Chapter 381: Don’t Show Off Your Wealth

　　The whole of Nanjiang’s Catacombs was in chaos.

　　A high-ranked war was considered normal.

　　However, outside of Gigantic Willow City, news of three petty thieves who were on a folk martial artist killing spree was continuously being disseminated to those within the city.

　　A large number of Gigantic Willow Divine Guards were dispatched; these scoundrels needed to be killed!

　　As if that were not enough, apart from these thieves, there was also a Rank-8 powerhouse who was madly slaughtering martial artists from the nearby towns.

　　As a last resort, several powerhouses who were originally guarding Cretaceous City were recalled to carry out a siege on said powerhouse.

　　The situation here was not yet under control before a Rank-7 appeared in another part of the city and began carrying out sneak attacks on the Gigantic Willow Divine Guards.

　　The whole of Royal City was reeling as if in a raging storm.

　　If not for the tutelary, the situation would already have been chaotic.

　　Gigantic Willow City aside, the powerhouses of Gigantic Pine City were also being dispatched on a large scale. Having learned their lesson, however, Gigantic Pine City had stepped up their defenses to prevent infiltration of the city.

　　They were still considered some distance from the passageway, and for the time being, they did not want to be completely drawn into the mire of war.

　　…

　　Fang Ping was not aware of any of this.

　　He only knew that a large number of Divine Guards had left Gigantic Willow City, and high-ranked powerhouses were also continuously flying out.

　　Despite a long wait, none of the high-ranked powerhouses were to be seen in the air.

　　The whole of Gigantic Willow City started descending into turmoil.

　　The constant departure of high-ranked powerhouses was causing panic amongst some people in the Royal City.

　　Before this, there were already venerables who had been killed, chieftains who had died in battle, and a large number of generals who had fallen.

　　If this were placated in a timely manner, then things would quickly tide over.

　　However, things had not yet been fully placated before Royal City was broken into, causing the city to suffer heavy losses once again. A lot of people were killed, causing confusion in the hearts of the people of the Royal City.

　　This was still not the end of it. The Willow King had just returned and there were already Gigantic Willow Divine Guards being killed outside the city; there was also annihilation and destruction of cities and towns.

　　Gigantic Willow City, which had just gone through a war, was thrown into chaos by all these events.

　　These misfortunes, which happened one after the other, caused the people to feel unsettled.

　　…

　　In a place that Fang Ping and the others were not aware of.

　　In the distant central mountains.

　　Several strong auras rose in an instant!

　　Nine Southern Territory’s misfortune had been discovered.

　　“Go back!”

　　The next moment, an earth-shaking colossal figure rose into the air. The void quaked and line upon line of black cracks began to form across the sky!

　　“Go back!” The towering figure shouted again.

　　“Humph!”

　　“Don’t force me!”

　　“War King, how dare you stop us!”

　　“Get lost! You were the ones to break the rules first—that’s tantamount to forcing us into a life-and-death struggle!”

　　“Ridiculous!”

　　“Try it and see!”

　　“Then we shall see!”

　　“Boom!”

　　The next moment, a few auras that could shatter the void surged out from the distant central mountains.

　　The towering phantom referred to as War King, now casting a shadow over heaven and earth, said coldly, “Then war it is!”

　　As soon as he said this, in a distant place, as if in another world, a voice took up the cry, bellowing, “War!”

　　The voice penetrated over thousands of miles, filled with murderous intent!

　　From more than one place where thriving force had appeared previously came the response from some people through space.

　　“It has long been my desire to kill to my heart’s content. The martial artists of our generation have fought countless battles—we have never been afraid!”

　　“Even if we were to be annihilated, we would also make you suffer!”

　　“…”

　　One after another the streaks of thriving force permeated throughout the universe, traversing millions of miles!

　　On the other side of the mountains, at the same time, a sense of powerfully strong oppression arose.

　　For a long time, both sides quietened down and the thriving force faded. After a moment, the Forbidden Mountain Range regained its silence.

　　Some high-ranked monsters had been frighteningly silent all throughout. Only now did a few of these high-ranked monsters glance around warily in fear.

　　…

　　All these seemed to be happening in another world.

　　Fang Ping and the rest knew nothing about it.

　　At the moment, Fang Ping was still thinking of the energy shop.

　　“On my own, I can’t do much…I have to create some confusion!”

　　Fang Ping stroked his chin and thought, ‘How do I create chaos?’

　　With the Willow Tree Monster guarding Gigantic Willow City, it would be very difficult to do anything of the sort.

