Li Yunxian’s words were arrogant, but there was no one working on this commercial street who didn’t know her.
When someone you dislike acts arrogantly, it’s irritating; but when someone you like is arrogant, it’s endearing.
There was no doubt—Li Yunxian was the latter.
Not to mention, Li Yunxian had every reason to be arrogant.
—Who didn’t know that their Little Li Teacher was rich!
It all counted toward their sales! Toward their commission!
The shop assistants’ eyes curved in smiles, moving especially swiftly to bring Li Yunxian whatever she asked for, and never trying to palm off inferior goods—everything was genuinely high quality.
With Li Yunxian’s sharp eyes, she couldn’t be fooled anyway. In every shop, she just glanced over the items presented and easily picked out the most suitable ones.
Here, “most suitable” didn’t mean what was best for Li Yunxian herself, but rather for the companions who had come along with her.
Observing people’s behavior, judging their strengths and weaknesses, figuring out the lowest-cost way to deal with them—these were basic skills for any sword cultivator!
Add a defensive talisman for this one, boost the speed for that one, increase magic resistance for another…
And when she saw some pretty accessories, Li Yunxian would even buy a couple just because they looked nice.
In times like these, when these companions were working hard to protect her, Li Yunxian was never stingy with them.
So while she spent freely, buying this and that, surrounded by shop assistants and a crowd of onlookers, the schemers who had arranged people to approach her found they couldn’t even squeeze through to get close:
What kind of feeling is it when your plan fails before it’s even begun?
But giving up just because of this wasn’t their style.
Some people had patience—so long as Li Yunxian showed up, sooner or later there’d be an opportunity. It was just a matter of time.
They decided to keep watching for a couple more days.
Others, however, felt that if they didn’t act soon, Li Yunxian would be snatched away by someone else and locked up to have all her Transmissions forced out of her—by then, it’d be too late.
So these people analyzed Li Yunxian’s movements, and simply stationed their people in shops she was likely to visit, reserving in advance the items they thought she’d want.
All they needed was to strike up a conversation and build a connection.
Everything was planned out. But when Li Yunxian heard, “Oh, someone’s already reserved this item,” she just shrugged.
She let it go without hesitation, not giving them any chance for further conversation.
Even when they claimed the item was unique, had special functions, and there wasn’t a second like it in all of Qingxing, it was pointless.
Li Yunxian would nod and smile brightly at her companion who needed it: “Is that so? Let’s find somewhere later—I’ll make one for you. Sounds like it’s not that hard!”
Just like that.
Everyone who remembered that Li Yunxian wasn’t just wealthy, but also highly skilled, thought:
This person is really completely impervious to both bribes and threats!!
Li Yunxian was waiting for those who wanted to target her to reveal themselves—she never intended to play along with them, never planned to be led by the nose.
Among those who lacked patience, some were forced to think up new strategies, while others began to get angry out of embarrassment.
So you won’t drink the toast? Then you’ll have to drink the forfeit!
To cut off someone’s money is like killing their parents—there were plenty who simply wanted Li Yunxian dead.
But those people were held back by the ones who wanted to gain from her.
Yet now…
Some decided it was time for Li Yunxian to taste real danger.
They wanted her to realize how truly alone and vulnerable she was, to learn what it meant that “a thief has a thousand days, but the defender only one.”
With silent approval from those in the shadows, a Golden Core stage cultivator—one with a highly unique cultivation method—slipped quietly onto the commercial street.
His gaze locked firmly onto where Li Yunxian stood.
Many hidden figures watched with leisure.
They wanted to see—could Li Yunxian, surrounded and protected as she was, with only a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, survive this?
Or rather, she was sure to survive—but would she survive through her own strength, or end up owing her life to her protectors?
Li Yunxian just raised an eyebrow slightly.
She could keenly sense that killing intent aimed straight at her.
Golden Core?
Li Yunxian quickly identified who wanted to make a move against her.
And only one?
Li Yunxian couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Had she not acted enough in , so that these starfolk really just saw her as “scholarly, weak as a chicken, only good for research, concocting recipes, and drawing talismans”?
Li Yunxian’s fingers twitched, but before she could make a move, she restrained herself.
She remembered she still had a bunch of companions guarding her.
Letting those who wanted to harm her keep this impression wasn’t a bad thing.
Li Yunxian picked up the item recommended by the shop assistant, chatting while using Voice Transmission with the companions around her.
“The Golden Core perfection body cultivator outside in the blue clothes is about to make a move. Looks like a body-refinement specialist.”
“When we go out later, leave an opening and lure him to strike.”
Li Yunxian’s calm, casual voice echoed in Duan Qiu and her group’s ears, making them all freeze in shock.
Who’s voice was that? Why did it sound so familiar?
It sounded exactly like the voice at their ears—wasn’t that the one chatting with the shop assistant right now?
Li—Li Yunxian?
These professionally trained communicators didn’t show any expression, but each of them was distracted for a moment, doubting if they’d heard wrong.
But based on the content of the message, it couldn’t be mistaken.
Everyone here had decent cultivation and plenty of combat experience—their danger sense was sharp.
Though they hadn’t identified the enemy immediately, they could all feel the tension in the air—the intent to attack.
How did Li Yunxian manage such flawless Voice Transmission?
Hadn’t she just graduated recently, just awakened her divine sense, and now could control it with such precision??
While everyone was caught up in their astonishment, the attacker sensed an opening.
A gap!
