Probing

Senior sister... buying him snacks?

Could this be considered... feeding?

He took a bite of the fried cake in his hand. The crust was crispy, and the inside was soft, chewy, and sweet. The taste was indeed excellent.

More importantly, Ning Xian had bought it for him.

"It’s delicious."

He finished the fried cake in just a few bites.

Ning Xian glanced at him without saying anything. She simply broke her own cake, which she had only taken a small bite of, in half and handed it over.

"It is too sweet. If you do not mind, you should eat this too."

Fang Xuan replied, "...Alright."

【System has detected the host accepting the master Ning Xian's initiative to feed, resulting in strong pleasure. Behavioral judgment: A submissive servant relishing the master's reward. Training value +0.5!】

The two of them continued through the bustling night market like that—one quietly shopping while the other followed obediently, occasionally accepting snacks.

The lanterns stretched their shadows, sometimes making them overlap.

Ning Xian seemed to have finished most of her shopping, carrying a small cloth bag in her hand.

She looked at the sky and then at Fang Xuan’s empty hands before asking, "Is there anything you need to buy? Clothing, or something else?"

Fang Xuan shook his head. "Not for now. The things you bought are enough, senior sister. This place is quite interesting; I am content just looking around."

He did find it interesting. This mundane atmosphere gave him a momentary trance, as if he had returned to the night markets of his previous life.

The only difference was the person beside him.

Seeing that he was truly just looking around out of curiosity, Ning Xian stopped asking and nodded. "Then let us head back."

The two turned around, preparing to return the way they had come.

Just as they were about to exit the shopping district and step into the relatively quiet alley at the town entrance, Fang Xuan paused, his ears twitching slightly.

There was movement.

It was not just one or two people. Their steps were hurried, carrying a faint killing intent, and... could Shen Qingqing's faction have moved this quickly?

He instinctively assumed this was aimed at Ning Xian.

However... foundation establishment?

Were they here just to throw their lives away?

Almost at the same moment Fang Xuan detected the anomaly, Ning Xian's cold eyes flickered slightly.

There was movement, but it seemed... much slower than she had anticipated.

Moreover, the auras were somewhat disorganized, not looking like a carefully planned ambush.

The two had different thoughts, but their movements were perfectly synchronized as they slightly adjusted their stances.

Fang Xuan appeared to casually shift half a step, no longer following completely behind Ning Xian's side.

Instead, he moved slightly forward, positioning himself where he could both protect Ning Xian’s flank and respond to sudden threats from the front at any moment.

Spirit power quietly circulated within his body, his Half-Step Void Core cultivation ready to erupt, and his divine sense spread out silently like a spider web.

Ning Xian switched the cloth bag to her outer hand, letting her free hand hang naturally at her side.

"Swish—!"

A sharp sound of slicing through the air suddenly rang out.

It did not come from the alley entrance, but from the roof on the diagonal side.

A condensed streak of pale green sword qi slashed down. It was aimed neither at Ning Xian nor at Fang Xuan.

Instead, it grazed the few strands of hair fluttering in front of Fang Xuan's forehead, passing by a hair's breadth.

It then slammed into a stall selling bamboo-woven lanterns behind him, shattering a row of exquisite lanterns into pieces.

Fang Xuan remained standing still, not even blinking.

It was not aimed at him.

This sword qi was not slow, but its aim was poor. It felt more like collateral damage.

"Ah—!"

"A fight broke out! Run!"

"My stall!"

After a brief moment of silence, panicked screams and the sounds of chaotic running instantly spread.

The originally bustling night market immediately turned into a mess. Stall owners scrambled to pack their valuables.

Pedestrians fled in all directions, heads ducked, wanting only to get away from this place of trouble.

Fang Xuan and Ning Xian stood where they were, looking quite out of place amidst the panicked crowd.

Their gazes simultaneously turned toward the direction where the sword qi had come from.

It was the roof of a wooden building across the street with a sign that read 'Chen’s Wine House'.

Under the moonlight, seven or eight figures stood on the roof, all dressed in uniform black martial attire.

They were masked and held various weapons. The spirit power fluctuations from their bodies showed they were all at the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The people they were fighting were five or six other cultivators dressed in various styles, but their skills were equally formidable.

The two sides were locked in a fierce battle. Blade light and sword shadows flashed as spirit power surged, sending roof tiles flying in every direction.

Fang Xuan watched with surprise.

This setup really did not look like an ambush specifically targeting Ning Xian.

Was it a coincidence? A fight over loot? Or some other grudge in the martial world that just happened to break out at this time and place.

Ning Xian’s cold eyes swept over the combatants, her gaze lingering slightly on the group of men in uniform black attire.

Regardless of whether they were targeting her, getting caught up in a fight between cultivators was definitely not a good thing for her current situation.

"Bang!"

A dull thud echoed.

A figure was knocked out of the fray, coughing up blood. They fell toward the exact spot where Fang Xuan and Ning Xian were standing.

Fang Xuan’s eyes turned cold.

Regardless of whether it was a coincidence, trouble had come knocking on its own.

The figure crashed heavily onto the bluestone pavement less than three feet from Fang Xuan's feet, spitting out another mouthful of blood.

He struggled to climb up but seemed heavily injured and unable to rise for the moment.

Judging by his clothes, he was not part of the black-clad group, but one of the cultivators in mixed attire.

The surrounding crowd had already cleared a large space.

The fighting on the roof slowed down slightly due to this accidental fall, and several gazes looked down, filled with scrutiny and wariness.

Fang Xuan did not care who was fighting whom or why.

He only knew that trouble had arrived, and it might be unavoidable.

Since he could not avoid it...

Then he would stop worrying and grab a few of them to interrogate first.

His right hand reached behind him, grasping the middle of the scabbard that had always been wrapped in ordinary gray cloth.

The tightly wrapped gray cloth burst apart like a shedding snake skin, fluttering down in pieces.

Time to take the clothes off my little brother.

The night wind blew, swirling the scattered strips of cloth on the ground.

Ning Xian, who had been standing quietly behind him, also took on a serious expression on her cold face.

He is going to... use that sword?

A foundation establishment cultivator facing more than ten opponents on the roof, all of whom were also at the Foundation Establishment Realm and had strong auras.

Using only the newly learned Qingyun Sword Scripture would definitely not be enough.

Then... what will he reveal...

Will it be a secret artifact, or some other technique she has never seen before?

No matter what it is, she will surely be able to see some clues.

Unless he continues to hide it, preferring to be heavily injured rather than expose himself.

However, she would naturally step in when the time comes; she would not let a single probe result in him being severely injured.

After all, in the end, this might all just be her wild speculation.

...If it really is just speculation, then she... would be in Fang Xuan's debt once again.