Chapter 5: Arriving at the White Cloud Prefecture

Unfortunately, the Blood Spirit Ginseng wasn't of any use to Fang Che as his aptitude couldn't be improved any further.

However, just because he wasn't interested in it didn't mean that everyone else felt the same way.

Fervent looks appeared in the eyes of all of the aspiring warriors present at the prospect of being able to elevate their own aptitude by one stage.

"Where's the spirit ginseng?" Kang Zijian asked.

"Right there," Fang Che replied as he pointed in a certain direction. "It's under two rocks roughly 130 feet behind the demon beast. It's a little bit obscured, but you should be able to at least smell it. I didn't think you were all this slow."

Sure enough, there really was a red spirit ginseng exactly where Fang Che had pointed it out to be, and everyone immediately began to watch one another with wary expressions.

Kang Zijian turned to Wei Zihao with a furious expression as he asked, "What's the meaning of this?"

Wei Zihao was cursing Fang Che and all of his ancestors internally as he put on an innocent facade and replied, "I didn't know about it, either, Brother Kang."

"You didn't know?"

Clearly, no one believed him.

"Well, that's awkward," Fang Che mused in a sheepish manner. "I'll leave you guys to it then."

With that, he turned and departed.

He had already accomplished his objective of sowing dissession, so it was time to leave.

Kang Zijian cupped his fist in a parting salute as he said, "Thank you for opening our eyes, Brother Fang. I'll be sure to repay you at the academy."

Fang Che sneered internally at this promise. He could tell that Kang Zijian was a nasty piece of work as well, and that his gratitude was nothing more than a veiled threat.

Following Fang Che's departure, everyone turned to Wei Zihao with cold looks in their eyes.

"Explain yourself, Wei Zihao. You wanted to use us for your own personal benefit, didn't you? You certainly had it all figured out!"

"And here I was thinking that you were actually being generous! I look like a fool now!" another young man yelled in a furious manner.

"Not only did you want the spirit ginseng for yourself, you wanted to spark a conflict between all of us by leaving behind the demon beast carcass and the points for us to fight over!" Kang Zijian accused. "My eyes have truly been opened."

Everyone had quickly turned on Wei Zihao, and it appeared that a fight was about to break out.

"Everyone, please, all I want is that spirit ginseng, and I'm willing to pay any price..." Wei Zihao yelled in an urgent manner.

***

A pleased smile appeared on Fang Che's face at the sound of the chaos unfolding behind him.

What a good man I am! That's what Wei Zihao gets for trying to claim Brother Su's estate! Honestly, I let him off the hook easy, considering what he did.

At the same time, Fang Che was feeling a little puzzled. How could a spirit ginseng possibly exist in a place where all of the plant life was so malnourished?

Despite his befuddlement, he was very pleased to have put Wei Zihao in that predicament, and now that Kang Zijian had also revealed his character, Fang Che felt no qualms in abusing him in the future.

Upon returning to the carriage, he discovered that there were several low-tier demon beast carcasses strewn around the carriage, and that Ye Meng had reached the fourth rank.

"Thank heavens you're back, Young Master," Ye Meng exclaimed in a fearful manner. "I was attacked by a few demon beasts just now, and I was terrified, but I remembered my training and I was able to make a breakthrough mid-battle."

"You made a breakthrough? Not bad!" Fang Che praised. "Get back in the carriage, we're leaving."

"What?"

"What do you mean what? I've earned enough points, so it's off to the White Cloud Prefecture we go!"

Fang Che immediately reverted back to his nasty young master persona as he threatened, "I'll sell you back to the brothel if you don't reach the fifth rank before we get to the White Cloud Prefecture!"

He then tossed half a vial of Qi Gathering Pills at her as he continued, "Hurry up and get back in the carriage!"

On the way out of the Myriad Spirit Forest, Fang Che drove the carriage like a madman, as if he were running for his life.

It was such a bumpy ride that Ye Meng was constantly being jostled up and down, with her head and backside bouncing back and forth between the roof and the seat of the carriage

At the front of the carriage, Fang Che was whipping the horse incessantly, and by the time the carriage finally drew to a halt, Ye Meng felt as if she were on the verge of falling apart at the seams.

***

Fang Che and Qian Sanjiang had already been suspicious of Fang Che for quite some time.

Why does he keep stopping to look around?

In the wake of Fang Che's departure, both of them arrived on the scene to examine the area.

What could've possibly caught his eye in this godforsaken forest?

As the adage went, curiosity often killed the cat.

With both Qian Sangjiang and Fan Tiantiao retracting Fang Che's steps through the forest, they inevitably ran into each other.

"Who're you?"

Fan Tiantiao immediately had his guard up. This man clearly wasn't an academy instructor responsible for keeping the aspiring warriors safe, and he was the only one to have come here from the Hall of Protectionists, so who was this man?

