The Gu Yue clan, inner estate.
Compared with the outer estate, where filthy water flowed everywhere and spiritual energy was thin, the inner estate was an entirely different world of immortal splendor. Built against the mountains, its immortal abodes were nestled among ancient pines and emerald cypresses. Dense spiritual mist drifted through the air, and a single breath here was worth a full day's bitter cultivation in the outer estate.
Fang Cunsheng stood before his own private abode, calmly gazing at the three characters carved into the lintel: “Qingfeng Residence.”
“Brother Cunsheng... No, Senior Brother Fang! We really moved into the inner estate!”
A-Xing followed behind him, carrying two large bundles. His grin stretched practically from ear to ear. Because Fang Cunsheng had rendered a great service, his only attendant, A-Xing, had also been granted special permission to enter the inner estate and care for Fang Cunsheng's daily needs.
“This is only the beginning. Put the things down.” Fang Cunsheng said it flatly before walking alone into the depths of the abode.
As soon as he entered the secret chamber, Fang Cunsheng casually set up a simple soundproof formation—one of the rewards from the outer estate. Then he collapsed onto the stone bed as though all his strength had left him, his face turning deathly pale.
“Buzz...”
Within his sea of consciousness, the stone fragment shook violently. For the past three days, in order to conceal his meridians and cultivation from any possible probing by the Gu Yue clan's Nascent Soul patriarch, he had driven the stone fragment to disguise them at any cost. Now that he had finally relaxed, wave after wave of ripping pain tore through his mind.
He took a deep breath, flipped his hand, and pulled two low-grade spirit stones from his robes, gripping them in his palms as he began circulating his cultivation technique with his eyes closed.
As spiritual power flowed in and out, the karmic Buddha bone within him, glowing with violet-gold light, lit up once again. The newly exchanged inner-estate cultivation technique circulated through his body for several cycles, absorbing spiritual energy more than ten times faster than his former garbage technique. In less than half an hour, his previously dried-up dantian was once again filled with the abundant spiritual power of peak seventh-level Qi Condensation.
“The inner estate's resources truly can't compare with the outer estate's. But the dangers here are a hundred times greater as well.”
Fang Cunsheng opened his eyes, his gaze cold.
He took out all the storage bags he had looted from the two dead Foundation Establishment elders and Gu Yue Gang. After wiping away their faint imprints, he dumped the contents onto the stone bed, sorting them into piles.
Aside from more than five hundred low-grade spirit stones and more than a dozen bottles of high-quality Spirit-Gathering Pills, what drew Fang Cunsheng's attention most was a dark-red jade slip in the red-faced elder's storage bag.
Fang Cunsheng pressed the jade slip to his forehead, sending a thread of spiritual power into it.
The next moment, four blood-red characters exploded in his mind: Blood Fiend Sealing Heaven Formation.
After carefully reading through the contents of the jade slip, Fang Cunsheng's gaze grew increasingly deep. This was the fiendish formation the two elders had used beside the cold pool three days ago to suppress the Black Bear Great Demon.
“No wonder the Gu Yue clan was willing to use the lives of three hundred servants as the ‘Blood Fiend Lure.’” Fang Cunsheng sneered.
This formation was extraordinarily vicious. It required the vital essence and resentment of a large number of cultivators as bait, transforming them into blood-fiend energy that forcibly severed an area’s karmic connection to the spiritual energy of Heaven and Earth. In this way, it could seal or trap and kill powerful enemies. On the surface, the Gu Yue clan was an orthodox and respectable sect, but in secret, it cultivated this fiendish art that casually slaughtered hundreds of people. If word got out, it would likely immediately draw the encirclement and suppression of the immortal sects of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Yet what shocked Fang Cunsheng even more was a secret recorded at the very end of the jade slip concerning the Heaven-Mending Spirit Marrow.
“The Heaven-Mending Spirit Marrow inside Gu Yue Wuxia wasn't something she was born with at all. A hundred years ago, the Gu Yue clan forcibly seized it from an ancient immortal ruin—a fragment of Heaven's fortune!”
Fang Cunsheng shot to his feet, violet light surging in his eyes.
According to the record, a hundred years ago, the Gu Yue clan's patriarch discovered this remnant of Heaven's fortune in a secret realm. But the fortune was so violent that no mortal body could withstand it. Thus, the Gu Yue clan used a secret technique to seal the fortune inside the newborn Gu Yue Wuxia, turning her into a living “fortune vessel.”
