He sprinted for over ten li without stopping.
Only when he was back at the foot of Tiandu Peak, with just one step left to Xunxian Town, did Fang Ping finally relax.
Once here, he was safe.
No one dared to cause trouble at the foot of the Luoyang Sect’s mountain gate.
Finding a nearby deserted spot, Fang Ping began taking stock of the spoils from killing Ming Yulou.
First was the Low-Grade Magical Artifact Ming Yulou had left behind: the Chisu Sword.
This Magical Artifact had suffered minor damage in the previous battle, but it was not serious.
Fang Ping already had the Tianyang Sword and had no use for it at the moment. To avoid suspicion, it was best to sell it to a Rogue Cultivator after disguising himself.
Aside from that, there was Ming Yulou’s Storage Bag.
His Low-Grade Storage Bag was the standard issue for Luoyang Sect outer sect disciples, bearing a conspicuous mark.
This thing was too sensitive. No matter how cheap it was, nearby Rogue Cultivators would not dare to take it.
Keeping it to sell in the future would be yet another hidden danger.
The safest approach was to destroy it and throw it away!
Even if it meant losing some Spirit Stones.
Of course, before destroying it, the spoils inside the Storage Bag still had to be taken out.
An ordinary outer sect disciple at the third level of Qi Condensation could not possibly have anything good in his Storage Bag.
Fang Ping had been mentally prepared for this before opening it.
But after actually opening it, he could not help feeling somewhat disappointed.
A few changes of clothing, seven or eight Spirit Stones, half a bottle of Inedia Pills, a few Antidote Pills, a Low-Grade Rejuvenation Talisman for healing injuries, a Daoist manual recording common minor Five Elements spells, and several IOUs—including one from the original body.
Besides these, there were also two jugs of spirit wine!
Fang Ping opened the lid of a spirit wine jug and sniffed the rich aroma. His eyes could not help but light up.
“Isn’t this Immortal’s Drunk from the Spirit Wine Workshop, worth ten Spirit Stones per jug?”
Not only was the taste excellent, it could also accelerate cultivation just like Spirit Stones and Pills.
Just one jug was equivalent to a week of bitter cultivation.
It was not that Fang Ping looked down on Ming Yulou, but with his means, he absolutely could not bear to part with it, nor could he afford to drink this kind of spirit wine.
Barring any surprises, he must have bought this to curry favor with that Dining Hall Deacon!
After transferring the Rejuvenation Talisman, Spirit Stones, spirit wine, and other items into his own Storage Bag, Fang Ping circulated his Spiritual Power and destroyed the IOUs along with the Storage Bag.
“This way, even if the Sect makes a big fuss and sends people to investigate, they probably won’t be able to find anything!” This story is hosted at g.com.
Moreover, he was merely a third-level Qi Condensation disciple with no Soul Lamp. If he went missing outside the mountain gate, it was not even certain whether he was alive or dead.
Under these circumstances, whether the outer sect Deacons would even investigate was probably questionable.
“With Ming Yulou’s hidden danger resolved, only Lu Shan remains. He is not worth fearing. After the storm passes, I’ll find a suitable opportunity to send him underground to reunite with Ming Yulou!”
After going over this matter in his mind and confirming there were no oversights, Fang Ping returned to Tiandu Peak as if nothing had happened.
The next day, just as dawn broke.
Fang Ping rushed non-stop to Luoyun Market, preparing to get rid of the Chisu Sword as quickly as possible to avoid any complications.
The process went smoothly.
He spent one Spirit Stone to rent a temporary stall, and at the price of one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones, he smoothly sold the Chisu Sword to a passing Rogue Cultivator.
“Robber cultivators truly make easy money—it’s even simpler than painstakingly refining pills myself!”
Looking at this unexpected fortune, a trace of greed subconsciously rose in Fang Ping’s heart.
However, if you walk by the river often enough, your shoes are bound to get wet.
Relying on plunder to cultivate meant he would eventually kick an iron plate one day.
Since he had a supreme treasure like the Prime Cauldron, honestly getting rich through pill refinement was the proper path!
Having calmed down, Fang Ping silently warned himself.
⁂
Ming Yulou’s unexpected disappearance did not cause any ripples in the outer sect.