As for Qian Sanjiang, he didn't even have to ask who this person was because everyone in this place was an enemy of his!

He had been carefully avoiding everyone this entire time, only to receive the fright of his life running into an enemy here.

Without even thinking, he replied, "I'm your father!"

With that, a vicious battle ensued, and what was arguably even more vicious was the war of words and exchange of profanities between the two.

Meanwhile, Fang Che had successfully made it to the White Cloud Prefecture.

At this point, not even a single other aspiring warrior had emerged from the Myriad Spirit Forest as they were still all busy earning points.

While making his way out of the forest, Fang Che had heard a fierce battle break out somewhere very far behind him, but he paid it no heed.

It was clear from the commotion that the combatants were far more powerful than he was, so it wasn't like he could take any part in that battle anyway.

***

Qian Sanjiang and Fan Tiantiao were both deathly pale.

Their battle had concluded in a tie, with both of them sustaining injuries.

They had been fighting for over four hours at this point, and aside from hurling profanities, not even a single word of normal conversation had taken place between them.

Fan Tiantiao was thinking,

If I say something, I run the risk of revealing that we're already onto Fang Che. As long as I don't say anything, this idiot will think I'm from White Cloud Warrior Academy.

Qian Sanjiang was thinking,

If I say something, he could blow my cover and find out that Fang Che is a member of our One Heart Church. As long as I don't say anything, perhaps this idiot will think that I'm from the Night Demon Church or some other church...

Both of them were wearing masks, and after a long and grueling battle, it had dawned on both of them that they were evenly matched.

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Hence, they retreated to treat their own injuries.

In the wake of the battle, Fan Tiantiao sent a message back to the Hall of Protectionists: "I encountered an Emperor in the Myriad Spirit Forest, most likely sent by the One Heart Church to protect Fang Che. With that in mind, we have to reassess Fang Che's priority level.

"P.S. I'm injured, send someone else to reinforce me.

"P.S.S. The man had an extremely foul mouth, as expected of a heathen from the One Heart Church."

Qian Sanjiang also sent a message back to the One Heart Church: "I encountered an Emperor tier instructor from White Cloud Warrior Academy in the Myriad Spirit Forest. With such powerful instructors looking after everyone, we will not have to fear for Night Demon's safety.

"P.S. The instructor had a hell of a nasty mouth on him."

***

White Cloud Prefecture.

Fang Che and Ye Meng had arrived near White Cloud Warrior Academy, and he purchased a large manor there.

None of the other aspiring warriors had arrived yet, so there was no competition, and of course, the manor had been paid for by his good brother, Su Yue.

After that, he took Ye Meng shopping, putting his wealth on full display as they purchased all of the furniture and necessities required to make the manor a comfortable living space.

He had named the place Virtue Manor to highlight the virtuosity of its new owner.

Three days later, Ye Meng finally made a "breakthrough" to become a fifth-rank Warrior Disciple.

"Keep going! I can still sell you back to the brothel anytime I please if I catch you slacking off!"

Ye Meng was finally unable to suffer in silence any longer, and she retorted, "You bring up the brothel all the time. Have you ever even been to one, Young Master/"

Fang Che had no response for this.

Finally, he went to register at the academy, and he turned out to be the first one there!

***

Fang Qingyun had been waiting for Fang Che for what felt to him like an eternity.

He had been informed that Fang Che was going to be coming to the academy this year, but there was still no news.

Even though the enrolment date still hadn't arrived yet, he would still go to the entrance of the academy every day, just in case.

The problem was that if he were to miss Fang Che, then he would definitely be receiving another scolding from his father.

He didn't know why, but his father was treating Fang Che like some precious heirloom, and his recent letters had been littered with passive-aggressive statements like "Make sure to work hard on your cultivation. Even if you're not embarrassed by your own rank in the academy, think about how that reflects on your father."

This made Fang Qingyun feel very dejected.

Didn't he say that he didn't care about my cultivation progression?

"Fang Qingyun, I heard your cousin is coming this year, is that right?" a classmate of his asked.

Several girls were chatting nearby, and one of them asked, "Is he handsome?"

"My cousin's a really handsome guy, and he's really hard-working and mature, but he can be a bit difficult to talk to at times," Fang Qingyun sighed.

"Sounds like a decent kid. Don't worry, we'll look after him once he gets here."

"Thanks," Fang Qingyun replied. "He's my aunt's only child, and our entire clan has spoiled him rotten, so if he offends any of you in any way, please don't take it to heart."

Everyone was immediately much less interested upon hearing this.

It seemed that this was yet another spoiled child.

However, the girls were still holding out hope, seeing as Fang Qingyun had just described him as handsome.