Chapter 268: What Does the World Think of Sword Cultivators?

Since the Ye Family Head felt that Fang Chen had suffered a massive loss, he talked with the two other family heads and decided to make it up for him, so they jointly arrived at the small courtyard where Fang Chen lived.

But as soon as they stepped into the courtyard, they saw a terrifying sword intent emanate from Fang Chen and transform into a streak of sword light that disappeared into the sky!

"Was that the legendary Sword Transformation Technique?" muttered the Xu Clan Head.

The Zhou Family Head nodded. "It has to be. The speed of that sword light far surpassed ordinary sword control techniques."

There were many techniques one could use to fly, with the most common being basic cloud-riding techniques, which are essentially extensions of elemental control techniques, but those were only good for casual travel.

Beyond that was the ability to control one's spiritual weapon to fly, but the art of refining one's spiritual weapon was extremely rare, at least none of their three families had one.

However, the Sword Transformation Technique far exceeds those two techniques by far!

"Where do you think... that senior went?" asked the Ye Clan Head suddenly.

The other two looked at each other, then looked at Abbess Qing He not far away, but in the end, they decided not to ask.

Some things were better left unsaid.

***

"Quick! Hurry and pick up speed!" shouted Master Lin loudly. If it weren't for his reluctance to part with this batch of spiritual materials, he would have slipped away alone long ago.

Under his reprimand, his subordinates also exerted all their spiritual energy and rushed across the open land with the spiritual materials.

Just then, everyone suddenly felt a terrifying spiritual energy fluctuation in the sky and subconsciously tilted their heads upward.

A streak of sword light approached from afar, and in the blink of an eye, it landed less than ten yards away from them.

As the light dispersed, they saw a familiar figure wearing a mask.

Master Lin's scalp tingled, and he couldn't help but take two steps back.

Fang Chen chuckled lightly. "Oh, what a coincidence."

"Yes, what a coincidence." Master Lin forced a smile, pretending to be calm. "Did you happen to pass by here, senior?"

"No, not really. I came to find you."

Master Lin’s eyes wavered with fear, but his background brought a bit of solace to his worried mind. "Have you changed your mind, senior? If so, we can continue with our deal. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion has always been honest with its customers."

He really put emphasis on the words "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion" in the hope that Fang Chen would be intimidated. The Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was a fourth-tier empire faction. It had many commercial associations spread all over the land.

"You seem afraid, Master Lin," said Fang Chen.

Master Lin laughed dryly. "Afraid? What could I possibly be afraid of? Haha... haha."

"You're afraid of dying."

Master Lin tried to rein in his fear, and in a low voice, he growled, "I am from the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion. If I die, the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion will not let the matter rest easily."

"Do you think they’d avenge you if they learned that it was a sword cultivator that killed you?” Fang Chen smiled. “Not to mention, do you think I’m afraid of the Heavenly Treasure Pavillion’s retaliation if there be?"

Master Lin was tongue tied, and he couldn’t hide the fear in his eyes anymore. His subordinates quickly set down the spiritual materials and looked at Fang Chen in panic.

Gritting his teeth, Master Lin said, "In that case... I have to admit; I had been too arrogant and offended you earlier. You can take these spiritual materials, and as for the remaining payment... I’ll handle it for you!"

"You?” Fang Chen chuckled. “You seem really wealthy for a mere Qi Refining Realm cultivator. Are you really offering to pay off more than 4000 spirit stones for free?"

Master Lin's voice grew heavy. "Senior, as you know, I come from a fourth-tier empire. Although I am only at the Qi Refining Realm, I’ve been working for the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion for many years, so I have amassed a bit of wealth of my own. While I can’t take out 4000 spirit stones any time soon, I can delay the payment on my end until I pay the remaining amount.”

"You have the 4000 spirit stones I paid as a deposit,” said Fang Chen.

Master Lin suddenly had a bad premonition, and he instinctively said, "I don't carry such large sums of spirit stones with me; they have already been deposited."

Fang Chen sighed "What a pity.”

"Sir, spare my life.” Master Lin slowly backed away. “This way you won't have to bear the enmity of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion." He knew very well why Fang Chen was here.

"Tell me, what does the world think of sword cultivators?" asked Fang Chen.

Master Lin was stunned. The world often portrayed sword cultivators as madmen. They were vengeful, domineering, preferring to overwhelm others in numbers, and they would resort to any means necessary to achieve their goals....

Master Lin's face turned pale.

He had really deeply offended the swordsman back at the Ye Family Manor because of his blind pride.

A powerful sword light flashed, and all of Master Lin’s subordinates dropped dead.

There was no hesitation. Master Lin let out a roar and turned to flee.

Puff!

A bloody hole was torn through the back of his head.

Little Sword hovered lightly in the air. "Little Chen, I won't be polite about these spiritual materials!" it chirped.

"I told you not to call me Little Chen. I was the one who hatched you...." said Fang Chen helplessly.

"I've been around for much longer than you, so I'll call you Little Chen!"

With that, it pounced like a hungry wolf, devouring the spiritual materials without reserve.

Fang Chen shook his head slightly, walked to Master Lin's side, removed his storage ring, wiped away his Imprint, and emptied out the rest of the spiritual materials.

Besides the spiritual materials, there were also a few spirit stones, here and there, probably around three to five hundred. Fang Chen didn't hesitate to collect them all.

His stash of spiritual stones neared 6000 again. Not only had this transaction not deplete his pockets completely, it had even helped him obtain materials worth around nine thousand low-grade spirit stones. He had struck it rich.

Little Sword was usually quick in its meals, but there were too many spiritual materials this time and some ores needed to be refined, so it took two hours to completely devour them. After it was done, it flew in front of Fang Chen, all wobbly like a bloated person who had eaten too much, with its aura continuously overflowing.

"Little Chen, I'm going to sleep again. This nap might be a bit longer than usual. Don't cause any trouble, alright? When I wake up, we might ascend to the second-level of the sword body!"

Second-level of the sword body? Fang Chen's eyes lit up as Little Sword returned to his body and fell asleep. He didn't know what Little Sword meant by “the second-level of the sword body,” but he figured that his strength would increase significantly if they did!

He waved his hand and released a few Fireballs, incinerating all the corpses around. He then flew back toward Spirit Void City.

With Little Sword asleep, he couldn't use the Sword Manipulation Technique.

"Wait, let's try the Five Elements Controlling Technique." A flash of inspiration crossed Fang Chen's mind. A few breaths later, he conjured an earthen tiger and sat on its back, all cross legged and laid back as the tiger ran across the land.

In less than half a day, he returned to the Ye Family Manor.

Just as Fang Chen entered the manor, Abbess Zhu Yue was flying rapidly toward the city.

At the same time, the Spirit Void Sect Master received a message from her master and came out of seclusion.

"I am almost healed. If Master's plan succeeds, both you and Zhu Yue will die!" She looked toward the direction of Spirit Void City, her teeth clenched in hatred.