The atmosphere inside the large tent was heated and suggestive.
The crowd's laughter and envious gazes all focused on Lu Chen.
As long as he nodded, the woman who had once lorded over Nujiang County would be in his bed tonight, at his mercy.
However, Lu Chen showed none of the wild joy everyone had expected.
He slowly withdrew his gaze, turned around, and clasped his fists toward Chen Wanli again.
"Your kindness overwhelms me, Gang Leader. I'm deeply grateful."
Lu Chen's voice was calm, utterly unruffled. "However, I'm devoted to martial arts and have little interest in women. Li Qingyi may be beautiful, but in my eyes, she's a source of trouble."
As soon as he said this, the tent fell silent.
Everyone looked at Lu Chen as if he were an idiot.
He'd been offered a beauty on a silver platter, and he didn't want her? Had training in martial arts made the kid a fool?
Chen Wanli was taken aback too, but a trace of approval soon flickered in his eyes.
A man uninterested in women and single-mindedly devoted to martial arts.
That was the kind of person who was most steadfast—and easiest to control.
"Oh? Then how do you wish to deal with her?" Chen Wanli asked with interest.
"Forgive my boldness, but I'd like to trade this beauty for a favor from you, Gang Leader."
Lu Chen raised his head, his gaze burning. "I'd like to claim all of Li Qingyi's personal belongings, including her weapons and manuals, as well as first pick of the Red Fish Gang's armory."
"I've been stuck at the Flesh Refining Realm for some time. I urgently need to learn from the strengths of various schools and find an opportunity to break through to the Meridian Connecting Realm."
His request was perfectly reasonable, and it also showed his ambition.
Chen Wanli nodded again and again as he listened.
"Good! You've got spirit!"
Chen Wanli laughed heartily, clapping his hands. "Since you don't want this sack of flesh, then so be it! Everything Li Qingyi owns is yours! You can pick whatever you like from the Red Fish Gang's armory, too!"
"As for this woman..." A cold glint flashed in Chen Wanli's eyes. "Since you don't want her, cripple her hands and feet, then throw her into a brothel. Let her atone for the brothers who died!"
At his words, Li Qingyi's eyes filled with utter despair.
Lu Chen didn't look at her again. He went straight to her.
Without the slightest hesitation, he reached out and searched her person.
It might have looked lecherous to the others, but to Lu Chen, he was simply collecting his spoils.
Before long, he pulled several bottles of pills, a stack of banknotes, and an antique-looking dagger from Li Qingyi's robes.
At last, his gaze fell on the exquisite Brocade Pouch.
He yanked it off and tucked it into his robes.
"Thank you, Gang Leader!"
Carrying his spoils, Lu Chen turned and left the tent.
At Red Fish Dock, inside a side room that had survived more or less intact.
Lu Chen shut the doors and windows tightly, then lit the oil lamp.
He dumped everything he'd taken from Li Qingyi onto the table.
Three thousand taels in banknotes.
Two bottles of healing pills called "Rejuvenation Pills."
And that dagger, sharp enough to cut through iron like mud.
These were all good things, especially the banknotes, which were enough to buy him a great deal of cultivation resources.
But Lu Chen's instincts told him the most valuable thing wasn't among them.
He picked up the Brocade Pouch.
It was woven from fine Ice Silkworm Silk, impervious to water and fire, and embroidered with a red koi.
Inside, aside from a few personal items belonging to a woman, there was only a palm-sized piece of Black Beast Hide that looked completely unremarkable.
The hide felt cold to the touch, its surface smooth as jade. Strange lines and symbols were drawn on it. It looked like a map, or perhaps some kind of formation.
"What is this?"
Lu Chen furrowed his brow and held the hide close to the oil lamp for a careful look.
Just then, the panel in his mind suddenly trembled.
[ Ding! High-grade energy fluctuation detected! ]
[ Analyzing... ]
[ Analysis complete! ]
[ Item name: Fragment of Profound Nether Hand (First Layer) ]
[ Grade: Spirit Tier Lower Grade (Incomplete) ]
[ Description: An introductory palm technique from the ancient sect "Profound Nether Sect." When cultivated to mastery, it can produce "Profound Nether Cold Qi," a vicious, insidious force. Those struck by it suffer frozen blood and shattered meridians. This fragment contains only the first layer's cultivation method and moves, and can be cultivated up to the Meridian Connecting Realm. ]
"Spirit-tier martial arts?!"
