"A body cultivator!"
"Brother Wang, you're actually a body cultivator!"
The crowd streamed out in an endless flow along the various exits.
Following among the Mountain Breaker Gang's members, Luo Chen excitedly voiced his admiration.
Wang Yuan still wore that same unenthusiastic expression, as though the commanding, victorious figure standing under the gaze of thousands moments ago had not been him at all.
All around them, the gang members looked at him with the same reverence as Luo Chen, casting admiring glances his way from time to time.
Body cultivation—in ancient times, its practitioners were known as body refiners, standing shoulder to shoulder with the ancient term for cultivators, Qi refiners.
Yet as eras changed and artifacts, magic treasures, formations, and talismans advanced by leaps and bounds, body refiners gradually dwindled into obscurity.
Nowadays, when cultivators occasionally displayed formidable physical techniques, it was merely as a secondary discipline. Those who were slightly more orthodox were simply called body cultivators.
Even so, body cultivation remained far beyond the reach of rogue cultivators.
The resources required to temper the flesh were simply impossible for an ordinary person to afford.
No one had expected Wang Yuan to quietly embark on such a path.
From the looks of it, however, he was not following the pure path of an ancient body refiner either, as his combat methods still carried many traces of an ordinary cultivator.
Faced with Luo Chen's marveling, Wang Yuan suddenly let out a soft sigh.
Puzzled, Luo Chen asked curiously, "Brother Wang, why are you sighing? You won! And so cleanly and decisively at that. You even got your name recorded on the Prodigy Roll!"
Beside them, Zeng Wen also said with a chuckle, "Indeed. Perhaps as soon as you walk out of Fallen Phoenix Mountain, cultivators from the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect will come invite you to join them."
Wang Yuan merely shook his head.
He glanced at Luo Chen. "Come back with me to headquarters in a bit. As my only follower, it's about time the others got to know you."
"Right! Absolutely!"
Luo Chen nodded repeatedly. At this moment, he had no fear of any Gao Tingyuan.
He had backing and a patron now!
Brother Wang was strong—strong enough to crush a demonic cultivator whose lethality rivaled that of a sword cultivator.
The Mountain Breaker Gang was also strong. With five wins and four losses in this battle, a new period of explosive growth surely awaited them.
This was great; he, Luo Chen, could bask entirely in their reflected glory.
All along, Luo Chen had struggled alone, weak and without allies.
On the path of cultivation, he had no one to guide him and no one to support him, making life exceptionally grueling.
He had wanted to join a cultivation clan or sect, but he feared ending up as nothing more than an expendable tool.
Now, things were different.
Though Brother Wang was somewhat aloof, he carried himself with immense boldness and grand vision.
With him providing cover, and relying on his own little schemes, thriving like a fish in water shouldn't be difficult at all!
Amid such rambling thoughts, the group exited Fallen Phoenix Mountain and arrived outside the Jade Cauldron Sword Pavilion in the inner city.
The moment they emerged, a roaring cacophony struck their ears.
"Seven hundred! I made seven hundred spirit stones!"
"I struck it rich! I'm rich now!"
"Heart-Devouring Tiger my foot! Why did I go all-in on him?!"
"The Mountain Breaker Gang won, and I lost... I'll probably have to mine for the Li clan from now on."
"Years of savings gone in a single day... boo-hoo..."
"Wang Yuan, you bastard, I hope you die a miserable death!"
The man closest to them clutched a betting slip, weeping bitter tears while spewing curses at Wang Yuan.
By sheer coincidence, Wang Yuan was standing right next to him.
As the man cursed, his voice choked off, and he tried to squeeze out a smile—only for it to look uglier than a mourning face at a parent's funeral.
Luo Chen felt zero pity for him.
Gamblers had no good end coming to them.
Even he, the one who believed in his big brother the most, hadn't placed a single bet.
***
Streams meandered past low hills amidst lush greenery.
Rows of bamboo and wooden pavilions were scattered about like pieces on a chessboard.
At the very center stood a massive pavilion.
Before it stretched a square paved with bluestone slabs, half the size of the Dao Discussion Platform.
This was Luo Chen's first time visiting the Mountain Breaker Gang.
The sight made him wonder if he had stepped into the wrong setting.
Shouldn't there be fortified bunkers, watchtowers, and racks of sabers, spears, swords, and staves to showcase the grandeur of a major gang?
Why did it look so serene and secluded?
Yet on second thought, this was an organization of cultivators, so it made perfect sense.
Fighting tooth and nail was for seizing resources outside.
At home, there naturally ought to be an atmosphere suited for quiet cultivation.
Following Wang Yuan and the others into the headquarters, he kept his mouth shut, curiously looking left and right.
During this time, Mi Shuhua made a brief appearance to arrange the funerals and aftermath for the fallen cultivators before hastily disappearing again.
Word was that he had gone to negotiate the subsequent handover of waterway transport with the Great River Gang.
It was not until nightfall that Mi Shuhua returned to headquarters, his face flushed with excitement.
