Several days later.
Third floor of an inn near Gengzi District No. 9 Sky-Piercing Tower.
Chen Mu leaned against a cushion, half-reclining on a soft couch.
He activated the passive listening ability of the Tier 5 True Hearing Technique.
The clamor from the first-floor hall continuously drifted into his ears.
"Chongshan Dao is finished. I heard several Aperture Condensing Adepts died."
"Sigh... They shouldn't have struck so ruthlessly. Driving them out would have been enough. If True Person Bai Ta comes back for revenge, it'll be chaos again."
"If the Supervisors dared to do this, Dao Master Dongli must have sent word. That's why they have something to rely on."
"I only care about what people like us are supposed to do."
"The territory we took back will definitely need people to manage it. With fewer people and more land, you can plant as much Yellow Sprout Rice as you want."
"Too bad it's not Moon Embracing Mountain. The monthly pay will probably only be two White Jade Coins."
"Be content. Look at those Wild Cultivators scraping by in the Water Mansion. Could they have it any worse?"
"Wild Cultivators aren't so bad, are they? No one controls them."
"Then go become a wild cultivator..."
Wild Cultivators had no way to exchange for secret manuals or Secret Arts.
Having heard no definite news about leaving the Water Mansion, Chen Mu shook his head and stopped listening to the meaningless discussion downstairs.
"Don't believe rumors, don't spread rumors."
"Instead of wasting time on gossip, I might as well grind out more experience."
He sat up and looked at the black pill furnace on the low table before him.
The pill furnace was about the size of a rice cooker from his previous life.
It had three sets of two handles, its