Fangxian Heretical Path

Chapter 37 Discarding Like Worn-Out Shoes: The Dojo Merchants (5.6 words)
The Lonely Gu Pavilion was completely quiet.

The scene of Fang Shu sitting alone in the scorpion pit, meditating in a seated position, was like a painting in everyone's eyes.

Senior Sister Yu'er and the others stared at this scene, momentarily mesmerized.

Those disciples of the martial arts school who had mocked Fang Shu were even more shaken, finding the scene before them unbelievable. Yet, the sight of snakes and insects scurrying away in the scorpion pit felt undeniably real.

This blatant proof demonstrates that Fang Shu not only successfully transcended the tribulation and mastered the essence refinement technique, but also that the precious blood he refined this time was by no means ordinary!
Xiang Xingwu of Qixianglou watched with even greater excitement, her eyes sparkling like stars. She was especially delighted when she thought about Fang Shu's age and the length of his cultivation.

"Such a heroic young man, I must take him in!" Xiang Xingwu thought happily to herself.

After a long while, some people in the scene finally realized what was happening and began to whisper among themselves.

Senior Sister Yu'er also came to her senses. She took a breath, walked to the side of the Pavilion Master, and whispered:
"Immune to all insects! Grandma, the only time that the eldest brother was able to successfully complete the 'scorpion pit' ritual was ten years ago."

Upon hearing this, the owner of the private club's expression subtly shifted.

But she shook her head and said, "Not only that, there was also the time twenty years ago, when your father did it. All in all, including this Fang Shu, there are only three people in our establishment who have been able to accomplish this using the Scorpion Pit."

"Father..." Senior Sister Yu'er murmured.

The owner of the villa looked sighing and said:

"It's not easy. To survive the tribulation in the scorpion pit, one must first master the insect technique, then have an excellent temperament, not be afraid of snakes and insects, and also have some understanding of the scorpion pit for raising gu. In addition, one also needs a bit of luck and talent, and then proceed with caution."

Among the disciples I have taught, many are of excellent aptitude, and many have obtained superior blood after their tribulations. The blood obtained from the successful completion of the Scorpion Pit Ritual is actually nothing special among them.

But precisely because they possessed exceptional talent, came from relatively well-off families, or had connections to support them, they disdained and refused to undergo this arduous ordeal of being afflicted by venomous creatures. Very few could actually pass this test.

As he said this, the owner of the guesthouse glanced at his granddaughter beside him.

Upon hearing this, Senior Sister Yu'er lowered her head slightly.

Then she asked in confusion, "Grandma, is the blood of those who successfully transcend tribulation good or bad? Where would they rank among the inner disciples over the years?"

The owner of the guesthouse calmly replied, "It's in the middle, neither high nor low."

These words surprised Senior Sister Yu'er: "Just mid-level?"

Those in the middle tier are far inferior to geniuses like Qin Min who possess spiritual roots, and even to the immortal disciples in the academy who have been qualified to join the sect over the years.

The owner of the private club smiled faintly and said:
"What's the point of ranking people into upper, middle, and lower classes? Those without spiritual roots are all mortals."

Those who can successfully survive the ordeal of scorpions and remain untouched by insects do not represent inherent talent or ability, but rather a potential and capability.

She paused for a moment:
"A potential to come into contact with 'witchcraft and sorcery' during the refinement stage, and the possibility of becoming a 'Gu Master' ahead of time."

Upon hearing the words "witchcraft and sorcery" and "poison master" from the innkeeper's words, Senior Sister Yu'er's eyes widened in surprise, her expression becoming complicated.

The two did not hide their conversation from those around them, but many disciples were completely confused and did not understand what they were talking about.

Only the nearby Xiang Xingwu, a young lady from the Seven Fragrance Pavilion, seemed to understand the meaning of "witchcraft and sorcery" and "Gu master".

His face was flushed, and he stared intently at Fang Shu, his eyes burning with desire.

