Void Crossing, Roc Returns Like a Swallow

Luo Chen had wanted to tell Wang Yuan about this.

Yet over the following days, Wang Yuan seemed to have vanished into thin air, without a trace.

He did not dare leave the Inner City rashly, so he asked Old Taoist Chen to look for Wang Yuan.

Yet Old Taoist Chen had not found him at Wang Yuan's home either.

He said the great gate was tightly shut, as though no one had lived there for a long time.

Helpless, Luo Chen could only keep the matter bottled up inside.

As for placing bets?

Was he, Luo Chen, the kind of man who made money off his brothers risking their lives?!

"Forget it, forget it."

"There was little I could do anyway. Rather than worry about the sky falling, I should focus on steadily improving myself."

In the dead of night, Luo Chen swallowed a Qi Nourishing Pill and continued cultivating.

Qi Refining Fifth Layer was already within reach. Only then would he truly count as being at the Mid Qi Refining Stage.

The fourth layer was still too weak. Controlling magical artifacts in battle could not be sustained for long.

Over the next few days, Luo Chen returned once more to his regular life of pill refining and cultivation.

His proficiency with the All Wonders Pill had reached the mastery level, bringing his success rate as high as thirty percent. The pills themselves had also advanced to mid-grade.

After refining his first batch, Luo Chen began to entertain some thoughts.

Should he raise the price?

The low-grade pills had previously sold for five Spirit Stones each. Now that they were mid-grade, there should naturally be some increase.

By all reason, raising the price would not be excessive.

But Kang Dongyue's words made him realize that raising it rashly might not be a good idea.

The price of the All Wonders Pill itself was already inflated.

After all, it sold at such a high price because of its unusual effects.

Moreover, Qi Refining Stage cultivators had limited spending power. If the price was too high, some potential customers would be scared away at the sight of it.

"The improvement from mid-grade is still too slight. Raising the price would only cost me the repeat customers I worked so hard to cultivate."

"Besides, what I earn now is not little. It is enough to meet my current cultivation needs."

"Raising prices must wait until the All Wonders Pill undergoes a qualitative transformation and reaches high-grade."

After much careful deliberation, Luo Chen temporarily established a future pricing strategy for his Flagship Product.

With a plan in his heart, he no longer felt so rushed in whatever he did.

The days slowly flowed by in such an unhurried atmosphere.

During this time, the neighbors in the courtyard interacted far less often.

Luo Chen guessed that this change was because Great River Market was becoming increasingly lively.

Even though he rarely went out, whenever he occasionally visited the streets, he could feel the restless air itself brimming with agitation.

Everyone looked forward to the day the Dao Discussion Stage truly opened. To place cultivators' battles openly beneath the bright sky and before countless watching eyes was thrilling in itself.

Things like killing for treasure and highway robbery sounded exciting, but ordinary people actually had no sense of participation in them at all.

More and more outside cultivators were arriving in Great River Market. Those capable of traveling such long distances were either highly cultivated or wealthy.

Because of their influx, the local cultivators' businesses had improved severalfold.

The small markets on the first, fourth, and seventh days of the month, along with the grand market at the start of the month, had now practically become daily small markets, each one as bustling as the great markets of old.

The skies above the Outer City Area were even more filled with Evasive Lights, shimmering in every color.

The outside cultivators seemed not to know what keeping a low profile meant, or perhaps they simply did not think this remote rural Marketplace contained anyone worth being discreet around.

Luo Chen, meanwhile, became even more low-key during this period, going out less and less.

Gu Cai Yi returned once during that time.

Yes, Gu Cai Yi had been staying at Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion all this while.

It was said that Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion would also participate in the "performance showcase" for the Dao Discussion Stage's opening.

Among the main performers was Feather Robe Pavilion, where Gu Cai Yi belonged.

This would be an opportunity to make a name for herself.

If she performed well enough then, Gu Cai Yi's standing in Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion would rise even higher afterward.

Once her reputation spread, the cultivators who came and went as customers would only become more generous with their spending.

That Late-Stage Foundation Establishment cultivator from Ailao Mountain, Fei Bai Wen, who had previously been so generous with her, had recently stopped going to Heavenly Fragrance Pavilion to throw money around by the handful.

"He came to Great River Market on serious business. Ailao Mountain contributed greatly to the Dao Discussion Stage's construction. With the opening ahead, he has even more matters to watch over, lest something go wrong then. Jade Cauldron Sword Sect would lose face on the surface, but Ailao Mountain would be the one losing face beneath the skin."

