Chapter 104: Chapter 103: No Sense of Hospitality

After handing the jade token inscribed with "Refining Valley - Friend" to an Elder on the first floor of the Hundred Weapons Pavilion and spending six hundred Contribution Points,

Wu Chen and Stone Ox mounted their horses and left Refining Valley.

On the road from Refining Valley, Wu Chen overheard the hushed discussions of many disciples.

The topic of their discussion was, naturally, the horrifying number of fiend heads.

Wu Chen didn’t linger. His horse galloped away, but he could still feel several resentful gazes directed his way.

’Those stares must be coming from the disciples who got hit squarely by the sack of fiend heads.’

CLIP! CLOP! CLIP! CLOP!

The horse’s hooves flew past, leaving the disciples with nothing but a view of their backs.

In about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Wu Chen and Stone Ox entered Mountain Mist City.

Before long, the two arrived at the Songtao Martial Arts Hall.

Inside the study, He Bai was practicing his calligraphy with a brush.

It was clear that the successful return of the medicinal herbs and Stone Ox’s breakthrough had put the old man in an exceptionally good mood.

His face was much more radiant than it had been a few days ago; he looked a good ten years younger.

Hearing footsteps, he looked at the two entering the room and set down his brush. "Stone Ox, Young Master Wu, you’re back so soon?"

"Huh? I just went to the sect to collect a reward. What else was I supposed to do?" Wu Chen was puzzled, not understanding why the old man would ask such a thing.

"Haha, it seems this old man was overthinking things!"

He Bai chuckled. "I thought Young Master Wu might spend a few days outside the city, spreading the news of the Overlord Body to lure out a group of Blood Evil fiends and then slaughter them!"

With his explanation, Wu Chen finally understood.

"Whoa!"

But before Wu Chen could say anything, Stone Ox let out a strange cry. "We can do that? That sounds like fun!"

He thought it sounded very interesting and looked at Wu Chen with eager anticipation.

"Brother Wu, let’s do what my grandpa said! We’ll wait outside the city, you can spread the word about me, and then just leave a couple of fiends for me to play with!"

Wu Chen was speechless. "..."

He looked at the old man and the young boy, shook his head, and said in a serious tone,

"I will certainly hunt and kill fiends, but I will never use another person’s life as bait to do so."

’Besides, I still have to search for Purple Mist Mountain among the peaks and slaughter them at their very source. Why would I need to resort to such a cheap fishing tactic?’

He Bai was taken aback by his words. ’Even when facing fiends, Young Master Wu disdains such methods!’

’He truly is a great hero! How admirable!’

He didn’t dawdle any longer. After speaking a few sincere words, he handed Wu Chen two thousand taels in silver banknotes, which he had prepared in advance, along with a smooth, jade-like brown bead.

Wu Chen didn’t stand on ceremony and accepted everything.

After all, killing the fiends and helping Stone Ox achieve his breakthrough was certainly worth this price.

"This bead is..."

Wu Chen held the translucent, ox-eye-sized bead in his hand. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, and wisps of cool energy circulated through his body, clearing his mind.

"This is called a Soul Nourishing Pearl. Carrying it protects you from heat and cold, nourishes your Qi and Blood, and prevents corrosion from poisonous fog and miasma."

He Bai continued, "Because its effects are extraordinary, I was afraid it would attract trouble, so I never had it appraised to determine what it truly is."

’After all, the hall already has the Overlord Body. If this thing turned out to be another incredible treasure, the Songtao Martial Arts Hall would probably be ganged up on by everyone!’

After listening to He Bai’s explanation, Wu Chen generally understood the effects of the Soul Nourishing Pearl.

Perhaps for those at the Meridian Passage Realm or below, this pearl was a rare treasure.

But as his own physique grew stronger and he reached the Jade Bone Realm, the pearl’s ability to protect from heat and cold and nourish Qi and Blood seemed rather negligible.

As for whether it could truly prevent corrosion from poisonous fog and miasma, Wu Chen certainly wasn’t about to test its effectiveness without any other protection.

But as the saying goes, you can never have too many treasures, so Wu Chen naturally accepted it.

What he lacked most right now were all kinds of treasures and resources.

With the transaction complete, Wu Chen turned to leave, but He Bai warmly tried to persuade him to stay.

"The kitchen has already prepared a meal. Young Master Wu, why don’t you eat before you..."

Wu Chen waved his hand. "No need, Hall Master He. I have important matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave now."

He certainly had no time to stay and build a relationship with He Bai. His next task was to figure out how to get his hands on another Jade Bone Realm Martial Arts manual.

The thought that he had already been in Mountain Mist City for several days and had only advanced one minor realm...

...instantly gave Wu Chen a headache.

By the time he left the Songtao Martial Arts Hall, the sky had grown dim. Though the streets were still lit by lanterns and candles, they lacked the bustling energy of the daytime.

’Time to get some sleep first.’

He had been traveling almost non-stop for the past few days to transport the medicinal herbs for the Songtao Martial Arts Hall, leaving him physically and mentally exhausted.

