They had struck a tentative deal, so the innkeeper excused himself and left the room. On the way to the accounts office, while he was passing through the kitchen, a head suddenly poked out through the door and asked, “So? What’s your impression?”

The innkeeper dropped his flippant, insincere attitude and replied seriously, “He’s probably a savage! Although he looks like he’s missing some parts of brain[1] upstairs—and he probably is—but I can’t read him at all. Seriously, I can’t even begin to gauge his Dao Foundation. That said, he’s as simple-minded as he is dirt poor. He put on that whole show just to save himself a few days of lodging fees. Sharp blades are rare, but they also cut easily. With all that said, don’t provoke him. For now, treat him like a top-tier killer.”

The man in the kitchen looked reluctant. “But his sword looks really good...”

The innkeeper’s face immediately darkened. “Do you know how much time and effort it takes to find a good cook? I’m not looking to find a replacement yet, so keep your head down!”

The head sheepishly moved back into the kitchen.

Wei Yuan dropped his smile as soon as the innkeeper took his leave, although ghosts of it still clung to the corners of his mouth. He produced an array disc and a pile of small items. After mentally calculating the direction, he dug a few small holes in the walls, shoved a couple small spirit objects inside, and resealed them. After everything was in place, he gave his array disc a shake and activated a fengshui array.

If someone were to enter his courtyard, they would immediately experience a series of misfortunes and setbacks, including but not limited to: suffering backlashes from their Daoist arts, their mystic artifacts failing for no apparent reason whatsoever, or forgetting the next line of an incantation mid-chant.

Not done yet, Wei Yuan engraved a ghost’s face on an inconspicuous corner of the wall and poured a small bag of animal blood over it. When in a village, do as the villagers do[2]. He had set up a shamanic curse, and in this region it was twice as effective as normal. If someone tried to sneak inside, then the curse would be activated.

The curse did not aim to kill, however. Instead, it discombobulated one’s mind and brought out their hidden desire. It would make them succumb to their baser instincts and commit all manners of irrational acts. For instance, after drawing a poisoned blade, the invader might first lick it to intimidate the enemy and demonstrate cruelty.

Wei Yuan worked hard and set up a couple traps in a row. As one of top students of the Reform Party of the Palace of Absolute Beginning, Wei Yuan realized mid-way through the setup that his bag of insidious tricks was a little... bigger than expected. So much so that he was having trouble choosing one. Every one of these tactics was so underhanded and vicious that even seasoned rogues in the underworld would have no choice but to bow in admiration. Now that he thought about it, the teachers who taught Techniques Theory back in the day were truly something.

Although the fengshui array and the curse Wei Yuan had set up looked simple, the array disc he was using came from an Immortal Lord. Naturally, its level of existence was quite scary. Not only would the curse hit its target without fail, the results were guaranteed to be outstanding as well.

After he finished installing everything, Wei Yuan set the array disc on the table and produced the jade paper containing Yun Feifei’s portrait. After carefully extracting the wisp of primordial spirit sealed within the piece of jade paper, he inserted it into the array disc and gave it a little tap. The array disc flashed once, and Yun Feifei’s aura disappeared into nothing.

The Immortal Lord had given him the array disc for the purpose of fortune fishing. Upon inserting Yun Feifei’s aura, anyone and anything tied to Yun Feifei would naturally be drawn toward Wei Yuan by the invisible fates of fortune. The closer their connection to Yun Feifei, the easier it was for them to be drawn. Unless the affected person or object’s level of existence was exceptionally high, or they were currently entangled in a web of great fate, they would not be able to escape the two-layered fishing that was Immortal Lord Tinghai and Wei Yuan’s otherworldly fortune.

If the affected person possessed great wisdom and profound mastery of the Dao of fortune, they would naturally notice the fortune fishing and employ various means to break free from its grasp. However, as a newly ascended Dao Foundation stage cultivator, Wei Yuan did not believe that he would encounter such a person during his mission.

With everything set, Wei Yuan sat waiting for the rabbit to come to the tree stump; biding his time for the willing to walk into his trap.

He was both the fisherman and the bait. He looked forward to seeing which fish would take the hook. Like Jiang Ziya, he was targeting those who fancied themselves strong enough to pull the fisherman under. Of course, the fishes thought the same.