Apart from a certain Dining Hall Deacon who remained angry for a few days over his missing spirit wine, no one discussed him anymore.
Lu Shan, who found Ming Yulou’s whereabouts strange, did go to the Law Enforcement Hall on the fifth day to request a search.
But the Law Enforcement Hall did not immediately accept the matter, as Lu Shan only had his suspicions and “lacked any evidence”!
It was not until another week passed and Ming Yulou still had not returned that the outer sect sent a mid-stage Qi Condensation disciple down the mountain to investigate Ming Yulou’s whereabouts.
The Miscellaneous Affairs Hall also posted a chore to find the missing person, offering thirty Sect contributions for it.
However, an early-stage Qi Condensation disciple had gone missing after leaving Xunxian Town, and it had been more than ten days ago, with no other clues. How was anyone supposed to find him?
Any outer sect disciple with a normal brain would not take up such a chore.
Heaven only knew in which corner he had been killed by a robber cultivator, or if he had gone to hunt Demon Beasts and lost his life to a Demon Beast’s maw! Find the original chapter at novelping.com.
Even the disciple assigned to investigate only made a symbolic half-day visit to Xunxian Town, finally concluding that his whereabouts were unknown, and then hastily returned to Tiandu Peak.
What was there to say?
If Ming Yulou had a group of relatives and friends to stand up for him and make a big fuss, perhaps the Law Enforcement Hall would take it seriously and send more people to verify.
But since only Lu Shan inquired, while other disciples did not care at all—and it was even said that some secretly applauded—the Law Enforcement Hall naturally did not want to invite trouble.
In the end, this matter simply fizzled out.
Back when he was still in the planning stage before making his move, Fang Ping had thought that Law Enforcement Hall disciples might come to his door to ask about Ming Yulou’s whereabouts, and he had repeatedly rehearsed his answers in his mind.
Yet no one came at all.
The whole matter concluded even more smoothly than Fang Ping had expected.
As for Lu Shan, seeing that Ming Yulou had disappeared without a clear reason, his own guilty conscience led him to suspect his partner had suffered someone’s revenge. He was clearly frightened.
After the Law Enforcement Hall found no results, his behavior became visibly more low-key, and he almost never left Tiandu Peak.
This left Fang Ping, who had been secretly looking for an opportunity, somewhat disappointed. He could only let the man off for now.
⁂
For the period that followed, the Luoyang Sect remained stable as usual.
Mobilizing outer sect disciples to search for the White-Feathered Spirit Crane was ultimately a rare occurrence, something that might not happen even once in several years.
Having already stepped into the third level of Qi Condensation and temporarily resolved the trouble of Ming Yulou, Fang Ping’s mindset was much more at ease, and he focused on his cultivation and the Dao of Alchemy.
Thanks to the deep foundation he had built from refining large quantities of Inedia Pills earlier, his attempts to refine the Qi-Returning Pill went smoother than expected.
Although the difficulty of the Qi-Returning Pill was only slightly higher than that of the Inedia Pill, it was still an entirely new Pill. The timing for adding materials, control of the spirit flame’s heat, and certain special techniques and skills when condensing the liquid into Pills all had completely different requirements.
But with the Prime Cauldron’s ability to reverse time nine times per day, Fang Ping could practice repeatedly without any worries, with no need to fear costs.
Through repeated trial and error, reflection, and improvement, his understanding of the Qi-Returning Pill formula rapidly deepened.
After a mere thirty-odd failures, Fang Ping succeeded in his refinement for the first time, obtaining five Qi-Returning Pills!
With the experience of that first success under his belt, the path forward became much smoother.
The net profit margin of the Qi-Returning Pill was even slightly higher than the Inedia Pill. Although its market price was very stable, it was not difficult for Fang Ping to easily earn more than double his cost.
After toiling for about a month, Fang Ping used up all the Qi-Returning Pill materials on hand.
Looking at bottle after bottle of freshly produced Qi-Returning Pills in his Storage Bag, Fang Ping felt a strong sense of accomplishment and once again set off for the market.
“It hasn’t been long since I started refining Qi-Returning Pills. If I bring out so many finished products now, it will definitely arouse the suspicion of the Chen Family Pill Shop.”
It seemed he would have to switch to another shop for his business.