A banquet was arranged, wine poured, and the victory celebrated!
Table after table of dishes rich in spiritual energy was brought out. Nearly everyone qualified to attend the banquet was a late-stage Qi Refinement cultivator.
There were fully over two hundred people.
There were also a few mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators like Luo Chen, mostly family members of gang personnel.
Mingling among them, though somewhat noticeable, he did not feel out of place.
Many knew he was Protector Wang Yuan's follower.
Having won the final bout today, Wang Yuan was the Mountain Breaker Gang's greatest hero; everyone was more than willing to show him respect.
Naturally, that goodwill extended to Luo Chen as well.
The victory banquet continued until late into the night.
When Mi Shuhua called an internal meeting, it was not suitable for Luo Chen to attend.
Wang Yuan found him and asked, "Are you heading back to the inner city, or will you make do for the night at my quarters?"
Was that even a question? Who walked the streets in the dead of night!
Although patrols had previously watched over the outer city, the grand opening ceremony was over now, and the Golden Core Master from the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect was reportedly returning to his sect soon.
Under such circumstances, it was hard to say whether the outer city patrols would continue.
"Go on, Big Brother, and come back early. Your little brother shall share a bed and sleep foot-to-foot with you tonight!"
"Get lost!"
Wang Yuan cursed with a chuckle, waved him off, and departed.
After he left, a gang member guided Luo Chen toward Wang Yuan's residence.
***
"Protector Wang doesn't usually stay here. He only rests here when he occasionally takes part in gang affairs."
"How should I address you, Fellow Daoist?"
Luo Chen looked at the man before him with a smile. The man's cultivation was modest, merely the fourth layer of Qi Refinement, a layer lower than his own.
In the talent-laden Mountain Breaker Gang, such a person was at the bottom rung, only slightly better off than the early-stage Qi Refinement peripheral members.
"This humble one is Lu Yanzai."
Luo Chen warmly gripped his hands. "Fellow Daoist Lu, a pleasure to meet you!"
Seemingly unaccustomed to such enthusiastic cultivators, Lu Yanzai felt rather awkward, unsure whether to pull his hands back or leave them where they were.
This was Protector Wang's only follower!
No one had expected that Wang Yuan, who once merely handled dirty work for the Mountain Breaker Gang, would rise so rapidly.
First, he performed extraordinary feats one after another during conflicts with the Great River Gang, then advanced to protector, and now had made a name for himself by slaying a demonic cultivator in public.
Even the Prodigy Roll established at the Dao Discussion Platform had carved out a spot for him.
Luo Chen did not leave him feeling awkward for long, quickly releasing his grip.
As they walked, he inquired about the Mountain Breaker Gang's circumstances.
"With the Mountain Breaker Gang flourishing so, daily life must be quite comfortable for you all!"
"The glory belongs to Protector Wang, Hall Master Luo, and the others. Small-fry rogue cultivators like us just huddle together for warmth, hoping for a stable cultivation environment."
"Don't they regularly organize hunting trips into the mountains? With experts guarding you, the spoils must be plentiful!"
"They're manageable—barely enough to make a living. Besides, the demon beasts in the mountains are far more ferocious. Crossing paths with a second-order demon beast usually means heavy casualties. And if luck turns bad and we encounter a third-order demon beast, it's practically a total wipeout."
Luo Chen's eyelids twitched at the words.
After all that, making a living in the Mountain Breaker Gang was no easy feat either!
The glory belonged to the upper echelon, while the danger still fell upon underlings like them.
If he joined, he would likely have to participate in such matters sooner or later.
That wouldn't do. Though he did not fear battle, he ought to possess sufficient strength first and exclusively fight people and demon beasts he could completely overpower.
Luo Chen analyzed the situation briefly, only to find his position increasingly awkward.
Wang Yuan was strong, but he had clearly kept a low profile and developed himself over the years without building any faction of his own.
Others would show him respect and occasionally extend that respect to Luo Chen, but when real trouble struck, Wang Yuan would be bound by duty and custom, unable to shirk it.
If any internal conflict arose within the gang, Luo Chen would certainly become an expendable pawn.
He even felt a hint of regret about coming here.
Still, he possessed a highly adaptable nature that could find joy even in bitter circumstances.
Since he was already here, he had to find something beneficial to himself.
"Fellow Daoist Lu, I've always heard that besides the headquarters, the Mountain Breaker Gang has what's called the Seven Tigers Hall?"
Lu Yanzai replied casually, "Yes, it's divided into seven branch halls."
"What makes them different? Are they divided by personnel, or by line of work?"
Line of work?
Lu Yanzai blinked, but soon grasped the meaning of the term.
He smiled. "The duties are indeed different. Among the seven halls, three are responsible for combat—dealing with enemies, demon beasts, and the like. The other four halls handle mineral mining and transport, herb gathering and processing, personnel merits, and beast pasturing, respectively."
Luo Chen's eyes instantly lit up!
A cultivation gang, as expected, was not just about fighting and killing!
Chapter 65