The Unscrupulous Taoist

After Han Tian left, Wutian made himself a cup of tea. He took a sip, but it was unsavory.

He did not know if his decision was right. But if he did not do that, he would feel even worse. He would feel bad for himself because of his grandpa, the villagers and the burn-down village.

A few moments later, he sighed. Putting all the thoughts aside, he grabbed Little Tian. Three thousand Essence elixirs were by no mean a small amount. Earlier, he was still worried about where to get the Essence elixirs that he needed to attain the Gamma stage. Now he had more than enough.

"Caw!" Little Tian cawed as it kept the Mustard Pouch in his arms, not wanting to give it away, no matter what.

But Wutian would not let it be this time. He just took it by force.

Little Tian would not give up. It bared its fangs threateningly, trying to grab the pouch back.

"Stop it. What do you want it for? There are still many leftovers from last time. You have never used them in your cultivation," said Wutian angrily.

Little Tian looked at him, rubbing its eyes with force, trying to squeeze out a few drops of tears.

No way Wutian was going to fall for this. He grabbed Little Tian up and tossed it out of the window at once. When he heard about the magic Mustard Pouch a long time ago, he had been itching for one. Now it was right in front of him. No way he was going to let Little Tian ruin it.

Roar!

Little Tian got mad, but it could do nothing about Wutian. The lake was not peaceful anymore as the demonic beats in the water kept roaring angrily. But soon, their roar turned into a cry.

"Shut the hell up! People need to sleep!" Someone shouted angrily in a building.

Boom!

Little Tian could not have cared less. It did whatever it wanted. It was not until it was done venting its anger it let those poor beasts go. Coming back into the house, it ignored Wutian and went to sleep inside Shishi's room.

Wutian did not give a hoot about it. He sat on the couch, eyes on the Mustard Pouch. He thought it incredible that such a tiny pouch could hold so many items.

In fact, only someone from the village like him was much ado about nothing. Mustard pouches were very common in the clans. Most alchemists could make one, and basically everyone had one. Otherwise, Han Tian would not have given it to him.

After studying it for a while, he finally figured out the way to operate it. He reached his consciousness into it. Voila! He could put things in and out of it.

He experimented with it repeatedly until he nodded in satisfaction, then hung it on his waist. He carefully thought of what was going to happen from now one so he could make preparation for it. This time, he must not be too careless. Otherwise, he could have gotten himself killed.

The next day.

The morning sun rose into a glorious golden light.

People were already sitting at the lakeside, cross-legged as they inhaled and exhaled the morning air, which nourished their body and drove impurity away from their body. Their bodies were glowing brilliantly as they did that.

On the ground in front of the Ninth Heaven House, Wutian was dressed in white clothes, slowly moving his legs as he waved his arms lightly and performed punches and palm technique. He was practicing God of War Secret Manual.

After the morning practice session, his movement became more and more fluid and looked authentic. People sitting cross-legged around him glanced at him sideways, envious of what he could perform.

Yesterday's battle was still fresh in their minds. They all agreed that Wutian was the successor of the God of War Sikong Lie. Just with this identity, only he could look down upon his peers.

Such an encounter was not something that they could ask for. They became a bit jealous of him.

"You have been practicing since this early morning, Brother Guyu? Such a hard-working man!" The door of the Eight Heaven House opened as Han Tian walked out, still wearing a purple attire.

He was calling Wutian's cover name from now on so it would not affect their plan.

Boom!

Wutian stepped out as he thrust his fist forward. The energy from his fist blasted the ground open and shattered the rock, creating a half-a-meter-deep pit in its place.

Han Tian raised his hand to stop the incoming punch while planting his feet on the ground, unmoved. "Hey, brother, is this how you say 'good morning'? I'm going to return the favor. Don't say I didn't warn you."

Before his voice trailed off, Wutian had changed his punch into a palm. A soft energy rushed out of his palm.

Han Tian's face stiffened, and he tumbled backward and quickly stomped his foot into the ground to stop himself from falling further backward.

"Overcoming strength with softness, Brother Guyu. Be ready." His eyes lit up as the fighting spirit in him was triggered. He was ready for a friendly match.

"Are you fighting again, Wutian? And you, bad guy! Don't bully my brother again!"

Right then, the groggy-looking little girl came out and shouted when she saw the two were up against each other again.

Han Tian was transfixed, pointing at himself. "I am the bad guy? Little girl, you are mistaken. It was your brother who bullied me yesterday. Everyone saw that."

"You deserved it because you threw me into the lake!" Shishi pulled a face and screwed up her nose adorably.

Han Tian smacked himself on the forehead. "My gosh! What year is this? You are still so holding grudges against me. Like brother, like sister!"

"It was only yesterday!" The little girl corrected him, then looked up at Wutian. "You promised to play with me today. Shall we go to the town?"

"I like that. Why don't you go with me?"

"No! I just want my brother." The little girl's voice was crisp and pleasant.

"Sigh. I was thinking of bringing you to somewhere fun. Since you don't appreciate it, then forget it," said Han Tian sadly.

"It's alright. You can go on your own!" The little girl was utterly unappreciative.

Wutian shook his head and brought her back into the house. Little Tian was still in bed, angry. When it saw Wutian, it pulled the blanket over itself. It really did not want to see him.

"Yi, get up now. Wutian has promised to bring me to the town!" said Shishi.

