Chapter 786: Bound to Childbirth System, Became Life Winner Chapter 787: Fantasy World Passerby A (7)

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

After simple wound treatment was complete, Lu Yan stood up and walked out of the dense forest with Shen Yao at his side.

The Devil Forest truly lives up to its name; only Shen Yao could handle the devil vines inside, even trading away pills she had no use for, whereas locals of Lian Tang City would only stay far away from the Devil Forest and never dare approach.

Waiting outside the dense forest were the Fan Family people. Upon seeing Lu Yan emerge, although they quickly composed the surprise on their faces, the carefulness in their tone still allowed Lu Yan to detect something was wrong.

However, Lu Yan did not meddle further, instead asking where the other Fan Family members were.

"The Liu Family and Tang Family inside the secret realm need to be dealt with, Young Master Lu. Why don't we leave first?"

The Lian Tang Secret Realm really had nothing good; Shen Yao finding the Mutated Water Spirit Pearl was a case of the prepared mind prevailing over the unprepared. In fact, the Lian Tang Secret Realm had been open for who knows how many years, every blade of grass and tree had been searched clean by people.

The reason Lu Yan came this time was also to try his luck; unexpectedly his luck was truly poor, he himself nearly lost his life in the Lian Tang Secret Realm.

He gave an "mm" of acknowledgment and nodded. Lu Yan glanced at Shen Yao standing beside him; all three contract beasts had already shrunk down. The Flaming Lion lay steady in Shen Yao's arms, while the Black Feather Snake and Gale Wolf chose to follow at Lu Yan's feet, not leaving his side for a step.

"Let's go."

Signaling the Fan Family people to lead the way, Lu Yan lifted his foot and departed the Lian Tang Secret Realm.

He did not pursue asking how the Tang Family and Liu Family in the secret realm would be handled; like the wallflower grass Wei Family, he believed the Fan Family had a plan before they even entered.

Outside the secret realm, the Lu Family carriage waited to one side.

Shen Yao even saw the Fan Family's Head of the Family, a middle-aged man who looked somewhat honest and simple when he smiled, also the behind-the-scenes founder of Lian Tang City, Fan Sheng.

"Young Friend Lu"

"City Lord Fan"

Lu Yan walked a few steps forward and shook hands with Fan Sheng, then the two entered a mode of polite small talk. Shen Yao found it truly boring and got on the carriage early.

Fan Sheng noticed Shen Yao, laughing as he patted Lu Yan's shoulder, "Didn't expect Young Friend Lu's companion beast to be so special. When traveling in the future, hope you'll be extra careful."

Having spoken, Fan Sheng fished out an even more exquisite jade pendant from his bosom and handed it to Lu Yan.

The jade pendant was carved with beautiful floating cloud patterns, and in the very center a "Fan" character faintly glimmered.

Fan Sheng handed the jade pendant to Lu Yan with some nostalgia, "This is a Concealing Jade Pendant."

Concealing — what it conceals is the companion beast's aura; for the current Lu Yan, this is extremely important.

The special relationship between companion beast and awakened person has always been a target; Lu Yan's previous plan was also to seek help from Fan Sheng, using what the Tang Family and Liu Family coveted from him as exchange.

Unexpectedly, Fan Sheng proactively sent the jade pendant over. Lu Yan accepted it without ceremony, then took out a letter and handed it to Fan Sheng.

The two people both tacitly did not discuss what the content of this letter was.

Lu Yan got on the carriage, handing the jade pendant in his hand to Shen Yao to carry on her person.

Shen Yao:... Huh?

Flipping the jade pendant in her hand over to examine it a few times, Shen Yao suddenly let out an "oh," her head directly leaning on Lu Yan's shoulder, relaxing her mind, "This counts as your transaction with the Fan Family?"

Lu Yan straightened his waist and abdomen somewhat uncomfortably, "Counts as a part; the Fan Family will also give compensation."

Shen Yao raised an eyebrow, even more curious what exactly the thing Lu Yan was coveted for was.

"A piece of ambiguous news, but very attractive to cultivators." After all, cultivators pursue powerful strength and long lifespan, and Lu Yan's news relates to these two aspects.

Lu Yan obtaining this news was also an accidental result.

When Lu Yan originally came out of the Floating City, he traveled all the way to Lian Tang City; in between one could say he experienced countless hardships, even the Black Feather Snake among his contract beasts was successfully contracted in a secret realm on the road.

It was also in that secret realm that Lu Yan obtained a wooden token and a letter.

The token had long been sent to the Fan Family by the Gale Wolf during the distress call; unexpectedly, it would ultimately still fall into Fan Sheng's hands.

And this letter was to cooperate with the token; Lu Yan had naturally read the content inside, but Lu Yan had clear self-knowledge, knowing that pursuing powerful ability and long lifespan was not something the current him could achieve, therefore he chose to hand it to Fan Sheng, in exchange for things useful to his own cultivation.

Simply telling Shen Yao the matter of the token and letter, Lu Yan lightly closed his eyes.

Shen Yao turned her head to look at Lu Yan, thinking the System finally did one right thing; at least no need to worry Lu Yan would kick the bucket in a short time.