Having nothing to do at the moment, Wei Yuan decided to read by the lamplight. In an attempt to appear cultured, the innkeeper had placed a book chest[3] inside the room. Inside it lay several thread-bound, plain paper books. They exuded an antique charm of sorts. Each page bore distinct signs of wear and tear, suggesting that they were not mere decorations. There were guests who genuinely went through the books from time to time.

Wei Yuan picked up a random book and flipped it open. To his surprise, it wasn’t an orthodox history book. Instead, it was an embellished, folk version of the Great Dao of yin and yang he had read years ago.

The fact that the books were put inside the book chest proved that they were the cream of the crop. Take the volume in his hands, for instance—it was brimming with whimsical ideas and outlandish concepts. Many commonplace minor Dao arts were employed with such ingenuity that Wei Yuan found himself enlightened and inspired. Alas, the highest-ranking figure in the book was just a True Lord. After all, casually inventing stories about higher entities—an Immortal Lord, for example—was liable to earn one a lightning strike to the skull.

It looked like Wei Yuan was engrossed in reading, but he was really cultivating hard in his sea of consciousness. He was acting, so he made sure to turn a page from time to time[4].

Inside his sea of consciousness, Wei Yuan picked up a rock from the ground and continuously molded it in his grip. Eventually, it took the form of a square-shaped tripod.

After he had constructed the Supreme Yin full moon, Wei Yuan’s mastery of his Dao Foundation had improved a step. He could now consciously change a small amount of objects inside his Dao Foundation. For example, he could mold the stones into stone cauldrons or stone swords.

If you’re going to put on an act, you may as well go all out. His Dao Foundation was massive anyway, so Wei Yuan had no qualms fashioning a cauldron and keeping it on hand. If a fight broke out, he could visualize it and hurl it out at his opponents. Actual potency aside, it was intimidating at least.

Swords were much easier for him to fashion. For obvious reasons, he could fashion Zhang Sheng’s three immortal swords. Their notoriety was liable to backfire on him. The same could not be said for Xiao Yu’s, however. After successfully cultivating The Sun, Xiao Yu would often walk in front of Wei Yuan while clutching his immortal sword. This had continued for nearly half a year before he finally got bored of it.

It wasn’t until some time after his friend had stopped paying him a visit that Wei Yuan finally realized that something was wrong. Who in their right mind would run around with their Dao Foundation in their arms unless they had an ulterior motive?

But thanks to Xiao Yu, Wei Yuan became intimately familiar with The Sun. It took him no effort to visualize the immortal sword whatsoever. Alas, he was kept quite busy after forging his Dao Foundation. He never found the time to pay his friend a visit and show off his Dao Foundation. It was a shame.

But then again, he could not have done it with the Great Realm. The main problem was the pose. How should he pose with his Dao Foundation? Should he lift it in the air or stand on it? Forget the Great Realm, even the little jade hill that was its core was stupid conspicuous. For now, Wei Yuan still carried a great deal of shame in him. He could not bring himself to do such a thing.

Luckily for Wei Yuan, the Great Realm wasn’t the only thing that existed in the Myriad Manifestations Hall. There was also an elderly sweeper. Even if Xiao Yu failed to recognize his Dao Foundation, the elderly sweeper was sure to correct his ignorance. He would not allow the young man to become someone who had a pair of eyes but could not see.

Now that his stone cauldron and stone sword were complete, he was truly the “Matchless Sword and Cauldron”. As the only thing he needed to do now was wait for the fishes to bite the hook, Wei Yuan decided to lean against his jade hill and summon the Dao Foundation Chapter of Outlawed by Heaven and Earth into his hands, studying. Above him, the full moon was studying the method as well.

It didn’t last. Not long after he began his study, a bloodcurdling scream erupted from somewhere not far away from him. As the scream was imbued with Dao energy, it was unnaturally penetrative and woke up half the town in an instant! Wei Yuan’s train of thought was broken by the scream as well.

This was a lawless land, which was why Wei Yuan made up his mind to ignore it. He went back to his book.

He had just organized his thoughts and was on the verge of gaining inspiration when suddenly, a loud bang shook the entire inn. At the same time, a powerful gust of wind blew a good number of nearby shacks into the sky!

