Dormancy and Waiting

Zheng Qian was very interested in the three pieces of news he had overheard.

Especially the first, the Grandmaster-level cultivation technique, was exactly what he urgently needed right now, even if it was just an incomplete technique.

After all, if the technique were complete, it would probably have been snatched up by those big forces long ago, and it wouldn't be appearing at an auction at all.

The second piece of news was related to Zheng Qian's goal for this trip. Both the Prefect's Mansion and the Li Family were involved in the destruction of the Zheng Family, and now the two families have started a marriage alliance, which clearly indicates something fishy.

Since he heard about it, he would naturally be interested.

As for the last piece of news, he was purely curious.

From those people, he already knew the use of the Meridian Flower.

The Meridian Flower is the main ingredient for refining the Meridian-Opening Pill, which can help martial artists better and faster open up the meridians in their bodies, thereby helping them improve their strength.

However, the Meridian-Opening Pill is only effective for martial artists in the Houtian Realm and Innate Realm, and is useless to Zheng Qian.

But his focus was not on the Meridian Flower and Meridian-Opening Pill, but on that relic.

Those people only obtained such good things as the Meridian Flower in the outermost area. What about the middle and even core areas inside?

Could there be treasures that can improve the strength of the Grandmaster Realm? Or are there any other natural treasures, divine weapons, cultivation techniques, martial arts...

Fortune favors the bold!

Since he encountered it, Zheng Qian naturally wanted to take a look.

Of course, all of this is based on him having the power to protect himself. He doesn't want to go to his death.

"Hopefully the technique at the auction can help me break through to the Grandmaster Realm, otherwise it will be a bit troublesome..."

Listening to the rising and falling discussions around him, a look of desire appeared in Zheng Qian's eyes.

With his current strength, even if he saved enough [Simulation Points] to continue simulating, he would inevitably enter a Low Martial World.

And in the Low Martial World, it is impossible for him to find a Grandmaster-level cultivation technique.

As for relying on his own to figure out a breakthrough method?

Who knows how many times he would have to simulate!

Therefore, the fastest way is to obtain a Grandmaster-level cultivation technique in reality, and then enter the simulation to break through.

Soon, Zheng Qian's wine and dishes were served, and he began to taste them one by one, but the taste was just so-so.

There was no way around it. The seasonings in this world were far less abundant than in his previous life.

The taste was naturally a bit worse.

But compared to the food he had eaten before, the food at this Zuixian Tower was much better.

About half an hour later, Zheng Qian, full of food and drink, left Zuixian Tower.

During the time he was eating, he also heard a lot of useful information.

For example: the strength rankings of the top ten experts in Ziyang City, the various gossip of the Four Great Families, which forces in the city are considered top-notch, and so on.

What interested him most was the top ten experts of Ziyang.

Among these top ten experts, five of them, like him, had reached the Half-step Grandmaster Realm, and the remaining five were all peak Innate Realm experts.

Moreover, those five Half-step Grandmasters were different from him, and could actually use the Gang Qi in their bodies to fight!

Unfortunately, this was a secret that was not passed on, and the people in the restaurant did not know how those five people did it.

Or rather, these people didn't even know the damage of Gang Qi to the meridians, and thought that it was perfectly normal for a Half-step Grandmaster to use Gang Qi.

And these five Half-step Grandmaster Realm experts came from the five major forces in Ziyang City.

One each from the Zhao, Li, Wang, and Sun Four Great Families, and the last one was the Prefect of the City Guard.

As for the remaining five peak Innate Realm experts, they posed no threat to Zheng Qian, so they will not be listed one by one.

After leaving the restaurant, Zheng Qian first bought a simple map of Ziyang City.

It's not that he was reluctant to spend money to buy a more detailed one, but there simply weren't any for sale.

The reason is very simple. In this era, detailed maps are generally connected to military affairs and are considered one of the military secrets, and no one dares to create them randomly.

In addition, there are no satellites in this era. All terrains must be surveyed and recorded on the ground, which is extremely costly in terms of manpower and material resources, and even slight carelessness can lead to significant deviations.

Naturally, no one would do such an obviously thankless thing.

However, although it was only a simple map, it was enough for Zheng Qian to use.

According to the map, the entire Ziyang City is divided into nine districts.

They are: East, South, West, North, Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, Southwest, and Central District.

Each district has its own focus. For example, the Central District is the most prosperous commercial district in Ziyang City, the South District and Southwest District are the civilian areas in Ziyang City, the Southeast District is the gathering place of the City Guard in Ziyang City...

And the Prefect's Mansion, which Zheng Qian was most concerned about, was in the East District, where many officials also lived, including the Four Great Families.

After all, the reason why the Four Great Families can prosper for a long time, in addition to having strong martial support, their family members also hold many important positions in the government all year round.

"The East District? This is troublesome..."

Looking at the simple markings on the map, Zheng Qian frowned slightly.

The East District is right next to the Southeast District, where the City Guard is stationed. If there's any disturbance, a large number of fully armed City Guard soldiers will arrive in a matter of moments.

In addition, the Four Great Families are not to be trifled with. They have not only formed a huge alliance through marriage, but each family also has a Half-step Grandmaster Realm expert overseeing things.

He didn't know if he was a match for these Half-step Grandmaster Realm experts who could use Gang Qi.

Moreover, even if he could hold off one, if the others ganged up on him without any sense of honor, he was afraid he wouldn't even be able to escape.

So...

"Forget it, I'll let you live a few more days. I'll wait until I get that cultivation technique from the auction..."

After thinking for a long time, Zheng Qian decided to wait.

Anyway, it's been so long. If they wanted to use the Azure Nether Jade to improve their strength, they probably would have already done so.

As for avenging the original owner of this body?

He only inherited the body of the previous Zheng Qian; he didn't even get a shred of his memories. Helping him get revenge was only to get rid of his own wanted criminal status. It wasn't something he absolutely had to do.

If it would threaten his own life, then he naturally wouldn't go looking for death.

He had plenty of time. At worst, he could hide for a while and wait until his strength improved.

Unknowingly, two days flew by.

In the past two days, in addition to scouting out the East District, Zheng Qian also exchanged all the antiques, calligraphy, paintings, and jewelry in his storage space for silver notes.

Adding what he already had, he had a total of more than 43,000 taels of silver.

He did all this, naturally, to prepare for the auction five days later.

As for whether the money he had was enough to buy that incomplete Grandmaster-level cultivation technique, only heaven knew.