Chapter 299

: Easy to Enter, Hard to Leave!
Translator: 
Myriea_ActiasLuna 
 Editor: 
Nou
While releasing a crazed laugh, Li Ying became the first person to barge into the cauldron.
Although it seemed brash on the surface, Li Ying’s careful study of the cultivator he’d kicked inside earlier had given him an understanding of the pellet mist’s properties. After making up his mind, he dashed towards the cauldron while an endless stream of bloody malice rose up from his body to form a heavy black armor covering every inch of his body. Ghostly text adorned the armor, and the shoulders, knees, and forehead each had a terrifying spectral face. Since the armor was completely air-tight, he could use it to better withstand the fumes.

The fight for the opportunity is decided in a single moment. A little risk is worth it,
the three fairies of the northern mountains whispered amongst themselves before the green-dressed woman took out three pellets and ordered her other sisters to each hold one in their mouths. These were Spirit Dispersion Pellets—pellets that could disperse the medicinal properties of other pellets into nothing—and once each had a pellet in place, the three women held their breath and dashed towards the cauldron with determined expressions. They intended to grasp the opportunity within the cauldron’s interior before before the effects of these pellets wore off.

Pfft, mere pellet fumes aren’t difficult for me at all!
Hahn Longzi wasn’t about to be outdone, so he waved his blue sword and caused an icy armor to cover his body. Once he was covered, he dashed towards the cauldron as well and nearly slammed against Fang Xing’s shoulders in the process thanks to how close they were, although whether it was intentional or not was hard to say at a glance. He turned to look towards Fang Xing, and when he saw him in seeming deep thought, he took it for timidity and released a cold, disdainful laugh.
Nayyyy 
…..
A horse neighed in the distant sky, followed shortly after by a silver-armored man rushing close while riding atop his Dragon Horse. Although this young master of the Han clan had left earlier before, he’d reined in his horse and returned once he noticed the appearance of the Foundation Stage opportunity.
Swoosh 
….
The Han clan young master tore a white cloth and used it to cover the nose and mouth of his Dragon Horse before dashing straight into the cauldron without a single pause.
Whether it was various weapons and tools, pellets, or secret spells, the other cultivators used their own methods to try to block the pellet fumes as well. There were also those who didn’t have anything in particular to use against the fumes, so they merely clenched their teeth, held their breath, and rushed swiftly into the cauldron. Foundation Stage cultivators had an extremely powerful life force and their breath persisted for much longer—a Foundation Stage cultivator’s ability to hold their breath was over a hundred times greater than ordinary men. A single inhale would give them quite some time, and as long as they managed to make it back out before they ran out of oxygen, they wouldn’t be affected by the pellet fumes. This was nothing more than a last resort, of course, but an opportunity like this didn’t appear every day and could be easily missed; if they were even a single step behind, they might lose the chance altogether.
In truth, even the cultivators who used various secret spells to fend off the pellet fumes still needed to hold their breath. The fumes were so dense not even the spells could completely block them off, it simply meant it would be less intense and their single breath would last for a little bit more time. Since no one knew how long this would take, the longer someone could hold their breath, the more likely they’d be able to obtain the opportunity within.
The blue-clothed bandit turned to look at Fang Xing with curiosity.
Why are you so calm?
He’d gotten a good look at Fang Xing’s temperament by now and knew he was the kind of person who’d chase after any treasure, big or small. Fang Xing was the kind of person who believed even the smallest mosquito still had some meat, the kind of person who’d rather wrongly kill three thousand innocents than wrongly let a single criminal go. He was the kind of person who was willing to put aside his pride to rob even a spirit herb from a Spirit stage cultivator, so why was he suddenly not concerned now?
Fang Xing rolled his eyes before smirking at the blue-clothed bandit.
Aren’t you also very calm?

The blue-clothed bandit opened his palm and revealed a very mysterious ocean-blue bead.
I’d originally planned on keeping this in my mouth and entering the cauldron as soon as possible, but after seeing how calm you are, there must be something wrong. If it’s not something wrong, it it has to be something bad. With how much greed you have, how can you hold it in and remain outside? You must have found something, or….


Or I’ve thought of an excellent idea?
Fang Xing snickered but didn’t answer further and instead simply looked around.
Everyone who had the ability to block off the fumes had entered inside by now, leaving only a small number of cultivators behind, most of whom were people without much ability anyway. After Fang Xing carefully checked to make sure there was no one outside who was of any threat to him, he stopped holding himself back and showed a mischievous smile. With a loud laugh, he dashed towards the cauldron and began to circle around it to ensure this was the only door that had opened, and it was only then that he took out a few formation flags and tossed them into the air.
Swoosh swoosh swoosh