She thought excitedly to herself, "So the scorpion basin ritual of the Dugu Pavilion has such a meaning!"

No wonder Mother was willing to risk offending the Solitary Gu Sect and ruining Shi Hou's potential, all to have me persuade Shi Hou that it's better to take risks than to play it safe, and to force him to take a gamble!

Many thoughts surged in her mind in an instant, making her feel that her trip to the Solitary Gu Pavilion was worthwhile.

Meanwhile, in the main practice hall.

Fang Shu sat cross-legged in the pit of scorpions, and it took him the time it takes to brew a cup of tea to completely refine all the toxins in his body.

The venom of the scorpion worm is not only poison, but also a kind of spiritual medicine, which can be called spiritual poison!
After being refined, it becomes a kind of spiritual energy and medicinal power, nourishing Fang Shu's entire body, penetrating deep into his bones, reaching his internal organs, and probing his meridians, helping his physical body to undergo a transformation.

This transformation will occur daily over the next seven days, completely transforming his mortal blood into precious blood!

This is a relatively long process, so there's no need to rush. After stabilizing his physical body, Fang Shu slowly opened his eyes.

As he looked at the scene inside the hall, the expressions on people's faces varied.

Fang Shu didn't look at the reactions of the crowd. He glanced down at the snakes and insects scurrying away from him and knew that his transformation this time was definitely superior to that of an ordinary inner disciple of the Taoist temple.

Even with his personality, a faint smile couldn't help but appear on his face in public.

Fang Shu did not hesitate. After stretching his muscles, he stood up.

His body was like a stone carving, exuding a wild and vigorous aura. And when his muscles twitched, the poisonous blood that clung to his body and underpants immediately slid off and evaporated like mercury.

Cleansed from head to toe, Fang Shu trudged through the poisonous blood and walked out of the pit of scorpions.

With each step he took, the snakes and insects in the basin would wriggle and quickly retreat to the sides, not daring to block his way.

Such a strange scene immediately astonished the disciples.

"Tsk tsk tsk, no wonder he has become a person of great perseverance."

One of the disciples couldn't hold back any longer and finally cried out:

"Excellent! Well done, Senior Brother Fang!"

"Fang Shu, I knew you could do it!"

Besides the shouts, there were also murmurs of longing in the hall:
"This is how immortals should be."

And there are also sour, jealous people, secretly muttering:
"What's with the fuss! So what if you successfully survived the tribulation? Why make such a big fuss?"

Ignoring the sounds around him, Fang Shu leaped out of the scorpion pit with a snap, then bowed to the master of the Du Pavilion and said:
"This disciple has not failed in his mission, and I thank my master for his guidance!"

The owner of the inn, her old face now turned towards Fang Shu, appeared much more kind and approachable, but she simply smiled faintly and said:

"Not bad, not bad."

The master and apprentice had only exchanged a few pleasantries when Xiang Xingwu suddenly squeezed in from the side.

The woman, holding the jade pendant on her wrist, blushed deeply, her eyes fixed on Fang Shu with a piercing gaze. Her voice was hesitant and hurried as she spoke:

"Fellow Daoist Fang Shu... Congratulations on your successful breakthrough and advancement to the Refining Essence realm."

This is a small token of my appreciation; please accept it with a smile, fellow Daoist.

In addition, my Seven Fragrance Pavilion is willing to provide financial assistance to you, fellow Daoist, and treat you as an honored guest. You may discuss all related benefits with me privately.

The woman's eyes practically overflowed with shyness and admiration when she uttered the word "whisper."

It's extremely difficult for a man not to be moved upon seeing her.

Upon hearing this, Fang Shu merely glanced at the other party without saying a word, instead looking at the owner of the Duguan Pavilion.

The owner of the guesthouse lost her faint smile, lowered her eyelids slightly, and said calmly:
“It’s a good thing to have someone to make offerings to you. Fang Shu, you’re not of high birth, so you might need that, but you can decide for yourself.”

Fang Shu nodded, indicating that he understood.

