Chapter 263: Ten Thousand Flowers, A Thousand Illusions (Bonus Chapter—Requesting Moon Tickets)

Blue Star.

Villa 69, Blue Sea District.

Fang Xing received a message from Xiao Lan, opened the video, and saw two people standing outside the gate.

One was Song Song Jingang; the other was Gu Yun.

"You two came all the way here—why bring fruit?"

He told Xiao Lan to open the villa gate and went out to greet them himself.

"Haha, this is my first time visiting your villa, boss."

Song Song Jingang looked around and spotted a private spaceship behind, his eyes nearly bulging: "Boss, this villa was worth every credit… Since the new Chief Executive took office, the real estate market has rebounded—you've made a fortune."

Dressed in a Public Security Bureau uniform, he looked tall and muscular, clearly benefiting from rumors circulating during his internship.

Too bad his face looked too old, making it impossible for him to find a girlfriend.

Beside him, Gu Yun wore a black dress with light makeup, her features appearing more refined and gentle: "Senior… it's been a long time."

"Mm."

Fang Xing smiled and nodded, inviting them to sit.

They were all nearing university graduation, the busiest time of their lives—today was a rare moment of stolen leisure.

"Boss, you're a Jin Dan graduate—did you enter the Interstellar First Martial Arts Tournament?"

Song Song Jingang drank a beverage and immediately brought up the hottest topic in the Federation.

The Federation Holographic Universe Corporation had spared no expense promoting this event.

And its impact on martial cultivation was immeasurable—it wasn't just about selecting a champion.

A series of follow-up promotions, documentaries, and outreach campaigns were planned.

"The winner of this tournament is a martial cultivator named 'Lan Shi.' I watched his match videos—he's truly powerful."

Fang Xing spoke.

That 'Lan Shi' didn't feel like some divine being pretending to be young—he was a genuine martial genius!

"Yeah, they say the first prize is personal tutelage from a Wu Shen… and the Federation Holographic Universe Corporation will fully support Lan Shi in building his own mecha…"

Song Song Jingang said this with obvious envy.

"For us martial cultivators, mechas are merely external tools…"

Fang Xing shook his head with a smile, then turned to Gu Yun: "How's your studies going lately?"

"Very well. My internship went smoothly too… After graduation, I plan to join the military and fight the followers of the Evil God on the battlefield."

Gu Yun's voice was soft but resolute: "I am sworn to destroy the Evil God!"

"Mm."

Fang Xing scratched his face, looking slightly uneasy.

Meanwhile.

In a humble public rental apartment in the Federation.

Fang Xing's cultivation avatar was meeting with a disciple of the Sect—Sunny.

"Great Sect Master… I've established contact with organizations on forty-three planets. They're willing to continue following your leadership."

Sunny spoke with deep humility: "Also, as you instructed, I've investigated… Among other gods' followers, there are indeed prophecies of 'the Creator awakening soon.'"

"The Creator Sect… just prophecies?"

Fang Xing fell into thought, then tossed out a suitcase: "You've done well. Keep going."

"Yes!"

Sunny took the suitcase and felt a surge of energy coursing through him.

After he left, Fang Xing pondered: "'Red Heart 3'… what exactly are they planning?"

"But it's certainly not good."

"Perhaps I should leave Blue Star for a while?"

…

After sending Sunny away, Fang Xing stepped out of the public rental building, switched to another one, and arrived on floor 1132, casually opening a door.

He understood the principle of the cunning rabbit having three burrows.

And Blue Star's public rentals were safety nets for poor citizens with Blue Star household registration—chaotic, filled with all kinds of people, and extremely difficult to investigate.

He entered the rental and vanished instantly.

…

The Immortal Realm.

Yunzhou.

"The Yuan Ying Zhen Jun from both orthodox and demonic sides have too many things to do—how could they possibly block me every day…"

Fang Xing's sleeves fluttered, exuding an immortal's aura.

He swiftly set up his cave formation and began inventorying his recent gains.

"Spiritual treasures, Shen Ying fruits, fourth-grade demonic fire… set those aside for now."

"Just the spirit stones alone are a massive haul—even…"

Before Fang Xing lay three boxes, each containing a dull gray stone, a pale golden mineral, and a vivid green wood core.

"Supreme Earth Spirit Stone, Jin Ling Shi, and Mu Ling Shi… plus the water spirit stone from last time…"

"Now I have all five Supreme elemental spirit stones—only fire is missing. Plus, over ten million pieces of upper- and mid-grade spirit stones."

"Indeed, if you want to get rich overnight, you must rob high-grade cultivators."

"As for artifacts, besides the Jiao Wei Qin, there's also a quasi-fourth-grade Blood God Banner… and countless upper- and Supreme-grade artifacts—opportunities to sell them will arise."

