“Hmph, who else could it be?”

Fang Hu snorted coldly, crossing his arms as he stared at Qin Lu with a frosty gaze.

“Ten days are up. No need for talk. Pay up.”

“Fine.”

Naturally, Qin Lu hadn’t forgotten. He gave a slight nod, retrieved Spirit Stones from his robe, counted them, and handed them to Fang Hu.

Taking the stones, Fang Hu counted them, then his face darkened, his eyes widening.

“What is this supposed to mean?!”

Qin Lu looked genuinely puzzled.

“What do you mean, ‘what does it mean’? Isn’t this me repaying your Spirit Stones?”

“Have you forgotten what I, your father, said that day? You owe me twenty Spirit Stones now! Not fifteen! Don’t play dumb with me!”

“Uh… Brother Hu, you can’t run a loan shark business like this. You said it was written clearly in black and white. Back then, you lent me twenty Spirit Stones, and I agreed to repay thirty-five after a month. I acknowledge that. So, I already repaid you twenty recently. Now, returning fifteen more should clear the debt, right?”

“Besides, you broke my door. That cost me five Spirit Stones to fix…”

Fang Hu took a step closer, his eyes viciously fixed on Qin Lu, and growled in a low voice,

“Then how do you account for me waiting these ten days?”

Sensing the killing intent emanating from Fang Hu, Qin Lu’s heart began to race. His right hand twitched slightly, but his face betrayed nothing as he replied softly,

“That wasn’t written in the contract, so it naturally doesn’t count.”

“Bullshit!”

Fang Hu roared in anger, swinging his right fist fiercely towards Qin Lu.

In that instant, Qin Lu’s scalp prickled with fear, but he was mentally prepared. He squeezed the talisman hidden in his palm with force.

“Whoosh—!”

Spiritual energy flared brilliantly on the talisman paper, and an invisible force immediately enveloped Qin Lu, forming a pale blue, circular shield.

[Water Qi Shield]!

“Bang!”

Fang Hu’s fist slammed hard into the [Water Qi Shield], causing ripples to spread across its watery surface. The impact sent Qin Lu stumbling back two steps.

However, thanks to the shield’s protection, Fang Hu’s fist never actually struck Qin Lu’s body, leaving him unharmed.

Seeing Qin Lu use a talisman to counter, Fang Hu laughed in angry disbelief.

“You’ve got some nerve, kid! Grown a backbone in just a few days, huh? What’s your cultivation level, daring to clash with me head-on?”

With that, he immediately drew the large blade from his waist. The blade gleamed with a cold light.

Seeing the sharp blade, Qin Lu’s adrenaline spiked again instantly. His breathing quickened involuntarily, but he forced himself to appear calm.

“I don’t want to fight. I just want to reason this out…”

“Hmph! Let’s see what reasoning you have left when I, your father, have this blade at your neck! Die!”

Fang Hu bellowed wildly, charging at Qin Lu with large strides, his blade raised high overhead.

Fang Hu was supremely confident. As a Qi Refinement fourth-layer cultivator, subduing this measly Qi Refinement second-layer rookie before him wouldn’t require much effort at all!

But the next moment, he abruptly halted his charge, his face registering shock. He then swung his blade down fiercely!

“Shhht!”

A fireball the size of a soccer ball was cleaved in two by the blade, falling to the ground on either side and blasting two deep pits, flames still licking at the edges.

The tremendous force from the fireball sent Fang Hu staggering back several steps.

He looked down at his trembling sword arm, his face a mask of utter disbelief as he exclaimed in astonishment,

“How do you know the [Fireball Technique]?!”

The [Fireball Technique] was a common offensive spell among Qi Refinement cultivators, but due to its high spiritual energy requirement, it typically required reaching the later stages of Qi Refinement to learn.

Fang Hu couldn’t comprehend how Qin Lu, at Qi Refinement second-layer, could cast the [Fireball Technique]!

Qin Lu’s heart was pounding with tension. He had no intention of answering. Seeing the [Ignition Technique] was effective, he hurriedly launched another attack, hurling it at Fang Hu with extreme speed!

“Whoosh—!”

Seeing the fireball reappear, Fang Hu was shocked, but his years of combat experience made him immediately pull out a defensive talisman and activate it, shielding himself.

The fireball Qin Lu released was incredibly fast. Fang Hu had just activated the talisman shield when the fireball reached him.

