Chapter 50: Surveillance and Visits
Chapter 50: Surveillance and Visits
Qinglinfang City.
Fang Xing prepared a meal and enjoyed it alone.
Although the cooks on Chuying Planet were skilled, the ingredients available there were far inferior to those he had access to.
For the sake of his martial arts training, he chose to dine in Qinglinfang City as often as possible.
Occasionally, he would order takeout from Chuying Planet to treat himself.
Of course, to maintain appearances, he would also stock up on supplies at his home on Chuying Planet from time to time, only to bring them back and dispose of them here.
As he was enjoying his meal, a silvery bell-like laughter reached his ears, and a fragrant breeze preceded Hua Feiyue's arrival. "Young Master..."
She wore a tailored pink dress that accentuated her ample chest and peach-like hips. However, her expression remained serious, giving her the air of a respectable married woman.
But combined with her alluring and graceful figure, there was an intriguing contradiction in her demeanor.
In simple terms, she was inviting trouble!
Neighboring demon catcher Yu Xia, who was just stepping out, froze at the sight before him, his eyes widening in surprise.
"You're here," Fang Xing said, quickly finishing his meal. "Did you bring the spirit stones?"
"I did," Hua Feiyue replied with a charming laugh as she gracefully entered the house and closed the door behind her.
"Whew..."
Outside, Yu Xia snapped out of his daze, inhaling sharply. "Brother Fang is truly extraordinary. How did he manage to have such a beauty fall for him?"
Thinking about his own situation, he considered himself presentable, with a height of eight chi and a valiant appearance. Yet, why hadn't any female cultivators shown interest in him?
It was truly frustrating to compare oneself to others!
He sighed and prepared to head to Tingyu Tower to vent his frustrations.
...
"Young Master, three Snake Orchid Fruits, one Golden Dragon Ginseng, and three Jade Bone Flowers... All of these have been sold, earning a total of thirteen spirit stones and eight spirit sands," Hua Feiyue reported, sitting upright with her hands folded in her lap.
"The price of Red Dragon Grass has dropped?" Fang Xing asked, slightly surprised. However, this was something he could easily verify, and he knew that Hua Feiyue had no reason to deceive him.
"It's probably because a certain sect attempted to explore a new pill formula or discovered another use for Red Dragon Grass in feeding demonic beasts, requiring a large quantity for experimentation, but ultimately failed," Hua Feiyue explained, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. Such occurrences were actually quite common.
"Alright..."
Fang Xing pondered for a moment, then took out a lower-grade spirit stone, along with four spirit sands, from the small pile of spirit stones that Hua Feiyue had given him. "This is your share..."
Although he had to give Hua Feiyue a cut, he didn't mind as she was running errands for him and he was still making more than if he sold everything to a shop.
"Thank you, Young Master!"
Hua Feiyue played with the lower-grade spirit stone, which was about the size of a regular die, her eyes curving into crescent moons with delight.
For a warrior, earning spirit stones in the marketplace was no easy feat, especially in her situation.
Having such a means of livelihood would surely make countless innate experts envious of her!
The more she thought about it, the less she minded Fang Xing taking a share, as she wanted to ensure that this business remained firmly in her grasp.
"Mmm, I appreciate fair transactions. As long as you remain sincere and diligent, there's no need to worry about anything else..." Fang Xing added, then went back to his room to retrieve a wooden box. "Here are the medicinal ingredients for this time."
Hua Feiyue's eyes lit up as she opened the box and began inspecting the contents carefully, one by one.
Fang Xing liked this woman for her understanding and professionalism.
He knew that she wasn't the type to try to seduce him with her body or offer him special favors in exchange for benefits, and he respected that.
After a while, Hua Feiyue finished her inspection. "These herbs should fetch around sixteen lower-grade spirit stones."
She was intrigued by the young master's sources. How did he manage to acquire so many valuable herbs regularly? Did he have a team of herb gatherers supporting him in secret? Otherwise, how could he consistently obtain such a variety of rare medicines?
Despite her curiosity, the joy on her face gradually faded, replaced by a hint of gravity.
"Is there a problem?" Fang Xing asked, noticing her change in expression.
Earning a dozen lower-grade spirit stones in three days was indeed a substantial profit. Over a month, it would amount to around a hundred spirit stones, which was quite a significant sum.
By common sense, even a cultivator at the early Qi Refining stage would face dangers with such income. A cultivator at the middle Qi Refining stage might be able to manage it temporarily, but even that would be risky in the long term.
Only a cultivator at the late Qi Refining stage would truly be able to safeguard such earnings.
And this was after Fang Xing had deliberately suppressed the output of spirit medicines; he hadn't expected that there would still be complications.
"It's just some surveillance. With the Qingxu Zong enforcement team patrolling the marketplace, there shouldn't be any major issues," Hua Feiyue explained. "However, you should be cautious about your transactions outside the marketplace, especially during the exchange."
"I understand..."
Fang Xing nodded silently, realizing that he might have attracted the attention of some interested parties. From now on, he would need to be extra vigilant when leaving the marketplace.
'Those attracted by this level of profit shouldn't be any powerful experts...'
In his heart, however, he scoffed: 'I don't even need to change my appearance when leaving the marketplace. Let them come and test the sharpness of my blades!'
As for the risk of failure?
With his trio of protective gear—the electric stun baton, protective suit, and laser gun—even a cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining would struggle to pose a real threat to him. Thus, he had nothing to fear.
In fact, Fang Xing intentionally refrained from using these tools at times, deliberately putting himself at risk to gain more combat experience!
...
