“Hello, Boss Bai.” Yuan Qingyue walked into the store and greeted Bai Yunxi.
Bai Yunxi nodded at Yuan Qingyue lightly, “Hello, Miss Yuan. Why is Miss Yuan here?”
Yuan Qingyue looked at Bai Yunxi, and said with a strange expression, “Fellow Daoist Bai is still sitting here! You don’t know that there is chaos outside.”
Bai Yunxi looked at Yuan Qingyue in confusion and said, “What’s going on outside?”
“Has Fellow Daoist Bai noticed that there have been many sect cultivators recently?” Yuan Qingyue asked.
Bai Yunxi nodded, “I noticed. Is there any problem?”
“Tiangang Sect’s Golden Core elder Feng Susu is in urgent need of seven-striped golden thread fish as medicine, and those people are all here to find golden thread fish.” Yuan Qingyue said.
“Seven stripes?” Bai Yunxi frowned. Golden thread fish was very common. On the first day Bai Yunxi arrived here, the fisherman boy he met caught a golden thread fish, but it only had three stripes. Every additional stripe on the golden thread fish would increase the medicinal power, but fish with more stripes were also much rarer. It was not easy to find a golden thread fish with seven stripes!
Yuan Qingyue nodded and said, “Yes.”
“That’s not easy to find!” Bai Yunxi said.
Yuan Qingyue nodded and said, “Yeah! However, this is a task issued by a Golden Core cultivator. The reward for the task is a Foundation Establishment Pill. Many people are going crazy for it.”
Bai Yunxi nodded and said, “Oh. The charm of the Foundation Establishment Pill is so great!”
“Of course. Who doesn’t want to build a foundation among Qi Refining cultivators! And there are many Foundation Establishment cultivators who have sons and nephews who need to build foundations. Plus, it’s not just a question of the Foundation Establishment Pill. Since it’s a task released by a Golden Core cultivator, many people are hoping to become familiar with the Golden Core senior by completing the task!” Yuan Qingyue said.
Bai Yunxi smiled lightly and said, “I see.”
Yuan Qingyue looked at Bai Yunxi who was unmoved, and asked in confusion, “Is Fellow Daoist Bai unmoved?”
“The sea is very windy. I don’t want to take risks. I’m afraid of death.” Bai Yunxi said.
As for the Foundation Establishment Pill, Ye Fan ate eight just to build his foundation, and there were still a lot left. He wasn’t short of this kind of pill.
Hearing Bai Yunxi’s words, Yuan Qingyue’s face couldn’t help flashing with a little weirdness. To cultivate meant to go against the will of heaven. While many cultivators were afraid of death, no one would say it so candidly like Bai Yunxi. It was too disgraceful.
“Boss Bai, you are right to think so. There are risks at sea all the time. The more you are afraid of death, the easier it is to capsize in the gutter. Boss Bai, you should stay in your small shop.” Zhou Chengming came in with a sneer.
Yuan Qingyue glanced at the person who came and said, “Sorry, Boss Bai. This is my senior brother, Zhou Chengming. He is a sword cultivator with a straightforward temper.”
Zhou Chengming looked at Yuan Qingyue and smiled ingratiatingly. When he looked at Bai Yunxi, his face became cold again, “Junior sister, what more do you want to say to this guy? Cultivators all go against the will of heaven, not afraid of hardships and dangers, going forward with a fearless heart to meet challenges. Someone as timid as him is destined to be mediocre and accomplish nothing for a lifetime, so why waste time on such a wine bag and rice bag?”
Yuan Qingyue looked at Bai Yunxi apologetically and said, “Boss Bai, my brother has a bad temper. Please forgive him.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Bai Yunxi shrugged and said, “What Fellow Daoist Zhou said is right. Fellow Daoist Zhou’s heart toward the Dao* is admirable!”
Zhou Chengming snorted lightly and ignored Bai Yunxi.
Bai Yunxi smiled and didn’t take it seriously. Judging from Zhou Chengming’s attitude, Bai Yunxi knew that this person liked Yuan Qingyue. It was probably because Yuan Qingyue treated him differently that this guy was jealous.
“Fellow Daoist Bai is not interested. Is Senior Ye interested?” Yuan Qingyue asked.
Bai Yunxi shook his head and said, “I’ll ask him later.”
…
The situation in the small town of Luosha Town had become a lot more complicated because of the arrival of several sect disciples. The arrival of these sect disciples had also made the business of the shop much better.
