Volume 2: The Path That Can Be Told – Chapter 111: The Birth of Evil Thoughts

Seeing this flying sword, Zhang Hui grew more and more fond of it. He had also seen gold-based flying swords in the Zhang family; even an elder at the Earth Immortal level possessed one. It was said that just a fingernail-sized amount of gold essence infused into such a sword made it extremely sharp—enough to pierce bluestone effortlessly or leave deep marks even on cast iron.
The flying sword before him was no longer than a foot in length and no wider than two fingers, yet it contained a thumb-sized amount of gold essence! How unbearably sharp it must be!
Wukong weighed the sword in his hand, put it back in the box, and sneered, “Not worth it!”
The woman wasn’t angered. She opened a second box, which was quite large and contained a pair of soft boots. She said, “These boots are called Wind Swift. Their price is—1,500 crystal stones.”
Upon hearing this, Zhang Hui gasped. He only had two or three hundred crystal stones altogether, even if he gave away all his possessions. Wukong asked indifferently, “What’s the use of these Wind Swift boots?”
The woman replied, “Wearing these boots doubles your mobility, making your movements incredibly agile. They are the most practical magical weapons for close combat.”
Wukong asked, “But don’t they consume a great deal of magical energy?”
The woman’s expression changed slightly, but she nodded.
Wukong shook his head and said, “Too expensive.”
Without saying a word, she opened a third box and took out a dark green jade ring. “The Azure Concentration Ring contains three battle formations. When magical energy is channeled, they are released instantly, capable of both attack and defense, with immense power. Its price is 1,800 crystal stones.”
Wukong smiled slightly and said, “If everything is exaggerated like this, I’ll just go to another shop.”
The woman pretended to be displeased and said to Wukong, “Elder Immortal, Qianyi Pavilion has been in business for a thousand years. All our magical weapons and pills are genuine. If there were even one fake item, it would ruin our reputation.”
Wukong lowered his gaze and said, “It’s true that this fire-based flying sword contains fire essence, but its quality is poor, and it hasn’t been properly refined. Claims of it being unbearably sharp are nothing but exaggerations.”
The woman was momentarily stunned and had no reply. Wukong added, “The Wind Swift boots and the Azure Concentration Ring do have some use, but they consume a huge amount of magical energy. If you can’t defeat your opponent in one strike, you’ll run out of energy and be at their mercy. Hehe, am I right?”
After hearing Wukong’s words, the woman’s expression became unnatural. She quickly put away the three magical items and bowed, saying, “Since the elder finds them unsatisfactory, please come to the fifth floor of this pavilion. There, you’ll find peerless treasures that will surely satisfy you.”
Wukong stood up and said, “I hope so.”

The woman stepped out of the room carrying three magical treasures, sweat already appearing at her temples. What a perspicacious odd man—he merely glanced at me, yet it made me feel extremely uneasy.
Wukong and Zhang Hui went up to the fifth floor, where the architecture was even more magnificent than that of the third floor. Everything inside was exquisitely arranged; a purple-gold incense burner on the table emitted an indescribably pleasant fragrance that was truly intoxicating.
Zhang Hui had never been to such a place before, so he stayed at the door. An old man inside saw them arrive and stood up with a smile, saying, “My disciple mentioned that distinguished guests have come today. You indeed have an extraordinary presence. Please, come in and sit.”
Wukong entered the room with composure and sat across from the old man, while Zhang Hui dared not sit and stood behind Wukong like a servant.
The old man ordered two cups of tea and got straight to the point, saying, “A few days ago, an immortal pawned a precious ginseng. Do you have time to take a look?”
Wukong frowned and said, “I’m here only to search for magical treasures and pills. I have no interest in unrelated things.”
The old man laughed and said, “This item is extremely rare. If you could give me some advice, why not give it to you along with ordinary magical treasures and pills?”
Wukong replied, “Fine, then hurry up.”
The old man snapped his palms together, and someone brought in a blackwood box over two feet long. Just the box was worth a fortune, not to mention what was inside.
The blackwood box was placed on the table, and the old man carefully opened its lid. Inside was another jade box. In that translucent jade box, made of unknown material, lay a white ginseng plant nearly two feet long.
The old man opened the jade box and said proudly, “What do you think of this ginseng?”
Wukong glanced at it casually and said, “It looks good.”
“Oh?” The old man’s smile froze. “Just good-looking?”
Wukong replied, “Even if I paid two hundred crystal stones for it, it would still be overpriced.”
The old man was shocked. He had spent ten thousand crystal stones on this white ginseng. In this realm, there was a saying for evaluating ginseng: “One foot is just ginseng; one and a half feet is a treasure.” This white ginseng was over two feet long, and his spiritual sense detected abundant spiritual energy within it. He estimated that it could be sold for at least twenty-five thousand crystal stones with another transaction.
Wukong naturally didn’t know how to evaluate ginseng. Ever since he saw those crystal stones, he had been wondering how such essence could be trapped inside stones and how the quantity could be determined—it was truly remarkable.
When he saw this white ginseng, he was initially surprised too. Ginseng was known as the king of herbs, containing much of the natural essence of heaven and earth. Such a large ginseng plant was indeed a treasure. But when he used his spiritual sense to probe it, he found that although its surface was rich in spiritual energy, its interior was empty—just a pretty shell. This old man was only at the seventh level of a local immortal, lacking skill, so it was natural he couldn’t tell the difference.

