Chapter 231
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Chapter 231: Zheng Feng’s Bounty
“Senior Zheng Feng is really in a hurry,” Xu Yuexian said with a smile.
“It’s just ten times the return, isn’t it? With your wealth, that’s more than enough.”
“Return my belongings, and I’ll get rid of the foul odor for you. After that, Senior Zheng Feng will still be the elusive thief you’ve always been.”
“Isn’t that a good deal? A win-win situation where you only lose a bit of insignificant treasure.”
As the protective shield absorbed Zheng Feng’s attacks, Xu Yuexian spoke calmly, as if she wasn’t worried at all.
Hearing Xu Yuexian’s words, the furious Zheng Feng calmed down slightly and began to seriously consider her proposal.
Returning ten times the value of the items in Xu Yuexian’s space ring would only be a minor setback for him, nothing too serious.
But if this standoff continued, and she really did expose him as she threatened, the trouble he’d face in the future could be endless.
On top of that, no matter what he tried, he couldn’t break through Xu Yuexian’s protective shield.
Zheng Feng stopped his attacks and looked at Xu Yuexian, his expression shifting between uncertainty and calculation.
“Little girl, what’s your name?” Zheng Feng asked.
“Junior, Zhang Meimei. Has Senior come to a decision?” Xu Yuexian replied, her smile widening as she observed Zheng Feng’s reaction.
“If I return ten times what I took, can you guarantee you’ll remove this foul odor from me?”
“Junior can swear a heavenly path oath. I wouldn’t risk my future over something like this,” Xu Yuexian said.
After a moment of thought, Zheng Feng decided to agree. Although he’d found a way to mask the odor, he still had to endure the stench himself.
“Fine. You swear the heavenly path oath first, and then I’ll return your items tenfold,” Zheng Feng said, already plotting in his mind. Once the odor was gone, he’d steal everything back and let someone else deal with opening the space ring.
As for the news being spread through the communication artifact, once the karmic mark was gone, he wouldn’t have anything to fear.
“Alright.”
Xu Yuexian then swore the heavenly path oath, promising that Zheng Feng would return ten times what he stole, and she would remove the foul odor from him.
At Zheng Feng’s insistence, she also added the removal of the karmic mark to the oath.
Once the oath was complete, Zheng Feng tossed her a space ring containing her original items along with some additional treasures.
Xu Yuexian quickly estimated that the total value exceeded ten times what she’d lost.
“Senior Zheng Feng is quite generous,” Xu Yuexian remarked.
“Little girl, you’ve got what you asked for. Now hurry up and get rid of this foul odor,” Zheng Feng demanded.
“Are you planning to break the heavenly path oath?” Zheng Feng glared at her with a dangerous look.
“Don’t rush, Senior. Removing the odor requires my master’s supreme talisman language.”
“My master, a righteous elder, is on his way here.”
“You’re trying to trick me!” Zheng Feng roared in anger.
“Senior Zheng Feng, please calm down. If the foul odor could be removed so easily, wouldn’t you have done it by now?”
“This is a unique divine ability created by my master. Only his talisman language can undo it,” Xu Yuexian quickly reassured him.
“Girl, I’ll give you one more chance.”
“Zheng Feng’s expertise lies in escaping. Even if you call upon a Great Ascension Master, I can still slip away.”
“If your heavenly path oath remains unfulfilled, you’d better watch out,” Zheng Feng said darkly.
“Don’t worry, Senior. I know what’s at stake.”
Meanwhile, outside the Celestial Sword fairy city, the Demon Suppressing Star was released by Xiong Li, rising slowly into the sky before disappearing from sight.
Xiong Li steered the spiritual boat toward Xu Yuexian’s location.
Two hours later, just as Zheng Feng’s patience was wearing thin, Xiong Li arrived with a talisman in hand, meeting up with Xu Yuexian.
“Sect Leader, this is the talisman Grape asked me to deliver to you,” Xiong Li transmitted.
“Hmm,”
Xu Yuexian took the talisman and turned to Zheng Feng. “Senior Zheng Feng, see how sincere I am? I even sent a Foundation Establishment Stage disciple to deliver this talisman.”
“Now you can relax,” Xu Yuexian said, casually tossing the talisman toward Zheng Feng.
“You’re being reasonable, at least,” Zheng Feng muttered, catching the talisman with a cold snort.
“How do I activate this?” Zheng Feng asked, desperate to rid himself of the foul odor clinging to him.
The stench was so overwhelming that even the spiritual energy he absorbed felt tainted.
“Just read the spell inscribed on it, Senior,” Xu Yuexian replied with a smile, her mind drifting to her master’s mischievous sense of humor.
Zheng Feng glanced at the talisman and slowly recited the incantation.
“Wa Shi Sha Bi, xie Huan Shi Shi?”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a surge of green spiritual energy enveloped him, and the spell echoed faintly in his ears.
Moments later, the sweet scent of fresh air filled his nostrils once more.
“Senior Zheng Feng, our deal is done. I’ll take my leave now.”
Xu Yuexian turned to leave with Xiong Li.
But just then, she noticed her space ring had been swapped, and Zheng Feng was nowhere to be seen.
“Girl, you think you can outsmart me? You’re still too green,” a booming voice echoed, as if amplifying his grievances tenfold.
“Sect Leader, my space ring’s been stolen!” Xiong Li said, frustration evident in his voice.
