Chapter 7: These Free Cultivators, How Could They Understand Unity?

A mid-grade magic artifact, the Spirit-Binding Rope, is standard equipment for the Qingxi Alley Peacekeeping Unit.

Gao Jian has trained with it for years and wields it with extreme familiarity, swinging it like a swift, living serpent.

“Shhh~ Crack!”

Using the rope as a whip, he lashed it straight across Wu Jinyan’s face.

Since he held back, Wu Jinyan only suffered split skin and flesh—not a blown-out skull—suggesting Gao Jian still had a shred of humanity.

“Why did you hit me?”

He summoned a wooden bowl-shaped artifact to shield himself, clutching his ruined face as he asked in fear.

Gao Jian’s ambush was too swift, easily successful, and the entire hall erupted into chaos.

Wang Rongyuan instantly stepped between the two Yu Lou brothers, while Zhong Tianshuo unleashed spiritual power to shove his daughter, Zhong Ningyao, into the back chamber.

Tang Nianqiu, seemingly startled, belatedly moved to stand beside Wang Rongyuan.

“Why hit you?

The Unity Fee is collected to make Qingxi Alley better. My master spent an entire day studying to determine how much each shop must pay.

You dare complain it’s too much? Do you even deserve to? Does your Wu family even own a shop in Qingxi Alley?

Or are you, on the surface a free cultivator, secretly a bandit cultivator, trying to sow discord among Qingxi Alley’s cultivators?”

Zhong Tianshuo and Wang Rongyuan have already stepped in—both their cultivation bases are roughly equal to his.

Seeing he couldn’t keep whipping, Gao Jian retracted the Spirit-Binding Rope, but piled on even heavier accusations.

In truth, there’s no need for so many “whys.”

The Wang family is untouchable; Hongmei Recluse is too strong to fight.

So who else is left to beat?

I can’t teach __, but I can still punish you!

“Brother Gao Jian, brother Gao Jian, how about this—I’ll pay one hundred and twenty spirit stones. Here they are. Don’t say another word. Old Wu isn’t a bandit cultivator.”

Taking the small bag handed by Hongmei Recluse, Gao Jian first hefted it and shook it twice, then grinned in satisfaction.

“Ah, Brother Hongmei, why didn’t you pay earlier? Then none of this would’ve happened. Hahaha. Of course, it’s not too late now.”

As he spoke, he casually swung the Spirit-Binding Rope in his hand.

Seeing Hongmei had paid, Tang Nianqiu had no choice but to hand over fifty spirit stones—the entire one-and-a-half-month profit of Zhiwei Fang was gone.

Gao Jian then glared at Wu Jinyan, clutched the Spirit-Binding Rope, and swaggered out, arrogant as ever.

These free cultivators don’t understand the bigger picture. Unless you beat them a couple times, how can they ever learn unity?

For the sake of Qingxi Alley’s merchants and cultivators, for Hong Deng Zhao’s interests—do you think it’s easy for me? Do you think it’s easy for my master?

When you must beat, beat. One lash, and the spirit stones appear immediately.

What Wang family? Before Hong Deng Zhao, even if it’s a dragon, you’ll coil up!

“This guy’s a thug!”

Zhong Ningyao emerged from the back chamber, looked at the silent crowd, and couldn’t help but curse.

Hongmei Recluse silently applied ointment to Wu Jinyan’s wounds.

Wang Rongyuan shook his head and spoke softly to the two Yu Lou brothers.

“This is your first lesson.”

After seeing Wu Jinyan and Wang Rongyuan off, Hongmei Recluse finally turned to his daughter and disciple.

“Father, Huafeng Ju shouldn’t have paid so much. That Gao and his master probably stole a portion of it!”

Zhong Ningyao simply couldn’t understand why Hongmei Recluse had paid the damn “Unity Fee” so readily.

That was one hundred and twenty spirit stones—Wang Rongyuan only gets one hundred from his family in a whole year!

So many spirit stones, just snatched away by that Gao’s filthy mouth!

Listening to Zhong Ningyao and Zhong Tianshuo’s conversation, Wang Yulou standing nearby felt awkward.

It wasn’t because Zhiwei Fang paid less.

Zhiwei Fang sells drinks and food; its profit margins and turnover are far lower than Huafeng Ju’s.

