Chapter 545: A False Alarm
The discovery regarding the white jade ape was very wondrous, and Xia Fei was forced to inspect this exquisitely crafted ape again.
The white ape had been crafted to be sitting cross-legged. On one hand, it was raising a peach. Its expression was like that of a monk in meditation, a hint of a smile on its face.
“When energy pa.s.ses through this ape, it becomes concentrated. What’s the reason for that?” Phantom asked in confusion.
Xia Fei shook his head. He also did not understand this very much. However, he had suddenly realized that this ape could be used as a pedestal.
He took out a grade 3 Origin Crystal from his spatial ring and lightly placed it on the ape. As expected, the crystal could snugly fit in the bosom of the ape!
The crystals used by the Law Realm were identical in size. While the white jade ape was seated cross-legged, there was a s.p.a.ce between its legs which was perfect for an Origin Crystal!
Even more surprising was that the white jade ape was slowly absorbing the energy, and that peach it held high overhead began glowing like a lightbulb!
Holding his breath, Xia Fei lightly placed his finger on it.
*Whoosh~*
A very thin and pure thread of energy swiftly entered his seventh brain region like an agile snake!
This unprecedented sensation left Xia Fei both surprised and delighted. Once concentrated, the energy was incredibly pure, but there was still a bit of intensity to it. It seemed like this was the essence of Origin Energy, that true most effective part!
Xia Fei immediately tried to cultivate the Law of Energy Purification in his seventh brain region!
Those threads of energy, which had originally been difficult to control, were now much more obedient. Before this, they ran around, doing whatever they pleased, no matter what Xia Fei thought, but now, this sort of behavior was much less frequent.
It still was not easy to control them, for they would often overcompensate. When Xia Fei had it go left, it would immediately travel a long distance. The direction was right, but the strength was too much.
At this time, Xia Fei’s superb energy control went to work. He constantly adjusted his control over the thread, slowly making subtle adjustments.
The pattern began to form, the threads growing more and more concentrated. This could be considered a rather tough test of Xia Fei’s energy control.
Suddenly, when the pattern was nearly half complete, the Origin Crystal in the white jade ape’s bosom dimmed and lost its l.u.s.ter.
“Ten minutes! A grade 3 Origin Crystal can only last ten minutes!” Phantom exclaimed. “The white jade ape is seemingly able to alter the nature of energy, causing your consumption of energy during cultivation to increase ma.s.sively!”
Xia Fei frowned. A grade 3 crystal was normally enough to sustain his cultivation for an hour, but the time had been reduced to a sixth of that! This was truly a pricey endeavor!
Nonetheless, he was making progress in the Law of Energy Purification. This sort of pleasant surprise was enough to balance out the expensive cost. As long as he could become an energy master, money and energy would cease to be problems! All the costs would be worth it.
Gritting his teeth, Xia Fei removed a yellow grade 4 Origin Crystal from his ring. Xia Fei had many grade 3 crystals, but only one hundred grade 4s. He had used most of them in purchasing the liquid war armor, Silver Sand.
Once the grade 4 crystal was placed in the white jade ape’s bosom, the peach above its head began glowing with an even brighter l.u.s.ter. Xia Fei readied himself to cultivate the Law of Energy Purification again.
*Thump thump thump!*
Knocking came from outside. “Master, there’s a guest here to see you,” Pod said.
“Who could it be?” Xia Fei put away the white jade ape and left the cultivation chamber for the living room.
He saw Mu Fuping and Yu Hua sitting next to each other. The meticulous Pod had already served tea and snacks to the pair, which they were in the middle of enjoying.
Xia Fei smiled. “Miss Mu, why are you here?”
Mu Fuping said, “When you were at Unique Pavilion, you said that I need to observe on-site how warriors actually live and what they require, so I asked Senior Yu Hua to take me around the Yu family.”