The reason Gu Yue Wuxia's cultivation speed had been astonishing over the years, earning her the title of the Gu Yue clan's foremost prodigy, was entirely the nourishment provided by this fragment of fortune.
However, a few days ago, when Gu Yue Wuxia attempted to break through to ninth-level Qi Condensation, the fragment of fortune inside her suddenly ran amok. It began violently devouring her body and soul. Without a sacred treasure of extreme yin and coldness like the Ninefold Nether Profound Water to neutralize that violent flame of fortune, Gu Yue Wuxia would spontaneously combust and die within seven days, and the fragment of fortune inside her would dissipate completely.
“So that's how it is... No wonder Chief Steward Xu lost his composure so badly when he saw the Ninefold Nether Profound Water.”
Fang Cunsheng stood in the center of the secret chamber, the corner of his mouth curving into a dangerous smile.
At that moment, his Eye of Cause and Effect seemed to cross the void. He saw an incomparably thick golden thread of cause and effect extending from the white jade bottle in his hand—the bottle that had originally contained the Ninefold Nether Profound Water—straight toward the “Wuxia Immortal Hall” at the very heart of the inner estate.
At the end of that golden thread, a violently crimson flame was burning with terrifying intensity, as though it might devour the entire immortal hall at any moment.
That was the flame of Heaven's fortune within Gu Yue Wuxia!
“Gu Yue clan, do you think that getting the Ninefold Nether Profound Water will let you preserve your peerless prodigy and the fortune your family has accumulated over the past century?”
Fang Cunsheng sneered again and again.
They had no idea that although the so-called Ninefold Nether Profound Water was extremely yin and cold on the surface, Fang Cunsheng had tampered with it while filling the bottle with the Ancient Buddha Blade at the bottom of the cold pool.
He had mixed a strand of the Ancient Buddha Blade's own Great Sun Tathagata Demon-Subduing Karmic Fire into the profound water!
That karmic fire was extraordinarily well concealed. Even a Foundation Establishment or Core Formation cultivator would mistake it for the violent cold energy naturally contained in the Ninefold Nether Profound Water unless they examined it carefully.
But once Gu Yue Wuxia swallowed the bottle of Ninefold Nether Profound Water and tried to suppress the flame of fortune within her... when water and fire merged, that strand of Buddhist karmic fire would ignite instantly!
When the time came, the Buddhist karmic fire, the flame of Heaven's fortune, and the frigid energy of the Ninefold Netherworld would erupt simultaneously inside Gu Yue Wuxia. The spectacle would be absolutely magnificent.
“Gu Yue Wuxia, I'm very much looking forward to the day you break through.” Fang Cunsheng slowly clenched his fists.
At the same time, in another hidden and luxurious abode within the inner estate.
Smack!
A resounding slap echoed deafeningly through the empty hall.
Li Da, the outer-estate steward, was sent flying several yards by a terrifying burst of spiritual power. He slammed heavily into a stone pillar, spraying mouthfuls of blood as if it cost him nothing.
Standing before him was a middle-aged man in a blood-red robe with a sinister expression. His entire body radiated an oppressive might comparable to peak Foundation Establishment. Mad fury flickered in his hawk-like eyes.
This man was a powerful figure with real authority in the inner estate—and Gu Yue Gang's biological father, Gu Yue Hai.
“Useless! You couldn't even lead an expedition team properly! Not only did Gang'er die, you also lost two elders and the jade slip containing the Blood Fiend Sealing Heaven Formation! You still have the nerve to come back and whine to me?!” Gu Yue Hai glared fixedly at Li Da, who trembled on his knees. He wished he could kill this younger brother of his with a single palm strike.
“Big Brother, spare me! This really can't be blamed on me!” Li Da ignored the agony in his face, scrambling and crawling back to Gu Yue Hai's feet before frantically kowtowing.
“It was that damned Fang Cunsheng! It had to be him! All three hundred lowly slaves died, so why was that one third-level Qi Condensation trash the only one who survived? Gang'er's death definitely has something to do with him!”
Gu Yue Hai snorted coldly, a murderous glint flashing in his eyes.
“Do you take me for a fool? A piece of trash at third-level Qi Condensation who only managed to break through to fourth-level Qi Condensation by luck—could he have killed Gang'er? Could he have killed two late-Foundation Establishment elders and the Core Formation Black Bear Demon?!”
