I'm Just a Useless Pretty Boy with Lots of Money

Jiang Wang had actually been trying all along to figure out how to control that power.

But he had no clue where to begin.

He could only feel that scorching aura slowly weakening.

Until it completely dissipated.

Su Lingyi realized that he seemed able to move again.

Though he had already thought up two hundred ways to kill Jiang Wang in an instant,

he remained cautious.

The path of cultivation was difficult, and those who could ultimately cross its threshold were one in ten thousand.

The very first step alone was fraught with difficulties.

There was Qi between heaven and earth.

The first Qi one could sense was minuscule and subtle, like a tender sprout that had just pushed through the soil after a seed was planted. Though tiny, it contained limitless vitality.

Only by grasping that thread of life could one hope to forge a Yellow Court within one's body.

During the process, one had to use Qi to strike at the apertures at least three thousand five hundred times, and every strike meant enduring the agony of one's body and spirit being torn apart.

That was not something ordinary people could bear. Without immense perseverance, one was destined to have no affinity with it.

This stage was known as Hundred Days Foundation Establishment.

Those blessed with extraordinary talent could forge their Yellow Court without even needing a hundred days.

Some needed three years, others nine; there was no fixed rule.

Du Yanruo was currently in the Hundred Days Foundation Establishment stage, and she could only be considered to have just begun.

Su Lingyi, meanwhile, had already completed the process of striking at his apertures. He merely needed to seize the right opportunity; once his Yellow Court was forged, he could truly step through the gates of cultivation.

He carefully observed Jiang Wang, looking for anything unusual about him.

Yet he found that he simply could not see through him.

Ordinary.

He was simply far too ordinary.

Even among those of the same realm, tiny differences were difficult to perceive, but not impossible to perceive.

If one could not be perceived at all, then the answer was obvious.

He silently wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and gave Jiang Wang a very friendly smile.

A cultivator so young who could perfectly establish his foundation and enter the Cave Nether Realm either possessed truly exceptional talent or had an immensely profound background.

There were ways of the world to consider here.

Though Fish Abyss Academy was the highest academy in the Sui Kingdom, those with true aptitude were all in the Divine Capital. In the Kutan Region, the Sword Pavilion alone stood at the peak.

At the end of the day, Kutan was the Sword Pavilion's territory.

Two years was neither long nor short.

No one could guarantee that Jiang Wang had not encountered some great opportunity and entered some major sect.

What was more, Su Lingyi knew nothing at all about Hun City's Young Marquis.

He saw the slightly bewildered look in Jiang Wang's eyes.

His heart tightened.

The facts were already laid out before him, yet Jiang Wang was pretending not to understand anything. He clearly had some ulterior motive.

Some cultivators in the world really did have strange quirks.

They were obviously powerful, yet they pretended to be useless.

They deliberately made themselves look weak as death, all for the sake of Feigning Weakness to Deceive the Strong and ultimately gaining some so-called thrill from it.

What terrible taste.

Su Lingyi maintained the highest level of vigilance.

He took an exceptionally cautious step back.

Jiang Wang, meanwhile, was thinking that the time he had controlled Su Lingyi seemed a little too short.

When he had faced the Monsters before, it had lasted an entire shichen.

There had to be some reason for that.

"I'm just a very ordinary, very rich, very handsome useless pretty boy!"

Jiang Wang looked at Su Lingyi with complete sincerity and said, "Don't you feel the urge to beat me to death?"

Su Lingyi gave an awkward laugh. "What happened just now was all a misunderstanding. All this killing and fighting is truly inelegant. Why don't we sit down over a cup of tea and let one smile wipe away old grudges?"

Jiang Wang frowned. "A person should have backbone. You wanted to kill me just now, so how can you chicken out now? If you act like this, the beauty beside you will only look down on you."

Du Yanruo said, "...Senior Brother Su..."

Su Lingyi raised a hand to cut her off and declared righteously, "Fish Abyss Academy upholds education without discrimination. I have received a higher education, so I must treat everyone equally. I must not bully the weak. What I did earlier was my fault, and I must deeply repent. I trust Junior Sister will agree!"