Xia Fei’s mind was completely occupied by the problem of the Law of Energy Purification, so he was not paying much attention to Yu Hua and Mu Fuping. He asked back, “The Withered Mu family has even more warriors. Why come to here to observe?”
Yu Hua almost spat out his tea as he shot Xia Fei a strange look. Xia Fei seemed to have some sort of grudge against Mu Fuping, always speaking to her with a scolding tone. This was a young lady of one of the Nine Great Clans. When mocking others, one had to understand who they were mocking!
Not only did Mu Fuping not blame Xia Fei in the least, she seemed to admire Xia Fei even more. Even the ears of a statue would start getting calluses after hearing twenty years of praise. Thus, Mu Fuping preferred it when people were more straightforward with her.
“The people in my family will always be apprehensive when speaking with me, so it will be very difficult for me to know of their true experiences,” Mu Fuping explained.
Xia Fei replied, “Oh, that’s simple. If you change your face and disguise yourself, you’ll naturally be able to go unrecognized. When you go walking among a different family, you’ll be able to hear their true feelings easily.”
*Pa!*
A noise came from the roof!
“Someone’s eavesdropping!” Yu Hua said in shock.
*Whoosh~*
Xia Fei and Yu Hua charged out. One was a speed ability user while the other was a Great Law Emperor. They moved very quickly; alas, the person on the roof was even faster!
In the time it took to blink, that person was gone without a trace!
*Whoos.h.!.+*
Xia Fei jumped onto the roof and scanned the tiles. The roof was covered in dust, and the person who had been lying on top of it and listening had naturally left an impression.
“One person 1.7 meters tall, with a thin figure.”
Placing his fingers on the tiles, Xia Fei added, “Warm. Presumably, they came with you and Mu Fuping and have been hiding up here for some time.”
Yu Hua was furious. For a Great Law Emperor to have been followed without realizing it was an immense humiliation!
“You stay behind and protect Miss Mu. I’ll go and search for him!” Yu Hua loudly said. After which, he completely vanished.
Xia Fei swiftly jumped down the roof and headed back into the room. Placing Furball on his thigh, he began to think.
The Withered Mu family was one of humanity’s nine strongest law clans. If a member of them died in the Yu family, in his house, he would undoubtedly be implicated!
This was a vicious move! If someone was intent on framing the Yu family, there truly was not much one could do about it.
“Does Miss Fuping have an enemy?” Xia Fei sternly asked.
Mu Fuping somewhat hesitantly said, “I have not had an enemy before.”
“Then could it be an enemy of the Withered Mu family taking their anger out on you?”
After some thought, Mu Fuping said, “My family is enormous. What clan wouldn’t have an enemy?”
Xia Fei said nothing, taking up a tea cup and sipping on it.
Mu Fuping suddenly thought of something, but after hesitating for some time, she decided not to say anything.
A few moments later, Yu Hua returned. Xia Fei glanced at Yu Hua’s expression and knew that the mysterious eavesdropper had escaped. Someone who could escape from Great Law Emperor Yu Hua? That person must possess a very high cultivation.
Raising his tea cup, Xia Fei said, “Miss Fuping, I have important business to attend to, so I won’t keep you.”
Raising the tea cup and sending off the guest?
Such decisiveness!
Mu Fuping felt dizzy. What had she done to offend Xia Fei to be treated like this?
Xia Fei furtively exchanged a glance with Yu Hua, and Yu Hua gave a slight nod.
The two of them were not like Mu Fuping, who had grown up in the middle of a mansion and did not understand the wickedness of human nature.
What Mu Fuping viewed as an insignificant incident had triggered the vigilance of Yu Hua and Xia Fei, and Yu Hua did not blame Xia Fei for sending his guest away. He was keenly aware that nothing could happen to Mu Fuping while she was in the Yu family. The Yus could not take the wrath of one of the Nine Great Clans!
“Miss Mu, I will send you back. We can observe the warriors cultivating later,” Yu Hua firmly said.
