Chapter 52: Taking Down an Entire Building Alone, Setting Off (Please Continue Reading)

Outside Qinghe City.

Zhou Chen slipped away from the eager Chen Fan and his companions.

That evening, Chen Fan had arranged a banquet to honor Zhou Chen and formally welcome him.

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Zhou Chen accepted.

Zhang Long invited Zhou Chen to his home for a banquet the next day, and Zhou Chen agreed.

Following the path outside the city, guided by Liu Ruyi, Zhou Chen easily found the storage pouch where Liu Ruyi had hidden Bai Ruyun’s belongings.

Bai Ruyun, a seasoned cultivator at Qi Refining Level Six, was the most formidable cultivator Zhou Chen had encountered so far. Surely, the contents of her storage pouch would not disappoint.

With the pouch in hand, Zhou Chen returned home immediately and began inventorying the items inside.

Several dozen spirit stones.

Various pills and medicinal herbs.

Dozens of secret manuals.

There were cultivation techniques and spells, martial arts manuals, as well as treatises on poisons, medicine, alchemy basics, forging basics, and formations.

Although nothing was particularly profound—mostly common materials—there was a surprising variety.

He guessed that old Bai must have been no stranger to killing and looting, which explained the eclectic assortment.

“Blissful Immortal Technique?”

Zhou Chen picked up a manual and examined it carefully. The technique was of a high level but incomplete.

“That day, the ten young girls I saw whose bodies had been harvested must have been victims of this very technique...” he thought grimly. The manual detailed the method of yin harvesting to supplement yang.

He tossed it aside and continued to examine the other manuals.

Fireball Technique, Ice Spike Technique, Earth Escape Technique...

“Too bad surprises aren’t common.”

Zhou Chen shook his head in disappointment.

“Clearly, I’m not the kind of lucky protagonist who can casually kill someone and stumble upon an unparalleled divine technique, a fragment of a celestial artifact, or even a treasure map!”

Though somewhat disappointed, Zhou Chen was not discouraged. He hadn’t expected much to begin with.

Bai Ruyun was over a hundred years old but still only at Qi Refining Level Six; unable to survive in the cultivation world, practicing this sinister yin-harvesting technique—what kind of treasures could he expect?

The odds of striking gold were too slim.

“Brother Chen, what should we bring with us?” Qin Hongyu asked, her heart both excited and anxious.

She was just a country girl; having only recently entered the city, now she was to journey to the legendary sect Qingyun Sect.

“No need to bring much. Qingyun Sect has everything. If we need anything, we can just buy it there!” Zhou Chen pulled out a storage pouch and handed it to Qin Hongyu.

“This is a storage pouch with a built-in space to hold items.”

“Put whatever you want to bring inside.”

Zhou Chen now had several storage pouches, and with the Fengyue Treasure Mirror’s space, the pouches were just for show. The truly valuable items were stored inside the Fengyue Treasure Mirror.

Unfortunately, the treasure mirror could not yet accommodate a living person like Qin Hongyu—he wasn’t sure if it was due to his current power or if living beings simply could not be stored there.

“A storage pouch!?” Qin Hongyu curiously toyed with it, amazed that such a small bag contained a space the size of a room—truly wondrous.

Zhou Chen reached out, pulled Qin Hongyu close, and sat her on his lap, spreading her legs. He whispered in her ear:

“The county magistrate is hosting a banquet tonight and invited me. I’ll probably be back late or maybe not at all. You should rest early!”

“Mm, I understand!” Qin Hongyu nodded.

“It’s still early. Let’s review the Fengyue Secret Tome again!”

Zhou Chen’s hand slipped under Qin Hongyu’s skirt. Embracing her full, rounded hips, he pulled her down before the couch.

“You villain!”

Qin Hongyu gripped the edge of the couch tightly, shooting Zhou Chen a glare. She thought if he weren’t so often away playing, she might have withered away.

“Confucius said: ‘Is it not a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned regularly?’”

Zhou Chen smiled, wrapping his arms around Qin Hongyu’s soft waist from behind.

“Mm... hmm...”

Qin Hongyu raised her pale neck, lips slightly parted, her long black hair swaying wildly with her movements.

Inside the Fengyue Treasure Mirror.

Zhou Chen’s soul held Liu Ruyi, whose slender legs wrapped around Zhou Chen's waist like serpents. She looked up at him:

“You big liar!”

“What did I lie about?” Zhou Chen was bewildered; he hadn’t deceived Liu Ruyi recently.