During this period of time, Bai Yunxi earned nearly 10,000 low-grade spirit stones just by selling the detoxification pills of the black mamba snake. With other items in the shop, he could earn more than 20,000 low-grade spirit stones a month. Such a high income, there were many people who were jealous, but Ye Fan showed his hand before, so although there were people who were jealous, no one came looking for trouble.
The chatter of several cultivators came in from the door.
“Ordinary general goods store, is it here? This shop is really shabby.”
“Is there really an antidote for black mamba snake venom in this general goods store?”
“We’ll know if we go in and take a look. I heard that the shop is founded by a Foundation Establishment cultivator! How can this Foundation Establishment cultivator have such a shabby store?”
“It’s just a small place, after all. Our sect’s waste pill room is much more stylish than this store.”
…
Several men and women walked in, led by a chubby male cultivator.
Bai Yunxi glanced at the few people who came over, and his eyes landed on the Foundation Establishment male cultivator in the lead.
The Foundation Establishment male cultivator was wearing a fire silk robe with a smooth and bright jewel hanging around his neck, a protective bracelet on his wrist, two storage rings on his fingers, and a pair of fashionable boots on his feet, which looked unusual. However, the spiritual energy of the cultivator himself was somewhat frivolous, and his foundation was not very solid at a glance.
Bai Yunxi also recently inquired about the cultivators from Tiangang Sect. He knew that among the group of cultivators, there was a cultivator named Ma Rui who was very famous. Ma Rui’s qualifications were not very good, but he was from a good background! Above Ma Rui, there was a Golden Core ancestor. Under the care of the Golden Core ancestor, he took three* Foundation Establishment Pills and entered the Foundation Establishment stage.
“You are the owner of this shop?” Ma Rui asked.
Bai Yunxi nodded and said, “Yes.”
“I heard that many female cultivators like your little white face*. Do you look good?” Ma Rui asked with displeasure.
Bai Yunxi thought of the rumors he had heard. This Ma Rui was very lecherous. When he was in the sect, he often hooked up with the female cultivators in the sect. There were many wives and concubines in his backyard. Once, he eyed a senior sister in the sect, and finally caused the hot-tempered senior sister to beat him out.
Because that senior sister’s master, Feng Susu, was also a Golden Core cultivator, Ma Rui had to lay low for a while.
“Everyone admires me wrongly, and I’m just ordinary.” Bai Yunxi said modestly.
Ma Rui snorted softly and said cruelly, “I think you’re just ordinary. I really don’t know what those female cultivators like about you. You look weak at first glance.”
Bai Yunxi: “…”
“Don’t talk about this, I want to buy the pill recipe for the black mamba detoxification pill. Name a price.” Ma Rui said arrogantly.
Bai Yunxi’s mind turned quickly. Ye Fan knew a lot of pill recipes, and this one was not too valuable. If he could exchange the pill recipe for spirit stones, it would be a good deal. However, the guy in front of him, in terms of actually paying spirit stones, didn’t seem to be very reliable!
“That pill recipe is not cheap.” Bai Yunxi said.
Ma Rui snorted softly and said, “Do you know who my grandfather is? My grandfather is an ancestor of Golden Core cultivation.”
Bai Yunxi smiled and said, “In that case, 200,000 low-grade spirit stones.”
Ma Rui nodded and said, “Okay, I’ll write you an IOU. You can go to my Tiangang Sect to collect the spirit stones. Now take the pill recipe out.”
Bai Yunxi frowned and said, “Sorry, I have no plans to go to Tiangang Sect. If you’re not paying upfront, then forget it.”
Ma Rui looked at Bai Yunxi unhappily, and said arrogantly, “Why? Are you worried that my Tiangang Sect will not pay your bills?”
Bai Yunxi smiled lightly and said, “How could that be? I’m just worried about some accidents on the road.”
Bai Yunxi secretly thought: Ye Fan had hidden his physique, but if he encountered a cultivator with natural spiritual eyes or a high level of cultivation, he might still be seen through. Although Ye Fan said that the problem was not a big problem, it was better to avoid trouble if they could.
Ye Fan walked out of the back room and stood beside Bai Yunxi. Right when Ma Rui came, Bai Yunxi quietly crushed a messenger talisman and called Ye Fan out.
