Chapter 207: Boss Fang's Puff of Secondhand Smoke (1/3)

The word "Sacred" in the Three Sacred Gates was, naturally, not a title they bestowed upon themselves.

These three great sects were known as the Taixi Sect, the Xuanzhong Mansion, and the Yuxu Mountain. They possessed a history on this continent so vast and a heritage so ancient that, in terms of lineage, no other sect could ever hope to catch a glimpse of their heels.

Even though these three sects remained in reclusion year-round, only revealing a fraction of their true countenance once every thirty years at the Cultivation Realm Grand Meet, the power they manifested was still utterly incomparable to that of any other sect.

It was precisely because of this that the world looked upon them with awe and reverence, branding them as "Sacred."

Feng Xi was merely an ordinary disciple of his generation within the Taixi lineage, a contemporary of the various sect masters, yet belonging to the most commonplace cohort among those disciples.

But that was already enough. He carried a spiritual treasure upon his person, meaning that even if it were not the sect masters but rather the elder generation of the Wuwei Daoist Alliance—those revered Supreme Elders who had long withdrawn from the world—arriving in person, nothing amiss would likely transpire.

A disciple beneath the banner of the Taixi Sect possessed exactly this brand of confidence.

"To think there is actually such a place?!" A sliver of cold light leaked from Feng Xi’s narrowed eyes.

With a casual flick of his sleeve.

The doors ought to have burst wide open.

Yet, absolutely nothing happened.

Huo Chong froze for a moment, looking at Feng Xi, who had also paused in slight bewilderment. He hurriedly stepped forward and intelligently pushed the doors open.

Then, he made a gesture of invitation.

"Was that just now... an accident...?" Feng Xi maintained his cold, detached gaze as he walked through the threshold.

Before long, he caught sight of the crowd gathered around the counter.

Among them were several individuals he had actually glimpsed at previous Cultivation Realm Grand Meets, such as Xue Daolü, the Palace Master of the Liuyun Daoist Palace, and Ye Songtao of the Yunhai Sect.

"Boss! I want to sign up for the Counter-Strike team tournament!" Ye Songtao had brought his sect disciples, along with his daughter Ye Xiaoye, to register.

Everyone was entirely occupied with signing up; who had the leisure to pay any mind to Huo Chong and his companion?

This was perhaps the very first time that people of the Sacred Gates had received such a cold shoulder in the outside world.

"Lord Feng..." Seeing the crowd utterly clustered around the counter without paying the slightest attention to whoever had entered, Huo Chong spoke with indignation, "These people fundamentally do not hold you in their eyes!"

"No matter." Feng Xi seemed entirely unbothered. "They will alter their opinions very soon."

A current of wind drifted in through the propped-open doors. This young man, draped in a white robe embroidered with golden patterns, began to radiate an inexplicable aura from his entire being. The sunlight spilling through the window seemed to converge upon his garments, making him appear in that instant as though he were plated in gold. The formidable pressure leaking from him caused others to feel a shock akin to beholding a deity.

"Hmm? Why is everyone looking over there?" Fang Qi was in the middle of introducing the rules of this competitive tournament to the crowd when, unexpectedly, everyone's attention shifted away in a heartbeat.

Fang Qi hurriedly followed their gaze, only to see a young man with sharp brows and starry eyes standing at the entrance, looking exceptionally heroic. The sunlight cast into the shop from behind him resembled golden threads tracing his silhouette, making him seem like a divine being descended from the heavens.

No matter who looked upon him, an inexplicable tremor of awe would involuntarily arise within their hearts.

"What an incredible person...!" Sitting beside Fang Qi, Jiang Xiaoyuan let out a startled cry, her eyes staring nearly straight, but before she could finish her sentence, she felt her eyes covered by a hand.

"This is a method of cultivation from the Taixi Sacred Gate known as Aura-Presence!" Xue Daolü muttered under his breath from beside them. "It can seize a person's soul and mind. It is extremely formidable!"

As a sect master himself, he naturally wouldn't be overly affected, though his expression grew somewhat solemn at this moment: "To think the people of the Three Sacred Gates would seek this place out in person. Things are looking rather unfavorable..."

"What Three Sacred Gates...?" Fang Qi pointed at the youth who resembled a deity and said, "You mean this guy who's desperately fishing for attention?"

