Chapter 73: Friends are still a bit few!

First, it was a package obtained from the Wu family's servant.

Fang Xu slowly opened it, discovering that the package indeed contained a thick book, and also a stack of disordered manuscripts.

It seemed to be the random notes Wu Huan took while studying alchemy, somewhat messy and apparently not very useful.

Besides the handwritten copy and casual notes, Fang Xu also found a small notebook; flipping through it casually, he discovered that it recorded the living habits and preferences of a person named Xu Changqing.

From the fragmentary remarks, he vaguely guessed that this Xu Changqing was probably the Ascension Immortal Society officer whom Wu Huan had rescued years ago.

According to the notebook's records, Xu Changqing seemed to be a remarkably accomplished master of the alchemical Dao, with considerable insight into pill refinement.

Closing the notebook, Fang Xu conceived a bold idea.

At year's end, he and his senior sister were to take the Ascension Immortal Society's examination; he was unsure about Qingluo, but on his side, passing the examination would be no problem.

Rather than trying every which way to find a master for Chu Mu, it would be better to let her try Xu Changqing when the time comes; the special physique of the Danxiang Sacred Body, he believed Xu Changqing would not refuse to take her as a disciple.

Being able to take Xu Changqing, an officer of the Ascension Immortal Society, as a teacher, he would no longer need to worry about her safety in the future.

But before that, he must quickly let Chu Mu's legs recover, then begin cultivation, using this handwritten copy of the alchemical Dao transmission to first familiarize himself with pill refinement; when the time comes, these will also be points in his favor before Xu Changqing.

Having made this decision, Fang Xu first set these things aside, then picked up a yellow and a black piece of 'dragon scale'.

Judging by material and shape, these two pieces resembled the scales of some fierce beast, but to say they were dragon scales, Fang Xu found it hard to believe.

Leaving aside whether this world has dragons as fierce beasts, just the size of the scales—only palm-sized—does not resemble dragon scales either.

By the simplest logic, if the scales are this large, the creature's body would be about three to four meters long.

Can a dragon be only three to four meters long?

Examining the two scales, Fang Xu temporarily set the yellow piece aside, gripped the black piece with both hands, and immediately exerted his bodily strength to bend it a few times.

The scale didn't budge at all!

He estimated that its hardness could easily withstand a full-force strike from a martial artist at the initial stage of the Martial Master realm!

Could it be used as a life-bound artifact, nurtured within the aperture's secret trove?

Such an idea suddenly popped into Fang Xu's mind.

Thinking it, he immediately sank his consciousness into the aperture's secret trove, attempting to store the black scale in his hand.

The vortex of the aperture's secret trove trembled, then a large amount of black energy surged out, actually sucking that black scale inside!

Huh?

Fang Xu felt curious; upon entering the secret trove space with his consciousness, he discovered that the black scale, originally only palm-sized, had suddenly swollen to over a meter, hovering like a solid great shield within the secret trove!

Could this really be a dragon scale!?

Staring dumbfounded at the huge scale silently hovering in the secret trove, a question arose in Fang Xu's mind.

If this thing truly is a dragon scale, then the one obtained from the madman and the vendor is obviously not from a dragon's body.

Withdrawing his consciousness from the secret trove, Fang Xu eyed the yellow dragon scale beside him, his brows furrowed.

This was his first encounter with that madman; he could be certain they had never met before.

When he saw him, he shouted 'Divine Extension' with frenzied eyes, thrusting a dragon scale into his hand—could all this be related to the Divine Extension Canon?

If that madman could sense that he had cultivated the Divine Extension Canon, then it would mean others could sense it as well.

Putting it that way, his possession of the Divine Extension Canon could no longer be considered a secret.

Judging by what Yun Qing said in broad daylight about the Divine Extension Sect, the imperial family's suppression of the Divine Extension Sect is severe; unknowingly, he seems to have provoked a formidable foe!

Sigh!

Feeling somewhat vexed, he let out a breath; Fang Xu immediately gathered the things before him, preparing to cultivate first and talk later.