He cupped his hands slightly and solemnly said again, "Another day, I will certainly come to apologize in person, so that the Young Marquis may feel the sincerity of my profound repentance. Farewell!"

The moment he finished speaking, he was already gone like a horse racing through dust.

Jiang Wang's body trembled as he coughed weakly a few times.

You're leaving just like that?

I haven't even started showing what I can do yet.

Don't you know how to help others?

If you truly wanted to repent, then come hit me!

Du Yanruo: "o((⊙﹏⊙))o... Senior Brother Su, wait for me!"

Su Lingyi did not dare look back at all. Only after he had gotten far away from Qixia Street did he rein in his horse and stop to wait for Du Yanruo to catch up.

He looked at Du Yanruo's hesitant expression.

Thinking that spreading this matter might disrupt the Young Marquis's enjoyment of his game and needlessly offend him, Su Lingyi decided to keep his mouth shut.

"Junior Sister, we came to Hun City on a mission. We must put the bigger picture first."

"If we keep tangling with that Young Marquis, we will only waste time. Besides, the Du Family is still in Hun City. If we offend the Young Marquis too severely, the Du Family will have no way to carry on once we leave Hun City. Junior Sister, you must understand my painstaking intentions."

Du Yanruo was deeply moved by his words. "I hadn't considered things thoroughly enough. Though the Marquis Manor has declined, it still holds great power in Hun City. If it deliberately made things difficult for the Du Family, it really would be troublesome."

Su Lingyi nodded in satisfaction. "Let us visit the Du Family first, then return to Qixia Street to investigate."

Zhao Si carried the basket containing paintings on his back and had to drag along the wicker chair as well. Watching Jiang Wang stroll leisurely ahead of him, he was so angry that flames nearly burst from his head.

"What exactly happened just now?"

"That man was clearly looking for trouble on purpose. Why did he suddenly seem like a different person? Could you really control other people's bodies?"

Jiang Wang said nothing.

When he had first encountered the Monsters, he too had been utterly confused.

But after realizing that he could control more than just Monsters,

he understood.

This would be the moment his fate changed completely.

What he needed to do now was learn to control that power as freely as he pleased.

And that was clearly not something he could accomplish easily.

Before he truly became strong, he had to keep this secret.

Qixia Street was an old street in Hun City. It had once been a bustling stretch, but most of its original residents had moved away, leaving only a handful of households and many empty houses.

Xunyang Marquis Manor was the most splendid residence on Qixia Street. The design of its eaves, the ornaments within its rooms, the objects arranged in its courtyards, and its exotic flowers and rare grasses were all extravagance taken to the extreme.

It was only because the manor's servants had either been dismissed or left of their own accord that it looked as though it had declined on the surface.

Jiang Wang had actually always been curious about this.

Why was his family so rich?

It was a marquis's manor, yes, but it sat in tiny Hun City, so remote it was practically at the edge of the world. No matter how one looked at it, it was not valued by the imperial court.

And the manor was only a manor; it had no other source of income.

Jiang Wang could only suspect that there was something strange about his father, who had long since disappeared without a trace.

Just as they arrived at the gates of the Marquis Manor,

a figure suddenly emerged from the side.

"Young Marquis, do you want a wife?"

Jiang Wang said helplessly, "Old Xu, this is the fifteenth time you've asked me."

Old Xu, dressed in coarse linen clothes, rubbed his hands together and chuckled. "Who told you to be so handsome? All the young ladies in this city are crazy about you."

"As long as you give the word, I'll search the whole city for you. I'll definitely find you the most beautiful one. I can't let you get the short end of the stick, can I?"

When the Marquis had still been around, Jiang Wang had never left the manor. Hun City only knew that there was a Young Marquis, but no one had seen him. To climb the ladder to the Marquis Manor, matchmakers had nearly worn down its threshold.

Even after the Marquis Manor began its so-called decline, the number of matchmakers who came knocking had not decreased in the slightest. At the end of the day, it was all because of Jiang Wang's face.

