The innkeeper had nearly forgotten how to breathe as he stared this pile of easy money, unable to even blink. “Yes…. Yes…. Right away….”

　　The group of people with Shimei Fu were even more surprised. Shimei Fu had only wanted to take the remaining superior room in a fit of pique; she hadn’t expected this newcomer to directly pour out a bunch of supreme-grade Spirit Stones to claim away all the superior rooms and get rid of them….

　　The awkwardness that befell the room was rather difficult to put into words.

　　With her family wealth, Shimei Fu might actually have over thirty Spirit Stones on hand, but she hesitated to take it all out so casually. Although she wanted to do so, she still ended up not saying anything.

　　“Why don’t you try raising the price!” Fang Xing coldly laughed while everyone else stared blankly at him. He then pulled out another storage sack and poured it all over the ground, revealing at least two hundred more supreme-grade Spirit Stones that released a mouth-watering shine and attracted everyone’s focus. Fang Xing stood to the side of the Spirit Stones and laughed, “If you’re so good, why don’t you continue raising the price? Your little grandpa here has plenty of money! I’ll show you country bumpkins something you’ve never seen before!”

　　When Shimei Fu heard this, her palms began to tremble and her face became even more purple than the Spirit Stones themselves. “I… I’m going to kill you, you little brat….” She finally couldn’t restrain herself any longer and drew her sword from the sheath with a tzin sound.

　　Seeing Shimei Fu begin to act, Fang Xing’s brows creased and a murderous intent began to sweep past. His Qi began to move and he prepared himself for a kill.

　　Just at this moment, however, a grey-robed elderly man suddenly looked towards Fang Xing in a peculiar manner before he shifted his body to stand between Shimei Fu and Fang Xing. He immediately activated his Qi to stop Shimei’s Fu attack, whispered something into her ear, and then turned to Fang Xing. “Little friend, it is nothing but a misunderstanding. It is best you take back these Spirit Stones. Let’s just not interfere with each other.”

　　“Hmph, you say not to interfere with each other, yet who was the first one to do so?” Fang Xing responded with a chilling manner while retrieving the supreme-grade Spirit Stones and looking frustratedly at the grey-robed elderly man.

　　“Heh, little friend, it’s common sense not to reveal your wealth so readily. Showing off in such a way will surely bring you trouble…” the grey-robed elderly man replied to Fang Xing with a chilling tone as well, his gaze flashing across with a fleeting moment of murderous intent.

　　“Haha, really? Unfortunately, I’d rather get myself into trouble than have my little sister getting bullied by a shrew!” Fang Xing laughed without a hint of apology before turning to the innkeeper with half a smile. “Innkeeper, will this be enough to take all the superior rooms? If not, I’ll be taking back all these Spirit Stones….”

　　Hearing this, the innkeeper immediately yelled at the staff beside him, “Are you deaf? Why aren’t you hurrying to clean out all the rooms for this little young master’s rats?” After he finished giving the order, he greedily drew all the Spirit Stones into his embrace without forgetting to politely smile at Shimei Fu. “Guests, it is unfortunate, but our inn has just been fully booked. Why don’t you stay the night elsewhere?”

　　With such a sharp turn of events, the expressions of that group of people became particularly dark. Not a single one could speak.

　　That grey-robed elderly man sneered before saying, “Innkeeper, we are from the Jing clan of the western deserts. Don’t let those Spirit Stones muddle your eyes!”

　　The innkeeper was a cultivator as well. His expression turned sour when he heard this, and he looked towards Fang Xing with a pitiful gaze.

　　Fang Xing just rolled his eyes at the innkeeper. “How are you going to earn Spirit Stones if you can’t even sort these things out?” He then took back the Spirit Stones from the front of the innkeeper as well, leaving behind only a single high-grade Spirit Stone. This left the innkeeper so upset he nearly formed tears.

　　“Little brat, no matter how arrogant you are now, I’ll make sure you don’t get to see tomorrow’s sun!” Shimei Fu suddenly shrieked, her voice echoing throughout the hall of the inn.

　　Fang Xing looked back at her with a cold gaze and laughed. “Then let me make sure you don’t get to see tomorrow’s moon! Let’s see who’s correct!” After that, he began to drag Chu Ci back upstairs, although he didn’t forget to turn back and scold her, “Tearing up after being so easily terrorized by a few country bumpkins, can you not grow up a bit more? Is that anything like how a princess should be? Even the fat widow cook back in Guiyan Valley had more guts than you do….”

　　Shimei Fu’s expression sank the furthest of the group. She looked at Fang Xing with hatred as he left and spoke up before anyone else had moved, “Uncle Hong, that little brat has bullied me too much. I must kill hm….”

　　The grey-robed elderly servant began to speak in a calm voice, “Those two are covered in dirt, but after a careful look at their robes, it seems they wear spirit robes with rather extraordinary quality—they might have some extraordinary background as well. Also, whether that boy did it intentionally or not, he revealed some of his aura and it seems he’s also in Foundation Stage. From the looks of it, the two of them could have come from some large clan as well to seek the grand opportunity….”

　　Shimei Fu was furious. “Uncle Hong, since when have we Jing clan ever been shamed like this before? Do you really want me to swallow all my pride on this?”

