Futile Devices Scans

“The three Bao brothers. Know anything about them?”

The moment Xia Yunzhao finished speaking, the goateed man smiled knowingly. “The three Bao brothers? Of course I know them.”

He leaned closer mysteriously. “Have those three set their sights on you, young brother? You came to the right person for information. Most people really wouldn’t know this!”

“The three brothers have some family heritage behind them. One of their ancestors was once a cultivator who reached as high as the tenth layer of Qi Refining! Unfortunately, the line was later broken and the family’s cultivation method was lost. Even so, all three brothers know martial arts, and ordinary people can’t easily get close to them. If you intend to deal with them, you’d better be careful!”

With that, he leisurely reached out for the spirit pearl.

Xia Yunzhao drew his hand back and smiled. “Old man, are you trying to fool me? You want money for that little bit of information? I could tell they knew martial arts just by looking at their builds.”

Xia Yunzhao had never actually come face-to-face with all three brothers, but that did not stop him from trying to squeeze more out of the old man. This goateed fellow was slippery and had only told him a bunch of superficial nonsense.

The goateed man’s eyes widened. “You brat! Don’t tell me you’re trying to renege on the payment?”

Xia Yunzhao tossed the spirit pearl lightly in his palm. “You’re sitting around with nothing to do anyway. Saying a few words doesn’t cost you anything. How about you just don’t charge me?”

The goateed man fell silent for a moment. “…Fine. Then this old man will tell you one more secret.” He looked around. This time, he really did seem somewhat nervous. “Those three brothers have a lowest-level magical treasure passed down from their ancestors. Supposedly, it’s a concealed weapon, and it’s extremely fast. I’ve heard quite a few highly skilled treasure hunters were caught off guard and killed by it.”

Xia Yunzhao asked curiously, “Have they ever used that magical treasure against a cultivator?”

“Hey! Don’t go saying nonsense like that!” The goateed man hurriedly waved his hands. “How could cultivator lords be compared to ordinary people like us? If those three ever ran into a cultivator, there’s no way they’d come out alive!”

Xia Yunzhao smiled. “Then I’m relieved.” He placed the spirit pearl into the old man’s open palm. “Thanks, Old Hu! I’ll come back to you for information next time!”

The goateed man pinched the hard-earned spirit pearl between his fingers, his face bitter. “Just go already. This old man doesn’t want to see you again! Ah!”

When Xia Yunzhao reached his house, sure enough, he spotted another figure snooping around nearby. This time, he reacted quickly enough to come face-to-face with the man. He had a sharp mouth, monkey-like cheeks, and a thoroughly shifty appearance. Xia Yunzhao had no idea which of the three brothers he was.

He went inside and shut the door. Then he took out the scraps of cloth he had specifically asked Boss Kang to bring, cooked up some paste, and began covering the holes in the walls one by one.

The Xia family had always celebrated the New Year traditionally. When he was little, his parents made their own paste and put up the Spring Festival couplets themselves. After watching them for so many years, Xia Yunzhao had naturally learned how to do it too.

Once he finished and looked around, it was hideous. The entire wall looked as though it had been covered in enormous patches.

Forget it; it would do, since the house was rented anyway.

The paste had been cooked from white flour and smelled delicious. After finishing the work, Xia Yunzhao became hungry. He glanced back and saw that Xiao Qing was still fast asleep, so he muttered to himself, “Maybe I should make dough-drop soup tonight?”

Elio’s Notes: Dough-drop soup (疙瘩汤) is a simple northern Chinese dish made by dropping small pieces or clumps of flour dough into broth and cooking them like tiny noodles.

Perhaps because drawing qi into his body had changed him, Xia Yunzhao did not feel tired at all even after patching every hole in the walls and tidying the house until evening. He therefore took out the Lingwei Grass he had gathered yesterday and began refining pills again.

Xiao Qing might have been asleep, but that did not interfere with its use.

For the past few days, there had been no lamp in the house, so Xia Yunzhao had either worked in darkness or relied on the light from the stove. Today, however, he had specifically asked Boss Kang to bring him an oil lamp. He lit it and placed it on the ground nearby, then slowly prepared the Lingwei Grass by the flickering flame.

Now that he was a cultivator, he seemed able to sense the spiritual power inside the Lingwei Grass. It was extremely faint, and the amount contained in each stalk varied.

An idea occurred to him. He selected the dozen or so stalks containing the strongest spiritual power, then chose some with slightly weaker spiritual energy until he had thirty in total and used them to refine his first batch of pills that day.

His movements were much more practiced than before, and sure enough, the batch succeeded!

Even before he opened the lid, that clean, slightly bitter fragrance was already drifting from inside. When he lifted it, he found three plump, round pills rolling around within: one high-grade and two mid-grade!

Sure enough, the quality of the pills was closely related to the quality of the spirit plants.

