Starry Sky Professional

The alluring woman, Hua Feiyue, tucked a few strands of hair behind her ear, as Fang Xing surmised aloud, "Perhaps some faction was experimenting with a new pill formula, or maybe they discovered that Zhu Long Grass has uses in feeding spirit beasts or other areas. That's why they need a large quantity of it for trials, only to fail in the end?"

Hua Feiyue acknowledged, "This kind of situation is actually quite common."

"Alright then..." Fang Xing contemplated this situation for a moment. From the small pile of spirit stones Hua Feiyue had given him, he picked out a lower-grade spirit stone, along with four bits of spirit sand, and handed them back to her. "This is what you deserve..."

While Fang Xing needed to give Hua Feiyue a small commission, having someone run errands for him was more convenient, and it would still be preferable than selling everything to a shop, which meant Fang Xing was naturally willing.

"Thank you, young master!" Hua Feiyue's eyes curved into crescents as she played with the lower-grade spirit stone, which was the size of a regular die.

For a martial artist, earning spirit stones in the marketplace was particularly difficult, not to mention for someone in her situation.

Having such a source of livelihood was something many innate experts would envy her for!

Precisely because of this, she was even less hesitant to let Fang Xing take a small advantage, wanting to keep this business firmly in her grasp.

"Hmm, I prefer fair trades. As long as you conduct business honestly, there's nothing to worry about here..." Fang Xing remarked, tapping further emphasis with his words. Then he retrieved a wooden box from his room. "These are the herbs for this time..."

Hua Feiyue's eyes sparkled as she opened the wooden box and meticulously counted each item inside.

Fang Xing appreciated this quality in the woman, her informed judgment and straightforward attitude regarding their business.

If someone thought they could win his favor by seducing him or offering special treatment, only to be lazy or exploit the situation, they'd be sorely underestimating him.

After a moment, Hua Feiyue finished her careful evaluation. "These herbs should fetch about sixteen lower-grade spirit stones..."

Curiosity filled her heart. What kind of channels did this young master have at his disposal? Was there a team of herbalists supporting him from behind the scenes? Otherwise, how could he consistently provide such high-quality herbs?

Despite this, the joy on her face gradually faded, replaced by a hint of seriousness.

"What's wrong? Is there trouble?" Fang Xing noticed the change and immediately inquired.

Earning over ten lower-grade spirit stones every three days meant almost a hundred per month, which indeed seemed quite profitable.

By ordinary standards, an early-stage Qi Refining cultivator having such income was quite risky, a mid-stage might manage briefly, but long-term stability was challenging.

Only a late-stage Qi Refining expert could truly protect such wealth!

And that was after Fang Xing had intentionally curtailed his medicinal yield. Despite these precautions, it seemed that trouble was still on the horizon.

“It’s just a bit of spying. With the Qing Xuan Sect’s enforcement team suppressing any issues within the market, there’s not much to worry about... But you should be cautious about your channels outside the market, especially during transitions,” Hua Feiyue cautioned.

“I understand...” Fang Xing nodded quietly, realizing that perhaps he had already attracted the attention of some interested parties, and he resolved to be extra vigilant whenever he left the market.

‘Those drawn by such small profits are unlikely to be true experts...’ In his heart, he let out a cold chuckle, ‘I don’t even need to disguise myself to leave the market... let’s see who dares to challenge the might of my blades!’

As for the risk of failure? With his electric baton, protective suit, and laser gun, even cultivators at the peak of Qi Refinement would struggle to truly threaten him, so he had no fear.

In fact, Fang Xing was intentionally using himself as bait, just to gain more real-world combat experience.

......

After Hua Feiyue departed, Fang Xing activated the surveillance, and a slight smile appeared on his face: “There really are tails...”

His residence, naturally a high-monitoring area, was more secure than temporary camps outside.

Unless it was a Foundation Establishment cultivator using spiritual sense to tail him, most would reveal some flaw.

At this moment, the screen showed three different groups!

“Did such a small deal, worth barely a hundred spirit stones a month, really need to attract so many people?” Fang Xing glanced at the screen in doubt, then issued an order.

......

A slim, ordinary-looking cultivator, the type that would blend into a crowd, watched Hua Feiyue return home, nodding to himself, “So she only mingles with these people?”

He turned to leave, oblivious to a mosquito-sized drone that followed him, drifting along on the breeze...

On the rooftop, a bright-eyed spiritual bird watched Hua Feiyue’s location, glancing suspiciously to the side.

On the eaves, at some point, a yellow sparrow had appeared.

