Philosophy

The news that Five Spring Mountain and Ghost Dao Sect were going to war was, by this stage, known practically to everyone.

Although the battle had not truly begun yet, the cultivators of the Demon Slaying Hall had been continuously searching the West Outer City for devilish cultivators layer by layer. This tense atmosphere made rogue cultivators anxious in their hearts, and unless necessary, they would not step outside.

Furthermore, it was heard that devilish cultivators had been tracked down by the Demon Slaying Hall and fought right in the streets, with other rogue cultivators being caught in the crossfire and losing their lives innocently.

There were also rogue cultivators perishing for no reason in secluded alleys, allegedly killed by devilish cultivators as well.

Yet whether they were truly killed by devilish cultivators, who could say?

For a time, the wind carried the cries of cranes, streets had few pedestrians, or some streets had no rogue cultivators at all. Only within the marketplace were there still rogue cultivators who needed to come out to purchase essential items, venturing out because they had no choice.

Once outside the area of the marketplace, the streets were completely deserted.

Truth be told, Shopkeeper Yu did things with increasing thoroughness, making Wu Tao feel more and more that cooperating with Shopkeeper Yu was the single most correct thing he had done. If not for entrusting the escort of Fellow Daoist Jin, who was at the seventh layer of Qi Refining, by his side in such a situation and walking down such desolate streets, he really would have felt somewhat apprehensive.

Now, though... he glanced at the fellow surnamed Jin beside him, a trace of security rising slightly in his heart.

The seventh layer of Qi Refining, which was the late stage of Qi Refining—such strength could be considered able to walk sideways among rogue cultivators. The rogue cultivators residing in the West Outer City were mostly at the early and mid stages of Qi Refining, and the late stage of Qi Refining was as rare as phoenix feathers and qilin horns.

Once a rogue cultivator entered the late stage of Qi Refining, their personal wealth would inevitably grow abundant along with it, and they would not live in such a poor place like the West Outer City. Generally, they all resided in the true Five Spirits Cultivation City.

As for this fellow surnamed Jin, Wu Tao guessed that he might have been sent by the person behind Shopkeeper Yu to guard the spirit material shop, so as to prevent any blind fellows from acting recklessly.

Time was pulled back to when Wu Tao had just entered the spirit material shop.

No. 36 New Spring Street.

It was a small courtyard with three courtyards deep, and the Mutual Aid Loose Cultivator Artifact Refiner Association was located right within this courtyard. At this moment, Fang Ming looked at the rogue cultivator standing before him nodding and bowing, and said with a solemn expression, "Li Feng, what was said to you just now, did you remember it or not?"

"I remember, I remember. Please rest assured, Vice President Fang, when the time comes I will certainly repeat it word for word to President Xie," Li Feng smiled.

He was a member of the Nine Bright Loose Cultivator Artifact Refiner Association, a First-Rank Level 2 artifact refiner, and at the second layer of Qi Refining. With a level like his, he was merely a marginal figure in the Nine Bright Loose Cultivator Artifact Refiner Association—he had no authority, and while there were plenty of things to do in the association, his share of spirit stones was extremely minimal.

Suddenly, Vice President Fang Ming of the Mutual Aid Loose Cultivator Artifact Refiner Association sought him out and wanted him to tell a lie, offering him thirty low-grade spirit stones just for that.

Although he was well aware that their president, Zhu Jiuming, and Xie Tao of the Mutual Aid Loose Cultivator Artifact Refiner Association had always been at odds, for the sake of spirit stones, it was merely telling a lie. How simple was that; only a fool wouldn't do it.

Fang Ming looked at the obedient Li Feng, and a breath of relief relaxed in his heart.

He thought secretly in his heart: Li Mo, I will never let you smoothly enter the association. Xie Tao doesn't have many years left to live, and this position of president must be mine.

With Li Mo's artifact-refining talent, at a young age he was already able to forge First-Rank Level 4 magic robes. Give him a few more decades, and he would definitely be able to grow to Xie Tao's level, or even higher.

Although Li Mo had always been unwilling to join the association, there was still that kid Wu Zhongxing. That kid was no good when it came to artifact refining, but when it came to pulling people in and socializing, he was top-notch; many rogue cultivator artifact refiners in the association had been roped in by Wu Zhongxing.

He feared that one day, that Li Mo would be unable to withstand Wu Zhongxing's persuasion and would truly join the association. That would represent a colossal threat to him.

"Just in time to take advantage of the chaos in the outer city to weed out this threat." A dense intent to kill arose in Fang Ming's heart, and he said to Li Feng, "Let's go. I'll take you to see President Xie. Also, address me as Vice President Fang later."

Li Feng nodded and smiled, "Rest assured, President Fang, I know how to handle things. Besides, once President Xie's lifespan runs out, the position of president in this Mutual Aid Loose Cultivator Artifact Refiner Association is one only you, President Fang, are qualified to assume."

Only then did Fang Ming nod with satisfaction.

Upon seeing Li Feng, Xie Tao was slightly surprised and asked, "Fang Ming, who is this?"

Fang Ming said in a deep voice, "President Xie, this is Li Feng, a man from the Nine Bright Loose Cultivator Artifact Refiner Association. He has been bought over by me, and there is some news that President Xie might want to hear."

