Chapter 177: Need to Pay Attention to Image

"Let's go quickly, don't give her a chance to show off," Chen Shu suggested.

"Good idea," Gate of All Wonders echoed.

"Since you are all leaving, there is no need for me to stay here either," Haoran said in a calm voice.

"Ah..." Yan Keling was a bit dazed.

"Put all the trash in here." Chen Shu opened a plastic bag, let them put all the trash inside, then immediately carried the bag away, leaving only the sentence, "If there's a chance, we'll meet in person again; if not, so be it."

"There will be a chance." Gate of All Wonders also left, "My intuition tells me we will deal with each other often."

"I think so too," Haoran said.

"That..." Yan Keling watched Chen Shu and Gate of All Wonders gradually move away, then turned her head and looked longingly at Haoran, "Great Group Leader, um, I heard them say you are a member of the Imperial Family?"

"What about it?"

"Then do you know Crown Princess Zhusha?"

"Are you her fan?"

"No... ah... yes, I am her fan."

"Want an autograph?"

"Ah, no..." Yan Keling didn't know how to say it for a moment, "Could you give me her contact information?"

"What exactly do you want to do?"

"It's like this, Crown Princess Zhusha released an album before, and the songs in it are all so good. Both Master Linjian and I like them very much. Several of the songs come from a senior of a reclusive sect called the Hua Yue Sect. I want to learn a bit about this sect." Yan Keling looked at Haoran expectantly.

"Just for this?"

"Mm..."

"Speaking of which, after you finished fighting a few days ago, why did you sing a song on the Arena before stepping down?"

"Because... Master Linjian likes listening to songs."

"So that's how it is."

"So..."

"I'll ask her first," Haoran said, "I'll just say there's a genius girl, a successor of the Imperial Sect, who is her fan and wants to add her on Feixin. Based on my understanding of her, she will most likely agree. I'll private message you in the group then."

"Okay!"

Yan Keling immediately bowed: "Thank you, Group Leader!"

"You're welcome."

"Goodbye, Group Leader."

"Goodbye."

After the two said goodbye, they walked forward another ten meters or so, then quietly turned their heads and discovered the other person was still by their side, feeling inexplicably awkward.

"You're going this way too?"

"The exit to the Martial Arts Arena is this way..."

"Oh, that's right."

The two fell into silence again, silently walking toward the exit of the Martial Arts Arena.

"Buzz buzz."

Both of them took out their Mobile Phones at the same time.

Grandma Always Says: Where did you all go?

Grandma Always Says: Where are the people?

Grandma Always Says: How come everyone has disappeared?

Grandma Always Says: Hahaha, I won the championship.

Grandma Always Says: I told you so, easy peasy.

Grandma Always Says:?

Grandma Always Says: Why is no one talking?

The two looked at each other and silently put away their Mobile Phones.

Determined not to indulge her.

Chen Shu met Brother Jiang when walking out of the Martial Arts Arena. Brother Jiang naturally came to watch too, but he had been sitting with other group members earlier, so Brother Jiang sat with several other classmates from Yujing Academy. The two chatted for a few sentences and tacitly walked toward the Military Academy Canteen to snag the last meal.

Chen Shu got a serving of bamboo shoot fish balls, a serving of braised pork, and a cup of milk tea.

Brother Jiang was quite impressive: a roasted chicken, a whole braised fish, several large pieces of braised pork belly, a serving of four-joy meatballs, plus a cup of Martial Artist supplement, and he also took three beef pancakes as a staple, a rare luxury.

No, that's not called luxury.

After all, it doesn't cost money.

Chen Shu looked at the group while eating.

Zhang Suannai was still making a scene, having already sent over a dozen messages, plus several emojis, all of it a one-man show.

The last few messages were—

Grandma Always Says: You all just can't stand me winning the championship!

Grandma Always Says: You're jealous!

Grandma Always Says: You're narrow-minded!

Chen Shu silently took out his Mobile Phone.

Zhaoye Qing: Is anyone paying attention to you?

Grandma Always Says: /curse/curse/curse

Chen Shu was happy.

Stuffing the last fish ball into his mouth, Chen Shu put down his chopsticks, glanced at the bright sunshine outside, withdrew his gaze, and watched Jiang Lai wolfing down his food.

"Brother Jiang."

"Huh?"

"Should we pack some more to take back?"

"..."

"I'm serious, it's a waste not to pack it."

"I don't have any takeout boxes..."

"I do."

Chen Shu swiped his finger through the air, carving out a hole leading to an unknown space, then reached his hand inside and pulled out a stack of takeout boxes.

"How many do you want?"

"Brother Chen..." Jiang Lai raised his head, staring at him blankly, and only spoke after swallowing the meat in his mouth, "You have a Storage Artifact?"

