Chapter 96

"A few senior brothers, let me ask around." Fang Xu respectfully handed over the wine jar he was holding, chuckling: "What's in the misty valley behind that stone gate?"

Those several martial artists, hearing that, glanced at the wine jar Fang Xu had passed over, were slightly taken aback, then exchanged a look, took the jar and said:

"Kid, you only have the strength of a Martial Apprentice Fifth Level; you wouldn't be thinking of entering these ruins, would you?"

Fang Xu quickly laughed and waved his hands: "Of course not."

"I'm not trying to pry information from you seniors just to brag to my friends later."

Hearing that, the several martial artists smiled, their faces showing an expression of "I totally get it."

For low-level martial artists like them, who haven't seen much of the world, having something to brag about to friends while drinking and chatting, earning their friends' flattery, is quite a face-saving matter.

"Kid, the Ti Lan Shan Ruins are famous throughout the martial world; if you want to find out what's inside, this jar of wine won't cut it."

Fang Xu heard this and felt somewhat helpless.

These guys actually tried to jack up the price.

Fine, for the sake of "making friends", I'll endure it!

Taking out five taels of scattered silver from his bosom, Fang Xu feigned difficulty: "This is all the money I have on me, seniors, please don't think it's too little."

"Just say it's for five taels of silver!"

The leading martial artist, looking at the silver in Fang Xu's hand, said with some disdain: "You kid are really swelling your face to look fat; if you have no money, don't even think about bragging in front of friends."

"Alright, five taels it is then."

After taking Fang Xu's silver, he slowly opened his mouth and said: "Did you see that archway?"

"After going in, you will find that everything before you is completely different from what you see now."

"After hearing some Martial Venerable seniors say, this is called…… what is it called?" That person turned his head to look at his companion.

"It forms its own world!" someone reminded.

"Exactly! This is called forming its own world!"

The entire ruin is divided into an above-ground and an underground part; the above-ground part should originally have been an isolated small village, but it has now been abandoned and occupied by some strange monsters.

"The underground……"

Brother Wang, five taels of silver is enough.

Why are you telling him all that?

That martial artist was about to speak about the underground when someone nearby immediately interrupted.

"Ah? Right, right!"

With just five taels of silver, you can only know this much, kid, you may go.

Fang Xu, seeing this, was so angry he laughed.

Five taels of silver, and you altogether said only five sentences—it feels like one sentence per tael of silver!

"Big brother, can we have some more?"

Just give a rough overview of the underground, that's enough!

Fang Xu feigned anxiety and said.

That martial artist shook his head like a rattle drum, saying: "Just five taels of silver, and you still want to know what's underground?"

Fang Xu, helpless, immediately raised the other opened wine jar in his hand and said: "Thank you, gentlemen, I offer you a toast."

Seeing that he didn't press further, they secretly rejoiced in their hearts—earning five taels of silver for just a few words, quite a profit.

Immediately, they also broke the clay seal, clinked with Fang Xu, and happily started drinking.

Seeing the five vacant spots on the friend list gradually fill with five names, Fang Xu showed a faint smile, clasped his hands toward them, and returned to Huang Qingzhou.

"Senior Brother Huang, I've heard some news: the ruin has an above-ground and an underground layer……"

"The above-ground is an ordinary village with strange beasts; only the underground counts as the true ruin, containing mechanisms, ferocious beasts, and various unknown dangers and treasures."

"Currently, all factions have only explored the second stage of the ruin; it is estimated that the ruin has a total of seven stages."

"Starting from the second stage, anyone entering the ruin will have their cultivation suppressed by an unknown force; those who go in can only rely on physical strength to proceed."

Before Fang Xu's words could even leave his mouth, Huang Qingzhou blurted out a long string.

"How do you know so much, Senior Brother?" Fang Xu exclaimed in astonishment.

Huang Qingzhou raised the book in his hand:

"Sold by the imperial court, ten taels of gold."

"It contains maps and guides."

Looking at the book in his hand, Fang Xu took it somewhat speechlessly, flipped it open and glanced.

【Supervised by the Great Yu Royal Court; unauthorized reprinting will be pursued!】

Pfft!

This sentence really made Fang Xu unable to hold back his laughter.

Suppressing the laughter in his heart, he slowly flipped through the book in his hand and discovered that the contents were very detailed, including the location of every mechanism in the ruin, dangerous places, places with relatively high mortality rates, and so on.

"How is it?"

Seeing Fang Xu finish reading the book, Huang Qingzhou smiled faintly and said: "If something can be solved by spending a little money, why bother putting on a thick face to ask others?"

Obviously, he witnessed the whole scene of Fang Xu just now going to "gather information".

"Senior Brother doesn't understand." Fang Xu laughed and said: "I was just making friends."

Huang Qingzhou helplessly shook his head, no longer dwelling on this, and directly said: "This ruin is even more interesting than I imagined."

"Let's go back first; we'll consider entering after Elder Jiang's people arrive."

Fang Xu nodded slightly; friends made, he had nothing else to do, so it was time to go back.

When the two came down from the mountain, it was already late afternoon; passing by the gate of Old Man Xu's house outside the town, Fang Xu glanced and saw with shock that Old Man Xu's son and daughter had already died miserably, their bodies casually thrown outside the courtyard gate.

Fang Xu walked over with an ugly expression.

The brother and sister before him were covered head to toe in wounds, the blood in their lower halves dried up, their eyes wide and bloodshot—clearly they had suffered inhuman torture before death, enduring endless pain!

"Beast!"

He cursed through gritted teeth, then grabbed an iron spade from Xu Lao Han's house, dug a large pit outside the courtyard, and buried Xu Lao Han and his four family members.

At the new grave, Fang Xu stood silently. Huang Qingzhou glanced at him and sighed, "You will see many more things like this in the future."

"Fang Xu, put away your pity…… the world is like this."

"He is a few years older than my parents; he used to be on a hunting team, married at forty, and only had this pair of children at forty-five—you could call it late-in-life offspring."

"It was Lu Liren and his men who killed them."

Speaking calmly, Fang Xu couldn't help recalling the Xu siblings' gruesome state, wishing Lu Liren would die a miserable death at once.

In the friend list, Lu Liren's vitality was at 72%.

It was absolutely impossible for him to die in a short time.

"Let's go." After standing before the grave for a long time, Fang Xu spoke slowly.

He had heard "the world is like this" for the second time; the first time someone had advised him thus was Yun Wan, and when she said it, her face also bore a hint of helplessness.

Now Huang Qingzhou says the same.

As a disciple of the Ascension Society, his status is exalted, yet he too feels helpless about the world.

Fang Xu, however, was not so arrogant as to plant a flge and seek to change the world.

He steadfastly believed: "When poor, cultivate one's own virtue; when prosperous, benefit the world." Now his strength is low, he constantly walks the line between life and death, relying on external forces, surviving in the cracks—how could he talk about changing the world?

Returning to the Hall of Distant Aspirations, Lu Qingluo practiced spear in the courtyard while Wang Shi helped Chu Mu prepare dinner.

Huang Qingzhou said not to call him for dinner that evening, then went straight back to his room to cultivate.

……

In a street inn, Su Cheng stared at the secret letter in his hand, his face dark as iron.

"Well done, Huang Qingzhou, daring to write to the master—are you informing on me?"

"Then don't blame me for forgetting our fellow-disciple bond!"

He burned the secret letter, and a flash of intense killing intent crossed Su Cheng's eyes.

(End of chapter)