Chapter 25: Did Murphy's Law Travel Through Time With Me?

The Falling Immortal Sect claims to have one hundred thousand disciples.

Its permanent population is approximately 54,307.52.

The Falling Immortal Sect is a sect, not a school.

Therefore, it does not provide any cultivation resources to its disciples for free.

All cultivation resources must be fought for by oneself.

Among the methods

Accepting sect missions.

Refining and selling medicinal pills.

Planting and selling spiritual herbs.

Hunting demon beasts to obtain demon cores.

Venturing into deep mountains and old forests to gather precious spiritual herbs... and so on.

These are all relatively common ways to acquire cultivation resources.

But sometimes, the resources you obtain are not the ones you need.

In such cases, a marketplace is required to provide a platform for trading.

Thus, the Falling Immortal Sect Market came into being.

After several hundred years of operation, the market has become highly mature.

All goods sold therein comply with established regulations.

Naturally, prices fluctuate according to the scarcity or abundance of cultivation resources.

At this moment.

The market is bustling with noise.

"Holy crap, look, look! It's Senior Brother Li Jun in the flesh!"

A commotion erupted in the market.

Drawing everyone's gaze toward the source.

Amidst the crowding masses.

Li Jun wore a gentle smile. With his handsome features, elegant demeanor, and an overwhelming aura of talent, he shone like the sun, radiating brilliance.

Judging by the fierce expressions of the surrounding disciples, Li Jun already held considerable prestige among the younger generation of the Falling Immortal Sect.

Even senior brothers and sisters would offer him a smile, if only out of respect for Lyu Danchen.

Of course, with Li Jun's tactful and smooth personality, it was easy for him to make this group of seniors like him.

"I heard that when Senior Brother Li Jun first joined the sect, he was only at the second stage of Qi Refinement. Now, after only one year, his strength has reached the third stage. To advance one stage in a single year—he truly is the heaven-blessed genius ranked first on the Newcomer List."

"What's a one-stage advancement in a year? I heard Senior Brother Li Jun's mastery of alchemy is also extremely high; even the Peak Master of Immortal Cauldron Peak once praised him personally."

"Pfft! Your information is too outdated." Someone spoke mysteriously: "I heard that to temper himself, Senior Brother Li Jun went down the mountain alone to train in the Great Myriad Tomb Forest. Look at the beast tooth tied to his waist; they say it's from a fourth-stage fierce tiger."

"Is that for real? Demon beasts are naturally stronger than humans. To think Senior Brother Li Jun could kill a fourth-stage demon beast across levels—and a tiger at that! Those are beasts with royal bloodlines; they are incredibly ferocious."

"What are you talking about? The ruthless man ranked first on the Newcomer List is no mere empty title."

Several burly men from Thousand Blade Peak, whose chest hair was as thick as wild grass, were cracking melon seeds and sipping tea.

Like a group of gossiping old women, they chatted in front of a stall.

Spittle flew as they boasted loudly.

If no one stopped them, Li Jun would have attained immortality in their stories.

"Seniors, I heard the second-ranked, Chi Xiao, is also incredibly formidable, and she's a great beauty too."

The burly men from Thousand Blade Peak looked at the stall owner who had spoken.

"Of course."

"Chi Xiao of Ethereal Peak is a fierce character—beautiful but wild. Her strength is currently at the third stage of Qi Refinement, just like Li Jun. She's also very bellicose; I heard many recent disciples have been beaten by her."

"Junior Sister Chi Xiao is good at everything, except her temper is too explosive. If she's displeased with someone, she attacks immediately. She's been shouting every day for some guy to come out and face death, but a year has passed and that guy still hasn't appeared."

"I've heard of that too. I wonder what that guy did to Junior Sister Chi Xiao to make her so furious that she hasn't calmed down for a whole year."

"Could it be... that kid did something truly heinous? If that's the case, I, your senior brother, absolutely cannot stand idly by."

"Give it a rest. I heard—" The man covered half his face with his hand, as if afraid of being overheard, and whispered: "I heard Chi Xiao is still a maiden."

"For real? That's explosive! Come, come, keep talking..."

