Chapter 120 (3): Sansan's Plan

In Fang Che's eyes, the Spirit Raising Tea hadn't worked as advertised at all, but then again, he certainly wasn't going to complain about the cultivation base gains that he had made.

The misty spirit qi in his dantian was becoming denser and denser, but it still showed no signs of liquefying. At his current cultivation base, he could begin using spirit crystals to aid his cultivation, which allowed for faster progress, but the problem was that a low-grade spirit crystal could only support his cultivation for about a second, while a mid-grade one only lasted about three.

A high-grade spirit crystal could last around fifteen minutes, but that was still too short, and he didn't have many in his possession.

That left only the divine crystals given to him by Yin Shengong after the Parasite Ascension Project.

Yin Shengong had been quite generous, initially giving him a hundred before periodically giving him more over time, and at this point, he already had a thousand divine crystals, but he still couldn't bear to use them.

Screw it! Master still has fifty thousand divine crystals!

With that in mind, he finally decided to use the divine crystals.

Having grown accustomed to cultivating with the effects of the Cloud Water Heavenly Fruit, his current rate of progress simply felt far too slow.

***

Even after searching tirelessly on the southeastern border for close to twenty days, Xue Fuxiao still made no discoveries.

Could it be that Duan Xiyang didn't come, after all? But Sansan's usually never wrong about these things!

Right at this moment, he received a message from Dongfang Sansan.

"Did you find Duan Xiyang?"

"No."

"In that case, go and see Fang Che for now, and pass on a message to him from me while you're at it."

With that, Xue Fuxiao immediately set off for the White Cloud Prefecture.

***

Fang Che could clearly sense his own improvement, and he was actively suppressing his cultivation base to ensure that he didn't progress too quickly.

After his usual daily visit to the cave, Fang Che returned to the Virtue Manor at night, completely exhausted.

He sat down at the table in the courtyard, and Ye Meng brought him a cup of tea before silently departing.

Ever since that day, Fang Che had become a lot quieter and more withdrawn. Even though he was doing his best to keep up a front of normalcy, Ye Meng could clearly sense that there was a huge weight on his chest.

Every night, upon returning to the Virtue Manor, he would sit on his own in the courtyard for a while in a brooding silence.

Ye Meng was powerless to help him. She was aware of the order from the Guardian headquarters to hunt down Night Demon, so she knew that there had to be immense pressure on Fang Che's shoulders right now.

At the same time, she had begun to come to a realization of sorts.

As Night Demon's newlywed concubine, there was no better person to entrust with the task of putting an end to his life.

Dongfang Sansan and Ye Meng's handlers were all aware that Fang Che and Night Demon were one and the same, yet she hadn't received any orders to kill Night Demon.

She didn't even dare to think about the implications behind all of this.

As long as she didn't receive any orders, she would continue to remain put.

***

Inside the courtyard, Fang Che heaved a forlorn sigh, still tormented by the events that had transpired in the cave.

All of a sudden, he found himself drifting involuntarily up into the air, following which he entered an ethereal white space.

This was already all too familiar an experience for Fang Che at this point, so he was only alarmed for an instant before realizing what was happening.

"What're you sighing for?"

Fang Che had only heard this voice thrice, but it was a voice that he would never forget, and it instantly brought him to the verge of tears.

"I was just thinking about some things," Fang Che replied.

"Why did you bow in front of that cave this afternoon?" Xue Fuxiao asked.

Fang Che remained silent. Clearly, Xue Fuxiao was already aware of what had happened.

"You're weak!" Xue Fuxiao harrumphed as he appeared within the misty white space.

Fang Che continued to remain silent.

"You need to pick yourself back up and remember your mission! If you allow yourself to wallow in despair and enter a defeatist mindset, those people will have died in vain! If you feel indebted to them now, then you'll only be further indebted to them by keeping this up!"

"I understand that, but I just can't get over it," Fang Che sighed.

"You have to! Are you just going to let their deaths be for nought?"

"I understand," Fang Che sighed.

"I came here to do two things," Xue Fuxiao said. "The first thing is to pass on a message to you from Sansan."

Fang Che's eyes instantly lit up.

"What did Master Nine say?"

"He told me to ask you to take a guess on how many allies he's sent to their graves in his lifetime."

A thoughtful look appeared in Fang Che's eyes upon hearing this, and he felt like he had arrived at some type of epiphany.

"That's all Master Nine said?"

"That's all," Xue Fuxiao confirmed. "Also, I've come to deliver some wedding gifts to you on behalf of Sansan. Here's a premium Marrow Cleansing Pill and a premium Origin Nourishment Pill for your wife. First cleanse, then nourish, understood?"

"Understood!"

