In the end, An Fei’s night had passed without her managing to obtain a clue in achieving the phenomenon described within the latter half of the <Steps of Underlying Shadow> martial arts technique, causing a perpetual scowl to arise on her disguised countenance.
When she left the Sanctum, it took no small amount of effort to return her expression to its usual relaxed and indifferent state, with the greatest contributor being the small fox offering its fur to the ravaging of the young girl’s fingers.
The pitiful creature was then callously deposited onto the surface of the leather bag, cruelly discarded after its usefulness had been depleted.
Caw!
An Fei ran her fingers through her hair, the distraught evident in the pair of scarlet irises.
The little raven called out in concern, but the young girl waved it away with a light brush of her hand, her mood sinking to the absolute lowest possible.
She had not obtained much sleep, having dedicated her mind into blindly attempting to achieve the phenomenon of establishing blank spiritual essence.
Permutations with the <Golden Lotus of Establishment>’s carefully curated mechanism of generating nullified spiritual essence, even as going as far as attempting to adopt a grossly different cultivation technique’s implementation in a desperate effort.
The young girl had squandered her limitless source of spiritual essence within the Sanctum, but had achieved nothing except for creating arbitrary lotus petals.
She could only dull the intention behind her expenditure of spiritual essence, and could not tamper with either the imprint or direction.
Each time she failed, the young girl experienced a fleeting sensation as though she were a fingertip’s distance from success.
Alas, with each successive attempt, the irritating sensation magnified even more, as though it were cruelly mocking her inability to comprehend a simple concept.
“This… this isn’t going to work at all,” An Fei released a heavy sigh, patting the slightly cool surface of the clay tiles underneath her body.
The young girl stretched, before grasping the strap of the leather bag. She carefully deposited the small fox into the bag whilst ignoring the obvious deflated appearance of the seven tails, before slinging it over her shoulder.
Tap!
An Fei palmed the roof tiles underneath her feet, grasping onto the ledge with her fingers as she swung towards the dark alleyway that wound around the side of the house.
The young girl quickly merged into the ever-flowing streets packed to the brim with people, seeking the crossroads that served as the central junction of the Bone Spirit Town.
This time, she was to explore the Peaceful Road, the street exclusively reserved for the cultivators of the town…
Yip!
“…I got it,” the young girl sighed and capitulated.
“I’ll buy you meat at the Harmony Road before we go exploring…”
–
The Peaceful Road… was indeed peaceful as its name declared with a placid but arrogant tone.
When An Fei stepped onto the street with an inquisitive glance, the first impression she gleaned from her surroundings was a single word.
Quiet.
The number of people roaming throughout the paved stone road had sharply dwindled from tens of thousands of people on the Harmony Road, to the extent that observing more than a few dozen people on the time was an unusual sight.
For a town of a population in the several hundreds of thousands of energetic, exuberant people, such a sight was indeed a startling experience.
It was as though… the Peaceful Road was a ghost town compared to its counterparts.
Numerous rectangular buildings of birch stood at each side of the street, obsequious nameplates declaring their pride and arrogance to the world without shame.
As she walked along the long road, the young girl couldn’t help but pause and gawk at the obnoxious and flagrant naming of some of the signboards.
“Heavenly Swords Smithy… Fire Dragon School… God’s Grace Armory…?”
The young girl’s fingers twitched, barely resisting the urge to soar towards the heavens and slap herself on the forehead.
Vividly recalling to herself that the naming of the cultivation techniques in the Three Lotus Sect’s Pagoda of Sun and Moon was no different in its inability to comprehend humility, An Fei shut her mouth and continued to walk.
The little raven perched on her shoulder seemed to be trapped within the midst of a similar experience, for its wings were quivering with startling and odd wheezes escaping its small frame.
When the young girl glanced towards the anomaly of a raven and a crow, the little creature abruptly turned its head to the other direction, a faint sound that was not unlike of a whistle bidding farewell to its golden beak.
“You…” the young girl hesitated for a brief moment, lowering her finger after a few moments of thought.
