It didn’t take long for Fang Xing to collect everything of value from these unconscious people, but he thought of something just as he was about to leave.

　　Turning back, he took out all the gold leaves he’d collected and shoved them into the pockets of the wealthy man who’d previously owned the Nine Snakes’ Sword. He then took a low-grade Flying Sword from another man and placed it into the pockets of the mustached man. Within minutes, Fang Xing had jumbled up all of the remaining items among everyone—all except for the Spirit Stones, which he’d taken every last one for himself.

　　Giving himself a pat on the back for his own cleverness, Fang Xing walked in front of the mustached man and began slapping the living daylights out of him to satisfy his vendetta. “This is what you get for trying to scam me at the pavilion! See if this will teach you a lesson!”

　　By the time Fang Xing was finished bashing and kicking, the mustached man’s skinny appearance had become swollen instead. Fang Xing even untied his own pants before dumping some fresh urine over the man’s still peacefully-sleeping face. Satisfied at last, Fang Xing gave a nod of pleasure before swaggering out of the market the same way he’d swaggered in.

　　The silver moon rested quietly over the lands of Qing-Yun, with not even a peep to be heard. In a valley nearby, a clutter of people lay still upon the ground.

　　The mustached man was the first to regain his consciousness around two hours later. Remembering what happened before he’d passed out, he nervously checked his belongings and found all of the golden leaves he’d exchanged for were gone. He let out an aggrieved howl, only to suddenly pause as he felt something else.

　　Although the golden leaves had all disappeared, a low-grade Flying Sword was found in its place and—after quickly calculating the costs in his head—the mustached man realized the sword was actually worth slightly more than the missing leaves! There was no way he’d try to find the original owner and return the sword now. Just as he was about to leave, he looked up and noticed everyone else was fast asleep, with only those few in second tier beginning to stir….

　　Without much hesitation, the man scavenged whatever valuables were within reach and left the scene in a hurry.

　　The remaining disciples all had the same reaction to having their missing Spirit Stones be replaced by something that didn’t belong to them before. At first, most of them had wanted to find where their original items had gone, but these ideas were quickly replaced by the fear of having to return the items that had replaced them. Moreover, there was the possibility they would be unable to get their original item back….

　　As though it was mutually agreed, everyone quietly left the market without saying a single word.

　　Some—like the mustached man—even took the opportunity to grab other things from the surrounding people. The later someone regained consciousness, the fewer items they had left.

　　“Who did this! I, Luo Xi, will remember this!” The wealthy man who’d once owned the storage ring and expensive sword let out a heart-wrenching cry, scaring away a nearby group of birds.

　　—

　　Elsewhere, the bandit responsible for all of this had already returned to his cozy cottage with high spirits.

　　‘What a haul that was!’ After counting through his newfound riches, he found over thirty Spirit Stones, an amount that a regular outer court disciple would typically need seven to eight years to save up, and this wasn’t even factoring in the Nine Snakes’ Sword or the storage ring. Although storage rings sealed with its owner’s mark were locked for anyone else, the wealthy man was only in tier one and didn’t have the ability to leave his mark on the ring yet, turning it into a simple matter for Fang Xing.

　　Fang Xing’s smile broadened even further when he looked inside.

　　Aside from the Nine Snakes’ Sword, there were also some bottles of medicinal pellets to improve physical strength and a few dozen golden leaves. Fang Xing’s financial status had suddenly improved by a large chunk.

　　In particular was that Flying Sword with a fiery red body and nine golden snakes intricately carved around its handle. It was as though the snakes were hibernating, ready to awaken should an enemy present itself….

　　Even the appearance alone was impressive!

　　After activating the Book of Revelation, it was clear a total of nine spells had been confined within the sword. Factoring this together with the materials used to make it, it was no wonder the man had paid over ten thousand gold for this.

　　Fang Xing curiously tried to activate the sword, and it was only then that he understood why the man had wanted to exchange it for Spirit Stones: the Qi required for its use was well beyond what was manageable for them right now. With such a high quality, the user had to be at least second or third tier before they could comfortably make use of the sword.

　　It was good loot nonetheless, and Fang Xing placed the sword back into the storage ring while thinking to himself, ‘This may just come in handy one day.’

　　“What a good man….” Fang Xing spoke in an emotional manner, praising the wealthy man’s character as though he’d willingly donated such a valuable item.‘I’ll definitely make sure to visit him again the next time I see him!’

　　Now that Fang Xing had enough resources for the next few years, there was nothing to stop him in his quest to grow stronger!

　　It had already been some twenty or so days since his single Spirit Stone had been used up, but his visit to the Black Market meant he would no longer have to worry about insufficient cultivation resources for at least another year. It was unfortunate, but this was exactly what cultivation was like—a cultivator would require an endless flow of resources in order to steadily make progress.

　　The reason why cultivators with a high level of aptitude could gain cultivation levels faster was because—in a sense—they were able to free themselves from the shackles of resources. They were able to draw Qi directly from their surroundings in order to improve their cultivation, allowing them to maintain their level to a degree even without resources.

　　Those who weren’t able to get their hands on such a large amount of resources—such as Yu Sanliang—would likely never be able to make a breakthrough and could even regress instead. It was fortunate for Yu Sanliang that he was already at the lowest level of cultivation and couldn’t fall any further.

　　A few days after the incident at the Black Market, there had been several secret investigations on who this mysterious bandit was. Since the market itself was against sect rules, however, no one dared to make the investigations public… and even then, the person they’d been searching for was a slender young man with a husky voice; it had nothing to do with Fang Xing….

　　It was only after the plump Daoist mentioned the news to Fang Xing that the boy admired his own foresight in choosing the Mask of Wanluo.

　　No one—not even Yu Sanliang—knew about his newfound wealth.

　　During the day, Fang Xing would either sleep or waste his time away with Yu Sanliang; he’d only take out his Spirit Stones to practice cultivation once night had fallen. His improvements became significant thanks to the uninterrupted flow of Spirit Stones, although he also found himself going through more and more of them at a faster pace—it even reached the point that a Spirit Stone now only lasted ten days.

　　With an ample amount of Qi flowing through his meridians each night, Fang Xing could feel a change settle within his entire body: his bones became stronger, more supple, and filled with energy. Its healing power was an immediate benefit, allowing Fang Xing to recover from physical injury at a much faster pace. There were improvements to his immune system as well, blocking illnesses that could kill an ordinary person. The most important benefit of all, however, was the ability to better contain the Qi within himself.

　　The change was so great that Fang Xing could feel the damage caused by the Hwa’jin slowly start to repair itself.

　　After starting such an extreme pace, Fang Xing mastered tier one in only two short months and was only a step away from tier two. As for how his level of cultivation compared to the rest of the new recruits, it would be considered above average—most of the new recruits in A-Rank had only just stabilized tier one and were getting ready to break through into tier two. As for those with poor aptitude, some of them couldn’t even stabilize.

　　Not everyone would have the same diligence and resources as Fang Xing. Most A-Rank disciples would only be allotted two Spirit Stones to use per month, yet Fang Xing went through three each month without even blinking.

　　But of course, there was still no comparison between Fang Xing and those who had both money at their disposal and strong aptitude. Not only had they joined the outer court three months before him, they also had the finances to purchase as many Spirit Stones as they wanted. These people were well into their second tier by now.

　　Cultivators had no choice but to practice nonstop—using up a large amount of resources was inevitable.