Zhou Ying followed Ji Wudi with his head hanging low, his last shred of hope extinguished.
The divine doctor who claimed to be able to cure the demon seed was indeed a fraud.
At that time, Ji Wudi had snatched his detection jade disk, walked onto the street, and randomly grabbed a person, pressing their hand onto it. A large red light cluster appeared.
Even more outrageous, when he pressed a dog's paw onto the jade disk, it also displayed a large red light cluster.
Ji Wudi and Zhou Ying, in their fury, gave the white-bearded divine doctor a thorough beating.
The divine doctor confessed that he had no knowledge of any treatment methods.
His jade disk artifact was also fake; it produced the same result for anyone tested. He would then use intimidating words to make cultivators willingly hand over spirit stones for his treatment.
After all, cultivators parasitized by the demon seed could not tell themselves, and everything depended on the detection from the jade disk artifact.
With a counterfeit artifact, he could deceive anyone into becoming a demon seed parasite and then charge them for treatment.
In this way, the vast majority of cultivators not parasitized by the demon seed, after undergoing his treatment, were completely cured.
Only a very small number of truly parasitized cultivators eventually died and turned into demons.
It was normal and expected that out of dozens or hundreds of treatments, a few would not be cured.
The fake divine doctor's scheme was incredibly profitable, earning him a lot of ill-gotten gains. He just happened to kick an iron plate, and now all of it had gone into Ji Wudi's pockets.
The two walked down a quiet street. Ji Wudi felt the trip had been quite rewarding; at least it wasn't in vain.
Zhou Ying, however, was dejected. He could only count his remaining lifespan on his fingers.
Just then, Ji Wudi's eyes lit up. Beside the street ahead stood a broken wooden board with several large characters written on it.
"Detecting Demon Seed..."
Recalling the substantial gains from the previous divine doctor, Ji Wudi became instantly interested.
"Zhou Ying, look, there's another one here. Let's go in and take a look. Perhaps we'll encounter a genuine divine doctor who can cure you."
Zhou Ying no longer held any hope for himself, but going to take a look wouldn't hurt. He followed Ji Wudi inside.
In a secret chamber, Xiao Fei, to conceal his identity, used a secret art to transform himself into an old man with a white beard and white hair, feeling it would have better market appeal.
When Ji Wudi brought Zhou Ying into the secret chamber, Xiao Fei had already recognized their identities but did not acknowledge them.
"Are you two here to detect the demon seed? Ten thousand spirit stones per session."
"So expensive!"
Even though Ji Wudi had just robbed a divine doctor, he still found it too costly.
Being a fraud himself, the previous one only charged 100 spirit stones, and it was buy-one-get-one-free.
Xiao Fei glanced at Ji Wudi and ignored him, adopting an air of profound mystery. Whether they wanted to proceed or not was up to them; a divine doctor had to maintain some aloofness.
Ji Wudi had already concluded that the person before him was another fraud. Thinking that one must spend money to catch a thief, he immediately took out twenty thousand spirit stones and threw them onto the counter.
The two of them then pressed their palms onto the jade disk for detection.
However, this time the detection results were beyond Ji Wudi's expectations. It was correct; he was fine, and the demon seed within Zhou Ying was not large.
Perhaps the scams differed in each place.
"Fellow Daoist, you have been parasitized by the demon seed. The demon seed will continuously devour everything about you, eventually replacing you completely. You have about several years left to live."
Zhou Ying already knew his condition and did not appear overly panicked at this moment. He listened with a calm expression.
"However... fortunately, you have good luck and have encountered this old man. I can treat you and completely remove the demon seed within you. The treatment fee is fifty thousand spirit stones per session."
At this point, Ji Wudi was completely convinced that he had encountered another fraud. Even the rhetoric used was the same, just at a higher price.
Ji Wudi was enraged and prepared to make a move.
Unexpectedly, the other party was prepared. A grand formation had already been laid out in this secret chamber. At this moment, the formation activated, trapping the two within.
Simultaneously, the hidden Zhu Yu and Huang Feifei also rushed out.
Just as a battle was about to break out, Ji Wudi recognized Zhu Yu and Huang Feifei.