System:...

The System couldn't know the Host thought of it this way; it was currently sneakily watching the big show outside. No matter how strong Fan Sheng was, he couldn't sense a surveillance existence that couldn't be seen or touched beside him.

Having gotten the letter, and with the token, the powerful strength he pursued was right before his eyes; no matter what Fan Sheng said, he had to go try.

Only before trying, he had to arrange Lian Tang City's matters properly.

"The Tang Family and Liu Family need not be kept; as for the Wei Family, hand it to Lu Yan."

Fan Sheng did not value Lian Tang City overly much; he left the Floating City back then to pursue power; Lian Tang City was merely a means for him to pursue power. He needed people to do things for him, investigate more useful news.

"After I leave, Lian Tang City management splits in two; Lu Yan and the Fan Family jointly govern Lian Tang."

Could not even wait to return to the city to handle it; Fan Sheng brought his contract beast and left on the spot.

His contract beast was a mutated Moon Lotus Tree, capable of offense, defense, and healing; this is also why Lian Tang City could be built and why juvenile Moon Lotus Tree bodies were often sold — the City Lord's contract beast is Lian Tang City's foundation.

Lu Yan and Shen Yao rode the carriage back to the Lu Family; because Lu Yan's body had not yet fully recovered, for the next few days the two did not leave the house, and did not know the situation outside (theoretically speaking).

When the Lu Family main gate was knocked on again, it was the Fan Family steward coming to deliver compensation gifts.

All properties and businesses of the Liu Family and Tang Family, as well as the eighty percent of family assets the Wei Family voluntarily offered up.

"Young Master Lu, this is the Lian Tang City token. The Family Head left a verbal decree when he departed: Lian Tang City henceforth is managed by Young Master Lu and the Fan Family."

The steward spoke neither humbly nor arrogantly; after saying these things he also mentioned the Wei Family's disposal. As long as Young Master Lu is not satisfied, then the Fan Family can completely carry out an extermination strategy against the Wei Family just like with the Tang Family and Liu Family.

The Fan Family is accustomed to this kind of thing; therefore no matter how Lu Yan handles it, the steward will do it.

"No need. Since they sent family assets to apologize, spare people where they should be spared; I am not a slaughterer."

Steward:...?

"Young Master Lu speaks the truth," the steward thought: the Wei Family also made a move in the secret realm; such womanly benevolence, will it really work?

"How can it not work? Lian Tang City has the Fan Family; the Wei Family wouldn't dare do anything."

"If I were the Wei Family, I'd hurry up and sell off assets and leave Lian Tang City — the farther the better."

Shen Yao thinks the System's saying 'cut the grass but leave the roots, the spring wind blows and it grows again' applies to life-and-death blood feuds; the Wei Family simply doesn't have that kind of guts, otherwise this time the ones exterminated wouldn't only be the Tang Family and the Liu Family.

They're just wallflower grass; Lu Yan doesn't even need to make an extra move — the Wei Family will grow paranoid all on its own.

System:...

Although the Host often talks back to it, in terms of judgment she is still quite authoritative; the subsequent period proved the Wei Family's trajectory was indeed exactly as Shen Yao said — any little thing happening at home they could associate with the Fan Family and Lu Yan, until finally the Clan Head couldn't bear it and hurriedly left with the remaining liquidated assets, terrified that walking one step too slow would get them left behind.

System:...

Lu Yan's body had by now recovered well; he planned to leave Lian Tang and go train in the surrounding areas.

Of course, before leaving, these assets in Lian Tang City needed to be properly settled, and there was also the matter of Lian Tang City's management — Lu Yan didn't intend to intervene too much, and personally he didn't place much importance on this aspect either.

Shen Yao returned from outside the door, followed by servants carrying armfuls of things.

"Lu Yan"

Shen Yao ran up to Lu Yan in high spirits, beautifully showing off the jewelry on her person — these were new products specially designed for her by Cui Ying Lou.

Lu Yan:...

"Very beautiful, very suitable for you."

Waving his hand to have the servants send the things back to the small courtyard, Lu Yan took hold of Shen Yao's wrist. "In two days, I'm going to make a trip to Qingchuan."

Qingchuan lies to the north of Lian Tang; it is a major city possessing numerous Secret Realms.

The Mutated Water Spirit Pearl in Shen Yao's hand had already been given to the Black Feather Snake to digest; now the Black Feather Snake's combat power had smoothly increased, so Lu Yan wanted to cultivate the Gale Wolf and the Flaming Lion.

However, the Flaming Lion's required materials are in the west, while the Gale Wolf's required materials are in Qingchuan; therefore Lu Yan planned to go to Qingchuan first, resolve the Gale Wolf's combat power issue, then head west.

Shen Yao would of course go with Lu Yan; moreover Qingchuan's terrain is uneven, mountain ranges overlapping everywhere, the Secret Realms hidden inside simply too numerous to count.

Qingchuan is an extremely famous region in all of Zhongzhou; any cultivator with some ambition would go to Qingchuan to train and improve more than once.

