Big Data Cultivation
Chapter 818 - Chapter 818 Chapter 818 Casting the Net

Chapter 818: Chapter 818 Casting the Net Chapter 818: Chapter 818 Casting the Net Feng Jun’s current state of mind was somewhat inflated–having reached the Out-of-Dust realm, wasn’t it okay to feel a bit proud?

He thought that if the Xue Family didn’t have a Golden Core expert, there wasn’t much to worry about, hence he didn’t offer more explanations.

Huang Fu Flawless could clearly sense that Feng Jun had some idea in mind, but she didn’t ask further; she simply made a mental note–was the Xue Family recently connecting with the Qi Family?

The day after the housewarming celebration, Ji PingAn came to visit Feng Jun with his comrades.

The “Love-Struck Dream” from the day before had left a profound impression on everyone. Concerned about drinking too much, Feng Jun only allowed them three ounces each, and substituted with Spiritual Wine for the rest of the time.

Drinking too much of this wine really had serious consequences–minor mishaps could ruin one’s cultivation foundation, while the major ones could be lethal.

Of course, they were too embarrassed to say that they had just come for the drink, so they casually helped Feng Jun with some chores before inquiring whether there were any business opportunities at Mount Zhige.

However, their capabilities were clearly not limited to these tasks. Zhou Linghai, for example, suggested, “I know a couple of brothers in society. If that kid Zhu Yifei wants to mess with you, how about we get him first?”

An Innate Expert really fighting would be much stronger than ordinary cultivators at the initial or intermediate levels of Qi Refining, but when it comes to shady tricks, a cultivator doesn’t fear an Innate Expert–Zhou Linghai was not bragging.

Feng Jun thought over it and decided to let it go. He now considered Ji PingAn and his comrades as partners. If they took action on his behalf, in the end, it would still be his responsibility, and he might even have to bear certain responsibilities as a result.

The most crucial point was that the Xue Family had an Out-of-Dust expert. If such a person took action, Ji PingAn and the others truly wouldn’t stand a chance, so why drag them into trouble?

Therefore, Feng Jun responded, “I’ll give you two hundred Spirit Stones for information on all members of the Xue Family, including Zhu Yifei, and for ongoing surveillance. Report to me urgently if anything significant happens. Do you think that’s feasible?”

“Then it’s settled,” Zhou Linghai said with excitement. Being a local from generations back, his family’s situation wasn’t great, but he had many mouths to feed. He had many social contacts, and gathering intelligence was a piece of cake for him.

In fact, often it didn’t even require the involvement of adults; some children could accomplish the surveillance tasks.

Today another Mid-stage Qi Refining practitioner arrived, though he was blind in one eye. His name was Liang Yisi, who hadn’t attended Feng Jun’s housewarming due to being out on business yesterday and came to make up for it today.

Of course, that was his stated reason. The truth was he hadn’t thought that Ji PingAn could find a good opportunity for them until he heard other comrades discussing the promising future of Mount Zhige. Only then did he come to meet Feng Jun.

While he was there… he might as well sample the legendary Love-Struck Dream.

He was rather defiant–a common trait among soldiers. With actual capabilities, they respected no one.

However, since he had decided to get involved, he wouldn’t just stand by idly. “Xiao Hai, the people you can call on are limited in strength. The Xue Family has an Out-of-Dust expert. Don’t worry about the Fang Market and such places; I’ll handle them.”

Seeing them dispute, Ji PingAn hurriedly explained to Feng Jun, “Lao Liang used to work in the Fang Market and has some friends. He and Xiao Zhou are good at different things…”

It turned out that Liang Yisi had previously been management, and had gotten along fairly well. After his patron died and he was framed, he ended up in the garrison, but his connections remained extensive nonetheless.

After understanding this, Feng Jun’s expression turned a bit odd. With masses of people from the lower strata, middle-layer connections, and an understanding of various dark aspects of society, wouldn’t he become another entity like the Four Sea Hall with his own strength and modest wealth?

Thus, the emergence of such “dynamic social groups” was often inevitable.

But he didn’t plan to develop in that direction, so he simply smiled, “If Liang Daoyou is willing to help, that’s wonderful. I’ll also give you two hundred Spirit Stones. Your expertise is different from Xiao Hai’s. Remember to cooperate with each other.”

“The two hundred Spirit Stones are just for gathering intelligence,” Liang Yisi said, not meekly deferring to Feng Jun despite him being a high-tier Qi Refinement practitioner. He spoke seriously, “If action must be taken, the related expenses… Daoyou Feng will handle them too, right?”

Feng Jun acutely noticed that he referred to the other as “Liang Daoyou” and he was also addressed as Daoyou. Unlike the casual monikers like Lao Ji or Xiao Hai used by others, this signified that Liang Yisi wanted to keep a certain distance between them.

It was good to maintain distance, to hope for more work and more pay, and even better to clarify terms in advance.

Feng Jun nodded with a smile, “Indeed, problems solvable with Spirit Stones aren’t really problems. I want to stress one point: your capabilities aren’t strong enough to start trouble on your own… However, if you have to retaliate, that’s another matter.”

Upon hearing this, they exchanged glances, but it was Liang Yisi who eventually spoke up, playing the bad guy, “Daoyou Feng, we hope to understand… If someone from the Out-of-Dust realm comes asking questions with force, can you withstand it?”

