Chapter 32: A Critical Moment

Wen Xu’s brow furrowed even tighter. Although he hadn’t been cultivating for long and his seventh-level Qi Refining strength was slightly inflated, there was no way he could be inferior to someone at the first level of Qi Refining.

With his master’s jade slip on his person, Wen Xu ran for a short distance before coming to a halt. It was obvious this man was trying to extort them, or rather, had targeted them.

“Who on earth are you?”

Spiritual Physician Ming was panting heavily, yet his face showed not a single trace of exhaustion. “Why don’t you guess? If you get it right, I’ll help you rescue your two friends. What do you say?”

Wen Xu pursed his lips, his expression turning downright gloomy. “I never make deals with devils. Rather than relying on you, I would rather-” “Yonglu Mountain is indeed powerful, but distant water cannot quench a nearby thirst,” Spiritual Physician Ming interrupted, no longer panting. It was clear he hadn’t been trying at all during the chase. “Surely the Disciple of the Divine Venerable doesn’t lack even this much courage?”

Wen Xu, however, chose this moment to say something completely unrelated to the topic: “Where is your golden-feathered carriage?”

Spiritual Physician Ming froze, then suddenly burst into fitful laughter. “Oh, that’s just wild rumors made up by the public. People outside even claim that I only work for high-grade spirit stones, yet right now, I can’t even scrape together ten thousand spirit stones from my pockets.”

“But how did you guess? You’ve only just arrived in the cultivation world, haven’t you?” There were so many people surnamed Ming in the cultivation world, so how had he figured out that he was actually a Pei?

The words carried no malice, yet they held an inherent arrogance of someone looking down from above. Wen Xu thought it made sense. This Spiritual Physician Ming, who disguised himself, played dumb, and excelled at stirring up trouble, was actually Pei Mingshan, the Young Master of the Jinding Pavilion, the largest merchant house in the cultivation world. His family owned entire spirit stone veins. Even if he couldn’t cultivate, he still stood at the peak of the world.

In fact, the rumor that he couldn’t cultivate was likely false as well. Wen Xu hadn’t forgotten how impossible it had been to shake the man off just now.

“I’ve been to Chengxin Hall.” It wasn’t a difficult thing to figure out with a little inquiry.

Pei Mingshan hadn’t expected this answer. “You suspected me that early? I shouldn’t have left any flaws, right?”

“I went to Chengxin Hall to buy silver needles.” As for whether he had suspected him, Wen Xu did not care to elaborate.

Pei Mingshan said, “…Do your friends know you’re this calculating? You know, if a person is too clever, they end up with no friends.”

Wen Xu gave a soft laugh. Being disliked was the last thing he feared. “I could say the same to you. If a person is too annoying, they’ll end up with no friends either.”

Pei Mingshan smiled and immediately changed his tune. “Fair enough, I still prefer doing business with smart people. Actually, you guys are quite lucky. I’ve been investigating Biyu Tower for a while now but couldn’t find a breakthrough. Rumor has it that the owner of Biyu Tower is a Foundation Establishment cultivator, which is why no one on the entire pleasure street dares to mess with them. Unfortunately, no one has ever seen her.”

“You’re investigating Biyu Tower?”

“Of course. Although Jinding Pavilion has a massive business, it all belongs to my old man, not me yet. As it happens, Zhixiang Pavilion, diagonally opposite Biyu Tower, is my property. It was doing perfectly fine, but in the past few months, it started losing money. It got so bad that I recently had to work as a resident Mystic Physician at Chengxin Hall. It’s simply outrageous!”

Wen Xu turned and walked away. Although he had already sent a message to Senior Brother Huang in the city, it was still best to head to Biyu Tower himself.

“Hey, don’t leave! We can talk while we walk. Actually, I know a thing or two about Wushan Village as well.”

Wen Xu’s voice instantly turned cold. “You investigated us?”

“Hey-are you really blind? Why do I feel like you can see?” Pei Mingshan tried to lean in for a closer look, but Wen Xu gave him no such opportunity. “Young Master Pei, I don’t have time to listen to your nonsense.”

“Alright, alright, don’t be angry. Actually, I just wanted to say that Wushan Village is connected to Biyu Tower, which is how I found out! I really didn’t go out of my way to spy on what sect mission you took.”

These words were a classic case of protesting too much, practically no different from a direct confession.

But with Jinding Pavilion’s massive influence, finding out about a mission taken by Qi Refining disciples of Yonglu Mountain was indeed no difficult task. Wen Xu had no intention of dwelling on it. He only wanted to ensure his friends’ safety first. As for the mission, he had to prioritize.

“Hey-wait for me!”

“To put it simply, Wushan Village is Biyu Tower’s back garden. That pregnant man you caught-the Evil Seed gestating inside him was actually a failure. Because it failed, it had to be disposed of.”

The meaning behind these words clearly pointed to the two thugs who had been digging the grave in Yueyu Forest. They hadn’t told the truth back then, which was why they were silenced so quickly afterward.

Pei Mingshan see Wen Xu remained unresponsive, finally spoke the truth. “Actually, the Wushan Village investigation mission you took was posted by me.”

Wen Xu finally stopped in his tracks again. He now understood why he had run into this man.

It turned out this mission was cursed from the very beginning.

“So, you knew from the start that the so-called consecutive pregnancies in Wushan Village were the work of evil cultivators.”