“This...” Li Da was rendered speechless, his face deathly pale. Indeed, even he himself didn't believe that explanation.
“However...” Gu Yue Hai changed tack, poisonous light glittering in his eyes. “Better to kill a thousand by mistake than let one slip through. Gang'er is dead, so why should that lowly servant be allowed to rise to the heavens in a single step and enjoy wealth and glory? Chief Steward Xu may have removed his servant status, but the inner estate isn't an easy place to survive.”
“You mean...” Li Da's eyes suddenly lit up.
“Wuxia Young Master is about to marry the direct daughter of the Wang Immortal Clan. We need to select a group of ‘steward personnel’ from among the inner-estate disciples to travel to Jinling City and purchase all kinds of immortal-family wedding gifts. That place is a chaotic mix of all sorts, and rogue cultivator bandits appear there constantly. The death of one or two newly admitted inner-estate disciples would be perfectly normal.”
Gu Yue Hai sneered and tossed Li Da a command token.
“Go. Put Fang Cunsheng's name on the list. I want him dead in the chaotic wilderness of Jinling City before he has even had time to warm a seat in the inner estate!”
“Yes! Big Brother is brilliant! I'll take care of it right away!” Li Da caught the command token, a cruel and twisted smile spreading across his face.
Fang Cunsheng, you despicable servant. Don't think that moving into the inner estate makes you safe.
This steward will show you that the fury of an ancient cultivation house is something an ant like you cannot withstand!
Three days later, at Qingfeng Residence.
Fang Cunsheng was cultivating bitterly in the secret chamber with his eyes closed when the defensive formation outside the abode suddenly shook violently.
“Junior Brother Fang Cunsheng, are you there? An edict has been issued by the inner-estate Transmission Hall. Come out immediately and receive it!”
An arrogant, cold voice pierced through the formation and echoed throughout the cavern abode.
Fang Cunsheng slowly opened his eyes. A flash of violet light flickered deep within his pupils, and a cold smile of anticipation curved his lips.
“They're here.”
He put away the Ancient Buddha Blade, firmly suppressed his cultivation at the early fourth level of Qi Condensation, changed into the newly issued blue robes of an inner-estate disciple, and strode out of the secret chamber.
Two inner-estate disciples from the Transmission Hall stood at the entrance to the abode, each dressed in silver Daoist robes. They wore arrogant expressions as they looked down at Fang Cunsheng, their eyes filled with disdain and disgust. In the eyes of these orthodox inner-estate disciples, an outer-estate servant like Fang Cunsheng who had risen to the heavens by luck would always be a lowborn nobody.
“You're Fang Cunsheng?” The leading disciple shot him a cold glance and tossed out a golden edict.
Fang Cunsheng hurriedly put on an expression of “trepidation” and accepted the edict with both hands. “This humble one... Disciple Fang Cunsheng is here. May I ask what orders the two senior brothers have?”
“Hmph. At least you know your place.” The leading disciple snorted. “Wuxia Young Master is about to marry the direct daughter of the Wang Immortal Clan. This is an unprecedented grand occasion for the Gu Yue clan in a hundred years. The inner estate is assigning a group of disciples to travel to the Tianbao Pavilion in Jinling City to purchase the spirit herbs and gifts needed for the wedding.”
“Chief Steward Xu remembered your contribution in collecting the water and personally added your name to the list. This is a lucrative assignment, and you won't lack benefits once you reach Jinling City. Assemble at the drill grounds first thing tomorrow morning. Any delay will be punished severely!”
With that, the two disciples didn't even wait for Fang Cunsheng to answer. They stepped onto their flying swords and shot into the sky as two streaks of silver light.
Fang Cunsheng stood where he was and slowly unfolded the golden edict in his hands.
In his Eye of Cause and Effect, several strands of intensely dark calamity lines were now wrapped tightly around the brilliant golden edict. Their source pointed straight toward the direction of Gu Yue Hai's abode in the inner estate.
“Gu Yue Hai, Li Da... So these are your methods?”
Fang Cunsheng folded up the edict, and the killing intent in his eyes erupted without restraint.
They wanted to use the opportunity of an outside purchasing trip to kill him out there?
“What a shame. You have no idea that Jinling City... is also my home turf.”
Fang Cunsheng turned his head toward the enormous, ancient cultivation city to the north, its majesty swallowing mountains and rivers—Jinling City. The violet-gold karmic flames in his eyes began to burn with mad intensity.