“This is terrible! My big brother’s brush is worth a hefty sum!” the man who led the way exclaimed in a fluster.
Lin Yuezheng heaved a sigh and said, “Forget it. Since Brother Lu Ping was the one who brought you here, I’ll just ask 50 low-grade ki stones for compensation.’
Fang Chen was silent for seconds before chuckling. “You’re extorting me?”
“Extorting? Brother, I don’t like the way you’re speaking. It’s only right for you to compensate me after spoiling my brush!” Lin Yuezheng’s face darkened.
“That Celestial Bluestone Brush is Boss Lin’s treasure. Many people had offered him 50 low-grade ki stones for it, but he couldn’t bear to part with it. You should be glad that he’s kind enough to demand only 50 low-grade ki stones for it.”
“If it was me, I wouldn’t let you walk out of here without 100 low-grade ki stones.”
“If you refuse to pay, we’d have no choice but to get Dragonback Lane’s chief here to reason things out.”
A huge crowd of cultivators had gathered at the entrance. Some were adjacent store owners, some were street vendors, and some were simply customers passing by the area. A couple of them spoke up for Lin Yuezheng.
“Brother, I brought you here out of the kindness of my heart. Don’t embarrass me,” Lu Ping reasoned with Fang Chen. “Let’s settle this matter by compensating my big brother. It won’t be good for you if things blow out of hand too.”
He paused for a second before adding, “If you don’t have enough ki stones, you can bring out your artifacts too.”
“I do have the ki stones,” Fang Chen replied.
Lu Ping and Lin Yuezheng exchanged gleeful looks.
“But I don’t plan on becoming meat on your chopping board,” Fang Chen added with a smile.
Lin Yuezheng’s face darkened. “Are you planning to shirk your debt? Fine, let’s get the Dragonback Lane’s chief out and have him judge this matter!”
“There’s no need to busy the chief over this. I’ll mediate on your behalf,” a middle-aged cultivator said with a chuckle as he entered the store with ten other people.
“Paying respect to Manager Li.” the crowd politely greeted with a bow.
“It’s my honor to have someone as esteemed as you grace my store. Manager Li, this way please,” Li Yuezheng warmly welcomed the middle-aged cultivator and personally took a chair for the latter.
Manager Li sat down with a satisfied smile and crossed his legs. He assessed Fang Chen before asking, “You look unfamiliar. How should I address you? My family name is Li, and I work under Dragonback Lane’s chief. I’m in charge of settling conflicts in this market.”
“I am from the Fang Clan. Manager Li, these two people are colluding to extort money from me. How does your Dragonback Lane deal with such matters?” Fang Chen calmly asked.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Daoist Fang,” Manager Li said with a perfunctory smile. “You said that Boss Lin is extorting you? I don’t believe you. There’s no one in our Dragonback Lane who doesn’t know how humble Boss Lin is. There are times when he even aids struggling cultivators. It’s hard to believe that someone like that would resort to extortion.”
Manager Li glanced at the broken Celestial Bluestone Brush on the ground. One of his subordinates picked it up and respectfully handed it to him.
“Oh? This is an incredible brush. Such a brush would have greatly increased the efficiency of drawing talismans. I heard that celestial bluestone can tame even the wildest spirit ki.
Drawing talismans defies heaven’s will by siphoning energy from the world. During the process, one’s spirit ki will go rampant, making it difficult to even hold the brush stably. If not for that, talismans wouldn’t have been so expensive, costing an astronomical 2 to 3 low-grade ki stones each,” Manager Li said. “It should be hard to find celestial bluestones in our region, right?”
“Indeed, Manager Li.” The crowd nodded in agreement.
“What a pity that this brush is spoiled.” Manager Li shook his head in lamentation. He turned to Fnag Chen and said, “Daoist Fang, let’s do this. You’ll pay Boss Lin 60 low-grade ki stones, and I’ll have Boss Lin drop this matter. We can avoid needless conflict this way. What do you think?”
Lin Yuezheng and Lu Ping looked at Fang Chen with gleeful smiles. They had been in the Dragonback Lane for many years, during which they often sent little gifts to Manager Li to forge connections with the latter. Their efforts were paying off today.
“Manager Li is asking you a question. Why aren’t you answering? And why do you keep your eyes closed? Are you looking down on us?” Lu Ping sneered.
Fang Chen slowly opened his eyes, revealing his placid, grayish-white eyes. For some reason, the crowd felt goosebumps when they saw those eyes, and a chill went down their spines.
What’s going on? Is it a hallucination? Manager Li frowned. He decided not to think too much into that and instead focused on the issue on hand. “Daoist Fang, you’re blind?”
“How did a disabled man like him become a cultivator?”
“He might have become disabled after becoming a cultivator.”
“I’m blind, but it doesn’t matter to me. I can see what you see, though I can also see what you don’t see,” Fang Chen calmly replied. “Manager Li, it sounds like you have decided to side with those two lowlifes. Is this the way the Dragonback Lane handles conflicts? If so, I’m going to be very disappointed.”
“Who are you calling a lowlife?” Lu Ping’s face darkened as he began channeling his spirit ki.
Lin Yuezheng sneered. He’s still putting on a strong front even though Manager Li has already gotten involved? Hmph, he’ll regret his decision very soon!
Manager Li shot to his feet. His spirit ki furiously flowed out, revealing that he was a seventh stage Ki Refinement cultivator!
The crowd was shocked, especially the nearby cultivators. They quickly turned their attention over upon sensing the outburst of spirit ki.
The majority of the cultivators in Dragonback Lane were unaffiliated cultivators, and most of them were between first stage to fourth stage Ki Refinement. It was rare for cultivators with proper legacies to appear here.
Being a fourth stage Ki Refinement cultivator was the hallmark of an expert here. It was rare to find any cultivators at fifth stage or sixth stage here; such figures tended to be famous here, so normal people wouldn’t dare to mess with them.
And Manager Li was a true seventh stage Ki Refinement cultivator!
It was rare for unaffiliated cultivators to reach such a level. Such people would be respected even if they went to major sects.
However, an aura even more powerful that Manager Li’s instantaneously enveloped the area.
Fang Chen’s hair fluttered as a terrifying aura shrouded him.
“He… is at eighth stage Ki Refinement?!” the crowd exclaimed in horror.
Lin Yuezheng and Lu Ping were stunned.
Manager Li trembled as if he had been struck by a bolt of lightning. He asked with an uncertain voice, “Who in the world are you?”