Mu Fuping was truly vexed. To her surprise, even Yu Hua, who had always treated her with respect, was asking her to leave!
“Alright. I’ll take my leave, then!” Mu Fuping coldly said, not even saying goodbye to Xia Fei before barging out the door.
Yu Hua said, “You follow her. I’ll remain in proximity and keep watch.”
Xia Fei firmly nodded. After working together once already, the two shared some level of tacit understanding.
At a time like this, no one would care about the anger of the Young Lady Mu. Her rage was nothing compared to the annihilation of the Yu family!
Even the slick and unscrupulous Yu Hua had not shown the slightest hesitation. It was clear that, while Xia Fei’s methods were callous and cold, they were the most appropriate. Nothing regarding the Nine Great Clans was a minor affair!
Xia Fei went after Mu Fuping, placing Furball on his shoulder as he looked warily around.
Mu Fuping truly had been rather angry at the start. Every girl had some temper, and anyone would have found it hard to accept being driven out of someone’s home so abruptly.
However, Xia Fei’s wary eyes made her realize that something was off. After that noise came from the roof, Yu Hua and Xia Fei had become different people, their expressions grim.
At this moment, Xia Fei happened to run into Yu Qiqi.
Yu Qiqi stood at the intersection, a mischievous look on her face. “Oh, which family is this girl you’ve seduced from? She looks rather pretty.”
Yu Qiqi was a heartless sort, and she was an expert at messing around with other people. If Mu Fuping was really Xia Fei’s girlfriend, she would certainly immediately go red at the ears from these words, which was exactly what Yu Qiqi was after.
Alas, before Yu Qiqi could see Mu Fuping blush, she was greeted by an angry roar.
“Scram!” Xia Fei bellowed, and Yu Qiqi’s face froze. Before she could react, Xia Fei and Mu Fuping had already walked past her.
Yu Qiqi’s mistake was her timing this time around. Normally, Xia Fei would have definitely retorted, throwing back an appropriate response to whatever he received. Unfortunately, Xia Fei had no intention of joking around with Little Miss Qi. His one ‘scram’ had left Yu Qiqi stunned.
‘It seems like Xia Fei isn’t very patient when it comes to women. It seems that he was already being very polite with me.’ Those who spoke had no idea of what those who listened were thinking. Mu Fuping had mistakenly believed that this was Xia Fei’s real personality, thus creating a misunderstanding that was neither too large nor too small.
At the Spatial Gate, Yu Hua and Xia Fei sent Mu Fuping back to Foundry City, both appearing rather nervous.
Only after they watched Mu Fuping enter Unique Pavilion did Yu Hua and Xia Fei finally sigh in relief.
“That was close. It seems that someone is watching Miss Mu, though I don’t know if it’s an enemy,” Yu Hua said.
Xia Fei nodded. “It’s a good thing nothing bad happened at my house. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be able to clear our names even if we jumped into the Yellow River.”
Yu Hua smiled. “You know, don’t you think we understand each other rather well?”
Xia Fei replied, “Anyone would immediately think about sending Miss Mu home. If something bad happened, the implications would be severe.”
“However, Mu Fuping is certain to think that we don’t respect her thusly, and she may not return to the Yu family anymore.” Yu Hua sighed.
Xia Fei smiled. “Would you like her to visit the Yu family more often?”
“No. At least not right now.”
As the two were conversing, they returned to the Yu family through the Spatial Gate. They were greeted by a furious Yu Qiqi, who was about to explode in vitriol against Xia Fei. However, upon seeing Yu Hua, Yu Qiqi changed her mind, putting on a pitiful appearance and saying, “Uncle Hua, Xia Fei was bullying me!”
Yu Hua indifferently said, “I saw it all.”
Yu Qiqi was delighted. “Then how do you plan to punish him? He scolded your obedient little niece!”
“Serves you right!” Yu Hua barked these three words before walking off with Xia Fei, leaving behind a once-more stupefied Yu Qiqi.