Chapter 74 – Cops Panic as Florida Man Trainee Releases Wild Cat on Street
"Monster!"
The nascent soul cultivators were surprised as the huge chomper suddenly charged out from the granary and ate one of them. Because of their reflex and common sense, they evaluated Cat's strength first. Ye Tianxie was the same.
Everybody soon discovered Cat's cultivation base.
"Fourth stage monster?! Be careful! This monster is as strong as a nascent soul cultivator!"
Although a nascent soul cultivator was considered a 5th stage cultivator, they could only defeat 4th stage monsters or weaker as a monster's standard was stronger than cultivators by one tier - Monsters were physically stronger than humans by nature, and they could defeat cultivators with a higher cultivation base.
Facing the huge monster, they stopped mocking Wu Buyi. They brought out their treasures and artifacts. Floating spears, talismans, jade emblems, daggers, mirrors, and dishes orbited around their masters.
Had Leo seen them, he would have questioned their sense and weapon choice as some of them brought DISHES to battle. He would have been confused that they had come here to beg for food.
Unfortunately, Wu Buyi didn't have Florida Man's mentality. As a local cultivator, he knew exactly what those flying dishes could do.
"Shameless bastards! Bringing out artifacts while ganging on us?! Dishes of Flame Negation on a plant monster? They won't work!"
Hearing Wu Buyi, the crowd laughed at him, "Who said that we brought the Flame Negation Dishes to suppress the monster? They're for you!"
Five of the cultivators formed a hand incantation and pointed at Wu Buyi. All dishes faced him and emitted a blue Chinese character "Water". The floating character then shone and fired a blue beam at Wu Buyi.
Wu Buyi narrowed his eyes as he prepared to dodge. However, Cat suddenly jumped and opened her mouth.
ZAAAA
The beam entered her chomper mouth and was transformed into freshwater as she converted the water element Qi into physical water. She swallowed them and burped. The next second, her skin became glossy and moist.
"…"
The nascent soul cultivators blankly stared at Cat as they didn't think this through. They forgot that water element attacks benefited plant-based monsters. Therefore, using water-based artifacts on Cat was the same as watering a tree.
"Fool! Use fire artifacts and dao avatars on the monster!" Ye Tianxie commanded the men.
"B-But alchemists are fire masters! That man will steal our Qi if we do!"
The agents had the experience of dealing with alchemists in combat. As they primarily cultivated Fire Element Qi to use in alchemy, they were considered the strongest when they faced fire attacks. Some of the alchemist masters even had a domineering Daoist title, such as Phoenix Flame or Inferno Master as no fire attacks could harm them.
"… Tsk!"
Annoyed by his men's incompetency, Ye Tianxie pushed the crowd aside and faced Cat and Wu Buyi himself. He unsheathed his sword and pointed at them.
"Kneel and hand over everything in your possession. If you beg for forgiveness right now, I'll give you a quick death!"
"Ah, yes. The usual threat. This is why I decline the imperial court's invitation,"
Wu Buyi sneered and summoned his dao avatar. A spirit of a moss-cladded hand and a fire wisp appeared behind him. Then, they entered his cauldron, transforming it into a burning hand in green flame.
Cat's human part looked up as she hated fire.
"…Meow."
Wu Buyi laughed at Cat, "Don't worry, kid. My green flame has both flame and wood attributes. It can't harm any tree or plant. Instead, it will only make you stronger!"
"Meow <3"
Cat cheered as she was relieved. She focused and utilized her dao avatar.
The infant spirit returned to her body and merged with her. Then, the rainbow aura and radiation of Leo that she had been collecting emanated from her eyes.
At the same time, Wu Buyi poured the green flame into Cat, enhancing her power and her cultivation base!
Feeling the surge of new energy, Cat rode the momentum and unleashed her trump card.
"MYAAAAA!!"
RUMBLE
The attached humanoid torso on the chomper's head grew up. She became as tall as a 6-year-old little girl, but Cat only had an upper humanoid torso.
Meanwhile, Cat's chomper head, vines, and roots grew larger. She got 10 meters taller while a new eye above her mouth emerged. It slowly opened and glared at the crowd below.
She became a colossus monster, and her true cultivation base was revealed. Her strength jumped from the 4th stage to the 6th stage, which was equivalent to the soul formation stage!
In addition, she still retained her monster's physique. She was capable of fighting soul transformation cultivators! A soul transformation stage cultivator might not even be her opponent.
Wu Buyi laughed. He had expected that Cat had been hiding her true strength. However, instead of being impressed by her potential, he praised Leo.
"Such insight. Lord Florida Man must have known about your potential. That's why he has been raising you and giving you everything. Wow."
