Luo Chen truly wanted to warn Wang Yuan about this.
Yet over the days that followed, Wang Yuan seemed to have vanished into thin air, leaving behind not the slightest trace.
Not daring to venture out of the inner city recklessly, Luo Chen asked Old Daoist Chen to look for him.
However, Old Daoist Chen found no one at Wang Yuan’s residence either.
He reported that the gates were tightly shut, as though the place had been unoccupied for quite some time.
With no other choice, Luo Chen could only keep the matter bottled up inside.
As for placing a bet?
Was he the sort of man who profited off a brother putting his life on the line?
"Forget it, forget it."
"There isn't much I can do anyway. Rather than worrying over what I can't control, I'd better focus on steadily improving myself."
In the dead of night, Luo Chen swallowed a Qi-Nourishing Pill and resumed his cultivation.
The fifth level of Qi Refining was well within reach, and only upon achieving it would he truly count as being in the middle stage of Qi Refining.
The fourth level was simply too weak; when it came to manipulating dharma artifacts in battle, his stamina fell short.
...
Over the following days, Luo Chen settled back into his disciplined routine of pill crafting and cultivation.
Reaching the Proficient tier in the Myriad Wonders Pill brought him a success rate of up to thirty percent, and the pill's quality was elevated to mid-grade.
After producing his very first batch, Luo Chen found himself mulling over a question.
Should he raise the price?
Previously, low-grade pills had fetched five spirit stones apiece. Now that they were mid-grade, their efficacy had undoubtedly improved.
By all rights, increasing the price wouldn't be unreasonable.
Yet Kang Dongyue’s words reminded him that a rash price hike might not be wise.
The price of the Myriad Wonders Pill was already inflated to begin with.
It only commanded such a steep price because of its peculiar effects.
Furthermore, Qi Refining cultivators possessed limited purchasing power; setting the price too high would deter a portion of potential buyers.
"The improvement from low-grade to mid-grade is still too modest. Raising the price now will only drive away the repeat customers I've worked so hard to cultivate."
"Besides, what I'm currently earning isn't little at all—it's more than enough to sustain my present cultivation."
"Any price increase should wait until the Myriad Wonders Pill undergoes a qualitative leap and reaches high-grade."
After thorough deliberation, Luo Chen settled on a future pricing strategy for his flagship product.
With a clear plan in mind, an unhurried ease settled over everything he did.
Life drifted by in this calm, steady rhythm.
During this time, interactions between the courtyard neighbors dwindled considerably.
Luo Chen suspected this shift was due to Dahe Market growing increasingly bustling.
Even though he rarely stepped outside, on the few occasions he walked through the streets, he could feel a palpable restlessness hanging in the air.
Everyone was eagerly anticipating the grand opening of the Dao Discussion Platform. Bringing battles between cultivators out into the open under the watchful gaze of the public was an inherently thrilling spectacle.
Incidents like killing people for their treasures or ambushing travelers along the roads sounded exhilarating, but ordinary folks had no real way to take part in them.
More and more visiting cultivators poured into Dahe Market. Anyone capable of traveling such vast distances was either advanced in cultivation or possessing deep pockets.
With their arrival, business for the local cultivators multiplied several times over.
In the past, minor markets were held on the first, fourth, and seventh days of each ten-day cycle, while major markets took place at the start of every month. Now, nearly every day felt like a minor market, and every minor market was as lively as the major markets of old.
The sky over the outer city was streaked with countless flying lights of dazzling colors.
These visiting cultivators seemed to have no concept of keeping a low profile—or perhaps they felt this remote, rural market held no one worthy of their restraint.
Luo Chen, on the other hand, maintained an even lower profile during this period, venturing outside less and less.
Gu Caiyi returned once in the interim.
Indeed, she had spent this entire stretch of time over at Tianxiang Pavilion.
Word had it that Tianxiang Pavilion was participating in the grand performance for the opening of the Dao Discussion Platform.
Among the main acts was Yuyi Tower, to which Gu Caiyi belonged.
This was an opportunity to make a name for herself.
If she performed well enough when the time came, her standing at Tianxiang Pavilion would rise accordingly.
Once her reputation spread, the cultivators frequenting the pavilion would only spend more generously on her.
By contrast, the late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator who had previously showered her with wealth—Fei Baiwen from Mount Ailao—had rarely dropped by Tianxiang Pavilion to spend lavishly of late.
"He has official business here in Dahe Market. Mount Ailao put a tremendous amount of effort into constructing the Dao Discussion Platform. With the grand opening just around the corner, he has countless details to oversee to ensure nothing goes wrong. If a mishap occurs, the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect might lose face, but Mount Ailao is the one that would take the real hit."
