This Should Be My Home

"Did you kill Gao Ting'e?"

In Luo Chen's home, Wang Yuan sat there sipping clear, gleaming wine when he suddenly asked.

"Big Brother, you can eat food carelessly and drink wine however you please, but you really can't speak carelessly." Luo Chen filled his cup, then said seriously, "People die that way."

Wang Yuan's mouth twitched.

He picked up a piece of Luo Chen's braised meat and casually glanced around the room.

"No wonder you had Spirit Stones to move into the Inner City. Looks like you struck it rich!"

Luo Chen was at a loss for words.

Some things could not be hidden from someone who was paying attention.

He had bought a set of spell manuals worth two hundred Spirit Stones from Wang Yuan, then rented a house in the Inner City. No matter how one looked at it, something was off.

That was not wealth a mere Short-Lived Ghost like Chen Xiao could have left behind.

Then there was the Great River Gang coming to his door today.

Put the two together, and the answer spoke for itself.

Luo Chen knew he could not hide it from Wang Yuan. So after Wang Yuan had blocked those two Great River Gang cultivators for him at noon, he had deliberately invited him home and personally prepared a meal and wine.

First, it was to thank Wang Yuan for the care he had shown him during this time.

Second, it was to let him in on the truth.

After all, Luo Chen could be considered one of Wang Yuan's Younger Brothers.

Of course, there was no way he would admit outright that he had killed Gao Ting'e.

"Gao Tingyuan is narrow-minded and highly suspicious. Since you're still alive and refuse to see him, sooner or later, he'll suspect you."

Wang Yuan set down his chopsticks. "If you still have Spirit Stones, buy more pills, raise your cultivation, and gain a few more means of protecting yourself!"

Pills?

Luo Chen had bought them long ago. Of the five bottles of Qi Nourishing Pills he had purchased last month, he had already burned through three.

His current cultivation progress had reached [37/100]. Thirty points came from the Qi Nourishing Pills, while the extra seven came from circulating the Evergreen Art every day.

But before Wang Yuan, Luo Chen habitually cried poverty.

"Brother Wang, you're my only family in the Cultivation World. If Gao Tingyuan bullies me, you have to help me!"

"Heh heh."

Wang Yuan rose and walked outside.

"I've already recognized the way here, so I'll be leaving."

"Oh, right. Be more careful when you come and go from now on. Don't let someone sneak in under cover of darkness and cut off your head."

Luo Chen grew uncertain. "No way, right? This is the Inner City."

"You don't think the Foundation Establishment Cultivators of the Jade Cauldron Sword Sect will make a huge fuss over the death of a Qi Refining Mid-Stage cultivator, do you?"

Wang Yuan sneered. "As long as you don't make too much noise, the big shots won't care whether we live or die. And silently killing you wouldn't be difficult at all for Gao Tingyuan of the Great River Gang."

Cold sweat seeped from Luo Chen's back without him realizing it.

"I'm leaving. If you run into trouble later, come find me at the Mountain Shattering Gang Headquarters in the Outer City."

Wang Yuan waved a hand, clasped both hands behind his back, and strode away with the gait of a dragon and tiger from the courtyard residence.

Before the wooden table, Luo Chen ate the braised dishes he had made without much appetite, his mind a mess.

But it did not take long for him to calm down.

"Tch, why did I get scared?"

"Hadn't I already thought of these things? Wang Yuan merely said them again and made me certain."

"The countermeasures are nothing more than working hard to earn Spirit Stones, buying pills to raise my cultivation, practicing a few more spells, mastering my magical artifacts, and improving my ability to protect myself."

This was all Luo Chen was capable of right now.

He could not exactly sneak into Great River Gang Headquarters in the middle of the night and kill Gao Tingyuan. He was not capable of that sort of nipping danger in the bud.

Rather than worry like the man of Qi who feared the sky would fall, he might as well steadily handle what lay before him.

Having sorted this out, Luo Chen viciously cleaned the table, devouring every last bit of spirit food, braised meat, and strong liquor.

After eating and drinking his fill, he let out a wine-scented burp.

He took out a prepared black gauze bamboo hat from his Storage Bag, covered his face tightly, and headed out openly.

