Chapter 73: Full Of Food And Drink, Gaining A Good Relationship
Before long, the sky was fully bright.
The drunken monster patrons shook their heads one after another, staggering to their feet.
They belched wine, cupped their hands toward the Lingzhi Mountain Lord, then used various methods to depart—some rode sedan chairs, some flapped their wings, some took out handkerchiefs from their sleeves, as if riding clouds away.
In the end, only Fang Shu remained passed out asleep on the Lingzhi Platform.
He slept until noon before being startled awake by the small monkeys sweeping the surroundings.
The rustling sounds continued. Fang Shu suddenly raised his head, looked at the scene around him, was dazed for a long time, then finally came to his senses, realizing that last night’s drinking and revelry was no illusion—he had truly been lucky and allowed to join the Mountain Lord’s banquet.
He narrowed his eyes slightly. A few sleepy bugs circled in front of him, then peacefully burrowed back into his hair.
Sleepy bugs, produced by Fang Shu himself, could not only make people sleepy but also bite, preventing them from sleeping despite their desire.
Seeing that the bugs showed no abnormality—neither alerting last night nor biting him awake—Fang Shu felt greatly relieved.
Moreover, upon checking the Dao Talisman in his mind, the changes in his realm and spiritual root were all real!
Particularly the realm section: after a bout of sleep, the spiritual energy and medicinal power in his body had dissolved further. The original 【complete】 text had transformed into 【Tribulation possible（60.3%）】.
This “60.3%” did not refer to Fang Shu’s cultivation progress, but rather the success rate of passing the Tribulation, as assessed by the Dao Talisman based on his accumulated reserves, condition, and various factors after his cultivation was sufficient.
Just like the entering the Dao success rate assessed when he first entered the Dao!
Seeing “60.3%”, Fang Shu did not feel the probability was too low; instead, his spirits lifted.
Considering the time, only half a day had passed since he reached First Tribulation completion, and he had only eaten and drunk without even refining his qi and blood.
Even so, his current Tribulation success rate was over fifty percent. If he properly refined his qi and blood a bit more, the probability would rise substantially.
Adding the extremely abundant spiritual energy and medicinal power in his body, breaking through to the Second Tribulation Human Immortal realm should be a near certainty, perhaps with plenty to spare!
Fang Shu touched his own body, still amazed in his heart:
“This wine is truly miraculous. I ate so much, yet the spiritual energy and medicinal power actively remained in my body. Though some dissipates, it did not lead to ‘overindulgence beyond capacity,’ causing qi and blood riot and harming the body.”
This was exactly what he had noticed yesterday, which led him to continue gorging himself desperately afterward.
After sorting out his condition, a small monkey waiter passed by him holding a broom.
Fang Shu quickly stood up and cupped his hands toward the small monkey waiter.
He looked around and saw no other patrons left on the Lingzhi Platform; the monster deities had long dispersed. He asked the small monkey waiter in a low voice, “Is the Mountain Lord awake?”
The small monkey waiter spread his hands upon hearing this, indicating he did not know, then pointed a finger downward at the base of the platform, telling Fang Shu to go look himself.
This direction puzzled Fang Shu, but he descended from the Lingzhi Platform as instructed.
Afterward, he found the area below the platform empty, with a thick root there, its shape twisted and coiled like a flood dragon—it was the stake of the Lingzhi Platform.
Approaching the stake, Fang Shu saw the Mountain Lord’s face for the first time.
He saw the other had the face of an elderly old man, as if a child had casually carved it into the Lingzhi stake with a knife.
Fang Shu drew near. The other’s eyelids drooped, but sensing the arrival, his eyes like grindstones squinted at Fang Shu as he muttered:
“It’s the little Daoist Child. Full of food and drink—do you have any other matters?”
Fang Shu hurriedly cupped his hands toward him, hesitating before saying:
“Thank you for the hospitality, old Mountain Lord. This junior heard there would be delivery arrangements in the Monster Market and wanted to inquire.”
The old Mountain Lord showed a look of realization and muttered:
“Indeed forgotten. Should have had those freeloaders take you back to Gu Ling Town on their way.”
Hearing this, Fang Shu felt embarrassed inwardly, secretly glad it had not happened that way.
The old Mountain Lord himself was quite famous within hundreds of miles, conducting business fairly with young and old alike, doing steady, long-term trade.
