Chapter 317

Chapter 317: Three Major Events

Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun returned to their courtyard and set up a tea table in the center pavilion, with Little Peach Red and Mi Qing serving the tea. The others discreetly left, including Mo Lanyun’s protector, a middle-aged woman at the peak of the Fire Tribulation.

After tasting the supreme spiritual tea brought by Fang Lie, Mo Lanyun could not help but exclaim, "This is excellent tea! Even my grandfather doesn’t have many leaves of this quality! It seems that my senior brother is doing very well in Wanxing Sea!"

"Hehe, it’s alright, just barely making a living!" Fang Lie replied, slightly proud.

"Ha, senior brother is so hypocritical! You already have two Eighth-rank Treasures, and you have a genius known for Spirit Plants and the Golden Pool as your personal maid! Even core disciples of major sects can’t compare to such treatment!" Mo Lanyun said with a hint of jealousy.

"Hehe~" Fang Lie shrugged, "If we’re talking about other core disciples, I might have the financial edge. But compared to you, I’m definitely a pauper. Although I don’t know the exact details, I can feel that the Eighth-rank Treasures you have must be at least five, right?"

"Hehe~" Mo Lanyun smiled but did not speak, clearly agreeing.

There’s no way around it; as a possessor of spiritual roots, Mo Lanyun is naturally given special treatment. Even with ordinary care, the sect would provide her with two Eighth-rank Treasures, but considering her terrifying family background, the massive Mo family could easily give her one or two more.

Moreover, she is also the successor of a Semi-Immortal. How could Mo Qianxun not give her some protective treasures?

For a Semi-Immortal, Eighth-rank Treasures are rather basic, and Mo Qianxun would not be stingy.

With this in mind, if Mo Lanyun only has five Eighth-rank Treasures, that would be considered few.

In fact, Fang Lie did not even calculate the Mo family’s uniqueness. As the sect most skilled in refining techniques, the Mo family likely has far more Eighth-rank Treasures than other large sects.

Just in terms of Eighth-rank Treasures, the Mo family has at least hundreds, while places like the Great Thunder Sound Temple have only about forty or fifty.

So, the Mo family might give her even more preferential treatment. If she were to produce seven or eight Eighth-rank Treasures at once, it wouldn’t surprise Fang Lie at all.

As for other protective treasures, the number of mechanical puppets is unknown.

Thus, while Fang Lie dares to compare himself with other core disciples of sects, he absolutely does not dare to match his worth against this young lady. He knows he cannot compete.

At that moment, a serving attendant suddenly appeared and said to the two, "Greetings to the esteemed guests. Elder Fire Cloud from the Penglai Sword Sect has come to visit."

"Please invite him in~" Fang Lie immediately responded.

"Understood~" The attendant quickly nodded and left.

Before long, Immortal Fire Cloud arrived at the pavilion.

Fang Lie and Mo Lanyun did not act arrogantly and quickly greeted him personally, guiding the elder to the main seat and asking Mi Qing to serve another cup of fine tea.

Immortal Fire Cloud, a tea lover, immediately delighted in the fragrant aroma and eagerly took a sip, then contentedly exclaimed, "This is good tea! It must be that supreme spiritual tea that takes a hundred years to yield just a pound! I know its owner; I had to approach him several times to get just a small amount. What a miser! I didn’t expect you to be generous enough to serve it to guests. Looks like my standing isn’t as high as yours!"

"Ha ha~" Fang Lie smiled slightly and said, "It was just that he happened to ask me to practice alchemy, and since I don’t want spirit stones or mundane things, only sought spiritual energy from heaven and earth, he had no choice but to give me a bit."

"Oh ho ho, you alchemists are just too incredible, especially you. With Nirvana fire in hand, you can use low-grade materials to refine high-grade spirit pills, and they’re all top-notch; this is simply making money!" Immortal Fire Cloud said with a wry smile, "Compared to you, my speed of earning as a Fire Tribulation Immortal pales in comparison!"

"Not at all, not at all, I am flattered!" Fang Lie replied politely.

"Ha ha, I’m not being polite; I’m just stating the facts!" Immortal Fire Cloud sighed before suddenly turning serious, "Alright, enough small talk. I have a few matters to discuss. The first is regarding your meeting with True Young Master. After investigation, it turns out that there’s an elder in our ranks who wants to frame you, and he used this opportunity while responsible for reception to arrange for you and True Young Master from the White Bone Sect to meet in the same corridor."

"He has a grudge against me?" Fang Lie frowned.

"Sigh, he has a son he nurtured for over a hundred years who finally achieved the Golden Pool Master status at a distance of seven hundred. Just as he was about to soar, he was lured by the bounty offered by the Four Seas Alliance, foolishly joining the group chasing after you where he was slain by your sword!" Immortal Fire Cloud said with a bitter smile. "That elder has only this one son who he painstakingly raised for a century, and now it’s all gone in an instant. So when he sees you, he loses his mind."