This outfit of black clothes, black trousers, and a black gauze bamboo hat was rather conspicuous.

Yet within the Inner City of Great River Market, it did not stand out.

Among the independent cultivators, one could always see more than a dozen people dressed similarly in a single day.

Not everyone knew concealment spells that hid one's aura and changed one's appearance.

For independent cultivators carrying trouble, they were not stingy about handling with clothes what a single outfit could solve.

Luo Chen was not panicked, but as Wang Yuan had said, he had begun to be cautious whenever entering or leaving.

"Today, I earned four hundred Spirit Stones from All Wonders Pills and twenty from Grain Avoidance Pills. Adding the four hundred and twenty-five I already had, my total fortune comes to a full eight hundred and forty-five Spirit Stones."

Walking down the street, Luo Chen calculated his savings and began making plans for the purchases to come.

He needed to reserve at least three hundred Spirit Stones for the Purple Cloud Copper Furnace.

He also needed to purchase raw materials for the All Wonders Pills, so he would set aside a budget of four hundred Spirit Stones!

That was undoubtedly double what he had invested before.

But once the pills were refined, the returns were equally foreseeable.

That left one hundred and forty-five Spirit Stones. He would keep one hundred as operating capital in case of emergencies.

He was no longer the poor cultivator with only fifty Spirit Stones to his name.

Though he did not lack the courage to rise again after failure, there was no need to force himself into such a situation.

Keeping some operating capital was extremely necessary.

As for the other forty-five Spirit Stones, five would go toward food. Luo Chen planned to use all of the remaining forty to refine Grain Avoidance Pills.

Yes, Grain Avoidance Pills.

Though they truly did not earn much and had plenty of competitors, he still intended to refine more of them.

Whether to diversify his products or to use them as an extra with the All Wonders Pills, they were necessary.

His plan was quickly completed, and Luo Chen had no intention of dawdling.

He cast the Wind Riding Art upon himself and paired it with Carefree Wander, turning into an afterimage as he raced in one direction.

A figure shot past the pedestrians with a swoosh, drawing angry curses.

The Inner City only strictly forbade fighting; it did not prohibit the use of spells.

Besides, Luo Chen had merely run a little faster.

After spending an entire afternoon, Luo Chen finally finished his purchasing.

He had even arranged with the people at Spirit Source Studio to have the firewood delivered directly to the courtyard residence where he lived.

After finishing all this, Luo Chen arrived before a cluster of buildings filled with enticing fragrance.

He raised his head and looked through the black gauze bamboo hat at the three large characters above.

"Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion."

It was his first time entering such a place, and Luo Chen had to admit that he was a little excited.

It rather felt like a young virgin avoiding his friends and secretly visiting an improper establishment alone.

"Peh, peh, peh. I may be entering an improper establishment, but I'm here to do proper business!"

Luo Chen harshly scorned certain dark thoughts in his heart, then entered Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion openly.

The moment he entered, he felt like a fish returning to water.

"This should be my home!"

Ahem, ahem. He meant the concentration of spiritual energy.

After standing there only briefly, Luo Chen noticed the difference between inside and outside the building.

Simply taking a few extra breaths made his whole body feel comfortable, and the Evergreen Art even seemed to want to circulate on its own. This made him deeply understand just how incredible the "Spirit Gathering Array" Gu Cai Yi had mentioned was.

How wonderful would it be if he could live here every day!

"Esteemed guest, we still need to wait a while before receiving customers."

"I'm here to see Fellow Daoist Gu Cai Yi. I'm her neighbor."

"Oh, is that so? Then go on in. Walk straight along the lakeside, and you'll find a Feather Robe Pavilion. Miss Gu is usually there."

Miss Gu?

Then what, was he Mister Luo?

Luo Chen had not expected Gu Cai Yi to hold such a position within Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion. That servant's words had been filled with respect both openly and between the lines.

But on further thought, Gu Cai Yi was at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer, with bright and elegant features, long legs, a slender waist, and a bountiful fullness at her chest.

With such bearing, if paired with considerable skill in dance,

she could be called a "mistress" in any era.

Thinking about such random things, Luo Chen arrived outside the Feather Robe Pavilion.