　　“There are also a large number of folk martial artists in the Catacombs. Don’t tell me these martial artists aren’t the slightest bit ambitious or greedy?

　　Fang Ping thought of the plaza he went to previously, where a large number of folk martial artists had gathered.

　　‘If I were there, and scattered a few hundred energy stones around, would it create confusion?’

　　Fang Ping was not too sure. If there was order, it might not necessarily cause confusion.

　　If someone were to mess up, however, then there would definitely be a riot.

　　If the Willow Tree Monster were to quell the situation though, it would also give him a chance.

　　‘The main point is I can’t bear to throw away the energy stones.’

　　Fang Ping was mentally rambling on. The next time when he returned to the surface, he would see if it might be possible to make a batch of fake energy stones, the type that emitted energy but did not have much energy in them.

　　It would not be difficult to create with human technology, right?

　　If he threw out a few hundred high-quality energy stones, he did not believe that no one here would be tempted.

　　It was not just the martial artists from the Catacombs—even humans would be tempted. If there were hundreds of cultivation-aiding energy stones on the ground, people would be bashing heads over them.

　　There might not be killing.

　　Snatching and scrambling, however, would be inevitable.

　　People’s hearts were never completely incorruptible.

　　“There’s no other way now. Since I can’t create fake ones, I’ll just have to use real ones!”

　　Fang Ping pondered for a moment. He could try robbing one shop first and test the waters by throwing out the stones, mixing in a few high-quality stones for good measure. If he detonated the high-quality energy stones, would that add to the confusion?

　　‘It’s worth a try!’

　　By the time he got to this point in his thoughts, Fang Ping hesitated no longer.

　　He walked into a small energy stone exchange shop where there were not many people. It was divided into two rooms. In the outer room, two Rank-3 martial artists were responsible for the stone exchanges. In the inner room was a Rank-5 martial artist who was guarding the energy stones.

　　These energy stones were probably transported away on a set schedule, as the energy fluctuations sensed by Fang Ping were not too strong.

　　As Fang Ping was currently wearing a Rank-3 Medal, the two martial artists who were responsible for the stone exchanges did not pay too much attention. There were also two or three customers in the store who were in the midst of their exchanges.

　　Fang Ping saw one of them with a small cloth sack pouring at least 70 or 80 quail egg-sized ordinary energy stones onto the counter. The stones looked as if they weighed two or three catties at the very least, in excess of a kilogram.

　　In MCMAU, the lowest grade would be 1 credit per gram, and the higher grades 30 credits per gram.

　　Fang Ping did some sensing; this was not the lowest grade. The lowest grade would have an extremely low energy content.

　　At MCMAU, this type of stone would be worth a minimum of 3 to 5 credits per gram.

　　Even if it was only 3 credits, it would be 90 thousand per gram. The number of energy stones here was already worth hundreds of millions!

　　As a result, the Rank-3 martial artist who was responsible for the exchange went to the back of the counter. After a while, he took out a small energy stone of about 5 grams and threw it to the other party.

　　Fang Ping was dumbfounded!

　　What sort of exchange rate was this?

　　A hundred million in exchange for 5 million?

　　20 to 1?

　　This was far too unscrupulous!

　　The ordinary people in the Catacombs were to be pitied!

　　With that, the martial artist, who was also a Rank-3, bowed and scraped with thanks, his face full of excitement.

　　Ordinary energy stones could not be used for cultivation.

　　Even if they were used for cultivation, because of the presence of too many impurities, this could easily result in mixed energies, which were extremely fatal to Catacombs martial artists.

　　If the stones could not be exchanged, they could only be used for mundane tasks, like cooking a meal or lighting a lamp…

　　A stone could only be used for cultivation if it could be exchanged. Even if not much was exchanged, it was enough for the Catacombs martial artists to feel excited.

　　At this moment, Fang Ping already had thoughts on how to wrestle business away from the Catacombs’ Royal City.

　　F*ck, if he were to open an exchange shop…he would make a fortune!

　　Humans could carry out energy purification of energy stones, which was also the result of many years of research. Of course, the expenditure was too high and the energy loss was high as well.

　　This was also the reason why basic energy stones and high-quality stones could differ in value by up to 30 times.

　　The actual difference in the energy contained by both types of stones was not really 30 times. Even the lowest-ranked crude ore had a general energy purity of about 30%, which was only 3 times less than high-quality stones. The value differed by 30 times because it included the purification costs.

　　In other words, if Fang Ping were to open a shop here, the profit margin could be as high as 20 times his original expenditure!