"Ah, how pitiful~" Mo Lanyun gasped.

"Yes, it is pitiful. Young Master Fang, you have not lost anything. Why not say a few good words for him? Spare him, or else his fate will surely be grim!" Immortal Fire Cloud urged.

"He deserves it~" Fang Lie retorted coldly without any hesitation. "His son pursued an innocent person for a bounty and got killed by me. He deserves every bit of it. As a father, he failed to educate his child and didn’t have the courage to confront me directly, resorting to such despicable tactics instead. Hmph, I will never plead on behalf of such a lowly person! That is unjust!"

Mo Lanyun watched and listened, her brows tightly knotted in apparent sympathy, but chose not to speak, clearly agreeing with Fang Lie’s stance. Those who commit evil must bear the consequences; one cannot avoid punishment just because of pity. That would be utterly unreasonable.

"This~" Immortal Fire Cloud did not expect Fang Lie to have such a strong and unyielding character, and he was not easily deceived. Fang Lie directly pointed out the key issue, making all of his sympathy efforts completely useless.

Reluctantly, he could only smile bitterly and say, "Alright, I understand. We will definitely give you an explanation. Furthermore, this item will be our apology."

As he spoke, Immortal Fire Cloud pulled out a yellow Jade Bottle the size of a palm and gently placed it on the table.

The Jade Bottle had a carving of Penglai Immortal Island on it, along with four large characters: Penglai Immortal Liquid.

"Ah~" Upon seeing this, Mo Lanyun immediately exclaimed, "It’s actually a bottle of Penglai Immortal Liquid! Senior Brother, you are so lucky!"

Penglai Immortal Liquid was a local specialty of the Penglai Sword Sect and was a rare treasure that could enhance divine sense. It was usually very scarce and only appeared as the highlight in the auction at the Grand Banquet by the Sea and Sky.

At other times, no matter what, the Penglai Sword Sect would not release it. The limited quantity and powerful effects made this item extremely valuable, almost on par with Seventh-rank mid-grade treasures.

The Penglai Sword Sect offering such a treasure as an apology showed their sincere intentions.

However, Fang Lie secretly suspected that this item might not be low in production; it was just that the Penglai Sword Sect deliberately withheld it to inflate its price.

But, regardless, the item was still a good one. Fang Lie nodded and said, "Very well, I see your sincerity. As long as the prime culprit is eliminated, this matter can be considered resolved!"

"Understood, we will definitely take care of him~" Immortal Fire Cloud hurriedly agreed.

Seeing that this matter was settled, Immortal Fire Cloud sighed with relief. He took another sip of spiritual tea and then smiled cheerfully, saying, "Now, let’s move on to business. Do you two have any good items you wish to show your skills with?"

The Grand Banquet by the Sea and Sky was a large event that included not only the auction but also The Exhibition and the gambling on treasures.

The Exhibition referred to the Penglai Sword Sect presenting a large batch of treasures or materials ranked Sixth or higher, clearly priced for sale.

Goods of this level are usually good enough to be auctioned elsewhere, but here, they did not even qualify for auction. However, since the attendees were all wealthy second generation immortals, their prices could be listed a bit higher and were not much different from auction prices. Many people preferred to sell their items here.

As for the gambling on treasures, it involved presenting some unknown origin goods with unclear functions for sale. Most of these came from deep-sea ruins, many of which were once high-ranking treasures that had lost their spirit and power due to being stored for too long.

However, some still retained their spirit and were simply sleeping good quality items. If one could awaken their spirit, it was possible to obtain Seventh-rank, or even Eighth-rank treasures, and even Ninth-Rank treasures were not impossible.

According to legend, in the past tens of thousands of years, there have indeed been a few Ninth-Rank treasures found among ancient ruins.

As for the final auction, there was not much to say; in general, anything below Sixth-rank top-grade was not qualified for auction.

Even Sixth-rank top-grade treasures without potential for advancement to Seventh-rank also did not qualify for the auction.

According to convention, guests arriving as VIPs were qualified to submit their treasures for any of these three activities. If sold, the Penglai Sword Sect only takes a five percent profit, which is a discount.

It is known that if a treasure does not belong to a VIP, the Penglai Sword Sect would take twenty percent.

This time, Immortal Fire Cloud came not only to give Fang Lie an explanation but also to informally check if the two Mo Sect VIPs had any good items to sell. In most cases, almost all VIPs would have treasures to sell.

Though it was Fang Lie’s first visit, he already knew about this rule from Mi Qing, so he was not surprised and smiled at Mo Lanyun, saying, "Junior Sister, you go first!"

"Okay, but I don’t have many items, so Senior Brother, don’t laugh at me~" Mo Lanyun said shyly as she pulled out a Sumeru Bag and began taking out items.

Mo Lanyun’s items were indeed few, totaling only a dozen jade boxes, all containing aged spirit herbs.