Innate Righteous Qi

"Ah! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

The petite figure hurriedly backed away from Qin Jun's arms, apologizing repeatedly.

Qin Jun could not help sizing her up. She was a girl with a dirty face, dressed in worn gray cloth, looking about fourteen or fifteen years old. She resembled a startled little rabbit.

"It's fine." Qin Jun gave her one glance before looking away, then led Daji and the others into the city.

This minor incident did not attract anyone's attention.

"Leaving the city costs five copper coins per person!"

A soldier stopped the girl in plain clothes. At those words, the girl in white immediately widened her eyes and snapped, "Five copper coins? Since when did Qing Tan City have such a rule? How come I don't know about it?"

"There's plenty you don't know! Get lost if you don't have money! Don't even think about leaving the city!" the soldier cursed angrily, frightening the girl in plain clothes into gritting her teeth and leaving.

After entering an alley, the girl in plain clothes stomped her foot in anger and kept cursing under her breath. "When the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones follow! Damn it! How am I supposed to leave..."

Meanwhile, Qin Jun and the others entered an inn. After traveling all day, they planned to rest in Qing Tan City for the night.

Qin Jun could not help sighing. From everything he had seen and heard along the way, he found Qing Tan City remarkably similar to an ancient Chinese city, even down to the commoners' clothing.

Most importantly, everyone spoke Chinese. He had no idea what connection this world had to Earth.

If possible, Qin Jun still wanted to return. After all, he had a home on Earth too. His disappearance would surely cause his parents great sorrow.

"Daji, we'll share a room," Qin Jun declared righteously.

"No, Sister Daji has to stay with me. I'm afraid to sleep alone at night," Chang Qianqian said quickly, wrapping her arms around Daji's arm. Qin Jun's mouth twitched.

Damn it!

That damned third wheel!

Qin Jun fought down the urge to explode and looked at Daji. Daji spread her hands. "Young Master, I should keep Qianqian company."

Daji's smiling expression made Qin Jun feel rather awkward. Although Daji's loyalty was at ninety, that did not mean she was willing to give herself to him. Perhaps maximum loyalty would make that possible, but perhaps not.

After all, the system had never said that maximum loyalty could not decrease. Qin Jun did not dare force her, lest Daji's loyalty plummet and she run away. What would he do then?

Still, judging by Daji's attitude toward him, Qin Jun felt that he had hope!

Thus, Qin Jun shared a room with the Howling Celestial Dog, Daji shared one with Chang Qianqian, while Chang Hao had a room to himself.

After dinner, Qin Jun took the Howling Celestial Dog out for a stroll. Daji and Chang Qianqian were not interested in the marketplace, so they did not come along.

"Candied hawthorns for sale!"

"The finest silk! Come in and have a look, honored guest!"

"The girls of Fireworks House are all here tonight! Gentlemen, come on in!"

"Flatbread! Special flatbread from the Northern Frontier!"

Under the night sky, the lights of countless homes illuminated Qing Tan City. The streets were bustling, leaving Qin Jun and the Howling Celestial Dog reluctant to leave.

What attracted Qin Jun the most was Fireworks House. Ahem, he was just curious!

As a modern man, Qin Jun had not seen such lively prosperity in a long time. In Earth's cities, every street and alley was filled with blaring speakers or music, grating to the ears.

However, he noticed something. Although Qi refinement and immortal cultivation were humanity's main path to strength, there were not many cultivators in Qing Tan City. Even his predecessor's memories contained little knowledge of the subject, because his predecessor had spent nearly all his time indulging in pleasure. Thus, those memories were not much help to Qin Jun.

"Once I ascend the throne, I'll let the common people cultivate Qi and seek immortality too!"

Qin Jun began to let his imagination run wild. Just imagine it: if all the commoners in the kingdom were cultivators, how powerful would the Gan Yue Kingdom become?

It might even surpass an imperial dynasty!

"Young Master, something's happening ahead."

The Howling Celestial Dog's voice suddenly pulled Qin Jun back to reality. He looked up and saw circles upon circles of commoners gathered at the corner of the street. People loved a spectacle by nature, even in a world of immortal cultivation.

Qin Jun also enjoyed watching a spectacle, so he hurried over with the Howling Celestial Dog.

"Tsk, tsk, that fellow is truly pitiful. He wants to earn official rank, but unfortunately, he offended the Cheng Family."

"Yeah. It's truly hard for commoners to make something of themselves."

"Chen Shuli is in trouble tonight!"

"Come to think of it, he isn't a commoner. He's the City Lord's illegitimate son. Unfortunately, he cannot be acknowledged openly. The City Lord's wife often sends people to make things difficult for him, and the City Lord cannot intervene easily either."

"In that case, there's a reason the Cheng Family bullies Chen Shuli. The City Lord's faction and the Cheng Family have been fighting openly and secretly for far more than a day or two."

The citizens murmured among themselves. Only after Qin Jun pushed through the crowd did he see a frail young man lying on the ground. His right cheek was swollen red, and blood stained the corner of his mouth. He had clearly been slapped.

Standing before the frail young man was a handsome youth dressed in luxurious clothing. Two servants stood behind him, both at the Qi Refining Third Layer.

"Chen Shuli, weren't you so stubborn? I told you to apologize to me, but you refused. Now you're lying on the ground like a dog. Feeling good?"

The handsome youth sneered disdainfully. The frail young man called Chen Shuli gritted his teeth and endured the pain as he stood up. Seeing this, the handsome youth suddenly kicked out again, striking Chen Shuli squarely in the chest and sending him sprawling back to the ground.

"Get up again if you've got the nerve!"

Qin Jun could not help frowning. He found the handsome youth's arrogant, tyrannical behavior unbearable.

Just then, a petite figure squeezed through the crowd and stood in front of Chen Shuli, shouting, "Cheng Jie, don't go too far! If you keep bullying my brother, be careful, or I'll have my father hold your Cheng Family accountable!"

Qin Jun found the girl familiar. After thinking carefully, he realized she was the very girl who had bumped into him when he entered the city earlier that day.

"Oh? Isn't this the City Lord's eldest daughter, Chen Miaoyin? Why are you so disheveled? You're truly disgracing the City Lord!" Cheng Jie said with a click of his tongue, his face full of disgust. The girl in plain clothes trembled with rage.

"Little sister, move aside. This has nothing to do with you!" Chen Shuli got to his feet again and pulled Chen Miaoyin behind him.

"Ding! A potential genius with Innate Righteous Qi has been discovered!"

At that moment, the system notification suddenly rang in Qin Jun's mind. He could not help asking in confusion, "What is Innate Righteous Qi?"

"There are all kinds of geniuses in this world, not only those who cultivate immortality. This person possesses Righteous Qi and is naturally upright and unyielding in character. In this world, those with Righteous Qi possess talents in scholarship and politics far beyond ordinary people. Once they mature, they will all become capable leaders of a nation. Furthermore, once Righteous Qi is awakened, it can intimidate evil beings!"

That sounds incredibly impressive.

Qin Jun's eyes suddenly lit up. His goal was to become emperor, and someone capable of governing a nation was absolutely worth recruiting.

And it could even intimidate evil beings. That was no small thing!

"Can the Mythological System sense talented people?" Qin Jun could not help asking in his heart.

"Yes, but only within a certain range. After all, the Mythological System's primary purpose is to assist the host's growth. Whenever it finds talent useful to the host, the system will give a prompt!"