CHAPTER 515: CHAPTER 244 GATHERING_2

Listening to Hei Ao summarizing it like an expert, I knew, that must be his target.

Fang Yu looked puzzled.

"You want that thing? Didn’t you say it would continuously drain your life, that you wouldn’t live long?"

Upon being asked, Hei Ao actually responded with a crooked smile.

"With my Hei Family’s cultivation technique, I can suppress and seal this item. Whenever I need it, I just release it. Guess, how many times my combat power would double?"

Go ahead and double it! Even then, you can’t beat me.

Probably?

But Fang Yu wasn’t really interested in such life-burning tools, the side effects were too great.

Hei Ao’s explanation was also rather vague.

Burning life span, what about the speed and efficiency?

What if it’s ten times more efficient? We don’t have the Hei Family’s means of suppression and sealing.

Originally, if a character could live 70 years, at ten times the rate, they’d live only 7 years.

Seems... manageable?

But who knows if it would also pull my physical strength down to that of a seventy-year-old.

An old grandpa fighting? Bending over could be fatal, alright.

Furthermore, in a game, if a character dies, it doesn’t resurrect. I still want to use this character to earn money for buying a house and retirement!

No need, no need, let Hei Ao take the risk himself.

Seems like noticing Fang Yu’s withdrawal, Hei Ao scoffed in disdain.

"No vision."

Yes, yes, yes!

You have vision!

If you didn’t have your family’s techniques, would you dare touch this stuff!

It was then Zuo Lv came to ease the situation.

"Even if you don’t choose [Black Phoenix Blood], there are lots of things in [Bonfire Gathering]. Just by participating, you are eligible to attend their market. You can find good stuff there."

"Of course, the best items are definitely on the reward stages of the [Bonfire Gathering]."

"There are medicine pills that increase cultivation, cultivation techniques for awakening the Spiritual Eye, the Mist Breaking Fan that dispels demonic mist, and other cultivation techniques being sold. These foreign martial artists often kill people outside but don’t know the real value of things, you might discover some great items there."

Spiritual Eye? Cultivation Techniques? Medicine Pills?

Fang Yu was a bit tempted.

Medicine Pills give you Experience Points, Spiritual Eye sounds spiritually related, I wonder what the effects are. As for cultivation techniques, if I could mix in some powerful incomplete ones, taking advantage of a gamer’s perks, that really would be a jackpot.

He looked at Zuo Lv.

"You keep recommending these to me, what about you? What do you want?"

Zuo Lv smiled subtly.

"I’m not competing with you guys; I just want the tenth place prize: [Big Greasy Worm Ash]."

Fang Yu was curious.

"What is that?"

Zuo Lv didn’t hide it, openly explaining.

"It’s a fertilizer that greatly accelerates the growth of plants."

She guessed that these two men obsessed with martial arts probably wouldn’t be interested.

But to her surprise, Fang Yu was also somewhat tempted.

Plants? Rapid growth?

My demon body, does it count as a plant? Could this be useful? If I doused myself in it after demonization, would my strength surge?

After thinking it over, Fang Yu said.

"I’ll consider it."

Zuo Lv smiled.

"Then let’s meet under the big locust tree on Liufeng Street at midnight, don’t be late."

Liufeng Street, big locust tree.

Fang Yu took note secretly.

As the two got up to leave, he suddenly thought of something and said.

"If you guys want the goods from [Bonfire Gathering] so much, why not use your family’s influence to sweep them all up in one go?"

Zuo Lv and another person looked at Fang Yu with some surprise.

In the end, it was Hei Ao who spoke up to explain,

"Tianyuan Town, although it’s a town with a large population, if you investigate carefully, you’ll find that a large part of the population of Tianyuan Town is actually composed of people from outside who have settled and rooted here over time."

"That is to say, Tianyuan Town is a town with a high proportion of outsiders and considerable fluidity, and its trade also greatly benefits from the mobility of these outsiders."

"If Tianyuan Town were to persecute every group of outsiders that come, even resorting to extreme measures such as killing or completely exploiting them, then who would dare to come to Tianyuan Town for business in the future?"

