Life as a Rogue Cultivator

Chapter 276: The Second Peak of Miao Feng Mountain

The token He Taichang wanted was the Sect Leader’s token of the Hidden Zhi Sect of Xiushan. Liu Xiaolou didn’t have that one, of course, but he did have three of his own. They were in his storage pouch, buried next to the Ghost Banyan.No way was he just handing it over. You couldn't trust a soul in the Ten Thousand Great Mountains; they had no honor and didn't play by any rules. Look at the Wans, look at the Zhus. Now that he had fallen into someone else’s hands, what right did he have to negotiate any sort of trade? The second he gave them what they wanted, they'd just grab him again.

Even He Taichang in front of him was the type who killed without blinking. Liu had seen him silence the partner who collected the goods with his own eyes.

He could try luring He Taichang to the Ghost Banyan.

But the Ghost Banyan stood out. Liu couldn’t recognize it himself, and he was worried that He Taichang might. After all, the Wan couple spotted it immediately back then. So he didn’t dare rush it. That was his last resort, and he needed to think of a careful, reliable way to use it.

He said, “Feng Buji is dead. Right before he died, he told me he lost the Token. The item is still on Xiushan, but he told me a way to get it out before he passed. I came to Miao Feng Mountain hoping to meet you. As long as you agree to pay me the proper price in spirit stones, I will head to Xiushan right away and fetch it.”

He Taichang’s face went cold. “You taking the piss?”

Liu Xiaolou gave a bitter little smile. “Me? Take the piss out of you? Heaven forbid. I’ve spent a month in those mountains and paid for it every damn day. But I’ve got a way to get the item. I just need to settle the price with you first so I can go back and act on it. Who would come all the way to Miao Feng Mountain, risking his life, just to mock you? What kind of idiot would do that? Got nothing better to do, eh?”

“You’re certain you have a way? What way?” asked He Taichang.

“That I can’t spell out for you. Let’s agree on the price. You name a figure. If I think it’s fair, I’ll make the trip to Xiushan and bring the item back for you.”

He Taichang narrowed his eyes. “How many spirit stones did I spend just now to save you?”

Liu Xiaolou blinked. “Look at me, my head must be full of mush,” he said. Then he sighed. “Thought I could make a tidy bit of business out of this. Didn’t expect to end up in such a bloody mess. Fine. I’ll head to Xiushan and fetch the token for you, since that’s how it’s got to be. Unless you’d prefer to tag along yourself. Not like I’m in any shape to run.”

He Taichang’s sleeve swept through, slapping Liu across the face. Liu was sent flying more than two yards away, coughing up blood.

While choking and spitting blood, Liu Xiaolou shouted, “I really can get the token for you. The Hidden Zhi Sect’s leader token is on the offering table in the main hall on Xiushan. Feng Buji tampered with the setup, he just didn’t have time to take it. But he told me how!”

He Taichang’s face went steel‑blue, fury coiling in his eyes, ready to spring and rip me apart. Liu Xiaolou quickly reminded him, “You paid twelve spirit stones already. If you kill me, that all goes to waste!”

The words seemed to knock a bit of sense into He Taichang. He still unleashed a flurry of fists and kicks on Liu Xiaolou, but this time he held back from killing him.

After letting out his rage, he barked, “Get up. Move.”

Liu Xiaolou had escaped death again. Coughing, he staggered along behind He Taichang, barely keeping his footing as they entered a mountain path on the right. They wound around several bends, gradually descending from the high platform on the Zhu family’s side, crossed a deep ravine, and came upon a slightly lower peak ahead.

Liu Xiaolou guessed that this must be the “Second Peak” mentioned by Lord Zhu.

He was still bound by the Eightfold Restriction Cord and had just been beaten half senseless. He didn’t have the strength to climb, so He Taichang had to carry him. Before long, they reached the top of the peak.

This mountaintop was strange enough. Huge stones thrust up from the earth like jagged spikes, forming peaks that jutted in every direction. Between each stone, natural creases and folds fanned out like the petals of a blooming lotus.

He Taichang carried Liu Xiaolou to one of the stone spikes in the center and reported to an old man sitting cross-legged on top: “Uncle, we found out what happened to Feng Buji. He is dead. This kid knew him well. Feng Buji told him about the Sect Leader’s token before he died. Said he knows a way to get it out of Xiushan.”

The old man was skin-and-bone thin, draped in a long robe that made him look like a cloak-wrapped tree trunk. He was looking down, fiddling with something in his hands. He glanced at Liu Xiaolou. “So how did that little thief die?”

