Chapter 407 - 383: Scared Off on the Spot

Chapter 407: Chapter 383: Scared Off on the Spot

"If I’m not mistaken, Fellow Daoist Xi, you’re only at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, correct?" Zhang Chi said, his brows furrowing slightly.

He had already refused them clearly, yet they continued to pester him. They were clearly overstepping their bounds.

Because of this, he didn’t even call her ’Senior Sister,’ addressing her as ’Fellow Daoist’ instead.

’Of course, she doesn’t actually deserve to be called Senior Sister,’ he thought. ’I’ve been at the Nascent Soul Late Stage for a long time.’

"That’s right, but I’m about to break through," Xi Ruyue said with a nod, continuing.

"Apologies, but so am I. If you have no other business, please step aside."

Zhang Chi, however, remained unmoved.

They were strangers, and he had no intention of indulging them.

Besides, while Bixue Green Oasis had many Tier Four Cave Mansions, this was the only one that was Tier Four Upper Grade and in such a prime location.

"Junior Brother, why don’t we have a match? If you win, we’ll leave immediately and even give you a cache of resources as an apology. If you lose, you give up the cave mansion."

"How about it? My cultivation is the same as yours, and Senior Sister here is just a weak woman. You wouldn’t dare refuse, would you?" Xi Ruyue continued.

The other two male cultivators remained silent, but they both looked at Zhang Chi with anticipation.

Clearly, they had immense confidence in Xi Ruyue.

Moreover, they were both at the Nascent Soul Late Stage and were Xi Ruyue’s suitors. Thus, even if Xi Ruyue was losing or Zhang Chi was defeated, they would intervene at the critical moment, ensuring neither of them would be in any mortal danger.

"Fine. Let’s do it."

Zhang Chi, however, just smiled faintly and immediately accepted her offer.

He couldn’t be bothered with them initially, but since they were offering to hand over resources, he was happy to oblige.

But he couldn’t be bothered to fight himself. With a wave of his hand, five Tier Four Upper Grade Puppets appeared before him in an instant.

The moment they appeared, the puppets rapidly expanded into ten-zhang-tall giants, exuding a ferocious aura as they blocked the space between him and Xi Ruyue.

"You..."

When Zhang Chi agreed, Xi Ruyue and the others had been overjoyed. Xi Ruyue was a veteran of a hundred battles with combat power comparable to an ordinary Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator; they were certain she would win easily.

But now, the sight of these puppets shocked them. Their expressions turned ugly as they realized Zhang Chi had played them.

With so many High Tier Puppets acting together, even a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator would have to retreat, let alone Xi Ruyue, who was only at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage.

So the fight was over before it began. They had lost from the very start.

"Junior Brother, isn’t this a bit of a dishonorable victory?"

"Exactly. A match should be between you two, not with the help of external items."

The two male cultivators couldn’t help but speak up.

"Is that so? Then tell me, is the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi an external item? Are the various Magical Treasures you use external items? If not, why are my puppets considered external items?"

"Besides, you never said I couldn’t use puppets," Zhang Chi added with a faint smile.

"You..."

The two male cultivators were left speechless and rather annoyed, feeling that Zhang Chi was showing them no respect.

"Alright, a bet’s a bet. Time to go. Oh, and don’t forget to leave the promised apology gift."

"Of course, you could go back on your word, or the three of you could try fighting my puppets together. But if you do that, I can’t guarantee what the consequences will be," Zhang Chi said coldly, his smile vanishing.

Clearly, his patience had run out.

"Fine. You win."

The three cultivators grew even more furious at his words but ultimately held back. Xi Ruyue tossed down a Storage Bag, then transformed into a streak of blue Escape Light and left.

The other two male cultivators gave Zhang Chi a cold glare before transforming into black and white streaks of Escape Light and flying away after her.

’Truly, wherever there are people, there is conflict!’

Zhang Chi paid them no mind. He immediately raised his hand, grabbing the Storage Bag out of the air and immediately refining it to check its contents.

’Not bad. The resources aren’t a lot, but it’s not a small amount either.’

Zhang Chi nodded in satisfaction. He then recalled his puppets, gripped the Palace Master Disciple Token that had already been authorized for him, and fiercely channeled his Magical Power into it, shooting a dazzling white light into the empty air before him.

This was a large, empty valley. But now, space suddenly trembled, and a transparent white curtain of light appeared. Within the light curtain was a vast complex of pavilions and terraces.

Between the pavilions and terraces were lush greenery, flowing water, trees, and even large fields of medicinal herbs.

This was the true face of the South Bay Cave Mansion.

’This cave mansion is quite impressive. On this front, it’s an absolute paradise. No wonder that Xi Ruyue wanted to occupy it.’

Zhang Chi couldn’t help but nod slightly. He then passed through the gateway that had appeared on the light curtain and entered the cave mansion.

The next moment, he felt an incredibly dense wave of Heaven and Earth Spiritual Qi wash over him, no less potent than his cave mansion back in the Central Immortal City.

’Excellent. I’ll be cultivating here for the next few decades.’

Next, Zhang Chi inspected and tidied up the cave mansion, then took out and set up three Tier Four Peak Arrays. Only then did he take out the Eye of the Spirit Spring and place it in the Cultivation Quiet Chamber.

Zhang Chi then tried cultivating for a while and found that, just as he had expected, the Spiritual Vein here could push his cultivation speed to the maximum.

There was even a surplus of Spiritual Qi, enough that adding the Three-headed Spirit Beast wouldn’t be a problem.

