Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Innate Opportunity

Ever since Brother Bao began installing the lighting system, Lord Beiyuan Mansion had been in an uproar.

Brother Bao, the youngest son of the old Lord Beiyuan, had always been somewhat capricious. Even after receiving his share of the family estate, the matriarch in charge of the inner household was still worried about him, fearing that he would squander his money and eventually fall into poverty.

Now, the person in charge of the inner household’s finances was Lord Beiyuan’s wife. She often had her reservations about her brother-in-law’s behavior, thinking he was incapable of managing daily affairs. However, as he was spending his own money, she couldn’t really say anything.

The things the little brother-in-law had spent a great deal of money on this time were indeed dazzling, but… weren’t they too expensive?

Brother Bao’s wife could hardly bear it and complained to the Countess, “It cost two thousand taels of Gold. We couldn’t not give it to him.”

While Brother Bao’s wife complained, there was also a hint of showing off, and the Countess graciously expressed that it was for adding possessions to the family. Men, well, as long as they don’t spend money on those seductive women outside, it’s all fine.

She seemed to be consoling, but as soon as she turned her head, she spread the word that Brother Bao’s actions had driven his sister-in-laws to seek her out in tears.

After all, it was just some inner household affairs. Without something to occupy them, wouldn’t women get bored?

Therefore, Brother Bao’s project had attracted high attention from the start. Even before the Deng Family Brothers had left, crowds had come to observe.

They had no chance to see the surveillance room, but the sight of the brilliant lights at night was shocking enough.

The items were indeed good, but… they were truly quite costly, something probably even Lord Beiyuan himself couldn’t afford to squander recklessly.

Lord Beiyuan, who usually didn’t interfere with inner household matters, also caught wind of it. He was just about to head out with the Princely Heir of Duke Yongyi to make arrangements for the Imperial Lady’s birthday banquet and was worrying about what to get—what hadn’t the Little Princess of the Imperial Family seen before?

So, he went to have a look and found it quite appropriate. He then sent people to find out more about it.

Right on his doorstep, his servants encountered a martial master from Qingning Prefecture. As it turned out, this martial master wasn’t a stranger; he was a military officer from the barracks, surnamed Zhao. Later, Lord Beiyuan learned that this man hailed from the Zhao family estate.

The martial master naturally demonized Feng Jun, painting him in the worst light possible. He also mentioned that Wonderful Hand Pavilion had recently been looking for trouble with Feng Jun—”If you don’t act quickly, you might miss your chance.”

What followed needs no further elaboration. Lord Beiyuan wanted to deal with Feng Jun, but Brother Bao wouldn’t agree; there was arguing and chaos, resulting in Brother Bao getting placed under house arrest—this was done with the old lady’s consent.

Then, the Princely Heir happened to pass by Lord Beiyuan Mansion and personally inspected the outcome, being extremely satisfied. So, they all headed straight for Qingning Prefecture.

Of course, the Princely Heir would not be easily exploited. As the primary heir of Duke Yongyi, he had ample connections. Without his direct involvement, natural intermediaries reached out to other forces.

After their arrival at Qingning Prefecture, they managed to make indirect contact with Wonderful Hand Pavilion.

The stance of Wonderful Hand Pavilion was clear; although they coveted treasures, they were not interested in the generators—simple reasoning, the contraption couldn’t be a collectible but only sold for profit.

For Wonderful Hand Pavilion, which always operated in the shadows, such a maneuver held no practical significance.

However, they did express their wish to conveniently eliminate Feng Jun if possible—”That scoundrel has killed many of our people recently and even displayed the corpses publicly. If we don’t react, not only would it unsettle our ranks, it would also make us a laughingstock.”

The Princely Heir gathered this information to assess if Feng Jun had any formidable backers.

In the end, his conclusion was that the real challenge was Feng Jun himself—after all, the fellow had already killed two Innate Experts.

As for the possibility of encountering an Immortal, everyone thought it was highly unlikely, especially given the Warning Formation concocted by Feng Jun—without an Immortal Crystal to activate it, how could you dare to call it a Formation?

But upon discussion, if they really wanted to take action against Feng Jun, it would be somewhat difficult; hence, they sought the help of Official Government forces to suppress him—winning without a fight was always the best outcome.

As various tactics were deployed, Feng Jun somehow withstood them all. The Princely Heir wanted the Official Government to take coercive measures, but there was a significant risk in deploying local troops for an attack—Duke Yongyi had adversaries within the court too.

Besides, the local officials were willing to help with minor favors, but none were willing to bear the responsibility of deploying troops.

In the end, Lord Beiyuan and the Princely Heir each sent a High-Rank martial master to duel with Feng Jun. When they realized they couldn’t win, they deployed their final move.

Indeed, no one guessed wrong—the last to appear was the Innate Expert, facilitated by the Princely Heir.

However, when those three made their entrance, shouting “Wonderful Hand Pavilion’s orders,” it was not purely a frame-up—the enveloping formation had come from Wonderful Hand Pavilion and was pre-installed to be easily activated.

But Wonderful Hand Pavilion didn’t engage in loss-making deals; they declared that they could provide the Immortal Array, but not the Immortal Crystals.

Left with no choice, the Princely Heir had to reluctantly supply a used Spirit Stone.

In fact, this marked the collaboration between the Princely Heir and Wonderful Hand Pavilion. To dissociate themselves from any direct involvement, they found a middleman—Yangshan Gu Family.

