Strange Events at the Market

Strange Events at the Market.

Wang Qiu, who had hanged himself to death during the day, had actually appeared again in the dead of night.

And he was walking in his direction. Chen Wang's heart sank, and he prepared to push open the Bronze Gate in his mind and leave this place.

But after thinking for a moment, he calmed down.

He looked outside through the crack in the wooden door, watching Wang Qiu.

He could not leave rashly. He had to figure out what was going on first. Otherwise, if he came back next time and found a Wang Qiu sitting right inside his room, that would be a disaster!

The figure outside was somewhat stiff, yet his steps were light, his face deathly pale.

Under the gentle moonlight, Chen Wang could even make out Wang Qiu's expression.

It seemed half-crying, half-laughing.

He did not walk quickly, but he was heading toward a remote spot deep within the Slum Area.

Chen Wang held his breath, his swordlike brows deeply furrowed as he watched through the crack in the door. Wang Qiu kept drawing nearer in this direction.

The faint sound of footsteps in the silent night was like drums beating, striking against Chen Wang's heart.

When Chen Wang truly faced trouble, he instead became calm and exceptionally cool-headed. Though he belonged to the school of survival above all else, his mental fortitude at this moment was incredibly strong.

As Wang Qiu drew closer and closer, Chen Wang keenly sensed that Wang Qiu was not heading for his house. He seemed to be planning to pass through the Market and head into the mountains. What exactly is he trying to do?

Chen Wang raised an eyebrow.

He then held his breath and focused, watching Wang Qiu's figure. At last, Wang Qiu entered the vast mountains and vanished, completely melding into the darkness of night.

"What in the world is going on?"

Chen Wang's brows knitted tightly.

Wang Qiu's behavior before his death had already been extremely strange. It was as though he had encountered some opportunity and could not control his emotions. Yet his death had been too bizarre, and now he had appeared in the Slum Area again, heading into the mountains.

"Is there something in those mountains drawing him in?"

A thoughtful look appeared in Chen Wang's eyes. He did not let down his guard afterward, remaining alert to the movements around him. The night passed without incident, and nothing strange happened.

The next day,

Chen Wang sat cross-legged in meditation, cultivating the Red Cloud Qi Refining Art as spiritual energy circulated through the cycles within his body.

This was the good thing about cultivation techniques—they offered tremendous benefits in nourishing the body, calming the mind, and improving the vitality of the five organs and six bowels.

Chen Wang had not slept all night and had initially felt somewhat fatigued, but after meditating through several cycles, he recovered completely. His eyes gleamed with divine light.

Cultivators truly differed from ordinary mortals as vastly as heaven from earth.

That was why Chen Wang had always wanted to remain in the Cultivation World and cultivate.

And this was only the Qi Refining Realm. If he entered the Foundation Establishment Realm, his lifespan would lengthen, and perhaps one day he would be called Old Ancestor Chen.

At the thought, the corners of Chen Wang's lips curled slightly. Given his original aptitude and resources, Foundation Establishment had been something forever beyond his reach. Especially as he grew older and his potential for Foundation Establishment declined, it had become an even more distant prospect. Even if many sects possessed Foundation Establishment Pills, they gave them to gifted young disciples.

But for Chen Wang now, this was no longer a problem. He had a Foundation Establishment Pill in his hand.

And he also had a Foundation Establishment Skill. Even as a Rogue Cultivator, as long as he could successfully cultivate to Qi Refining Stage 9, he would have hope of Foundation Establishment. There was even guidance for the subsequent techniques. The thought alone was rather exciting.

Although he had no use for the Foundation Establishment Pill or Foundation Establishment Skill for now, the feeling was like having ten million—or even a hundred million—lying in a bank account. Even if he did not spend it, it filled him with drive. With this foundation beneath him, his state of mind was entirely different.

Chen Wang pasted many talismans around his house. They were all simple, basic talismans. Detection Talismans, for instance, could give advance warning when danger approached, like infrared sensors. Over the past two days, Chen Wang had learned at the Market that the Red Cloud Sect Enforcement Team had recently cracked down heavily on a group of cultivators, including a young prodigy named Chu Qingyun.

The Red Cloud Sect had never been stingy about publicizing its own strength. After all, the cultivators beneath it made their living leaning against the great tree that was the Red Cloud Sect. The stronger the Red Cloud Sect was, the more secure they felt. Thus, news often leaked out, and Chu Qingyun's appearance was identical to that of the young man who had sneaked into Chen Wang's room that day.

"Chu Qingyun, may good people live in peace!"

Chen Wang had originally been somewhat wary that Chu Qingyun might reveal this matter before dying. But since nothing had happened all this time, Chen Wang finally put his mind at ease. If Chu Qingyun had revealed this matter to the Red Cloud Sect before his death,

then the Red Cloud Sect would have come knocking long ago.

Nothing had happened for so long, so something must have gone wrong during the pursuit of Chu Qingyun. At the very least, the news about the Foundation Establishment Pill had not been exposed.

Great Winter World,

To guard against the unexpected, Chen Wang spent the nights in the Great Winter World for several days in a row after nightfall.

His residence was elegantly furnished, with high-end oak flooring, genuine leather sofas, expensive Famous Wine, cigarettes, and cigars. Gold, worthless in the Cultivation World, was hard currency in the Great Winter World.

As a result, Chen Wang enjoyed an extremely luxurious life.

In the Great Winter World, where even clean water was in short supply, Chen Wang drank liquor, smoked cigars, and lived in an expensive apartment where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold. His life was incomparably comfortable, and he could summon beautiful young women with full chests and curvy hips whenever he wished.

In this age of scarce resources, Chen Wang's wealth could get him not only young and beautiful girls, but any kind of woman in the Great Winter World, including respectable married women. Moreover, Chen Wang was now a Tier 3 Gene Warrior, possessing formidable strength and social status. Near his residence lived a successful man who kept quite a few mistresses.

Chen Wang had even met one of them. She looked like a virtuous wife and loving mother, refined and gentle in appearance, and wore glasses.

It was said that she even had a husband and a child, while her husband seemed to have tacitly accepted it. In this era of collapsed order, ordinary people struggled to survive, while the upper class still indulged in romance and pleasure.

If Chen Wang had been one of the common folk here, he would certainly have cursed. But now he was part of the upper class. Still, he had not slept with another man's wife; for the time being, he had no such inclination.

After nightfall, Chen Wang still sat cross-legged in meditation in the Great Winter World, cultivating the Red Cloud Qi Refining Art.

Spiritual energy was sparse in the Great Winter World, making cultivation terribly ineffective, but Chen Wang nevertheless maintained his good habits.

Cultivation World,

At the Red Cloud Sect, after completing his morning cultivation cycles each day, Chen Wang devoted himself to drawing talismans in his room. Since he was a freelancer and no longer needed to walk horses for others as he had before, his schedule was rather flexible. For several days in a row, nothing strange happened anywhere in the Slum Area, and Chen Wang gradually relaxed a little. Still, he was curious—what exactly had happened to Wang Qiu?

And was the person he had seen that night really Wang Qiu?