Chapter 341: Resting After a Battle and the First Rumors of Fame (Second)
The second day of the auction house was just starting, but news of what had transpired was already making its way throughout the Forest Pass Province and even into the provinces beyond.
The purchase of the dragonfruit and the wind squaller paled in comparison to this new piece of information. Not only was it new, it was also quite ‘juicy.’
A mysterious young man had not only used a heaven tier soul armament to buy a fireseed spirit mushroom, he did it for the sake of the daughter of the Tang!
By no means was Tang Xinyun an important figure in her own house, but that wasn’t known to outsiders. For all they knew, she was the treasured daughter of the Tang. She was clearly special enough for some family’s ‘big spender’ to spend so much for her.
The depth this person was willing to go for her was practically unprecedented, so the gossip ran wild like fire. Conjectures and speculations ran rampant, but none hit the mark.
A few more observant fellows were able to find the truth in the gossip, learning more about who this ‘mysterious’ young man was.
News that this person was in fact a student of the Crafting School quickly became public knowledge. One by one, the puzzle pieces was starting to fit together; it was starting to make sense now.
Who else but a crafter could afford to flaunt so much wealth?
Still, there was one thing that remained unclear. Who was this figure in the Crafting School if he could afford to give away a heaven tier soul armament like it was nothing?
The answer to that question came with the next piece of the puzzle; it was made known that not only was Tang Xinyun also part of the Crafting School, she was the personal disciple to the third elder.
This news was shocking to say the least. Many gossipers could only surmise from what they knew so far. They inferred that the youth was of the inner school and was probably also someone’s disciple…
The normal layman wouldn’t know that Bai Yunfei was in fact a disciple of the ex-headmaster, Zi Jin. Those who were in the know weren’t the talkative type, so the information didn’t spread.
A second bombshell was dropped soon after in regard to the fireseed spirit mushroom. Though slightly stale, news of its theft was still rather interesting to talk about. Since the sale of the mushroom had only taken place a day ago, plenty of interested parties were informed of what had transpired.
Not only did two Soul Ancestors try to steal the mushroom, the very youth who had bought the mushroom killed them by himself!!
If ‘mysterious’ was the only term to describe Bai Yunfei at first, the veil of ‘strong’ could now also be applied to him.
News that Tang Xinyun had been stolen was the biggest topic of discussion among all the other topics.
The only daughter to the Tang was kidnapped from within the city!!
When people first heard about it, they thought it was balderdash at first, but the truth was the truth.
Her kidnapping was without a doubt a huge slap to the face of the lord mayor Xuan Yuan. Despite the careful work he had put in to maintain security during the event, there was still a single chink in his work. The auction house had taken up all of his focus, leaving the other aspects of the city left untouched. With a gap like that, it seemed only obvious that the infamous ‘Stone Asura’ Ta Shan would exploit it.
Yet again, the mysterious young man appeared. Not long after the daughter was kidnapped did the same young man bring her back safe and sound!!
Eyewitness reports stated that not long after they saw the daughter kidnapped, the young man came back from protecting the fireseed spirit mushroom. After realizing what had happened, the man leaped back onto his flying sword and flew off to save her.
The same eyewitnesses said that it didn’t take long for him to return to the city with her safe and sound.
Tang Xinyun’s kidnapping was big news to the entire city. Everyone knew that the Tang had no shortage of powerful people, even Tang Qianlei himself went after the kidnapper when he heard about it. The men from the Tang were unsuccessful in their attempts since Bai Yunfei was the one rescued her.
The one who had kidnapped Tang Xinyun—Ta Shan, the ‘Stone Asura’—was known to everyone as an infamous Soul Exalt!
If the young man was the one who had defeated the ‘Stone Asura’ and brought back the kidnapped girl, that could only mean…
Each and every topic of discussion caused a commotion in their own right, but only one person connected them all together…
That person was Bai Yunfei!!
Only one day had passed since then, but Bai Yunfei’s name was already known throughout Mo City.