"For medicinal herbs, besides 'Ten-Thousand-Year Stone Milk,' there's a large quantity of 'Spirit Marrow Fungus,' 'Five-Cloud Flowers,' and 'Flying Immortal Fruit.' The auxiliary materials are nearly complete—just need to buy some basic ones from the market… then I can mass-produce 'Spirit Fungus Pills,' 'Five-Cloud Pills,' and 'Spirit Marrow Pills.'"

These were pills used by Foundation Establishment cultivators to enhance their spiritual power—ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators would be overjoyed to get a few grains.

Now, all of them were in Fang Xing's possession, enough to propel his spiritual power all the way to Jin Dan's peak!

Of course, the cost was that Feng Shangren and the unknown body cultivator's reputations were utterly ruined—they'd become pariahs in the immortal realm.

But Fang Xing didn't care.

"Now that I've acquired so many resources, I should close myself off to refine pills and cultivate…"

"I lack nothing except a superior cave dwelling—if I want to cultivate straight to Nascent Soul, I need a fourth-grade spiritual vein!"

"I can't return to Si Tian Gu Jian Sect for now; other Yuan Ying sects are even less likely…"

"Xiancheng? Most Xianchengs have only third-grade spiritual veins… only a few established by Yuan Ying hermits have fourth-grade veins, but they probably won't allow outsiders to form Nascent Souls there…"

"Wait—aside from Xiancheng, I could consider former Yuan Ying family strongholds."

Fang Xing immediately thought of the Mu family. They were once a Yuan Ying clan—surely they had a fourth-grade spiritual vein.

Most importantly, they've fallen into ruin, with no Yuan Ying Zhen Jun left to guard them—now they're an easy target.

Even worse, the Mu family head, desperate for a gamble, poured most of the clan's resources into Mu Mu Qinglan, even taking the spiritual treasure Jiao Wei Qin with him.

And now it's all been wasted… uh, no—correctly speaking, it was justice served.

Originally, with their great formation and spiritual treasure, Fang Xing couldn't have slipped in silently.

But now? Not so much.

'Perfect… I still need the bloodline and soul essence of a Mu family direct descendant to replace one soul in the Nine Infants Pearl…'

Fang Xing would never use the 'Feng Shangren' identity again.

'Also… I'll take the chance to steal the Jiao Wei Qin's consecration incantations.'

With this thought, Fang Xing pulled out the Nine Infants Pearl and selected one identity.

In an instant, he transformed into a refined scholar, elegant in appearance, with snow-white hair.

This 'Death-Bringing Scholar' was a morally ambiguous hermit secretly murdered by Huo Huo Moqing, now one of Fang Xing's false identities.

"…Perfect. I'll go scheme against the Mu family. In their blessed land, the Mu family head showed good sense—he didn't storm Shen Ying Cliff. He probably didn't die… but his life after returning will be miserable."

Fang Xing rearranged his belongings, feeling overwhelmed.

Having too many spoils wasn't always a good thing.

Even though Foundation Establishment cultivators' storage bags were high-quality and spacious, he'd now become a Six-Bag Elder of the Beggar's Sect.

All the clutter filled six storage bags!

'Damn, still too small—no wonder the immortal realm's merchant caravans make fortunes…'

He organized everything, then pulled out a corpse-storing bag.

He infused a trace of spiritual power—black mist flashed, and five golden-armored corpses appeared on the ground.

Each of these animated corpses was above third-grade, formidable and unique.

One was a flying night demon, another a four-armed golden corpse, and a third a female golden corpse…

"All were once powerful body cultivators, later captured by the Wanxiang Demon Sect and forged into 'Heaven-Turning Golden Corpses'… too many restrictions from Wanxiang on these corpses—must be modified."

Just like the 'Ten-Thousand Methods Ghost Infant'—even if the Heaven-Turning Golden Corpse's restrictions were flawless, they weren't his own, so he couldn't trust them.

Fang Xing thought for a moment, and a jade slip appeared in his hand, filled with extensive corpse-refining techniques.

"Hmm… these five third-grade corpses, combined with my abundant demonic materials, might just be enough to create a 'Five-Mixed Demon.'"

The 'Five-Mixed Demon' wasn't as powerful as something like the Ten Absolute Yin Corpses—it couldn't match a Yuan Ying Zhen Jun.

But among third-grade entities, it was already god-slaying, Buddha-slaying.

More importantly, the Wanfa Demon Sect had already done most of the heavy lifting—Fang Xing didn't mind spending a few days re-imposing the restrictions on these corpses.

"The best Five-Mixed Demon should be based on the five elemental roots, forming a 'Five Sons Demon Array'…"

The spiritual roots of these corpses don't form a complete Five Elements set; we must look to the materials used in their cultivation... A massive blood sacrifice of Five Elements spiritual items can imbue the corpse with some Five Elements properties.

This principle is much like cultivating a treasure.