This time, the outburst of Dao energy agitated Wei Yuan. He was this close from throwing his sword like a javelin at the source of the commotion. Also, as mild-tempered as he normally was, he was pissed off after losing his train of thought twice in a row. Thus, he put down his book, grabbed his sword, and left his house.

When he jumped onto the roof, he turned toward the source of the commotion and looked. A muscular, masked man was flying into the air and attempting to escape. On the ground, a short figure let out a sinister chuckle and raised a wooden staff into the air. A streak of green energy shot out from the staff’s tip, instantly striking the muscular man and dropping him like a rock. By the time he hit the ground, his body had dissolved into a pile of bones. He never even managed to scream.

There was an instant where the short figure had exposed his hand when he raised his staff. At that moment, Wei Yuan saw bird talons, not a human hand!

The short figure walked over to the muscular man’s remains and picked up something. Then, he went away. During the battle, every shack and tent within a twenty zhang radius had been blown away. However, no one panicked or even cried out in surprise. They just walked over to their possessions and picked them up at their leisure. One tent exposed an intertwined man and woman after it was blown away. However, the pair didn’t stop moving for even a moment. Another tent revealed several writhing figures. Wei Yuan just barely managed to identify one of them as human. The rest, he had no idea.

Wei Yuan was the only one standing on the roof in his immediate vicinity and glaring down with a predatory gaze. Naturally, a good amount of gazes immediately settled on his body, most of them filled with malice. In response, he let out a savage laugh and summoned the silhouette of a square cauldron. There was a flash of golden light, and countless people broke into bloodcurdling screams, clutching their eyes in agony.

Having established his authority, Wei Yuan returned to his room and picked up his unfinished book. He would read it intently by the lamplight, lost in the text until dawn broke.

After studying Outlawed by Heaven and Earth for a full night, a hint of fatigue finally settled into Wei Yuan’s bones.

The sky was still fairly dark when the innkeeper knocked on his door and stepped into the courtyard. He had come to deliver Wei Yuan’s breakfast in person.

After putting down the breakfast, the innkeeper slipped a piece of paper out of his sleeve and placed it in front of Wei Yuan. He said softly, “Immortal Master Li, this man is worth five hundred immortal silver! You may pick one of three mystic artifacts as your additional reward as well.”

The fish is biting already? Wei Yuan kept his thoughts firmly from his face as he examined the portrait. It was a middle-aged man with an imposing countenance. He was defined by prominent, thick eyebrows and a fingernail-sized black mole at the corner of his mouth. It was an excellent portrait, but because it wasn’t drawn on a piece of jade paper, he was unable to view it from all angles. It did not contain a trace of the man’s primordial spirit either.

The innkeeper lowered his voice and quickly added, “This man is named Wang Lang. He is fairly adept in Dao spells and techniques. While he outwardly trades in immortal ingredients and medicine, he really sends a batch of young women to the west each month. Some of them were even female cultivators. He just arrived yesterday, and his camp is set about three li from the town. Among his cargo are three female cultivators.”

Wei Yuan remained calm and collected as he asked, “What are these women for?”

“Some of them are delivered to the Shamans to conduct sacrificial rites, while some are meant for the brothels in the west. As for the female cultivators, both the Shamans and the brothels have a demand for them. They will take as many as they can get.”

Wei Yuan frowned. “This can’t be the only reason someone is ordering his death.”

“An astute deduction, upper immortal! In fact, a certain bigshot has specifically requested a female cultivator from this shipment.”

“Whoever she is, she can’t possibly be worth five hundred immortal silver and a mystic artifact, can she?”

The innkeeper replied softly, “It’s because Wang Lang’s status is a little... troublesome. He works for the Xu Clan. That is why this matter must be handled cleanly!”

“Which Xu Clan?”

The innkeeper pointed toward the sky. “Who else? Here in the west side of Ning Province, it could only be the one who controls over half of Ning Province!”

1. I’m avoiding the term “screw” because I’m not sure if screws are a thing yet in this world. Also historically speaking I believe ancient China didn't use screws or even nails until much later. ☜

2. Again, there are no Romans in this world, hence I went with a more literal translation. ☜

3. I’m surprised myself that this is a thing. It’s literally a box/chest used to store books. I chose to use the word chest because some describe it as a “treasure chest” of knowledge. ☜

4. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Whatever you say bud. ☜