the sect’s own interests weren’t impacted, people could do whatever they liked.
Fang Xing understood that even though the western district was chaotic, there were still benefits to such a place. When a lot of people from different backgrounds and origins gathered in the same location, the gossip and news was more extensive—a place like this was the best for gathering information.
The buildings inside Sea Beast City were tall and awe-inspiring, but many were also run-down messes. The city was lively, with all sorts of pellet shops, spirit tool stalls, restaurants, lodgings, and even stores selling technique manuals arrayed along both sides of the streets. There were even brothels and betting houses, causing the city to resemble the mortal realm far more than the Qing-Yun Sect, where the main focus had been cultivation.
The people walking within the city seemed to mostly be cultivators, although there were a few rare non-cultivators as well. After careful observation, however, Fang Xing found that most of the cultivators within Sea Beast City were around Spirit Stage tiers five or six; finding people in late Spirit Stage was very rare, and Fang Xing did not meet even a single person in Foundation Stage. This was understandable, though; the Myriad Beasts Sect primarily dealt with spirit beast pellets, and Spirit Stage cultivators were the ones who could get the most use out of the ones being sold.
After walking around on the streets, Fang Xing soon found a somewhat higher-end restaurant and stepped inside. He ordered a table of dishes and wine to slowly enjoy while studying the people around him, and it didn’t take long before a rough-looking bearded man attracted his attention. The man was in Spirit Stage tier six and surrounded by a rather dense amount of malicious Qi as he chatted and drank with two companions.
After listening in on their conversation, Fang Xing found out this person had a cousin who was an inner court disciple of the Myriad Beasts Sect, and the man himself seemed to be well-informed on what was going on inside the sect. His two companions seemed to respect him quite a bit, and the trio’s gazes were like those of hungry wolves eyeing fat sheep. They didn’t even try to hide their greed, and it was possible to tell with a single glance that they shared the same trade as Fang Xing himself.
‘He’ll be the one!’ After making up his mind, Fang Xing called out, "Waiter, I’m done eating. How much is it?" As he spoke, he threw a rather bulky storage sack atop the table and lazily picked out a mid-grade Spirit Stone to pay for the bill. "d.a.m.n, the food and wine here aren’t bad at all; the remaining amount shall be your tip!"
With such conspicuous words, Fang Xing instantly caught the attention of everyone around him. Sea Beast City was considered a city for cultivators, so the currency of choice was naturally Spirit Stones. The dishes and wine sold at the restaurants were all spirit beast meats and spirit wines, and their prices were all rather expensive, but even the most expensive meal would have been no more than twenty low-grade Spirit Stones. Fang Xing had directly used a mid-grade Spirit Stone—five times more than the cost—without even asking for change, and this immediately set him apart as some kind of wastrel.
Seeing everyone looking towards him, Fang Xing stared back and yelled, "What are you looking at? You wanna fight?" He released some of his Qi while showing a proud and arrogant expression. Unlike the last time, this time he carefully controlled the amount of Qi he let out, intentionally suppressing it to a rather low level.
"Hoy, he sure thinks he’s hot sh*t despite being f*cking Spirit Stage tier four!"
Inside the restaurant, numerous people began to show cold smiles towards Fang Xing, believing this little b.a.s.t.a.r.d was doing nothing more than seeking his own death. Sea Beast City was quite a mixed bag, filled with
Fang Xing showed a victorious expression—as though he’d frightened everyone off and was overly satisfied with himself for doing so—before picking up his storage sack and swaggering outside the restaurant to the streets. Rather than head back to his inn, he instead strolled this way and that until—Intentionally or otherwise—he eventually walked into a small and deserted alley. Once he saw there weren’t any shops or stalls, he then turned around to head back out.
At that moment, a cold voice rose. "Fellow Daoist, please stay. What might your name be?" The entrance to the alleyway had been blocked by three large figures, and their sneering leader was the large bearded man from the restaurant.
Fang Xing looked around before asking with a smile, "Um, how can I help my fellow brothers?"
"Haha, turns out it’s a fledgling…."
The man in the lead laughed while folding his hands behind him and walking forward. "We’re not really here for anything specific. It’s just that we noticed you—our fellow Daoist—seem to have a rather abundant amount of valuables, and I just so happen to be quite tight on money lately. I’d like to borrow some Spirit Stones from you to spend…" he casually answered, while the two people behind him sneered to follow up.
The trio had been living off of killing rogue cultivators who’d arrived in the city to exchange spirit beast pellets. They naturally did not dare to offend disciples from large sects or clans, but such people usually stayed at the center of the city, not the poor and ragged western district. The people who came to the west side were typically rogue cultivators with neither money nor background, and it just so happened that the one they b.u.mped into today could be considered a fat sheep.
However, none of the three expected that after the bearded man said such things, this appealingly fat sheep would grin and say, "Borrow money? That’s easy, come come come, come over here and let this young master reward you one at a time…."
The bearded man felt something wasn’t right when he heard this. He’d spent much of his life beneath the blade, and so he was quite good at sensing danger. Although they’d cornered such a helpless-looking fat sheep, he seemed to be acting a little odd; not only was he not scared, he actually seemed a little excited….