"I went to Xinzheng Temple before; there's a street below it, the Wangxi Ancient Town street for antiques and artifacts, don't know if you've heard of it? I went for a stroll, bought a ring the seller claimed was a Storage Artifact, and only finished cracking it open a few days ago. Turns out it really is a Storage Artifact, just the space is very small, very, very small."

"I've heard of it, they say it's basically all fakes there... You actually managed to find a real one."

"Yeah."

"How much did you pay for it?"

"Several hundred thousand."

"That's a huge bargain!"

"Yeah."

As Chen Shu spoke, he asked with concern again: "How many do you want? Are three enough?"

"Umm..."

"Five?"

"That's enough, that's enough."

"Alright!"

"Won't it be weird?" Jiang Lai's expression was awkward.

"Not at all, why would you think that?" Chen Shu looked at him blankly, paused, and added, "I'll pack a portion of fish balls too, but I won't be going back to the Dormitory after I finish eating. Could you please take it back for me? Just put it in the fridge, I'll eat it as a midnight snack when I get back tonight."

"Sure, sure!"

Jiang Lai instantly felt much better.

Chen Shu checked the time; he wasn't in a hurry, so he continued playing on his Mobile Phone, looking up the current status of the Spirit Sect.

The times were different now; sects large and small were not living as comfortably as they used to.

The days when Cultivators were as high and mighty as gods were gone forever.

In ancient times, major sects basically had their own sphere of influence, as small as a county or as large as a province, and they would also have a small piece of private land of their own.

Although it was said that "under the whole heaven, there is no land that is not the king's," during the period of private land ownership, the imperial court basically acknowledged their actual ownership of this land. At the same time, their influence within their sphere of influence was an objective reality that could not be ignored; maintaining local law and order often required the help of their power, and imperial officials arriving to take office often had to greet them first.

Within their sphere of influence, sects could easily recruit disciples, run businesses, and even monopolize Spirit Crystal Mines, sources of heavenly treasures, and so on.

Private land allowed them to act as large landlords, taking in farmers and obtaining direct economic output from the land.

Whether they paid taxes and how much they paid depended on the strength of the sect and whether the imperial court at the time was powerful.

If it were a top-tier sect like the Spirit Sect, their sphere of influence and private land were even more terrifyingly large. In ancient times, besides acknowledging the central imperial court's ruling status, they could basically act like a small country, and when the imperial court was weak, they could completely ignore the Government.

It was different in the modern era.

The modern Yiguo Government could at most acknowledge that the sect's headquarters belonged to you, with the specific scope depending on the size of the sect. Ordinary sects just had a mountain peak; top-tier sects might be granted an entire mountain, and if they controlled a Forbidden Zone, the scope of the Forbidden Zone would also be tacitly granted to them.

Of course, in name, these lands still belonged to the country and all the people.

Therefore, many sects either turned into reclusive sects, living a life of poverty and gradually declining, or they had to adapt to the modern environment and find other ways out.

Many sects had opened clubs and training institutions; some with good reputations had already become national chains, or even developed into listed companies. If the sect's headquarters had beautiful mountains and clear waters, stunning scenery, or great fame, tourism revenue was also a wealth that could not be ignored.

For top-tier sects, the rare medicinal herbs and Spirit Plants produced in the Forbidden Land were also a decent source of income.

Among the current top-tier sects, the Spirit Sect could be considered to be living quite comfortably.

It was estimated to be no less than the Royal Court.

The Royal Court was like that because of its close cooperation with the military.

Since the founding of Yiguo, the Royal Court had occupied an extremely important position in the national army. At the peak of the Royal Court's power in ancient times, their strength within the entire Yiguo army even exceeded that of the Imperial Family; if not for the belief that "three feet above one's head there are gods," rebellion would have been as easy as turning over one's hand.

Even in the modern era, there were still many generals and military Cultivators who were Cultivators from the Royal Court.

It was said that Royal Court Cultivators now even had to study military law and command courses.

The Spirit Sect, on the other hand, held a pivotal position in academic research and higher education; in terms of social status, it was no less than the Royal Court. In terms of international status and sect wealth, it was likely far beyond the Royal Court.

Doing research was truly very profitable.

The Buddhist Sect and the Daoist sects held control over Yiguo's religion, but the wealth-gathering ability of these two was far inferior to some of their religious peers in previous lives.

Perhaps because there really were gods?

The Ming Sect was relatively all-around; they ran training classes and clubs, cooperated with the military, sent educational talent in Martial Cultivator majors to major prestigious universities, and had some other traditional industries, all of which were thriving.

As for the Sword Sect...

They were also not bad...

Although they were poor, silly, and few in number, they possessed happiness.

Chen Shu pondered as he watched.