"Meow <3"
Cat puffed her chest for a moment, but she soon realized that Wu Buyi didn't praise her. She pouted and crossed her arms.
Meanwhile, the crowd below panicked.
"W-WHAT?! A-A-A SIXTH STAGE MONSTER?! NOT THE FOURTH STAGE?!"
Even Ye Tianxie was shocked. Because of this miscalculation, his whole battalion was in danger. Had Cat attacked them with her full strength, everybody except Tang Xuan and Ye Tianxie would have died instantly.
Instead of maintaining composure and commanding his men, Ye Tianxie pushed the crowd ahead of him and hid among the nascent soul cultivators. He also yelled.
"SOMEBODY GO AND CALL CHANCELLOR TANG!!"
"…"
The subordinates had no time to swear or curse their cowardly leader. Two of the people rushed toward the store building and tried to enter.
Unfortunately, the door was locked.
"!!!"
The cultivators slammed on the door and window, trying to break inside. However, their fists hit a transparent barrier a millimeter away from the door and windows.
As they couldn't force their way inside, they shouted, trying to get Tang Xuan's attention.
"CHANCELLOR! HELP US!!"
.
.
Meanwhile, Leo and Tang Xuan were alone in the store. As the former entered the store after Tang Xuan, he locked the door behind him, isolating the old man inside. He didn't want 200 people to stroll into his empty mall and dirty the clean floor with their dirty shoes.
Chancellor Tang admired the space inside the store. His reaction was modest even though his back and palms were already sweaty. Nobody knew what he had been thinking.
"Spatial Formation? I see. You're very impressive, Friend Florida Man."
Leo raised his brow, "You don't look surprised."
"This is not the first time I've seen a spatial distortion array at work. The imperial palace's treasury also has one. But I have to admit. Ours is a bit smaller."
"… I see."
"Mhm… Hmm?!"
Tang Xuan ignored the empty space and walked toward the shelves and showcase refrigerators. He walked straight toward the grain pill shelf and picked up a box of poison grain pills.
Upon picking up the box and noticing the pills inside, Tang Xuan widely smiled, "I didn't expect to see another poison element cultivator. How long have you been making these? Oh, I should change the question. When did you make these?"
Leo didn't think much. He said honestly as it was common sense for merchants to reveal the food's production dates and expiry dates.
"Roughly two weeks ago? What's wrong? Have they gone bad?"
Tang Xuan laughed, "How could it be? Poison pills are better the older they are. They age like wine!"
"…"
Tang Xuan injected his Qi into the box and made it float. Then, he continued shopping, checking the items in the fridges and the shelves. Aside from the poison grain pills, he also picked a bundle of immortal grass.
"How much are the immoral grasses?"
"50 years of lifespan per blade. Please be mindful of how much you take."
"Can I pay with spirit stones or essence stones?"
"I only take spirit stones. Also, the price is 500,000 spirit stones per blade."
"… 10,000 spirit stones instead of a year of lifespan, I see. That's fair."
Tang Xuan's smiling face twitched for a moment. However, his white teeth shone like a flashbang. His eyes also flickered with purple light, but Leo couldn't tell what the old man was thinking.
A few seconds later, Tang Xuan shocked Leo. The elder suddenly pointed at the showcase refrigerator and asked him.
"I'll take every immortal grass in the showcase. I'll pay with spirit stones."
"…Huh?"
"I count the blades just now. There are 520 blades in there, so that comes to 260 million spirit stones, is that correct?"
"Wait, wait, wait." Leo was taken aback, "Are you sure? That's a lot of spirit stones."
Tang Xuan shrugged, "I'm rich, and I'm also an alchemist, so why not?"
"…"
Seeing Leo's speechless expression, Tang Xuan snickered and stored the items that he had chosen in his spatial ring. Then, he flickered a ring, full of spirit stones, toward Leo. The latter caught it with one hand.
"Consider it the price of my sincerity. I really wish to be your friend, not an enemy. We, quasi-immortals, are few. We should be on a friendly terms instead of trying to go after each other's jugular, am I right? We can't have too many friends, but one enemy is too many."
For once, Leo discovered a smart and sensible local man. He nodded as he respected the elder.
"I guess you don't live a thousand years for nothing."
"Compared to you, I'm far inferior. I don't have the guts to provoke the imperial court, you know?"
Again, Tang Xuan's grin was so creepy that Leo had goosebumps. Leo had a bad feeling about the guy.
He knew too much.
BANG-BANG
While Tang Xuan enjoyed shopping, the people outside banged on the door and windows, trying to get in. Their muffled voice was audible.
"CHANCELLOR! HELP US!!"
"Hmm?"