The body cultivator clenched his fists and slammed them into the ground, as if he meant to smash the entire street.
Yet when he landed, only a few narrow cracks split the pavement.
So much thunder, so little rain—everyone around was caught off guard.
—After all, there were just too many eccentric types in this world.
But very quickly, everyone realized this wasn’t some kind of performance art.
Relentless waves of shock, defensive energies resonating together, but still, overwhelming force pushed through, continuing its assault through all defenses.
Although he was a body cultivator, he didn’t follow the typical path of brute force, shattering all with strength and indomitability.
Those grand movements were only a feint; his true attack was silent and invisible.
It was the resonance of his body with his vital energy.
This wasn’t a spell—any defense against magic was useless.
Nor was it like a martial cultivator’s assault.
Everyone in the way was ruthlessly flung aside by this energy. Li Yunxian’s protectors couldn’t react in time with effective defense, and the force broke through.
The body cultivator grinned savagely at the now-clear path before him, at Li Yunxian’s face, which seemed unaware of the imminent danger.
Ding-ling—
A clear ringing suddenly echoed in the body cultivator’s ears.
His all-out attack seemed to slam into an invisible barrier.
Duan Qiu’s eyes filled with anger.
Anger at her own delayed reaction.
She’d actually lost face in front of this junior, Li Yunxian!!!
And lost it badly!
She, a sound cultivator—an ancestor of genuine resonance—only reacted when the enemy’s attack was about to strike.
Utterly disgraceful!!
That bell tone blocked the vital energy. Duan Qiu prepared to ring a second chime.
But before her bell could sound again, a wave of voices crashed down—not her bell, but the noise of the crowd.
At first, no one—neither on Li Yunxian’s side nor among the schemers—paid attention to the commotion.
When an attack breaks out, it’s normal for the weaker crowd to scream and try to flee.
But this time was different.
None of the onlookers—at best at Foundation Establishment, mostly at Qi Refining—fled.
They didn’t run from a foe whose power was obvious even by feel alone.
Because they all understood what had happened.
Someone had dared to strike at Li Yunxian!
After a brief moment of shock, what poured out of their throats was not fear, but curses and furious shouts.
—You damn dog, how dare you attack the Boss!!
—Do you even know where you are?!
—Death to all aliens!!
First came the flash of an illumination talisman right above the body cultivator’s head.
Then, following that light, a rain of minor attacks.
Maybe it was a low-grade Thunder Talisman, maybe a clumsy sword move, or just a stone infused with spiritual energy.
But there were a lot of them.
Continuous, relentless—almost endless.
The second bell never had a chance to sound. Duan Qiu stared, stunned, as everything changed in an instant.
She saw the ordinary Qi Refining passersby she’d never paid attention to pop a pill in their mouths, faces cold.
The next moment, despite having supposedly spent all their spiritual power, they each launched another attack on the body cultivator.
The killing intent felt like a crimson tide.
There were only a thousand or so people in the commercial street, yet suddenly it was as if tens of thousands were attacking.
Within Duan Qiu’s divine sense, the pavement where that nameless body cultivator had struck was reduced to powder, leaving a deep pit.
As for the body cultivator himself…
Duan Qiu felt the resistance to her bell’s sound vanish entirely.
She sensed that the body cultivator’s body, which by all rights should have been unbreakable at Golden Core, was now pierced by their attacks.
Then a second wound…
The body cultivator tried to counterattack, tried to escape.
But it was pointless.
Duan Qiu sensed arrays flashing to life, locking him in place.
The body cultivator shattered one after another, but two fists couldn’t win against a thousand hands.
He was just one, but here, those who could toss out array disks and talismans numbered in the thousands.
Within minutes, the body cultivator lay dead in a pool of his own blood.
Ants biting an elephant to death.
That phrase suddenly popped into Duan Qiu’s mind.
It was the first time she realized such a saying could apply to low-level cultivators taking down a Golden Core.
Duan Qiu couldn’t help but wonder—could she have survived such an onslaught herself?
Probably… not.
Quantity had become a quality all its own.
Duan Qiu felt a chill in her heart.
But it wasn’t over yet.
The news that Li Yunxian had been attacked quickly spread from the heart of the street outward.
Even though the body cultivator was already dead, it didn’t matter. Those who missed the chance to land a blow while he lived were more than willing to add another cut to his corpse.
In the end, only a puddle of blood was left in that deep pit.
Duan Qiu and the others fancied themselves well-traveled, but none had ever seen anything like this.
It was a long while before Duan Qiu, dazed, put away her golden bell.
“Is this… really okay?” Duan Qiu asked, her voice a bit lost.
This kind of scene was almost a riot.
Li Yunxian, for once, didn’t know how to answer.
By her reckoning, the other side had attacked with intent to kill right in broad daylight, and if he died, so be it—it wasn’t a big deal.
But to die in this way…
Li Yunxian just couldn’t bring herself to say “it’s fine.”
But where Li Yunxian hesitated, the locals of Qingxing had no trouble speaking up.
The shop assistant at Li Yunxian’s side, face still furious, spoke sharply as ever.
“No problem, what could possibly be wrong?”
“A pipe burst under the road, a few people got hurt—perfectly normal, someone’ll be by to fix it soon.”
“What problem could there be?”
What dead body cultivator?
Where did a body cultivator come from?
Qingxing has never had any body cultivators! Not even a corpse! On what grounds would anyone say a body cultivator died?
Qingxing has already settled everything—now, only spirit beasts die here! Only the foreign races!