After bowing to the owner of the private residence, he turned to the incense-wielding dancer and spoke:
"Fellow Daoist Xiang, I have just completed my tribulation and have some miscellaneous matters to attend to. Therefore, please allow me some time to consider the matter of offering."

These words caused Xiang Xingwu's smile to freeze slightly.

Fortunately, Fang Shu's next words brought her back to life.

Fang Shu pointed to the jade in her hand and asked:

"May I ask, fellow Daoist, now that this prize belongs to me, may I dispose of it as I see fit?"

Xiang Xingwu was so delighted that she didn't notice anything amiss.

She immediately smiled and nodded, and then used a little trick, not taking the jade pendant off her wrist herself, but instead stretching out her fair wrist, indicating that Fang Shu should take it off himself.

Fang Shu did not hesitate. He nodded and stepped forward. With a swift movement, he pecked open the jade pendant cord on the other person's wrist and tore it off.

This swift movement earned him a resentful look from Xiang Xingwu, as if she was blaming him for not knowing how to cherish a beautiful woman.

But then, to her delight, Fang Shu held the precious jade above his head and examined it carefully.

His movements were visible to all the disciples in the hall.

This aroused envy and longing among many disciples, and some even whispered:
"This prize is worth at least 30,000 talismans!"

"What's a talisman? It can make you the son-in-law of the Seven Fragrance Pavilion and give you access to this beauty."

Fang Shu's boastful behavior pleased Xiang Xingwu greatly.

She was secretly pleased, and suddenly realized: "This boy is still young at heart. Although he did not immediately agree to the offerings from my Seven Fragrance Pavilion, he will surely fall into my trap if I just beckon him."

But the next moment, a voice rang out clearly in the hall.

Fang Shu then spoke: "This jade is beautiful, but it is too precious to kill."

Then, with a snap!
With a calm expression, he actually used his five fingers to forcefully break the exquisite crescent moon jade pendant into pieces in front of all the disciples of the martial arts school.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he threw all the jade pendant fragments into the scorpion pit behind him.

rustling! The sound of snakes and insects came from behind him.

The venomous blood in the basin surged, and the snakes and insects, sensing the spiritual energy, swarmed forward, tearing and grinding at the jade pendant, making the venomous blood in the basin seem to boil. These Gu insects, already exhausted and desperately thirsty, would never let such a spiritual object enter the basin.

In stark contrast to the violent commotion in the basin, the disciples in the hall were all quiet and stunned.

The most astonished person at the scene was none other than the incense dancer.

The woman's eyes widened in disbelief; she was momentarily stunned and stared blankly at Fang Shu.

All eyes were now focused on Fang Shu.

He remained unfazed: "The scorpion pits in the museum have been used up quite a bit. Since jade cannot nourish people, then let's use it to nourish insects."

Immediately afterwards, Fang Shu calmly took out his one or two spirit stones from his pocket and offered them to Senior Sister Yu'er:

"My master doesn't accept spirit stones from me, but the rules can't be broken, and I can't refuse to pay my tuition."

Please accept this one or two spirit stones, Senior Sister, as it will be used for Senior Brother Shi Hou's medicine expenses.

These words silenced the room, as many were surprised by this turn of events.

When Senior Sister Yu'er saw the spirit stone suddenly stuffed into her hand, her face showed a series of strange expressions. She was also caught off guard and subconsciously looked at the two people beside her.

Xiang Xingwu suddenly realized what was happening, and her face turned extremely ugly.

The owner of the guesthouse, however, wore a rare and obvious smile, and in a hoarse voice, she said something quite unusual:
"Naughty."

………………

After Fang Shu successfully entered the Dao, the matter of the Scorpion Basin undergoing tribulation in the Dugu Pavilion came to an end.

But the disciples lingered, talking incessantly about Fang Shu's tribulation and his act of discarding the precious jade like a dead rat.

Some people were full of praise, while others were full of regret.