　　The old servant was a little troubled by this, and Shixiong Yuan beside him walked over with a bitter smile. “Shimei Fu, why is there the need for you to take them so seriously? That brat has flaunted his wealth in public, so I’m afraid there are going to be plenty of people watching him from the shadows. Even if he’s in Foundation Stage, how many people can he withstand all at once? I say, there are plenty of people here within the City of Appointed General who are too old to enter the Mysterious Domain. They might have no hope of the grand opportunity, but I’m sure they are definitely more than interested in earning a good fortune without much effort….”

　　“Hmph, I don’t care how many people want a piece of him! I want to kill him myself!” Jing Fu coldly declared.

　　The old servant sighed. “Since it is Young Miss’s order, I do not dare to disobey it. However, no matter what, Young Miss shall put the grand opportunity as the utmost priority. The grand elder has already sent over a message saying he’s obtained a formation pivot, allowing him to send you inside the Mysterious Domain first thing tomorrow morning. This cannot be delayed; even the grand elder cannot guarantee he’ll be able to maintain control over the pivot for longer than tomorrow morning, so we need to make it there on time.

　　How about this: leave this matter to me. I will have someone spy on them to see if they receive any messages from a shifu or elders. If nobody shows up for them, I alone will be enough just outside the City of Appointed General before sunrise….”

　　Jing Fu hesitated for a while, but she knew the cultivation level of Uncle Hong was higher than hers, and it would surely be more reliable for him to do this. Furthermore, her grand elder did say taking control of a pivot was not a simple task, so if she didn’t take this opportunity to enter the Mysterious Domain, she would have lost her chance. She could only agree and say, “In that case, it’s fine. Before sunrise, I will first go and seek the grand elder at the entrance of the Mysterious Domain. Uncle Hong, just killing that brat on your way to the pivot will be fine. After you’re done, come and tell me quickly so I can be at peace and seek my grand opportunity inside….”

　　At this moment, Shixiong Yuan came closer and spoke to Uncle Hong in a low voice, “It’s best to keep that girl alive.”

　　Jing Fu gave him a sharp stare like hammering a pin into steel. “Kill her off!” she yelled at Uncle Hong before turning to Shixiong Yuan once more. “If you still want to borrow the formation pivot my grand elder took over to enter the Mysterious Domain, it’s best you don’t provoke me further!” She turned and left, leaving these two men—one young, one old—standing with a bitter smile each.

　　—

　　After taking a bath and changing her clothes, Chu Ci came over to Fang Xing inside the inn room to discuss her concerns. “Fang Xiaojiu, what you did back there might be a bit much….”

　　Fang Xing scratched his ear. “What? Are you still upset after what I did to avenge you?”

　　Chu Ci forced out a smile. “It did make me feel better. Except… they seem to hate us even more. Won’t they bring trouble for us?”

　　Fang Xing laughed in response. “Why would I annoy them if they wouldn’t bring trouble?” As he spoke, he walked over to the window sill and spread out his spirit sense. After sweeping it across, he already had a general idea of what was going on. ‘Seven… eight… thirteen? Thirteen groups of people have their eyes on me. That’s a nice amount!’

　　“What are you looking at?” Chu Ci also came over and crammed in beside him at the window sill to glance towards the outside, although her cultivation was too low to see anything other than the curtain of the night sky and the tilted curve of the moon. Still, even though her cultivation level wasn’t high enough to sense the dangers hidden within the darkness, she wasn’t an idiot and was actually perhaps the elite of the elites within Spirit Stage—she still felt some danger subconsciously and wasn’t able to hide her worry. “Xiaojiu, when we leave the city tomorrow, is it going to be very dangerous?”

　　“Dangerous?” Fang Xing pressed his hand against Chu Ci’s head and spoke in a domineering manner, “What a joke. As long as you follow your Uncle Jiu closely like a good girl, I can assure your safe entry into the Mysterious Domain!”

　　Chu Ci shook her head but couldn’t shake off his hand, so she let him be. Unlike the last time the two had gotten into their verbal fights, she only let out a low “Nn” sound and quietly said, “Thank you… for today.” The little face that had just come from the bath seemed to be slightly flushed; as a proud princess, it was rare indeed for her to actually show thanks to anyone at all.

　　Fang Xing was rather surprised and showed a smirk, as though he’d just thought of something. “You want to thank me?”

　　“Of course. For you to stand by my side like that, I will naturally have to thank you!” Princess Chu Ci replied in a soft voice.

　　Fang Xing drew closer to Chu Ci, a bandit-like look shining in his eyes. “What’s the fun in only saying you’re thankful? Why not make it something real instead?”

　　Chu Ci’s little face raised and looked at him, her complexion flushing even more. “What’s… something real?”

　　Fang Xing released a loud laugh. He picked her up into his arms bridal style and carried her towards the large bed in the room.

　　This left Chu Ci terrified and she quickly grabbed ahold of his chest and yelled out, “What are you doing!”

　　“Weren’t you going to thank me? Then come sleep with me for a night…”

　　After a moment of surprise, Chu Ci suddenly began to flail her arms and legs like an animal within Fang Xing’s grasp. “Fang Xiaojiu, you turtle egg of a bastard, let me go!.”

　　“Sh*t, weren’t you the one who said you wanted to thank me?” Shocked, Fang Xing abruptly tossed Chu Ci onto the bed and began to flee. “Dammit, what’s the point of thanking me if you won’t let me sleep with you!”