Chapter One Hundred Nineteen: Cheng Fang

"This... Senior..."

With eight or nine high-grade talismans in her hand, including the Random Teleportation Talisman and the Earth-type Defensive Talisman she coveted most, Chu Xin'er would never refuse such a deal—all it cost her was revealing the background of the Pan siblings, whom she had only met by chance. After all, the magical artifacts and herbs for refining Foundation Establishment pills she had offered were not worth this much. However, Chu Xin'er was careful not to appear too eager, lest she arouse the suspicions of the woman in blue.

"Rest assured, I only intend to conduct some business with them. I certainly won't resort to bullying the weak." Seeing Chu Xin'er’s hesitation and her look of wanting to speak but holding back, the woman in blue immediately waved her hand, understanding her concerns.

"Understood, Senior. I was just..." Since the other party had already spoken so plainly, Chu Xin'er knew that further evasion might cause offense. She nodded and recounted the circumstances of her initial encounter with the Pan siblings.

A short while later, Chu Xin'er stepped out of the Spirit Talisman Pavilion, clutching seven high-grade attack talismans, one random teleportation talisman, and one high-grade earth-type defensive talisman. Whether the woman in blue kept her word or harassed the Pan siblings, Pan Yulong and Pan Honglian, was of no concern to her. Chu Xin'er made her way toward another trading house.

As the saying goes, money makes things move. With thousands of spirit stones still in her possession, Chu Xin'er easily purchased a second-tier array. Second-tier arrays correspond to the Foundation Establishment stage. This formation, known as the Heavenly Origin Thunder-Fire Array, was only just touching the threshold of the second tier, but its power was far beyond what an ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator could withstand. If she set it up outside her cave dwelling, she could rest easy, provided she didn't have the misfortune of running into a Foundation Establishment expert, even if she attracted some ill-intentioned people while breaking through her own bottleneck.

The trouble was that setting up the Heavenly Origin Thunder-Fire Array required a certain level of expertise in array formations. Even by following the diagrams and imitating the layout, it would take Chu Xin'er some time to study it carefully before she could complete it. Furthermore, the array could not be powered by low-grade spirit stones; it required at least medium-grade ones. She happened to have a few medium-grade spirit stones in her storage bag, scavenged years ago in Tiannan County from the unknown, gaunt old man she had fought alongside Xiao Wen. Together with those, she had also obtained her current primary cultivation technique, the Drifting Cloud and Falling Rain Art. Therefore, as long as she had time to contemplate the array, she could open a cave dwelling and go into seclusion to challenge her bottleneck.

"Hmph, so there really are those who don't fear death."

Wealth, as they say, stirs the hearts of men. Since Chu Xin'er was not yet in the Foundation Establishment stage and had been seen entering the Spirit Talisman Pavilion and the Treasure Pavilion, it was inevitable that she would attract the greed of those with ulterior motives in the chaotic Yunfeng Market. Thus, shortly after leaving, she noticed several "tails" following her and couldn't help but let out a cold snort. Those fellows were merely in the Qi Condensation stage, much like herself; to think they would attempt to kill and rob her just because they had the numbers was nothing short of suicidal.

Chu Xin'er pretended not to notice and continued to fly forward at a leisurely pace. It wasn't until she was over a hundred miles away from the market, passing a desolate, low hill, that she suddenly turned back to look at the four or five people quickly catching up, her face filled with feigned terror. Of course, her nervousness was all an act. Before purchasing the high-grade talismans, she might have been wary of encountering so many cultivators of the same rank, but now? It remained to be seen who would end up the prey.

"Fellow Daoists, rest assured. Once we capture this girl, I will take none of her spirit stones or treasures. I will even offer each of you an extra hundred spirit stones. How about that?"

There were five pursuers in total, all between the thirteenth level and the Great Perfection of the Qi Condensation stage. Before closing in, a man with a rat-like face stared at Chu Xin'er with malice and sent a voice transmission to the other four. This man was Cheng Fang, the sixth uncle of Cheng Hai. It was no surprise why he was in the Yunfeng Market, so far from the Cheng Clan Fortress. With the vast influence of the Cheng clan, they could only maintain their status by managing various businesses abroad. While the Cheng clan lacked the power to interfere with the administration of the Yunfeng Market, managing a shop or two was hardly a challenge.

Ever since news arrived a few days ago that young master Cheng Hai had been crippled, Cheng Fang had ordered people to monitor the culprit in secret. Once Chu Xin'er entered the market, he had quickly identified her. However, since they were thousands of miles from the Cheng Clan Fortress and lacked a teleportation array, Cheng Fang could only order others to notify the clan while he kept watch. Because Chu Xin'er moved so quickly, the Foundation Establishment experts of the Cheng clan could not arrive in time, leaving Cheng Fang to act on his own initiative. Fortunately, the target's extravagant spending had already attracted the greed of others, and Cheng Fang had struck a deal with these four during the pursuit.

"No problem. My wife and I will take fifty percent of her assets, and Elder Xun and Fellow Daoist Lin can each take an extra fifty spirit stones," the man in white said with a slight smile, speaking on behalf of the woman beside him. His partner’s cultivation had not yet reached the thirteenth level of Great Perfection; she was the weakest of the five, and she showed no sign of objecting to her husband's terms.

"Very well, this old man has no objections," the gray-robed elder called Elder Xun agreed immediately, and the youth in the conical hat nodded silently.

As they spoke, they had already flown to the low hill where Chu Xin'er stood and unleashed their magical artifacts. The air was filled with the dazzling light of flying swords and long sabers, creating a formidable momentum. Chu Xin'er didn't dare to be careless; she withdrew her Golden Sword and Willow-Leaf Blade, exerting all her strength to defend herself.

*Boom! Boom! Boom!*

Amidst the deafening roars, surging energy, and flying wood chips and leaves, a scream erupted. Except for Chu Xin'er, who wore a faint smile, Cheng Fang, the couple in white, and the taciturn youth in the conical hat all stared in astonishment at Elder Xun, whose head was streaming with blood. At that moment, a large mosquito was waving its front claws at the back of his head. As his sea of consciousness shattered, the scream ended abruptly, and his body collapsed to the ground.

After the tempering he had received from the flames of Liu Kui’s arts last time, and having broken through to the mid-stage of the tenth level, Xiao Wenzi’s "Claw Technique" had become even more formidable. It didn't just split mountains and crack stones; crushing the skull of an ordinary Qi Condensation cultivator was effortless. With plenty of system points to exchange for Stealth Talismans and Concealment Talismans, his sneak attack on Elder Xun had been a breeze.

"You... you damned witch! To think you would raise such an ugly mosquito as a spirit pet! Fellow Daoists, do not hold back! Once this is done, I, Cheng, will never break my word!"

According to the intelligence from his clan, Cheng Fang knew Chu Xin'er possessed two mid-grade magical artifacts and raised a low-level demonic mosquito capable of paralyzing cultivators of the same rank. But he had not expected Xiao Wenzi to be able to get behind Elder Xun so silently. The situation was spiraling out of control. Fearing that the other three might sense the danger and retreat, Cheng Fang shouted, raised his protective spiritual light, and while controlling his sword, he whipped out a flying knife and slashed fiercely at Chu Xin'er.