Chapter 27: Chapter 26 Fatty Wang
Afternoon.
Behind Yellow Dragon Square, in a cramped alleyway,
Ning Daoran operated the Body Tempering Technique, slightly altering his physique, making himself grow twenty centimeters taller to resemble a youth with prominent cheekbones, so no one would associate this individual with Ning Daoran.
After altering his appearance, he donned a cyan robe and stood before a cottage, casting two spells in succession to deactivate the secret prohibitions on the door.
“Is Young Master Wang back?”
A familiar voice came from the cottage.
Li Sandao!
Ning Daoran frowned; indeed, it was him.
With Ning Daoran’s caution, he had kept a low profile when taking missions from the Contribution Hall, leaving immediately without lingering, so few knew about Ning Daoran’s departure from the mountain.
Yet, the Wang Family from Stone Valley somehow received the news overnight and rushed to ambush near White Leaf Town—this was suspicious in itself.
Therefore, according to Ning Daoran’s conjecture, there must be a traitor within the sect.
Soul Searching Wang Xuantong and others indeed confirmed this point; Li Sandao, who served in the Contribution Hall, could see the missions being issued first-hand and knew the exact locations and times.
According to the agreement, once Wang Xuantong succeeded, he was to rendezvous at this secret base with Li Sandao and receive a certain reward.
The reward resided in Wang Xuantong’s Storage Bag, a First-tier Middle-grade Magical Artifact.
Ning Daoran chuckled to himself, so in Senior Brother Li’s eyes, his life was only worth a mid-grade magical artifact?
Ning Daoran pushed the door open, “How have you been, Senior Brother Li?”
“Ning Dao… you… Junior Brother Ning, you…”
Li Sandao turned towards the stranger but instantly recognized the person’s identity from the voice.
“Phut!”
Ning Daoran raised his hand to cover Li Sandao’s mouth; a section of the Qiushui Sword’s blade had stabbed into his abdomen.
“Senior Brother Li, my apologies.”
“Ugh~~~”
Li Sandao’s eyes widened as he struggled, but under Ning Daoran’s vice-like control, he could not break free.
“Phut!”
Another sword thrust into his chest, and bright red blood spilled onto the floor, adding a splash of color to the dim room.
“Senior Brother Li, you might as well wait obediently here for your reward and from now on, not go anywhere else.”
“Phut! Phut! Phut!”
Stab after stab turned Li Sandao’s chest cavity into mush.
Then, he shot out a Fireball Technique, reducing him to ashes.
Exiting the door, he left the area in a cyan robe.
Soon after, he turned into another inconspicuous alley and reemerged in the guise of Ning Daoran.
He visited Qingfu Square to create evidence that he had been in Yellow Dragon Square, then Ning Daoran returned to the sect with Big Stupid Deer.
Spiritual Field Courtyard Number 77.
Big Stupid Deer was clanging around the kitchen cooking, while Ning Daoran sat in the living room on the first floor, reviewing the entire incident in detail.
Through Soul Searching the four from the Wang family and Li Sandao, he concluded that the residual risk from this operation was very low, with almost no thread leading back to him.
Firstly, the Wang family hadn’t made their actions public, as it wasn’t something to be proud of, and they feared Chaotic Sect’s discovery and accountability.
Thus, only the Wang Family’s patriarch and three Late-stage Qi Refining members knew of this matter, and it was only these four that went out to ambush.
Unfortunately, what they thought was a certainty had backfired.
From Li Sandao’s side, it was also safe, as he knew that what he was doing was a disgrace to the sect. Chaotic Sect’s rules were strict, strictly forbidding disciples from killing each other.
This kind of fratricide, once discovered, meant certain death for Li Sandao and could even implicate his family.
Thus, Li Sandao kept this matter secret.
Moreover, Ning Daoran was good at hiding; equipped with a Perfect-level Concealing Breath Technique, no one would think a Mid-stage Qi Refining disciple could be involved in this.
More importantly, at the scene of the battle, the apparition of a Silver Dragon had occurred, so no one would associate this incident with a mere Mid-stage Qi Refining disciple.
After all, what was the strength of those four high-ranking members of the Wang family, each capable of crushing this little Spirit Farmer from Qiongbi Peak?
The issue was resolved once and for all, and the peaceful days of cultivating Green Bamboo Spirit Rice on Qiongbi Peak were restored.
However, just to be safe, he decided not to go far for the next year or so!
Several days later.
The news of the demise of the Wang Family’s Foundation Establishment members finally spread throughout Yellow Dragon Square.
Word of mouth traveled that the Wang Family’s Foundation Establishment Ancestor, along with the Family Head Wang Liu, Elder Wang Xu, and the Young Master with a Fourth Grade Spirit Root, Wang Xuantong, had all perished!
Some said that on the day the incident occurred, there were phenomena between heaven and earth above the site, but many believed it to be fabricated and the story eventually dissipated without consequence.
However, the chain reaction caused by the fall of the Wang Family’s Foundation Establishment was fermenting.
First of all, the battle for their First-tier top-grade Spiritual Vein in Stone Valley began. Another Foundation Establishment Family, the Huang Family, had long coveted that spirit vein and had many disputes with the Wang family.
On the night it was confirmed that the Wang Family’s Foundation Establishment had fallen, the Huang Family’s Foundation Establishment Ancestor personally led the family’s disciples to seize the Spirit Vein and the Medicine Garden!
The Wang family dared to fight back, all those who resisted were put to death, the rest either surrendered or left.
The once-glorious Foundation Establishment Family in Shanyang County, the vast Wang family, just like that, disbanded into smoke and clouds.
Moreover, the fall of the Wang Family’s Foundation Establishment also caused some impact on Yellow Dragon Square.
