Chapter 25

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Exactly seven days later.

Fang Xing once again transformed himself into the young daotong to pick up the "Ore Essence Powder" from Hua. Though Hua eagerly awaited the remaining twenty Spirit Stones, he had been told the quality of this "powder" would first need to be checked before he would receive them; the powder had to have a minimum of 70% similarity to the real thing or they"d both just end up waiting to be questioned by the sect.

These words most certainly sent Hua into a bit of a fright. He immediately took the bag back to his room for some more fine-tuning of the details.

Once Fang Xing had left Heiyan Valley, Fang Xing looked into the bag filled with almost half a pound of dirt-yellow colored powder that emitted Qi into any open s.p.a.ce it could find. He closed the bag quickly after, deciding that he would bring it back to his cottage before taking a closer examination.

"I wonder if the Book of Revelation will be able to identify this?" Fang Xing speculated; though he knew quite well that the [Book of Revelation] could appraise all spirit items, it couldn"t detail how close a counterfeit item would resemble its legitimate counterpart.

As Fang Xing had expected, once he"d returned to his cottage, the [Book of Revelation] did not even find the item to be worthy of appraisal and had only identified as far as its base materials: ore powder and spirit water. Of course, the process of making the counterfeit Ore Essence Powder would be much more complicated than simply soaking some ore powders in spirit water; Hua would have relied on his artistry and skill to have the final product mimic the texture, aesthetic, color, smell, and even the taste of the real thing.

"Since he"s dared to give me this as his final product, he must have quite some confidence in it. I will take this chance." Fang Xing had never seen Ore Essence Powder before; he could only put his trust in Hua"s effort and take a risk this time.

Just as his first uncle would always say: no unfair advantage was without its flaws.

A person had to be willing to take chances and put their life on the line for the sake of their goals.

With such thoughts on his mind, Fang Xing used two more days to prepare himself, along with his dagger, snuff bottle, [Nine Snakes" Sword], and even the metal cylinder with silver needles. After going through his plan one last time inside his head, Fang Xing was certain he had considered every scenario possible. If anything else were to happen, it would just depend entirely on luck.

This entire event was a big risk he had chosen to take. Hou Qing was ruthless and far more powerful than Fang Xing, most certainly not an easy target for a scam.

Fang Xing was betting on Hou Qing having not seen the real Ore Essence Powder more than once or twice. If his speculation was correct, the likelihood of him seeing through the tricks wouldn"t be too high.

By midnight, Fang Xing had already transformed himself into a tall man and set off towards Hualin Valley where he and Hou Qing had promised to meet.

Tonight"s moon was no more than a slim crescent that miserably glimmered high amidst the heavens. Fortunately for Fang Xing, although he might not have been able to see his surroundings as clearly as if it were day, being at the second tier gave him much better sight than the ordinary folk and he could easily see around ten feet away.

Fang Xing was actually relieved that tonight was so dark, as it would further decrease the odds of Hou Qing seeing through his fake powders.

Under the curtains of the night, a tall and slender silhouette—with the shape of an ape and the speed of a fox—could be seen sweeping through the mountains and trees. It wasn"t too long before the silhouette came to a stop at the hilltop.

The area was quiet with n.o.body nearby.

Fang Xing brought his hands together, three claps echoing out as he waited.

"s.h.i.+xiong, I"ve been waiting. You"re almost an hour late!" A cold voice appeared from behind. Turning around, Fang Xing saw a white-veiled Hou Qing.

"I told you to come before midnight. I didn"t say I would." Fang Xing held out his hand with a cold smile. "Where"s the Demon Pellet?"

Hou Qing didn"t move an inch. "Where"s my Ore Essence Powder?"

Fang Xing smiled at this, taking a small bag out from his pocket. "You b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you better not play any tricks on me. I was genuinely skating on thin ice before I got my hands on this. That bi*ch almost found out about this!" Fang Xing blurted out another believable tale as though it had actually happened.

Ever since Fang Xing was young, he knew that the most convincing lies often had details in some of the most irrelevant of areas. In cases where the target was more aware, however, being vague was better to avoid being caught.

Hou Qing took a step towards Fang Xing with short, hasty breaths, "Give it to me!"