“What did you lie about?” Liu Ruyi glared fiercely, teeth clenched.

“After every time, you massage my waist and abdomen. At first, I thought you did it out of care, to ease my fatigue.”

“But now I realize you were just preventing me from getting pregnant!”

Recalling how she had been hopeful each time before, Liu Ruyi’s frustration was palpable—he was truly despicable.

“How did you find out? And why are you so fixated on having children?” Zhou Chen asked, surprised and puzzled by Liu Ruyi’s desire.

“How did I find out?” Liu Ruyi snorted coldly. “I’m a spirit cultivator now. You secretly killed all the active cells—I would not notice?”

Zhou Chen suddenly understood. Liu Ruyi’s soul perception was now extremely sharp; she noticed that after his massages, living cells turned to dead ones and understood the truth.

“As for children...” Liu Ruyi fell into thought for a long moment before speaking slowly:

“My mother told me never to easily love a man, but to always have a child of my own...”

Zhou Chen was speechless.

“Do you still want children now?” he asked.

“After what’s happened to me, can I still have children?” Liu Ruyi shook her head.

Though her realm had advanced, and her soul would become one with her body, like ascending to immortality—the primordial spirit rising—she could still conceive and bear children like a normal person.

But by then, she probably wouldn’t want children anymore.

“Don’t worry, although I tricked you about having children before and used some little tricks, I will always treat you well!”

Zhou Chen cupped Liu Ruyi’s delicate face, kissed her softly, and looked into her beautiful, watery eyes.

“You may not believe my words, but can you not feel my sincerity?”

Liu Ruyi was speechless.

She really wanted to strangle this scoundrel with her legs!

Happy times always pass quickly.

The sun set, the sky blood-red.

Zhou Chen glanced at the six thousand added Fengyue points with satisfaction.

“Hongyu, rest well. I’m leaving now!”

He kissed Qin Hongyu’s smooth, fair forehead and withdrew.

Adjusting his belt, Zhou Chen headed to Qinghe Pavilion.

Qinghe Pavilion was located above the Qing River—a large boat, or rather a floating pleasure house, but a notch classier than the Xueyue Courtesan House.

Tonight, County Magistrate Chen Fan had rented the entire Qinghe Pavilion for the banquet.

At this moment.

Chen Fan, Chen Dao, Zhang Long, and other county officials were already waiting, surrounded by countless spies fixated on the boat.

They all wanted to know whom Chen Fan was hosting to rent the entire pavilion.

When Zhou Chen arrived, no spy paid him any attention, assuming he was just an escort.

But when Chen Fan and the others warmly smiled and enthusiastically welcomed Zhou Chen inside, the surrounding spies were stunned.

County Magistrate Chen Fan had rented the whole Qinghe Pavilion just to invite Zhou Chen?

“Impossible!”

“Isn’t Zhou Chen just a Qi Refining Level Two, backgroundless country boy?”

“Could Zhou Chen be the long-lost illegitimate son of some big shot?”

The spies were baffled but quickly relayed the news to their masters.

At the Xiao family.

“What? The county magistrate is hosting Zhou Chen?” Xiao Tong, the family head, opened his eyes wide. He had considered countless possibilities but never imagined Zhou Chen, a mere Qi Refining Level Two.

“Zhou Chen...”

To be treated so by a Qi Refining Level Five county magistrate, Zhou Chen must be extraordinary—recently showing his true potential.

Or perhaps only Chen Fan knew of Zhou Chen’s true worth.

Recalling the recent destruction of the Salt Gang’s Qinghe branch, where the killer was a divine archer, and Zhou Chen happened to use a bow, Xiao Tong shuddered.

He suddenly thought of a chilling possibility:

“Could Zhou Chen be the killer, and also possess the Art of Yi Archery!?”

If Zhou Chen were merely the killer, even if he reached Qi Refining Level Seven or Eight, Chen Fan would keep a respectful distance.

Because Qi Refining Level Seven or Eight meant nothing before the Salt Gang.

But if Zhou Chen mastered the Art of Yi Archery, it was different.

The Art of Yi Archery was a secret passed down by the Divine Archery Peak of Qingyun Sect.

Zhou Chen had likely become a disciple of Li Changfeng, the Divine Archery Peak’s master—a true Qingyun Sect inheritance.

Such an identity would make Chen Fan eager to curry favor.

“I must find out!” Xiao Tong thought.

But he dared not go himself, nor send spies; he would wait until after the banquet to visit Chen Fan and Chen Dao.

The other two families and the Fishing Guild’s branch leader shared similar thoughts.

