FFSC_16.2

Chapter 16.2: Who Is This Old Friend Again — I Forbid You From Being With Him!

Three days later. Qingluan Prefecture.

Above a vast open plain, an ancient grey-blue city floated suspended in the air. Countless formation arrays folding space were layered one upon another, holding up this ancient city like enormous arms, its immense shadow falling across nearly the entire plain below.

This was the greatest city in Qingluan Prefecture, Kuurong City. Entry was by flight only. Mortals were barred. Foundation Building cultivators were required to go around.

【There is blood-baleful energy here.】

The moment they entered the city, Chen Moqing heard Cang Shun's unhurried voice.

He said: "The source is within the city?"

【No.】

Cang Shun's gaze swept past the towering city walls that pierced the clouds, and turned toward the boundless horizon.

【The entire prefecture.】

A dense, indelible blood-baleful energy, blanketing an entire prefecture.

The snow-white creature twitched its nose, wearing a slightly disdainful expression, then buried its head directly into the chest of the human beside it.

Smells nice.

Chen Moqing raised a finger and brushed through the soft fur. He had not sensed the blood-baleful energy himself, perhaps due to the gap in cultivation between him and this Demon Emperor, or perhaps, that blood-baleful aura had originated from the demon race, from thousands of years ago, from the Qingluan that had fallen.

The prosperity of the middle prefectures far surpassed that of the lower prefectures. Along the wide main streets that could accommodate dozens of carriages side by side, merchants crowded in abundance, and the various magic treasures and spiritual items on display were more than the eye could take in. Chen Moqing carried the snow-white creature and made a round of the streets, and before long a good deal of news had drifted to his ears.

In one week, the foremost array path sect in Qingluan Prefecture, Wanhua Sect, would be openly recruiting disciples.

Tonight, there was an auction being held in the city.

The young cultivator strolled along the main street. Passersby could hear only the occasional soft mewing and murmuring from the snow-white creature in his arms.

【To obtain the secret realm inheritance, array path ability is required. What is your level?】

Chen Moqing: "I know a thing or two."

Back when he had been studying talisman path at Tianshu Sect, he had discovered that talismans and arrays shared the same root and could inform one another— his sword formations had also incorporated the fundamentals of array path. That said, it truly was only a passing familiarity, not genuine mastery.

"After this, I intend to go to Wanhua Sect."

【Oh.】

Cang Shun swayed his tail lazily, with no particular reaction.

Wherever this person went, he would simply follow.

Besides, he had nothing else to do.

Chen Moqing looked downward. This Demon Emperor had not brought up the contract between them for quite some time now. Perhaps he had already ceased to care about it entirely. Or perhaps——

The snow-white creature suddenly leapt onto the top of his head.

Its feet slipped, fortunately its reflexes were quick, and it seized his hair crown with one paw.

The hair crown tilted askew. His hair fell into disarray. The snow-white creature's hind paws scrambled wildly on top of his head before it finally managed to keep its balance.

Chen Moqing: "......"

Perhaps it was biding its time to exact quiet revenge— for instance, right now.

He raised a hand and swiftly ruffled the fur on top of the esteemed Demon Emperor's head into a mess.

Cang Shun: "……"

Petty!

It refused to come down from atop this person's head.

Jinyin Pavilion, the largest auction house in Kuurong City.

With an auction scheduled for that evening, the establishment had seen a steady stream of visitors throughout the day. A magic treasure appraiser had just seen off one client when an attendant ushered in someone new.

It was a figure in a black hooded cloak, tall in stature, with a few strands of ink-dark, satin-like hair spilling out from beneath the hood.

Such attire was far from unusual at an auction house. The appraiser paid it little mind, and casually asked what the client wished to consign, when a flash of light suddenly crossed his vision.

A cyan-colored talisman hovered in the air, fierce lightning coiling around it like slender serpents threading through the paper.

The appraiser, who had been leaning back in his chair, snapped upright.

A fourth-grade Thunderstrike Talisman, ten-part quality!

One must understand that the gap between the fourth and third grades is only one grade apart, yet the difficulty of crafting them is worlds apart. Achieving a superior quality rating is harder still— this Thunderstrike Talisman was a lower grade piece within the fourth grade, its power equivalent to a single strike from an early Nascent Soul cultivator, but owing to its ten-part quality, it was capable of erupting with even greater force!

To produce a talisman of such quality, this person must be a talisman cultivator of considerable ability, at the mid or even late Nascent Soul stage!

——Though array cultivators and talisman cultivators had long been at odds with one another, a Nascent Soul expert was a different matter entirely, that was a fellow Daoist and senior deserving of respect.

