Chapter 66: No Risk, No Entry

An unfamiliar Prefecture City, the first time wandering at night.

Song Cheng is very careful, very cautious.

Pillow talk with Young Miss was enough for him to understand where Huahaifang is.

At this moment, he took many turns and arrived before that marketplace.

The market gate was locked; inside, the rows of houses looked no different from the outside.

However, the data points inside made Song Cheng's heart tremble.

This small marketplace seemed to be an entirely different world from the outside.

The data for the Strength Realm, at a glance, was already quite numerous in the outer perimeter, truly giving one the feeling that "they are rare in the county seat, but here they are as common as dogs." Perhaps because it was late at night, these Strength Realm disciples of White Camel Manor were not carrying weapons, and that data mostly fluctuated between "15" and "35," while there was one who seemed to be sleeping while hugging a weapon, and that data directly became "45~85."

With just this strength, they were already more formidable than Wang Da Xiansheng.

And their weapons were also extraordinary.

Song Cheng moved a little closer, wanting to squeeze through the gap in the iron railing at the market gate, but before he could get too close, he felt a wave of stifling warmth coming from afar, and two steps closer, he began to feel scorching heat.

He was stunned, immediately retreated, and upon observing again, he made a discovery: the flesh-and-blood Qi of those Strength Realm Martial Artists linked together, actually forming a terrifying city wall of Yang Qi, blocking the prying of a Soul like his.

However, he understood that what he saw was only the outer perimeter.

But this is very powerful.

The youth's Soul floated outside the "White Camel Manor's city wall of Yang Qi," pondering a countermeasure.

If he retreated now, the reconnaissance would effectively be a failure.

He pondered slightly, and suddenly a thought occurred to him.

This "city wall of Yang Qi composed of Strength Realm Martial Artists" couldn't possibly be a "spherical dome," could it? If he couldn't get in from the side, couldn't he look down from above?

And so, the Soul twisted slightly, rose with the wind, drifted into the night sky, and then floated toward the center of White Camel Manor.

Before he even got close, a mass of scorching airflow had already drifted up with the wind.

And in the center of that scorching heat, a cluster of data was clearly displayed: 145~280!! This was the highest value in White Camel Manor.

Presumably, it was also at the level of the combat power ceiling for the Prefecture City's factions.

Song Cheng's pupils could not help but constrict.

With this data, wouldn't it be like playing with him?

And just as he was observing, that mass of scorching aura suddenly moved, like a dazzling Small Sun flying up from the ground, darting and turning, accompanied by the terrifying sound of a great bow being drawn. Song Cheng had a premonition that this person had sensed him.

He didn't think, didn't wait, turned around and flew away with a "whoosh," his speed extremely fast, and then he wandered around outside for a few turns before quietly squeezing back through the gate crack into the Chamber of Commerce and returning to his body.

After circulating his Qi and blood slightly, the tiny bit of coldness his Soul had picked up outside vanished instantly.

He looked at Young Miss beside him; she was sleeping soundly.

Song Cheng let out a long breath.

That '145~280' at White Camel Manor, should be an existence above the "Form Realm"?

And he only had "103~206."

He had to catch up.

But wanting to deduce a "Grade A" cultivation art from his "Yellow Grade Grade B" one was incomparably difficult.

If only there were a "Grade A" cultivation art that suited him perfectly placed right in front of him, that would be great.

Another matter was that although he didn't see other Souls wandering at night this time, he deduced that this Prefecture City probably had them. Otherwise, why could that expert from White Camel Manor react to him so sensitively? If there were other Souls, would they discover his true strength? After all, the Yang Qi his body radiated now was not weak either.

Song Cheng was not the only one not sleeping in the middle of the night.

Wan Qing thought about it over and over today and felt he still had to figure it out, so he pulled over the little guard he had once taught the "Flicking Willow Strength" to—Gao Yiwen—to chat.

"Yiwen, just what kind of strength does this son-in-law actually have?"

"Brother Wan, don't say it, you really asked the right person."

Gao Yiwen was the one who had originally brought Song Cheng and Tong Jia back from Tanghe Village to Shanghe County; at this moment, he recounted everything one by one, leaving Wan Qing completely bewildered.

"Yiwen, in that case, this son-in-law is not only strong, but also an unprecedented genius?"

"Brother Wan, actually, some people below guess that what the son-in-law has mastered is just something like 'Flicking Willow Strength' or 'Jue Jin Jin Jin,' after all, how could there be such a terrifying person? But in any case, the son-in-law is a true Strength Realm Peak existence; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him invincible below the Form Realm."

