Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 74 - The Li’er Country (2)

“Yeah,” the vendor chuckled. “Cultivators from the sects all love to try their luck. Winning is considered auspicious, and it adds to their joy when they enter the secret realm. You esteemed cultivators seem like lucky individuals. If you play a few rounds, you’re sure to achieve victory.”

Zanxing thought to herself that he had guessed wrong. Luck was something she had never been associated with.

Tian Fangfang whispered, “Forget it, Junior Sister. We don’t have any spirit stones.”

Mu Cengxiao added, “I’m not interested.”

The three disciples of Miaokong Hall were not enthusiastic about gambling. They were about to leave when suddenly, Mimi let out a loud “meow” and jumped onto Zanxing’s shoulder, causing her shoulder to sink. Then, with a loud crash, a figure flew out of the gambling house and crashed heavily into the vendor’s stall, causing the syrup on the table to spill everywhere. The person lay half-buried in the barrel, struggling to get up.

“What’s going on?” Tian Fangfang exclaimed.

Amidst the vendor’s scolding, the person in the barrel struggled to climb out. It was a pale-faced young man wearing a light blue wide-sleeved robe, with bruises on his lips. As he crawled out of the barrel, he didn’t even glance at the stains on his clothes. Without looking back, he ran into the gambling house.

“Wanna take a look?” Tian Fangfang asked.

Zanxing nodded.

The three of them entered the Qiang Qiang Gambling House together. Before they could step inside, they heard the noisy sounds coming from within, occasionally mixed with men’s shouts of anger. Tian Fangfang pushed aside the people in front, creating a gap for Zanxing and Mu Cengxiao to see. As they approached, they saw that in the center of the gambling house, there was a long copper table filled with spiritual stones, jewels, and some pills and magical tools, presumably used as chips. An overturned bowl containing dice lay on the table, and a few dice were scattered on the floor.

Surrounding the table were two men entangled in a brawl, or more accurately, one-sided violence. The man standing wore a black robe typical of cultivators and had a fierce and sinister appearance. He was mercilessly beating the man on the ground, who was unable to dodge and was coughing up blood, appearing to struggle to breathe.

Within the Taiyan Sect, fighting was strictly prohibited, and they had never seen such a violent scene before. Tian Fangfang quietly asked the person beside him, “Brother, what’s going on?”

“Hey, that person came to gamble but didn’t bring enough spirit stones. He couldn’t pay up, so it turned into a fight,” the person replied.

“But you can’t just beat someone to death,” Tian Fangfang couldn’t bear to watch. “Why isn’t anyone stopping this?”

“It’s not that we don’t want to intervene,” another spectator whispered. “It’s just that we can’t afford to offend him.”

As they were speaking, the young man who had crawled out of the barrel earlier called out “Senior Brother” and stood in front of the man on the ground, pleading, “Young Master Tan, please stop. Spare my senior brother!”

“Get out of the way!” the man called “Young Master Tan” kicked the young man aside, then picked up the copper bowl from the table and smashed it towards the man’s head on the ground. This blow would surely split his skull open.

As the copper bowl was about to hit the man’s head, a golden axe suddenly appeared in the air, almost blinding everyone. With a swift swing, the axe effortlessly split the copper bowl in half, dropping it to the ground.

The young man paused, and the noisy crowd gradually fell silent.

“Young Master Tan” slowly turned his gaze towards Tian Fangfang.

Tian Fangfang stood in front of the man on the ground and spoke calmly, “Brother, spirit stones are just material possessions. There’s no need to resort to violence for any reason. We can always resolve things peacefully…”

“Where did this stray dog come from?” Without letting him finish, Young Master Tan interrupted, his tone extremely arrogant. “Do you think you have any right to speak in front of me?”

Zanxing felt a pang of unease. The way this person spoke seemed to carry a strong sense of cannon fodder.

“Step aside,” Young Master Tan demanded.

Tian Fangfang stood firm, continuing to advise in a friendly tone, “Young Master, even if he owes you spirit stones, you can always write an IOU. There’s no need for extreme measures.”

“You’re helping him so much,” Young Master Tan stared at him with a dark gaze, his tone soft. “Looks like you want to die with him.” With that, a flash of light appeared in his hand, and a gleaming long sword materialized.

“Oh, this kid really doesn’t know his place,” a young man in a royal blue robe beside him chuckled, fanning himself with delight. “He actually offended someone from the Chihua Sect. He’s in for a tough time now.”

“The Chihua Sect?” Zanxing was taken aback.

The young man chuckled, “Yes, Tan Tianxin from the Chihua Sect is not known for his patience.”

Zanxing fell silent. Before coming here, Xuan Lingzi had mentioned that among the various sects in the cultivation world, the Taiyan Sect didn’t have particularly good relations. The Chihua Sect could be considered their archenemy. The former head of the Chihua Sect was once on par with the renowned Sage Yushan, both close to reaching the Nascent Soul stage and crossing the tribulation. While Sage Yushan successfully ascended, leaving behind a legendary legacy, the head of the Chihua Sect failed in the tribulation and perished.

Despite being equally talented cultivators, their fates diverged drastically. The cultivation world was abuzz with discussions. The morale of the Chihua Sect suffered greatly, especially after the war between humans and demons twenty years ago. The Taiyan Sect was weakened in that battle, allowing the Chihua Sect to grow. In just twenty years, they had caught up to the Taiyan Sect in terms of fame and resources. Even the newly recruited talents were more abundant in the Chihua Sect than in the Taiyan Sect.

Xuan Lingzi had repeatedly advised against getting into conflicts with the Chihua Sect’s members. However, fate had its own plans, and they encountered one as soon as they arrived in Li’er Country.

Tian Fangfang showed no fear of the long sword in the opponent’s hand, holding onto his axe with a smile. “Is this young master looking to spar with me?”

“Spar?” Tan Tianxin sneered. “It seems you still don’t know who you’ve offended.” With that, he aimed the tip of his sword straight at Tian Fangfang.

Tian Fangfang met the attack head-on with his axe.

Several senior martial brothers in the sect had previously mentioned that although Tian Fangfang appeared to be greedy and careless, he was actually quite meticulous and thoughtful. Moreover, he possessed immense strength that made him virtually impervious to harm by ordinary people. So when Tian Fangfang began to fight with Tan Tianxin, Zanxing wasn’t initially worried, thinking that Tian Fangfang was likely just testing his opponent.

However, the Chihua Sect’s rising reputation in the cultivation world over the years was undoubtedly backed by some real talent. Tan Tianxin’s swordsmanship was leagues above Hua Yue’s. He was also extremely arrogant, relying solely on his cultivation to suppress Tian Fangfang, making it difficult for him to approach with his Qianyang axe.

Zanxing was astonished. “How is he so formidable?”

“Tan Tianxin is already at the late stage of Core Formation, while this rough-looking fellow seems to have just formed his core. Naturally, he’s no match for Tan Tianxin,” the blue-robed young man remarked, fanning himself. “It’s a pity. In Tan Tianxin’s hands, this person won’t come out unscathed.”

Zanxing felt worried, gripping the floral staff at her waist, about to step forward to help. However, she noticed a figure flash by on the other side. With a crisp sound, Tan Tianxin’s sword, aimed at Tian Fangfang, was intercepted mid-air by an iron sword.