The Wang family used to run a Golden Jade Pavilion, although the profits were far less than that of Qingfu Square, it still amounted to thousands of Spirit Stones annually. But with the death of their Foundation Establishment, they could no longer support the Golden Jade Pavilion.
In the end, an Outer Elder from the Chaotic Sect seized the opportunity, annulled the Pavilion’s contract, and resold the shop.
Acquired by the Huang Family for about seventy percent of the cost, the real winner turned out to be the Huang Family, which the Wang family had previously suppressed.
These events were naturally of no concern to Ning Daoran, who was cultivating his Spirit field at Qiongbi Peak.
In the courtyard,
Big Stupid Deer began practicing the Strengthening Technique.
Ning Daoran had never seen a Spiritual Beast train and was quite curious, so he sat nearby, watching with interest.
Big Stupid Deer practiced meticulously, every move precise, matching the professionalism Ning Daoran showed while practicing the Body Tempering Technique. Threads of Spiritual Power circulated on the surface of its body, and in less than ten days, Big Stupid Deer had reached the Entry-level.
Judging by the intensity of mana, Early Stage of Qi Refining!
In the Cultivation World, the current evaluation of Big Stupid Deer as a Demon Beast would be First-tier Lower Grade, still just a weakling in combat.
However, with the Strengthening Technique, Big Stupid Deer diligently practiced every day, only resting late at night, showing signs of “Blood Qi deficiency” after each session.
The Strengthening Technique is a Dual cultivation of magic and body, not only bolstering Blood Qi but also improving magic power, thus severely depleting Blood Qi.
Ning Daoran had no choice but to fish out a Spirit fish weighing at least three pounds from the pond in the backyard every night, plus a pot of Green Bamboo Spirit Rice, to replenish Big Stupid Deer’s Blood Qi and Spiritual Energy. Yet he still couldn’t keep up; this fellow trained too diligently!
His plan to stay sequestered for a few months before leaving the mountain was aborted. He had no choice but to make a trip to the Workshop, to buy some so-called Demon meat specifically for replenishing Blood Qi.
The next day, at the backstreet of Yellow Dragon Square, the black market.
Ning Daoran, dressed as an Outer Disciple and displaying a cultivation controlled at Qi Refining Fourth Level, naively walked through the black market with Big Stupid Deer.
Eventually, he stopped in front of a butcher shop.
There were many kinds of Blood Food hanging in the meat shop, most of which were First-tier Lower Grade Demon Beast Meat, and then some unrecognizable meat of unknown origin.
The butcher was a fatty named Wang, known as Fatty Wang.
With a body like a mountain of flesh, he must have weighed over six hundred pounds.
“Do you need Demon meat, Fellow Daoist?”
“That’s right.”
Ning Daoran patted Big Stupid Deer’s head and said with a smile, “My Spiritual Beast is practicing the Spiritual Beast Secret, hence it requires certain Blood Food.”
“Oh?”
Fatty Wang squinted his eyes and said with a smile, “The Spiritual Beast Secret has formidable strength, and its practice extremely depletes Blood Qi.
Ordinary Spirit fish, Spiritual Sheep, or First-tier Lower Grade Demon Beast Meat probably won’t suffice for such Blood Qi consumption. I suggest, young fellow daoist, that you should buy some Tai Sui Meat to take back.”
“Tai Sui Meat?”
Ning Daoran was surprised, “I heard that’s what Jianghu Martial Artists eat when they train. You have that too, boss?”
“I have some, I have some.”
Fatty Wang grinned, “You underestimate my shop, little brother. Yellow Dragon Square is the biggest in Shanyang County. It’s not difficult to get some Tai Sui Meat here.”
He pulled out a piece of meat, weighing tens of pounds, that looked to be white, but was rich with Blood Qi and Spiritual Energy, the lowest grade of White Tai Sui Meat.
It was said that Martial Artists in the Blood Qi Realm often consumed this kind of White Tai Sui Meat to progress in their training.
“Boss.”
Ning Daoran squinted and said with a smile, “I have a long-term need, so give me a regular customer price. If it’s suitable, I will continue to patronize your business later.”
“Sure thing!”
Fatty Wang said, “One Spirit Stone for two pounds of white meat. Considering that the little brother is a disciple of the Chaotic Sect, others can’t get this price in my shop.”
“Deal.”
Ning Daoran immediately took out twenty Spirit Stones and bought forty pounds of white meat from the shop before returning to the Sect.
With the assurance of Blood Qi replenishment, Ning Daoran cut up one pound of White Tai Sui Meat for Big Stupid Deer daily, sparing it from appearing Blood Qi deficient every night.
Every half a month or so, Ning Daoran would have to descend the mountain to purchase Blood Food for Big Stupid Deer.
As for the spoils from the four members of the Wang family,
the Wang Family’s Foundation Establishment level Golden blade, along with several Magic Artifacts, all needed a suitable opportunity to be fenced.
To be safe, Ning Daoran had no plans to pawn these items in Yellow Dragon Square; the chances of being recognized were simply too high. His current strength was still quite feeble, so it was best not to touch risky matters.
So wait it out, he might need to travel far soon.
This night, the moon was bright and the stars dim.
Ning Daoran patrolled the fish pond, sweeping through with his Divine Sense without restraint. Suddenly, something was amiss – the total number of Spirit fish in the pond was significantly less, and he and Big Stupid Deer hadn’t eaten that many!
Even including Chen Weimo, how many could that little girl eat?
Soon, his Divine Sense locked onto the culprit.
It turned out to be a large black creature hidden deep within the silt, nearly a meter in length, and astonishingly already possessing the First-tier Lower Grade Evil Qi!
“Good fellow, daring to eat into my resources?!” Ning Daoran was furious.