Chapter 73: Still Too Few Friends!

Chapter 73: Chapter 73: Still Too Few Friends!

First was the parcel he had gotten from the Wu Family’s servant.

Fang Xu slowly opened it. Inside, he found a thick book along with a messy stack of manuscripts. They appeared to be Wuhuan’s casual notes from his daily Alchemy research. They were somewhat disorganized and seemed of little use.

Apart from the manual and loose notes, Fang Xu also found a small notebook. Flipping through it, he was surprised to discover that it entirely detailed the living habits, preferences, and other tidbits of a man named Xu Changqing.

From the fragmented notes, he vaguely guessed that this Xu Changqing was likely the Ascension Association Steward whom Wuhuan had saved years ago. According to the records in the notebook, Xu Changqing appeared to be an extraordinary Alchemy Dao master with profound insights into Alchemy.

Closing the small notebook, a bold idea popped into Fang Xu’s mind.

At the end of the year, he and his senior sister would participate in the Ascension Association’s assessment. He wasn’t sure about Lu Qingluo, but for himself, passing it shouldn’t be much of a problem.

Rather than trying every possible means to find an Expert to take Chu Muyun as a disciple, it would be better to let her try her luck with Xu Changqing when the time came. With the special constitution of the Pill Fragrance Sacred Body, he believed Xu Changqing wouldn’t refuse to take her in as an apprentice. If she could take an Ascension Association Steward like Xu Changqing as her master, he would no longer have to worry about her safety.

Before that, however, he needed to quickly help Chu Muyun’s legs recover so she could begin her cultivation. Using this Alchemy Inheritance Manual to familiarize herself with Alchemy beforehand would definitely be a bonus when she met Xu Changqing.

Having made his decision, Fang Xu set these items aside and picked up the two "Dragon Scales," one yellow and one black.

Judging by their material and shape, the two items really did resemble the scales of some fierce beast, but Fang Xu found it hard to believe they belonged to a dragon. Setting aside whether fierce beasts like dragons even existed in this world, the sheer size of the scales—merely the size of a palm—didn’t quite seem like Dragon Scales. Following the simplest logic, if the scales were only this big, the creature’s actual body would probably be just three or four meters long.

Could a dragon really be merely three or four meters long?

Studying the two scales, Fang Xu temporarily set the yellow one down. He pinched the black one with both hands and immediately mobilized his physical strength, trying hard to bend it.

The scale didn’t budge at all!

He estimated that its hardness could easily withstand the full-powered strike of a Martial Artist in the Martial Master Initial Realm!

He wondered, "Can I use this as a Life Weapon and nourish it in my Acupoint Secret Treasure?"

Acting on his thought, he immediately sank his consciousness into his Acupoint Secret Treasure and tried to pull the black scale inside. The vortex of the Acupoint Secret Treasure trembled for a moment before a large amount of black energy swarmed out. It actually sucked the black scale right in!

"Hmm?"

Fang Xu was rather curious. As his consciousness entered the Secret Treasure space, he was shocked to discover that the originally palm-sized black scale had expanded to over a meter across! It floated within the space like a sturdy, massive shield!

Staring in astonishment at the huge scale quietly floating in his Secret Treasure space, a question arose in Fang Xu’s mind. He wondered, "Is this thing really a Dragon Scale!?"

If this thing was truly a Dragon Scale, the ones he got from the madman and the peddler obviously didn’t come from the same beast.

Withdrawing his consciousness from the Acupoint Space, Fang Xu studied the yellow Dragon Scale beside him, his brow furrowed tightly. It had been his first time encountering that madman. He was certain they had never met before. The man had seen him, shouted "Divination God" with fanatical eyes, and shoved a Dragon Scale into his hands. Was all of this related to the Divination God Treasure?

If that madman could sense that he cultivated the Divination God Treasure, it meant there were probably others who could sense it too. In that case, his possession of the Divination God Treasure was no longer a secret.

Judging from what Yun Qing had said during the day, the royal family’s suppression of the Divination God Sect was extremely strict. He had seemingly provoked another massive enemy without even realizing it!