"I’m not sure about others, but we from the Hei Family actually exercise restraint towards outsiders, unless they cause trouble in Tianyuan Town, only then we will handle it with severe measures; otherwise, we generally leave them be."

Zuo Lv also raised her hand and added,

"Our Zuo Family is similar. Thus, unless the external Martial Artists cause trouble or are possessed by demons or such legitimate reasons, we only then mobilize personnel; otherwise, we generally do not interfere with the external Martial Artists."

"Moreover, even though the [Bonfire Gathering] appears to be on a large scale, it is in fact just minor trouble. The people at the top of our clans are not interested in such small groups."

"Most of the time, the Five Great Families, and even your Foolish Underworld, actually turn a blind eye to external Martial Artists."

"The Foolish Underworld might be a bit more lenient with those below, but we are told within our families that in this special period, it is unnecessary to engage in too many conflicts with external Martial Artists."

"After all, who knows if among these external Martial Artists, there are special disciples from major powers."

"If they are unintentionally provoked, it would also lead to a heap of troubles."

"Of course, if they make trouble and threaten Tianyuan Town, then naturally there would be a thunderous response."

"But just gathering for a contest or meeting, no one really cares about it."

Fang Yu understood.

The external Martial Artists are wary of the power of Tianyuan Town.

But Tianyuan Town is also afraid of provoking any monsters.

Small monsters are easy to kill, but if a big monster comes, Tianyuan Town would have trouble handling it.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the external Martial Artists are mostly rootless folks, otherwise, why not join something like the Flowers and Birds Sect selection?

It can only be said that the top powers of Tianyuan Town are perhaps being overly cautious? Maybe they had some bad experiences in the past?

Moreover, the foundation of Tianyuan Town lies in continuously absorbing newcomers to settle, akin to a demographic dividend, which is what allows Tianyuan Town to keep developing.

So, reputation in this aspect is also somewhat critical.

The people below can be brutal, but those above still need to keep some face.

Therefore, minor actions like those of Hei Ao and Zuo Lv can be overlooked by those above.

But if you unreasonably lead a large group of experts from your family to annihilate others and exploit the situation, that would be excessive.

It would sound bad if word got out and could also lead to trouble.

"Rest assured, we’ll wear masks, the ones made by the Lin Family, others can’t see our disguise. We’ll sneak in, grab the prizes, and run."

Zuo Lv continued to tempt Fang Yu, who rolled his eyes in response.

She then said no more.

After all, the message was conveyed, whether he comes or not depends on Fang Yu himself.

In a sense, involving Fang Yu in this activity is both a recognition and a means of strengthening connections.

Of course, if Fang Yu does not come,

the two sides will likely drift apart in the future.

They are not from the same circle to begin with and can’t really get along; it’s hard to bring him along.

This is what Hei Ao and Zuo Lv were thinking.

The scions of the Five Great Families, their thoughts are actually not much different, various in their outward expression, but similar in their inner logical reasoning.

Diao Ruru was listening to the loud plotting of the others, somewhat dumbfounded.

Once those two had walked away, she hastily asked,

"Diao Deyi, you’re not really going, are you?"

"It’s hard to say."

Fang Yu scratched his head.

"There’s some stuff in there that’s quite tempting, which would be of great help for my Martial Arts cultivation. Besides, the contest has rules, so there’s not much risk. Even if something goes wrong, those two tall guys will handle it."

Fang Yu’s analysis was logical, but Diao Ruru was still a bit worried.

"Sis, it’s still uncertain if I’ll go, so don’t worry unnecessarily. By the way, didn’t you say before about visiting Master Quan Heng? Let’s go today."

Visiting Master Quan Heng? To Baoan Temple?

Diao Ruru immediately thought of that fierce girl with the strange voice.

Last time, it seemed like she had knocked her unconscious, and felt a bit guilty...

Diao Ruru’s heart is still very kind, practicing Martial Arts only for self-protection and to be able to help Fang Yu.