Living people can't use them—they'd be cooked alive—but the dead don't matter.

…

Yunzhou has many cultivator clans.

The most famous among them is the Mu Clan.

The Mu Clan occupies the spiritual vein of Mount Mount Baihua, where the spiritual energy is extraordinarily abundant, protected by a great clan array.

This array was originally set by a Nascent Soul True Lord of old, named the Ten Thousand Flowers, Thousand Illusions Array, ranked fourth-tier. Though it suffered damage during several great upheavals and has since degraded to pseudo-fourth-tier, when paired with the Jade Tail Qin, a spiritual treasure, it still retains the power of a fourth-tier array.

The Mu Clan has long been the foremost Jin Dan clan among the orthodox sects of Da Jing.

Alas... when news of the Linlang Blessed Land spread, the Mu Clan immediately began to waver.

Any other Jin Dan clan suffering the death of a Jin Dan late-stage Nascent Soul Seed and the loss of their clan's spiritual treasure would surely collapse in despair.

By comparison, the Mu Clan's instability is slight—they still have deep roots.

Mount Mount Baihua.

Inside the Mu Clan ancestral hall.

The Mu Clan's patriarch, already aged, woke up with white hair, as if his time was near.

In truth, as a mid-stage Jin Dan cultivator, he still had a hundred years of life left; this appearance was born not of aging, but of a heart dead with grief.

"Elders…"

The Mu Clan patriarch's dim gaze swept over the several Jin Dan and pseudo-Jin Dan cultivators present; his voice was dry as a corpse's: "This time, Mu Qinglan's death and the loss of our clan's treasure—these are all my faults! I shall immediately resign as patriarch. I beg the Ancestral Elders to punish me!"

"No!"

At this moment, a middle-aged cultivator with a noble bearing spoke: "Patriarch, you are not at fault—our Mu Clan simply lacks heavenly fortune…"

He rose, his eyes sharp as lightning, turning to the other Jin Dan and pseudo-Jin Dan elders: "Do you still remember, three hundred years ago, when our former patriarch was foolish and lost twelve shops in Lihuo Immortal City in a gambling duel? It was Brother Wansong who achieved Jin Dan, single-handedly wielding his sword, defeating each shop one by one on the dueling grounds... After that bloody battle, his treasures shattered, his body nearly reduced to blood—had he not been wounded then, with his talent, how could he still be only mid-stage Jin Dan today?"

"And Brother Wanqing, where did your 'Golden Core Pill' for your Jin Dan breakthrough come from? It was Wansong who used clan battle merits to obtain it for you from Du Qiankun Dao!"

"And you others—do you know who, when the clan lacked resources, delved into alchemy, rose to become a third-tier alchemist, and raised you all up?"

"Even Mu Mu Qinglan—he was identified as a rare talent by Wansong, nurtured all the way to Jin Dan, and even gave him the 'Phoenix Sound Pill' that aids breakthrough to late-stage Jin Dan... This journey to Linlang Blessed Land was approved by the entire clan assembly, and we collectively agreed to retrieve the Jade Tail Qin from our ancestor."

"What fault does such a patriarch bear?"

The middle-aged Jin Dan cultivator's gaze burned as he swept across the room.

The Jin Dan elders were moved: "True... the fault lies not with the patriarch, but with our lack of fate."

"Sigh..."

Mu Wansong's eyes filled with hot tears: "Losing the spiritual treasure is nothing. As long as we stand united, our clan will rise again... Very well. With this great crisis upon us, I shall endure another hundred years!"

"Patriarch, Elders—great disaster!"

At this moment, a Foundation Establishment cultivator rushed into the ancestral hall and knelt to report: "Unknown cultivators have attacked the Xiao Yuan Mountain mine!"

"Xiao Yuan Mountain? That's our last spiritual stone mine! What unknown cultivators? It must be those Jijia hiring rogue cultivators and demonic cultivators to test us. How long has the demon-orthodox truce lasted? Are they already so impatient?"

Mu Wansong's hair stood on end: "Gather five hundred clan guards, board the 'Rising Dragon' spiritual vessel—I shall lead the expedition myself!"

After Mu Wansong departed, the atmosphere in the ancestral hall grew strange.

"Heh... Brother Wanli, you truly think ahead."

Mu Wanqing smiled: "The patriarch's confession was merely to retire in peace... He remains in position now because the clan is in turmoil and must be held together... Brother Wanli, how much of what you said earlier was sincere?"

Mu Wanli snorted: "All for the clan—half-truths, half-lies... Sigh, how could I not wish to see Mu Qinglan soar and restore our clan to the glory of a Nascent Soul family?"

At this thought, all the elders sighed.

After a long silence, someone muttered: "That damned 'Half-Prophet'—a mere third-tier diviner, spouting nonsense about phoenixes perching on paulownia trees. Only the patriarch believed him..."

(End of Chapter)