The appraiser rose to his feet with a broad smile, offered fine tea, and invited the honored guest to be seated for a moment. Before long, a composed and unhurried woman in elegant robes arrived— she introduced herself as Gong Xuan, the deputy administrator of the establishment.

"It is our honor to have you choose Jinyin Pavilion. Please accept this jade token."

Gong Xuan carried herself with gentle composure, neither deferential nor overbearing, as she extended a finely crafted jade token toward the cloaked guest.

"With this token, you are a distinguished guest of our Jinyin Pavilion. Any magic treasure you take a liking to may be purchased at a ten percent discount. For ordinary clients who consign items with us, Jinyin Pavilion takes a twenty percent commission, and for items consigned by yourself, we take only ten."

From beneath the cloak, a slender hand received the jade token. The lustrous jade caught the pale reflection of fingertips as it turned, then caught a corner of the rosewood table.

On a glazed porcelain dish atop the rosewood table sat petal-shaped pastries, their delicate fragrance drifting in faint tendrils through the second-floor private room where only one person sat. From here one could look down upon the vast auction hall below, already ablaze with lamplight, crowded with cultivators beyond counting.

The hanging cloak bulged slightly, as though something beneath it was squirming back and forth. Before long, a small snow-white creature poked its head out from under the hem, sniffed at the air, and began edging toward the table.

Chen Moqing picked up a petal-shaped pastry and placed it on the small fluffy paw.

The snow-white creature took a bite with a soft chomp, and chewed and chewed.

【Not as good as osmanthus cake.】

Chen Moqing: "White sugar cake prefers osmanthus cake, understandable."

Cang Shun: "?"

The snow-white creature let out a loud "mew," Chen Moqing calmly gathered the cloak closed, covering the noisy little fluffy ball.

The auction had not yet begun. The second-floor private room was open and spacious, and the idle chatter of cultivators on the floor below drifted up clearly.

"Have you heard? A few months back, a secret realm left behind by a Deity Transformation expert appeared in one of the lower prefectures, and a Foundation Building cultivator obtained the inheritance! Someone by the name of Jiang-something-yu, I think?"

"Ha. A mere Foundation Building cultivator, what good is an inheritance? Come back and talk when they've formed a Golden Core."

"Pure dumb luck, nothing more. If I had been there, that little Foundation Building brat wouldn't have stood a chance."

From beneath the cloak, a small snow-white head emerged once more, fixing a long, quiet stare in that direction.

Chen Moqing calmly extended two fingers, pressed them against the small head, gave it a little rub, and gently pushed it back under the cloak.

The auction began in the blink of an eye. Magic treasures and spiritual instruments flowed past one after another, and before long they arrived at the talisman he had refined using the might of the Nine-Heavenly Thunders Tribulation.

"A Thunderstrike Talisman— fourth-grade, lower grade, offensive type. Ten-part quality!"

"I trust everyone present knows what ten-part quality signifies. Such a rare piece is seldom seen. Starting bid— fifty thousand spirit stones!"

The words had barely fallen before someone called out: "Fifty-three thousand!"

"Fifty-six thousand!"

"Sixty thousand!"

"Seventy thousand!"

As one of the three thousand middle prefectures, Qingluan Prefecture was a place where Golden Core cultivators were common, though Nascent Soul cultivators were far from abundant. The sect masters and elders of many sects in Qingluan Prefecture were mostly at the Nascent Soul stage, and so the price of the Thunderstrike Talisman climbed steadily upward, swiftly driven to a hundred and seventy thousand spirit stones.

Then a languid voice drifted down from the second floor: "Two hundred thousand."

Chen Moqing turned his head slightly. In the private room diagonally across from his sat a middle-aged man in lavish robes. Several women of striking appearance were kneading his shoulders and massaging his legs on either side of him. He opened his mouth to catch a peeled grape, and cast a sidelong glance down at the floor below.

"That's Elder Duan Ya of Wanhua Sect!"

On the floor below, voices whispered among themselves. The moment the man called Duan Ya placed his bid, a good number of the competing bidders fell away at once, leaving only a few clients also seated in second-floor private rooms still in the running, driving the price up to two hundred and seventy thousand.

In the end, the fourth-grade Thunder Strike Talisman was claimed by Duan Ya for two hundred and eighty thousand spirit stones.

From beneath Chen Moqing's cloak, a snow-white creature poked its head out again and looked up at him.

It raised a paw and gave the human a light tap. Then another.

Seeing if it could pat some spirit stones loose.

Chen Moqing: "......"

Chen Moqing said: "I'll split these spirit stones with you, half and half."