“Bang!”

The fireball smashed directly into the transparent shield.

Before Fang Hu could react, he heard a cracking sound from the small shield in front of him.

This discovery filled his face with terror, and he frantically leaped backward.

“Boom!”

The shield exploded!

This defensive talisman simply couldn’t withstand the fireball’s attack!

The burning fireball, trailing residual flames, struck Fang Hu directly. The massive impact forced a mouthful of blood from his lips.

But his reaction was also swift. While slapping at the flames on his body, he turned and fled.

He ran away in a panic without the slightest hesitation.

“Huff! Huff!”

Qin Lu was now breathing heavily, his heart still pounding violently. He glanced at Fang Hu’s panicked, retreating figure, then hurried forward to close the door.

Leaning against the door, his legs gave way, and he slid down to sit on the floor, muttering to himself,

“Damn, how did we start fighting all of a sudden…”

He sat for a good while before managing to suppress the panic in his heart somewhat. Getting up, he slowly walked back to the redwood table.

“That was close. Good thing I reacted fast, or I would’ve been chopped…”

“I never expected the [Ignition Technique] to be so powerful. Though, he seems to have mistaken it for the [Fireball Technique]…”

“Sigh, still too reckless. Why do I lose control as soon as Spirit Stones are mentioned? Should have planned before acting…”

During today’s negotiation, hearing Fang Hu try to extort five extra Spirit Stones from him, Qin Lu couldn’t bear it and spoke up in defiance.

He never expected a fight to break out in the blink of an eye.

This was something Qin Lu hadn’t anticipated.

“He won’t come back for revenge, will he? I really can’t stay in this damn place much longer…”

Qin Lu looked nervous. His memories of Fang Hu weren’t clear. He only knew Fang Hu was at Qi Refinement fourth-layer and often hung around gambling dens, but he had no idea if Fang Hu had any backing or organization.

Faced with such an unknown opponent, Qin Lu felt only worry.

Although the fight had lasted only a moment, he was now filled with lingering fear.

That was real steel. A slight misstep, and he could have ended up like Chen Wen, with a hand chopped off.

Or worse, dead on the spot.

Sitting at the table, Qin Lu’s mind wandered chaotically, thoughts flashing through his head.

By the time he snapped out of it, it was already one in the afternoon.

“Better go set up the stall first…”

Qin Lu sighed, stood up, and picked up the three [Water Qi Shield] talismans he had prepared.

After a quick tidy-up of his stall supplies, he opened the door and stepped out.

Standing at the doorway, he cautiously glanced around. Seeing no one paying attention, he turned, locked the door, and walked briskly towards the market.

……

The market in the Scatter Cultivator Market was still bustling and lively, filled with the clamor of voices.

Mingling with the crowd, Qin Lu quickly found a secluded spot for his stall and skillfully laid out his various wares.

Preoccupied with worries, Qin Lu hadn’t managed to draw a fourth talisman. Today, he only had three [Water Qi Shield] talismans to sell.

There was no need for loud hawking. The [Water Qi Shield], with its defensive function, was an essential talisman for many early to mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators, especially those who frequently hunted demon beasts in the East Head Ridge.

“Pfft!”

While waiting for customers, Qin Lu kept his hands behind his back, carefully casting the [Finger Flick Technique] at the stone slab behind him for covert practice.

This was the slab used by the Wuji Sect to construct the market. Made of an unknown material, it was extremely hard.

The [Finger Flick Technique], which could normally blast deep pits in the ground, now only left a faint white mark on this slab.

It was perfect for secretly practicing the [Finger Flick Technique].

“Pfft!”

“Pfft!”

“BOOM—!”

A sudden, loud explosion startled Qin Lu, and he quickly retracted his finger.

The noise caught the attention of cultivators at neighboring stalls, who all turned to look.

Qin Lu’s face assumed an expression of nonchalance. He calmly gazed at the crowd ahead, pretending the commotion had nothing to do with him.

The others gave him a couple of suspicious glances but, finding nothing amiss, turned their attention away.

When no one was looking, Qin Lu stealthily glanced back.

The stone slab behind him now bore a fist-sized crater, surrounded by jagged cracks, with shards of shattered rock scattered everywhere.

This made Qin Lu click his tongue in amazement.

“This is the ‘Mastery’ level [Finger Flick Technique]… its power is actually this immense…”