Chapter 30: A Warrior’s Threat

The little farce on the flying boat ended quickly.
As for whether there would be more fun later, Xu Gu and Huan Caiyi obviously wouldn’t know.

Because the two of them had already arrived at their destination.

Both standing on flying swords, they shot down from the flying boat and landed smoothly at the station.

After they descended, Xu Gu raised a brow.

He’d originally thought White Magpie Street Station would just be a commercial street.

After all, even if a station was on the larger side, how big could it really be?

But reality once again exceeded his expectations.

White Magpie Street covered several thousand li.

Yet for some reason, he didn’t feel surprised at all.

Probably because he’d already been mentally prepared after seeing “the world’s number one gully,” Zhao Gully.

“White Magpie Street is one of the more famous commercial streets in Zhao Gully,” Huan Caiyi explained.

“A lot of merchant guilds gather here, so the area as a whole is called White Magpie Street.

“The Zhao clan where Zhao Jingang is from are all body cultivators. Generally they’re not very educated.

“The way they name things is always like this.

“And they’re even proud of it.”

“Let’s go, into the street.”

She said that, then happily stepped onto her sword, taking out all sorts of little gadgets as if she finally had a place where she could really race her flying sword.

Xu Gu shook his head.

“Let’s help you finish your task first. Yours should be easier.”

“Huh?” Huan Caiyi stared in surprise.

Are you sure?

My task is to set up a Demonic Abyss outpost, okay?!

That’s super hard!

No matter how you look at it, it’s harder than just recruiting a few top chefs, right?

Right after that, her delicate brows lifted and her lashes drooped slightly as she remembered what Xu Gu was actually here for.

He wasn’t inviting master chefs over to cook.

He wanted them to refine pills.

And in a poor ghost-place like the Demonic Abyss.

Okay… that was a bit harder.

“Fine, then.”

Huan Caiyi didn’t insist.

Who went first didn’t really matter.

The Demonic Abyss outpost in Zhao Gully was already marked “under construction.” Several demonic cultivators had infiltrated in advance, but they’d run into some problems, hence sending Huan Caiyi to help.

As soon as they approached the outpost area, the two of them received a grand welcome.

“Envoys, you’re finally here! If you didn’t come soon, our bones would be buried in Zhao Gully!”

The leading demonic cultivator, bringing a handful of underlings with him, dropped to his knees as soon as he saw them.

He sobbed and sniveled pitifully.

It really was a sorry sight.

“Trash.”

Huan Caiyi only felt annoyed.

As a true disciple of an immortal sect and a direct heir of a top clan, she was the picture of righteous light.

Naturally, she didn’t think much of these demonic cultivators.

Seeing them putting on such a pathetic act only made her even more irritated.

“A bit trash indeed.”

Xu Gu frowned slightly.

“It’s just an outpost. Right now all you’re supposed to do is hide, gather intel, and pass on information.

“Nobody asked you to attack a righteous sect.

“How have you still not secured the place?”

“This…”

The leading demonic cultivator froze on the spot.

Not only him—

The several demonic cultivators at his side all stiffened up, looking hugely confused.

No way, are you two playing it for real?

Isn’t this the part where we lay it on thick about how miserable we are, and you two kindly comfort us, express your understanding…

Then we bring out the good food and drink, give you some gifts.

After you’ve eaten and drunk your fill and accepted the gifts, you clap our shoulders and tell us we’re doing great, encourage us to keep working hard, and promise to report back so they’ll send us more funds and manpower?

Why aren’t you following the script?!

Shi Shangpin, the lead cultivator, let his eyes dart around.

He seemed to think Xu Gu and Huan Caiyi were too young to understand how things usually went, and that he needed to give them a hint.

So he kept tilting his head, trying to guide their gaze toward the courtyard.

On the tables there, a banquet they’d prepared in advance was already laid out.

“If there’s something wrong with your head, I can help you take it off right now.”

Xu Gu’s tone was calm.

But despite the lack of anger, the pressure in his voice was overwhelming.

Yin fiend energy around him felt almost solid.