Xia Yunzhao picked up all three and examined them carefully. The high-grade pill was noticeably different from the others. Its fragrance was purer, almost all of the bitterness had disappeared, and simply looking at it made one want to swallow it. It possessed an inexplicable allure.

High-grade pills contain fewer impurities and are more enticing… Xia Yunzhao silently committed that to memory. And this is only a lowest-level pill. I wonder what a high-grade pill of a higher level would be like?

Although he had only been refining pills for a few days, Xia Yunzhao had already developed a deep interest in it.

He set the high-grade Lingwei Pill aside separately. He was not selling that one. The other two went together with the low-grade pill he still had left from before. Once he accumulated enough, he would take them to Wandan Hall in Qingxi City and sell them.

Then he began refining a second batch. This time, he did not have as much high-quality Lingwei Grass, so the result was only two mid-grade pills and one low-grade pill. The third batch produced one mid-grade and two low-grade pills. The fourth batch followed after that.

Perhaps because his movements were becoming increasingly proficient, his final batch unexpectedly produced four pills at once: one high-grade, two mid-grade, and one low-grade.

Xia Yunzhao closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the entire refining process he had just completed, feeling that he had learned a great deal. The quality of spirit plants might vary, but both the preparation and refinement processes could remove impurities and extract their essence. Naturally, that could improve the final quality of the pills as well.

After a long while, he slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the pills in his hand, he made no attempt to hide his happiness. “Next time, I’m going for a full yield.” A full batch of low-level pills produced five pills, so he was only one short!

The entire bundle of Lingwei Grass had been used up. He fed the last two remaining stalks to Xiao Qing. Sleeping did not seem to interfere with eating either.

When Xia Yunzhao finally counted everything, he discovered that he had refined a full nineteen pills this time: two high-grade, eleven mid-grade, and six low-grade. Adding the one low-grade pill left from before, he now had exactly twenty Lingwei Pills.

Converted into spirit pearls, they were worth more than two hundred. His wealth had doubled!

He had heard that higher-level pills needed to be stored in special boxes to prevent their medicinal properties from dissipating. Lingwei Pills, however, were not nearly so demanding. Xia Yunzhao simply took one of his bamboo drinking tubes, washed and dried it thoroughly, placed all the pills inside, then sealed it with a wooden stopper. From the outside, no one would ever guess it contained medicinal pills.

By the time he finished, it was deep into the night again. He had not slept at all the previous night. Drawing qi into his body had not exhausted him physically, but the mental fatigue remained. He quickly washed up and, as usual, carried Xiao Qing onto the bed with him.

The new bedding was soft and warm, carrying a faint fragrance. Slaughter-beast hide and fur had been incorporated into it, releasing wisps of spiritual energy. There was not much, but it soothed his body wonderfully after a full day of activity.

Xia Yunzhao relaxed and closed his eyes. Just as he was about to fall asleep, he heard the faintest sound beside the door.

Someone’s there.

The person lurked furtively beside the door, scraping a finger against one of the scraps of cloth covering the holes in the wall and persistently trying to peel it back for a look. His movements were already extremely careful and obviously practiced. But Xia Yunzhao’s hearing had always been somewhat better than average, and now that he was a cultivator, his senses were even sharper. To him, the sounds were perfectly clear.

The door was bolted. Since the other party did not dare cause trouble inside the camp, he certainly would not have the nerve to break in. He was probably wondering why Xia Yunzhao was still awake so late and had come to gather information.

In the darkness, Xia Yunzhao stared at the wooden door. Moonlight filtered through the cracks in the wall and fell across the side of his face, illuminating skin as flawless as white porcelain. He thought calmly, I can’t wait any longer. I need to strike first.

＊

Early the next morning, before the treasure-hunting parties had even set out, Xia Yunzhao was already awake. He chose the best-looking outfit among his new clothes, picked up two packages of fresh fruit, and headed toward Xing Wenyu’s home.

Xing Wenyu had told him where he lived, and Xia Yunzhao had remembered it long ago.

Normally, when Xia Yunzhao only moved around near his own home, the camp had not felt particularly large. Once he actually walked across it, however, he realized just how enormous the Liancui Mountain camp really was. It might not compare to an ordinary small town, but it was definitely larger than a typical village, with a population exceeding five thousand.

The entire camp had been built to follow the terrain, giving it a long, narrow shape like a pair of outstretched wings. At the tips of those wings stood several hundred dilapidated wooden houses like Xia Yunzhao’s current home. Farther inward were better houses, and naturally, the rent was equally impressive.

Where the two wings met, at the very center of the camp, stood three compounds that could only be described as luxurious. The three were arranged in a triangular formation, their white walls and black-tiled roofs occupying nearly one-fifth of the entire camp. Through gaps in their vermilion gates, one could even glimpse landscaped gardens inside. Xia Yunzhao genuinely did not understand the mentality behind building an artificial rockery at the foot of an actual mountain.

When all was said and done, these were merely temporary residences, yet they had still been built with such extravagance. Cultivator families really did live up to their reputation. They had money.

