novelapdf Chapter 263 Getting Kicked by the Group
Chapter 263 Getting Kicked by the Group
In less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Du Fan was carefully placed on the bed by Tian Wu. The woman gave Du Fan a reproachful look and said sternly, "Your martial arts are no less than Qi Yufeng's, so why didn't you try to hold him off for a bit before resorting to a desperate fighting style right from the start?"
"I learned all of this from you," Du Fan said, glancing at Tian Wu with a half-smile.
"You... even at a time like this, you still have the leisure to joke around. I think your injuries aren't serious enough!" Tian Wu said angrily, her face flushed.
"Hehe, it's already like this, do you expect me to burst into tears? By the way, where's Qi Yufeng's package?" Du Fan chuckled and asked.
"Don't worry, no one's going to take it from you. It's already in your closet." Tian Wu rolled her eyes at Du Fan. She couldn't understand what this guy was thinking about all day...
Then, the two of them started chatting casually, one sentence after another.
An hour later.
"Wu'er, come out first, don't disturb Mr. Zhou's treatment of the chieftain." Old Shen's voice slowly came from the door of the bamboo house.
Upon hearing this, Tian Wu immediately stood up, glanced at Du Fan with concern, and then slowly walked out of the room.
……
After about the time it takes to eat a meal, Mr. Zhou pushed open the door to Du Fan's room and came out.
Before the four elders of the Green Forest and Tian Wu could ask any questions, Mr. Zhou smiled slightly and spoke first, saying the same words as before.
Upon hearing this, everyone exchanged bewildered glances.
……
Half a day later, Du Fan sat cross-legged in the original cave. Recalling the wonderful expressions of the four elders of the Green Forest and Tian Wu, a meaningful smile appeared on his face.
"If I do this a few more times, they'll probably collapse on the spot." Du Fan smiled slightly, then shook his head, flicked his wrist, and immediately took out a package, which was none other than Qi Yufeng's belongings.
This package was just an ordinary cloth bag. Obviously, as a rogue cultivator with only the first level of Qi Refining, the other party did not have the qualifications or financial resources to purchase a storage bag.
After a brief investigation, Du Fan couldn't help but purse his lips; the other party's wealth was clearly within his expectations.
Inside the package, the only items that could be considered cultivation items were a pale yellow demon core and nine low-grade spirit stones. Apart from that, there were some miscellaneous items.
Du Fan sighed, immediately losing interest. After putting the demon core and spirit stones into his storage bag, he was about to take out a fire-burning talisman to burn the rest on the spot when his expression suddenly changed.
"It's a map, I almost overlooked it."
With a single gesture, a blue cloth robe flew out of the package and was caught in his hand.
On the back of the cloth garment, thick and thin lines seemed to have been drawn with ink, depicting peaks, valleys, and other scenery. There were even some words engraved in a few places.
At the edge of the map is a river, and the scene abruptly ends there. Upon closer inspection, it can be seen that this is an incomplete, crudely made map, and it appears to be not an original object, but rather a later rubbing.
"It seems that Qi Yufeng's words before his death were not entirely a lie. This fragment of the map is most likely a treasure map that records the location of that cultivator's cave. Unfortunately, it is not complete. Relying solely on this is not enough to meet the conditions for treasure hunting."
Du Fan rested his chin on his hand, unconsciously falling into deep thought.
"Huh? This bamboo forest looks so familiar... Oh right, isn't this the place where Green Forest Stronghold is located! No wonder..."
Although Qi Yufeng did not know the exact location of the cultivator's cave, he recognized this bamboo forest, so he wanted to occupy Green Forest Village first to lay the foundation for future treasure hunting.
"Yes, that should be right, it must be!" Du Fan's eyes suddenly flashed, and he nodded, thinking to himself.
"Forget it, even if it were a complete treasure map, I wouldn't bother with it for now. My top priority right now is to break through the bottleneck and truly step into the seventh level of the Qi Refining stage!"
Only when that time comes will I be able to barely protect myself. Otherwise, what use are all those treasures if I'm already dead? They'll just be a wedding dress for someone else...
Thinking of this, a sharp glint flashed in Du Fan's eyes, and at that moment, a murderous aura appeared on his entire being.
After a long while, Du Fan took a deep breath, and with a wave of his right hand, a fire-reduction talisman flew out and formed a ball of flame in mid-air. In a flash, it turned the pile of debris on the ground into ashes.
Then, with a flick of his hand, he snatched up the cloth robe engraved with the fragments of the treasure map.
Without further hesitation, Du Fan flicked his wrist, and more than ten deep yellow demon cores and an equal amount of pill-dissolving water appeared and scattered on the ground.