Besides, everything required a balance of tension and relaxation. Although Wu Chen was anxious to find more Martial Arts, he wasn’t so desperate as to wander around the city aimlessly at night.

「At the inn, on the second floor.」

Wu Chen took a long, pleasant hot bath and felt completely refreshed.

Draped in a loose, simple robe, he opened the door and called for an attendant.

"Is there something you’d like to eat, sir?" the attendant asked, arriving instantly.

"First, have these clothes washed."

Wu Chen handed over a basket of soiled clothes, which included the coarse garments stained with blood from killing fiends, as well as other clothes.

Catching the faint scent of Blood Qi, the attendant’s expression didn’t change; he was used to such sights.

Wu Chen continued,

"Bring me two catties of beef, a jar of wine... hmm, just a pot of wine will do, drinking too much gets in the way of business. And four or five of your specialty dishes."

Money makes a man bold. With a total of over five thousand taels of silver in his pocket now, Wu Chen stood a little straighter and ordered with much more extravagance.

"Right away, sir. Please wait a moment." The attendant took the basket of clothes and left quickly.

After eating and drinking his fill, Wu Chen naturally fell into a deep, satisfying sleep.

The next morning, as the first light of dawn appeared, Wu Chen was already up.

After washing up, he opened the door to see the same attendant from the previous night standing there.

On the tray in his hands was a pile of neatly folded clothes.

’It really is different when you spend enough money!’

Wu Chen clicked his tongue in amazement, looking at the clothes that had been washed clean and perfectly pressed in just one night.

He stored the clothes in his storage bag and headed out of the inn.

"Liuhe Martial Arts Hall, North Street Boxing Academy."

Wu Chen muttered the names of the two remaining martial arts halls in the city. He had already found out their locations and was now heading straight for the Liuhe Martial Arts Hall.

...

"Learn Martial Arts? Jade Bone Realm Martial Arts?"

Unlike at the Songtao Martial Arts Hall, the old Martial Artist who greeted him at the entrance of the Liuhe Martial Arts Hall showed a flash of hostility in his eyes when he heard the young man before him ask to learn Jade Bone Realm Martial Arts right off the bat.

Though it was subtle and well-hidden, Wu Chen still caught it.

"Tsk!"

He clicked his tongue. He knew that the wealthy and powerful Liuhe Martial Arts Hall probably thought he was here to cause trouble.

"I am sincere about learning Martial Arts, I have no other intentions," Wu Chen said earnestly.

"Then wait here. I’ll go report to the Hall Master."

The old Martial Artist’s gaze was still suspicious as he looked at Wu Chen, but he hurried inside. Clearly, the matter of Jade Bone Realm Martial Arts was not something a mere Martial Artist like him could decide.

’They have no sense of hospitality at all!’

Seeing that the man had no intention of inviting him inside, Wu Chen grumbled to himself but settled in to wait patiently at the entrance of the Liuhe Martial Arts Hall.

He had expected the old Martial Artist to return with a simple "you can stay" or "you must leave."

But he didn’t expect him to be followed by a rather imposing figure.

"Young Mistress, this is the person who said he wants to learn Jade Bone Realm Martial Arts," the old Martial Artist said, pointing at the figure at the entrance.

Wu Chen politely nodded to the newcomer, but to his surprise, she stared at him for a moment, then waved her hand dismissively and said coldly,

"As for Jade Bone Realm Martial Arts, don’t even think about it."

Her single sentence completely shattered Wu Chen’s hopes.

"Heh. First, you go to the Songtao Martial Arts Hall, and a few days later, you come to my Liuhe Martial Arts Hall. What? You think no one would notice...?"

Yao Jing’s cold gaze was fixed on him, a vicious light glinting in her eyes.

She had placed a couple of spies around the Songtao Martial Arts Hall, so she naturally knew Wu Chen had been there.

Although the portrait her spies sent back only bore a slight resemblance to the person at her own hall’s entrance, it was enough for her to recognize him.

She was about to mock his clumsy tactics, trying to win them over by offering a high price to learn Martial Arts just to get inside her hall.

Then he would learn about their arrangements and report back to the Songtao Martial Arts Hall, allowing them to plot against her own hall.

But before Yao Jing could finish her speech, she saw the young man at the bottom of the stone steps simply turn and walk away.

He couldn’t even be bothered to deal with her.

"Insolent! Did I say you could leave?" This feeling of being ignored instantly sent Yao Jing into a blind rage.

In her mind, he was supposed to do everything he could to join their hall, even if it meant enduring humiliation.

She would then be able to take the opportunity to properly shame him.

But she never expected Wu Chen to just turn and leave, giving her no chance at all.

A bellyful of taunts was stuck in her throat, unspoken. Watching his retreating back, rage began to smolder in Yao Jing’s eyes.

When a person carries a sharp blade, the intent to kill arises on its own!

This entire street was practically the territory of the Liuhe Martial Arts Hall, and she herself possessed the extraordinary power of the third-level Jade Bone Realm.

Yao Jing leaped forward in an instant, closing the distance to the young man on the steps. Her palm, hard as iron, shot toward the center of his back.

She had decided to teach him a harsh lesson.

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