There were only a few Golden Core cultivators among the three major sects of the Lu Kingdom. As long as they didn't deliberately disguise themselves, they would recognize each other.
Especially Zhu Yu's face, which was even more unforgettable. The two had even cooperated in the Fallen Dragon Abyss back then.
"It's you? Has the Danxin Sect also started engaging in this kind of no-cost business?"
"Ji Wudi! We are conducting legitimate business."
Zhu Yu summoned his jade flute, placed one hand behind his back, and pointed at the two, appearing quite imposing.
"You can leave, but he has been parasitized by the demon seed and must stay! Accept treatment, or be killed on the spot!"
Ji Wudi was somewhat bewildered. The plot was not what he expected; this did not seem like the behavior of a fraud.
"Can you truly treat it?"
"If we couldn't treat it, why would we go to such lengths? It would be more convenient to just kill you."
At this moment, Xiao Fei also revealed his true face.
The atmosphere, which had been on the verge of erupting, gradually eased. After further exchange, Ji Wudi was surprised to discover that the Danxin Sect seemed to have genuinely mastered the method for treating demon seed parasites.
"Treatment is not a problem, but this treatment fee cannot be reduced!"
Fifty thousand spirit stones per session meant 500,000 for ten sessions. If one wanted to speed up the process by taking auxiliary pills formulated by Xiao Fei, the price was even more exorbitant.
Almost every cultivator, after being treated by him, would be left penniless.
Yet, they had no other choice but to let Xiao Fei exploit them, and even thank him profusely afterward.
After understanding the situation, Ji Wudi left Xiao Fei's shop in a hurry.
More than ten days later, Ji Wudi escorted several more disciples of the Chiyang Sect to Xiao Fei's shop for treatment.
As of now, this was the best option available.
Xiao Fei had constructed a massive underground prison beneath his shop to house cultivators parasitized by the demon seed.
As the news continued to spread, the shop's business boomed, and more and more cultivators sought them out.
Not only did the Chiyang Sect and the Ziwei Sect send people for treatment, but even the rogue cultivators from the Yingshan Kingdom came knocking.
Xiao Fei accepted all comers, ushering them into the prison for treatment.
As for being confined to the prison, most people did not have many objections. Firstly, they were outmatched. Secondly, as long as they could be cured, what did being imprisoned matter!
Xiao Fei was now earning a fortune. The accumulated wealth of every cultivator who came for treatment fell into Xiao Fei's pockets.
During this period, he had already amassed millions of spirit stones, along with many other rare treasures.
Of course, Zhu Yu and Huang Feifei, who served as his muscle, also profited handsomely alongside him.
Seeing the prison filling up, Xiao Fei had to accelerate the treatment process. Recently, he had completely removed the demon seed from over twenty people.
Consequently, his lightning spirit had grown significantly. It was now as thick as half a chopstick. The grown golden lightning spirit had increased the efficiency of clearing demon seeds from cultivators by more than tenfold.
Furthermore, when he unleashed his Primordial Divine Lightning, with this wisp of lightning spirit manipulating it, its combat power had increased by at least double.
Today, Xiao Fei removed the demon seed from a cultivator and brought him out of the prison.
"From today onwards, you are free. However, you still owe me 1 million spirit stones. Remember to repay it."
Xiao Fei said as he issued an IOU, in duplicate, with each person holding one copy.
"If you truly cannot afford the spirit stones, you can also stay here and work as a guard. Your annual service can offset 100,000 spirit stones of debt."
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for saving my life. I am willing to stay and serve as a guard."
This cultivator was also a sensible person. If he left now, he would likely never be able to repay this debt in his lifetime.
However, by staying and acting as a guard, he could clear his debt in ten years.
This was likely the outcome Xiao Fei desired.
"Very well! You can stay here for now. Here are your artifacts; they are now returned for your use."
Xiao Fei said, returning an artifact to the other party.
Just then, a powerful pressure descended upon the small shop, causing Xiao Fei's hand to tremble.
Then, he saw a dignified and majestic female cultivator walking in from outside.
Upon seeing her, Xiao Fei actually breathed a sigh of relief and quickly bowed.
"Greetings, Ancestor!"