But the monsters at last night’s gathering had varied temperaments—some slow, some impatient, some arrogant—and their reputations in the town were not prominent; Fang Shu had never even heard of them.
He dared not travel with them.
Especially in his current state after overindulging in wine last night, his whole body steeped like marinated meat, thick with spiritual energy and wine aura.
Fang Shu truly feared leaving the Mountain Lord and being caught by other monster patrons to be gulped down.
Pfft!
A sneeze rang out. A whisker like a hairpin sprayed from the old Mountain Lord’s mouth and nose.
The other wrinkled his nose and said dully, “Take this item—the waiters in the Monster Market all recognize it. You can have them make arrangements.”
“Yes, thank you, old Mountain Lord.” Fang Shu hurriedly took the wooden whisker.
After his response, the old Mountain Lord’s eyelids drooped, and he fell into a deep sleep, as if he too had drunk quite a bit last night.
Fang Shu held the wooden whisker and found that though it contained little spiritual energy, it carried a fresh fragrance that cleared his mind slightly—it seemed to be a fine medicinal herb.
This left him stunned, realizing that even a single hair plucked from this Mountain Lord was a treasure to him.
However, the material qualities of the wooden whisker were secondary. More importantly, what it represented as a token. And the other had not mentioned at all how to handle it afterward or whether it needed returning.
Fang Shu thought to himself, “So this item is a gift to me?”
He bowed toward the old Mountain Lord, then, in his presence, tentatively used the wooden whisker as a hairpin to tie up his disheveled hair, securing it firmly.
Then, Fang Shu boldly returned to the Lingzhi Platform, seeking out the small monkey waiters sprinkling and sweeping the courtyard.
Sure enough, with a Mountain Lord wooden whisker stuck in his hair, the previously polite small monkey waiters changed their demeanor upon seeing it, bowing humbly before him with far greater respect.
A small monkey waiter quickly set down his broom, hopped ahead to lead Fang Shu down the mountain and back to the Monster Market.
Before long.
Fang Shu appeared in the Monster Market again.
Unlike yesterday’s bustle, the stalls in the Monster Market were extremely sparse now, and many long-term vendors were dozing off.
Only a few lingering immortal cultivator monsters were still wandering the Monster Market, but they would likely depart soon.
With the Mountain Lord whisker in his hair, Fang Shu merely chatted with a few monsters, and without a word, they mobilized staff in the Monster Market. A line of burly monsters was roused, who carried out a reclining chair and invited Fang Shu to sit.
The monster waiters called out: “Noble guest, depart!”
Thus, Fang Shu had come cautiously, but was leaving boldly, quite flaunting his status.
Only upon reaching the outskirts of the town did the Monster Market waiters carefully set him down and bid him respectful farewell.
Fang Shu stood in place, waiting until the escorting Monster Market waiters had fully departed, still somewhat dazed.
He could not help touching the hairpin in his hair, realizing he might truly have latched onto the Mountain Lord’s thigh—or at least, a leg hair.
With this Mountain Lord’s Hairpin, in the future when venturing into the wilderness, he could simply show it and chat; monsters within hundreds of miles might give him some face.
Of course, the premise was that the monsters recognized the hairpin on his head and could tell he was a Monster Market noble guest endorsed by the old Mountain Lord!
He walked toward the town.
Before entering the town, Fang Shu considered and reached up, removing the hairpin from his hair and tucking it into his sleeve instead of keeping it in his hair.
Gu Ling Town was no wilderness; it was a mix of all sorts, and the Monster Market was ultimately a black market, unlike the proper marketplace of Gu Ling Town—the two were somewhat opposed.
Better not to flaunt it in town; a bit of low profile was wiser. He could wear it later once he understood the situation.
He went straight ahead.
In a secluded corner, he changed clothes, used two Clean Clothes Talismans, then returned to Du Gu Guan.
Back at the hall, Fang Shu went straight to the medicine hall, taking a large batch of materials like mercury, cinnabar, and insect paste, then entered the quiet room in the back courtyard.
He sat cross-legged by the well, posture like a crouching tiger or coiled frog, sensing his qi and blood, quietly awaiting the right moment.
Once the right moment arrived, Fang Shu would knock at the gate to refine his marrow and step into the Second Tribulation Human Immortal realm!
