Chapter 19

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The day"s profit was satisfactory for Fang Xing, but Yu still needed to wrap his head around what had just happened.

"Stop it! With your weak spine, it"s no wonder everyone steps all over you!"

Once they"d returned to the cottage, Fang Xing decided to give himself a good wash. Yu, however, was still ashen-faced and inattentive; seeing this, Fang Xing picked up his water basin and poured it right over Yu, drenching him to the point he looked like a drowned rat. Yu finally woke from his train of thoughts only to release a heavy sigh, "s.h.i.+di Fang, I think I"ve started to admire you after what you"ve done today."

"What? You mean you didn"t admire me before?"

"No no no, ever since that day at the herb fields I knew that someone like you would not be ordinary…." Naturally, Yu wouldn"t tell Fang Xing what his real thoughts had been at the time.

The truth was that Yu had been left with no other choice but to befriend Fang Xing. Although Yu may have been much older in comparison, he was no match to such a child who was extremely daring, vicious, and merciless towards enemies. It had been with these thoughts that Yu decided to gamble a chance to get onto his good side instead. As long as the child didn"t die too early, it was unlikely he would be content with an ordinary life, and if—when—Fang Xing succeeded, Yu would have been the one alongside him from the beginning, there when Fang Xing needed help the most.

Though Yu may not have appeared to be the brightest person in the world, he had nonetheless originally befriended Fang Xing with ulterior motives, not unlike holding on to a long-term investment. It was understandable, however; this was the method of survival for a n.o.body like him.

As Yu came to understand more about Fang Xing, he began to realize that—even though Fang Xing"s words made him appear rude and unrestrained—he was not as self-centered and sn.o.bby as most of the other disciples at the sect. Besides, after all of the wine and gossip sessions they"d shared together, they actually did get along rather well.

This didn"t stop Yu from hoping he"d be rewarded for investing in Fang Xing"s friends.h.i.+p, though.

Yu had been disappointed at what seemed to be a loss of Fang Xing"s diligence and hard-working att.i.tude after he had joined the outer court. Compared to his time as a daotong, his lazing about now was like night and day, and people like this would usually be sent back down to the villages upon their third year. Despite feeling quite helpless and regretful, Yu had dared not to say anything more than words of encouragement, hoping to direct Fang Xing"s att.i.tude back to where it had once been.

It wasn"t until today—after Fang Xing had easily taken down s.h.i.+xiong Liu and went on to rob three C-Ranked disciples—that Yu began to realize what Fang Xing was capable of. For Yu, bullying someone weaker was only natural, but to pick on someone stronger was unfathomable.

The splash of cold water finally brought Yu back to his senses. What did he have to lose? Yu had befriended Fang Xing because the boy would do what needed to be done: he was bold and fearless. If it weren"t for this, Yu wouldn"t have befriended Fang Xing in the first place!

"What a slumbering dragon he is. He either does it to the absolute or he doesn"t do it at all…." Yu sighed to himself, regaining a bit of confidence. With a temperament like this, there was no way Fang Xing wouldn"t become someone influential one day.

Perhaps that "one day" for Fang Xing would also be the "one day" for himself as well.

Without a doubt, not even in Yu"s wildest dreams would he ever imagine that this so-called slumbering dragon was not nearly as placid as he had imagined. In fact, within just weeks of joining the outer court, Fang Xing had already caused a rather large event.

n.o.bodies like Yu had the understanding that a slumbering dragon was always waiting for the right moment, but the reality was far simpler: even a dragon needed a nap after a satisfying meal.

If the plump Taoist Yu were to find out the truth about the night at the Black Market, it may actually leave him terrified rather than give him a positive impression of Fang Xing.

"By the way, what happens if they take revenge on you? Since you"ve just robbed them like that…." Yu started to worry again after having finally thought everything through.

From what s.h.i.+xiong Liu had shown, he was definitely not a new recruit; including his years as a daotong, he was already in his fourth year within the sect. It would not be an easy matter to solve with someone like this involved.

"If I had been afraid of his revenge, I would have deserved his bullying anyway; why wouldn"t I have just handed over the Stone then?" Fang Xing lightheartedly replied while wringing his hair dry. "Remember w.a.n.g? If I had been afraid of his revenge, I would have accepted his orders and worked for him in the herb fields without any complaints. And if I had been afraid of your revenge, why didn"t I just bend my knees and beg for your forgiveness when you came to the herb fields yourself?"

Hearing Fang Xing"s tones growing heavier and heavier as he spoke, Yu stood up and started to hastily wave his hands. "s.h.i.+di Fang… I… I didn"t mean it that way…."