This all made the bearded man feel a sense of discomfort, and he subconsciously wanted to turn and leave.
At that moment, the seemingly harmless youth suddenly stretched out his palm and a strong gravitational force pulled the bearded man and his two companions towards the boy. The force was so great that even the bearded man—with his sixth-tier cultivation—was unable to respond.
Swoosh swoosh….
Once the youth caught the companions, a Flying Sword slipped from his sleeve and left frost-like marks in the air. Two splatters of blood erupted as the companions’ throats were sliced open, their eyes opening wide as they so quickly lost their lives.
The bearded man’s eyes were even wider than his two companions, and he tried to say something while struggling to escape. By now, he knew this youth was no fat sheep they could handle and wanted to call out for help, but—under the powerful control of the boy’s Gravitational Force—he couldn’t even raise his voice.
"Your first reward is some candy!" Fang Xing smirked before he tugged on the bearded man’s chin, threw a pellet into the man’s throat, and then released his Gravitational Force. The bearded man immediately fell to the ground once the force was released, and he let out a m.u.f.fled groan while sticking his fingers down his throat.
Right now, the man was so scared it seemed even his soul had departed. His two fourth-tier Spirit Stage helpers had been killed by this youth in less than the blink of an eye, and he instantly understood that he’d misjudged this "fat sheep", who was more like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Furthermore, he’d just swallowed an unknown pellet that was undoubtedly something something bad, and he was desperately trying to vomit it back up.
Fang Xing revealed a dull-yellow pellet in his hand and raised his voice, "You can’t vomit it out. That is part of the Paired Heart-Devouring Pellet; you have the "child" with a parasitic insect, and in my hand is the "mother". If I destroy the mother pellet, the child pellet will immediately awaken in your stomach and begin devouring your flesh and blood. Its favorite food is the human brain, so I imagine the first thing it’ll do when it awakens is burrow its way into your mind and start drinking the juice…."
Fang Xing had stolen a total of seven pairs from Danxia Valley’s Qin’nyao. The pellet was crafted for the purpose of controlling others, and it was considered to be one of the more insidious methods a person could use; that someone as sanctimonious as Qin’nyao would own such a thing was unexpected.
However, these were perfectly suited to Fang Xing’s taste. Very convenient when something needed to be done.
The man’s face paled as he bitingly said, "You… you’d dare to kill me? My cousin is—"
"—an inner court disciple of the Myriad Beasts Sect?" Fang Xing interrupted. "If it wasn’t because of that, I—your grandpa—wouldn’t have sought you out. You seemed to boast about knowing quite a bit of information earlier, and your grandpa will now give you a chance; if you do a good job of answering my questions, I’ll resolve that little parasite problem you have right now, and there will even be rewards. If your answers don’t satisfy me, though, I’ll immediately chop you up and feed you to my bird!"
The dull-feathered roc gave a dissatisfied look towards Fang Xing. "Your Uncle Gold doesn’t eat things raw!" he muttered under his breath.
Fang Xing’s words didn’t seem like a lie to the man, and he began to feel a faint pain develop in his intestines. A thin layer of sweat formed on his forehead, and he didn’t dare try to think of any tricks. "What do you want to know?" he asked while enduring the extreme pain.
"Was there a person taken into the Myriad Beasts Sect from the Chufung Kingdom not long ago?" Fang Xing paused slightly before adding, "And if you dare say you don’t know, I’ll chop you up straight away and ask someone else!"
Surprised, the man hurriedly answered, "Yes, yes, this isn’t any kind of secret, either, and it has already been spread amongst the entire Myriad Beasts Sect. Two days ago, Elder Moye brought back a man from the outside. It seems he’s a genius, an excellent sprout for learning the spirit sorm of the Ganglie, and he’s already become one of the three candidates for its study. This news caused quite the uproar within the Myriad Beasts Sect—you’d find this out asking just anyone…."
Since the bearded man’s information matched up with what the golden crow had said before, Fang Xing knew this person wasn’t lying. Fang Xing sneered again and asked, "Then where is he? Does the Myriad Beasts Sect plan on killing him?"
"I…. Yesterday, I had my cousin over for drinks, and… he did mention that this person’s status is very important. He’s already been given a position in the inner court as an exception, and Elder Moye intends to recommend him to become the successor to the Ganglie’s spirit form. Except… except the other two candidates seem to be… to be rather dissatisfied with him…. The sect master also hasn’t sent out an official response… he’s still thinking on it…."
"So that’s what happened…. I thought that fatty was going to fly to the heavens with a single leap, but it seems there’s still some trouble…" Fang Xing muttered to himself before giving the bearded man a cold look. "I actually have an opportunity for you, but whether you accept or not is up to you. To tell you the truth, that person is a good friend of mine and I am here to make sure he is safe. If you are willing to help me find more information until I can confirm he’s safe, not only will I get rid of the parasite, I’ll also reward you with this…."
Fang Xing flipped over his other palm, and a light yellow pellet appeared with a fragrant scent.
"Po… Poji Pellet?" The bearded man’s eyes immediately widened as he swallowed some saliva. With his expression, it looked as though he wanted to directly s.n.a.t.c.h it from Fang Xing’s hand.