Liu Xiaolou told the story of that day again, saying what he could and leaving out what he had to. When he finished, the old man let out a sigh. “There is no getting it now. Since Jingzhen went so far as to kill the boy, she must already know what the token is about. She will be on guard. If we try to make a move, we might anger her, and then she could follow the trail right back to us.”

He scolded him again. “Look at the kind of person you picked back then.”

He Taichang defended himself. “Feng Buji wasn’t powerful, but he was a rare hand among thieves. Who could have guessed where it all went wrong? He always handled things cleanly before.”

The old man snorted coldly. “And yet he still ended up dead. What more is there to say?”

He Taichang didn’t dare argue anymore. He lowered his head. “What should we do with this one? I paid twelve spirit stones to buy him.”

The old man waved his hand. “Send him to Third Peak. Ask Daoist Lin if she can use him. A human cauldron at the tenth layer might be good for her dual cultivation.”

Liu Xiaolou knew what dual cultivation meant. There were righteous methods and there were demonic ones. The Sanxuan Sect cultivated the orthodox kind. He did not know who this Daoist Lin actually was, but Miao Feng Mountain was steeped in wickedness. He was almost certain that whatever awaited him on Third Peak under Daoist Lin would be the demonic kind.

He knew very well what the “human cauldron” meant in those demonic dual-cultivation technique. In less than half a month, he would be squeezed dry and turned into a human husk. An actual dried-up corpse.

So he hurriedly shouted, “I’m a formation master. I’m useful. I’m worth twelve spirit stones!” If that didn’t save his skin, then he’d have no choice but to reveal that he’d refined the formation disk key for He Taichang. Otherwise, he’d have to go to Ghost Banyan for the Sect Leader’s tokens... and then figure out some desperate way to fight back.

The same words had been shouted many times at the Zhus, without the slightest effect. But here on the Second Peak, it worked like a charm.

He Taichang kicked him again and barked, “You’re a formation master? Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

Liu Xiaolou scrambled up, coughing violently. “You never asked me. Cough, cough. I really am a formation master.”

Up on the stone spike, the old man raised an object in his hand. “Since you claim to be a formation master, then tell me, what is this?”

Liu Xiaolou tilted his head back for a look and recognized it immediately. The formation disk key, shaped like a jade hairpin, was exactly what he and Liu Daoran had painstakingly refined. He answered at once, “It looks like... a formation disk key?”

That jade hairpin would fool almost anyone who wasn’t trained in formations. The old man couldn’t sit still anymore. He came down from the stone spike. “Since you claim to be a formation master, then explain how one starts the ‘Eight Hidden Yang Formations.’”

That was fairly elementary as far as formation knowledge went. Liu Xiaolou didn’t even need to think. He replied offhandedly, “Winter Solstice and Awakening of Insects, one-seven-four. Minor Cold, two-eight-five, same rule. Spring Equinox and Major Cold, three-nine-six. The Start of Spring pairs with eight-five-two.”

The old man went on to ask about the Three Hidden Yin Formations, and then about the Eight Spirits of the formation disk and the Nine Spirits of the flying disk. None of it posed any difficulty. Liu Xiaolou answered them all just as quickly.

The next few questions were trickier, pulled straight from Essentials of the Golden Scroll Formations. But Liu Xiaolou knew them by heart. Hell, he’d even put them into practice. He rattled off the answers, smooth and without a hitch.

From the old man’s questions, the way he posed them, and how he reacted to the answers, Liu Xiaolou could roughly tell that the elder had come into the Formation Path partway through his life. But compared to Liu Xiaolou’s own late starting point, the old man’s skill still fell far short. No wonder he hadn’t been able to refine a formation key.

Before long, the old man brought up the topic of the formation key. “You recognized the formation disk key. Does that mean you can identify the formation itself?”

He pulled out a formation disk.

The formation disk was made of five smaller sub-disks. Its shape matched almost exactly what Liu Xiaolou and Liu Daoran had once theorized: together they formed an umbrella-like structure, and the formation disk key would be inserted at the “handle.”

Liu Xiaolou stared intently at the disk, his mind a jumble of questions.

The five sub-disks that made up the “umbrella ribs” were actually five Sect Leader tokens.

They were identical to the three Sect Leader’s tokens in his own Qiankun Pouch. Same shape, same color, same base material. The only difference was the characters etched into them.

Dan Jing Sect, Yuan Chang Sect, Golden Cauldron Sect, Absolute Profound Sect, and the Tian Gang Sect.