Lu Yan choosing Qingchuan is beyond reproach; as Lu Yan's companion creature, Shen Yao definitely cannot be separated from Lu Yan for too long.

"How much do you know about Qingchuan's situation?" We need data; otherwise going in blind, they'd just be delivering vegetables.

The struggles there are exceptionally fierce, especially where cultivators are involved; Shen Yao once heard the Cui Ying Lou shopkeeper mention that Rogue Cultivators often appear around Qingchuan.

Rogue Cultivators are a kind of bandit, specifically targeting cultivators who have resources but lack ability; occasionally they also moonlight as assassins, taking jobs killing people and setting fires.

Qingchuan has especially many Secret Realms, so Rogue Cultivators are a specialty product of that place.

When Lu Yan came out of the Floating City he once passed through Qingchuan, except at that time Lu Yan didn't stay long, and knowing himself he left quickly, so the information he knows is all what the public has released — a general outline at most, even for some inside details.

"On this matter, the Fan Family can help us." Although Fan Sheng isn't present, Lu Yan obtained management authority in Lian Tang City; whether by sentiment or reason, the Fan Family would sell Lu Yan a favor.

After finishing telling Shen Yao about going to Qingchuan, that very afternoon Lu Yan went up to the Fan Family's main gate.

Finding the Fan Family's acting Clan Head — also Fan Sheng's own son Fan Gui Qi — he directly and candidly asked for information concerning Qingchuan.

Although Fan Gui Qi was puzzled, he knew his father's arrangements must have deep meaning.

Waving his hand to have the steward bring the wooden box from the study, he personally handed over the contents pertaining to Qingchuan to Lu Yan. "Can't guarantee it's all correct; our Fan Family hasn't sent anyone to set foot in Qingchuan these past few years."

The situation over in Qingchuan can be said to change by the day; no one knows which Secret Realm might suddenly change and cause a shift, and Qingchuan's forces aren't fixed either — it's very possible that this time you're on good terms with Qingchuan's power holder, but next time you go, the power holder you were on good terms with has already become someone else.

Lu Yan briefly flipped through the corresponding recorded content about Qingchuan, then thanked Fan Gui Qi. However you put it, it's the Fan Family helping; he also couldn't place all his trust in the Fan Family.

After returning he'd still have to rely on his own channels to inquire from multiple sides and combine considerations; with matters done for now, Lu Yan directly proposed taking his leave.

Fan Gui Qi didn't detain him, merely brought up Qingchuan again and again with hesitation, clearly wanting to urge Lu Yan to consider carefully.

Too bad Lu Yan is just like Fan Sheng — once a decision is made, no one can change it.

Seeing Lu Yan off, Fan Gui Qi and the steward beside him exchanged a glance; both felt a bit helpless. Isn't living an honest, proper, dutiful life good? Why must they pursue those external possessions?

"This has to do with personal ambition; Lu Yan and Fan Sheng are essentially the same kind of people." They fundamentally will not stop their forward steps, just like when they originally walked out of the Floating City, each harboring that faith in their hearts.

At this moment Shen Yao was staying in the room directing the Lu Mansion's servants to organize luggage.

About to travel far, Shen Yao didn't want to relive those bitter days in the Secret Realm from before.

What should be brought must all be brought; what shouldn't be brought also has to be packed into the carriage — anyway this trip out won't be back for a short time, Shen Yao bought many clothes and jewelry in Lian Tang City, as long as they aren't especially hard to carry she plans to take them all.

The servants were directed dizzy by Shen Yao; crates in the storehouse were repacked and sent onto the carriage; Lu Yan stood in the small courtyard watching Shen Yao bustle about, a sudden wave of helplessness welling up inside.

"Actually, you don't have to follow me." The journey's bumps might not be comfortable, plus Qingchuan is dangerous; Shen Yao's public persona is frail and unable to care for herself, and Lu Yan really does worry a bit that Shen Yao won't endure the hardship.

Even though Shen Yao can produce a Mutated Water Spirit Pearl out of thin air, and even move freely in and out of the Devil Forest, Shen Yao's appearance is still too deceptive — even Lu Yan sometimes spaces out.

"We agreed to go together." Shen Yao walked up to Lu Yan shaking her round fan. "Besides, Qingchuan has so many Secret Realms — who knows, there might be an unexpected surprise."

Danger accompanies the unexpected; with Lu Yan's current capabilities, it's still safer for Shen Yao to stay by his side — at least Shen Yao can reach out and grab Lu Yan a lifeline anytime.

After their needed luggage was organized, the two rested another night at the Lu Mansion, then the next day rose very early and both boarded the carriage to leave Lian Tang City.

Shen Yao still held in her arms the Flaming Lion Xiao Huo gurgling away; the Gale Wolf and Black Feather Snake, shrunk down, lay honestly in the corner sleeping soundly; meanwhile Lu Yan beside her buried his head looking at various information from Qingzhou in his hands.

This information is mixed true and false, needing discrimination before it can be believed.

Lu Yan isn't in a rush either; the carriage will still need several months to reach Qingchuan — this period is all left for them to digest the information.