After This, Big Brother Will Have Your Back

Over the next few days, Su Fan did not go to Shaoyang Market, but stayed home to consolidate his cultivation.

Only after his cultivation was fully consolidated did Su Fan come to the rogue stall market and begin setting up a stall to sell his goods.

He also wanted to stay comfortably cooped up at home until he died, but that truly was not possible.

There was no helping it. He was poor.

With his current cultivation method, he took one Foundation Cultivation Pill every two days and used the Minor Spirit Gathering Array twice a day.

Forget rogue cultivators—even ordinary sect disciples could not afford to play like this.

Over the course of a year, just the spirit stones alone would consume seven or eight thousand.

If he had not gone through several crises and seized some spoils of war, where would he have gotten the spirit stones to squander?

Without the Minor Spirit Gathering Array and pills, breaking through to the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation would take at least another year.

Moreover, after breaking through to the Fifth Level of Qi Condensation, he had clearly felt over the past few days that the effects of the Foundation Cultivation Pill had already begun to diminish sharply.

It might have been because of his advancement, or it might have been because he had consumed too many Foundation Cultivation Pills and developed a certain resistance to the medicine.

To maintain his previous cultivation speed, he could only switch to Origin Returning Pills.

An Origin Returning Pill cost ten spirit stones. Just thinking about it made his heart ache.

By that calculation, he would have to squander at least ten to twenty thousand spirit stones over a year.

But with Su Fan's aptitude of Four Spiritual Roots, besides throwing spirit stones at the problem, did he have any other choice?

Though he had not come for several days, Shaoyang Market was still prosperous and bustling.

Su Fan came to the rogue stall market, spread out the hide of an Ironhide Savage Bull, and displayed all his goods.

At present, only his various talismans were still adequately stocked. His other miscellaneous items were almost completely sold out.

He currently had a little over two thousand spirit stones left, which would not even last him half a year of this spending.

At most, Su Fan's stall could earn two or three hundred spirit stones a month.

That was still thanks to the talismans he had acquired before. If he continued selling at this rate, there would not be much left after a few more months.

This would not do. He had to think of a solution.

But besides drawing talismans, he really had no other livelihood worth mentioning. He could not exactly go become a bandit cultivator, could he?

For the sake of spirit stones, Su Fan was so worried that his hair had turned white.

At that moment, Su Fan spotted a familiar figure among the crowd.

Xu Wen was strolling around the market. He came to a stall with quite a few talismans.

He wanted to replenish his supply, so he squatted down in front of the stall and began rummaging through them.

Seeing Old Xu, a smile appeared on Su Fan's face.

In the past, relying on an Outer Sect Disciple of the Lesser Yang Sect, he had flourished in the market.

Now that the Qingxuan Sect had arrived, he wondered whether Old Xu could still find someone to lean on.

Xu Wen picked through the talismans for quite a while before finally taking two.

"Fellow Daoist, how much for these two talismans?"

"Thank you for your patronage. Eighteen spirit stones."

"Fellow Daoist, could you make it a little cheaper..."

"Heh, then I won't take your spirit stones. Take them and go play."

Hearing Su Fan say this, Xu Wen froze on the spot. Was this stall owner an idiot?

Looking at Xu Wen's baffled face, Su Fan burst out laughing.

"Old Xu, why are you still being so polite with me?"

After hearing this, Xu Wen pointed at Su Fan, but could not say a word for quite some time.

For some reason, although this stall owner looked very unfamiliar, he also gave Xu Wen an incredibly familiar feeling.

Old Xu tried asking, "You are..."

Su Fan chuckled and said, "The two of us brothers haven't had a drink together in ages."

Hearing that, Old Xu finally guessed Su Fan's identity.

"You're Little Su..."

Su Fan hurriedly raised a finger to his lips, then shifted a little to the side and took out a small stool.

"Come... Sit here..."

Xu Wen smiled in relief, stepped over the stall, and sat beside Su Fan.

"Brother, if it hadn't been for you last time, I..."

Su Fan waved a hand and said, "Big Brother, let's not talk about that between us brothers."

Xu Wen nodded, then stared at Su Fan's face in puzzlement.

"Brother, you..."

Su Fan gave a bitter smile and sighed.

"Alas... it's a long story..."

Xu Wen knew perfectly well that Su Fan must have offended someone, but he did not ask further.

"Nowadays, I and a group of brothers stick together to make a living. If you run into trouble in the future, just come find me."

Su Fan almost laughed aloud. Who would have thought that Old Xu, with that honest-looking face, had joined a gang too?

"Of course. Who else would I go to when you're my big brother..."

Old Xu slapped Su Fan on the shoulder and laughed. "Ha-ha... That's more like it. From now on, in Shaoyang Market, your big brother will have your back."

Su Fan nodded, then thought for a moment.

"Big Brother, you only need to know about my situation..."

Old Xu immediately furrowed his brows and asked in a deep voice, "Brother, have you run into some difficulty? Tell me about it..."

Su Fan shook his head. What good would telling you do?

"It's nothing. I just don't want to cause trouble."

"If you don't want to talk about it, your big brother won't ask. I'll say the same thing again: if you run into trouble, you must come find me."

After Old Xu finished speaking, he pulled Su Fan up by the arm.

"Come on... We haven't seen each other in ages. Let's have a drink..."

Su Fan could not refuse him, so he packed up his stall and followed Old Xu to a restaurant in the market.

The two found a table by the window. Old Xu was in high spirits today, so he ordered a large tableful of Spirit Dishes and two bottles of Spirit Wine.

Su Fan calculated that this meal would cost at least dozens of spirit stones.

It seemed Old Xu was doing quite well. He really had some ability—wherever he was thrown, he would never starve.

The two had not seen each other in a long time, and they drank to their hearts' content.

Old Xu, in particular, was extremely emotional.

Last time, after hesitating again and again, he had still not told Su Fan about the demonic cultivators invading the market.

He had already been deeply ashamed of that, and afterward, he had only survived thanks to Su Fan's help.

Thus, upon seeing Su Fan again, he kept raising his cup to him.

As Xu Wen drank, he gradually became drunk, until he could barely get his tongue around the words.

"Brother, from now on, no matter what happens to you in Shaoyang Market, you must come to me."

Su Fan took a small sip of wine and advised, "Old Xu, let's drink slowly..."

The moment Old Xu heard that, he perked up again.

"Brother, I'm not bragging, but go ask around about Swift Wind Hall in Shaoyang Market. Everyone has to show us some respect."

Su Fan gave a bitter smile. Old Xu was drunk, so all he could do was humor him.

It was not until midnight that the two finally left the restaurant. Su Fan supported Xu Wen as they headed toward his home.

They came to a small alley, and Old Xu pointed inside.

"Brother, I've arrived. You can head back..."

He was drunk to this state. How could Su Fan possibly feel safe letting him go home alone?

"I've already walked you this far. A few more steps won't hurt. I also want to know where you live..."

"Ha-ha... Right, you've never been to my house. Come sit for a while when we get there, and we'll keep drinking..."

Su Fan shook his head. You're already like this, and you still want to drink?

He supported Old Xu into the alley. They had only taken a few steps when Su Fan stopped.

A flash of lightning flickered in his eyes, and his brows immediately knitted together.

Su Fan hugged Old Xu and slowly backed away.

But before they had taken more than a few steps back, he abruptly turned around. Several people were already standing at the mouth of the alley.

At that moment, the people hiding inside the alley also revealed themselves, completely blocking their way.