Another person commented: "A mere merchant's daughter dares to cause trouble in my Dugu Pavilion. It's fortunate that there is Senior Brother Fang, otherwise it would be difficult to teach her a lesson directly."

Some people also criticized and grumbled:
"Why only save Shi Hou? Aren't there several other fellow disciples? Besides, he should have thrown the spirit stones into the pit of scorpions and used the Su Yue Bao Yu to pay for the medicine."

"That's right, that's right. He's just a peasant, yet he dares to reject Baoyu. He thinks he's so rich and doesn't he care about offending people?"

However, someone immediately retorted:
"You little bastard! You've wasted your cultivation on nothing but dog wastes! No wonder you're not a celestial being, you're hopeless."

"Hmph! Offending people? It must be that Seven Fragrance Pavilion that's afraid of my Lonely Gu Pavilion."

The disciples made a ruckus for a while.

This kind of thing will probably keep the disciples of the Dugu Pavilion talking about it for at least half a month.

Fang Shu, the person involved, accompanied the master of the Dugu Pavilion to offer incense in the hall, and then walked into the backyard of the Dugu Pavilion with the grandfather and grandson.

He ignored his disciples' idle chatter, just as he ignored the incense dance at the Seven Fragrance Pavilion.

Not only did Fang Shu ignore her, but Yu'er, who was always kind to others, also ignored the woman.

The owner of the inn simply pointed to a female disciple in the hall and asked her to help see the guest off politely.

Xiang Xingwu remained silent, somewhat unsure how she had walked out of the training hall and front yard of the Dugu Hall, ultimately standing alone at the entrance of the hall.

Clearly, someone successfully transcended their tribulation today, and their achievement was quite remarkable, indicating a promising path to immortality; clearly, she also successfully sent Baoyu away.

Both are good things, so why did this have to happen?!
If that man surnamed Fang hadn't destroyed Su Yue Bao Yu in public, she could have compromised and appeased him afterwards.

Overwhelmed with resentment, Xiang Xingwu gripped her empty wrist, her teeth practically grinding to powder.

She even harbored a secret hatred for Shi Hou.

"How hateful! If you had stood up for yourself, I would never have been humiliated like this," Xiang Xingwu said angrily.

That fellow merely failed his tribulation, but she lost the item she'd worn every day since childhood. If word got out, how could she ever find a good husband, how could she ever socialize with her friends in the market!

Xiang Xingwu turned around, firmly engraving the plaque of the Dugu Pavilion in her heart. Her eyes flickered, and she immediately turned back home.

But once she got home, the woman changed her tune completely.

All the hatred on her face vanished, leaving her pale and silent, head bowed. No matter how her siblings asked her or looked after her, she remained listless and lost.

It wasn't until their mothers returned and inquired about their situation that Xiang Xingwu, with tears streaming down her face, threw herself into her mother's arms and called out "Mother."

Despite the Seven Fragrances Pavilion Master's repeated attempts to comfort him, he frowned and hurriedly sent someone to inquire at the Solitary Gu Pavilion, only then learning what had happened there.

In an instant, the Xiang family's children were all filled with righteous indignation, wishing they could immediately storm the door and settle scores with the Dugu Pavilion:
"Mother, you must seek justice for Fifth Sister."

"Fifth Sister has been wronged. The sisters will definitely tell everyone else in the market not to choose any more disciples of the Dugu Hall for marriage, especially that poor boy surnamed Fang."

However, contrary to their expectations, when the Seven Fragrance Pavilion Master heard this, she simply lowered her eyelids and pondered, then sighed softly, without being overly moved.

This made the sisters speak in hushed tones, perhaps because they had touched on something taboo.

However, their only son, the sixth brother Xiang Xinglu, was oblivious to social cues. Holding his precious jade, filled with righteous indignation, he smashed it violently to the ground.

"Pah! What a piece of trash! He's just crippled an old disciple, yet he dares to disrespect my Seven Fragrance Pavilion."

I immediately called the brothers, and we went straight to tear down that lousy gym!

