Chapter 106: Mary’s Neighbor

The guest room was absolutely no larger than five square meters, resembling a snow cave. Aside from a small window on the south side beneath which sat a straw mat and a copper handbell about the size of a fist, there was nothing else.

And yet, this level of accommodation cost two inferior spirit stones per night? Such a rip-off!

Feng Ke’er was on the verge of anger.

The young man in the red robe, seeing her displeasure, smiled brightly beside her. “Fairy, if you are not satisfied, there is another guest room in the ‘C’ courtyard ahead. Those rooms are more than three times larger than this one, equipped with a super-large spirit gathering array. Plus, every day they offer a complimentary bottle of fresh flowers, a fruit plate, and a bottle of spirit dew. However, rooms in the ‘Tian’ courtyard cost twenty inferior spirit stones per night...”

“Forget it, I’ll take this one,” Feng Ke’er waved her hand, signaling him to withdraw. She wasn’t short of spirit stones, but when wandering the martial world, one must never flaunt wealth. Moreover, she had seen through the trick: bringing guests to the poorest room first was one of the waiters’ ways to earn more spirit stones. If the guest was satisfied, fine—they had sold the worst room. If not, even better—they would “enthusiastically” offer a better room, thereby providing an additional service and easily earning another inferior spirit stone. With luck, a guest could move from the worst ‘D’ courtyard all the way up to the best ‘A’ courtyard in stages, turning one transaction into four, netting four free inferior spirit stones. Such unscrupulous merchants!

The young man in the red robe was unfazed, smiling warmly as he handed her a small iron token. “Fairy, this is your room access token. Please keep it safe. If you need anything, please ring the copper bell under the window.” After saying this, he bowed and left, closing the door behind him.

This was Feng Ke’er’s first time staying at an inn since entering the valley. There were countless ways for cultivators to spy on each other, and since she detested swindlers and trusted the smooth-talking young man even less, she pressed her fingers to her brow and gathered her spirit to inspect the room.

The merchant had not lied—the room was indeed protected by a layer of isolation formation. Though the only window was a small hole about forty centimeters square, without any lattice or paper, leaving it hollow, she could see out from within, yet no one outside could see in.

This isolation formation was no match for Feng Ke’er’s power. With a wave of her hand, she could easily dispel it, but she chose not to. After all, this was an inn, not her home, and everyone should behave as civilized guests.

In addition, each corner of the room concealed an invisible formation stone. Feng Ke’er recognized the array—it was a simple spirit gathering formation.

She tapped lightly on the wooden walls with her knuckles. Damn swindlers! The wood was so thin it was barely thicker than paper. Without the isolation formation, even a cough in this room could be heard by the entire row of guests.

But then she thought: cultivators were no ordinary people—their vision and hearing were enhanced to an extreme degree. Even if the walls were made of the steel used for aircraft carriers, sound could not be fully blocked. So it was better to save on costs and use thin wooden boards as a token gesture.

Overall, from what she had seen and heard since entering the valley, Feng Ke’er increasingly admired the innkeeper’s business acumen.

She placed a transformation talisman on the straw mat, turning it into a comfortable sofa bed, then sprawled out, limbs stretched wide. After entering the Nascent Soul stage, her sleep was pitifully short—at most two hours a day. Without a high bed and soft pillow, even those two hours of sleep would be halved again and again. This was one of the main reasons she disliked sleeping outdoors like most cultivators.

In the middle of the night, a disturbance in the room’s spiritual energy arose. Suddenly, the wooden wall on the right silently bulged out—a large handprint appeared!

Feng Ke’er was a light sleeper. Sensing the spiritual fluctuation, she immediately woke.

She sighed bitterly. Spending spirit stones and still unable to find peace! She turned over and sat up, glaring at the deformed wooden wall. This wall was indeed thin, but the formation wasn’t invincible. If someone strong enough came along, one palm could easily dent this flimsy wall.

Besides, she had only slept for less than half an hour. Now awake, the night was destined to be sleepless once again.

Furious, she grabbed the copper handbell beside the bed and began shaking it—if they disturbed her rest, these swindlers wouldn’t get a full night’s sleep either.

Immediately, a loud knocking sounded outside.

“Come in,” Feng Ke’er flicked her sleeve, and the sofa bed reverted back to the straw mat.

The visitor was also dressed in the same red robe but was not the young man from earlier. Instead, it was a small girl with large eyes and her hair tied in a bun.

“Fairy, what are your orders?” The girl bowed as she entered, lowering her gaze.

Feng Ke’er pointed at the handprint on the wall, displeased, and asked, “What’s going on? Am I not allowed to sleep?”

The girl glanced over quickly, then lowered her head calmly and replied, “Fairy, the guest next door is undergoing transformation, so the noise is inevitable. But please rest assured, the formation protects your room, and it is very safe inside.”