No! Wukong suddenly remembered that only the divine apes possessed the ability to absorb such vital energy; others couldn’t draw it directly from plants and trees. They could only make pills or use it in decoctions, going through a transformation before it would take effect. He also recalled that when he passed through the Gate of Death, vital energy surged within him, as if he had encountered the Seven Divine Apes. Indeed, there were divine apes in this world—who could they be? That divine ape was truly mischievous; not only had it absorbed the vital energy of the white ginseng, but it had also sold the remaining waste to the Thousand One Pavilion, acting like a miser. As for Feng Tong, who was steady and composed, Wang Yu, who was cold, and Wu Zhiqi, who was bold, these three likely wouldn’t engage in such trivial acts… The old man, anxious as Wukong remained silent for so long, pressed further, “Fellow Daoist, what’s so strange about this ginseng? Please enlighten me…” Before he could finish speaking, Wukong reached out, took out the white ginseng, broke it in half, and threw it on the table. “What’s so strange? Look for yourself!” The old man looked at the white ginseng again—what was once a precious treasure filled with vital energy now had not a trace of it left. He had no idea that the vital energy attached to the ginseng was actually the result of a clever trap set by the one who had absorbed its energy. By breaking the ginseng in two, Wukong disrupted the trap, causing the vital energy to dissipate completely. Now, that white ginseng was probably less useful than a firewood stick. The old man was stunned speechless. Losing ten thousand crystal stones was a minor loss, but if word got out, it would damage the reputation of the Thousand One Pavilion greatly. So, filled with malice, he shouted, “How dare you! You’ve destroyed a precious treasure of the Thousand One Pavilion!” At his shout, the atmosphere on the fifth floor of the Thousand One Pavilion suddenly changed, with a murderous aura emanating from somewhere unseen. Wukong knew this was the effect of the trap. He laughed heartily, “What a clever way to frame someone! You’re quite resourceful.” With a stretch of his hand, he grabbed the old man by the front of his robe. How could the old man escape? He realized that this cloaked scholar was unfathomable—probably even more powerful than the head of the Thousand One Pavilion. Yet he still said, “How dare you act violently here? Not only can’t our Pavilion get rid of you, but the city lord will also tear you to pieces!” Wukong replied, “If you kneel and beg for mercy, that would be fine. But since you speak like that, why not act violent once? What’s the harm?” Using his magical power, he exerted force through his palm, turning this seventh-grade Earth Immortal into a ghost at his mercy. Truly, greed is like a snake swallowing an elephant; fortune and misfortune are like a mantis chasing a cicada—hard to predict. After killing this man, Wukong knew this matter couldn’t be resolved peacefully. He said to Zhang Hui with a laugh, “It seems we’ll have to start killing today.” Zhang Hui was already terrified inside. “It’s… so powerful. What should we do?” Below, people were already shouting, “Old Sui has been killed by that cloaked scholar!”

Wukong said, “His method of framing others this time is especially despicable. How can two outsiders like us prove anything? It would only cause endless trouble. It’s better to just kill them all.”
Zhang Hui nodded eagerly, “Kill them! That’s the right thing to do.”
Wukong took Zhang Hui and headed outside. On the stairs, a few servants saw the man in white coming down and quickly hid far away, not daring to approach. They made it all the way to the first floor without any obstacles.
When they reached the main hall on the first floor, seven or eight people blocked the entrance. Leading them was a burly man with a thick beard, dressed in a purple robe. He was tall and strong, standing there like a mountain.
Pointing at Wukong, the man shouted, “It’s you who killed the people from Myriad One Pavilion!”