Neither Was to Be Trifled With

The words struck Su Fuyun like a resounding slap, and her face flushed red.

"When did you reach Foundation Establishment, junior sister? Why didn't you tell me? I could have given you a gift." Su Fuyun forced a smile, but to Sang Ying, it looked strained no matter how she viewed it.

She had no wish to say much to these people. After all, they had already delayed her for quite some time. "Thank you for your concern, senior sister, but I've only advanced to Foundation Establishment. If I become a Golden Core cultivator someday, I'll ask you for a gift then."

At those words, Su Fuyun's expression stiffened once more.

"Is there anything else, senior sisters?" The implication was that if there was nothing else, she would close her door to visitors.

This time, before Su Fuyun could speak, the female disciple named Jiang Yan hurriedly said, "Nothing else. We won't disturb Junior Sister Sang Ying's cultivation. We'll take our leave."

With that, she paid no heed to Su Fuyun's expression and hurried away with the other junior sisters.

With everyone else gone, Su Fuyun naturally had no reason to linger. After she said goodbye to Sang Ying, Sang Ying shut the door with a bang.

Chen Xiu, who had left with Jiang Yan, was still displeased and grumbled to her senior sister along the way. "That Sang Ying is far too arrogant. She's just an orphan who lost her parents and was lucky enough to be taken in as Immortal Venerable Yanchen's disciple. Yet she goes around all day with her eyes on top of her head. She's simply insufferable."

Seeing that Jiang Yan paid her no mind, Chen Xiu asked, "Why did you pull me away, senior sister? Junior Sister Fuyun hasn't caught up yet!"

Only when they returned to their quarters and there were no outsiders around did Jiang Yan breathe a sigh of relief and gently advise her junior sister, "You'd best stay out of those two's affairs from now on."

"Why? Sang Ying has such a nasty temperament. What if she bullies Junior Sister Fuyun?" Although Chen Xiu was impatient herself, she was particularly fond of gentle, kind girls like Su Fuyun.

What was more, despite being Immortal Venerable Yanchen's disciple, Su Fuyun was not the least bit spoiled or overbearing. She was so gentle and courteous even to ordinary disciples like them that she greatly flattered Chen Xiu's vanity. Thus, Chen Xiu was more than happy to befriend the Immortal Venerable's disciple.

But her words made Jiang Yan frown. "When I tell you to stay out of it, stay out of it. Neither of those two is easy to deal with. You see how gentle and kind Su Fuyun looks, but you can't see that her face is sweet while her heart is bitter. Sang Ying, on the other hand, is the same inside and out."

There was no lack of admiration for Sang Ying in Jiang Yan's words.

Her assessment only made Chen Xiu more displeased. "Senior sister, why are you praising Sang Ying?"

"In any case, we'll let today go, but remember to stay away from Su Fuyun in the future. She has a scheming mind and loves to plot. Be careful, or she'll sell you off." As her senior sister, Jiang Yan had some authority. Even though Chen Xiu was reluctant to part with Su Fuyun, the Immortal Venerable's personal disciple, she still gave a subdued assent.

With Chen Xiu no longer muddying the waters and Su Fuyun having suffered another setback with Sang Ying, Sang Ying was able to spend the following days peacefully in her quarters.

By the time she had stabilized her cultivation and awakened from meditation, the Flowing Light Sword Sect's flying boat had passed through the curling clouds and mist and arrived at Yunzhou City.

Yunzhou City was a town under the Purple Firmament Sect's jurisdiction. It had originally been an obscure little town, but the appearance of the Qishan Secret Realm here had made it famous throughout the world overnight.

The Qishan Secret Realm, however, was only a small secret realm for the Foundation Establishment Realm, and only disciples at the Foundation Establishment Realm or above could enter. Thus, although it was a rare secret realm, it did not attract too much attention.

The Flowing Light Sword Sect was, after all, a major sect and had its own bases in cities everywhere. As soon as Sang Ying and the others landed, Elder Yanhua swept his long sleeve, put away the flying boat, and led them to the base for a temporary stay.

They had arrived relatively early. The Qishan Secret Realm would not open for another two days, and disciples from the various sects were arriving one after another in the meantime.

On the way to the base, Sang Ying saw quite a few people dressed in the robes of other sects walking about.

The Flowing Light Sword Sect's base was in an excellent location, and a defensive formation had been laid over the entire compound. Any outsider who barged in would surely come in but never leave.

The person looking after the base was an outer disciple of the Flowing Light Sword Sect, a Golden Core Realm cultivator surnamed Xu. After receiving word, Steward Xu had arranged rooms for them well in advance.

Sang Ying chose a small, elegantly furnished courtyard for herself, some distance from Su Fuyun's, as she did not want to be disturbed by her.

But Su Fuyun seemed not to understand her intentions. As soon as she had settled in, she came brazenly to Sang Ying's door and asked her to go out for a stroll.

Sang Ying had not wanted to agree. Her instincts told her that nothing good would come of going with Su Fuyun, a magnet for trouble. But Mu Xuan also urged her, saying she should not shut herself up in her room all the time. Finding it hard to refuse, Sang Ying reluctantly went along.

Although Yunzhou City was not a large city, it had developed quite well under the Purple Firmament Sect's protection.

After they left the base and headed for the market, they saw crowds everywhere, a lively scene.

The stalls in the market were all run by cultivators, mostly selling pills, talismans, and the like. Pill cultivators were scarce in this world, and Pill Formulas were even harder to come by, so sellers of Pill Formulas were rarely seen in markets like this.

They had not walked for long when a roadside stall suddenly caught the attention of Su Fuyun, who had been chattering nonstop along the way.

The stall sold Demon Beasts exclusively. There were many Demon Beasts in the cultivation world, but the higher their tier, the rarer they were. If a cultivator could form a contract with a high-tier Demon Beast as a beast pet, it would give them a powerful ally.

So some cultivators set their sights on Demon Beasts, venturing into Demon Beast forests to capture young ones and resell them to cultivators. This was not uncommon in the cultivation world.

"How adorable!" Su Fuyun carefully played with a little puppy in a cage. The canine Demon Beast was pitch-black and looked to be only a few months old.

As soon as Su Fuyun held out a finger, it happily came over, looking quite endearing.

"Fairy, you have a good eye. This is a Gale Hound pup. If it's raised well, it could become a sixth-tier Demon Beast!" Seeing Su Fuyun's interest, the stall owner deliberately praised it, hoping to make the sale.

Demon Beasts were ranked from the first to the tenth tier, and a sixth-tier Demon Beast was a match for a Nascent Soul Cultivator! If what the stall owner said was true, this Demon Beast pup was quite a rarity.

But before Su Fuyun could speak, a male cultivator who was on fairly good terms with her retorted, "You say this Gale Hound could grow into a sixth-tier beast, but why don't you mention that it would have to be raised with meticulous care and still need tremendous luck to get there? The effort and Spirit Stones that would take could buy a sixth-tier Demon Beast at an auction!"

A fully grown Gale Hound was naturally extraordinary, but without its parents' help, a Gale Hound would have great difficulty surviving its growth tribulations. If someone bought it, it would probably die in one of those tribulations before long.

"Whimper, whimper~" The little Demon Beast seemed to understand their conversation and kept whimpering softly at Su Fuyun.

Its cries melted Su Fuyun's heart. Throwing caution aside, she immediately said, "How much is this Demon Beast? I'll buy it!"