"Divine Will Diagram?!"
Lu She shouted angrily, "How dare you covet the secret teachings of my Red Serpent Martial Hall?"
The muscles in his legs bulged, and his skin flushed an unnatural crimson, as if he were about to strike at any moment.
"It's just a mere Divine Will Diagram. How many inner disciples of your martial hall have seen it? And how many have reached the Third Transformation of Blood Qi, let alone successfully forged True Force?"
Mu Canglong shook his head slowly.
In his eyes, martial skills in a hall were nothing more than commodities, for the right price, they could be bought.
Lu She's attitude was merely him trying to inflate his own worth.
"Master Lu,"
At this moment, Fang Xi spoke up, "I only need to study the Divine Will Diagram for half a day. To show my sincerity, I am willing to offer a thousand taels of fine silver!"
Lu She, "..."
In that instant, the master of the Red Serpent Martial Hall finally understood why even She Lei had once lost his mind and attacked a mere apprentice.
This Young Master Fang... really was, just as the rumors said, an enormous fat sheep!
In the end, Lu She spoke, his voice dry and raspy, "Deal!"
It wasn't that he didn't want to haggle further, rather, the offer was simply too generous to refuse.
...
"The Red Serpent Leg Divine Will Diagram!"
Inside a quiet chamber.
Fang Xi gazed at the piece of beast hide in his hand, frowning deeply.
On the hide, chaotic lines sprawled across the surface like an abstract ink painting. Though the strokes were few, they were vivid and lifelike, depicting a wild forest scene.
Within the forest, on the grassy ground, distorted curves twisted and slithered like serpents, crisscrossing each other in an unnerving fashion.
"As the legends say, one must reach the Third Transformation of Blood Qi in the Serpent Slithering Eight Methods to even perceive the 'divine will'... Indeed, there is something profound here."
Fang Xi nodded slightly, a thoughtful look on his face.
The Divine Will Diagram was exceedingly peculiar. Ordinary copying techniques would never capture its essence.
Only the core disciples of the Red Serpent Martial Hall, through endless practice and reflection, could possibly glimpse its mysteries and cultivate true force.
"But that limitation only applies to mundane artists."
In the next moment, Fang Xi flipped his palm, revealing a blank jade slip.
He pressed it to his forehead, extending his spiritual sense to meticulously imprint the Red Serpent Divine Will Diagram within.
This was the method of a cultivator recording a manual!
No matter the ancient texts or illustrations, this technique could recreate them with perfect fidelity, preserving even the most subtle essence and spirit.
"Since the Red Serpent Divine Will Diagram was originally created by human hands, it means it can be reproduced. Mortals cannot copy it only because their strength and perception fall short... But with my cultivator's spiritual sense, it's a simple matter of exploiting a loophole..."
Moments later, Fang Xi glanced at the flawless Divine Will Diagram now stored in his jade slip, silently marveling.
Had he remained in this mundane Daliang world, only martial masters who had refined the Red Serpent Leg to extraordinary heights could even dream of attempting such a reproduction.
Yet now, he had done it with ease.
"Lu She must have assumed I couldn't memorize or replicate the diagram in such a short time."
"He has badly miscalculated."
At this thought, Fang Xi was immensely satisfied. He returned the original beast hide to Lu She, allowing him to inspect it carefully, and even presented a generous gift of thanks.
After confirming the authenticity of the hide, Lu She clasped his fists with a stiff expression, "The mountains are high and the roads are long. Until we meet again."
"Until we meet again," Fang Xi replied calmly.
He knew full well that Lu She had now marked him as an enemy, but he couldn't care less.
After all, with the Red Serpent Leg's true transmission already in his possession, there was no longer any reason to seek favors from that man.
Truth be told, ever since arriving in Daliang, Fang Xi's worries had lessened considerably.
...
Half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
Southern Wilderness Cultivation World.
Fang Xi stood by the window, watching the melting snow drip from the eaves. He extended his hand to catch a drop.
"Winter fades into spring. Brewing tea with fresh snowmelt... truly one of life's rare pleasures."
Since the previous events, Fang Xi had officially left the Red Serpent Martial Hall and joined the White Cloud Martial Hall, receiving daily training from Mu Piaomiao. He had now entered the foundational stage of the White Cloud Palm techniques.
Meanwhile, the frenzy surrounding Purple Mist Mountain had not yet died down, and the prices of talismans and magical artifacts were still soaring.
Fang Xi mused, recalling that he had stockpiled a few talismans earlier, technically, their value had risen.
"But without selling them, it doesn't count as profit... and I won't sell them anyway."
Sighing lightly, Fang Xi made his way to the market.
To his surprise, the market was far more crowded than half a month ago. Numerous cultivators thronged the stalls.
