"..."
Just as Lin Feng and Su Hen took out a few Gathering Spirit Plates, they froze.
"Young Master Lang, what do you need Gathering Spirit Plates for? These are from last class. I was too lazy to do the assignment, so I just hid them… Speaking of which, you really used Shen Daofeng's money? What if Shen Jianfeng comes demanding it back…" Lin Feng felt the bag of Gold Coins in his hand was searing hot.
"Yeah, that's right!" Su Hen chimed in, nodding repeatedly.
This time, Shen Lang didn't answer. He simply took the Gathering Spirit Plates, narrowed his eyes, and started tracing patterns on them with his finger.
"Conman, what's Young Master Lang up to...? Gathering Spirit Plates are used for making Spirit Gathering Arrays. What's so interesting about them?" Su Hen said, lightly patting Lin Feng.
Lin Feng rolled his eyes. "Oh? How should I know? From the looks of it, it seems like Young Master Lang is making a Spirit Gathering Array? I have a bad feeling… What are we going to do if Shen Jianfeng shows up?"
"Get real. You think making a Spirit Gathering Array is that easy? It takes at least two hours, and you think he can do it just standing here?" Su Hen scoffed. "If it comes to it, we'll just have to find Xue Dangdang. She's the only one who can handle Shen Jianfeng."
Just then, Shen Lang handed the five Gathering Spirit Plates he had just taken back to Lin Feng, saying flatly, "I don't know what the market in Celestial Phoenix City is like right now. Take these Spirit Gathering Arrays and sell them. We need to be quick and build a reputation so we can raise the price for the next batch. I urgently need money to buy Spirit Medicine and materials for Alchemy."
With that, he yawned and started walking down the mountain, adding, "Get it done for me soon… Oh, and just get one batch with Gold Coins. Exchange the rest for Spirit Stones. You two keep a quarter for yourselves and bring the rest back to me. From today on, you two need to start taking your Cultivation seriously. Later, I'll find a couple of Emperor Level Techniques that suit your Physiques for you to practice."
"Huh? Young Master Lang, are you still half-asleep? What Alchemy? When did you learn Alchemy? What Emperor Level Technique? We're brothers, don't joke like that! If we're that short on cash, I'll just sell my Silver Scale Breastplate…" Lin Feng was exasperated. Staring at the Gathering Spirit Plates in his hand, he was on the verge of tears.
'Damn it, these are just the practice Gathering Spirit Plates from class—the absolute lowest quality, disposable kind! You fiddle with them for two seconds and expect me to go sell them?'
'I, Lin Feng, have been in business for years, earning the nickname "Great Conman," but I've never met a bigger con than you!'
'Just tell me who would possibly want these crappy Gathering Spirit Plates!'
"Conman, I'm pretty sure I heard 'Emperor Level Technique' too…" Su Hen muttered, counting on his fingers. "Mortal Level, Profound Level, Earth Level, Emperor Level, Emperor Level, Celestial Level… those are all the types of Cultivation Techniques. Right now, the best the Four Great Families of Celestial Phoenix City have are just Mortal Level Techniques. The other families' are even worse. If it's really Emperor Level… damn, I get the feeling Emperor Level is actually pretty incredible!"
"Incredible my ass! Of course it's incredible! Even someone like the Dean of Tayun Academy probably can't cultivate an Emperor Level Technique! Only a Spirit Copper Level Influence like the Imperial Dragon Sect in the Imperial Capital would have a technique that powerful! Stop daydreaming! Now, tell me how we're supposed to exchange this junk for money! If we take this to the Treasure Pavilion in Celestial Phoenix City, I guarantee we'll be beaten so badly our own parents wouldn't recognize us in under three seconds! Young Master Lang took this joke way too far!" In a fit of pique, Lin Feng threw all five Gathering Spirit Plates onto the grass.
Although Su Hen was a bit dense and not as quick-witted as him, he was much more steady when it came to getting things done. He frowned, picked up one of the Gathering Spirit Plates, and said, "Young Master Lang has always been reliable. There's no reason he'd trick his brothers. Besides, didn't he give you two thousand Gold Coins to collect Gathering Spirit Plates? This can't be a joke, right?"
"This…" Hearing the mention of Gold Coins, Lin Feng also sensed something was off. He couldn't help but take the Gathering Spirit Plate from Su Hen's hand. Reaching out, he gently touched it and sent a trace of Spiritual Power from his fingertip into the plate.
A flash of light, and a faint blue Spirit Pattern materialized on the surface of the Gathering Spirit Plate he had dismissed as junk.
"A Gathering Spirit Token? Young Master Lang fiddled with it for a second and carved a Gathering Spirit Token onto a Gathering Spirit Plate? What kind of joke is this!" Lin Feng froze, his eyes widening—he watched as the blue Spirit Patterns on the Gathering Spirit Token continued to increase. One, two, three… When it finally stabilized, a total of six Spirit Patterns had appeared on it. Then, the surrounding Spiritual Qi began to converge where the two of them stood, growing richer and richer.
CLANG!
The bag of Gold Coins in Lin Feng's hand fell to the ground. He seemed to use all his strength just to force out a single sentence: "A six-fold… a six-fold Spirit Gathering Array! Holy hell! I work my ass off for two hours just to make one Spirit Gathering Array that increases Spiritual Qi by half, and with a few casual swipes, he churns out five six-fold Spirit Gathering Arrays? This kind of Gathering Spirit Token can only be made by a Spirit Level Artifact Refining Master, right? This joke has gone way too far…"
"Wow, we're rich! We're going to be rich…!" Su Hen snatched up the remaining four Gathering Spirit Tokens from the ground, hugging them to his chest as if terrified someone would steal them.
If they knew that Shen Lang had only chosen to make such low-grade Gathering Spirit Tokens because he was currently limited by his weak Divine Thought, one wonders if they would have fainted from shock.
Meanwhile, Shen Lang had left Tayun Academy, but instead of heading toward Celestial Phoenix City, he walked deeper into the Phoenix Mountain Range where the academy was located.
He didn't know that the old fortune-teller he had been looking for earlier was not far from him at that very moment, also walking through the forests of the Phoenix Mountain Range.
The sun was setting, its last rays spilling across the land. One after another, vast, hazy mountains, their peaks soaring into the clouds, appeared and disappeared in the twilight glow.
The slightly stooped fortune-teller suddenly stopped, turned, and looked up at the empty air with a smile. "Miss, you've been following me for a full day now. Is there something you wish to say to me?"
There was no response, but the old man continued to gaze at the void with a smile.
After a moment, the empty void suddenly rippled like the surface of water. A woman in a tight-fitting, long red dress walked down out of it, step by step, as if descending an invisible staircase.
"My Young Master was supposed to continue living his peaceful life. Why did you have to shatter it all? Who in the world are you!"
Unparalleled Killing Intent erupted from the woman. As her long hair danced in the wind, she gave a light wave of her sleeve, and an overwhelming tide of black shadows surged violently from behind her.
In an instant, the air behind her churned violently. Sand flew, stones were sent rolling, and the wind howled like thunder…