“Ah!” The woman inside the bed curtains shrieked. She leaped down from the couch and bolted out, completely oblivious to her exposed state.

At the same time, the four guards outside rushed in and joined Elder Lu in protecting Fan Jiulong.

The situation was extremely unfavorable for Ye Kong!

However, Ye Kong remained calm in the face of danger. He displayed superb martial arts skills, evading what should have been a fatal strike. This caused a flash of surprise to pass through Fan Jiushe’s eyes.

“Impressive moves,” Fan Jiushe said, his gaze tracking Ye Kong’s movements.

“You can see me?” Ye Kong was somewhat surprised.

Cultivators could see through his Invisibility Talisman. That was why he’d been at a disadvantage. But he was a cultivator himself, and when he’d checked in the mirror, he couldn’t see anything.

Fan Jiushe sneered mockingly. “Cheap tricks. Don’t you know that under the Heaven Eye Technique, you have nowhere to hide? Little Qi Refinement Layer 1 fellow?”

The Heaven Eye Technique was the most basic spell, used to observe hidden objects. It could also check the cultivation level of other immortal cultivators, though only those at the same realm or below one’s own level.

Ye Kong’s problem was that he lacked the incantations for these low-level spells, so he didn’t know the Heaven Eye Technique could break through the Invisibility Talisman.

Furthermore, because he didn’t know visit our sitethe Heaven Eye Technique, he couldn’t determine what level Fan Jiushe was at.

However, Ye Kong was exceptionally shrewd. He instantly guessed that his opponent’s level wasn’t particularly high either. First, if he were truly formidable, why would he wait until Ye Kong got close before striking? He could just throw a powerful spell and Ye Kong would have nowhere to escape. Second, he’d heard that cultivators at mid-Qi Refinement could use magical artifacts, which were far more powerful than spells. Fan Jiushe hadn’t used any artifacts, so clearly he hadn’t reached mid-Qi Refinement yet. Finally, even his Fireball Technique spell had limited power. It had only burned a hole in the wooden wall.

Ye Kong immediately formed a plan. He smiled and said, “I’m at Qi Refinement Layer 1, but you’re not much higher either, are you?”

As Ye Kong spoke, he looked Fan Jiushe up and down, as if he too possessed the Heaven Eye Technique. This actually made Fan Jiushe grow more cautious.

“You must be Eighth Young Master of the Ye family, correct? I wonder which master you studied under?” Fan Jiushe probed carefully.

Ye Kong immediately understood his intent. He’s scared. While cultivators were all more formidable than ordinary people, they were also far more cowardly. Especially rogue cultivators. Who would dare provoke a great cultivation family or major sect?

“My master is Wanxuan True Man of the Wan family in Huangzhou. Fellow Daoist Fan is… a rogue cultivator, I presume?” Seeing a flash of panic in his opponent’s eyes, Ye Kong boldly peeled the Invisibility Talisman from his forehead and sat down directly across from Fan Jiushe with a casual air, pouring himself a cup of water.

Though Fan Jiushe’s level was higher than Ye Kong’s, how could he dare offend a cultivation family? In the cultivation world, rogue cultivators were always the poorest and weakest.

“So you’re a disciple of Wanxuan True Man! Fan gives his respects.” Fan Jiushe quickly sat down as well, then barked at Elder Lu and the others, “You blind fools! Apologize to Immortal Master Ye immediately!”

Elder Lu hastily kowtowed in terror. After finishing his apologies, Fan Jiushe drove him out. Fan Jiulong also sat down beside Ye Kong with a fawning expression, constantly expressing his regrets.

“Wanxuan True Man accepted Fellow Daoist Ye not long ago, correct? How are you still only at Qi Refinement Layer 1? It seems you haven’t even learned basic spells yet,” Fan Jiushe said with a smile.

Ye Kong knew he was fishing around for information again. He pretended to look annoyed. “To be honest with Fellow Daoist Fan, Wanxuan True Man said my aptitude is extremely poor. He originally didn’t plan to accept me, but felt bad about disappointing my father, so he took me on as a registered disciple. He comes to the Ye Manor once a year to guide me.”