Fang Che was ecstatic. These were the things that Ye Meng was most sorely in need of.

"Also, Sansan heard that you recently obtained a set of flying daggers, so he asked me to pass on this flying dagger manual to you. This manual came from a secret area, so the enclosed techniques aren't associated with the Guardians or the Church of the Self-Righteous."

Fang Che was ecstatic.

This meant that he could use the flying dagger techniques without any qualms.

"Additionally, Sansan has asked me to give you two Spirit Integration Pills. Make sure you don't take them until you're at least at the sixth-rank King tier. While taking the pill, envelop the Formless Divine Jade with your spirit sense, then use the power of the pill to slowly integrate the Formless Divine Jade with your spirit sense. The process will take at least three days. Make sure you don't forget any of this!"

"I'll be sure to remember."

"I suppose I should also give you some wedding gifts myself," Xue Fuxiao said as he pulled out a pair of fruits, one black and one white.

Fang Che's eyes instantly lit up at the sight of them.

Xue Fuxiao was rather taken aback by Fang Che's reaction.

"You know what these fruits are?"

"Black White Fruits?" Fang Che guessed.

"Black White Fruits my arse!" Xue Fuxiao scoffed. "These are Yin Yang Fruits, also known as Dual Cultivation Fruits! Do you understand?"

"Not really."

"You'll understand after you eat them. The black one is for the woman, while the white one is for the man. I'm warning you now, don't get them mixed up!"

"I won't."

"Go and eat the fruits with Ye Meng now. These spirit fruits are worth their weight in gold for all warrior couples under the heavens, so make sure you don't squander them, but don't go telling anyone about this!"

If word were to spread that he had come all this way to teach a newlywed couple about dual cultivation, then his reputation would surely be dragged through the mud!

Fang Che accepted the fruits with a sly grin.

These fruits were perfect for his current situation. As for what benefits that they could provide, he would just have to find out.

Looking at the sleazy expression on Fang Che's face, Xue Fuxiao felt like his reputation was already as good as ruined. "Count yourself lucky, kid! You're in for a beating next time I come to see you!" Xue Fuxiao harrumphed.

"Why?"

"Why?! You beat a descendant of my Xue Clan into the Shit King and reduced me to a complete laughing stock! Do you not deserve a beating for that?"

"He shat himself of his own accord! How was I supposed to stop him?" Fang Che protested in exasperation.

Xue Fuxiao's expression instantly darkened at his protests, and the next thing Fang Che knew, he had already been slammed down onto the stone table in the courtyard, shattering it into pieces.

At the same time, he had already been thrown out of Xue Fuxiao's domain.

"I won't pick on you so soon after your wedding, but you're not going to be so lucky next time!"

Fang Che clambered to his feet with an indignant expression.

This is absurd! How can you blame me for Xue Wanshi shitting himself?!

Ye Meng rushed out into the courtyard after hearing the commotion, and she was stunned by what she saw.

"What happened? Weren't you just having some tea? How did the table end up like this?"

Fang Che wanted to explain himself, but was at a loss for words.

What was he supposed to tell her? Xue Fuxiao just came to deliver some wedding gifts to us?

"I was struck by a flash of inspiration while cultivating just now, and I lost control of my spirit qi for a second," he lied. "Forget that, let's go inside. I found a couple of really delicious fruits today for us to eat."

***

After a night of bedroom exercise, Fang Che woke up fully energized, having also made some good progress in his cultivation base, and he was very impressed with the effects of the Yin Yang Fruits.

He was very much looking forward to his nightly activities with Ye Meng in the future.

He had naturally prioritized eating the Yin Yang Fruits the previous night. As for the Marrow Cleansing Pill and the Origin Nourishment Pill, those could come later.

For example, Ye Meng could take those pills during the day when he was away at work, and that way, their nightly activities wouldn't be interrupted. It was the perfect arrangement!

***

As Fang Che gradually settled back into a set daily routine, many things were happening in the southeast.

The hunt for Night Demon across the seventeen southeastern prefectures continued, and while Night Demon remained ever elusive, many demonic church members sent down from the main church were being weeded out thanks to everyone's heightened vigilance.

Furthermore, the Guardian headquarters had established a Frost Sword Pavilion that reported directly to Dongfang Sansan, and 1,700 warriors had been sent out of the Frost Sword Pavilion to replenish the Halls of Protectionists of the seventeen southeastern prefectures.

Each Hall of Protectionists was assigned two Emperors, eight Kings, and ninety Warlords, and at the same time, Dongfang Sansan was making preparations to initiate the next step of his plan.

Yin Shengong should be worried sick about Night Demon by now. It's about time that I began exerting some pressure on Yan Nan too. Let's take this opportunity to make Night Demon known to all of the deputy popes of the main church.