He was only at the eighth layer of Qi Refining, but he’d killed a Foundation Establishment master, and hunted a Golden Core senior like prey.

The pressure he gave off was in no way inferior to an ordinary mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Shi Shangpin, who was an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, could barely breathe under it.

The other demonic cultivators—Qi Refining nine-layer and half-step Foundation Establishment—were trembling like leaves in a storm.

Of course Xu Gu knew what these people were thinking.

But he’d come here to get things done, not to slack off and freeload.

He already saw himself as the future Demonic Lord—

How could he tolerate this kind of behavior?

“If you can’t handle the job, get lost.

“The Demonic Abyss isn’t short on demonic cultivators.

“If you don’t want to work, there are plenty who do.”

He looked coldly at the group of demonic cultivators.

“Y-yes!”

Shi Shangpin and the others shuddered violently, their faces going chalk-white.

For demonic cultivators like them, who had committed countless sins, being expelled from the Demonic Abyss really did mean a death sentence.

They gulped hard, realizing they’d run into a true ruthless character.

“We’ll give it everything we’ve got, absolutely.

“It’s just that there really is a problem beyond what we can handle right now.

“It’s not that we’re slacking off…” Shi Shangpin said with a trembling voice.

Xu Gu stepped inside.

“You settled them just like that?”

Huan Caiyi stared at him in a daze, her admiration growing.

So-called “little devils” were the hardest to deal with.

She’d thought that coming here she’d have to spend quite some time wrestling with the outpost people, since these sorts were usually full of schemes and excuses, always covering up their incompetence and mistakes.

But Xu Gu had subdued them in just a few words.

It seemed the demonic path really did have its merits.

In her sect, when envoys were sent down to the grassroots to supervise tasks, they often got spun around and around.

It was hard to see the truth of things, which seriously affected how efficiently anything got done.

Shi Shangpin and the others sighed with relief, knowing they’d just dodged a disaster.

But they were still deeply uneasy and hurried after him inside.

“Speak.

“What difficulties have you run into?”

Xu Gu got straight to the point.

His time was valuable.

After this he still needed to invite master chefs back to the Demonic Abyss; he didn’t have much time to waste.

The demonic cultivators exchanged glances, all bowing their heads and pushing the task of speaking back and forth.

They looked deeply ashamed.

Seeing Xu Gu’s expression starting to darken again, Shi Shangpin quickly stepped up.

“Even though our outpost’s current duties are only to stay hidden, gather intelligence, and pass along information, so we shouldn’t be coming into contact with any high-level cultivators for now…

“The problem is that Zhao Gully is the territory of the Zhao clan, a body cultivation family.

“Martial arts are popular among the common people here.

“Even though there are not many cultivators, there are martial artists everywhere.

“These martial artists call themselves knights of the rivers and lakes, but in reality they’re just local thugs.

“Our outpost wasn’t even fully set up yet, and we’d already received warnings from several martial factions.”

He felt shame just talking about it.

Dignified demonic cultivators, being bullied by martial artists.

In a world of cultivation, cultivators were supreme and mortals were mere grass and dust.

Between cultivators and mortals, there was another special kind of existence: martial artists.

According to legend, the martial path had been casually created by an ancient body cultivation powerhouse.

Martial artists were mortals without spiritual roots who refined themselves through hard practice.

They converted ambient spiritual energy into internal strength, internal qi, and so gained remarkable power.

They were closely related to body cultivators.

Their strength usually fell somewhere between Qi Refining and Foundation Establishment.

Some legendary martial artists could even break past their limits and reach half-step Golden Core.

Zhao Gully was a holy land for body cultivators, so it naturally had the largest concentration of mortal martial artists.

And martial artists, like demonic cultivators, were bottom-feeders of society.

They survived by breaking the law through force.

The two groups were in direct competition.

So when demonic cultivators from the Demonic Abyss came to build an outpost here, they immediately became a prime target for the martial artists.

“I see.”

Huan Caiyi nodded lightly.

If the martial artists in this area really were targeting the Demonic Abyss’s people, then it was indeed not easy for them to establish a foothold.

(End of this chapter)