Xia Yunzhao looked over curiously. The compound bearing the plaque “Fang Residence” had numerous guards posted around its perimeter. More than forty were visible at a glance, and who knew how many more were stationed inside? Yet only a small number had storage pouches hanging from their waists. Apparently, even the Fang family could not afford to equip everyone with one. For some reason, Xia Yunzhao immediately felt much better.

Whether by coincidence or deliberate choice, Xing Wenyu’s home was located quite close to the three compounds. From his house, it would be extremely easy to observe activity around all three.

Xia Yunzhao knocked on the door and went inside. Less than fifteen minutes later, he emerged again, except the fresh fruit in his hands had been replaced by a huge bowl of noodles in meat broth. He had to admit it—Brother Xing was a very good cook. The noodles tasted incredible.

Xia Yunzhao was not particularly concerned with manners. He walked while noisily slurping the broth, and by the time he reached home, he had finished the entire bowl. He went inside to put it down, and when he came back out again, he had exchanged it for an empty bamboo basket.

With the basket on his back, he ignored the treasure-hunting parties gathering nearby and headed straight up the mountain. Judging by his direction, he was only going into the outer reaches of Liancui Mountain and apparently had no intention of venturing deeper. Presumably, he had decided to save a few spirit pearls and skip joining a treasure-hunting party.

Behind him, three figures of wildly different heights and builds exchanged glances, greedy delight flashing in their eyes before they furtively began tailing him.

Even though Xia Yunzhao was only heading into the outer reaches, the Liancui Mountain Range was enormous. Someone entering the mountain alone could easily go a long time without encountering another person. Xia Yunzhao had barely walked very far before entering the forest, and his surroundings immediately became deserted.

He pulled up several handfuls of dry grass and tossed them into his bamboo basket. He had originally intended to keep pretending for a while, but he was too lazy to waste the effort acting. Instead, he simply turned around and called, “Are you coming out or not?”

Dry leaves crunched behind him, followed by footsteps. Sure enough, three men emerged.

One look at them nearly made Xia Yunzhao laugh. These three are brothers? They don’t look anything alike. The man Xia Yunzhao had encountered before was short and scrawny, while another was huge and burly, practically built like a bear. The one between them, however, was completely average in both height and build. Standing in a row from tallest to shortest, the three looked like the pipes of a pan flute.

The brothers stared at him darkly. The short one said, “You’re pretty clever. Too bad you realized it a little too late.”

“Is that so?” Xiao Xia smiled, then suddenly said, “Left.”

The three did not understand. “What?”

While they were still bewildered, the short man suddenly felt a rush of air behind his head. Agonizing pain exploded through him as a tremendous force smashed the back of his skull inward, sending him pitching face-first onto the ground. One glance made it obvious he would not survive.

At the same time, Xia Yunzhao took advantage of their shock and kicked the man in the middle straight off his feet. The man flew sideways, smashed through two trees, then crashed heavily to the ground. Who knew how many ribs had broken?

Xia Yunzhao: …

Did I use too much force…? Sorry. I’m still not used to a cultivator’s strength!

The entire sequence sounded complicated when described, but less than two seconds had passed. Of the three brothers who had arrived so menacingly, only the enormous one remained standing.

Behind them, Xing Wenyu stepped out from behind a tree.

The large man panicked and glared furiously at Xing Wenyu. “Who the hell are you? Stay out of this!”

“Are you stupid? He’s the backup I brought with me.” Xia Yunzhao beckoned toward him. “Don’t just stand there. Use whatever tricks you’ve got left. I’ll send all three of you brothers off together, nice and neat.”

The large man finally understood. “You lured us into a trap? Despicable!”

“Are you serious?” Xia Yunzhao saw that he still was not attacking and gave Xing Wenyu a look. “So you’re allowed to plot against people in secret, but I’m not allowed to prepare for it?”

Xing Wenyu could not be bothered wasting words. He struck at the large man with one palm, his movement clean and efficient, obviously the work of someone with real training. Xia Yunzhao knew no proper techniques, but his physical abilities were far superior now, so he rushed in as well, intending to help subdue the man.

The large man became desperate. Relying on his massive build, he forcibly took Xing Wenyu’s palm strike. Then his hand darted into his sleeve, and he fired a concealed weapon directly at Xia Yunzhao.

The concealed weapon was extraordinarily fast. A streak of black light plunged into Xia Yunzhao’s abdomen. Xia Yunzhao immediately clutched his stomach and doubled over.

Xing Wenyu’s pupils contracted. “Xiao Xia!”

The large man split into a wide grin and laughed. “No one who’s been hit by this concealed weapon of mine has ever survived! Die! You can pay for my two brothers with your life!”

A thin layer of white mist began gathering over Xing Wenyu’s palm.

But in the next instant, Xia Yunzhao moved the hand covering his stomach aside. His face scrunched up like a steamed bun. “This thing hits ridiculously hard. That really hurts!”