In the Barrier Sea, Feng Ke’er had witnessed beasts undergoing transformation firsthand. When a beast’s cultivation reached the sixth rank, it could transform into humanoid form, but the first transformation was extremely painful. Even as a bystander, merely watching was painful. Moreover, during this first transformation, the beast was very vulnerable, not much stronger than a newborn cub. So what kind of beast next door had such strength?

Curious, Feng Ke’er asked, “What kind of beast lives next door? It’s got quite a bit of strength.” Unlike the little kingfisher who guided her, both the young man from earlier and this little girl were low-rank human cultivators. The young man was just at the Foundation Establishment stage, and the girl was mid-Qi Refining stage, so she could openly call the neighbor a “beast.”

The girl’s service attitude was good and satisfied Feng Ke’er’s curiosity. “It’s a black bear beast. It deliberately moved in to undergo transformation. It has been here three years, and finally there’s some progress.”

Seeing Feng Ke’er’s confusion, she further explained. The news forest was home to many native beasts. This black bear was one of them. Because the guest rooms had formations and spirit gathering arrays, compared to outside, these rooms were not only quiet and safe but also rich in spiritual energy. Therefore, beasts in the forest generally chose to stay at the inn to transform.

Transformation was not a quick process. For example, the black bear next door took three years from the first sensation of transformation to its completion. The beasts in the news forest were generally low earners with limited spirit stones, so they often chose the cheapest ‘D’ courtyard.

“Understood. You may leave now.” Feng Ke’er accepted this explanation with some skepticism but showed no outward doubt, silently cursing the swindlers again. No wonder the formation in this room wasn’t complicated—it was specifically designed for beasts around the sixth rank to transform. Swindlers were swindlers—they wouldn’t waste a single resource.

Yet the girl remained standing, showing no intention to leave.

What was going on? Feng Ke’er frowned.

The girl smiled and said, “One inferior spirit stone.”

Tch! That counted as a service too? Feng Ke’er rolled her eyes and tossed her an inferior spirit stone.

The girl caught the spirit stone, bowed, closed the door behind her, and left gracefully.

At that moment, a larger handprint appeared on the wooden wall.

Then a third, a fourth... In no time, the wall was covered with dense handprints of various sizes.

Feng Ke’er immediately saw through it: this was no black bear transforming at all. The neighbor was trying to break the formation!

That damn girl! Why lie with her eyes wide open? Pressing her finger to her brow, Feng Ke’er quickly concentrated to dispel the formation—one must always be vigilant. She had to find out what the neighbors were plotting!

With the formation dispelled, she could see the adjacent room clearly.

The big-eyed girl had been lying! There was no black bear beast. Instead, two young male cultivators lived there. One was at the seventh Nascent Soul stage, the other had perfected Nascent Soul cultivation. Both wore dark blue robes, their lips pressed tightly as they stared grimly at the wooden wall, striking it repeatedly with all their might as they worked together to break the formation.

Feng Ke’er’s cultivation far surpassed peers of the same rank. After over a hundred years of special training in the Heart of the Barrier Sea, her understanding of formations was unmatched. She could easily break formations in two rooms, yet these two men struggled immensely.

Soon, both were drenched in sweat. They sat cross-legged, taking a brief rest.

“Senior Brother Wang, forcibly breaking the formation like this, won’t it alert the female cultivator?” The one with lower cultivation frowned.

“What are you worried about? Didn’t we test it before? How many punches did you throw in your room? Over here, there’s absolutely no sound.” Senior Brother Wang glared at him and produced a black refined iron flute. “Junior Brother Wu, rest assured, I just used the treasure flute to listen carefully. That female cultivator is sound asleep. With only third stage Nascent Soul cultivation, how could she possibly notice? If you don’t believe me, listen again yourself.” He handed over the flute.

Wu took it, pressed one end against the wooden wall and the other against his right ear, concentrating on eavesdropping.

Wang continued boasting, “Besides, I slipped a bag of spirit stones to the innkeeper. If the female cultivator asks, she’ll help cover for us.”

The so-called treasure flute was merely a mid-grade spirit tool. Feng Ke’er smiled to herself. If it were another third-stage Nascent Soul cultivator, being targeted by these two tonight could have been troublesome.

At the same time, she wondered: she had behaved very low-key, both on the way to the Happy Valley and after entering it. How could she have attracted these two?

Thinking this, she stretched out her arm, reached through the thin wooden panel, grabbed one by the neck, pulling him close, and demanded sharply, “Speak. Who are you? What exactly do you want?” She didn’t believe the two were mere petty thieves.

Caught off guard, the senior brothers stared wide-eyed in panic, frozen like wooden dolls. (To be continued)