What Yulou hadn’t expected was that Hongmei Recluse’s daughter was the very female cultivator Yuan had seen yesterday—naked.

That idiot Yuan stared at her over a dozen times today—now the Wang family’s face is completely lost.

“Eighty percent? One hundred percent! That Jiang guy is just a...”

Mid-sentence, Zhong Tianshuo spotted Yulou and Yuan, and fell silent.

“This is my daughter, Zhong Ningyao. Call her Senior Sister.”

“Ningyao, teach them the basics of fire control. I’m going out.”

Hongmei Recluse seemed to have urgent business; he gave a brief assignment and left Huafeng Ju directly.

Zhong Ningyao glanced at Yulou, then at Yuan, feeling nervous.

She wanted to grab her father’s hand and ask why he was so confident she could teach these two cheap disciples.

“Um... you two... seem quite young?”

“Thirteen, Senior Sister Ningyao. I’m thirteen this year.”

Yulou subtly stepped left, maintaining a slight but not total distance between himself and Yuan.

Zhong Ningyao, fifteen years old, still a youthful girl, but having received her father’s order, forced herself to appear mature and composed as she replied to Yuan.

“Hmm, thirteen is a good age to begin learning fire control.”

After speaking, the girl realized how stupid that sounded.

So stupid...

She’d tried to mimic her father’s tone, but ended up looking like a poor imitation of a tiger.

Thinking of it, her fair cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Yuan didn’t understand why the senior sister blushed; he just licked his lips and asked.

“Senior Sister Ningyao, what’s the difference between fire control and flying fire?”

Flying Fire, Yulou knew, was similar to the fireball spell in xianxia novels—a common technique among Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment cultivators.

But Flying Fire was more refined, emphasizing maximum attack effect with minimal spiritual power.

Power wasn’t important; what mattered was combining it with other artifacts and techniques to achieve systematic combat—brute-force methods were a dead end for ordinary cultivators.

Ordinary free cultivators lacked sect or family lineage, so their Flying Fire was crude.

With the same Qi Refining Layer Two cultivation base, Yulou could now fire over a dozen Flying Fire spells in succession.

But an ordinary Qi Refining Layer Two free cultivator might exhaust his spiritual power after three or four.

“Flying Fire is for combat. Useless after Foundation Establishment.

Fire Control is the introductory technique of the fire cultivation system, primarily used for refining the Dao.

Didn’t your Wang family send you here to learn refining the Dao?”

Yuan still wanted to ask more, but Yulou couldn’t wait.

“Please, Senior Sister, instruct us.”

Cultivation demands seizing every moment. He had no time to watch Yuan ramble.

“Fine, follow me.”

Gratefully glancing at Yulou, Zhong Ningyao led the two boys into Huafeng Ju’s back chamber.

In the center stood a massive alchemy furnace, glowing red, its engraved surface flowing with silver-white light—clearly extraordinary.

On one side was a pile of charcoal taller than Yulou, seemingly some kind of spiritual substance.

On the other side was a wrought-iron table, clearly where Hongmei Recluse placed materials during forging.

“There’s a basin of water. Go fetch two basins from the well. Then we can begin practicing Fire Control.”

Pointing to the basin in the corner, Zhong Ningyao finally found the feeling of teaching Dao techniques.

“Use water to practice Fire Control?”

Yuan, whether brain-fogged or just trying to chat up the pretty senior sister, dared to ask such a pointless question.

“Yes, hurry up.”

Zhong Ningyao actually preferred Yulou—he never asked such useless nonsense. Yuan not only talked too much, but stared at her like an idiot.

Soon, under Zhong Ningyao’s guidance, both boys placed their hands in the water basins and stared blankly at her, awaiting further instruction.

The adolescent girl clasped her hands behind her back, pretending to be a grown-up, pacing around the furnace, recalling her father’s words when he taught her.

“The first step of Fire Control is to generate fire in water—without any igniting aid, solely through your own spiritual power.

Fire is fierce. Even my father, when struggling with forging, often loses control of the flame.

I had you fetch water to suppress the influence of fire-elemental spiritual energy in the heavens and earth, so you can gradually master flame control.

Now, I’ll teach you the incantation for Fire Control—it’s a secret transmission. Don’t you dare reveal it to anyone!”