Chapter 290: The Decadent and the Ambitious (Please Subscribe)

After a long while.

Only then did Steward Wu break the silence, speaking in admiration: "Du Youli is truly diligent and earnest. With such extraordinary natural talent and aptitude, to also possess this kind of determination—I am ashamed, truly ashamed!"

"... Steward Wu, has the work of reorganizing the outer city's defenses been completed?"

Hearing that Steward Wu's tone was somewhat strange, Ying Dongqing was silent for a moment, then spoke these words.

Huh?

I was just expressing a sentiment!

City Lord, is there any need for you to be this vigilant?

Steward Wu's expression stiffened, then he hurriedly offered a fawning smile and said: "I'll go right now, I'll go right now, I guarantee there won't be a next time, please rest assured!"

Having said that, he hurriedly took his leave and went back to reorganize.

Only then was Ying Dongqing satisfied, and she turned to go do what she needed to do.

The city inside and out still appeared orderly, which caused the members of the Fudong group in the shadows to clench their teeth, their hearts filled with hatred.

"Du En, to dare to ruin my plans one after another!"

"It seems it is necessary to truly snipe you, hmph!"

These people hiding beneath the water's surface immediately decided to change their strategy, intending to eliminate this unexpected variable first.

Thus, time arrived several days later.

Although the key animal skin had been obtained, because the Shu City side remained quite passive and only provided remote assistance, the rat-catching operation here in Changle had not yet made any obvious progress.

It was mainly because the Fudong group, perhaps knowing they were about to be completely exposed, decisively and proactively revealed their tracks, and then, like walking a dog, led the action team headed by Zhang Qing on a chase, darting back and forth between the seven small cities.

They were very helpless about this and could only passively parry the trouble.

Du En did not participate in this behavior that was destined to be a waste of time and a thankless task.

He stayed in the inner city and went nowhere, spending his days on a two-point-one-line path, walking back and forth between his cave dwelling and the practice grounds.

Although he had arranged them as close as possible, when they were first built, no one had considered that a Du En would move in today, so his two-point-one-line trajectory inevitably passed through that single-room cultivation area of the inner city.

And Ying Dongqing, before this, would always be unable to help but intentionally watch this side; though not yet a Great Cultivator, she had begun to take on the worries of a Great Cultivator, concerned and attentive to the matters of the sect's camp.

However, she was currently somewhat overwhelmed and had stopped doing so since yesterday.

Du En clearly noticed this, because the other party had never hidden it; whenever he walked between the two points, she would lean against the railing at a high vantage point at the City Lord's Mansion and look over from afar.

Those who did not know the situation would only think it was a beautiful scene, and might even develop some misunderstandings.

In fact, there were a few individuals who would sneakily peek at this time.

Du En shifted his gaze away from that side, his peripheral vision catching someone who had just come out of the adjacent practice ground.

The person, who had originally been very excited and expectant, was now looking somewhat disappointed and dejected because that beautiful figure was not there today.

Withdrawing his gaze, he was just thinking of returning as usual when he saw a figure stumbling and falling not far in front of him, so his heart stirred and he stepped closer.

"Are you alright?"

"Alright? What's alright? Alright that I've finally escaped the illusion and returned to this cruel reality?"

This person appeared very ungrateful, their voice hoarse, eyes red and swollen, their overall state decadent and listless, with even their cultivation base unstable, showing signs of collapse.

The little servant following in the shadows looked extremely anxious, about to quickly light another stick of calming incense.

He had already almost finished thirty sticks this month, and the steward above had spoken in a severe tone, saying that if he didn't resolve this matter quickly and continued to waste calming incense all day, he would be demoted.

Going to the outer city to be a laborer would still be considered good; the miserable part was going to the battlefield to be cannon fodder!

However, before the little servant could light the incense, he was stopped by a look from Du En.

He looked at the cultivator slumped on the ground and recognized that this haggard person was the one who had just broken through to the Golden Core stage and escaped the illusory realm when he first arrived here.

Why were they still in the city?

"Hmph! This guy is lucky; because of adjustments to the transport matters, he is still able to linger here, otherwise he would have long since been sent to the front lines."

The person who wanted to see the beautiful figure but failed to do so noticed the situation here, and being in a bad mood, couldn't help but approach and say this.

He saw that although Du En's appearance was ordinary and his cultivation was mediocre, only at the early Golden Core stage, he had been able to enter the fourth-tier practice grounds for over a year, so he figured he was someone who, like himself, had stood out and received attention, which was why he spoke to him on relatively equal terms.

Perhaps having been mocked and ridiculed often in the past, and now lacking the soothing of calming incense, the decadent cultivator immediately couldn't help but speak sarcastically: "You say that as if not lingering means you can have a future? How do you know your own experience isn't just an empty dream?"

"Because I am not a person like you who just waits for death!"

The newcomer stopped, looking very displeased; he hadn't expected this piece of trash to dare talk back. If not for Du En being present and the need to mind his demeanor, he would have rushed up, grabbed him, and beaten him severely!

Even if he didn't use his hands, his mouth didn't hold back: "From the very beginning, I realized that this place is a place where the strong prey on the weak, so I silently worked hard. While you were grieving, I was cultivating; while you were like dead fish, I was still cultivating; when you felt you were inferior to beasts, I had already begun to stand out!"

"So I followed the rules step by step, increased my strength, obtained this status commensurate with my strength, gained the ability to freely arrange my time, was granted spells and magical artifacts, continuously improved, and was the first among my peers to break through to the Golden Core stage. Now I am even at the mid-Golden Core stage. The city steward has already conveyed that due to a shortage of personnel, the City Lord has ordered the selection of the best to supplement the ranks, and in a few days, I will be added to the City Guard, staying here to continue striving upward!"

Speaking to the end, he couldn't help but glance at the high building of the City Lord's Mansion.

It was a pity he still didn't see that beautiful figure.

But it doesn't matter, I will work hard, I will climb up step by step, wait for me!

Watching this confident cultivator, Du En offered no comment, and the one slumped on the ground had even less to say, appearing to have been touched on a sore spot, and could not help but feel even more sorrowful.

"Hmph! Fellow Daoist, don't be fooled by the pitifulness of such a person. As the saying goes, there must be something hateful about a pitiful person! If you had known it would come to this, why act as you did in the beginning?"

Having delivered this righteous and condescending critique, he put his hands behind his back and left leisurely, not wanting to waste any more time.

In any case, he had already kindly offered his guidance; if the other party still didn't wake up, then it was their own fault.

Heaven's sins may be forgiven, but one's own sins are unforgivable!

Watching him shake his head and look quite sentimental, Du En could only remain silent.

"Haha, well said, well said indeed!"

The decadent and listless person struggled to stand up at this moment, laughing and crying, stumbling away, seemingly wanting to walk into a dark corner to let himself rot, so as not to stain the eyes of these striving, ambitious people.

(End of chapter)