Had this Demon Emperor not delayed the tribulation for him, he would not have passed through it so easily, nor would he have had energy to spare to refine the Thunderstrike Talisman using the tribulation's might.

Cang Shun turned his head away, his expression full of disdain.

【Benzun wants none of that rubbish.】

Chen Moqing's tone remained unhurried: "With spirit stones, one can buy an endless supply of dried small fish."

Cang Shun's disdain only deepened.

【If Benzun wants something, why should Benzun pay for it himself?】

Then he spread his paw open toward Chen Moqing.

Chen Moqing picked up a pastry and set it down gently in the paw.

Cang Shun took a bite, and let out a satisfied little huff.

Things could be had without spending a single coin.

The auction was at its height. The Wanhua Sect elder called Duan Ya had spent with remarkable lavishness, acquiring two more magic treasures at steep prices one after another before breaking into a broad laugh and leaving with several female attendants on his arm.

Chen Moqing had observed the entire auction, and along the way purchased thirty sheets of cloud-silk paper, a talisman paper material of superior quality compared to ordinary yellow paper, priced at a thousand spirit stones per sheet.

For fourth-grade middle grade talismans and above, ordinary yellow paper was no longer adequate to bear their full power. For fifth-grade upper grade talismans, an even higher grade of white jade paper would be required— at nearly ten thousand spirit stones per sheet.

The higher the talisman grade, the more costly the materials needed.

After the auction came one more segment, a barter exchange among cultivators. Chen Moqing looked on for a while, casually gathered up the remaining pastries from the table, tucked the little fluffy ball under his cloak, and rose to leave.

A female cultivator stood up in the crowd and said: "I have a millennium-aged Sacred Sparrow feather. I will trade it for any fifth-grade or above talisman formula."

【Wait.】

Cang Shun suddenly spoke. Chen Moqing looked down, and saw the Demon Emperor push aside the cloak and fix an intent gaze upon the female cultivator, those crimson demon eyes reflecting not the slightest flicker of emotion.

The Sacred Sparrow clan was one of the ancient great clans of the demon race. Five thousand years ago they had been sealed away along with the Demon Emperor into the Demon Abyss, and over the past millennium had gradually faded from the world, rarely appearing any longer. A millennium-aged Sacred Sparrow feather was a genuine heaven-and-earth treasure— extraordinarily rare.

——Even so, the female cultivator received no response.

Fifth-grade magic treasures already ranked in the upper-middle grade, capable of matching the power of a Deity Transformation cultivator, even a talisman formula of that grade was of considerable worth. Qingluan Prefecture had only three Deity Transformation cultivators, and being a region centered on array arts, talisman treasures were less commonly in circulation. The female cultivator called out several times without reply, and on the rare occasion someone proposed trading another magic treasure instead, she declined each time.

His sleeve was given a gentle tug. A low, toneless voice sounded at Chen Moqing's ear: 【Get it for me. Trade with my things.】

He lowered his gaze, glanced at Cang Shun's expressionless face, and calmly said aloud: "I can make the trade, but somewhere else."

The female cultivator turned to him at once: "I'll need to inspect the goods first."

"That's fine."

And so the two of them left the auction house and made their way directly toward the outskirts of the city.

The moon hung above the treetops. In a place with no one around, the female cultivator watched with careful eyes as the tall, cloaked figure raised a slender finger— and above his palm, a semi-transparent talisman formula materialized.

A fifth-grade Thunder Tribulation Talisman formula!

The female cultivator's expression flickered with surprise. Offensive-type magic treasures were the most powerful of all, and the lightning element was the strongest in terms of offensive power among the five elements— and he had opened with the most costly kind right away!

Her voice suddenly became a little halting: "I… only have one Sacred Sparrow feather. Will that be enough to trade?"

A clear, calm voice drifted over on the night breeze: "This item, where did you come by it?"

The female cultivator answered without hesitation: "It was passed down from my clan's ancestor! A thousand years ago, my ancestor had the fortune of meeting a Sacred Sparrow, became friends with it, and received the feather as a gift. Our clan has preserved it ever since."

"An ancestor's possession, it ought to be treasured. Only… my family's lives are at stake. The one who can save them requires a fifth-grade talisman formula in exchange, and our clan has long since fallen into decline. This is the only thing we have left to offer…"

Toward the end, the female cultivator had already lowered her head in quiet sorrow, then she heard the calm reply from the person across from her: "Let's trade."

A fifth-grade Thunder Tribulation Talisman formula, exchanged for a single long and beautiful feather of gold and green. The feather was soft, each strand distinct, radiating a faint luminous glow.

