077. An Uninvited Guest

Time slipped by as Lingyu devoted herself to cultivation. After several months of drifting, Fan Xianshu managed to secure a job. He wasn't in a rush to make money; instead, he read extensively and selectively, finally landing a position that made many envious: commentator at the Treasure Tower Auction House!

Among the many jobs available to cultivators in Feilian City, the most coveted were those in the auction houses. Not only were they safe, but they offered opportunities to come into contact with a variety of spiritual treasures and high-level cultivators—benefits beyond measure. Such positions were nearly impossible to obtain without connections.

Neither Lingyu nor Luo Yun expected Fan Xianshu to get into the auction house. After their initial astonishment, they dragged him off to a restaurant to celebrate.

That night, Lingyu, slightly tipsy, said to Fan Xianshu, “Xianshi, I know your choice to work at the auction house now means you don’t want to join a sect. I want to persuade you, but I also understand—everyone has their own aspirations. You’re no longer the indecisive Xianshi you once were… So let it be. I only hope that when we meet again, we’ll still regard each other as the best of friends.”

Fan Xianshu didn’t reply. After a long silence, he returned to his room, and only after a while did he softly murmur to the empty space, “We will.”

Five months flew by, and the various sects of Lingcang finally arrived, just as Lingyu and Luo Yun had been anticipating.

During those five months, Lingyu focused solely on her cultivation. Apart from daily expenses, she spent most of her remaining spirit stones on Qi-Gathering Pills. With the city’s dense spiritual energy, pills ten times more effective than Nourishing Essence Pills, and a top-tier cultivation method revised by Immortal Book, she managed to leap two levels in five months, reaching the eighth stage of Qi Refinement.

Fan Xianshu and Luo Yun were both amazed. As they both had jobs, their cultivation time was limited and they consumed fewer pills, so each had only advanced one level and were both at the sixth stage of Qi Refinement.

For Fan Xianshu, this advancement was expected, but for Luo Yun, it was a huge relief. The reason he had reverted to his original state was his inability to progress past the fifth stage of Qi Refinement. In Xuan Yuan Temple, future prospects hinged on crossing that threshold. Once past it, even slower cultivators could hope to reach the ninth stage.

One more month remained before the grand ceremony for disciple recruitment by the Lingcang sects. Fan Xianshu continued working daily, clearly uninterested in participating. Luo Yun, however, quit his job to prepare for the ceremony. Though his work at the Flying Pavilion was awkward, the pay was generous; in five months, Luo Yun had earned about three hundred spirit stones, enough to pay off his debts and save a little, allowing him to purchase items needed for the ceremony. Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion.

In the middle of the night, crisp tinkling sounded at the door, like wind chimes stirred by the breeze.

Lingyu was puzzled, and then heard movement in the courtyard. Through her window, she saw the door to the right room quietly open, and Luo Yun tiptoed outside.

The formation around the small courtyard activated, and a person cloaked in dark robes appeared at the entrance.

“What are you doing here?” Luo Yun asked in surprise. Without waiting for a reply, he glanced warily around, lowered his voice, and said, “Come in first, we’ll talk inside.”

The two quickly entered Luo Yun’s room. The cloaked figure said nothing the entire time.

Through a crack in the window, Lingyu observed the person’s elegant, swaying gait, likely a woman. Her curiosity grew—when did Luo Yun befriend a woman close enough for her to visit at midnight…?

Suddenly, recalling where Luo Yun had been working for the past five months, Lingyu’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be…?

A woman met at the Flying Pavilion, sneaking over at night and acting so secretive—no matter how she thought about it, it couldn’t be a good thing.

But Luo Yun had never mentioned this to them. Was he intentionally hiding it? Lingyu deliberated for a moment, then quietly left her room and knocked softly on the left-hand door.

The door opened immediately. Fan Xianshu looked at her inquiringly. Lingyu signaled for silence, stepped inside, and closed the door. “Someone’s come to see Brother Luo, did you know?”

Fan Xianshu nodded slightly.

His calmness made Lingyu hesitate. “So, we…”

“Why meddle in other people’s business?” Fan Xianshu interrupted before she finished. “Brother Luo hasn’t said anything. Isn’t it overstepping to get involved?”

“…”

Fan Xianshu looked at her and sighed. “Lingyu, you’d better change that habit. In your previous world, there weren’t many conflicts of interest, so you could do as you pleased. Here, it’s different. Everyone minds their own business. Even the closest relationships require distance.”

Lingyu was taken aback, silent for a long time. She already knew Xianshi was no longer the person he used to be; his character and actions were no longer the same, but still…

“I’m not trying to meddle,” Lingyu said after a long pause. “But you know what Brother Luo is like—he may be older than us, but he’s kept more innocence and kindness than either of us. I just don’t want anything to happen in this last month, and even more, I don’t want to be affected if something does. Until we part ways, we’re still in this together.”