Before Yi responded, Little Tian had lunged out of the blanket onto Shishi's shoulder and started to gesture, basically saying that it wanted to tag along. It then glared at Wutian, raising its claw angrily at him, as if it could not wait to eat him alive.

After sorting themselves out, the two humans and two beasts left the house. As they walked toward the outer courtyard, the little girl's eyes darted around, checking out everything she saw as she babbled.

It was nearing the recruitment day of the Yan Clan. Ironstone was a bustling town as the streets were thronged with people.

"I am here again, mister." The little girl greeted the old man when they walked past the stall selling accessories.

"Hey, sweetie. You have grown taller in just a few days. Come, pick what you like. Treat it as a gift from me." The stall owner was all smiles as he recognized her and wanted to give her something.

"Thanks, mister. I can't take it!"

The elf-like little girl was attracting a lot of attention. Everyone said that she was adorable.

They left the stall and continued to walk down the street leisurely. A commotion suddenly rose ahead, and a crowd had gathered. They went up to check it out curiously.

"Ladies and gentlemen, don't miss this. Elixirs, phoenix feather, dragon blood, qilin meat, mink. Everything that you can and cannot think of, you can find it here."

Someone cried his wares continuously.

"Elixirs?"

Wutian was surprised. He brought the little girl into the crowd. They squeezed themselves to the front and saw a fat Taoist with a big belly standing in front of a stall in the middle, speaking in a loud voice. Behind him was a white flag written with two big words: Treasure Stall.

When the fat Taoist saw Wutian, a greedy look filled his eyes. He picked up a broken ware from the ground and came up to Wutian. "Hey, kid. By the looks of you, you must be a cultivator. How about a bottle of dragon blood? It is nourishing to your body."

"Dragon blood? It looks more like pig blood!" Someone jeered from the crowd.

"Kid, don't get conned. An unscrupulous Taoist like him likes to target kids like you." Someone warned.

The fat Taoist's face darkened. "Get the hell out of here if you are buying!"

"Kid, don't listen to them. This Treasure Stall of mine has a hundred years of history. No monkey business here. You can ask around if you don't believe me." The fat Taoist patted his chest in all seriousness. But no one in the crowd knew him.

Wutian bowed his head and smelled the item. A pungent smell hit his nostrils. His face screwed up as he tried hard not to laugh. Really, it was pig blood in the jar.

"Ahem, it looks like I have met someone knowing the business."

The fat Taoist hemmed, then threw the porcelain jar to the ground. One minute he vowed that it was dragon blood in the jar, and the next he smashed it to the ground. The blood was splattered and dyeing the ground red.

The Taoist then picked up a golden feather. "Kid, this is the feather of a phoenix. I swear I am not lying this time. This is authentic."

Taking the feather in his hand, Wutian carefully examined it. Was this not a canary feather? Before he could say anything, the little girl chimed in. "Father says phoenix is large, but this feather is so tiny, Brother!"

"Hey, little girl. Don't you know that phoenixes have different sizes? Your father was referring to the grown-up phoenix. This feather here, I plucked it from a baby phoenix. It is absolutely authentic. Look at my honest face. Do I look like I am lying?"

Shishi looked up at him. "My father also said phoenix should be red. But this feather here is golden. Aren't you lying to me just because I am a kid?"

"Busted, you unscrupulous Taoist. Even a kid could see that you are a con man. Plucking a feather from a phoenix? I think it looks more like a sparrow. Get the hell out of here before you further embarrass yourself." Onlookers broke out in laughter.

The color on the fat Taoist's face changed from red to green. His expression could not have looked worse than this.

"Who told you all I don't have any real treasure?" He fished out a small pouch from under his clothes. But he was hesitant.

Wutian's heart skipped a beat. He had sensed a unique energy inside the small pouch in the Taoist's hand. The thing inside the pouch was weak, to be exact.

"You unscrupulous Taoist, haven't you given up? You take rubbish as a treasure again?" Someone laughed.

The fat Taoist gritted his teeth and refrained from revealing the thing. "Kid, I dare you, without first opening it, we trade this thing with one thousand Essence elixirs, then this thing will be yours."

"One thousand Essence elixirs! You are out of your mind, you unscrupulous Taoist. You don't even allow him to inspect the content, but you ask for such a ridiculous price. You think he is dumb?" People started to think the Taoist was really dishonest.

Wutian frowned. To be honest, he was not so sure if it was really a treasure inside. But this unique energy had aroused his curiosity. He could not help but wanted to take a look.

"Deal. But I want to pick something from your stall," said Wutian.

"What? The kid really agrees? Is he stupid or something? He hasn't even seen what is inside, yet he agrees to buy!" Everyone thought this was becoming too ridiculous. He was walking into the trap knowingly.

"You really agree to buy?" asked the Taoist. He was not even sure.

His face twitched, as if he was crying and reluctant to let go. This made everyone at the scene think there could be a treasure inside the pouch.

"Of course." Wutian nodded. He willed, and a hundred shiny Essence elixirs flew out of the Mustard Pouch to the ground.

"Deal!"

The Taoist agreed at once. He tossed the pouch and lay flat on the ground with his eyes brightening up and him drooling, his fat bouncing around his body.

Judging by his reaction, everyone realized that he was just feigning a reluctant look. His real face was plain to see now.