The female cultivator examined the talisman formula over and over several times before carefully tucking it into her storage pouch. Then she lifted a pair of bright, clear eyes: "My name is Ling Xiao, a disciple of Liandao Sect! If you ever find yourself in difficulty, fellow Daoist, send word directly to Liandao Sect and I will come to your aid without fail!"

She raised her hand again, and a semi-transparent talisman drifted forward to rest before Chen Moqing: "This is the Seven Emotions Ignition Talisman formula, consider it a gift from me to you, fellow Daoist!"

Chen Moqing swept it with his divine sense. The Seven Emotions Ignition Talisman— a fourth-grade talisman capable of igniting emotions, amplifying feelings, and stirring the seven emotions and six desires.

Though only fourth-grade, it was exceptionally unusual. Attacking the emotions was the hardest thing to guard against, and could produce a striking effect when least expected.

He accepted the talisman formula without hesitation: "Thank you, this will be of great use to me."

Ling Xiao clasped her fists together firmly: "It is I who must thank you, fellow Daoist! I will carry today's matter in my heart. May we meet again when fate allows!"

Beneath the bright moon, in the stillness of the forest, a gold-green Sacred Sparrow feather drifted lightly down into Cang Shun's hand.

He regarded it for a moment, then reached casually to one side, and the Sacred Sparrow feather vanished into the void.

【How many feathers do you want? Or would you prefer my blood?】

Chen Moqing said evenly: "Making a rubbing of a talisman formula is no great trouble."

The talisman formulas he had at his disposal were mostly of the offensive type, and for lightning-element offensive talismans, he had them from second-grade all the way to fifth.

Cang Shun fell silent.

Two seconds passed, and then a single line surfaced: 【You're not going to ask why?】

Chen Moqing: "There's no need."

Cang Shun went quiet again.

He trusts me like this.

And still helps me.

The small fluffy snow-white creature began nuzzling against the young human beside him once more, pressing its head into his fingers, pushing gently back and forth.

Chen Moqing: What are you doing now.

He idly flicked one of those round, soft ears, and watched the snow-white creature give a rapid little shudder.

Cang Shun: "……"

The Demon Emperor opened his mouth, then slowly closed it again.

Several seconds passed before his voice came.

【This is the tail feather of my vice-general's descendant. The aura on it tells me, it is right here in Qingluan Prefecture.】

"Does it have something to do with the blood-baleful energy here?" Chen Moqing said, "Do you want to go and investigate?"

【No.】 Cang Shun said flatly. 【The matters of the Peacock clan are for them to handle themselves.】

Seeing that he did not wish to speak further on the matter, Chen Moqing said no more either. He brought the Demon Emperor back to Jinyin Pavilion and purchased a few more talisman-crafting materials.

Of the two hundred and eighty thousand spirit stones the Thunderstrike Talisman had sold for, after deducting the ten percent commission, and subtracting the thirty sheets of cloud-silk talisman paper and the other crafting materials he had purchased, he had netted two hundred thousand.

His day-to-day expenses were modest, spirit stones went almost entirely toward cultivation. Between talisman crafting and cultivation in recent times, a considerable portion of his previously accumulated spirit stones had been spent. He now carried a total of two hundred and seventy thousand spirit stones on his person.

A sum like that, for a Golden Core cultivator, would be considered extraordinarily wealthy. For Chen Moqing, it would only sustain his cultivation for a period.

After all, he was now more than capable of crafting third-grade talismans with ease, and could begin considering crafting fourth-grade ones regularly— at which point the spirit stone expenditure would double as well.

Chen Moqing struck a deal directly with Jinyin Pavilion, agreeing that all talismans he crafted going forward would be listed for sale there. Gong Xuan smiled as she saw him to the door: "From now on, we at Jinyin Pavilion will reserve a second-floor private room for you at every auction. If there is any magic treasure you require, you may also inform us in advance and we will keep an eye out for you."

She watched the cloaked figure walk away into the distance. A subordinate stepped forward and asked quietly: "Deputy Administrator, do you think he might be that Jiang Yu from the lower prefectures?"

Gong Xuan shook her head: "When Jiang Yu obtained the inheritance a few months ago, he was still at mid-Foundation Building stage. This person's cultivation is difficult to discern, but someone capable of crafting a fourth-grade talisman—even a talisman path prodigy—would need at minimum a peak Golden Core level of ability."

"The Nine Thousand Prefectures are vast beyond measure, and prodigies are beyond counting. One Jiang Yu is nothing remarkable."

"That said, this guest is truly exceptional. We would do well to cultivate a good relationship with him."

"Understood."

...