After Hua Feiyue left, Fang Xing activated the surveillance system, a smile appearing on his face. "As expected, there's someone tailing her..."
His residence was naturally a high-surveillance area, even more tightly guarded than the temporary camp outside.
Many seemingly harmless little birds, beetles, and even earthworms... together formed a tight network.
Unless a Foundation Establishment cultivator was spying with their spiritual sense, there would always be slip-ups that could be detected.
At this moment, on the surveillance screens, there were surprisingly three groups of people!
"Is it worth attracting so much attention for a business that earns a mere hundred spirit stones a month?"
Fang Xing glanced at the screens, his eyebrows furrowing in deep suspicion. He then issued a command.
...
A slender and unremarkable-looking cultivator, one who would easily blend into a crowd, watched as Hua Feiyue returned home. He nodded and asked, "So she only associates with these people?"
As he turned to leave, he didn't notice a mosquito-sized drone moving with the wind, following close behind him.
On top of the shack, a bright-eyed spirit bird kept its gaze on Hua Feiyue's location, glancing suspiciously at its side.
On the eaves, a yellow sparrow had appeared at some point, its eyes devoid of life.
For some reason, when the spirit bird noticed the sparrow's lifeless gaze, it shuddered and quickly flapped its wings, soaring high into the sky.
The yellow sparrow tilted its head and took flight as well, following the spirit bird.
...
"Three groups... One of them doesn't seem to have much technical expertise and is probably just a gang from the shantytown..."
Gangs ran rampant in the shantytown, each dreaming of becoming a formidable force like the Black Tiger Gang, but they often ended up wiped out within a few months.
Then, like cockroaches, even more gangs would emerge to take their place, an endless cycle.
"Such a small gang would be considered impressive if they had a Qi Refining Late Stage boss..."
"Now, these are the kind of people who would be interested in my business."
Fang Xing stroked his chin and turned his attention to another group: "The Black Tiger Gang? One of the three major powers in Qinglinfang City, and they're all eyeing my little business? Well, the Black Tiger Gang is quite large, with several cultivators at the Perfected Qi Refining Stage, so it's likely just a private matter for one of their executives or elders. Or perhaps... there's another reason they're keeping an eye on Hua Feiyue?"
To be honest, Fang Xing initially thought that Chen Yi had only attracted the attention of Fu Qing, but now he wasn't so sure.
Fu Qing was merely a cultivator at the Qi Refining Late Stage; he couldn't possibly mobilize so many members of the Black Tiger Gang!
'There's definitely something fishy going on! Unfortunately, the surveillance I set up back then could only watch from a distance, unable to record their every word and subtle action in detail... Otherwise, I would have definitely discovered something by now.'
He felt a twinge of regret, then noticed the yellow sparrow that had been following the spirit bird slowly landing on top of a shack.
Before long, the door of the shack across from them opened, and a middle-aged cultivator stepped out.
The spirit bird perched on his shoulder, chirping incessantly.
The middle-aged cultivator took out a few pills from his pocket and fed them to his spirit pet, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.
Then, he began making his way towards the Tingyu District.
57th Shack.
"He's here."
Fang Xing left the underground surveillance room and walked into the living room, deep in thought.
Just as he entered, he heard a knock on the door.
Knock, knock!
The knocking was steady and unhurried, indicating the visitor's extreme confidence.
"Who is it?" Fang Xing asked intentionally.
"An old friend has come to pay you a visit. I hope you'll see me, fellow daoist," the middle-aged cultivator said, his voice surprisingly aged and carrying a hint of familiarity.
Fang Xing opened the door, and the middle-aged cultivator immediately stepped inside.
"Who are you?" Fang Xing asked, a hint of confusion on his face, though he remained unfazed.
He had never believed in the rules of the city, so he always wore his nano-suit underneath his clothes.
Moreover, as a cultivator, he had nothing to fear from a mere martial artist.
The middle-aged cultivator smiled slightly and waved his hand in front of his face.
A flash of green light later, his face transformed, settling into a weathered countenance.
"It's you, Chen Yi?" Fang Xing exclaimed in surprise. "Chen Daoist, we only met once. Why are you looking for me?"
"Sigh... Back then, in the Five Scorpion Valley, I made a mistake and became estranged from my sworn brothers... Now, I truly regret it," Chen Yi said with a bitter expression. "But I have a difficult situation to explain. I heard that you rescued my fifth sister's family, and later took in my second sister. I, Chen, have come to express my gratitude..."
'Gratitude? Isn't he here to kill me and silence me?' Fang Xing scoffed inwardly.
However, he sensed that this Chen Yi seemed even more dangerous than before.
He wasn't a cultivator, so he didn't possess any spirit eye techniques to clearly discern the other party's cultivation level. All he had was a martial artist's intuition! But he trusted his intuition.
'Isn't Chen Yi a cultivator at the Qi Refining Mid Stage? Even if he's at the sixth layer, he shouldn't make me feel threatened... Unless he recently broke through to the Qi Refining Late Stage?'
Fang Xing's heart stirred, finding this development rather unbelievable.
After all, most cultivators in the city had inferior spiritual roots, and some were even stuck at bottlenecks their entire lives.
The fact that Chen Yi had struggled for half his life, only able to associate with innate martial artists, indicated that he not only had poor talent but also lacked opportunities. He might have remained at the Qi Refining Mid Stage until his death!
A true genius cultivator would never willingly associate with martial artists.
But nothing in this world was absolute!
For someone of his age to break through from the Qi Refining Mid Stage to the Late Stage meant that he had encountered a 'great opportunity'!
(End of Chapter)
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