“Oh.” The Fan brothers made sounds of understanding. Though Ye Kong claimed his own aptitude was poor, neither Ye Haoran nor Wanxuan True Man were people they could afford to provoke.

“Alas.” Ye Kong drank some water and shook his head. “My aptitude really is terrible. I’ve cultivated for over a year and I’m still at Qi Refinement Layer 1. Master told me to focus on cultivation and not waste time learning spells yet, so now, well…”

Ye Kong’s mixture of truth and lies actually resonated with Fan Jiushe. He smiled bitterly. “Cultivating for a year and still being at Qi Refinement Layer 1 is perfectly normal. I’ve cultivated for decades and I’m only at Qi Refinement Layer 3.”

“Ah, but that’s different. You’re a rogue cultivator,” Ye Kong said arrogantly. The implication was clear: how can you rogue cultivators compare with me?

Ye Kong’s blunt rudeness was risky. It might anger Fan Jiushe. But Ye Kong was betting he wouldn’t dare provoke a great family.

Sure enough, not only did Fan Jiushe show no anger, he even smiled obsequiously. “That’s certainly true. Cultivation families have spirit stones, spiritual medicines, and precious cultivation manuals and insights. Fellow Daoist Ye has boundless prospects. Please look after this one favorably in the future.”

Ye Kong laughed inwardly. Screw his immortal ancestors, if I’d known he was this easy to fool, I wouldn’t have bothered with assassination.

“Naturally,” Ye Kong suppressed his laughter and kept a straight face. “But how do we resolve the current situation? My master will be coming to Southern Capital again this year. Though I’m merely a registered disciple, if he learns someone tried to take my life, he absolutely won’t let the matter rest…” Ye Kong looked up at the ceiling and mused aloud, “Master has been stuck at mid-Foundation Establishment for a while. I wonder if he’s made progress this time…”

The gap between mid-Foundation Establishment and early Qi Refinement was incomparably vast. Fan Jiushe’s face went pale. “Fellow Daoist Ye, this was purely a misunderstanding. One shouldn’t blame those who don’t know, right? Besides, you haven’t suffered the slightest injury. On the contrary, our Dragon-Snake Gang has lost many people. Why don’t we… just let this matter drop?”

Fan Jiulong chimed in, “A misunderstanding, truly a misunderstanding. It absolutely won’t happen again.”

Ye Kong’s eyes widened in anger. “Let it drop? How can that be acceptable? Disrupting my cultivation time and peace of mind, my master will certainly punish [noodles]me when he comes. I’ll have no choice but to tell him the truth!”

Everyone understood. This kid was extorting them. Fan Jiushe, being no fool, said, “Fellow Daoist Ye, if you want spirit stones or elixirs, this little brother simply cannot provide them. But if you want worldly wealth, the Dragon-Snake Gang can come up with some.”

In Fan Jiushe’s view, cultivators naturally looked down on mundane wealth. He was afraid Ye Kong would covet his meager spirit stones, so he preemptively blocked that route.

Actually, Ye Kong had no expectations of squeezing spirit stones from Fan Jiushe. He was quite interested in worldly wealth instead. He desperately wanted to say, “Great! Give me a few thousand taels to spend. Then show me the incantations for your Heaven Eye Technique and Fireball Technique. Finally, call over Little Peach Red, Little Jade Flower, and Little Willow Leaf to serve me, one per leg…”

But he couldn’t say any of that. He had a more important goal: developing his own power base.

“I’m not interested in those things.” Ye Kong waved dismissively. “It’s just that two friends of mine also want to establish a gang in Southern Capital City, but they lack territory.”

Demanding territory from the underworld was a grave taboo in any world. Fan Jiulong’s face clearly showed his displeasure. His fat cheeks trembled as he said, “How about having Eighth Young Master’s friends try the waterways instead? Don’t worry, our Dragon-Snake Gang will definitely help them out. We won’t let the Sea Sand Gang bully them.”

