Treasure Gathering Immortal Furnace

At this moment, Lu Fan gripped the male cultivator's wrist tightly, his eyes slightly narrowed, and said, "Fellow Daoist, is it really necessary to use such force for a single spirit stone?"

Grabbing his wrist, the male cultivator's face immediately paled in surprise, realizing he couldn't break free. Despite his shock, he forced a smile and asked, "Who are you? What business is it of yours?"

"This young friend is my good friend. You hit him, and you're asking what business it is of my concern?" Lu Fan frowned slightly and said in a deep voice.

When Xiao Hu saw Lu Fan appear, he immediately looked aggrieved and almost cried. Wiping his nose, he said, "Brother Lu, he won't give me spirit stones!"

During the two years in the market, Lu Fan would almost always run into Xiao Hu whenever he went out. In addition, Xiao Hu helped Lu Fan twice, and they gradually became familiar with each other. So Lu Fan asked Xiao Hu to call him Big Brother.

At this moment, the male cultivator realized that this little beggar had powerful connections, especially since he couldn't see through Lu Fan's cultivation level. He immediately became somewhat intimidated, but with so many people standing around, he didn't want to lose face, so he shouted, "Is this the Chu Family Market? In broad daylight, under the clear sky, a high-level cultivator is extorting customers! How can we feel safe trading here in the future?!"

The male cultivator's shout immediately attracted the attention of the nearby stewards.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh...

In an instant, three figures flashed over at an extremely fast speed. The one in the lead was an old man with white hair, whose cultivation had reached the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. Behind him were two cultivators at the tenth level of Qi Refining.

"What's going on?" The old man frowned and asked when he saw Lu Fan grabbing the male cultivator's wrist.

Lu Fan then released the male cultivator's wrist. Before he could speak, the male cultivator preemptively recounted how Xiao Hu had conspired with Lu Fan to extort spirit stones from him.

The old man looked at Lu Fan and released his divine sense to investigate. He found that the other party was at the early stage of Foundation Establishment. He thought that Lu Fan had not released his late-stage divine sense to isolate him, so he was able to detect that he was at the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

"Fellow Daoist, fighting is prohibited in the market. Please come with me and explain this clearly." The old man did not make an exception for Lu Fan just because he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator. After all, there were Core Formation cultivators in charge of the market.

If such incidents are not managed properly, the prestige of other markets will also decline.

"What do you want me to explain? Didn't he hit me first?" Lu Fan looked at the male cultivator and said coldly.

"So what if I hit him? He's just a beggar at the second level of Qi Refining, openly extorting money. He deserves to be hit!" The male cultivator was full of confidence, relying on the old man's support.

The old man also saw Xiao Hu with bright red finger marks on his face. Instead of speaking up for him, he looked displeased and said, "You brat, I've told you time and time again not to attract customers for the shop, you just keep causing me trouble!"

Clearly, this kind of thing has happened more than once or twice. After all, not all cultivators are so generous as to give a spirit stone just for showing them the way.

At this moment, Xiao Hu also lowered his head and dared not utter a sound, trembling with fear, afraid that he would be driven out of the market by the manager.

"I'm sorry! I don't want this spirit stone," Little Tiger said, bowing his head.

"So what if you don't want it? You've caused me a lot of trouble over the years. You have three days to leave Chu Family Market!" the old man said coldly.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hu was immediately startled and quickly admitted his mistake: "Don't worry about me, I really know I was wrong! Don't send me away!"

Lu Fan then spoke up, "Why should we send him away? He was guiding other cultivators and charged one spirit stone. The price was agreed upon beforehand, it was a mutual agreement, and he did not violate any market rules."

"Fellow Daoist, I advise you to mind your own business to avoid damaging the harmony," the old man said, clearly siding with the male cultivator.

Just as Lu Fan was feeling somewhat displeased and was about to offer his explanation, Uncle Li, who had finished his work in the shop, hurriedly came out.

"What's going on?" As soon as Uncle Li came out, he saw his old customer Lu Fan and Xiao Hu who had been beaten up. He roughly understood what had happened.

Then Uncle Li leaned close to Manager Mo and whispered, "Manager Mo! What did you do to offend Fellow Daoist Lu? His master is a Core Formation cultivator!"

When Uncle Li said this, he didn't try to hide it, and almost everyone around heard it clearly, including the male cultivator.

Manager Mo was also visibly startled. While the Foundation Establishment stage cultivators didn't have that much influence, the Core Formation stage cultivators were a different story.

After all, the strongest people in Chu Family Market were only two early-stage Core Formation cultivators. Who knew whether Lu Fan's master was in the mid-stage or late-stage?

This prompted Manager Mo to immediately put on a smiling face: "Hehe, fellow Daoist, I was a bit harsh just now, please forgive me."

"What to do is up to you," Lu Fan said.

Then Manager Mo walked up to the shocked male cultivator and said, "Stop looking, give me the spirit stones."

"Yes, yes, yes!" The male cultivator was also frightened by Lu Fan's identity as a Core Formation Master, and quickly took out a spirit stone and handed it to Xiao Hu.

"Senior! I was blind! Please forgive me, you are a magnanimous person!" The male cultivator, who had been so arrogant just moments before, begged for mercy in a humble manner.

"Fellow Daoist, are you satisfied with this approach?" Manager Mo asked Lu Fan with a smile.

"Did you take that slap for nothing?" Lu Fan said, then looked at Xiao Hu and said, "Slap him back!"

Xiao Hu was also shocked, but seeing Lu Fan's serious expression, he mustered up his courage and walked up to the male cultivator.

Snapped!

She slapped the male cultivator across the face. He was furious, but he could only swallow his anger.

"Get out!" Lu Fan shouted.

"Yes, yes, yes! I'll get lost!" The male cultivator nodded and bowed, then hurriedly slunk away.

Manager Mo was quite savvy. He looked at Xiao Hu and said, "Hehe, Xiao Hu, if you encounter any trouble in the future, just come to me."

"Okay..." Xiao Hu replied blankly.

"Alright, everyone disperse," Manager Mo raised his hand to clear the crowd, then looked at Lu Fan and said, "Fellow Daoist, if you need anything, please come to me."

After saying this, Steward Mo cupped his hands in a respectful gesture to Lu Fan before leaving.

After the crowd dispersed, Lu Fan looked at Xiao Hu and said, "You kid, don't be so stubborn in the future. If you encounter some tough guys, just bear with them. Your life is more important."

"Thank you, Brother Lu, I understand!" Xiao Hu nodded.

Lu Fan patted Xiao Hu on the shoulder, but just then, a clear, ethereal voice suddenly came from behind Lu Fan.

"It seems Xiaohu has found a new backer and won't need me anymore."

As soon as the voice came out, Lu Fan immediately turned his head and saw a beautiful figure appear not far away.

The woman had exquisite features, wore a long, glazed white silk dress, had a graceful and slender figure, her hair was styled up, and she was only decorated with a single jade hairpin, without any other adornments.

Overall, she looks extremely clean and refined, just like a fairy from the heavens.

Lu Fan was also slightly taken aback. After regaining his senses, he realized that the other person was the woman in the small building, Ye Lingxi, whom Xiao Hu had mentioned.