Of course, this was also because Flying Dragon No. 1 primarily advanced by devouring things, so its requirement for Spiritual Qi was not high.

Especially now that they were on this front, Flying Dragon No. 1 could even go out and hunt on its own in the future. This would not only greatly reduce Zhang Chi’s expenses but also provide him with a continuous stream of income.

"Go!"

At that, Zhang Chi immediately released his Spirit Beast and Corpse Puppet No. 1.

They immediately left Bixue Green Oasis, detoured to the north, and entered the depths of the desert to begin hunting.

Zhang Chi lingered for a while before heading to Bixue Immortal City again, where he soon met up with Qin Yushan and the others.

Besides a few familiar faces, there were hundreds of Nascent Soul Cultivators present. All of them were at least at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, and Xi Ruyue’s group of three was among them.

"Big Brother, this is the ’small team’ you mentioned? There are so many people!" Zhang Chi was rendered a bit speechless by the sight and immediately sent a voice transmission to Qin Yushan.

"Haha, it’s only a few hundred people, so of course it’s just a small team. After all, large-scale battles frequently break out during this trailblazing operation, with tens of thousands of cultivators of all tiers participating each time. Compared to such enormous numbers, a few hundred people are nothing!"

"Of course, most of these hundred or so people are peripheral members of the team. Only some of the Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators and the few of us at Nascent Soul Peak are core members. Besides, you and Yu Yan will also become core members."

"So, what do you think? Are you confident?"

Qin Yushan responded with a slight smile, also via voice transmission.

"Of course I am."

Zhang Chi nodded with ease.

Following Qin Yushan and the others would allow him to obtain more battle merits, or Merit Points.

Zhang Chi didn’t care even if the dangers they faced would be greater.

After all, with his current combat power, he would generally be fine as long as he didn’t run into a Divinity Transformation Celestial Monarch.

In fact, being grouped with those Nascent Soul Middle Stage Cultivators would only hold him back.

"That’s good to hear. By the way, how’s the new cave mansion? Are you satisfied with it?" Qin Yushan continued to ask.

"Very satisfied..." Zhang Chi said.

He didn’t mention the incident with Xi Ruyue, as it wasn’t even worth bringing up.

’So that’s Chen Bufan? He’s the one who used his connections to snatch Junior Sister Xi’s South Bay Cave Mansion?’

’Interesting. I’ll have to find a chance to teach him a proper lesson later!’

’Right. Even with Senior Brother Qin backing him, he won’t be able to refuse if we challenge him to a spar.’

While Zhang Chi and Qin Yushan were communicating via voice transmission, many of the cultivators present were also talking amongst themselves in hushed tones.

Those standing near Xi Ruyue, in particular, were looking at Zhang Chi with unfriendly eyes.

Some were jealous of the treatment Zhang Chi was receiving, while others wanted to stand up for Xi Ruyue.

This wasn’t just because Xi Ruyue was a beautiful female cultivator, a rarity within the team.

It was also because Xi Ruyue had fought alongside them for many years; compared to Zhang Chi, she was one of their own.

Furthermore, Xi Ruyue was a Tier Four Middle Grade Array Master, so everyone often needed her help.

"Everyone, let me introduce you to a Junior Brother, Chen Bufan. He is also my sworn brother. Not only does he have the ability to fight above his tier, but he is also skilled in Alchemy and Artifact Refining."

"From now on, like Qin Yuyan, he will be a core member of our team. I hope everyone will look after them." At this point, seeing that most of the cultivators had arrived, Qin Yushan finally spoke up.

"That’s right. If anyone has any objections, you can voice them now. If not, then this matter is settled," Cheng Ran added.

Xie Yulin didn’t speak, but she also nodded in agreement.

"We have no objections."

"We’ll follow the arrangements of the two Senior Brothers and Senior Sister."

The cultivators were all envious, but they had already heard the rumors, so they weren’t surprised and didn’t object.

Many among them wanted to become core members of the team and had been working hard toward that goal.

But before they could succeed, Qin Yuyan and Zhang Chi had been parachuted in.

It was clearly unfair, but the newcomers had the backing of the team’s three Nascent Soul Peak cultivators, so they had no choice but to accept it.

"Junior Brother Chen, since Senior Brother Qin says you have the ability to fight above your tier, why don’t we have a friendly spar?"

"Of course, on the condition that you don’t use Spirit Beasts or puppets. We’ve heard that you have more than one Tier Four Upper Grade Puppet." Just then, however, a Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivator suddenly spoke up.

This cultivator was tall and handsome with eyes as sharp as lightning. It was none other than Jiang Xiancai, whom Zhang Chi had seen before.

He had wanted to make a move outside the South Bay Cave Mansion earlier but had been afraid that Qin Yushan and the others would find out and accuse him of disobeying orders and bullying the weak, so he ultimately gave up.

But things were different now.

A spar between the two of them was completely justifiable.

And he was smart about it, directly proposing a restriction: no puppets allowed.

"That’s right! Since we’re all teammates now, let us broaden our horizons. This will be beneficial for coordinating our actions in the future."

"Don’t worry, Senior Brother Jiang will go easy on you!"

Xi Ruyue and the other cultivators, who had anticipated this, immediately chimed in to agree.

"Third Brother, what do you think..."

Qin Yushan and the others were a little surprised but didn’t pay it much mind. Instead, they all looked at Zhang Chi, some even with a hint of anticipation.

Evidently, in this frontier region, martial strength was paramount among cultivators. Sparing matches were common, and as long as there were no serious casualties, everyone was actually happy to see them happen.