Meanwhile.

At Qinghe Pavilion, Zhou Chen was surrounded by Chen Fan and others as he took his seat, ladies of beauty encircling him, with a dozen or so women singing and dancing ahead—lavish beyond measure.

“Never expected our small Qinghe County to produce a true dragon. I toast you, young master, wishing you a bright future and flourishing martial fortune!” Chen Fan raised his cup with a hearty laugh.

“Thank you, County Magistrate!” Zhou Chen lifted his cup and drank it down in one gulp.

The lady seated on his lap lifted a white, jade-like hand, picked up a jade wine pot, and refilled his cup once more.

Amid flattering attentions, the banquet was filled with laughter and clinking cups, everyone enjoying themselves thoroughly.

After the meal, the final entertainment began.

Chen Fan and the others gave gifts, then left with two beauties each, leaving the rest all for Zhou Chen—surrounded by a bevy of maidens as if he had entered the Land of Women.

“I’ve long heard of your unparalleled combat skills, able to take on ten men alone. It’s a pity you never came to see us before!” A voluptuous, alluring woman in red, San Niang, pressed her arm around Zhou Chen’s, her eyes like liquid, red lips parted seductively.

“Then today, let San Niang show you what she’s got!” Zhou Chen smiled brightly, wasting no time.

Time was money.

Time was life.

To waste it was shameful.

Zhou Chen always made every moment count for double.

The next day.

Past noon.

Zhou Chen and Chen Fan’s party left Qinghe Pavilion. After he departed, the pavilion’s madam, Yi Jie, went to his room and was stunned.

“Gah!”

Yi Jie’s body stiffened, shocked.

She had heard of Zhou Chen’s feats at Xueyue Courtesan House, fighting ten against one, but had never witnessed it herself.

Today, however, she saw with her own eyes...

Zhou Chen didn’t just fight ten men—he overturned the entire Qinghe Pavilion with a single shot.

Terrifying!

Zhou Chen looked at the ten thousand Fengyue points he had just earned, beaming with pride.

After bidding farewell to Chen Fan, Zhang Long, and others, Zhou Chen returned home to see Qin Hongyu, making it up to her a bit.

“You big bad guy, are you made of iron or what?” Qin Hongyu teased.

“This is the power of innate talent—harder than iron, stronger than steel—firing at celestial fairies and goddesses...” Zhou Chen hummed playfully, making Qin Hongyu roll her eyes.

It wasn’t until the afternoon that Zhou Chen left home for Zhang Long’s residence.

Thinking of the strength it took to suckle...

Zhou Chen found himself missing Hong Xiu’s scent a little.

He handed Zhang Long the prepared Yang Dingtian formula, letting Zhang Long manage the business with a cut as before.

Actually, Zhou Chen was not short of money now.

But Zhang Long had treated him well; this business was a bond between them. With Zhou Chen’s name attached, Zhang Long should do well in the future.

After several rounds of drinking, Zhou Chen spent the night here again.

The following day.

Late morning.

After drinking some milk gifted by Hong Xiu, Zhou Chen left Zhang’s mansion.

Zhang Long wanted to send Hong Xiu and a few others to Zhou Chen, but he refused.

In the end, Zhang Long gave Zhou Chen a gift of a thousand taels of silver as congratulations.

Zhou Chen had no choice but to accept.

Just as he left Zhang’s mansion, Zhou Chen was surrounded again by the heads of the three major families and the Fishing Guild’s branch leader, inviting him to another banquet.

They had learned Zhou Chen had become a disciple of Li Changfeng, master of Qingyun Sect’s Divine Archery Peak.

“Thank you all for your kindness, but I’m leaving tomorrow and really have no time,” Zhou Chen declined.

Yet they were unwilling to give up, and the four parties jointly invited him to Qinghe Pavilion for another evening, bringing generous gifts.

Together, they offered two hundred thousand taels of silver.

After leaving the pavilion, exhausted from another night with the courtesans, Zhou Chen returned home to find Li Changfeng and Li Changhen already waiting.

“Master, senior sister!” Zhou Chen scratched his nose awkwardly.

“You’ve been having quite a good time, huh!” Li Changfeng teased, clearly aware of Zhou Chen’s activities these past three days.

“Hard to refuse such hospitality!” Zhou Chen smiled.

Under Li Changhen’s disdainful gaze, he packed his things and, with Qin Hongyu, set off with Li Changfeng and Li Changhen toward Qingyun Sect.

A new journey had begun!

He wondered how the courtesan life in the capital city would compare...

…