The third aperture was nearly fully refined; if nothing unexpected happened, today he could break through to the Martial Disciple Third Realm.

At dawn, Fang Xu woke from his meditative state and immediately grasped the yellow dragon scale in his hand; streams of black energy surged out, directly sucking the scale into the aperture space.

Having done all that, he moved his body slightly, and his consciousness swept over the friend list deep in his sea of awareness.

Friend One: Central State·Li Xun (71%)

Friend Two: Central State·Mu Xuan (82%)

Friend Three: Central State·Tao Ziheng (79%)

Friend Four: Central State·Lin Yu (79%)

Huh?

After Wu Huan's death, his friend list was left with only four people.

The three from the Ascension Immortal Gate plus the Heir Apparent Li Xun.

The life values following these four names seem rather strange.

Including Li Xun, the life values after the four names appear to fluctuate, sometimes dropping, sometimes rising.

Among them, Li Xun's was the most outrageous; during the Blue Mountain expedition, when the Southern Witches plotted to kill him, his life value had already dropped to over fifty percent.

But just a few days later, it had risen to 71%!

Fang Xu somewhat couldn't figure out what this was all about, but at least one thing could be seen: the four people on his friend list were unlikely to die in the short term.

Friends!

He seemed to still need some friends.

Having come to the courtyard and washed up, he was about to start cooking when Qingluo hurried over.

"Fang Xu, the blood food you ordered has arrived."

"How did you buy so much, and even first-grade blood food—where did you get all that money?"

Qingluo asked in surprise.

He had only given Fang Xu three thousand taels of silver, barely enough to buy a thousand catties of first-grade blood food, let alone thirteen thousand catties of high-grade blood food.

"The thousand catties of first-grade blood food was a gift from Young Master Yun to Mu."

"When Miss Yun left, she also gave me a deposit contract for one hundred taels of gold." Fang Xu said with a smile: "Blood food is a necessity for cultivation; since I made the trip, I bought some extra to bring back."

Yun Qing gave Mu one thousand catties of first-grade blood food?

Lu Qingluo frowned slightly and said: "You didn't see that the kid has ill intentions toward Mu? And you still accepted his things?"

Fang Xu said, not agreeing: "If they have mutual affection, Mu finding a good home is something I would naturally not oppose."

"But if Mu doesn't like him, even if I have to sacrifice my life, I will absolutely not let him hurt Mu in the slightest."

"You..." Lu Qinglo looked at Fang Xu with some surprise, swallowing the words that had reached her lips.

The two had known each other since the time, many years ago, when they went to the Hall of Reaching Far to have Fang Xu's grandfather custom-make furniture.

At that time, Fang Xu was only sixteen or seventeen, of lowly status yet possessed an unassuming, unyielding fighting spirit; after all these years, Lu Qinglo has witnessed his transformation from an ordinary person into a martial artist.

"This guy is really weird!" she muttered to herself, then said: "I'll find some people to help later; you and Mu should move into the Hall of Reaching Far today."

Fang Xu nodded: "No need for that trouble; just bring some personal belongings over, I'll occasionally come back to stay in this little courtyard."

"Senior Sister's timing is perfect; I have something else to do later, so please take care of Mu."

Lu Qinglo gave a slight nod: "Alright, go get busy."

After leaving the little courtyard, Fang Xu made a trip to Ti Lan Shan to check whether the ferocious beast carcasses he had hidden before were still there.

Although he now had over ten thousand catties of blood food on hand, he still wanted to save wherever possible.

After wandering around the mountain, he disappointedly discovered that those ferocious beast carcasses had indeed been completely eaten by other ferocious beasts, leaving only some disordered skeletons.

He had originally planned to hunt some more ferocious beasts while he was in the mountains, but it seemed a hunting squad had just swept through the area, leaving no ferocious beasts at all.

Helpless, he could only go down the mountain first, arriving at the town's wine shop to buy some food and drink, then heading toward the government office.

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(End of chapter)