Fang Xing retreated a step back. "I don"t trust you. You give me the Demon Pellet first."

Hou Qing gave a pause before lightly shaking his head. "Together then!"

"Okay." Fang Xing agreed.

At once, both of the men hurled a small bag towards the other with their left hands; their right hands were more flexible and reserved to deal with any accidents that might occur.

SWOOSH.

Almost simultaneously, both men grabbed the other bag to be checked. Inside the bag Fang Xing had caught was a modest china vase coupled with a small pile of red Spirit Stones, and there didn"t seem to be any mistake in the number of Stones, either. From the side of his vision, Fang Xing saw that Hou Qing was also doing the exact same thing: Hou Qing was checking the supposed Ore Essence Powder inside the bag, except that his glance had a hint of a flicker.

Fang Xing squinted his eyes; the flickering glance from Hou Qing was all too familiar….

When Fang Xing used such a glance, it was usually because he knew something was up. This time, it was coming from Hou Qing.

Fang Xing considered the possibility without any delay and uncorked the small vase for a close inspection of what was inside. With an abrupt burst of anger, the vase shattered into pieces as it was thrown against the ground. "You son of a bi*ch! I risked my life for your powder and you"re trying to scam me with this sh*t?"

The moment Fang Xing saw what was inside, he knew something was wrong: this was a subsidiary pellet. When crafting a new cauldron of pellets, the most concentrated amount of Qi would be used to form the main pellet and the remaining Qi attached onto numerous subsidiary pellets. These pellets would have a very similar appearance to the main pellet but would contain far less energy and Qi when used.

To be exact, these subsidiary pellets could also be considered "second-rate pellets".

Without a doubt, the fact that it was not the Demon Pellet Hou Qing had originally promised sent Fang Xing into a storm of fury.

The main pellet was of high quality and filled with an abundance of Qi. Although the pellet inside the vase had an extremely similar appearance and smell, the energy contained was vastly different.

While Fang Xing angrily cursed, Hou Qing had already checked his bag full of Ore Essence Powder and there didn"t seem to be a problem. The man had also mentioned how risky it had been for him to steal it, so Hou Qing was even more a.s.sured that it was the real thing; feeling relieved, Hou Qing gave a cold laugh, "That"s also a Demon Pellet. What"s the problem?"

"How dare you try something like this on me? Or have you prepared yourself to pay with some pretty hefty price?" Fang Xing threatened, especially since he had already given the image of being connected to a powerful person with high authority within the sect.

As if Hou Qing was prepared for this, he snorted in disdain with the belief that he had the upper hand. "So? I already checked when you arrived; you were alone. Besides, what are you going to do to me today? I"ve never been afraid of anyone before! If you want to take revenge… do you think I"m stupid? Once we"re out of here, how are you going to find out who I am out of the thousands of other disciples within the sect?"

With that, Hou Qing turned to walk away.

Hou Qing"s actions had purely been based on the man not knowing his true ident.i.ty. No matter how powerful the tall man"s background may have been, the Ore Essence Powder was still a stolen item and Hou Qing gambled on the fact that the man would not dare allow it to go public, either. If this event did go public and the sect investigated further, only the tall man would be in trouble, not Hou Qing.

Furthermore, a first-rate Demon Pellet was far too important to Hou Qing; he had only decided to go through with this because he was unwilling to let go of it so easily. Of course, this was solely due to the complete and utter confidence he had in his abilities and the a.s.sumption that his ident.i.ty was unknown to this man.

Fang Xing began to grow anxious. "I"m the real bandit here, how dare he try to con me! What the h.e.l.l, I"ve gotta give him a good scare before this is settled!"

To such ends, Fang Xing blurted out, "Hou Qing, do you really think I don"t know who you are?"

Already over ten feet away, Hou Qing suddenly stopped in his tracks. With a split-second, he turned around with a clear, murderous intent focused towards Fang Xing, his hands held in an incantation gesture while a silver sword flew out from the pocket at his waist. "How did you know who I am?"

Fang Xing"s mind moved very quickly; he had always had a quick wit, though it had been forcibly developed by those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds at the bandit nest. In this moment, he focused on every detail he knew about Hou Qing and concentrated on deciphering the perfect next step.

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