Those were Gu Cai Yi's exact words.

Luo Chen could only sigh. Being a construction boss in the Cultivation World was not easy either!

Creak...

The sound of the residence gate opening rang out. Luo Chen, who was practicing the Wind Riding Art in the courtyard and leaping up and down, froze for a moment.

Who would come back at noon?

Then, in the next instant, he saw a man and a woman staring in astonishment at him, where he stood atop the roof.

"Little thief, you dare steal your way into my home? You truly have a death wish!"

With an angry roar, a Golden Mace smashed toward him.

Luo Chen was dumbfounded. Had they not said fighting was forbidden in the Inner City?

But dumbfounded as he was, his reaction was not slow in the slightest.

He unleashed the Perfect Grade Carefree Wander. Coupled with the Wind Riding Art, he soared into the sky like a great roc.

Just as the Golden Mace was about to strike him, he abruptly retreated several steps, like a swallow turning back in flight.

This Void Crossing movement technique, so free and unrestrained, startled even the burly middle-aged man in the courtyard.

"Not bad, little thief. You have some skill!"

After saying that, he formed a hand seal, intending to use another method.

But the beautiful woman beside him stopped him. With a flick of her blue whip, she directly coiled around the Golden Mace pursuing Luo Chen through the air and yanked it down.

"Wife, what are you doing?"

The palace-robed beauty rolled her eyes at him. "Liangchen, can't you tell he lives in this courtyard?"

Only then did Qin Liangchen notice that the courtyard had far more signs of life than before.

The formerly vacant rear-facing room now had its great gate wide open, clearly showing that someone lived there.

Combined with what Sun Shou had told them before they returned—that he had found them a young new neighbor—that fellow in the air could only be him.

"Come down!" Qin Liangchen shouted.

Luo Chen hovered in the air with lingering fear. That Golden Mace had been truly terrifying just now.

If it had struck him, he would likely have been severely injured even if it did not kill him.

"Who are you people? In broad daylight, beneath the clear heavens, you force your way into another's residence and act so wantonly. Do you truly think Jade Cauldron Sword Sect has no one?"

"Heh, you brat..." Qin Liangchen glared at him.

But before he could finish, the beautiful woman beside him interrupted.

"Enough, stop making trouble."

"You are Fellow Daoist Luo Chen, correct? We are the Qin Family couple from the west wing. Come down first!"

Letting out a breath of stale air, Luo Chen drifted gracefully to the ground.

In truth, he had already guessed the couple's identities when the woman called out the name "Liangchen."

Before the stone table in the courtyard.

The three sat separately on stone stools and introduced themselves to one another.

The atmosphere was not especially awkward. It could be considered that they had become acquainted through a fight.

The beautiful woman—no, Murong Qinglian—offered an explanation.

Their son, Qin Xiaohu, had passed the Entry Level trial and successfully joined Fallen Cloud Sect.

After staying there for several months and confirming that nothing unexpected would happen, the couple had returned to Great River Market.

After all, their roots were here, and so was the business they relied on for a living.

They could not possibly abandon everything just because their son had entered a good sect, then go there to drink the northwest wind while accompanying him in study!

"Then congratulations to you both. Perhaps in a dozen years, the Qin Family will produce a Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator."

Luo Chen spoke politely.

But clearly, these polite words had struck directly at Qin Liangchen and Murong Qinglian's hearts.

Who would not want their son's future path of cultivation to be smooth sailing?

Qin Liangchen chuckled and gave Luo Chen's shoulder a heavy slap.

"You're not bad either, kid. You're clearly only at Qi Refining Fourth Layer, yet you managed to dodge two strikes from my mace in a row."

He said it sincerely, without the slightest hint of flattery.

Luo Chen's performance just now had truly surprised him.

Luo Chen pulled a bitter face. "Senior made it look easy, but just now, my soul nearly flew out of my body from fright."

"My husband was indeed in the wrong. He is a rough man, though he did hold back just now. Little friend, please do not take it to heart."

Murong Qinglian smiled faintly and then took out a beast-shaped wooden puppet from her Storage Bag.

"A small gift, unworthy of respect. Consider it an apology to little friend."

Luo Chen waved a hand. "It's fine. We can count it as becoming acquainted through a fight. Why would there be any need for an apology?"

Though he said that, his hands had already reached for it.

Turning over the puppet, which resembled a pangolin, he asked curiously, "Is this a magical artifact?"