Feng Jun pondered for a moment before answering, “I don’t want you to give the Out-of-Dust experts a reason to resort to force. But…”

He drew out his tone slowly before continuing, “As long as they can’t question me openly, I’m not concerned about dealing with Out-of-Dust experts in private.”

Liang Yisi was startled at first, then a spark flickered in his one good eye, and he nodded emphatically, “Got it, understood…”

Then they huddled to one side and began discussing in low voices.

In fact, despite their years of guarding the city walls, how many among those who have reached the Qi Refinement Realm have inadequate intelligence?

Liang Yisi’s stance was quite clear, “You all should understand, the backing behind this guy can withstand someone at the Dust-Free level, so there’s no need to think too much. We just do our business in the Fang Market while trading with Mount Zhige on the side… Just don’t get cocky like the Four Sea Hall.”

Feng Jun had not anticipated that this bunch was already planning on mingling in the gray areas–there was no helping it, for they knew nothing other than fighting and were unloved by relatives, so skimming extra off the top was necessary for survival.

The only reason they hadn’t acted yet was simply that they were short of two people… no, it was the lack of a ringleader.

Now, being able to borrow Feng Jun’s “tiger skin” was not a bad deal.

Zhou Linghai hesitated before voicing his concern, “But Brother Liang, Old Feng already said that he didn’t want us provoking anyone at the Dust-Free level… Are we perhaps still lacking in strength?”

“You idiot,” Liang Yisi glared at him fiercely, directly swearing, “If he’s not afraid to provoke them in secret… that means he has the strength to tackle those at the Dust-Free level behind closed doors, got it?”

With such a plain explanation, it would be strange if others still didn’t understand.

Excited, Zhou Linghai agreed and then turned away, with Liang Yisi following shortly after.

The other two at the Initial Stage of Qi Refining didn’t have their methods and could only look eagerly towards Ji PingAn–they truly were only skilled at fighting.

Ji PingAn was in no hurry, merely smiling and saying, “Everyone has their strengths. Remember, we are comrades in arms, and no comrade is superfluous, even if all they can do is activate talismans…”

Thanks to the Spirit Stones from Feng Jun, Zhou Linghai and Liang Yisi were indeed like fish in water when gathering information in the Fang Market. Being locals, they had many advantages: familiar faces, knowledge of the terrain, and awareness of outdated and trivial gossip…

The only things limiting their development were Spirit Stones… and perhaps high-end combat strength, which they now possessed.

What was especially rare about this group was their inherent wildness, or you could say ambition, so they didn’t enrich themselves excessively but spent an appropriate amount of Spirit Stones–this was just the beginning of their cooperation with Feng Jun.

As long as they could maintain such a relationship with Feng Jun, would they ever need to worry about lacking Spirit Stones?

So, in just three days, they had roughly figured out the situations with the Qi and the Xue families.

Sword Forging Peak had longstanding shop branches in the Qiuchen Immortal Workshop, and not just one–the weapons and armor on the market, sixty percent came from them. Sword Forging Peak’s seven great clans had set up over a dozen spots here.

In the Fang Market, these seven great clans had a loose alliance, and Qi Wusheng, being at the Dust-Free level, was someone whose words carried weight within it.

In short, Sword Forging Peak’s operations in the Qiuchen Immortal Workshop had been going on for too long, with deep roots, making it hard to find out everything. But the Xue Family had only been developing for a few years, so most of their situation could be easily discerned.

In the Fang Market now, the Xue Family only had an initial-stage Dust-Free level, Xue Hongfei, who just happened to leave the Fang Market at the time of the wild beast invasion, whether by coincidence or intentionally.

Xue Hongsheng, who had gone to collect merit points before, was the number two figure of the Xue Family here. Relying on having someone at the Dust-Free level behind him, and accompanying Qi Wusheng who was also at that level, he was able to forcefully buy merit points at low prices.

In fact, Ji PingAn and his comrades were very well aware of why the man had such an almost arrogant attitude in collecting merit points–the majority of cultivators who fought the wild beasts had little to no backing.

Precisely because of this, Ji PingAn back then was rather irritable and directly refused the other party’s demand.

Xue Hongsheng’s logic was in line with his own thinking, but Zhou Linghai and Liang Yisi were so angry that they were gnashing their teeth.

Zhou Linghai even thought of taking out Zhu Yifei directly, which led him to seek out Liang Yisi, looking to get some “Fade Powder.”

Liang Yisi directly rejected his request and explicitly told him, “I’m not worried that you can’t handle Zhu Yifei, but by doing this, you are going against Feng DaoYou’s wishes… This is called messing things up!”

Zhou Linghai felt somewhat unconvinced, “The Xue Family treats our comrades like this, and Zhu Yifei even cheers them on; it’s just too much… They have offended many others. Who would think it’s definitely us who did it? Definitely Feng Jun who did it?”

Liang Yisi looked at him impatiently, “Did a wild beast hit your head? Regardless of who did it, if Zhu Yifei is killed, the Xue Family will definitely be on guard. This is called ‘startling the snake by hitting the grass,’ and it might very well mess up Feng DaoYou’s plans.”

Upon reflection, Zhou Linghai asked in surprise, “Do you mean that Feng Jun might even plan to take out their Dust-Free level power?”

“How would I know?” A sharp gleam flashed in Liang Yisi’s one eye, “Just focus on doing our own thing… I can clean up after you, but I absolutely won’t support you courting death!”

After a pause, he sighed, “Really looking forward to seeing what he can do…”