Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Scoundrel Who Deserves a Thousand Deaths

A few breaths later, a figure ascended from the foot of the mountain, coming into everyone's view.

“Senior Li...” Fang Qing shrank back as he saw the approaching figure.

Wang Changsheng also edged to the right, hiding himself behind a burly man.

“It really is him…” Wang Changsheng felt a pang of dread.

Not only did he still owe Li Fusheng over a hundred spirit stones and had no way to repay them, but last time, he’d even set Li Fusheng up. Afterward, Wang Changsheng had inquired at the Imperial Capital’s grand restaurant and learned that the losses amounted to at least several hundred spirit stones.

He couldn’t defeat Li Fusheng in a fight, so Wang Changsheng genuinely feared trouble.

Fortunately, with so many cultivators present, Li Fusheng hadn’t spotted him.

Meanwhile, the cultivators from Cloud Palace Peak all rose to their feet upon Li Fusheng’s arrival.

“Surround him!”

At the order of the leading female cultivator, several Cloud Palace Peak disciples leaped forward, encircling Li Fusheng in an instant.

“Well now, what’s this about, ladies?” Li Fusheng looked around at the circle forming around him, completely unfazed, a teasing smile playing on his lips.

The leading woman regarded him gravely. “Brother Li, was this your doing?”

“No, absolutely not!” Li Fusheng replied at once. “Miss Cailing, do you really take me, Li the Benevolent, for a thief?”

“I already told you last time at the Imperial Capital restaurant—it was not me!” Li Fusheng said with a laugh. “Besides, if I really had done it, would I show up here today? Wouldn’t that be walking straight into a trap?”

“Hmph!” Cailing snorted coldly. “If that’s the case, Brother Li, you should undergo verification as well!”

With that, the empty spirit stone, wrapped in true essence, floated before Li Fusheng.

He looked at it, unmoved, and smiled. “Miss Cailing, this is the method Caiyun gave you, isn’t it?”

None of the Cloud Palace Peak cultivators answered.

Li Fusheng continued, “This trick might work on the weak, but do you really think it will work on me?”

“We’ll just have to see!” Cailing’s aura flared, a clear sign that if he refused, she’d take action.

“Who is this guy? He’s awfully cocky!”

“Daring to go toe-to-toe with Cloud Palace Peak—I’ve never seen him before! He probably doesn’t know how he’s about to die.”

“I’ve met him—he conned me into buying a jade slip last time! What a scam!”

…

The crowd burst into noisy chatter before Cloud Palace Peak even made a move.

Most of those present had never seen Li Fusheng, but to see him brazenly confront Cloud Palace Peak left them incredulous.

After all, what was Cloud Palace Peak? In the Shentian Realm, they were an undisputed power, easily among the top three. For a lone cultivator to challenge them openly, many began to wonder if Cloud Palace Peak’s reputation was just hot air.

A few, however, clearly recognized Li Fusheng, and their faces twisted with resentment.

“Looks like this calamity has made plenty of enemies here in the Chengtian Realm,” Wang Changsheng thought, noticing the hostile looks around him and realizing what Li Fusheng had been up to during his recent absence.

“No need to verify, it really wasn’t me!” Li Fusheng put on a wounded expression. “I just came to Chengtian Realm for fun—I didn’t steal anything!”

“To our knowledge, you’re the only one in Chengtian Realm capable of stealing from Cloud Palace Valley!” Cailing said sternly. “Of all the elders, only you could have slipped by unnoticed.”

“Injustice!” Li Fusheng shouted. “Who says I’m the only one? I could name three or five others off the top of my head!”

“Go on, name them! Name them for me right now!” Cailing snapped, exasperated. She was well aware of Li Fusheng’s shamelessness, but his rogue-like attitude infuriated her all the same. Worst of all, she couldn’t beat him in a fight.

“I knew you’d say that, so I brought them with me!”

As he spoke, two more figures suddenly appeared on the moonlit platform.

They seemed to materialize out of thin air, but the gathered cultivators knew it was simply because they were too fast for most to see.

“Gong Yu, Guan Danian!”

Cailing’s voice was laced with surprise and, soon after, a darkening expression.

She knew them both. Even if they weren’t quite as formidable as Li Fusheng, they were fully capable of stealing the empty spirit stone from Cloud Palace Valley. What’s more, their reputations were no better than Li Fusheng’s.

“Sister Cailing, it’s been so long—I’ve missed you terribly!” Gong Yu gazed at Cailing with a predatory gleam, his tone openly flirtatious.