Ye Fan looked at the scene in front of him and asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”
“This Fellow Daoist wants to buy our pill recipe, but he is only willing to give an IOU.” Bai Yunxi said.
Ye Fan carried his hands on his back and said proudly, “We don’t take credit in our store. If there are no spirit stones, you should leave quickly.”
“Do you not trust the reputation of our Tiangang Sect?”
“Is Tiangang Sect very famous? I don’t know!” Ye Fan said disdainfully. This sect didn’t even have a Nascent Soul cultivator. In Cangxuan Continent, it would just be a fringe sect. When the big sects fought, these fringe sects were just cannon fodder.
Ma Rui snorted lightly, and said, “You’re courting death! How dare you insult the reputation of my Tiangang Sect?” Ma Rui slashed toward Ye Fan with a sword.
Ye Fan raised the Profound Dragon Seal and smashed it toward Ma Rui.
“You bastard! How dare you attack me?”
Ye Fan secretly thought: If he didn’t attack now, should he just wait to be beaten?
Ma Rui took out a stack of talismans, and threw them toward Ye Fan. Ye Fan was not to be outdone and took out his own talismans to fight. The shop became a mess in the battle between the two.
Ye Fan’s cultivation was much more solid than Ma Rui’s, and Ma Rui soon fell into a disadvantage.
“You’re courting death.” A ferocious look flashed across Ma Rui’s face, and a golden light shot out from Ma Rui’s ring.
Ye Fan used the Profound Dragon Seal to fight back with all his might, and Ma Rui was knocked out.
“Impossible.” Ma Rui said agitatedly.
Ye Fan frowned and thought secretly: Ma Rui’s ring sealed the attack of a Golden Core cultivator, but Ma Rui’s level was too poor to make good use of it. The ancestor above this person was really good to this straw bag.
Ma Rui spat out a mouthful of blood, and the cultivators next to him were suddenly agitated.
“Do you know who he is? How dare you hurt him.” Several cultivators beside Ma Rui shouted angrily.
Ye Fan said with displeasure, “Okay, okay, isn’t there just a Golden Core cultivator on top? What’s so amazing?” He also had a Nascent Soul cultivator on top, but he couldn’t find the person now.
When Ye Fan said this, the expressions of several cultivators suddenly changed, and they all wondered if Ye Fan also had a backstage, which was why he could act like this.
“Go away.” Ye Fan snorted.
Ma Rui frowned and angrily took his people away.
Ye Fan looked at the store, frowned, and said, “Really outrageous. The shop is broken, and they should compensate.”
Bai Yunxi took a deep breath and said, “Don’t worry about the shop. There’s a Golden Core cultivator on top of that guy. Maybe we’ll have to move places.”
Ye Fan blinked and said, “It’s not that serious. He’s just an idiot, and we didn’t kill anyone. A Golden Core cultivator shouldn’t travel all the way to find trouble. That would be too petty.” However, it was still possible a few Foundation Establishment cultivators would come to look for trouble. If those who came were only at Foundation Establishment, then there was nothing to be afraid of. If they couldn’t beat them, they could still run!
Bai Yunxi took a deep breath and said, “Then I’ll go and find out some news.”
Ye Fan nodded and said, “Okay.”
Bai Yunxi inquired around and felt more relieved.
There was a Golden Core cultivator on top of this Ma Rui. However, after fighting with his mortal enemy, the Golden Core cultivator of Xuanming Sect, he may have been injured. He had been in retreat for three years, and he should be in retreat for a few more years. There shouldn’t be time for him to come over to stand up for this grandson for the time being.
The owner of the shop rented to Bai Yunxi knew that Bai Yunxi had offended Ma Rui, so he walked over a little excitedly and talked about the shop. Bai Yunxi simply paid a sum of money to buy the shop.
***
T/N: *The Dao – it’s hard to explain, but “Dao” is often translated as “way” or “path” depending on context. The Dao is basically the path of cultivation, so you’ll often hear cultivators talking about their Dao (their cultivation belief) or their commitment to the Dao (cultivation). Another term commonly used is the heavenly Dao, which is like a mythical entity which is believed to watch over the cultivation world. Daoist companions are also called such because they have made a commitment to be together before the heavenly Dao (basically the cultivation version of exchanging vows).
*This was originally four Foundation Establishment Pills, but in later chapters it changes to 3, so I changed it to 3 here.
*Little white face – derogatory term in Chinese used to refer to someone who just has a good face, but is otherwise useless.