With that, he motioned toward Li Feng.

Xie Tao looked at Li Feng, who hastily said, "President Xie, I heard news within our association that our President Zhu Jiuming is personally inviting a first-rank intermediate artifact refiner named Li Mo to join, and an induction ceremony is going to be held in a few days..."

Hearing this, Xie Tao's gaze grew cold, and he sternly asked, "Fang Ming, is what he said true?"

Fang Ming nodded and said, "President Xie, Li Feng's words are true. It is said that Zhu Jiuming offered a huge stake before that Li Mo agreed to join the opposing artifact refiner association.

President Xie, I've long said that this Li Mo cannot be kept around. You saw how Little Wu failed to persuade Li Mo to join us for a whole month, which shows we are destined to have no affinity with him."

"Yet we cannot let him join Zhu Jiuming's association either. If Zhu Jiuming gets Li Mo, wouldn't he ride roughshod right over your head?"

Xie Tao remained silent for a moment, finally making a decision in his heart as he said, "What do you want to do?"

Joy flashed across Fang Ming's expression as he said, "President, normally we wouldn't dare make a move in the outer city; we would need to use a scheme to lure Li Mo outside the city walls. But nowadays Five Spring Mountain is frictioning with Ghost Dao Sect, making the situation tense. We can make our move amidst the chaos and then frame it on the devilish cultivators."

Xie Tao asked, "Can you guarantee it will be foolproof?"

Fang Ming pledged with absolute certainty, "President Xie can rest assured. I have dispatched men to hire two rogue cultivators, both at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. Against Li Mo's third-layer Qi Refining cultivation, he will surely die without a doubt. Furthermore, those two rogue cultivators do not know that we are behind this."

Xie Tao said, "Good. This matter must be done seamlessly."

As Li Feng listened to their conversation, the more he heard, the more wrong it felt, and cold sweat began to break out on his back. Of the thirty-six stratagems, running away was the best; with a dart of his body, he wanted to flee.

Yet Fang Ming had long since kept his eye on him. With fourth-layer Qi Refining cultivation, Li Feng was not someone who could escape at the second layer of Qi Refining.

"Spare my life, President Fang!"

"Crack!"

Without a trace of expression, Fang Ming snapped Li Feng's neck, then hauled him up by his hand. Because he was actually shorter in stature than Li Feng, Li Feng's feet still dragged along the ground.

"President Xie, I am off to handle this task."

Xie Tao waved his hand. Once Fang Ming closed the door, he let out a sigh and said, "What a pity! What a pity!"

"President Xie!"

At this moment, the voice of Wu Zhongxing rang out outside the door.

The look of regret on Xie Tao's face vanished, and he said evenly, "Little Wu, please come in."

Wu Zhongxing entered, cupped his fists toward Xie Tao, and said, "President, the matter of the shop has been settled."

Xie Tao looked at Wu Zhongxing with gratification, praising, "Entrusting the matter of the shop to you was the right choice to have made it settled so quickly. What a pity, your artifact-refining talent... Otherwise, after my lifespan runs out, handing over the association I built with my own hands into your care would have set my mind at ease."

Wu Zhongxing said, "President, my talent in artifact refining is poor, so within the association I will handle more miscellaneous matters and let the artifact refiners in the association practice their refining more, which can make the association even stronger and shelter more rogue cultivator artifact refiners.

Besides, isn't there still Fellow Daoist Li Mo? Please rest assured, President. Give me a bit more time, and I will definitely persuade Fellow Daoist Li Mo to join our association."

Toward Wu Zhongxing's awareness, Xie Tao had always felt assured. He smiled warmly and said, "Little Wu, that Li Mo—you don't need to go and persuade him anymore."

Wu Zhongxing was taken aback, "President, what do you mean by this?"

A trace of unnaturalness flashed across Xie Tao's face, but he still said in a deep voice, "During this period, the situation is growing increasingly tense, and accidents in the shop are inevitable. You should instead hold down the fort at the shop and handle any emergencies."

Xie Tao's evasion of the question made Wu Zhongxing's heart sink completely. His expression turned gloomy, and he slowly asked, "Did Vice President Fang say something to you?"

Xie Tao remained silent.

Wu Zhongxing turned around and said, "I am going to find Vice President Fang."

Xie Tao stood up abruptly and gave a sharp shout, "Little Wu, do you still hold me as your president in your eyes? Halt right there. If you dare to step out of the association today, don't force me to make a move against you."

Wu Zhongxing could not help but halt his steps. He turned around and looked at Xie Tao, whose face had grown entirely cold. A look of pain surfaced on his own face as he asked, "President, you are going to make a move against me?"

Xie Tao said, "Little Wu, I think very highly of you. Don't let me down."

For some reason, a breath of relief unexpectedly rose in Wu Zhongxing's heart, as though finally coming to terms with something. He asked earnestly, "President, do you still remember the words you spoke to me when I first entered the association? The association was built by you with your own hands; do you still remember the philosophy from the association's founding? Do you still remember the philosophy you swore so earnestly to every single person who newly joined the association?"