“Yep.” Pei Mingshan admitted readily, even adding, “But I was afraid that if I wrote the mission description too clearly, it would scare the evil cultivators away, so I wrote it that way. I didn’t expect the Disciple of the Divine Venerable to actually take it.”

Wen Xu: …When they got back to the mountain, he would make sure Chunzhou washed his hands thoroughly. His luck was truly atrocious.

“Are you saying the owner of Biyu Tower is the evil cultivator pulling the strings?”

Pei Mingshan shook his head. “I didn’t say that. I just… think so.”

Cultivators traveled extremely fast, and with Wen Xu utilizing wind-riding techniques, the two of them arrived at the main entrance of Biyu Tower in the time it took to speak. However- “Whoa, that’s quite a blaze!”

Not only was Biyu Tower on fire, but even the building next door was about to ignite. Moreover, the fire grew rapidly as it spread, the flames leaping incredibly high. It looked nothing like a normal fire.

Wen Xu applied a water talisman to himself, then quickly leapt onto the roof ridge and jumped inside. Seeing him act so impulsively, Pei Mingshan hesitated for a moment before following him in.

The fire inside the building was even more intense, the heat rising like a furnace.

Wen Xu’s Wind Spiritual Root was mutated from Wood and Earth Spiritual Roots. Though he did not possess a Water Spiritual Root, the wind inside the tower was clearly far too scorching, so dry it felt as if it could evaporate the blood in a person’s body.

Wen Xu had heard Bian Chunzhou talk about some clever ways to use the Water-Fire Spiritual Root. Almost instantly, he guessed that Chunzhou must have engaged in a fight, and was holding absolutely nothing back!

His heart sank. Chen Zui’s cultivation was already at the ninth level of Qi Refining. With his strength, it was not impossible for him to fight someone at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Yet the two of them combined had still been pushed to this point. He had no idea when Senior Brother Huang and the others would arrive!

Wen Xu calmed his mind, knowing that rushing in like this was indeed too reckless. A smart person would have waited outside for rescue, rather than diving in headfirst without a second thought, relying solely on the jade slip his master had given him.

But… damn it! He did not regret it at all.

With the smoke, dust, and fire inside Biyu Tower, it was impossible to see in any direction, and the wind carried no information. Wen Xu simply took out a ribbon, tied it over his eyes, and relied on a cultivator’s perception to find them.

Meanwhile, Chen Zui was still swinging his blade. In truth, he was covered in wounds. Fighting a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator was, after all, still too much of a stretch for him.

Yet at this moment, there was not a trace of dejection to be found on him. In fact, the more he fought, the more spirited he became.

“Again!”

Compared to the disheveled pair, Zanxue looked much more composed. However, judging by her increasingly slow movements, she was not as relaxed as she appeared.

Biyu Tower could be said to be the culmination of her hard work over the past six months, yet it was now being destroyed by these two boys. Even though her people were fine and she could just set up shop in another city, she still could not swallow this bitter pill!

Today, she would take their lives no matter what! So what if they were from Yonglu Mountain? Once she grew stronger, she would dare to fight even the Hehe Sect alone!

“Ahhh, this is getting too real! Chen Zui, retreat now, I can’t hold on much longer!”

Bian Chunzhou had to admit that his Water-Fire Steam Talismans were somewhat effective, but he did not have complete control over the balance of water and fire, so much so that now, if he kept consuming his energy, he would end up killing himself!

Guys, who can relate? We were supposed to get a fake female cultivator, but who knew Biyu Tower would be so literal and bring in a real one, and a Foundation Establishment cultivator at that! As expected, free things always cost the most! He had only come to enjoy himself and gather information, yet this person actually wanted their lives!

Sob, sob, was he really not going to see tomorrow’s sun?

How could his luck be this bad! It was all the fault of that damn quack doctor!

In the midst of the battle, Chen Zui naturally sensed the power of the array that was gradually gathering strength. But if they retreated now, wouldn’t they be letting the tiger return to the mountain? He hesitated, his battle instincts driving him to keep swinging his blade, but when he saw Bian Chunzhou, who was already struggling to even stand, he remembered that the 《Handbook》 stated life always comes before everything else, and whether it was one’s own life or a companion’s, it should be placed above all.

“Hold your breath, I’ll take-“

“Fuck, you run first! Otherwise we’ll both-“

Chen Zui had an obstinate nature. Once he decided to do something, even if the outcome was visibly grim, he would still act without blinking an eye.

An array had actually been set up inside Biyu Tower. Even if a Golden Core cultivator came, they would have to leave their life behind!

Pei Mingshan thought to himself that things were looking bad, but in the next moment, he laughed.

“My, as expected of the Disciple of the Divine Venerable. His life-saving treasures really are something else.”

Just moments ago, both Bian Chunzhou and Chen Zui had prepared themselves for severe injury or death. The powerful force of the array rippled outward, unleashing damage that they absolutely could not withstand.

Yet in the next moment, the expected pain did not come. On the contrary, did the power of the array just backlash?

“Ah-“

Huh? Why did Zanxue’s scream sound a whole lot deeper than it should have?

Bian Chunzhou felt a flash of doubt, but upon seeing Wen Xuxu panting heavily, he immediately threw his doubts to the wind. “Sob, sob, I knew it was you who came to save me! Wen Xuxu, you’re so reliable.”

Wen Xu’s hands were trembling slightly. He hid them behind his back, instinctively not wanting his friend to see his current state of emotion.

It had been so close. Fortunately, he had entered without hesitation.