Indeed, among the final three who appeared, the Innate Expert belonged to the Princely Heir’s side, the one waving the command flag was from Wonderful Hand Pavilion, and the other High-Rank martial master was from Yangshan Gu Family.

As for what happened next, there’s no need to say, the Immortal Array at Wonderful Hand Pavilion was destroyed, and the Immortal Crystals were taken by Feng Jun— even the Princely Heir, with no integrity to speak of, wouldn’t have the shamelessness to demand that Immortal Crystal in public.

Lord Beiyuan was extremely cooperative, recounting everything that had taken place. He believed that since none of the three people who showed up at the end were sent by him, he hadn’t completely burnt bridges.

Indeed, he had done many wrongs, but the strong taking from the weak was a common occurrence in this plane; the weak simply didn’t deserve too many fine things, and now… wasn’t he regretful?

Feng Jun found this a bit painful to hear, feeling that the law of the jungle was a bit too explicit in this plane, but then again upon reflection, the Earth Realm was not much better, it was just a little more concealed.

After finishing his speech, Lord Beiyuan once again emphasized that he truly bore no ill will towards Mr. Feng, he was merely after the wealth, and had never considered murder; otherwise, he would have acted differently.

Lang Zhen was unsatisfied upon hearing this and let out a cold laugh, “So what you’re saying is, with more extreme methods, you might have hurt the Divine Doctor? How about this… shall we give you a chance to try?”

“I have no such intentions,” Lord Beiyuan shook his head and spoke loudly, feeling infinitely aggrieved: at this point, you still speak of the Divine Doctor? Clearly, he’s an Immortal!

The infamous Lone Wolf could be so shameless…

Lord Beiyuan solemnly asserted: No matter how I had planned, I couldn’t possibly have harmed the Divine Doctor, but indeed, I didn’t arrange for any extreme measures; after all, at the very least, I didn’t send in soldiers to charge the Formation, right?

That statement was irrefutable, they might have seen the County Soldiers fall in droves, but that was because they were caught off guard by sudden attacks, and the explosion was too powerful.

If the County Soldiers had formed into battle arrays and initiated the attack, their combat power would have at least doubled, and if the timing was right, and they attacked by surprise, even an Immortal could be capsized in the gutter.

Having explained all this, Lord Beiyuan stared at Feng Jun, eagerly awaiting a decision.

Feng Jun however, remained silent, playing casually with a smooth silver object in his hands, staring blankly, as if lost in thought.

After a while, he suddenly snapped back to reality and tucked the item away, “Oh, you’ve finished speaking?”

Lord Beiyuan nodded, not daring to speak, but a sense of foreboding rose in his heart: It seems I haven’t managed to persuade him?

Feng Jun didn’t let him indulge in wild guesses but asked bluntly, “What price are you willing to pay for me to let you off?”

Lord Beiyuan fell silent, well aware that he couldn’t propose conditions good enough.

The Yongyi Duke’s Princely Heir, had been extorted by this guy for fifty thousand taels of Gold plus a hundred Immortal Crystals; as an accomplice, he’d have to give up at least five thousand taels of Gold plus ten Immortal Crystals, right?

The Gold wasn’t a concern, though the amount was huge, funds could be found somewhere. In a worst-case scenario, some property could be sold, but Immortal Crystals… where on earth would he find those?

He didn’t dare let Feng Jun state his terms—if the man made an offer, it would be too late to refuse.

After pondering for a long time, he hardened his scalp and spoke, “I’m willing to offer Natural Treasures worth five thousand taels of Gold and ask the Divine Doctor to please forgive my one transgression on behalf of Brother Bao.”

“Five thousand taels?” Feng Jun let out a cold laugh and interrupted without hesitation, “Is it that I’m only worth five thousand taels, or that you’re only worth five thousand taels? Do you want to make me the butt of others’ jokes?”

Seeing this Tian Yangni grew anxious, blurting out, “Are you stupid? The treasures at home, are you saving them for your offspring?”

Upon hearing this, Lord Beiyuan’s eyes lit up, “My family has a seven-colored Ribbon Grass that can assist in advancing to Innate status; I wonder if the Divine Doctor might be interested?”

Ribbon Grass is a common grass in this plane, usually appearing in three colors and edible by both humans and livestock. Four colors are also present but much rarer and can be used in medicine.

At five colors, it enters the realm of lesser Spiritual Objects, or as people say, “Three colors a grass, five colors a treasure.”

Six colors are bona fide Spiritual Objects, sought after by Innate Experts.

Seven colors are even rarer, ranking above Spiritual Objects and representing Ribbon Grass’s ultimate form. Even the rainbow in the sky only has seven colors; how could the Ribbon Grass of the earth outshine the rainbow?

There are whispers of an eight-colored Ribbon Grass, but at that stage, the grass is sentient, and beside Immortals, no one can find it.

In short, seven-colored Ribbon Grass is the highest state of this plant, ranking above Spiritual Objects, and is particularly rare because it can help one break through the martial master’s bottleneck and advance to Innate status.

There are many ways to reach Innate status in this plane, and among the universally acknowledged methods, seven-colored Ribbon Grass firmly holds its place. Many have advanced to Innate status by consuming it.

It is so well-known that many who advance to Innate status, not wanting to reveal their secrets, use it as a cover story, claiming their breakthrough came from consuming seven-colored Ribbon Grass.

It is indeed a highly sought-after item.

(Our protagonist is about to advance to Innate status, but I don’t see the monthly votes increasing, anyone got a monthly vote to spare?)