Ye Kong thought to himself, the waterways weren’t your Dragon-Snake Gang’s territory to begin with. That’s a useless offer. He fixed Fan Jiulong with a cold stare and said bluntly, “Does Gang Leader Fan want me to go conquer territory for you?”

We can’t take meat from a tiger’s mouth! Fan Jiulong thought this, but his mouth hastily said, “Wouldn’t dare, wouldn’t dare.”

Fan Jiushe gritted his teeth. “How about this, Fellow Daoist Ye. That area in the north of the city is nominally under our Dragon-Snake Gang’s control, but the people there are somewhat unruly. Why don’t your friends help us manage that district? Finances and personnel can be handled entirely by your friends themselves. However, they’ll need to operate under our Dragon-Snake Gang’s name.”

The northern district was the slum area. Since the Lu brothers were already familiar with that territory, Ye Kong naturally agreed. This was already the Dragon-Snake Gang’s final concession. He couldn’t very well force them to hand over the prosperous commercial districts. That would drive the Fan family into a corner.

With matters settled, things became [noodles]easier. Everyone put on a show of harmony. After chatting a while longer, Ye Kong prepared to take his leave.

Fan Jiulong smiled. “Eighth Young Master, would you like me to arrange for a few girls? Coming to Treasure Spring Pavilion and leaving empty-handed, how can that be?”

Ye Kong actually felt tempted. He’d been in Cangnan Continent for over a year without tasting any female company. That wasn’t his style at all. Even if he couldn’t perform yet, getting some manual pleasure and groping those women’s soft parts would be nice.

However, he firmly refused. He had more important matters to attend to!

“Then Fellow Daoist Ye, safe travels.”

After seeing Ye Kong out of the room, Fan Jiulong’s face immediately darkened. “How insulting! Actually demanding territory from our Dragon-Snake Gang! Brother, you’re at Qi Refinement Layer 3. Why fear someone at Layer 1?”

Fan Jiushe smiled bitterly. “Elder brother, you don’t understand how brutal the cultivation world is. Sect exterminations and family annihilations happen every day. Those great families could wipe us out with a flick of their fingers. A family like the Wan family of Huangzhou could kill a rogue cultivator like me as easily as crushing an ant.”

Fan Jiulong sighed deeply. “Cultivating immortality is really pathetic.”

Fan Jiushe shook his head. “Elder brother, you’re wrong about that. If I hadn’t accidentally obtained that barbarian tribe cultivation manual back then, we two would be worse than dogs right now. If I hadn’t cultivated immortality, where would all this wealth and these beautiful women come from?”

Fan Jiulong nodded silently and sighed. “Unfortunately, that barbarian manual is too vicious. Elder brother has no hope of cultivating it in this lifetime.”

Fan Jiushe suddenly laughed. “Don’t worry, elder brother. Perhaps your opportunity is about to arrive.”

“Oh! What do you mean?” Fan Jiulong grew tense. Who [stolen content]didn’t want to become an immortal?

But Fan Jiushe didn’t explain. Instead, he suddenly asked, “Elder brother, how much of what that kid said do you think was true?”

“He was lying?” Fan Jiulong asked in surprise. “That can’t be, right? He was so arrogant and domineering. Most of it must be true. Otherwise, how would he dare to bully us like that?”

Fan Jiushe shook his head. “This kid may be young, but he tells lies without batting an eye. I suspect he’s definitely bluffing to scare us. If things were really as he claimed, how would Ye Hai dare to have us move against him?”

Fan Jiulong thought about it and asked, “If he’s bluffing, why did you agree to his demands? Why not just capture him and use the barbarian secret technique…” Fan Jiulong chuckled darkly. “Then elder brother could cultivate immortal arts too.”

But Fan Jiushe had other plans. He shook his head. “I’m playing along with him for two reasons. First, to buy time to investigate whether what he said is true. Second, if he’s lying through his teeth, we still can’t let you obtain his cultivation power.”

Fan Jiulong said with displeasure, “Why not?”

Fan Jiushe waved dismissively. “Don’t ask yet. First, let’s go investigate. If that kid really is a disciple of the Wan family of Huangzhou, then nothing else matters.”