Chapter 142 - 97: A Strike on Par with a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster! Who Dares Trouble Our Lineage’s Ancestral Master Ji!?

Chapter 142: Chapter 97: A Strike on Par with a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster! Who Dares Trouble Our Lineage’s Ancestral Master Ji!?

At the docks, aboard the large ship from Jiangyin Prefecture.

When he saw the Flying Immortal Temple Master leap to his feet with a WHOOSH, as if by reflex, Xu Li’s face darkened and his expression grew long. His own reflexes kicked in instantly, and his vigilance sharpened.

"You damn Daoist, what crazy stunt are you pulling now?"

"Back in Jiangyin Prefecture, my ship was about to set sail, but you shamelessly blocked the Fishing Trade’s dock and forced your way on with your two disciples."

"I just don’t get it. Anning County and Jiangyin Prefecture are separated by five hundred li—practically half the East Canghai. I came to find the Earth Treasure, the Jade Marrow Cold Lotus, for a noble in the prefecture to use in a medicine."

"So why in the world did you come scurrying over here?"

Xu Li had a refined and scholarly appearance, a renowned Alchemy Master and Pharmacist from Jiangyin Prefecture.

But whenever he encountered this Outer Dao Daoist, who had shown up in Jiangyin Prefecture a few years ago from who knows where, he couldn’t suppress his explosive temper.

The reason for this was that Fan Nansong of the Flying Immortal Temple was utterly without scruples and had no sense of boundaries whatsoever!

How did this guy make his fortune?

First, by selling Divine Soul Secret Skills, he’d cozied up to those grand lineages and grandmasters.

Second...

...was by stealing his Pill business!

Between the Ninth and Seventh Grades, an Alchemy Master and Pharmacist is still just a Mortal Realm Pill Master, refining pills and medicines step-by-step. But to break through the bottleneck of a Qi Dao Pill Master...

...there is one unavoidable threshold: the Divine Thought.

Even if one’s techniques and skills reach the pinnacle of perfection, one cannot refine a Pill with a spirit.

Only by strengthening the Divine Soul and using Divine Thought to micromanage the fine details of the Secret Medicine can a Pill perfectly absorb the essence of the Treasure Materials.

But to strengthen the Divine Soul, one needs to seek out a Daoist Secret Skill. Even a crude Luminous Seal Visualization Map is an unshared secret of some grandmasters, something an ordinary person would never even get to see.

However...

Ever since the Great Xuan lifted its ban on most Outer Daos—retaining only the policy to ’expel and execute’ Divine Beings, Demons infected by the Abyss Ruins, and other Demons—

This Flying Immortal Temple Master, Fan Nansong, who had popped out of nowhere, had entered Jiangyin Prefecture and immediately began openly selling Divine Soul Secret Skills, quickly amassing a great fortune.

Moreover, this man also knew Alchemy Skill. Although his craftsmanship was far inferior to Xu Li’s, his fame had spread far and wide. An Outer Dao Pill Master who had crossed the ocean, an outsider who also possessed a method to strengthen the Divine Soul...

...just like that, he’d squeezed out a significant portion of Xu Li’s ’client market’!

These days, reputation was sometimes even more important than actual ability. Even Xu Li, who had been practicing Alchemy in Jiangyin Prefecture for thirty years, couldn’t help but curse out loud.

’Do I have to go get some fancy credentials from a Pill Dao True Sect overseas and come back before these big shots in the prefecture, who can’t tell a gem from a rock, finally realize that a local expert is better than some outsider?’

Fortunately, that ’noble client’ had a discerning eye and knew that he was the true master of the Alchemy Dao. He had hired Xu Li to refine a Spirit Pill, which was why Xu Li had crossed the ocean to the Earth Dragon Cave to search for a key ingredient.

But he never would have guessed, not in a million years.

Just a moment before departure, that damn Daoist had shown up, riding in a chariot, his disciples on either side shouting, "Flying Immortal Temple Master, your Magical Power is boundless!" The height of arrogant showmanship.

He had shamelessly freeloaded his way onto the ship and come to Anning County as well!

If not for his excellent self-control and the high probability that he couldn’t win a fight against him,

Xu Li would have rolled up his sleeves and given him a harsh lesson.

After all, although this Flying Immortal Temple Master, Fan Nansong, didn’t look like much,

for him to have single-handedly carved out a niche for himself in the den of hidden tigers and crouching dragons that was Jiangyin Prefecture, aside from cornering the market on a rare commodity, his own abilities... were not to be underestimated.

After all,

for hundreds of years, the Great Xuan had been hostile toward the Outer Dao. Although the tides had turned in recent years, the enmity and discrimination built up over the ages could not be easily erased.

Furthermore, the guy was loaded with treasures. If someone could just blackmail him and uncover all his secrets, it would be enough to start a whole new enterprise among the Hundred Trades and Livelihoods in Jiangyin Prefecture!

But for so many years, even though people had eyed him covetously in the beginning, this damn Daoist was still alive and kicking, hopping and skipping around, happily munching on melon seeds...

Xu Li’s eyes were filled with wariness, but also disgust.

Seeing this, the Flying Immortal Temple Master, Fan Nansong, who had abruptly stood up, grinned and spat a mouthful of melon seed shells all over the cabin floor.

"Look at you, what’re you so nervous for?"

"There are so many grand lineages and big families in the prefecture. What’s the difference between them coming to the Flying Immortal Temple for medicine and going to your Huang Family Medicine Shop for it? The market’s huge, you can’t eat it all yourself. What’s wrong with sharing a little with Lord Tao?"

"Besides, when you brought Red Gold to seek a Divine Thought Method, hoping to master the Three Daoist Art Realms, didn’t Lord Tao here generously open his purse and sell it to you at a clearly marked price, not caring about factional loyalties?"

"Relax, Old Xu. Lord Tao’s purpose in coming here this time is different from yours."

Fan Nansong lifted his Daoist robe sleeve, wiped his mouth, grinned, and then his expression turned serious.

Hearing his words and remembering how he had spent a fortune to buy a Dharma Gate from this damn Daoist he considered an enemy, Xu Li’s face turned beet red, his beard practically standing on end. He was just about to kick him out.

But to his surprise, the Daoist simply patted his rear, walked straight out, and muttered as he went:

"Surname Ji, surname Ji..."

’Could it be, so soon?’

His expression was solemn. He straightened his robes, his face full of piety.

Those who practice Dao Skills and seek the path of the Immortals all believe in karmic affinity.

For example, the True Venerable of Ten Thousand Laws once said that the world-crossing Ancestral Master Ji was right here in this small Anning County. For him to encounter this situation right after arriving...

It was more than likely the real deal.

’Let me see for myself just what kind of magnificent presence my Ancestral Master has!’