Now it was Fan Xianshu’s turn to fall silent for a long while. At last, he nodded. “Fine, we’ll check on things in a bit. Hopefully it’s nothing, but if it is…”

Half an hour later, Luo Yun’s door gently opened once more. He looked around carefully, relaxed a little when he heard Abi snoring lightly in Lingyu’s room, then beckoned someone out.

The cloaked woman stepped outside and quietly left.

Lingyu watched her closely. This woman was peculiar—neither by sense nor by spiritual perception could she determine if she was a mortal or a cultivator. Most likely, the cloak was a special artifact. Still, if she was a cultivator, her level couldn’t be high; otherwise, she wouldn’t have alerted Lingyu and Fan Xianshu upon entering.

Once Luo Yun returned to his room, Lingyu and Fan Xianshu waited a bit longer before quietly slipping out of their own courtyard.

Cultivators with higher skills didn’t need to sleep, so immortal cities were truly cities that never slept.

The two hurried out of the alley but saw no one. They quickly split up—one taking the main street, the other the side alley. As Fan Xianshu was more familiar with the area, he took the alleyways.

Lingyu chased along the main street, all the way to the Flying Pavilion, but still saw no sign of the woman. Helpless, she turned back, hoping Fan Xianshu had found her.

As she reentered the alley near their courtyard, a chill ran down her spine. Instinctively, she dodged to the side—a cold gust brushed her cheek, leaving a stinging pain.

Lingyu reached up and felt a three-inch gash on her face, blood streaming down.

With a clang, the Kanli Sword leapt from its sheath, slicing forward with an icy gleam. But her body swayed, and she tumbled rapidly toward the edge of the alley.

She had no idea who her assailant was or what was happening, only hoping to escape the alley in time to save herself.

Unfortunately, she was still midair when an even brighter flash streaked by and vanished. She crashed heavily to the ground, unable to move.

Despite that, she sensed two powerful auras pressing down on her without restraint.

Foundation Establishment cultivators! The thought flashed through her mind.

Soft footsteps approached, and a pair of men’s boots—white with purple patterns—stopped before her.

“A sword cultivator,” the man spoke, his voice low and deliberately muffled.

After a while, he added, “Turns out, she’s a woman.”

No one else replied.

“Senior Brother Xu, what should we do?”

After a long silence, a similarly cold and indifferent voice, one that sent chills to the bone, replied, “Just two little shrimp—they can’t stir up any trouble. Let’s go.”

The boots soon left, and the oppressive auras faded.

Lingyu’s tense heart finally eased. She lay on the ground for a long time before slowly recovering. She circulated her true essence; after a while, her body regained feeling.

Sitting up, she drew a deep breath.

In Feilian City, fighting was forbidden. If anyone was harmed with spells, the Alliance’s magical artifacts would immediately sense it, and enforcers would arrive at once. These two hadn’t used spells, but their attacks were sharp beyond belief. The sword energy that grazed her face had been a casual flick, yet carried such menace.

Foundation Establishment cultivators, and sword cultivators at that!

Lingyu came to this conclusion and gave a bitter smile. She and Xianshi had only wanted to tail that woman to see what was going on, never expecting to run into the likes of them—wait, they mentioned “two little shrimp.” Could someone else have been struck down?

Lingyu turned her head and saw Fan Xianshu lying motionless more than thirty feet away.

She was shocked. Scrambling over, she called, “Xianshi! Xianshi!”

She felt for his pulse. Good—it was still beating. Relieved, she pulled out a pill and fed it to him.

Before long, Fan Xianshu groaned and opened his eyes.

“Xianshi, are you alright?”

As her voice reached him, Fan Xianshu’s gaze cleared. Seeing her, he blinked in confusion. “Lingyu? Why are you here?”

Seeing the brightness in his eyes and clarity in his speech, Lingyu finally relaxed. “As long as you’re fine…”

Fan Xianshu looked at her, then at the alley entrance, and his expression changed. “Those two…”

“They’re gone,” Lingyu said. “What happened? Did you see something you shouldn’t have? Were those two Foundation Establishment cultivators?”

Fan Xianshu let out a breath. “Let’s talk when we get back. What rotten luck.”

This wasn’t the place to talk—someone could come into the alley at any moment, and even if not, if a neighbor happened to go out for a midnight stroll and saw them here, it would be hard to explain. Lingyu helped Xianshi up, and they returned quietly to their courtyard.

Carefully opening the protective wards, they said nothing as they slipped into Fan Xianshu’s room.

Once the door was shut and the private defensive array activated, Fan Xianshu seemed to lose all strength and collapsed into a chair.

ps: My eyelids are drooping, about to be forced to shut down. Posting this now; I’ll fix typos and plot points tomorrow.