Three days later, Southern Capital City, south gate.

Due to the increasingly tense situation between An Kingdom and the barbarian tribes, inspections of people entering and leaving the city to the south were especially strict. Soldiers with red-tasseled spears divided into several teams to check the luggage of travelers. On top of the city wall, a row of crossbow bolts pointed down without the slightest courtesy. At the first sign of trouble, they’d shoot you full of holes.

At a herbal tea stand beside the city gate, a chubby middle-aged man sat boldly at a wooden table, his mung bean-sized eyes gazing toward the end of the bluestone street.

Not far away, several passing merchants were quietly gossiping. “That’s the Dragon-Snake Gang’s second leader, Fan Jiushe, right? So fat! They say his martial arts are formidable. Is that true?”

“Who knows? But fat guys definitely can’t perform in bed. Fat body means short bird, you know? Last time at Treasure Spring Pavilion I heard the two brothers together serviced a girl called Little Peach, and she barely got satisfied. Haha.”

“You guys don’t want to live? Fan Jiushe is one of Southern Capital’s overlords. Let’s go, let’s go.”

The merchants had just left when a flash of anger crossed Fan Jiushe’s face. He was a Layer 3 Qi Refinement cultivator. Though his spiritual consciousness couldn’t yet extend outward, his ears and eyes were still sharp. He’d heard every word of the merchants’ conversation.

“Go follow them and note their addresses. Don’t rush to act. Wait until I get back. I want to show them on their beautiful wives and concubines whether this visit our site master can perform or not!” Fan Jiushe said to his lackey subordinates.

“Should we both go?” the subordinates asked.

“Both go, get moving.” Fan Jiushe impatiently urged them. “After you follow them, return to the gang headquarters. Tell the boss to be completely at ease and wait at home for good news.”

“Yes.” The two subordinates cupped their fists and rushed off.

Before long, a fine horse came walking slowly down the bluestone road, neither hurried nor slow. On the horse sat a youth in a blue cloth robe, a flat bamboo conical hat shading a patch of sunlight on his head, half-revealing a handsome young face.

“Eighth Young Master is indeed a man of his word, right on time!” Fan Jiushe set down his tea bowl and quickly went out to greet him.

This made passersby look curiously at the youth on horseback, wondering what kind of person could merit the Dragon-Snake Gang’s second leader personally welcoming him.

“Oh, Brother Fan is already here? I thought I was early and wasn’t in a hurry. My apologies, my apologies.” Ye Kong’s face lit up with delight, smiling very politely as he urged his horse to speed up.

“Better to arrive at the right time than early! Don’t dismount. Let’s head out of the city right away.” Despite Fan Jiushe’s bulk, his clean and efficient mounting of the horse showed his extraordinary skills.

“Very well, Brother Fan, please.” The two large horses walked side by side toward the city gate. The gate soldiers didn’t dare offend Fan Jiushe, and upon hearing the youth was Lord Ye Haoran’s eighth son, they didn’t dare demand an inspection either. They directly pulled open the barricades and let the two exit the city.

“Fellow Daoist Ye, I wonder how your riding skills are? Time is tight. Why don’t we speed up and take advantage of the morning cool to cover more ground?” As soon as they left the city, Fan Jiushe couldn’t wait to urge him on.

The closer to success, the more excited and impatient one becomes, like fire burning in the heart. Human nature is such, and Fan Jiushe was no exception. He’d waited twenty years and couldn’t wait any longer. He was anxious to absorb Ye Kong’s cultivation power and breakthrough to Qi Refinement Layer 4, so he could finally use that small sword artifact.

He didn’t know if the thing was powerful or not. Could he ride it and fly? Could it grow larger? How many people could it kill at once? Fan Jiushe’s heart burned with impatience, just like buying a new phone only to discover the battery was completely dead, patiently waiting for it to charge.

Ye Kong laughed. “Brother Fan, this little brother rarely leaves home. This is my first time riding a horse. I really can’t ride fast.”

Damn it, can’t even ride a horse fast, you might as well die! Fan Jiushe cursed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do about it.

The two rode on horseback, swaying along. This was Ye Kong’s first time outside Southern Capital City. Before him stretched a vast green plain, a yellow-brown dirt road extending straight into the distance. At the edge of his vision, towering mountain ranges loomed hazily, soaring into the clouds.

“Wow, those mountains are so high! What mountains are they?” noodlesYe Kong asked in amazement.

“Those are the Hundred Thousand Mountains. They look close, but they’re actually very far. The barbarian tribesmen live in the mountains. Beyond the Hundred Thousand Mountains lies the endless primordial wilderness.” Fan Jiushe answered listlessly.

“Wow! The grass on this grassland is so unique!” Before Fan Jiushe finished speaking, Ye Kong exclaimed in wonder again.

“What’s so unique? It’s just soapwort for washing clothes. Many people buy it at the market, but actually you can just pick it outside the city. Farther on there’s candle grass, and over there is stargrass that twinkles at night like stars…”

“Wow! Brother Fan, what kind of livestock is that up ahead? So magnificent… Wow! That big tree looks just like a ball of fire. Wow!…”

Fan Jiushe was about to go crazy. This kid really must be an idiot. These were all common knowledge, weren’t they? Crying “wow” like a frog, making a big fuss over nothing. It was annoying to death. He just wanted to hurry and reach the place so he could deal with this brat.

Still, this first time leaving the city truly opened Ye Kong’s eyes. Living in Southern Capital City before, he’d thought Cangnan Continent was similar to ancient Earth. Only now did he realize the difference was quite significant.

The scenery of Cangnan Continent was even more refreshing to the spirit. If not for his mind being occupied with dealing with Fan Jiushe, Ye Kong might really have thought of himself as a sightseeing tourist.