The burly men continued chatting as they walked away from the stall.

The stall owner, however, showed a trace of worry.

*What did I tell myself? Don't provoke women, especially beautiful ones, otherwise, you'll be the one in trouble.*

The stall owner was Zheng拓 (Zheng Tuo).

However, he was currently using the Ancient Bronze Mirror to suppress his cultivation realm and successfully disguise himself.

Unless the opponent possessed extremely high strength, they wouldn't be able to see through his disguise.

He took out a small notebook and raised Chi Xiao's danger level to SS+.

Closing the notebook, he prayed silently in his heart.

*Please, don't let me encounter Chi Xiao. Not even once. Ideally, never in this lifetime.*

*God, I thank your eight generations of ancestors.*

"Boss, how many spirit stones for a first-stage demon core?"

A customer arrived, and Zheng Tuo stepped forward to greet them warmly.

He looked up.

He froze on the spot!

"Damn it! No way! What I fear most has come! Mr. Edward Murphy, were you a Chinese person in your past life or something?!"

The young girl in front of the stall appeared lively and energetic, scanning the goods on display.

Behind the girl.

Chi Xiao stood clad in a fiery red dress.

A golden phoenix was carved upon the dress.

The phoenix looked as if it were alive, poised to spread its wings and soar ten thousand miles.

Combined with Chi Xiao's explosive physical presence...

Good heavens!

One could tell how popular she was by the way the surrounding crowd was packed so tightly that not even a drop of water could pass through.

If he exposed himself now, the consequences would be unthinkable.

The spit from every single person in this crowd could drown him.

"Ahem... one first-stage demon core is one hundred and twenty low-grade spirit stones."

The price was no different from the normal market rate.

The girl looked it over and seemed quite satisfied.

"I happen to be short one type of demon core for alchemy lately. Thank you."

The girl produced spirit stones to complete the transaction with Zheng Tuo.

"You're welcome."

Zheng Tuo responded with a smile.

But the moment he smiled.

A wave of heat rushed toward him.

Chi Xiao appeared half a meter in front of him, her eyes flashing with a crimson-gold light as she activated some kind of innate divine ability.

Zheng Tuo felt the Ancient Bronze Mirror trembling, clearly resisting Chi Xiao's divine technique.

"Sister Xiao!"

The girl called out softly, but Chi Xiao remained unmoved.

She continued to stare intently at Zheng Tuo.

"Have we met somewhere before?"

Chi Xiao's expression was serious.

The moment he had smiled just now, she felt as if she had seen that guy's face.

An eighteen-foot fire-tipped spear appeared in her hand out of nowhere, its threatening intent obvious.

Zheng Tuo was terrified.

If he were discovered, he would likely be killed.

To think that he, a super genius with a top-tier spiritual root, might be trampled to death and become a laughingstock for all eternity.

"Ahem... Senior Sister Chi Xiao, you must have the wrong person."

The moment to test his acting skills had arrived.

Zheng Tuo's eyes darted slightly, his fingers fidgeting uncomfortably, and he took a small step back, putting on the appearance of a shy young man encountering a domineering female CEO.

He believed that with Chi Xiao's intelligence, she would surely fall for it.

Sure enough.

All of his small movements were captured and perfectly perceived by Chi Xiao.

"Pfft!"

Chi Xiao retracted the fire-tipped spear, looking arrogant.

*Swish!*

She pulled out a portrait from her hand.

The person in the portrait was none other than Zheng Tuo's original appearance.

"Have you seen this person?"

Chi Xiao acted like a big sister/boss.

"No, no, no... I haven't."

Zheng Tuo stammered intentionally, pretending to be very nervous.

"If you see this person in the future, tell me immediately. As long as you notify me, I'll give you Green Dragon as your wife."

Chi Xiao threw an arm around the shoulder of the girl who had just purchased the demon core.

"Sister Xiao!"

Green Dragon's forehead was covered in black lines, utterly speechless at Chi Xiao's antics.

"What are you shy for? With me looking out for you, he wouldn't dare bully you."

Chi Xiao acted boisterously, pulling the girl along as she walked away, teasingly.

(End of Chapter)