"How… How dare you?"
One of the men to the side of the mustached man was startled. While all of these people belonged to the outer court, the job at the Pavilion of Spirit Tools was much more difficult to obtain and had greater benefits than a job at one of the departments someone like Yu worked at. Each of these three had secured their positions through either bribery or connections, and it was also because of this that they knew they were in a higher and more secure position of power than any ordinary outer court disciple.
They would never have imagined that a new disciple -- and a kid on top of that -- would dare to speak to them in such a manner. The mustached man angrily walked forward, almost slapping Fang Xing before the boy let out a loud remark that stopped the man in his tracks, "So you wanted me to bribe you and when that clearly failed, you now want to hit me? Where are the sect's rules here?"
Although there was an unwritten rule about handing over the Spirit Stone, it was still against the official rules of the Qing-Yun Sect. The sect was still a sect that was built on the foundation of righteousness, after all.
Despite Fang Xing's young appearance, he didn't look like someone afraid of revealing these dishonorable trades to the elders, causing the mustached man to suddenly smile and laugh. "Haha, why are you guys arguing, you've only just met." He turned towards Fang Xing and continued, his fake smile growing even broader, "Don't mind him, we were just playing around with you then. I can see you've got a bit of a temper, huh? Please do come in and choose the weapon of your choice, but do make sure to choose wisely.…"
"Thank you, Shixiong," Fang Xing replied, folding his hands. Even though he knew that the mustached man had no good intentions, Fang Xing still walked inside.
Once inside, Fang Xing was surprised by the sheer size of the place and to see so many things scattered in every direction; it was more like a grocery store!
There were shelves after shelves filled with Flying Swords, talismans, weapons… If one only had a quick look, each and every one of these items would look very impressive. Some had small notes underneath them with their names and uses, while others were just piled atop each other in a hideous mess that left it unclear whether they were even still usable.
It was only after seeing the room that Fang Xing finally realized why all of the disciples who came here were willing to pay the Spirit Stone: the place was just a chaotic mess. Without the guidance of a trained eye, the odds of choosing a bad or useless item was very high.
Seeing the surprised expression on Fang Xing, all three men exchanged meaningful glances with each other.
Fang Xing wasn't the first to refuse to hand over the Spirit Stone, but all those who didn't would leave without finding anything useful.
The Pavilion of Spirit Tools held over three thousand weapons suitable for those in the lower tiers of the Spirit Stage, and each new disciple would be allowed one chance to choose a weapon or tool of their choice. The recent recruitment from a few months ago had left most of the better tools chosen by these new disciples, and any decent items that had remained had long been hidden by the three men.
They believed that without their guidance, the chances of anyone choosing something useful was pretty much next to none.
'Hah! I see how this is. These jerks want to cheat me? I'll show you how to cheat!' Fang Xing laughed to himself, pacing towards the back of the room.
"Every person here is allowed only one burn of an incense[1] to pick out their item. Shidi might want to hurry a bit." The mustached man smirked, signaling towards one of the other men to watch the burning of the stick even more closely.
In fact, the incense they had started to burn had already been broken off by one of them at its bottom, reducing the already small amount of time even further.
Of course, if the new disciple had paid them something, the time limit would have been all but forgotten and guidance would be given, though the quality of that guidance also depended on the amount of Spirit Stones offered.
After activating the [Book of Revelation], the names, material, usage, and current status of all of these items came to view.
'Low-grade Flying Sword. Contains one spell. Made from ordinary metal…'
'Storage ring. Contains four square miles of storage. Made from Thousand Hammer's Gold…'
'Copper Flying Sword. Contains three spells. Broken.'
It was exactly as Yu had warned: the Pavilion was full of weapons that looked to be in good shape but were actually broken.
No matter how good a spirit tool was, if their inner spells were broken it might as well have just been ordinary steel. Especially for these low-grade weapons, the repair fee may even be more expensive than buying a better weapon altogether.
'This can't be everything….' Fang Xing thought to himself, wondering if he would actually have to choose from one of these items.
He had wanted to find something a little more suitable for himself than a Flying Sword or a fancy weapon right now. Not only might he not even have enough Qi to actually activate those items yet, his uncle Sanshu had also already gifted him with a dagger and he had no need for another weapon.
No, what Fang Xing really wanted was a support-type tool with a unique ability; after all, growing up in a bandit nest, it wasn't as though he had any shame in taking a Flying Sword or two from someone if he really liked theirs.
Once the three men noticed that Fang Xing had stopped in front of a good Flying Sword they had hidden away earlier, they started to worry that he might get lucky and pick it up. One of the men abruptly coughed in order to interrupt. "Shidi, your time is almost up. If you're really uncertain, I can recommend this flag here; when you send some Qi into it, this flag will light up in flames and -- with a wave -- you can send out a fire dragon towards your enemies!"
Fang Xing glanced over with the help of his book. It actually had seven spells engraved into it and would have been a rare find if it wasn't severely damaged; like Yu's talisman, it would only be good for a couple of uses before becoming useless baggage afterwards.
As he looked past the flag, however, his eyes lit up.
It was a blue mask covered in sword marks with a gap broken off the top where the head was. It was thrown into the corner like trash and covered in a layer of dust.
'[Mask of Wanluo]. Contains thirty-six spells…'
Further inspection of the mask caused Fang Xing to grow excited; not only did it contain thirty-six spells, but nearly all of them were completely intact. The appearance and the sound of the wearer could be changed a total of thirty-six times; if he chose this mask, he could change into thirty-six different people!
This was exactly what Fang Xing had been looking for! It was a godsend for the mysterious tenth bandit, Fang Xing.
"It looks like Shidi has decided?" The mustached man asked in quite the happy manner; he seemed to know neither the true function of the mask nor even the name of it. "This mask… this is called the Demon's Super Fire Thunderbolt Mask! Once you wear it, you'll be able to borrow a demon's powers and have endless potential…."
"Yes, a nice make that sounds perfect for Shidi!"
"I'm sure Shidi will look impressive while wearing it!"
The other two quickly followed suit, trying to hurry Fang Xing into choosing the mask.
"Really? Is it really that cool? You wouldn't lie to me, right?" Fang Xing tossed the mask between his two hands as if undecided.
"Why would we? This mask is perfect for Shidi! With this mask, you'll be able to improve your cultivation in the blink of an eye. You'll be able to reach tier four in a matter of only a year or two, and by then, you'd be able to become an inner court disciple…"
"Yea! How about you take this with you today and if you really don't like it in the next few days, we can exchange it for something else with you," one of the men pressed on, reassuring Fang Xing that the risks were small.
"If Shixiong says so, then…" still pretending to hesitate, Fang Xing slowly picked up the mask, "I'll take it!"
"Great! Come here and we'll make a record for you." Swiftly, the mustached man happily took out a blank jaded plate, sending a spell to form a carving:
Day 1 of the 11th month of the 37th year. Outer Sect Disciple Fang Xing obtained one [1] low-grade Spirit Tool.
Notes
[1] Incense (one burn of an): 一炷香时间, a way of counting time, lit. meaning the time it takes to burn a full incense, in today's time, it's about 15 minutes.