Those were Gu Caiyi’s exact words.
To this, Luo Chen could only marvel that even in the cultivation world, being a contractor was no easy task!
*Creak...*
The sound of the courtyard gate opening broke the quiet. Luo Chen, who was leaping up and down the courtyard practicing the Wind Riding Technique, froze.
Who would return at midday?
In the next instant, he caught sight of a man and a woman, both staring in bewilderment at Luo Chen perched atop the roof.
"Thieving scoundrel, stealing right into my home—you must be courting death!"
With a furious roar, a massive golden mace came hurtling straight toward him.
Luo Chen was stunned. Weren't private fights strictly forbidden in the inner city?
Stunned though he was, his reflexes were razor-sharp.
Unleashing the Carefree Wandering technique at perfection level alongside his Wind Riding Technique, he soared into the air like a great roc.
The instant the massive golden mace was about to strike, he snapped back several paces through sheer force of will, darting backward like a swallow banking in flight.
This effortless, graceful movement of gliding on empty air visibly startled the burly, middle-aged man in the courtyard.
"Well, you little thief, you've got a trick or two!"
With that, he pinched a hand seal, preparing to unleash another technique.
However, the beautiful woman beside him stopped him. Flicking a long blue whip, she coiled it around the golden mace that was pursuing Luo Chen through the air and yanked it down.
"Wife, what are you doing?"
The lady in the palace gown rolled her eyes at him. "Liangchen, can't you see he's a tenant in this courtyard?"
Only then did Qin Liangchen notice that the courtyard carried far more signs of daily life than before.
The once-empty reverse-facing room now stood with its doors wide open, clearly inhabited.
Coupled with what Sun Shou had told them before their return about finding them a young new neighbor, the young man suspended in the air was obviously him.
"Come on down!" Qin Liangchen bellowed.
His heart still fluttering with lingering fear, Luo Chen hovered in midair. That massive golden mace had been downright terrifying.
Had it actually struck him, he would have ended up crippled if not dead.
"Who are you people? In broad daylight, barging into someone else's residence and throwing your weight around like this—do you really think no one in the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect is watching?"
"Hey, you brat..." Qin Liangchen glared at him.
Before he could finish, the beautiful woman cut in.
"All right, that's enough."
"You must be Fellow Daoist Luo Chen. We're the Qin couple from the western wing. Come down first, please!"
*Phew!*
Exhaling a long breath of turbid air, Luo Chen drifted lightly down to the ground.
Truth be told, he had already deduced their identities the moment the woman called out the name "Liangchen."
Before the stone table in the courtyard, the three took their seats on the stone stools and introduced themselves.
The atmosphere wasn't particularly awkward; after all, discord often paves the way for friendship.
The beautiful woman—Murong Qinglian—offered an explanation.
Their son, Qin Xiaohu, had passed the entrance trial and successfully joined the Luoyun Sect.
After lingering there for several months to make sure everything was settled and nothing would go awry, the couple had finally hurried back to Dahe Market.
Their roots, as well as the livelihood they depended on, were here.
They couldn't very well neglect everything just because their son had entered a good sect, staying over there to keep him company and live on thin air!
"Then my warmest congratulations to you both. In a dozen years or so, the Qin family might well produce a Foundation Establishment cultivator," Luo Chen offered politely.
Evidently, these polite words struck right to the hearts of Qin Liangchen and his wife.
Who wouldn't wish for their child's future path of cultivation to be smooth sailing?
Qin Liangchen gave a hearty laugh and clapped a broad palm onto Luo Chen's shoulder.
"You're not half bad yourself, kid! Only at the fourth level of Qi Refining, yet you managed to dodge two strikes from my mace in a row."
He spoke with complete sincerity, without a hint of empty flattery.
Luo Chen's performance just now had genuinely astonished him.
Luo Chen grimaced. "It looked easy to you, Senior, but my soul was frightened half out of my body."
"This was truly my husband's fault. He's a rough man, though he did hold back just now. Little friend, please don't take it to heart."
Murong Qinglian smiled faintly, and with a flick of her hand, retrieved an animal-shaped wooden puppet from her storage bag.
"A humble token, hardly worthy of the name. Consider it our apology to you, little friend."
Luo Chen waved his hand grandly. "It's nothing. No discord, no concord, as they say. What need is there for an apology?"
Even as he said so, his hands were already reaching out.
Fingering the puppet, which resembled a pangolin, he asked curiously, "Is this a dharma artifact?"
Chapter 47