White Lotus Sect

Only then did Li Juan smile at Jiang Yuan's answer.

Li Xiaotian was a child with perseverance and talent, but unfortunately, his body had been weak from birth. His innate foundation had likely been greatly affected.

Even so, Li Juan still thought highly of Jiang Yuan.

After bidding Li Juan farewell, Jiang Yuan left the Golden Saber Sect's compound.

The sky was already nearing darkness, and there were fewer people on the roads.

Unlike Haiyuan City, whose nights could sometimes be even livelier than its days, Thousand Cloud City was chaotic at night. All manner of demons and monsters would emerge.

Of course, these demons and monsters were not strange horrors, but people from various gangs and the lower rungs of society. Ordinary people simply did not dare go out at night, afraid of being targeted.

There seemed to be no strange horrors in this world.

At least, Jiang Yuan had yet to sense any aura related to such horrors. Yet in the Third Life, strange horrors had appeared in the northern Golden Court. Jiang Yuan did not know what connection this life had with the Third Life.

Most likely, they were the same world. Countries sharing the same names could not have appeared by mere coincidence.

Then did everything from the Third Life still exist in this world's history?

Jiang Yuan wanted to investigate, but he lacked the ability. Right now, he was merely a poor boy who had just entered the martial path.

Walking down the street, Jiang Yuan touched the silver in his clothes, which he had borrowed from a few kind-hearted people over the past few days.

After estimating the amount, he quickened his pace. Turning through two streets, a blacksmith's shop came into view.

"Oh? Li Xiaotian, have you finally saved up some silver?" Jiang Yuan glanced at the burly man before him, whose skin was the color of old bronze. He was the owner and blacksmith of this shop.

The weapons he forged personally were of excellent quality. Jiang Yuan had learned that from Li Juan.

Jiang Yuan took out every scattered bit of broken silver from his clothes and slapped it onto the table.

Jiang Yuan raised his eyes and looked at an iron saber hanging in the blacksmith's shop.

He lifted a hand and pointed at it. "That one. Thank you, Uncle."

The iron saber was handed over. Jiang Yuan used strips of cloth he had prepared beforehand to roughly wrap it up, then carried it on his back.

Then something suddenly flashed past the corner of his eye.

Although Jiang Yuan had lost all his cultivation, his senses remained sharp.

Those people just now had no weak movement techniques, and they wore night clothes. Something was probably about to happen in Thousand Cloud City again.

The Xuan Shang Dynasty was now like a great mansion on the verge of collapse. The emperor was fatuous, eunuchs ran rampant, and the civil officials, eunuchs, military officers, imperial clan, and maternal relatives fought one another so fiercely they were nearly beating each other's brains out.

The entire dynasty was in turmoil, while uprisings had broken out in many places. The central government's grasp over the regions was growing ever weaker.

Within Thousand Cloud City, the dynasty's power was no longer the foremost force. Instead, the various martial factions maintained the city's order and kept it from collapsing.

Yet without clear rules and regulations, Thousand Cloud City was still nowhere near as peaceful as before.

But none of that had much to do with Jiang Yuan. Jiang Yuan had spent all his silver and was now utterly penniless.

Looks like I'll have to borrow some funds from kind-hearted people again.

Jiang Yuan looked at the pitch-black night, opened the bundle on his back, and took out a set of black night clothes.

"Come on! One Bamboo!"

The room was bustling with noise, its lamps bright as day.

No one noticed a pair of bright eyes scanning the surroundings from the patch of darkness by the wall.

"Brothers, keep playing. I'm heading out to relieve myself."

"Haha, lazy people piss and shit more!"

A Green Snake Gang lackey sauntered out lazily. He untied his waistband and was just about to relieve himself.

Then he saw a flash at his neck. A pair of rough hands, callused with labor, crawled toward his face like centipedes.

Everything around him remained normal. There was not the slightest sound of movement, only the faint cheers drifting from inside the room.

That only made the lackey more terrified. He even lost the ability to think, his mind going blank.

Just as he was about to scream like a woman, two hands covered his mouth.

For a moment, all he could make were muffled whimpering sounds.

The next instant, even those sounds vanished. He had actually fainted from fright.

Jiang Yuan took a money pouch from the lackey's clothes, then tossed him to the ground with some disgust.

The lackey's crotch was already soaked through.

Jiang Yuan weighed the silver. It was not much, even less than what he had spent on the iron saber.

But that was fine. Drops of water could wear through stone.

Jiang Yuan looked inside, took out a small ball from his clothes, and tossed it through the slightly open door.

Before long, white smoke filled the room.

Someone cried out, "Fire!"

The scene immediately descended into chaos. No one cared about having fun anymore, and they all hurriedly fled the place.

Yet no one noticed that quite a few of those people were dragged into the darkness the instant they stepped outside...

This was one of the Green Snake Gang's branch halls. No one knew why it had caught fire, but nearby residents carried buckets over to put it out. It was not because they liked the Green Snake Gang, but because if the flames spread, their own homes would suffer as well.

Jiang Yuan moved against the flow of people and left the chaotic street corner. He touched his bulging clothes. The contents were somewhat heavy, but the heavier, the better, as far as Jiang Yuan was concerned.

A long time ago, Jiang Yuan had wanted to wipe out this branch hall.

But he had merely been an ordinary person before, with no confidence that he could pull it off without leaving a single trace.

Now, though he possessed only a thread of qi and blood, it was enough to deal with these ordinary people.

As he spoke, Jiang Yuan tore away the cloth strips around the iron saber, exposing a blade that gleamed with a faint chill.

The passersby who had been eyeing Jiang Yuan with ulterior intentions all withdrew their gazes. Only then did Jiang Yuan take out a small booklet from his clothes.

This was something wrapped in silk in the clothes of a Green Snake Gang lackey leader. It had been hidden well; this booklet was probably quite important to that lackey leader.

With some curiosity, Jiang Yuan opened the booklet.

On the first page was a simply drawn yet lifelike lotus.

On the title page behind it were the words:

"Eternal Mother, Land of Ultimate Void."

Jiang Yuan's cheek twitched slightly. This was the White Lotus Sect, a massive organization that existed in every novel set against the backdrop of ancient society.

Jiang Yuan had not expected that one day, he would directly cross paths with the White Lotus Sect.

But right now, he was only an ordinary Early Qi and Blood Stage martial artist. He did not dare have the slightest contact with the White Lotus Sect.

Jiang Yuan casually skimmed what was written in the rest of the booklet.

It was all ghostly scribbles and baffling words. It seemed to be material the White Lotus Sect used to brainwash its followers.

Jiang Yuan instantly lost interest and casually tossed the booklet onto the street.

As for who picked it up, that had nothing to do with Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan returned home. The first thing he saw was a little girl asleep with her head on the table, along with two or three dishes covered by oilcloth.