“Don’t worry. This Core Formation stage senior will pay it back a hundredfold,” Xu Yuexian said, her eyes narrowing with a sly smile.
“Too small-minded, Senior. Too small-minded.”
“Wouldn’t killing us be the perfect solution?”
Just as Zheng Feng was about to make his exit, a sudden unease gripped him, a sense of looming danger settling in his chest.
At that moment, the puppet in front of Xu Yuexian formed seals, and a ghostly blue protective shield enveloped her and Xiong Li.
“Xiong Li, prepare to witness the might of the Hidden Spirit Sect’s ultimate weapon!”
*“Szzz~~~”*
A strange, piercing sound filled the air, as if the very fabric of space had been torn apart.
A ghostly blue light column shot down from the sky, piercing through the heavens, as a blue metallic rod exploded not far from Zheng Feng.
Instantly, the surrounding space was completely sealed off, and an incredibly powerful wave of spiritual energy rippled outward.
Zheng Feng wanted to escape, but it felt as if his soul had been frozen, leaving him unable to move.
He could only watch helplessly as the wave of spiritual energy swept over him, and in a flash, Zheng Feng fell unconscious.
The wave continued to spread, sweeping across a hundred-mile radius, causing all creatures caught in its path to faint.
Only the two inside the ghostly blue protective shield remained unharmed.
Xu Yuexian walked slowly to the unconscious Zheng Feng, with Xiong Li following behind.
“Xiong Li, go ahead and search him,” Xu Yuexian said with a smile.
“Got it!”
Xiong Li, with his towering two-meter frame, squatted down in front of the unconscious Zheng Feng and began to search him thoroughly.
In the end, Zheng Feng was left with only his most intimate clothing.
A pair of cloud-treading boots, four space rings, a top-tier spatial artifact, and a Thousand Illusion Dao robe.
“Master, this is all he has,” Xiong Li reported.
“Good enough.”
Xu Yuexian casually took the space rings, rummaging through them, her expression growing more delighted.
A small jade bottle containing two drops of golden essence and Xiong Li’s space ring appeared in Xu Yuexian’s hand.
“Here, the Master keeps her word; a hundredfold return,” Xu Yuexian said with a smile.
Xiong Li naturally took the items, as if receiving something from an elder at home.
“Thank you, Master! If there’s anything like this in the future, can you still call on me?” Xiong Li said with a grin.
A flick landed on Xiong Li’s head, making him crouch down in pain, holding his head.
“What are you thinking? You’re taking all the good stuff; what about the other disciples?” Xu Yuexian glared at Xiong Li.
“Master, I was wrong,” Xiong Li said, covering his head.
“Alright, take this thief and follow me back to the Celestial Sword fairy city.”
“The people from Tianluo Palace must be getting impatient,” Xu Yuexian remarked.
“Yes.”
Xiong Li grabbed Zheng Feng by the legs and followed Xu Yuexian toward the Celestial Sword fairy city.
Two hours later, the two met the supervisor from Tianluo Palace, who was waiting at the Celestial Sword Academy.
“This is Zheng Feng; you can check him.”
*’Thud~’*
Xiong Li casually tossed him onto the ground.
The supervisor from Tianluo Palace’s eyes sparkled, and he grabbed Zheng Feng’s head to examine him.
“Not bad, it’s really Zheng Feng.”
“Friend Zhang, here’s the bounty for Zheng Feng; make sure to keep it safe.”
The supervisor handed Xu Yuexian a space ring filled with 500,000 top-grade spirit stones, then vanished with Zheng Feng into the Celestial Sword fairy city.
“Not bad, I didn’t expect to make such a profit this time,” Xu Yuexian said, looking at the space ring in her hand before putting it away.
At that moment, Xiong Li suddenly stammered, “Master, um… um…”
“Um what? Spit it out, don’t drag it out,” Xu Yuexian said impatiently.
“When I came here, Grape told me that the cost to activate the Demon Suppressing Star is 200,000 top-grade spirit stones, and that shot cost 100,000 top-grade spirit stones.” Xiong Li said nervously, unsure of how much Xu Yuexian had earned.
He figured it wouldn’t exceed 300,000 top-grade spirit stones, and that the Master might end up losing money.
“Is this what Grape said?” Xu Yuexian asked, surprised.
“Yes, Grape also said that the Grand Elder is in seclusion, so borrowing anything from the sect requires us to provide spirit stones ourselves.”
“Alright then.”
Xu Yuexian took out 200,000 top-grade spirit stones from the space ring and handed it directly to Xiong Li.
“Go back and tell Grape that I’ll suggest to my master to refine another Grape,” Xu Yuexian said slyly.
“Understood.”
After saying that, Xiong Li bid farewell to Xu Yuexian and headed toward the teleportation formation in the center of the Celestial Sword fairy city.
Meanwhile, on Hidden Spirit Island,
Xu Fan slowly opened his eyes, as a tiny celestial script infused itself into his Golden Core.
“Now that I’m at the Golden Core stage, mastering slightly more complex celestial scripts is quite challenging,” Xu Fan sighed.
“But the gains are decent. Even though I haven’t fully mastered this time-attribute celestial script yet, once I reach the Nascent Soul stage, I’ll be able to refine an artifact-level time chamber.”
“Thinking about it now, the system’s restrictions on me aren’t too harsh.” Xu Fan stroked his chin.
“At least it left me with a path for time acceleration.”