Guan Danian, on the other hand, was tall and burly but looked far more honest. He said nothing, but his shifty eyes betrayed his scheming nature.

“Shut up!” Cailing snapped. “Don’t act so familiar—we’re not close!”

The other Cloud Palace Peak cultivators radiated threatening auras, ready to strike at the slightest provocation.

“All right, all right, Miss Cailing!” Li Fusheng interjected with a smile. “Your treasure truly wasn’t stolen by any of us. I just ran into these two by chance, and since you wanted verification, I brought them along.”

“That’s right, Sister Cailing, we’re only humoring you,” Gong Yu said with a grin.

Guan Danian nodded in agreement.

Without further ado, Li Fusheng sent a surge of true essence into the floating empty spirit stone, which instantly absorbed it.

The stone shimmered with light, but after absorbing Li Fusheng’s essence, it showed no change.

“This… this…” Cailing stared at the unchanged stone in confusion. “Could it be, as he says, that the stone’s method doesn’t work on him?”

“Impossible!”

Cailing recalled Caiyun’s instructions—no matter how powerful Li Fusheng was, the empty spirit stone should have detected any attempt to conceal the truth.

“Could it really not be him?” Cailing studied Li Fusheng, pondering.

“See, Miss Cailing, it’s got nothing to do with me!” Li Fusheng said, eyes narrowed and smiling.

“Hmph!”

A cold snort was all Cailing offered in reply.

“It’s our turn now! Our turn!” Gong Yu announced, stepping forward. “I heard that if we’re cleared, we get to learn a technique. I’ve been coveting the Cloud Palace Peak’s Hall of Divine Arts for ages—finally, a chance to experience it!”

“Me too, I want to see it!” Guan Danian chimed in, his voice as guileless as ever—hard to believe he was mixed up with Li Fusheng.

Both men fired streams of true essence into the empty spirit stone, which absorbed them. Half an incense stick’s time passed, and still, the stone showed no reaction.

“No…” Cailing finally shook her head. With the stone utterly unresponsive, she was forced to admit that the culprit was not among these three.

“Li Fusheng was the prime suspect, but the spirit stone…”

Though disappointed by the result, Cailing, for reasons she couldn’t explain, felt a wave of relief.

Perhaps it was because it wasn’t Li Fusheng—after all, he was notoriously difficult to deal with. While Cloud Palace Peak wasn’t afraid of him, until things were clear, they truly didn’t want to make an enemy of such a troublemaker.

“I wonder, gentlemen, would you prefer spirit stones or a technique?” Cailing asked in a businesslike tone.

“Of course, the technique!” Guan Danian answered bluntly.

“I’ve long wanted to see the Hall of Divine Arts,” Gong Yu declared. “Now that I finally have the chance, I can’t possibly pass it up!”

Li Fusheng, on the other hand, looked greedy. “And how many spirit stones did you prepare, Miss Cailing? How many can I get?”

Li Fusheng’s love for spirit stones was legendary. As he always said, cultivators only trained for higher realms and to appear more impressive—why bother with constant strife? Techniques paled in comparison to spirit stones.

“Ten!” Cailing snapped. “Low-grade spirit stones!”

“What?” Li Fusheng pointed at her, indignant. “I’ve never seen anyone as stingy as you—really, just ten?! That’s an insult to Cloud Palace Peak’s name!”

Gong Yu: “…”

Guan Danian: “…”

Cailing: “…”

Truth be told, Li Fusheng was the most stingy person any of them had ever met—bar none.

“Then I want the technique!” Li Fusheng huffed. “If I master it and sell it off, it’d be worth far more than ten spirit stones!”

The Cloud Palace Peak disciples could only stare helplessly at his shamelessness. They couldn’t best him in combat, and their rank and status meant nothing to him—Li Fusheng wasn’t the least bit intimidated.

“Wait over there. The Hall of Divine Arts will open shortly,” Cailing instructed.

“Not so fast!” Li Fusheng interjected. “Miss Cailing, just a moment—I have a matter to settle!”

“What is it?” Cailing asked, puzzled. “If you’re after more spirit stones, there are only ten—no more.”

“No,” Li Fusheng replied gravely. “Someone set me up, and I know he’s here. I want to find him—he still owes me spirit stones. If he pays me back, I won’t even need your reward!”

With that, Li Fusheng summoned his true essence and bellowed toward the cultivators at the edge of the platform.

“Wang Changsheng, you scoundrel, get out here! You’d better come out and pay me back my spirit stones!”