　　‘This is faster than robbery!

　　‘No, robbery is a cost-free business, whereas this would require capital.

　　‘No that’s not right either, this is cost-free mining, which is more cost-effective than going to mine myself.

　　‘…’

　　Various thoughts went through Fang Ping’s mind.

　　Soon, Fang Ping thought of something again. This energy stone of about 5 grams was considered his—he could not let the other party take it away!

　　Seeing that the other party was leaving, Fang Ping unleashed his Mentality instantaneously, breaking through to 700 Hz of Mentality. As he targeted his outburst towards these martial artists from the three lower ranks, it was the equivalent of a nuclear weapon, killing instantly!

　　In a flash, the Rank-3 martial artists were frozen in place.

　　It seemed quiet inside the store.

　　Fang Ping did not give the Rank-5 martial artist in the inner room a chance to react. The range of a Rank-7 martial artist’s Mentality was generally more than 30 meters. Among the powerhouses, there were even those who had a range of 100 meters.

　　Of course, Fang Ping was not as good as a Rank-7 powerhouse, but his Mentality range was close to 10 meters at the moment.

　　The distance between the inner and outer rooms was almost within this range.

　　The next moment, Fang Ping unleashed the full force of his Mentality!

　　A grunt came from the inner room. Fang Ping did not bother thinking—instead, with one punch, he smashed the metal railing and rushed in it at once!

　　When he rushed into the room, the Rank-5 powerhouse was beginning to sober up. Upon seeing Fang Ping’s intrusion, he opened his mouth to call out a warning.

　　This place was within the city, and the security of the Royal City was considered quite good.

　　Even if there was some chaos at this moment, not all the Gigantic Willow Divine Guards had left. In addition, there were a large number of Gigantic Willow troops. Whoever was foolhardy enough to cause a disturbance in the city would inevitably be killed by the Gigantic Willow troops.

　　The Rank-5 was about to shout when Fang Ping’s Mentality unleashed in full force again, his Wealth continuously replenishing his Mentality.

　　Around the area, he also laid down Mentality Shields.

　　The other party was struggling violently, unleashing all the energy within his body to keep crushing at Fang Ping’s Mentality. If it were Yao Chengjun, he would be helpless, unable to do anything except continue fighting.

　　Fang Ping paid no attention to these things. He had a lot of Wealth to supplement his Mentality, so he just continued with his consumption!

　　A huge amount of Mentality kept surging out. Although it was not very strong, it was still enough against a Rank-5 martial artist.

　　After suppressing his opponent, Fang Ping did not wait. His Chaos-vanquishing saber appeared out of thin air, and he sent a slash toward his opponent’s neck.

　　“No!”

　　Although the Mentality attack had caused his thoughts to be sluggish, his opponent was still very aware of the approaching threat of death. As a large amount of blood sprayed from his mouth, the other party broke free of Fang Ping’s control the next moment!

　　The Rank-5 powerhouse responsible for guarding the shop was not too weak; he was probably an Upper-stage Rank-5 powerhouse.

　　The minute he broke free of Fang Ping’s control, a vicious look flashed through the Rank-5’s eyes. Just as he was just about to counter attack, Fang Ping growled, “Explode!”

　　A silent explosion shook the enclosed space. A ripple appeared in the Mentality shield, and the shield shattered.

　　Fang Ping’s face was slightly pale. This was indeed not so easy to do.

　　When Mentality was self-detonated, it was sometimes too dangerous.

　　All it took was a bit of carelessness and weak control, and his foundation would be irreparably damaged. Even if there was Wealth for replenishment, it would be impossible to restore.

　　‘I can’t do this any more next time!’

　　Fang Ping admonished himself. At this moment, the self-detonated Mentality explosion had caused the Upper-stage Rank-5 powerhouse to bleed from every orifice. Even though he did not die, his thoughts were blown to a standstill.

　　Fang Ping hesitated no longer; with one swing of his saber, he cut his opponent’s head off!

　　‘It’s so easy to kill an Upper-stage Rank-5!’

　　Fang Ping was somewhat smug, but he also knew that unlike him, other people might not be able to do the same.

　　Would even the Grandmasters dare to self-detonate their Mentality?

　　Not unless they were determined to die, and would most probably perish together with the other party.

　　Having dispatched of his enemy, Fang Ping was worried about further in-coming customers. Without delay, he hurriedly groped about the other party’s body, took out a few high-quality energy stones, and put them into his bag.

　　Then, he used his saber to cut open the iron door behind his dead opponent.