He felt like he was about to transform from a poor boy into the young master of a top-tier sect dripping with wealth.

Feeling...

He didn't feel anything at all.

Investigating the principle, in fact, Chen Shu had never truly lacked money in any meaningful sense.

Even when he previously needed to purchase potions and required a large sum of money, and did not have it on him, he could always earn it when the time came to actually use it. Regardless of the method used to earn it, it was always a pleasure.

Once obtained, that was enough.

Chen Shu caught a glimpse through his Mobile Phone screen that Brother Jiang had finished eating and was wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, so he put his Mobile Phone away.

Five minutes later.

The two of them carried six takeout boxes and walked out of the Military Academy Canteen.

One box was the green bamboo shoot fish balls that Chen Shu liked; the fish balls were hand-beaten by the canteen staff, and it was said that the fish were raised by them personally. The taste was truly excellent; in any case, Chen Shu rarely ate such delicious fish balls outside.

No matter what, he had to pack some.

Jiang Lai, on the other hand, packed braised pork belly, cold-dressed pig head meat, salt-baked shrimp, oil-braised shrimp, and red-braised pork, choosing only the meat-heavy dishes.

The person serving the food heard that they were competing students from the school next door and was extremely enthusiastic. After Chen Shu said, "Your dishes are better than what our canteen makes; I wanted to pack a bit more to take back to eat, as I won't be able to eat them in the future," this enthusiasm reached its peak—the Military Academy Canteen never had a tradition of shaking the spoon, and now the canteen staff were like they had been injected with adrenaline, spoon after spoon, filling these takeout boxes with a diameter of 290 and a height of 104 to the brim, pressing them down again and again, even wanting to find an insulated box to pack more for them.

"See—"

Chen Shu glanced at Jiang Lai: "What is there to be embarrassed about?"

Jiang Lai smiled shyly.

Just at this moment, a large wave of Military Academy students surged from around the corner, running into the canteen, and immediately the two heard the sounds coming from inside:

"How is the braised pork belly half gone?"

"Wasn't I the first one here? Is there only this much shrimp left?"

"Where is my cold-dressed pig head meat?"

Chen Shu pursed his lips and quickened his pace to leave.

After all, he was someone who was about to become famous in University City and have countless fan girls; he had to pay attention to his image, lest someone dig up dirt on him later.

Afternoon.

The small courtyard was still full of spring scenery.

The leaves of every flower were so green they shone with oil, looking as healthy as could be, showing vibrant colors under the sunlight.

Chen Shu walked around the courtyard, then picked up the scissors and pruned away the flowers that were about to wither, as well as any blind branches.

However, his skill was ultimately not as good as Qingqing's, and his ability to distinguish whether some flowers were about to wither was not strong enough. Especially with the hot weather, flowers withered quickly; he had only been away for two days, and many petals had already fallen on the ground.

Some flowers just love to drop their petals.

Euphemistically called: good self-cleaning properties.

Those who don't know it well really can't tell it's about to wither. Once the evening wind of Yujing blows, the petals all scatter, leaving only the calyx with the pistil remaining on the branch; if you don't look closely, you wouldn't even know when it starts to bear fruit.

No matter how Chen Shu thought about it, he felt this was a shortcoming.

After pruning, he cut a few more cut flowers he liked and inserted them into the vase in the living room, only then taking out the broom and dustpan to sweep up the petals.

After everything was done, he felt a great sense of accomplishment—

Lazy Cancer Curse?

Hmph! Vulnerable!

Chen Shu took a few photos and then entered the house.

The little girl was still sitting on the sofa watching TV, having switched to a popular science documentary about the Royal Court, which was currently explaining how the Royal Court split from the Sword Sect and engaged in years of struggle with the Sword Sect, eventually developing into another top-tier sect no weaker than the Sword Sect.

"Xiaoxiao."

"?"

The little girl turned her head to face her brother-in-law, but her eyes were still slanted toward the TV.

"What did you give your sister this morning?"

"Gave her food."

"What kind of food?"

"Breakfast."

"Specifically? It wouldn't still be potatoes, would it?"

"It's potato chicken leg." The little girl slightly furrowed her fair brows and said in a corrective tone.

"Really?"

"Really."

"You aren't lying to me?"

"No!"

"Look at me."

The little girl turned her head upon hearing this, looked at her brother-in-law very seriously, and repeated:

"Really!"

"Fine then."

Although potato chicken leg also has potatoes, at least there was meat.

Chen Shu tentatively believed her.

After all, she was raised by him personally; she should also possess his virtue of honesty. If he couldn't believe her, who else could he believe?

Only one update today due to asking for leave.

There won't be any tonight.

The reason is that today is Moli's eighteenth birthday, and I want to be a little lazy.