Chapter Ninety-Five: Life-Giving Spring Water?

“Young Master Chu, may I ask you a question?” Li Hanwei lowered her brows and said coldly, staring at the calm surface of the lake.

“Go ahead.” Chen Xiang looked at her with interest, curious what she would ask.

Li Hanwei gave a slight nod and, still not looking at him, said softly, “Do you really think you have the power to stand against the Li family?”

“I admit you are strong. If you cultivated for a few more years and raised your level a few more steps, you would be nearly invincible beneath the Nascent Soul stage. But the enemy you face is the Li family, which has a Spirit Transformation expert, and even the City Lord’s Mansion,” Li Hanwei said indifferently before he could respond.

Chen Xiang opened his mouth, then chuckled.

“So what?”

He had never really considered any of that, after all he had a system at his disposal.

As long as no Soul-Change stage expert showed up, if he could not win, he would simply use a Spatial Tearing Escape Talisman and run. If he could not fight them head-on, he would just flee. In any case, he had no fear at all.

“Mhm.” Li Hanwei nodded lightly and said, “You are very confident, but confidence must have its foundation.”

“Of course, I am also looking forward to seeing you throw the Li family into complete chaos. But I believe even more that you will not be able to stir up so much as a single ripple,” Li Hanwei said with a calm expression.

As soon as those words left her mouth, Chen Xiang gave her a surprised look. This woman actually hoped he would disrupt the Li family? And from the look on her face, it did not seem like a joke.

“Could it be that you also have a grudge against the Li family?” Chen Xiang asked.

Li Hanwei answered without the slightest hesitation. “No.”

Chen Xiang: “...”

Beauty, if you answer so firmly, that only makes it more suspicious.

“Tch, I thought you had some major secret. If you are not going to say it, then this is no fun,” Chen Xiang said with a snort.

Li Hanwei seemed not to hear him at all and kept looking ahead in silence.

“All right, beauty, I’m going to sneak into the Feng family later. Behave yourself and wait for me at the inn,” Chen Xiang said, baring a row of white teeth.

Li Hanwei said nothing, turned, and walked away. Chen Xiang followed after her.

Chen Xiang opened a room at a rather good inn. After Li Hanwei went in, he first set up a small Spirit-Confining Formation outside the room. The formation was rather simple, but practical. Afterward, he even added a small trap without letting Li Hanwei see it.

With that and the seal on Li Hanwei’s cultivation, it amounted to three layers of protection. Once the formation was broken, Chen Xiang would know immediately.

The people he was going to the Feng family to look for were from the Li family. If he took her along, she might be recognized, and then Chen Xiang’s plan would be ruined.

“Cough, cough.” Chen Xiang cleared his throat, rubbed the jade slip in his hand, and at the same time suppressed his own aura to the third level of Core Formation before blending in with the group of wandering cultivators.

Among these loose cultivators, the highest cultivation belonged to an old man at the second level of Core Formation, so Chen Xiang naturally had to be the most eye-catching one.

To enter, one had to bring a gift, and he had already prepared one as well. It was something the Feng family absolutely would not refuse.

“Fellow Daoists, today is the seven-hundredth birthday of our Feng family ancestor. We welcome all of you to visit. Please proceed one by one into the side hall. We have already prepared a banquet for everyone!” A steward stood at the entrance and loudly addressed the several hundred loose cultivators.

“Congratulations to Senior Feng on his seven-hundredth birthday. This one, Liu Xin, presents a pair of round jade bracelets.”

“This one, Zhang Wei, congratulates Senior Feng on his birthday and offers a Qingling herb.”

“This one, Lu Benwei...”

All the loose cultivators on the scene surged forward, each hastily taking out their spiritual tools, spirit herbs, and other treasures to present them, afraid that if they were a step too late, they would not be able to give their gift.

Those who gave gifts were then admitted through the Feng family gates, with special guides leading groups of a few or a dozen people into the so-called side hall.

Chen Xiang was in no hurry. He stood at the very back of the crowd and waited until everyone else had finished offering their gifts. After all, the most important item was always saved for the end.

After about a quarter of an hour, most of the loose cultivators had entered, but the steward’s smile had become somewhat strained, clearly less than satisfied.

Most of these loose cultivators were lone drifters to begin with, so naturally what they offered was not worth much. It did not even stir the slightest desire in him to skim a little extra from them.

At that moment, the steward saw a young man walking toward him at an unhurried pace with a faint smile on his face. The aura around him was also extremely strong, reaching the third level of Core Formation.

“Hm, this young man is a talent. We should pay attention and see whether we can recruit him,” the steward thought, his eyes lighting up.

“Fellow Daoist, may I ask your name?” the steward said with a hint of a smile.

Chen Xiang nodded, first taking out a jade bottle he had prepared in advance from a备用 storage bag, then saying to the steward, “I, the dashing Chu Liuxiang, send my congratulations and hereby offer a portion of Spirit-Source Spring Water in celebration of the Feng family ancestor’s seven-hundredth birthday!”

“Oh, so it is Fellow Daoist Chu. Please, inside... wait, what did you say this was?” The steward was in the middle of a polite smile, but his expression suddenly changed. Pointing at the small jade bottle in Chen Xiang’s hand, he asked in shock.

“Spirit-Source Spring Water.” Chen Xiang smiled and repeated it.

“Sp-spirit-Source Spring Water? Is that real?” The steward’s eyes were fixed tightly on the small jade bottle, and his voice nearly trembled.

“Fellow Daoist, may I take a look?” Then the steward grew serious, looking at Chen Xiang intently.

Chen Xiang extended one hand and made an inviting gesture. “Be my guest.”

The steward nodded solemnly and carefully took the jade bottle, rubbing it between both hands.

The bottle was finely made; one touch was enough to tell it was of superior quality. A vessel like this could be used to seal in the spiritual energy of whatever it contained. The steward cautiously opened the stopper, revealing a little less than half a bottle of pale green liquid that radiated a faint vitality.

“This... this really is...” The steward was so excited he could not even finish the sentence.

“Fellow Daoist, please wait a moment. I need to go inside and report this,” the steward said to Chen Xiang.

Chen Xiang nodded in agreement.

But the steward could not wait at all. In a flash, he had already run off with the Spirit-Source Spring Water.

Chen Xiang laughed inwardly. This Spirit-Source Spring Water was actually just a diluted version of Spirit-Source Essence Liquid. Naturally, he was not so generous. He had found a rather nice-looking jade bottle among the storage bags he had collected, dripped a single drop of Spirit-Source Essence Liquid into it, and then added a little river water. The name Spirit-Source Spring Water was one he had made up himself. As for whether such a thing truly existed, he did not know.

He had brought out the Spirit-Source Essence Liquid after careful consideration. He had learned that the old matriarch of the Feng family was only at the sixth level of Nascent Soul, and that today was her seven-hundredth birthday. It seemed her talent in cultivation was not very high. Nascent Soul cultivators generally lived eight or nine hundred years, and unlike Chen Xiang, she could not rely on anything other than her own cultivation. She absolutely would not be able to break through to the Soul-Change stage within the next hundred years. If a treasure that could extend one’s lifespan appeared at such a time, it would surely be coveted by all.

Just as Chen Xiang had expected, the entire Feng family was in uproar that day.

To be continued...