In the eyes of the commoners, soul cultivators were beings of unbelievable power. In Mo City, the commoners living there knew a great deal about soul cultivators, but the things Bai Yunfei had accomplished in one day alone was starting to sound like some sort of fantastical epic.
Each iteration of the story retold was an iteration different from the last, making the story even more unbelievable than ever, leaving people unsure of what was true or not.
One rumor in particular made its way to the ears of Jing Mingfeng—
During the one year Tang Xinyun was traveling, she came across the man known as Bai Yunfei and returned home to discuss the topic of marriage. Many said that there was already a child on the way…
Practically howling with laughter, Jing Mingfeng relayed the rumor to Bai Yunfei who nearly spat blood out of his mouth while Tang Xinyun’s ears turned redder than a tomato.
She refused to look up at Bai Yunfei the rest of the day.
……
No matter how turbulent the rumors about him became, Bai Yunfei managed to remain calm. He didn’t leave the Tang residence for days so he could recover his strength.
His battle with Ta Shan left Bai Yunfei with plenty to digest, so he preferred to stay in his room and train in peace.
He didn’t bother to go to the remaining few days of the auction either. He hadn’t been very interested to begin with, and since there wouldn’t be a second fireseed spirit mushroom, Bai Yunfei saw no need to make a return visit.
Speaking of the fireseed spirit mushroom, his failure to deliver it to Tang Xinyun left him vexed.
She didn’t seem to mind. She would gently comfort him whenever it was mentioned.
Her comfort only served to aggravate him even more since he didn’t know when he’d be able to come across another fireseed spirit mushroom…
Though the fireseed spirit mushroom granted Bai Yunfei a second essence fireseed, he tried his best to not look into the issue. His master had once said that it was impossible for a soul cultivator to have two fully developed origin essences of the same element.
In the case that such an event occurred, one would devour the other, which was a good scenario.
Another possibility was that the two origin essences make his body explode—a path frequently traveled by a good deal of people who tried before.
A legend existed within the Crafting School that someone had once formed a ‘companion fireseed,’ but that was a special case with extenuating circumstances…
With all that said and done with, what would Bai Yunfei be considered??
One essence fireseed was better than ever in his body, and the other essence fireseed was slowly gathering power in his Cataclysmic Seal.
Zi Jin had never mentioned anything about this before.
Bai Yunfei only spent two days observing the state of his essence fireseeds. Since nothing extraordinary could be documented, he gave up and labeled the situation as the best case scenario.
He had an essence fireseed in his body and his strength was back. The Cataclysmic Seal had a fireseed and its power was stronger than ever.
It was the best of both worlds, really. While Bai Yunfei couldn’t guarantee that something worrisome wouldn’t happen, he could, at the very least, take it easy and return to Zi Jin for advice.
Of course, that was only if nothing out of the ordinary happened with the Cataclysmic Seal. It went without saying that a sleeping dragon should be left undisturbed.
Jing Mingfeng saw fit to go to the auction house every day with Zhao Xiluo since Bai Yunfei remained cooped up in his room.
Tang Xinyun and Kou Tingting didn’t leave the Tang residence much, but when they did, the Tang had some guards accompany them.
Neither Bai Yunfei nor Tang Xinyun found anything out of the ordinary in Ta Shan and Hidden Snake’s space rings, so they let the Tang inspect them as well.
When the Tang came up with nothing as well, the two parties decided to just let the matter drop.
The auction house officially ended several days later, but Bai Yunfei didn’t really care which family got which heaven tier soul armament. Jing Mingfeng, on the other hand, had made out like a bandit. He was understandably gleeful for days.
What only served to make him happier was the fact that his wind squaller was already awake and strong enough to be called a late-stage third class soulbeast. Thus, it was as strong as a late-stage Soul Warrior.
In short, Bai Yunfei didn’t really care for much the following days after his battle with Ta Shan. The outside world might’ve been hustling and bustling, but Bai Yunfei found it rather dull. After the battle, Bai Yunfei only really wanted a well-deserved rest.
Only two days after the auction house ended did Bai Yunfei’s previously calm heart start to race with excitement when Tang Jing brought a notice to him…