Plundering the Heavens Chapter 166

While Elder Qin’nyao had been scolding Xu Linyun within Danxia Valley, Tie Rukuang was giving Fang Xing a complicated expression within Duanzhen Valley. After a long time had passed, he finally patted Fang Xing on the shoulder and said, "Kid, I don’t know what kind of madness you’re going through for you to go to such an extent to fight against Xiao Jianming, but tomorrow is going to be extra dangerous for you. I believe I don’t need to say any more, and I can only hope you know what you’re doing."

Fang Xing tilted his head. "What use is it to say that now? Do you have any really powerful spirit weapons I can have?"

Tie Rukuang nearly wanted to slap Fang Xing right away when he heard this, but he put down his hand with a sigh and took out a jade talisman. "A spirit tool, yes, but it’s not used to fight against others. Truthfully, no matter how powerful a spirit weapon I give you, it won’t be of much use in a real life-or-death situation. A spirit tool like this instead might be able to save your life!"

A little surprised, Fang Xing took the item in his hands and focused his gaze on it, immediately understanding its usage. Unaware of Fang Xing’s [Book of Revelation] that could appraise all things spiritual, Tie Rukuang quietly sighed and explained, "This is one of my defensive spirit tools called the Ten Mile Teleportation Talisman, and I will lend it to you for now. When you’re facing Xiao Jianming tomorrow, you should immediately announce your defeat if you find yourself in danger. However, that uncle-nephew pair is filled with animosity towards you, and they might still wish to pursue you even if you do admit defeat.

"If they intend to kill you, then activate this talisman. I have already filled it with Qi so you can activate it at any given time, and it will teleport you ten miles away from the area—more than enough for you to escape from that Thousand Cliff. Hopefully, this would help save your life…." As he spoke on, he suddenly remembered something and widened his eyes before continuing, "I’m not giving this to you permanently! Once you’re done using it, you have to return it to me!"

Fang Xing quickly placed the jade talisman into his storage sack and smiled. "Do I look like the kind of person who doesn’t return the items he’s borrowed?"

Initially speechless, Tie Rukuang asked, "How is that Immortal’s Snare?"

Fang Xing snickered and changed the topic. "Seems I didn’t call you ‘Esteemed Shifu’ for nothing; you’re a good man!"

"You little turtle egg of a bastard, your words sure got a lot sweeter than before. Now go, off to bed with you!" Tie Rukuang then simply kicked the boy out.

Meanwhile, within the Shanhe Valley, Xiao Jianming and Xiao Shanhe were showing very different demeanors. Xiao Jianming was full of smiles as he looked forward to tomorrow, yet his uncle—for some unknown reason—had his gaze fixed on a jade scroll in his hand and didn’t speak a word.

Even Xiao Jianming was feeling confused by his uncle’s odd behavior. Xiao Shanhe had been like this ever since he received the jade scroll from the Melodic Ice Palace an hour ago; it was as though he had received some shocking news and was trying to decide upon a very difficult decision within his mind. Xiao Jianming wasn’t sure if he should ask or not, so he’d been quietly seated and watching from the side. Since his uncle had asked him to come over, he believed he would definitely be told something.

"Jianming, if it was for the sake of keeping our Xiao family alive for an eternity, would you be willing to take a big risk?"

"Risk?" Xiao Jianming was confused. "The rules of the Xiao family have been set ever since our ancestors: it is forbidden to either offend the aristocracy or revolt against the monarchy. You were the one who personally told me this." Put simply, aside from these two things, he was in favor of taking risks. He also understood that his uncle—despite his not-so-young age—preferred to take whatever risk there might be for the chance of larger gain. When Xiao Jianming hadn’t dared to kill Fang Xing out of fear towards Bai Qianzhang, it had been his uncle who told him the odds of Bai Qianzhang leaving seclusion for the sake of Fang Xing was less than ten percent, and that the potential gain from killing Fang Xing had been worth the risk. From this, Xiao Shanhe’s mindset was clear.

Hearing his nephew’s response, Xiao Shanhe’s creased brows finally relaxed as a light flickered within his eyes. "Good, good. I thought of you as too timid not long ago, yet it is I who had become too timid today!"

As the sun rose from the east to signal the next day, the entire sky was filled with the warmth of its rays. Near the Thousand Cliff, the Qing-Yun disciples had all gathered in high spirits as they looked forward to the tournament’s final few matches to name the top disciple.

"The boy really racked his brains to finally get the opportunity to face Shixiong Xiao in the finals. I wonder what he gains from all this…."

"Heh, does he really think he’ll have the chance to take that Foundation Pellet?"

"Aiii, I’ve got a bad feeling. There’s probably going to be another death under Shixiong Xiao Jianming’s sword…."

All the Qing-Yun disciples whispered amongst themselves, discussing all sorts of possibilities. It wasn’t because everyone held a grudge against Fang Xing, but that they felt Fang Xing’s inexplicable challenge of Xiao Jianming was the boy overestimating his capabilities too much. Perhaps the only person who was eligible to fight against Xiao Jianming was Xu Linyun, yet she had been cheated by the boy and lost. The previous win wasn’t exactly very convincing, and so nobody put too much hope on the boy this time around either.

Fang Xing pretended not to see everyone’s complex glances as he simply sat and meditated atop a moss-covered rock. He appeared calm in this face of the most important fight of his life so far, but deep inside he knew he could never be too cautious.