And for certain wealthy people in Hun City, taking a Young Marquis in as a live-in husband was something well worth boasting about.

Old Xu had often entered and exited the Marquis Manor in the past and was familiar with Jiang Wang. Having learned of such a profitable deal that benefited everyone, naturally he was unwilling to let it slip away.

Jiang Wang shook his head and walked past him. "I am the dignified Young Marquis of Xunyang Marquis Manor. How could an ordinary woman possibly be worthy of me?"

Old Xu followed behind him, entirely unimpressed by Jiang Wang's status.

"Xunyang Marquis Manor only has this one manor left. If not for your status as Young Marquis, would those daughters of wealthy families still need to think of ways to send matchmakers? They would probably have snatched you straight into their homes."

Jiang Wang said speechlessly, "You run a tailor shop. Why are you stealing business from matchmakers? Is it really worth it for that little bit of money?"

Old Xu chuckled. "What money? It's all worldly possessions. The important thing is that you're not getting any younger. You just came of age a few days ago. It's time you found yourself a wife."

Jiang Wang wanted to send Old Xu away, so he said directly, "I won't take one if she isn't pretty."

In any case, he got to decide whether she was pretty or not.

Hearing this, Old Xu became extremely excited and repeatedly gave his assurances. Though he was already quite old, he ran incredibly fast and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Zhao Si could not help but laugh. He stretched out his only right hand, patted Jiang Wang on the shoulder, and said, "Young Marquis, let me congratulate you in advance on winning a beauty's heart."

Jiang Wang looked at Zhao Si. "You seem to be nearing thirty as well. I should tell Old Xu to find you a wife too."

Zhao Si walked right past Jiang Wang and pushed open the gates of the Marquis Manor. "In this life, I only do paintings. I absolutely do nothing else!"

The Du Family residence.

Rows of beautiful maidservants carried exquisite dishes. Though only three people were seated, the table was covered from end to end with food and wine.

Du Heng looked at Su Lingyi and Du Yanruo seated opposite him, smiling with great delight.

He had once done everything he could to bring his daughter and Jiang Wang together.

It was both the thing he regretted most and the thing he was most grateful for.

He regretted that his "good intentions" had been cruelly rejected, leaving him utterly humiliated.

But he was grateful because that rejection had given Du Yanruo the chance to obtain an immortal fate.

That was a far more gratifying joyous occasion than attaching themselves to the Marquis Manor.

Fish Abyss Academy was under the imperial court's jurisdiction. Being able to study there was enough to make one's ancestral graves smoke with green incense.

After all, the academy did not merely teach and educate people. Everyone there was capable of flying through the skies, and calling them immortals would not be an exaggeration.

Du Yanruo frowned slightly. "Where is Zi Cheng?"

Du Heng sighed. "That younger brother of yours is good for nothing and knows not where he has run off to fool around again. I spent a fortune inviting a master to teach him martial arts, yet even now he has learned only a half-baked smattering. He is truly going to anger me to death."

Du Yanruo said, "Hun City may be unsettled lately. It would be best to tell him not to run around."

Su Lingyi took up the conversation. "Uncle is not an outsider, and we need Uncle's help as well, so I will speak plainly."

He glanced at Du Yanruo beside him and continued, "We came to Hun City under our master's orders to seek Immortal Traces. A few days ago, a Mirage hung high above Qixia Street. The academy's Chancellor observed it and suspected it was a sign of Immortals Descending. Before long, I fear forces from every side will send people to Hun City."

Du Heng said in surprise, "Immortals?"

He stared at Su Lingyi before him, then looked at Du Yanruo in confusion. "Perhaps my knowledge is shallow, but wasn't Instructor Cai an immortal back then?"

Su Lingyi smiled. "We are merely cultivators. Even though Instructor Cai is a hundred times stronger than I am, he still dares not call himself an immortal. Though I have never seen one either, a true immortal could likely destroy our entire world with a mere gesture."

He suddenly thought of Jiang Wang.

He felt that although Jiang Wang might already be a true cultivator, he was still young in the end.

Once Instructor Cai came to Hun City, he would surely avenge this humiliation!