"Sit down! I just said what I said, I wasn"t implying anything!" Fang Xing gestured for Yu to sit back down after throwing the empty water basin aside. "I"m just saying, I won"t accept living like that. You know, s.h.i.+xiong Zhu, the only shortcoming you have is that you"re such a coward… and that you"re ugly and gluttonous… and your zi"zhi is also terrible. Oh, you"re lazy, too…. Aii, I was going to compliment you for something but, well, you have nothing for me to compliment."

"My name is Yu…" Yu bitterly blurted out in a small voice.

Ignoring Yu once more, Fang Xing instead took two Spirit Stones out of his pockets and threw them to him. "Make good use of these. You might be stupid, ugly, and lazy, but you"re still kind of my friend; I have to be nice to you…."

"No no no no, you keep it for yourself," Yu waved his fat arms in an anxious manner as the stones landed in his lap.

"If I tell you to take, you take. Just this much is nothing to me." Fang Xing glared at Yu with wide-open eyes, all but forcing him to accept.

Fang Xing was extremely good at courting favors and winning people"s hearts… but for some reason, his methods still always had a sense of tyranny to them.

Yu was almost in tears as he picked up the two Spirit Stones.

Moments ago, Yu had imagined that if one day Fang Xing became successful, there might also be direct benefits for him as well; who would have imagined that such benefits would arrive so quickly? It had been seven years since he"d joined the sect as an outer court disciple, seven years he had been cheated and robbed by others.

In these seven years, it was the first time someone else"s things had become his.

In that moment, he had forgotten about fear. He had forgotten about the possibility of revenge from s.h.i.+xiong Liu.

"Stupid fatty, everyone would want a piece of you for being such a coward like this all the time." Fang Xing finally saw Yu off and shook his head. Only after he was alone did he take out his storage ring.

After instilling the ring with Qi, a small Flying Sword appeared in Fang Xing"s palms. The sword"s handle was a fiery red, and nine golden snakes entrenched themselves over its fire-like vein lines: it was the [Nine Snakes" Sword].

"It"s probably about time I familiarize myself with Flying Swords and the like. It seems that an ordinary dagger won"t last me too much longer within the sect anymore," Fang Xing mused aloud. Only he would know how close it had been with s.h.i.+xiong Liu; with Liu"s physical stature and higher cultivation tier, Fang Xing would not have stood a chance in a face-to-face fight without using sneak attacks.

After Liu had summoned his sword—even once Fang Xing had pinned him to the ground—there had been a sense of danger, as though a venomous serpent was observing from nearby. If it hadn"t been for the sect"s rules, Fang Xing might have even decided to kill Liu to put an end to those uneasy feelings.

Even though Liu was left alive, Fang Xing had not let him off leniently; Fang Xing had split several of his major tendons apart, a wound that would have rendered someone from the mortal world either useless or heavily handicapped for the rest of his life. Cultivators fortunately had elixirs that could heal even tendons.

Bones are harder to heal than muscles, tendons are harder to heal than bones. With Liu"s tendons severed, even the best medication would still require months before he could return to his original state.

In the time it took for Liu"s tendons to recover, Fang Xing would have the opportunity to surpa.s.s him in cultivation level so that even if a fully-cured Liu came seeking revenge, Fang Xing would have a good chance of winning face-to-face.

Another thing Fang Xing realized was the importance of having a few decent spirit weapons for self-defense. Considering this, the [Nine Snakes" Sword] came to mind; it was a powerful mid-tier Flying Sword, after all, and the only issue was whether or not Fang Xing would be able to control it.

Swffft...

A low howl settled into the air as Fang Xing activated the [Nine Snakes" Sword] with his Qi. In a flash, the body of the sword lit up in dazzling gold and began to hang still in midair.

Fang Xing felt an instant connection between him and the sword, that any indication or command from his thoughts could send the sword flying towards his target to wipe out enemies in its path. It was at this exact moment that one of the snake heads nodded, as if in full approval of such murderous intent.

Clenching his teeth, Fang Xing poured the remainder of his Qi into the sword, and in a split-second later each of the nine little snakes transformed into golden rays of mist, all of them dancing around the sword in its entirety.

Once the snakes had transformed, Fang Xing felt a sudden emptiness within his body followed immediately by a dizzy sensation, his body desperately trying to hold onto the last remaining Qi. Without any other options, Fang Xing forcibly cut the connection between him and the sword in order to retain his consciousness.

The snakes returned to their original positions and a clanging sound rang out from the sword as it dropped to the paved floor below.

"Still not good enough. My tier is still too low!" Fang Xing muttered; his current mastery over tier one was still not enough to use this Flying Sword at will.

"Looks like I"ll need to improve my cultivation tier first!"

Fang Xing placed the [Nine Snakes" Sword] back into the storage ring before returning to his bed and pulling out a Spirit Stone. Soon, his eyes were shut and he began to resume his Qi fluctuations.

"Sects are exactly like bandit lairs. With power, you get to extort others. Without it, others get to do the same to you."

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