　　“Boom!”

　　An explosion rang out. Although it was not a soft sound, Fang Ping paid no attention to it. The Mentality shield around him was in place again; it set off a ripple, but the sound did not carry.

　　This kind of warning device was no defense against the high-ranks.

　　If the high-ranks were to rob the store, the store would not be able to stop them.

　　Without reaching the higher ranks, it was difficult for ordinary martial artists to lay down a Mentality shield. Even a Peak Rank-6 might not do so as it consumed too much Mentality.

　　Fang Ping did not pay too much attention; he quickly opened the iron door. Behind the door was a small secret room.

　　In the secret room, there were piles of low-quality energy stones and a small number of high-quality energy stones.

　　Fang Ping did not hesitate—high-quality or low-quality, he stored it all into his storage space.

　　In just a few seconds, Fang Ping had committed both murder and robbery.

　　The next moment, Fang Ping walked out of the shop and closed the door.

　　Of course, this would not be able to remain hidden for long.

　　Martial artists of the three lower ranks might not be able to detect anything, but once Middle-stage Rank-3 martial artists passed by, they would quickly be able to smell the blood.

　　Next time, perhaps he should ask someone to design something odor-eliminating for him to bring along, although he was not sure if it would have any effect in the Catacombs.

　　Fang Ping considered all this; calmly and indifferently he walked out of the shop and blended in with the flow of people.

　　This shop was not big; there were not many energy stones and very few high-quality ones.

　　Fang Ping was now considering whether or not to create confusion and keep doing it on a large scale or to continue robbing a few small shops now and be done with it.

　　Soon, Fang Ping made a decision. He would first hit a few small shops. If he were discovered, then he would do it on a large scale and create confusion.

　　‘Maybe I shouldn’t focus on these shops…I should focus on the giant mine below!’

　　Fang Ping’s eyes gleamed. To create a little more chaos, he could pay a small price, bury a few high-quality energy stones underground within a 10-meter range—his Mentality could detonate them!

　　One explosion and he could blow up the ground.

　　If there was an explosion and there were tremors everywhere, even if the Willow Tree Monster could sense it, this was outside the city and it would first sense the place where the explosion occurred.

　　Fang Ping might be able to take the opportunity to pass through the area where the willow roots were located and go below ground.

　　If he could find a place with a sewer opening, then he could go down silently and undetected.

　　‘If you want to make money, you have to be willing to spend on capital!’

　　Fang Ping kept calculating the pros and cons. These were just a handful of high-quality energy stones. If they exploded, so be it. Dangers could never be overcome without risks.

　　Anyway, he still had a lot of energy stones but too few high-quality ones. Maybe it would be better to dig and take away more of the low-quality ones instead.

　　…

　　Just when Fang Ping started planning to detonate the high-quality stones and dig for low-quality ones.

　　Qin Fengqing and the rest were once more in the predicament of being hunted down.

　　At the moment, Qin Fengqing was holding a high-quality energy stone the size of a thumb. He was a little bit reluctant, and felt it was too extravagant!

　　It was really too extravagant to absorb high-quality stones while on the run!

　　“Just absorb it!”

　　Qin Fengqing gritted his teeth and absorbed it. After all, if it was wasted, then let it be wasted!

　　Recently, having absorbed too many low-quality stones, there were too many energy impurities in his body. If he were to continue absorbing low-quality stones, then his body’s Vitality Force might retaliate.

　　While absorbing the energy stone, Qin Fengqing was trying to find a silver lining. “We can be a bit extravagant. Fang Ping is a stingy man. I’m afraid during his lifetime, he’s never done anything like this. If he were to encounter a high-purity level energy stone, no matter what, he would not take it out…”

　　“It’s indeed quite extravagant.” Li Hansong also began to absorb the high-quality energy stone and felt quite satisfied deep down.

　　To consume this sort of energy stone while on the run was indeed a rare experience.

　　In the future, he could at least brag that he had used cultivation-aiding energy stones as if he were popping ordinary Vitality Pills.

　　It was a pity that Fang Ping was not here right now and was unable to witness this. Otherwise, Fang Ping would be extremely contemptuous.

　　He would consider it a bore to see such a small energy stone.

　　Previously, when he had Life Essence worth trillions, he had also spilled it and exploded it as he pleased.

　　Even when he was poor, he had also detonated eight to ten high-quality energy stones the size of a quail’s egg whenever he wanted. Were these people saying they were more indulgent than him?

　　Poverty really limited the imagination of many people.