“Aigh, sometimes I think you’re more of a human than a raven – oh? Yin-Yang Duality School? Experience… the pleasures of conjugal union and heavenly bless – what’s with these names, ah!?”
Crack!
The young girl deeply breathed as she dared not to glance at the signboards of the Peaceful Road any longer, hurrying towards the street without another word.
As she walked nearby the sparse people that strolled throughout the streets, An Fei paid close attention to the drifting words.
“Did you hear? Meng Peng issued a challenge against the newcomer, Yan Xiao!”
“Yan Xiao?” another person raised an eyebrow in surprise.
“Isn’t Yan Xiao within the first pillar of the Body Tempering Realm, whilst Meng Peng is within the third pillar? The street actually approved the challenge?”
“Who knows what grudge Meng Peng has against that kid,” a third person revealed a thin sneer.
“All we can infer is that Yan Xiao newcomer has obtained a miraculous cultivation or martial arts technique that can surpass the boundaries of the subrealms of cultivation. Who knows?”
“It better be interesting, since the Peaceful Road is overseeing such a challenge,” the first person similarly smirked with an expression of schadenfreude.
“Though I’m more inclined towards the duel between the Third Young Master of the Tang Clan Tang Shiqi against the Fang Clan’s Young Lord Fang Man. Those two and their conflict has been the news of the town, ah!”
Tang Shiqi and Fang Man?
An Fei rose an eyebrow at the unexpected mention of two names she was familiar with.
Wondering when the news had reached the corners of the Bone Spirit Town and whether she was involved in it, the young girl gradually slowed her pace, trailing the three oblivious gossiping cultivators from a respectable but audible distance.
“That’s right! Tang Shiqi’s challenge against Young Lord Fang Man is scheduled to be right after Meng Po and Yan Xiao. Apparently, these two challenges will occur at noon at the Heaven and Earth Arena, we can’t miss out on it, ah!”
The cultivator in the middle clapped his hands with an energetic aura.
His compatriots on either side joined in the merry atmosphere, before leaning in to discuss with hushed voices.
“However, did you hear about the news? Apparently, the Fang Clan’s Young Lord Fang Man had attempted to obtain a rather powerful and priceless spirit beast from a commoner girl, but was rejected! Even when he offered to make her his concubine, he was faced by a powerful slap to the face!”
“Such courage and boldness! Not even our Senior Brother would dare reject a favor from the Fang Clan – their influence stretches far beyond our Bone Spirit Town.”
The third cultivator exclaimed with a flabbergasted expression, his fingers unconsciously clenched into tight fists.
Behind them, the young girl’s head tilted to the right, her countenance derailed by a dense expression of befuddlement.
It couldn’t be…
“Did you also hear the aftermath?” the cultivator in the middle cackled with a sour laughter.
“The commoner girl demanded that she be made the sole wife of the Young Lord if she were to relinquish the spirit beast. My, imagine the Xiao Clan’s Young Miss Xiao Yue’s expression during that time, ah!”
“That’s not courage, that’s simply not knowing her place! Such words – she’ll be lucky if the Xiao Clan doesn’t kill her on the spot, ah. Oh, why do treasures have to be kept besides a vicious heart?”
At that moment, An Fei had already escaped the maximum range of her hearing to accurately discern the trio’s conversation.
However, the young girl could clearly deliberate on the contents and substitute it herself, prompting her feet to freeze on the lonely Peaceful Road.
Ca-c-c-caw!
“Oh, shut up!”
CAW! CAW! CAW!
The little raven perched on her shoulder trembled in laughter, broken calls for help and amusement attempting to escape its throat.
The young girl slapped the little creature’s feathery head with a countenance full of anger and indignance, her aura unconsciously morphing into one of bloodthirst.
When had the rumors become distorted like this?
She was certain that some mention of her spirit beast incident would be leaked to the public, but not in such a twisted and depraved fashion!
“Heaven and Earth Arena… that should be located at the end of the street, the large building to the right,” the young girl revealed a grim smile.
“When I find whoever’s been distorting the rumors like this… hehe!”