"..." Hearing Fang Qi's words, the surrounding atmosphere suddenly fell into a dead silence.

Fang Qi fished a cigarette pack from his pocket, pulled one out, and lit it.

With a soft draw, the ember glowed faintly.

A wisp of residual smoke was exhaled, curling and drifting. Before long, everyone in front of the counter seemed to catch the scent of an exceedingly elegant and fresh tobacco fragrance. Many who had just been staring blankly at the youth by the door—feeling as though they had witnessed an immortal and overwhelmed with shock—suddenly shivered and snapped awake.

On the contrary, it was Fang Qi’s side that instantly made people feel as though it were enveloped in immortal mist and auspicious clouds.

"It's fine, it's fine!" Fang Qi waved his hand, taking another puff of his cigarette. "Let us continue explaining the rules of the competitive tournament."

The two men who had just entered.

Stood dumbfounded.

"Lord Feng..." Huo Chong said, "They are still ignoring us... should I...?!"

"No need!" As a member of the Taixi Sect, if Feng Xi had to rely on Huo Chong's intervention to bail him out, where would his face be left?

The eyes he had kept narrowed into mere slits slowly blinked open.

An even more arresting, brilliant light burst forth from his gaze.

When the crowd involuntarily looked over once more, they saw his eyes resembling the bright sun, a dazzling glare that defied direct sight, compelling an innate, powerful urge to surrender within their hearts.

Immediately following that, a cloud of cigarette smoke came blowing right up.

The dense smoke practically materialized into a wall of fog.

"Now, about the rules for the Diablo 2 individual PK tournament..." Fang Qi continued his lecture.

Huo Chong: "...Cough! Cough! Cough!"

Feng Xi: "...Cough! Cough! Cough!"

After coughing for a good while, his face twitched violently: "To dare challenge our three sects, you indeed possess some tricks up your sleeve!"

"Lord Feng!" Huo Chong spoke up, "It seems they are also hosting some sort of competition! I took a quick glance just now; the ranking of the participants is almost identical to the Cultivation Realm Grand Meet!"

"This is an open provocation against all of you!"

"Initially, I found it strange how a small shop could possibly contend with so many cultivators of the Wuwei Daoist Alliance," Feng Xi sneered. "Now it seems you possess a bit of capability, using a modicum of material wealth to entice people into forfeiting the Cultivation Realm Grand Meet! Quite a scheme indeed!"

He circumvented the crowd, squeezed up to the counter, and said coldly, "Are you the shopkeeper who detained the cultivators of the Wuwei Daoist Alliance? The one deliberately sabotaging the Cultivation Realm Grand Meet?"

"Cultivation Realm Grand Meet?" Fang Qi looked entirely baffled, turning to the surrounding crowd. "What on earth is that?"

"Still playing dumb!" Huo Chong had failed to suppress this shop last time and had instead lost tremendous face; he had long harbored a grudge in his heart. Now that he could drag the three great Sacred Gates into this, it was naturally exactly what he wished for. He barked loudly, "The Cultivation Realm Grand Meet is holding its discourse on the Dao, yet who would have thought your little shop would catch the wind and host some competitive tournament to obstruct it? Don't tell me, Owner Fang, that you claim to be ignorant?"

"From what I see," Huo Chong sneered, "Owner Fang is hosting this so-called tournament with ulterior motives, isn't he?"

He cast a glance at the small blackboard, revealing a look of disdain: "These prizes are truly nonsensical. Can they even compare to one ten-thousandth of what the three great Sacred Sects offer?"

"..." Fang Qi was rendered utterly speechless. Looking at this thin cultivator jumping up and down before him, he said with a trace of impatience, "Where did this idiot come from? If you make games and don't develop esports, what else are you supposed to do? I say, you two, are you here to stir up trouble?"

Feng Xi’s face turned icy. As a member of the Taixi Sect, he had never seen anyone dare to speak in such a manner.

"You are the owner of this shop?" he spoke. "Though I do not know what manner of confidence emboldens you to commit such acts, I advise you that it would be best to cancel this so-called competition."

"That way, I shall not make things difficult for you." After all, in his view, there was truly no great need to fuss over an ant, even if this ant had caused them a minor inconvenience.

They merely required the Cultivation Realm Grand Meet to be concluded perfectly, and that would suffice.