"Understood." Wan Qing nodded, secretly rejoicing that he had seen Wang Da Xiansheng's gesture today and had not acted rashly.

The next morning.

After Song Cheng got up, he was led by Ling'er to the inner courtyard Dining Hall; this was different from Shanghe County, where the inside and outside were separated.

The outside was for the guards and their families to eat.

The inner courtyard was only for the An Family's family members.

In the Dining Hall, Ying'er and Tong Niangzi were already there.

The two of them practiced together, and they had developed a bond from it.

At this time, Ying'er was eating in a leisurely manner, and Tong Niangzi was also eating in a leisurely manner... but Song Cheng could tell that Ying'er truly wanted to eat slowly, while Tong Niangzi was only doing it to avoid her eating manners looking too ugly and losing face.

Thus, Song Xiazi plopped down in front of Tong Niangzi, tapped his finger lightly on the tabletop, and the spreading ripples allowed him to grasp the location of the food more clearly; combined with his sense of smell, it was enough to complete the "image assembly" of the food.

He grabbed a piece of food that smelled of meat and white flour, very fragrant, not knowing what it was, threw it into his mouth in one bite, and began to chew vigorously.

Tong Niangzi was stunned for a moment and lowered her voice, saying, "Be a little more careful."

While chewing the food, Song Cheng said indistinctly, "Delicious!"

Suddenly, someone nearby laughed.

It seemed to be a child.

But the child was immediately covered by someone's hand.

Song Cheng looked over; the morning breeze blew in from the window, rippling in the ink sea toward those two plain white human-shaped figures not far away.

One was a woman with quite a bit of charm, and the other was a boy.

Song Cheng waved his hand.

The air in the entire Dining Hall suddenly went quiet.

In just half a day yesterday, the entire An Family had undergone a sea change, and the person whom that former "money-making tool," Young Miss, relied upon was actually this son-in-law.

Therefore, even if this son-in-law were blind or rustic, he could not be mocked by others.

Even if the one mocking him was just a child.

Who could fail to see that the Third Uncle, who had previously "covered the sky with one hand" and carried an air of "wanting to inherit the An Family," had already been dealt with by family law; his legs were now both broken, and he was reflecting in the Ancestral Hall. The woman hurriedly said, "Son-in-law, I am the aunt of President An, An Hongjuan. Just now, Wei Er did not mean to laugh."

Before the words had faded, Song Cheng suddenly interrupted, smiling gently: "Chen Yu's aunt is also my aunt. Aunt Hongjuan, I am going to offer tea in a moment."

Having said this, he nodded slightly, counting as a bow.

The woman named An Hongjuan was stunned for a moment; in her eyes, the blind youth had a clean face and his whole person exuded sincerity, so she could not help but nod gently.

But after nodding, she suddenly felt afraid.

Judging others by herself, she felt that if she were standing in Song Cheng's position, she would certainly be arrogant; yet a moment later, Song Cheng truly upheld the etiquette of a son-in-law, offering tea to the An Family elders one by one, and while offering tea, he would even sit down and chat casually with the other party for a few sentences.

After this passed, he clearly saw that the favorability of the An Family members toward him had risen, changing from the original 40 or 50 to 60 or 70.

On the other side, An Chenyu was reorganizing family affairs while simultaneously establishing the An Family Library Pavilion.

The cultivation arts stored in this Library Pavilion were no longer just the original "Flicking Willow Strength" and "Jue Jin Jin Jin," but also the "White Snake Strength" and "Xuanwu True Form" dictated by Song Cheng and written down by Ling'er, as well as "Insights on Fusion Strength," and so on.

Martial Artists entering the pavilion needed to present a warrant.

And the first batch of Martial Artists to obtain warrants was quite large; besides the two "privileged class" members, Tong Jia and Ying'er, and Jin Realm experts of the An Family such as Wang Da Xiansheng, Wang Tianma, and Wan Qing, as well as those eleven martial arts hall disciples, many talented members of the An Family in the Force Realm also obtained the right to enter.

It was just that the permissions inside were further distinguished.

For example, beginners in the Force Realm were only permitted to view "Flicking Willow Strength" to build their foundation, and so on.

Besides the "Library Pavilion," An Chenyu also established a "Martial Artist Dining Hall."