Lu Chen shot to his feet, his heart pounding violently and his breathing quickening.
In this world, martial arts were ranked in strict tiers.
Unranked, Mortal Tier, Spirit Tier, Earth Tier, Heaven Tier.
The Black Water Gang's signature art was only a Mortal Tier Upper Grade martial art.
Yet this Profound Nether Hand was a legendary Spirit Tier martial art!
Even though it was only a fragment, it was an unparalleled manual that could lead straight to the Meridian Connecting Realm and perhaps even higher!
No wonder Li Qingyi had reached the Meridian Connecting Realm at such a young age, and her inner energy carried a trace of chilling Yin. She had been cultivating this art!
"I've struck it rich! This time, I've really struck it rich!"
Lu Chen clutched the hide tightly, his eyes brimming with delight.
With this technique, breaking through to the Meridian Connecting Realm would no longer be a pipe dream. He might even get a chance to glimpse the higher Innate Realm!
Compared to this, what did Li Qingyi matter?
Beauty and rosy cheeks would wither to dry bones in the end. Only strength was eternal!
Lu Chen forcibly quelled his excitement and looked at the panel again.
[ Tip: This technique's nature is cold and Yin, and its cultivation requirements are extremely demanding. It must be cultivated with the aid of "Cold Pond Water" or "Yin Fiend Qi." Otherwise, the cold Qi will backlash: at best, it will damage the meridians; at worst, it will cause Qi Deviation. ]
[ Current status: Incomplete. The remaining cultivation methods are missing. Cultivation can only reach the initial stage of the Meridian Connecting Realm. ]
After reading these two notices, Lu Chen calmed down a little.
As expected, high-grade techniques weren't easy to cultivate.
Cold Pond Water? Yin Fiend Qi?
Both were rare.
Still, now that he knew what he needed, there had to be a way to get it.
As for the missing parts...
Lu Chen looked at the hide in his hand, deep in thought.
Since this was only a fragment, the rest of the technique must have ended up somewhere out in the world.
Li Qingyi had obtained this fragment, so perhaps she knew where the others were.
Unfortunately, she'd been thrown into a brothel. She probably wouldn't live much longer.
"Wait!"
Lu Chen suddenly thought of something.
As the gang leader, Li Qingyi wouldn't have carried something so important around without keeping a backup elsewhere.
The Red Fish Gang's secret chamber!
Or perhaps there was some secret hidden in the hide itself.
Lu Chen picked it up and examined it carefully once more.
He noticed that the seemingly jumbled lines appeared to form a pattern when viewed from a certain angle.
It looked like a mountain, or maybe a river.
"The Angry River..."
Lu Chen murmured to himself.
The map seemed to show the underwater terrain of a stretch of the Angry River!
Could the complete inheritance of the Profound Nether Hand be hidden at the bottom of the Angry River?
Thinking of the Water Ghost he'd encountered earlier and the attack on the Black Water Gang's cargo ship,
a bold suspicion began to form in Lu Chen's mind.
There was probably a shocking secret hidden beneath the Angry River.
And this piece of hide was the key to unlocking it.
"It looks like I have no choice but to dive into the Angry River."
Lu Chen put away the hide and tucked it close to his body.
Outside the window, night had deepened.
The distant cheers and screams gradually faded.
Lu Chen blew out the oil lamp and sat cross-legged on the bed.
Although he'd obtained a treasure, he didn't rush to cultivate it.
His injuries hadn't healed, and his foundation wasn't stable. Forcing himself to cultivate such a cold Yin technique would be no different from courting death.
For now, he needed to heal and fully digest everything he'd gained from this battle.
Then he could use the Black Water Gang's resources to seek out Cold Pond Water or Yin Fiend Qi.
Once everything was ready, it would be Lu Chen's moment to soar to the heavens.
In the darkness, Lu Chen's eyes gleamed with an eerie light.
The path to becoming a powerful expert was destined to be filled with bloodshed and schemes.
But he was ready.
Even if the road ahead led through a mountain of blades and a sea of flames, or plunged into an abyss ten thousand feet deep,
he would never turn back.
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