"Shixiong Fang…" someone called out to him softly. Fang Xing opened his eyes and found Wu Xiangtong and a group of Duanzhen disciples standing in front of him.

"What’s wrong? Why do you all look as though you’ve just had an uncle die on you?" Fang Xing mocked.

The disciples were left speechless at Fang Xing’s words, and they suddenly lost any desire to speak with him after that little bastard said such a thing. Wu Xiangtong, however, squeezed out a smile and said, "Someone within the sect started a wager, and everyone bet on your loss!"

Fang Xing raised one of his brows as he waited for the rest of the news.

Wu Xiangtong looked at the disciples around him before taking a deep breath. "But we all bet on your win!" All the Duanzhen disciples here straightened their backs at this. This was the only way they could show their support for Fang Xing right now.

"I also bet on your win!" someone else from the side said, and Fang Xing turned to see a man and a woman slowly walking closer. The eyes of the woman were red like a rabbit’s and her whole face was filled with grief, while the man wore a forced smile. These two were none other than Qin Xing’er and Liu Heihu.

"Haha, why do you also look as though you’ve had an uncle die on you? Betting on the win of me—your grandpa—is just you being smart!" Fang Xing smiled, then looked towards Qin Xing’er. "Did you forget about how we won so much money?"

Qin Xing’er forced out a smile. "That… that was a completely different situation…."

Appearing from the distant sky, a few clouds flew closer while carrying the people from Fuyao Palace under Sect Master Chen Xuanhua’s guidance. All the Qing-Yun disciples knew the final match would soon begin with the arrival and looked hopeful and excited, while Qin Xing’er, Wu Xiangtong, and the Duanzhen disciples all let out long sighs as they began to leave so Fang Xing could have some time to prepare and rest.

As the Fuyao Palace guest walked atop the viewing platform, Sect Master Chen Xuanhua and the rest were already seated below. A glance was sent towards Elder Huang inside the Thousand Cliff to signal the beginning of the tournament’s final match, but Elder Qin’nyao suddenly stood up full of smiles and bowed towards the Fuyao Palace’s Xuan Si’nyang. "Your Highness, there’s no rush to view the match just yet. One of my pupils has a little favor to ask of you."

A bit surprised by this, Xuan Si’nyang smiled. "The little girl named ‘Xiao Mahn’ from yesterday? What does she have to ask?"

Elder Qin’nyao smiled. "This girl is currently learning how to make Pellet Tea. Although her proficiency is still not completely fluid, to give thanks to the fondness Your Highness showed to her yesterday, she spent all last night practicing and perfecting Pellet Tea in the hopes Your Highness would give it a taste."

"In that case, I shall try it, since it is all from her kindness. Bring it up for me to have a taste!"

Elder Qin’nyao nodded and signaled to a disciple beside her, who immediately left to call Xiao Mahn over. Today, Xiao Mahn had changed into a pale yellow dress and her hair was neatly combined into an elegant topknot, making her appearance even more adorable. In her hands was a dark green tray with a steaming sky-blue china teacup atop it.

As Xiao Mahn arrived in front of Xuan Si’nyang, she kneeled slightly and held up the teacup with the tray.

Xuan Si’nyang smiled as she picked up the teacup to take a light sip, only to show another gentle smile after a moment’s taste. "Being able to have such a high proficiency in tea-making at such a young age is definitely not bad at all. This calls for a reward!" As she spoke, whether intentionally or otherwise, she swept her gaze quickly past Elder Qin’nyao, whose face flushed pink before she took a step away.

As for Granny Qian, she showed the same smile all throughout and warmly called Xiao Mahn over to offer ample rewards.

After Xiao Mahn thanked them and left, Xuan Si’nyang continued to smile at Elder Qin’nyao. "This girl is so clever and graceful, and also a rare beauty. Furthermore, despite being a Mahn, her wood-element bloodline is of a superior quality; if she were to be given the chance to be taught well, her future would be limitless. Elder Qin’nyao, I have given this quite some thought since yesterday, and I’d like to ask you to pass her on to me so I can personally teach her. What do you say?"

This left Elder Qin’nyao in a huge shock, and she raised her head to look up at Xuan Si’nyang in disbelief. She’d seen how Xuan Si’nyang had been rather fond of Xiao Mahn, and her original plan had been to make the Pellet Tea herself for Xiao Mahn to hand over, creating a good impression she might be able to take advantage of to ask for some methods in alchemy later. However, Elder Qin’nyao hadn’t anticipated that Xuan Si’nyang wasn’t merely fond of Xiao Mahn, but instead wanted to take her along. For a cultivator, a good pupil could only be discovered and not searched for, and so even Elder Qin’nyao felt a little hesitant in that moment.

Xuan Si’nyang smiled when she saw Elder Qin’nyao’s reaction. "Is Elder Qin’nyao unwilling?"

"I do not dare, Your Highness. If Your Highness has taken such a liking to her, it would be to her great fortune…."

"There is no need for you to be sad; our Fuyao Palace naturally wouldn’t take advantage of you. Since I’ve taken such a great pupil from you, I won’t leave you without gain, either. How about this: since I’m out and about, I didn’t bring too many valuables with me, but I do have a scroll of an Ancient-Grade technique that might help you study towards the path of the golden core. As my remuneration for your loss, I shall gift it to you. What do you think about this?"

Elder Qin’nyao was in shock and nearly didn’t believe her own ears. "Ancient technique? The path of the golden core?"

Chapter end