Interestingly, while the prices of talismans and artifacts had previously surged, they were now rapidly falling.
In their place, the market was flooded with so-called 'materials' from Purple Mist Mountain. Fang Xi glanced around and couldn't help but twitch his mouth in amusement.
One so-called "fragment of a treasure from the secret realm" was none other than a worthless bauble he remembered an old peddler hawking long before, infamous for tricking gullible newcomers.
In fact, most of the wares now were obvious counterfeits.
Even the few genuine ones were priced far beyond Fang Xi's means.
Thus, with a relaxed attitude, he simply strolled among the stalls and listened to the gossip.
"Damn them!"
"Purple Mist Mountain was supposed to be a heaven-sent opportunity! What right did the Situ Clan and Red Leaf Valley have to block us out?"
Many cultivators were furiously venting their grievances.
Fang Xi quickly pieced together the situation.
The Situ Clan, a major local power, had joined forces with Red Leaf Valley, a Foundation Establishment sect, to seal off Purple Mist Mountain. Rogue cultivators had no chance of getting inside.
Reports even mentioned Foundation Establishment cultivators mobilizing, leaving mere Qi Refining cultivators to watch helplessly.
"If that's the case, Old Maitou should be back soon. Spring harvest is just around the corner..."
With that thought, Fang Xi continued wandering among the booths.
Perhaps, he mused, he could finally fulfill a long-standing wish, acquiring a genuine low-grade magical artifact at a bargain price!
He examined stall after stall.
Many of the artifacts were damaged, some even bloodstained, clearly spoils of battle or ill-gotten goods.
Yet even so, most remained priced far too high for him.
Fang Xi was not discouraged and browsed with calm patience.
Suddenly, he stopped dead in front of a particular stall, staring blankly at a flying sword-type artifact.
It was only a first-rank low-grade sword, about one foot three inches long, shaped like a stalk of green millet. Its surface was marred by several nicks, its damage severe.
But most critically, Fang Xi recognized it!
It was the very sword Old Mai had once kept hidden in his trunk!
Its presence here spoke volumes about Old Mai's likely fate.
Sighing inwardly, Fang Xi glanced at the stall owner, a black-robed man with a masked face and a murderous air.
"Old Mai likely died at his hands…"
As Fang Xi reflected, the black-robed man seemed to sense something and looked over, "Kid... eyeing something?"
His voice was low, laced with danger.
"Yes. How much for this flying sword artifact?" Fang Xi asked cautiously.
"Ordinary low-grade artifacts sell for five to ten spirit stones. I'll give you a deal, four stones for this sword," the man replied.
"Don't mock me, fellow Daoist," Fang Xi said urgently. "This sword is nearly broken, and with artifact prices plummeting, four stones is absurd."
"Then how much will you offer?" the man growled.
Clearly, he had only quoted a high price to fleece an easy mark, at four spirit stones, the sword would never sell.
"One spirit stone," Fang Xi said firmly, holding up one finger.
"Are you toying with me?!" the man growled again. "At least three spirit stones!"
Fang Xi pressed the advantage, pointing out the cracked array patterns and chipped blade, issues that would cripple the weapon's performance.
After a tense round of haggling, they finally settled at two spirit stones plus three spirit crystals.
Fang Xi grimaced as he dug through every last scrap of savings, barely scraping together the price.
At last, the 'Green Millet Sword' was his.
Truthfully, buying this flying sword had exhausted all his resources. For the foreseeable future, he wouldn't even be able to afford spirit rice, he'd have to live off mundane grain.
Yet Fang Xi felt it was worth every bit.
If not for the current chaotic market and plummeting artifact prices, acquiring even a low-grade artifact would have been much harder.
...
Shantytown.
Back in his room, Fang Xi shut the door and took out the Green Millet Sword.
He stared at it, his expression dark and brooding. The faint glint of the blade cast an eerie reflection across his face.
After a long silence, Fang Xi gently laid the sword down,
"I never thought... my first real artifact would come from Old Mai."
He recalled the old man's desperate final stand and silently warned himself, Never end up like Old Mai.
He had a golden finger, a great advantage. In the future, he must always leave himself a way out, and never risk his life for petty profits.
"Thankfully, the Situ Clan and Red Leaf Valley have stabilized the chaos."
Stowing the sword away, Fang Xi prepared to return to the Daliang world the next day to properly study artifact control techniques.
At the same time, he felt a rare sense of relief.
He deeply disliked the recent lawlessness and unrest.
Had the chaos continued, he would have seriously considered fleeing the market altogether.
"Even now, it's not truly safe."
Scanning his surroundings cautiously, Fang Xi made a decision,
He would dig a cellar, an underground escape tunnel!
It would be a massive project, but he could take his time.
And in the future, he would use it to safely travel between the two worlds, hidden from prying eyes.