As the flags floated in the air, Qi began to flow through them and a large formation appeared to block the cauldron’s door while Fang Xing himself sat in the formation’s center to protect the pivot.
This bunch of bastards. It’s easy to enter, but leaving will be much more difficult…
he declared with a laugh.
When the blue-clothed bandit understood his intent, his eyes began to gleam with excitement as well.
Good idea!
He realized it wasn’t that Fang Xing didn’t want to fight for the opportunities within, he’d simply come up with an evil scheme again. The others were all inside vying for the opportunity, yet he intended to block the door to keep people from leaving!
It had to be said that the cultivators all had to hold their breaths in order to enter the cauldron and fight for this opportunity, and although a Foundation Stage cultivator was able to hold their breath much longer than an ordinary person, it still wasn’t forever. It was also inevitable fights would break out inside the cauldron as people competed for the opportunity, ensuring their Qi and vitality would be wasted and the time they could hold their breath would be reduced even further. Blocking the door like this was ruthless and harsh.
As soon as his formation was set up, Fang Xing sat in the air and looked towards the Flag of Ten Thousand Spirits below.
Hey, let me have a few….
The Peng King immediately knew what he intended and sent two streams of black smoke upwards to coil around Fang Xing’s fingers, only for Fang Xing to give a flick and send the smoke off into the cauldron. Each strand of black smoke had a beast spirit, and although their battle prowess was extremely weak, they could still be used as Fang Xing’s eyes. Once that was finished, Fang Xing relaxed and stared at the door with a smile and gleaming eyes.
As for the cultivators outside, whether they were in the sky or on the ground, they were all confused by what he was doing and could only guess at his purpose. Some believed Fang Xing had no way of blocking off the pellet fumes himself and began to inwardly gloat that he was unable to enter the cauldron, but no one dared to provoke him up close—they’d only watch from afar.
The blue-clothed bandit, for his part, simply watched from the side with a smile. When he saw it would take a while before anything exciting occurred, he simply went back to the ground and sat atop the horse carriage to wait in leisure. He even pulled out a small pack of snacks he shared with Chu Ci.
Inside the cauldron, a fierce battle had begun.
Although Fang Xing was waiting outside, he’d sent two beast spirits into the cauldron so he could control them and understand what was happening inside. The interior was considerably larger than its outside appearance suggested, with a curved ceiling and floor extending a good hundred square feet.
The area was filled with an extremely dense smog of pellet fumes that was so thick the treasures inside couldn’t be clearly seen by the naked eye. Once the cultivators entered, they began to concentrate their awareness on searching every inch without leaving anything behind. This cauldron was incredibly mysterious, after all, and anything inside could be an extremely rare treasure.
A woman who looked around thirty years old suddenly picked up a purple and gold gourd while inwardly exclaiming in joy and excitement, ‘What luck! It is the heavens that have let me run into such great luck….’ 
Just as her mind was filled with such delighted thoughts, however, she subconsciously picked up that something was wrong. Looking around her, she realized no fewer than seven vicious pairs of eyes had focused on her in that moment. A cold snort came from behind her before a blue light flashed, leaving half of her body frozen solid on the spot.
A hand swiped forward to take the gourd from her grasp. The hand belonged to Hahn Longzi, and he swept his gaze coldly around all of the surrounding cultivators, causing them to all avert their gaze. With a sneer, he moved to place the gourd into his storage sack, only to realize after several attempts the storage sack wouldn’t accept it at all. The only thing he could do was use a rope-like spirit tool to tie it tightly onto his back before continuing with his search.

He also just found a gourd…
someone used Qi to message everyone nearby while pointing to someone else. A countless number of gazes all shifted in that direction, and so much concentrated attention caused the middle-aged cultivator in question to grow pale….
He’d found a gourd and intended to hide it in secret, but he hadn’t expected someone else to see it and reveal it to everyone else.
BOOM 
….
The man was shot with a stream of Qi. The person who did so reached out towards the gourd still in the man’s grasp.
A chaotic battle suddenly broke out, and the five or so cultivators were so focused on the brawl they didn’t notice the subtle pink mist flying their way. By the time these cultivators had realized something was wrong with their bodies, the three fairies of temptation from the northern mountains had already appeared wearing cheeky smiles. The fairies easily walked past the petrified cultivators and snatched away the gourd they’d been fighting over.
The green-dressed woman opened the gourd and placed a pellet in her hand.
It’s actually Foundation Cleansing Pellets, and at least ten of them. What great luck…
she declared, filled with joy.
Fang Xing had been monitoring with his beast spirits hiding in the corner, and he was also filled with joy when he caught sight of the pellets.
Foundation Cleansing Pellet? That’s some good stuff….

He could see these pellets were called Foundation Cleansing Pellets and that they were used to help improve the quality of a Foundation Stage cultivator’s foundation. It was similar to what Leng Ziyan had used once before, but the Foundation Cleansing Pellets found outside were mostly for people with red or blue foundations.
Fang Xing couldn’t tell whether the pellets in this cauldron would be helpful for a purple foundation like his, but one thing was certain: whether it was ultimately useful or not, he’d already decided he’d take some to test it out himself.