For reasons unknown, the spiritual bird shivered as it gazed into the lifeless eyes of the sparrow, quickly flapping its wings and soaring high into the sky.

The sparrow tilted its head and followed suit, trailing the spiritual bird.

"Three groups... One of them lacks any real skill, definitely just a gang from the slum district..."

Gangs ran rampant in the slum district, each one dreaming of becoming a giant like the Black Tiger Gang, but usually ended up obliterated in a few months.

And yet, more gangs would spring up like cockroaches, endless and unstoppable.

"These small-time gangs, having a leader in the late Qi Condensation stage is already impressive..."

"They're likely the kind that would be interested in my business."

Fang Xing stroked his chin and turned his eyes to another group: "The Black Tiger Gang? One of the three major powers in Qinglin Market, would they even care about my small business? No... the Black Tiger Gang is quite large; they have several cultivators who have completed the Qi Condensation stage. Perhaps it’s just some deacon or elder’s personal matter? Or...is there another motive, watching Hua Feiyue’s movements?"

To be honest, at first, Fang Xing thought Chen Yi had only offended Fu Qing individually, but now he wasn't so sure.

Fu Qing on his own in the late Qi Condensation stage couldn’t command so many Black Tiger Gang members!

'Clearly, there’s more to it! Unfortunately, the surveillance I set up could only watch from a distance most of the time, unable to record each word or subtle movement in detail... Otherwise, I would have discovered something.'

He felt a twinge of regret as he watched the yellow sparrow that had been following the spiritual bird slowly perch atop a shack.

It wasn’t long before the door of the shack across the way swung open, and a middle-aged cultivator stepped out.

The spiritual bird landed on his shoulder, chirping away.

The middle-aged cultivator took out a few elixirs from his pouch, feeding them to his spirit pet, a thoughtful expression crossing his face.

Then, he actually headed towards the T-section area.

Shed number fifty-seven.

"Here he comes."

Fang Xing stepped out of the underground monitoring room, thoughtfully making his way to the living room.

Almost as soon as he arrived, he heard a knock on the door.

Knock knock!

The knocking was steady, suggesting the visitor had immense confidence.

"Who is it?"

Fang Xing asked deliberately.

"An old acquaintance seeks an audience, hoping esteemed Daoist would grant a meeting!"

The middle-aged cultivator spoke, his voice sounding unexpectedly old and carrying an air of familiarity.

Fang Xing opened the door, and the middle-aged cultivator slipped inside immediately.

"Who are you?"

A hint of confusion appeared on Fang Xing's face, but he wasn't worried.

He never fully trusted the rules of the market, which is why he always wore his nanosuit here.

Moreover, when a cultivator and a martial artist are close, the latter is seldom a threat to worry about.

The middle-aged cultivator smiled slightly at his question and wiped his hand across his face.

A layer of blue light flashed.

In an instant, his face transformed and settled on an old visage.

"It's you, Chen Yi?!"

Fang Xing was surprised: "Daoist Chen, we've only crossed paths once. Why have you come to find me?"

"Alas... back at the Five Scorpions Valley, due to a moment's folly, I grew estranged from my sworn brothers... Now, looking back, I truly regret it deeply."

Chen Yi's face was full of bitterness: "But I have a certain predicament, and I heard that you helped my fifth sister's orphaned family and later took in my second sister. I came specifically to express my thanks..."

'Thank me? Isn't he here to tie up loose ends?' Fang Xing thought sarcastically.

However, he instinctively felt that Chen Yi seemed more dangerous than before.

He wasn't a cultivator and didn't have the keen spiritual senses to gauge Chen Yi's cultivation level, but he trusted his martial instincts!

'Wasn't Chen Yi at the mid-stage of the Qi Refinement realm? Even if he reached the sixth level, it shouldn't pose a threat to me... unless he's recently broken through to the late stage?'

A slight chill ran through Fang Xing's heart; it seemed quite unlikely.

After all, most cultivators in the market had poor spiritual root aptitudes and some remained stuck at a bottleneck for their entire lives.

Chen Yi had struggled for half a lifetime and only associated with innate warriors, which indicated his lack of talent and opportunities, likely doomed to stay at the mid-stage Qi Refinement.

True geniuses of cultivation would never choose to mingle with martial artists.

But in life, nothing is absolute!

At his age, managing to break the bottleneck from mid-stage to late-stage Qi Refinement clearly pointed to an extraordinary 'stroke of fortune' he encountered!

(This chapter is complete)

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(End of Chapter)