Chapter 63: A Counter Maneuver

"Old Feng, do you need us brothers to act?" the skinny-faced rogue cultivator asked.

"No need. Just a rogue cultivator at the Seventh Level of Qi Refining. I have other matters for you two to handle."

Feng Buxiu tilted his head toward Sheng Gang. "The market has a batch of goods that need to be delivered to Ze Kingdom."

"Understood." Sheng Gang lowered his head, his voice respectful.

"Go on." Feng Buxiu waved his hand and resumed drawing talismans with his brush.

Sheng Gang glanced at the talisman from the corner of his eye before leaving the room with Sheng Yong.

A while later, Feng Buxiu stopped writing. He stared at the failed Second-Tier talisman on the table and sank into thought.

‘What a pity. If this old man could become a Second-Tier Talisman Master, even if the Shen Clan were unwilling, they would have to spare me a Foundation Establishment Pill.’

Thinking of this, Feng Buxiu couldn’t help but shake his head. He picked up the ledger casually and murmured, "These Sheng brothers are clever and useful, but they know too much and are too scheming."

As soon as he spoke, Feng Buxiu's fingers slowly rubbed the cover of the ledger, and then flames flared from his fingertips.

"Zzzla!"

As the fire flickered, a trace of regret flashed in Feng Buxiu’s eyes.

He had served the Shen Clan for nearly a hundred years, earning them an untold amount of spirit stones.

Yet now, on the verge of Foundation Establishment, the Shen Clan still refused to give him even a single Foundation Establishment Pill, stalling with excuses.

Three years after another three years—he no longer had time to wait.

The promised Foundation Establishment Pill from the Shen Clan seemed close yet was truly out of reach.

If things dragged on any longer, he would lose his chance to break through and die of old age.

There was no other way. If the Shen Clan wouldn’t give it, then they shouldn’t blame him, Feng Buxiu, for taking it himself.

"A high-level, tightly guarded Qi Refining inheritance is enough to trade with an outer elder of Mirror Moon Palace for a Foundation Establishment Pill," Feng Buxiu’s gaze turned fierce.

On the other side, the Sheng brothers had already arrived outside the Hundred Pills Pavilion with their men.

Watching the tattered cultivators being loaded onto carriages, Sheng Yong transmitted his voice via divine sense. "Big Brother, is that old fool Feng Buxiu crazy? He actually dared to forge market contracts without permission!"

Sheng Gang’s eyes flickered. "That’s not something for us to worry about."

"But what if that old man falls from power?" Sheng Yong looked toward the central buildings of the market.

"You’re underestimating that old man." Sheng Gang shook his head. "As long as he silences people thoroughly, then nothing ever happened. Understand?"

"Maybe. I just feel that rogue cultivator named Chen Sheng isn’t simple," Sheng Yong replied mentally.

"So what if he isn’t? In this world, it’s all about strength," Sheng Gang glanced at his younger brother with exasperation.

"Not even daring to kill a rogue cultivator tooth broker at the Third Level of Qi Refining who broke a contract means he lacks power. He's clearly not a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"His face is unfamiliar, and he's so poor he had to sell a top-tier Qi Refining cultivation method, which means his background is weak. He probably just got lucky and found an inheritance, or maybe he's a second-generation member of a fallen cultivation family."

Sheng Yong paused, stunned. "Big Brother, how do you know all this? What if he’s a hidden Foundation Establishment old monster?"

"Huff." Sheng Gang let out a heavy breath, suppressing his irritation.

His little brother was fine in every way except for being dumb. Never used his brain, always thinking about fighting.

How could there be so many hiding their cultivation and pretending to be weak in this world?

He had already figured out seventy to eighty percent of Chen Sheng’s background with the available information. That old fox Feng Buxiu would definitely know even more.

"You’re already talking about 'what if.' If Feng Buxiu couldn’t even act with fifty or sixty percent confidence, he wouldn’t have reached the Ninth Level of Qi Refining," Sheng Gang explained patiently, or else his dim-witted brother would keep pestering him.

He looked toward the distance and declared, "The Law Enforcement Bureau’s cultivators have already been dispatched. That rogue cultivator named Chen Sheng is doomed."

‘It’s over!’ Wanwan stood outside the Law Enforcement Bureau, her expression full of anxiety.

She hadn’t expected that a top-grade Qi Refining method would actually alert Feng Buxiu and even prompt him to mobilize the Law Enforcement Bureau’s cultivators.

It must be known that anyone who could join the Biyuan Market Law Enforcement Bureau was at least a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator.

Twelve Law Enforcement Bureau cultivators holding tokens and activating the market’s formation could even resist a Foundation Establishment cultivator for a short time.

Soon, a squad of cultivators dressed in dark-patterned black Daoist robes walked out from the Law Enforcement Bureau.

The leading cultivator wore a half-bronze mask, with a scar slashing diagonally from under his right eye to his neck.

"You’re the one who filed the report?"

Feeling the opponent’s unfathomable cultivation, Wanwan softly replied, "Yes."

"Very well. Fellow cultivators, follow me to apprehend the criminal who disrupted market order."

As soon as he spoke, he led his subordinates aboard a magical artifact and turned into a rainbow light rushing toward the central market residence.

"Who dares to act so recklessly?"

Sensing cultivators using spiritual power, the elder guarding the residence stood up and shouted angrily.

"The Law Enforcement Bureau is handling a case. Bystanders must leave at once." The masked cultivator held out his token.

The elder’s expression changed, and he forced a smile. "May I ask which residence’s cultivator violated market law?"

"Residence Bǐngyín Number 28."

"Understood. This old man will now disable the residence’s restrictions." The elder hunched over, taking out the token that controlled the residence’s formation.

"Buzz!"

As the protective formation dissolved, the masked cultivator kicked open the door and rushed in with his men.

"Where is he?"

Staring at the empty residence, a trace of confusion appeared in the masked cultivator’s eyes.

According to the intelligence, the rogue cultivator named Chen Sheng should be cultivating inside the residence.

Could it be that he had cultivated a secret technique to conceal his presence?

"Search the place," the masked cultivator ordered with a wave, and the cultivators behind him scattered to search.

"Drip." A droplet of water suddenly fell from the ceiling.

The masked cultivator’s eyes sharpened. He activated his protective artifact and shouted.

"Be careful! It’s an ambush!"

But before he could finish, the moisture in the residence had already condensed into mist under the enhancement of the Tidal Formation, suppressing the cultivators’ senses.

In the next instant, Water Blade Talismans activated. Countless thin blue water threads shot into the air, weaving into a net that sealed the entrance.

Immediately, the overwhelming flow of water guided by the Tidal Formation solidified into countless water blades.

These water blades, thin as cicada wings and razor sharp, shrieked through the air and enveloped the Law Enforcement Bureau’s cultivators.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

Wherever the water blades passed, nothing remained intact.

One cultivator, his face twisted in fear, activated a protective artifact in a bid to defend, but the water blades pierced through it effortlessly.

Screams echoed throughout the residence.

"Damn it!"

Watching his men get shredded by water blades, the masked cultivator’s gaze darkened. He circulated his spiritual power and shattered dozens of incoming blades with a single slash, then raised a token in his left hand.

"Suppress!"

With the token unleashing its might, it linked to Biyuan Market’s protective formation. A majestic force swept through the residence, reducing all the water blades to ash.

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