Du Fan didn't mind the mess. He immediately hooked his left index finger towards the ground, and a demon core trembled slightly before shooting into the sky. The moment he grabbed it, he flicked his wrist again, and the demon core turned into a deep yellow streak of light, disappearing into Du Fan's mouth in a flash.
Immediately afterwards, he grabbed at the air with one hand, and a small bottle appeared in an instant. As he looked up, he swallowed the potion of pill-refining water along with the demon core in his mouth.
A month later, when Du Fan swallowed the last deep yellow demon core and a dose of pill-refining water and completed the refining process, his face had already turned ashen and looked extremely ugly.
"I still haven't broken through. I've already swallowed thirty-one of these deep yellow demon cores in total. Is it because my method is wrong? Or am I not swallowing enough? Or is my cultivation aptitude truly so terrible that it's beyond redemption?"
Du Fan's eyes were slightly red, and he felt extremely depressed, even a little irritable and agitated.
"To purchase these deep yellow demon cores, I now have less than 20,000 spirit stones left. If these demon cores can help me break through my bottleneck, that's fine, but if I ultimately fail to advance, I cannot accept it..."
"Given my current state of mind and physical condition, it is no longer suitable for me to continue cultivating. Otherwise, I will achieve half the results with twice the effort, and it will be even more difficult to break through..."
"Perhaps we should return to the mountain stronghold first, so we can find out what's going on there. We don't want it to be wiped out by other forces while I'm in seclusion."
Thinking of this, Du Fan sighed, got up and walked out of the cave, then headed straight towards Green Forest Village.
……
When he appeared at the gate of the Green Forest Village stronghold, his already somewhat gloomy face darkened even more.
The Green Forest Stronghold was now completely surrounded by a dense crowd. These people all had fierce faces and sharp eyes, clearly so-called martial arts practitioners.
Judging from their clothing, these people clearly belong to more than ten different martial arts factions. The total number of these outsiders is as high as five or six hundred.
To Du Fan's slight relief, most of these desperate men were outside the Green Forest Stronghold's gate. Although shouts and curses could be heard from time to time, they did not seem to intend to attack the stronghold immediately.
These outsiders seemed to have received some kind of order beforehand. When they saw Du Fan appear, they did not act rashly. Instead, they stepped back with unfriendly expressions, leaving him a passage to the village courtyard.
Du Fan's face was cold and his expression was ashen. He ignored the group of martial arts figures and walked straight into the stronghold.
He hadn't gone far when he saw Sha Laosan coming towards him.
At this moment, the hairy-chested man still clearly had a lingering sense of anger and humiliation on his face, but upon seeing Du Fan, it immediately turned into excitement and joy.
"Chief, you've finally emerged from seclusion." Sha Laosan forced a smile and clasped his hands in greeting.
"Such a big thing happened in the mountain stronghold, why didn't Old Wu call me? Also, how long have these guys been here?" Du Fan frowned.
"This was Elder Shen's decision. He was worried that it would affect the chieftain's cultivation, so he didn't send anyone to disturb him. These people arrived early this morning," Sha Laosan said truthfully.
"Why is the village so empty? Where are the brothers?" Du Fan scanned the bamboo houses with his divine sense and already had some guesses in his mind, but he still asked again.
"Boss Tian has ordered all the brothers to return to their bamboo houses and not go out. The four elders of the Green Forest, Boss Tian, and several core brothers are all in the council hall. The leaders of those forces outside are also there. Elder Shen and Boss Tian are dealing with them." As he finished speaking, Sha Laosan's eyes were blazing with anger.
Du Fan patted the other man on the shoulder, then smiled, a hint of reassurance in his eyes, and said, "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, the sky over Green Forest Stronghold won't fall!"
"Yes!" Sha Laosan clenched his fists and nodded vigorously.
"Let's go, come with me and see what tricks those guys are up to," Du Fan said with a smile, but his eyes were filled with an undisguised chilling killing intent.
Upon arriving at the entrance of the council hall, Du Fan's divine sense swept over the area, his eyes gleaming with even greater killing intent. The fourteen gang leaders sitting inside were all cultivators, two of whom had reached the second level of the Qi Refining stage, while the others were all at the first level of the Qi Refining stage.
However, it seems that these people did not reveal their true identities, but only presented themselves as local leaders.
"A whole bunch of cultivators have gathered at Green Forest Stronghold, most likely for that matter. Hmph! Ever since my failed cultivation breakthrough, I've been suppressing a burning anger, just waiting for an outlet. You've come at the perfect time!"
Du Fan snorted inwardly and immediately stepped into the council hall.