Letting out a somewhat irritable sigh, Fang Xu immediately packed up the items in front of him, preparing to cultivate first. His third acupoint was almost completely refined. Barring any accidents, he would be able to break through to the Martial Disciple Third Realm today.

The next morning, Fang Xu woke up from his cultivation state and directly gripped the yellow Dragon Scale in his hand. Streams of black energy surged out, instantly sucking the Dragon Scale into his Acupoint Space.

After finishing all this, he stretched his body and swept his consciousness over the friend list deep within his sea of consciousness.

Friend 1: Central State – Li Xun (71%)

Friend 2: Central State – Mu Xuan (82%)

Friend 3: Central State – Tao Ziheng (79%)

Friend 4: Central State – Lin Yu (79%)

"Hmm?"

Following Wuhuan’s death, only four people were left on his friend list: the three from the Ascension Sect, plus Crown Prince Li Xun. The Life Values beside these four names seemed very strange.

Including Li Xun’s, the Life Values of all four seemed to fluctuate constantly, sometimes dropping, sometimes rising again. Li Xun’s was the most outrageous. During the trip to Tilan Mountain, when the South Witch crowd laid a trap to kill him, his Life Value had plummeted to just over fifty percent. Yet, only a few days had passed, and it had already bounced back to 71%!

Fang Xu couldn’t quite figure out how this function worked, but one thing was certain—the four people on his friend list wouldn’t be dying anytime soon.

Friends.

It seemed he still needed a few more friends.

After washing up in the courtyard, he was just about to start cooking when Lu Qingluo hurried over.

"Fang Xu, the Blood Food you bought has been delivered.

"Why did you buy so much? There’s even First-Grade Blood Food. Where did you get so much money?" Lu Qingluo asked in astonishment.

She had only given Fang Xu three thousand taels of silver, barely enough to buy a thousand catties of First-Grade Blood Food—let alone the extra thirteen thousand catties of high-grade Blood Food.

"The thousand catties of First-Grade Blood Food was given to Mu Yun by Young Master Yun.

"And when Miss Yun left, she gave me a deposit slip for one hundred taels of gold," Fang Xu said with a smile. "Blood Food is a necessity for cultivation. Since I was already making a trip, I decided to buy a bit more."

Lu Qingluo furrowed her delicate brows. "Couldn’t you tell that brat has ulterior motives toward Mu Yun? And you still accepted his gifts?"

Fang Xu replied dismissively, "If it’s mutual affection and Mu Yun can find a good home, I naturally won’t object.

"But if Mu Yun doesn’t like him, even if it costs my life, I will absolutely never let him harm a single hair on her head."

"You..." Lu Qingluo looked at Fang Xu in surprise, swallowing the words that had reached the tip of her tongue.

The two had known each other for many years, ever since Zhiyuan Hall had hired Fang Xu’s grandfather to make custom furniture. Back then, Fang Xu had been only sixteen or seventeen. Despite being at the absolute bottom rung of society, he possessed a resilient, unyielding spirit. Over the years, Lu Qingluo had essentially witnessed his transformation from an ordinary person into a Martial Artist.

She thought, "This guy is truly strange!"

"I’ll find some people to help out later," she then said. "You and Mu Yun should move into Zhiyuan Hall today."

Fang Xu nodded. "It doesn’t have to be that troublesome. We just need to bring some personal clothes over. I’ll still come back to stay in this courtyard occasionally.

"It’s great that you’re here, Senior Sister. I have some matters to attend to later, so I’ll leave Mu Yun in your care."

Lu Qingluo gave a slight nod. "Alright, go do what you need to do."

Leaving the courtyard, Fang Xu made a trip to Tilan Mountain to see if the fierce beast corpses he had hidden earlier were still there. Although he now had over ten thousand catties of Blood Food on hand, he still needed to be frugal where he could.

After roaming the mountain for a bit, he was disappointed to find that the beast corpses had indeed been devoured by other fierce beasts, leaving nothing behind but scattered skeletons.

He had originally intended to take advantage of his trip into the mountain to hunt a few more fierce beasts. Unfortunately, a Hunting Team seemed to have just swept through the area; there wasn’t a single beast to be found.

Helpless, he had no choice but to head back down the mountain. He stopped by the town’s liquor store to buy some wine and food before making his way to the Government Office.