After riding south for most of a shichen, Fan Jiushe tugged his reins and shouted for his horse to leave the main road.

“Is the market over there?” Ye Kong asked as if without guile.

“The market is still far. At this pace, we couldn’t reach it even in a full day. I’m taking you on a shortcut so we can arrive early and you can rest a bit.” Fan Jiushe said with a smile.

“Oh, Brother Fan truly has a warm heart. This Ye was truly blind before, actually going to assassinate you two brothers. Please don’t blame me, Brother Fan.”

“Haha.” Fan Jiushe laughed three times. “Fellow Daoist Ye, following Nine She has benefits you can’t even imagine.”

The two continued on for a while. They’d already crossed the grassland, and their surroundings had become sparsely populated. Fan Jiushe tugged his reins again, squeezed with both legs, and took the lead galloping into the red forest.

Ye Kong didn’t ask many questions and followed closely, though he called out, “Brother Fan, what’s that thing tied at your waist?”

Fan Jiushe patted the black-gray storage pouch hanging at his waist with a smile. “Fellow Daoist Ye doesn’t even know this? This is a storage pouch. Don’t let its small size fool you. The space inside is huge. Even fitting a person inside would be more than enough. This is an essential item for every cultivator. Those wealthy cultivators even have storage bracelets with even larger space! I’ve heard there’s even a divine object called a storage ring that can hold an entire mountain inside!”

Ye Kong was amazed. “Storage rings are that powerful? They must be extremely rare, right?”

Fan Jiushe said proudly, “Of course! Unless you’re a Nascent Soul stage great cultivator, wearing a storage ring would bring you mortal calamity!”

“I see. Being with Brother Fan really broadens my horizons.” Ye Kong nodded eagerly.

Fan Jiushe smiled mockingly and asked, “Fellow Daoist Ye, didn’t your master Wanxuan True Man tell you any of this? Why do you seem to know nothing?”

Ye Kong’s face immediately reddened, and he stammered, “Don’t blame me, Brother Fan. Actually… Wanxuan True Man refused to take me as a disciple that day. I just happened to obtain a set of low-level cultivation techniques and practiced on my own. Please give me more guidance in the future, Brother Fan.”

“Haha, no problem.” Hearing this brought great comfort to Fan Jiushe’s heart. He’d actually investigated the true situation long ago, but having Ye Kong personally tell him now was different. It showed this kid truly considered him a friend.

When the time came to suddenly attack, it would be even easier! Fan Jiushe had originally worried this kid was shrewd and clever and might be troublesome, but now it seemed he was still easy to fool.

“Let’s hurry. We need to get through this forest by noon. There might be bandits in the forest. Once we reach the plain ahead, we’ll be safe.”

“Oh, oh.” Ye Kong ​stolen content​nodded. The two horses walked one after another into the depths of the forest.

Though Fan Jiushe said there was a plain ahead, the further they went, the darker it became. The forest was like nighttime. The fiery red trees had long since disappeared, replaced by enormously huge towering trees whose canopies soared into the clouds. On Earth, trees like these were rare, but here they were numerous as cow hairs.

Cangnan Continent also didn’t have watches. In the dark forest, they didn’t know how long they’d walked.

“Brother Fan, is it still far?” Ye Kong asked as if frightened.

“We’ll reach the plain soon.” Fan Jiushe felt even more smug. This kid, he’d thought he had some great abilities, but he was just a little brat after all.

After walking for who knows how much longer, they finally saw a thread of light in the distance through the trees. Fan Jiushe said it was just ahead, they’d rest there for a bit, and urged his horse forward.

Ye Kong followed behind and discovered this was actually a very small clearing, surrounded on all sides by forest. It wasn’t a plain at all, just an empty space in the woods.

The clearing was full of wild grass grown as high as a horse’s legs. In the center of the clearing stood a collapsed stone pavilion.

The two tied their horses to a small tree and came to the collapsed stone pavilion, noodles finding a clean rock to sit on and taking out food and water.

“Fellow Daoist Ye, this is actually where I obtained my cultivation technique!” Fan Jiushe chewed on dried meat and sighed emotionally. “Over twenty years ago! Back then your father hadn’t yet brought his army here, there was no Southern Capital City, and this area was all under barbarian jurisdiction. My brother and I were both barbarian slaves.”

“One midnight I took advantage of the chaos to escape. That night had no moon. Everything was pitch black, and there were pursuers behind me. I ran in panic and arrived here. The pursuers caught up. I was exhausted and starving, with nowhere to run.”

“Heaven took pity on me. In my panic, I actually discovered there was a cave beneath this stone pavilion. I hurriedly hid inside.” Fan Jiushe smiled. “Who knew that by hiding there, I not only escaped the pursuers but also obtained the relics of a barbarian cultivator? That’s how I set foot on this path!”

After finishing his emotional reminiscence, Fan Jiushe smiled again. “Fellow Daoist Ye, would you like to see the place where Nine She stepped onto the immortal path?”

Ye Kong roughly understood why Fan Jiushe had come so far before acting. It was probably because there was a cave here. After killing him, he could conveniently enter the cave and take his time refining the stolen cultivation, with no one to disturb him and no one to discover him. Truly an excellent place for murder and robbery.

Ye Kong pretended to be timid. “Brother Fan, I’m cowardly. It’s pitch black inside caves. If you want to go, go by yourself.”

Fan Jiushe didn’t insist. He laughed. “Then after we eat, we’ll rest a bit before continuing. I’m going to relieve myself.”

“Oh.” Ye Kong nodded.

Fan Jiushe stood up and circled around to Ye Kong’s rear. Looking back, he saw the kid was busy eating his steamed bun, completely without guard. Time to strike!