The meals in the hall were mostly meats that replenished a Martial Artist's Qi and blood, paired with some vegetables, fruits, and white flour. It was very luxurious.

Besides this, the Dining Hall also provided "Demon Beast Meat" and some special cultivation Pills, but these required a "warrant" to obtain.

An Chenyu had discussed these matters with Song Cheng.

An Chenyu felt that in these chaotic times, money must be rapidly converted into family strength.

Song Cheng suggested that they could establish "Family Contribution Points" and then use "Contribution Points" to exchange for the right to read cultivation arts and the right to exchange for resources.

But An Chenyu felt that the An Family was still lacking in everything, and she feared that doing it this way wouldn't work; she wanted to make the family big and strong first.

Song Cheng was only offering suggestions based on novels he had read in his past life; he himself did not want to manage much.

Managing these things involved too many details and was a headache.

An Chenyu was busy with her own affairs.

Ying'er and Tong Niangzi were also immersed in cultivation.

On Song Cheng's side, there was only Ling'er, who "could have everything to do or nothing to do."

"Accompany me, the son-in-law, to go out for a stroll; I want to walk a bit more."

"Alright, son-in-law."

Ling'er had long since become accustomed to the son-in-law's ways.

Song Cheng went out wanting to see more of the strength of the people outside, while also listening more to the situation outside, understanding the reputation of "White Camel Manor, Mountain River Martial Arts Hall, and Zhushan Temple," and seeing if he could learn "what exactly happened in the North Land."

The two walked from morning until noon, ate, and continued walking until they returned at dusk.

The harvest was not much.

But Song Cheng's grasp of the entire Prefecture City had deepened a little.

In fact, apart from where those three major forces were located, the normal people in the Prefecture City were not much different from those in the county town; they were all ordinary people. Some martial arts halls and small sects were also not much different from those in the county town, with "Jin Realm experts" being the ceiling of martial power.

From this, it could be seen that "Form Realm" cultivation arts were truly hard to come by, let alone those above the "Form Realm."

Linking this to the many "Jin Realm disciples" he saw while walking around outside White Camel Manor last night, those disciples were likely all breaking their heads trying to obtain the inheritance of "Form Realm" cultivation arts, right?

This competition was extremely intense.

As for those above the "Form Realm," they were likely the treasures of sects like "White Camel Manor."

Originally, Song Cheng had intended to see if "White Camel Manor" was any good; if the reputation was good, he might as well go and try it out.

After all, if he could see a "Yellow Grade Grade A" cultivation art, it would save him from having to comprehend it himself.

But now, he had once again dismissed the idea.

Even though he held "letters of recommendation" from Chen Hou and Ouyang Fei, he did not intend to use them.

Because even if he joined "White Camel Manor," wanting to reach the level of seeing those "cultivation arts above the Form Realm" would require spending an unknown amount of effort and getting involved in an unknown amount of trouble; in the end, he would likely have to become the Manor Master's personal disciple to even have a chance to see them.

Since that was the case, he would not go.

The thoughts of an immortal always differed somewhat from those of normal people.

Normal people felt that "one cannot catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's den" and "wealth is sought amidst danger."

Song Cheng did not think so.

He possessed terrifying patience and an extreme sensitivity to danger.

He would conduct "risk assessments" and "complexity assessments," and if these two assessments exceeded his psychological expectations, he would not take risks to become stronger.

In the leisurely passage of time, hundreds or thousands of years would pass in a flash; couldn't he just do as he pleased after he became stronger?

Time cost was extremely high for anyone, but for an immortal, it was the least important thing.

Therefore, Song Cheng determined his strategy in the Prefecture City.

One, collect many low-level martial arts to perfect the "Xuanwu True Form" and form a more powerful, more perfect cultivation art.

Two, secretly seek out Form Realm experts to spar with, in order to increase the probability of deducing a "Yellow Grade Grade A" cultivation art.

Three, utilize the economic support provided by the An Family and the resources of the Prefecture City to improve as much as possible.

While doing these things, he had to figure out as much as possible what had happened in the North, and then find a place to settle down in the South.

For him, the An Family, this small force, was already enough!

He would not go and join a major power again, only to exhaust all his strength climbing his way up within that power.

PS: From now on, I will continue to combine the two daily updates into one, both posted at 12:00 PM.

It will be the same after the book goes on sale. Everything will be updated at noon.

Please be informed.

In this way, the next update time will be May 28th at 12:00 PM.

(End of this chapter)