A crescent moon hung beside the window, its frost-like light spilling across the guest room.

Chen Moqing separated out a hundred and thirty thousand spirit stones and moved them in front of Cang Shun.

Cang Shun lay sprawled lazily across his lap, without the slightest inclination to reach out and take them.

Chen Moqing said: "I would ask the generous and selfless Demon Emperor His Majesty to keep these safe for me."

Only then did Cang Shun let out a languid "mm," and with a casual wave of his paw swept the pile of spirit stones into the void.

He looked up again, the human beside him had already closed his eyes in concentration, and had begun cultivating once more.

And so the snow-white creature slowly shifted to find a more comfortable position on his lap, closed its eyes, pressed close against him, and curled into a small, fluffy bundle.

Seven days later.

A great and soaring mountain range. A long flight of pale stone steps unfurled downward, their end vanishing somewhere among the layered clouds.

Today, Wanhua Sect—the foremost sect of Qingluan Prefecture—was openly recruiting disciples. The first trial was to climb all nineteen thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine steps to the sect's gate on foot.

The crowd gathered at the foot of the mountain numbered in the hundreds of thousands. The great tide of those seeking the immortal path was vast and surging— viewed from the gate of Wanhua Sect looking down, they appeared no larger than a swarm of ants.

At the back of the crowd pressing up the long steps, a young cultivator climbed at an unhurried pace— plainly dressed in blue robes, his ink-dark satin hair gathered at the back of his head with a wooden pin.

Cang Shun lay across his shoulder, head craned forward, staring at his profile without blinking.

He had changed his face before boarding the kite vessel, and now wore yet another new one.

——In Cang Shun's eyes, no matter how this person's appearance changed, what lay beneath remained the same.

He reached out a paw and wound it idly around a strand of soft dark hair that had fallen before his face. When Chen Moqing turned his head to look at him, Cang Shun withdrew the paw as though nothing had happened.

Long before leaving Dongzhou Prefecture, Chen Moqing had bribed this Demon Emperor with two dried small fish—a handsome sum—to cast an illusion upon himself.

To everyone else, Cang Shun appeared as nothing more than an ordinary white spirit cat. In Chen Moqing's eyes, however, the Demon Emperor still looked exactly as he always had— that small, cat-like, leopard-like demon beast form.

The long steps rose and fell with the mountain's contours, with no end in sight. Cang Shun grabbed a fallen leaf and batted it about idly, then glanced at the long stream of people flowing ahead.

【Shall Benzun come down and walk on his own?】

Chen Moqing: "There's no need."

Such a small thing, one careless step and someone might flatten it. And then this Demon Emperor would be wailing again.

Cang Shun went quiet once more.

He prefers having me stay on him?

Well… fine then.

The snow-white creature's face remained expressionless, but its round, soft ears perked up ever so slightly.

In the shade of the forest canopy, a young man stood on a stretch of steps, reciting in an unhurried, lilting voice: "When I reach the summit, all other mountains will look small beneath me."

He elegantly unfurled a folding fan and fanned himself with great flourish.

Chen Moqing passed by him, leaving two words in his wake: "Fine verse."

The young man's eyes lit up: "Fellow brother, shall we walk together?"

Cang Shun, who had been lying lazily about, immediately raised his head—looking at Chen Moqing, then at the young man.

Chen Moqing's tone was unhurried: "Sure. Might I ask your name, brother?"

The young man fanned his folding fan: "My name is Xiao… Mo!"

Cang Shun looked at Chen Moqing again, and saw him only smile, a smile as warm and gentle as a spring breeze: "I am Chi Fei."

Cang Shun: "…………"

The snow-white creature leapt at once onto Chen Moqing's arm.

【And who is this old friend of yours now?】

A cool voice sounded at his ear.

【Are the two of you close?】

Chen Moqing did not answer. He simply reached out and caught a falling leaf, then placed it gently on the small fluffy head.

The snow-white creature sat with a leaf on its head, motionless for two full seconds— as though someone had pressed a pause button.

Then, sensing something was off, it gave its head a rapid shake and caught the leaf as it tumbled down.

The young man glanced over and thought to himself that only a person of modest cultivation would keep an ordinary spirit cat as a demon pet.

"Don't worry, System."

He said with a smile to the empty air, in words no one else could hear.

"I, Xiao Jibai, have come here for one reason; to seize every opportunity, and make all of Qingluan Prefecture tremble at my name, bow before me!"

In Chen Moqing's arms, the snow-white creature gave a sudden shudder. Then another.

He looked down, and heard Cang Shun's merciless laughter.

【He has something wrong with his head.】

【Stay away from him.】

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