The jade fell to the ground with a crisp sound, startling the other sisters, who quickly comforted Xiang Xinglu and went to pick up the precious jade.

"Hey, why did you have to smash this jade for no reason!"

Even Xiang Xingwu, who had just been crying, was startled and quickly looked at her younger brother Baoyu, then spoke up:

"Thank goodness, thank goodness it wasn't damaged."

But the next moment, Xiang Xinglu's usual invincible act of smashing the jade did not elicit any pity from the Seven Fragrances Pavilion Master. Instead, it was met with a loud crack!
Suddenly, the owner of the Seven Fragrance Pavilion stood up, stepped forward, and slapped his youngest son hard across the face.

Her face was grim, and she spoke in a low voice:

"You fatherless brat! It seems you've really been spoiled rotten by your sisters."

"They're a dojo, how dare you compete with them? Do you really think we're only hiring people from other dojos as our patrons because we're short-staffed?"

The words of the Seven Fragrance Pavilion Master silenced all his children instantly.

Looking at her good-for-nothing children, she said again:

"Let me teach you fatherless bastards a lesson: if we don't invite them, they'll come and get it themselves!"

Upon hearing this, the children all realized what was happening.

Xiang Xinglu was so terrified by the beating that he lost all courage and became meek and submissive, showing no trace of his previous temper. His face was pale.

Only Xiang Xingwu's expression changed, as if she was still somewhat unwilling, her eyes flickering.

Before she could say a word, she felt a cold gaze fall upon her. It was her mother looking at her as if she were dead, which gave her goosebumps all over her body.

The owner of the Seven Fragrance Pavilion calmly asked:

"Fifth Sister, are you thinking of luring other martial arts schools to attack the Dugu School? Or perhaps you're spreading rumors about the Dugu School, or even setting a trap to slander that young man surnamed Fang and incite conflict?"

Xiang Xingwu felt as if she had been seen through, and for a moment she didn't know how to respond.

Without waiting for her reply, the owner of the Seven Fragrance Pavilion gently walked up to her and whispered:
"Let me explain to you first. Your actions will only bring trouble to the Xiang family."

Even if the two dojos really clash, the best outcome would be for our Xiang family to be completely devoured by the winner, while your mother would still have to go and appease them, ending up as a mere servant.

The owner of the Seven Fragrance Pavilion gently stroked Xiang Xingwu's fair and slender neck, her fingernails long and hooked, and calmly said:
"If you have such a plan, don't blame your mother for bringing trouble to the family. So, Fifth Sister, do you have it?"

This time, Xiang Xingwu was completely frightened. Her body trembled as if she had seen a stranger, rather than her own mother.

"No, daughter wouldn't dare, no!" she quickly replied.

A look of satisfaction appeared on the Seven Fragrances Pavilion Master's face. Her smile returned, and she regained her former charm as the elegant pavilion master, chuckling softly:
"Very good! I knew you understood the big picture. Also, keep an eye on your sisters and brothers."

"In this matter, we were in the wrong first, so we can't afford to give them any more ammunition."

"Yes, Mother!" the other girls replied quickly.

After some reassurance, the women, along with Xiang Xinglu, quieted down.

But at that moment, a single sentence from the Seven Fragrances Pavilion Master sent a chill down their spines:
"By the way, Fifth Sister."

Your mother will prepare a generous gift for you and send someone to visit the Gu Pavilion. She will say that you were ignorant and stubborn, and almost ruined the relationship between our two families.

But you don't need to go. Just stay home and rest these days; there's no need to go out.

With a whoosh, the Xiang family children all turned their gazes to Xiang Xingwu, as if they all knew the inside story.

However, all of them kept their heads down, not daring to say anything.

Xiang Xingwu's face turned slightly pale, and she finally understood that she had no choice but to take the blame herself.

But she dared not say anything more, only wanting the matter to end quickly, so she whispered a reply:
"Yes, mother."

(End of this chapter)