Li Qingyi's Secret: Power is Everything!

The atmosphere inside the tent was heated and ambiguous.

The crowd's laughter and envious gazes all focused on Lu Chen.

As long as he nodded, this former female Gang Leader who once ruled Nujiang County would appear in his bed tonight, at his mercy.

Yet Lu Chen did not show the ecstasy everyone expected.

He slowly withdrew his gaze, turned around, and clasped his fists toward Chen Wanli once more.

"Gang Leader's favor leaves this subordinate overwhelmed with gratitude."

Lu Chen's voice was calm, without a trace of ripple. "However, this subordinate is devoted to the martial path and has little interest in women. This Li Qingyi may be beautiful, but in this subordinate's eyes, she is nothing but trouble."

At these words, the tent fell silent in an instant.

Everyone stared at Lu Chen as if he were a fool.

A beauty delivered to his door, and he refused it? Had this kid gone stupid from training?

Chen Wanli was also momentarily stunned, then a glint of approval flashed in his eyes.

Not fond of women, single-minded in pursuit of martial arts.

Such a person was the purest—and the easiest to control.

"Oh? Then how do you wish to handle her?" Chen Wanli asked with interest.

"This subordinate presumes to ask for a favor from the Gang Leader in exchange for this beauty."

Lu Chen raised his head, his gaze burning. "This subordinate wishes to claim all of Li Qingyi's personal belongings, including her weapons, manuals, and... the right of first pick from the Red Fish Gang's armory."

"This subordinate has been stuck in the Flesh Refining Realm for some time and urgently needs to draw from a hundred schools of thought to find a breakthrough into the Meridian Connecting Realm."

These words were reasonable and displayed his ambition.

Chen Wanli nodded repeatedly.

"Good! Ambitious!"

Chen Wanli clapped his hands and laughed heartily. "Since you look down on this bag of skin and bones, then so be it! Everything on Li Qingyi is yours! The Red Fish Gang's armory is yours to browse as you please!"

"As for this woman..." A cold gleam flashed in Chen Wanli's eyes. "Since you don't want her, then cripple her limbs and toss her into a brothel, to atone for the brothers who died!"

At these words, Li Qingyi's eyes filled with the dead ash of despair.

Lu Chen did not spare her another glance. He walked straight up to her.

He reached out and searched her without any courtesy.

To onlookers, this might have seemed a bit lecherous, but in Lu Chen's eyes, he was merely collecting spoils.

Soon, he pulled out several bottles of pills, a stack of silver notes, and an ancient-looking short dagger from Li Qingyi's bosom.

Finally, his gaze landed on that exquisite Brocade Pouch.

He yanked it off and tucked it into his chest.

"Thank you, Gang Leader!"

Lu Chen took his spoils and left the tent.

Inside a relatively intact side room at Red Fish Dock.

Lu Chen sealed the doors and windows and lit an oil lamp.

He dumped everything he had taken from Li Qingyi onto the table.

Three thousand taels in silver notes.

Two bottles of healing pills called "Rejuvenation Pill."

And that short dagger, sharp enough to cut through iron.

These were all good things—especially the silver notes, enough to buy a large amount of cultivation resources.

But Lu Chen's instincts told him the most valuable item was not among these.

He picked up the Brocade Pouch.

The pouch was woven from top-grade Ice Silkworm Silk, impervious to water and fire, embroidered with a red koi fish.

Opening the pouch, aside from some women's personal effects, there was only a palm-sized, unremarkable piece of Black Beast Hide.

The hide was cold to the touch, its surface smooth as jade, marked with strange lines and symbols that looked like a map or some kind of formation.

"What is this?"

Lu Chen frowned slightly, bringing the hide closer to the oil lamp for a closer look.

Just then, the panel in his mind suddenly trembled.

[Ding! High-level energy fluctuation detected!]

[Analyzing...]

[Analysis successful!]

[Item Name: Profound Nether Hand Fragment (First Layer)]

[Grade: Spirit Tier Lower Grade (Incomplete)]

[Description: The foundational palm technique of the ancient sect "Profound Nether Sect." When cultivated to completion, it can produce "Profound Nether Cold Qi," extremely insidious and venomous—those struck suffer frozen blood and severed meridians. This fragment contains only the first layer's mental method and techniques, cultivable up to the Meridian Connecting Realm.]

"Spirit Tier martial art?!"

Lu Chen shot to his feet, heart pounding violently, breathing turning ragged.

In this world, martial arts were strictly hierarchical.

Unranked, Mortal Tier, Spirit Tier, Earth Tier, Heaven Tier.

The Black Water Gang's signature technique was merely a Mortal Tier Upper Grade martial art.

And this Profound Nether Hand was a legendary Spirit Tier martial art!

Even as a fragment, it was a supreme manual pointing straight to the Meridian Connecting Realm, or even higher!

No wonder Li Qingyi had broken through to the Meridian Connecting Realm at such a young age, her inner qi carrying a chill of Yin cold—she had been cultivating this very technique!

"Jackpot! This is a real jackpot!"

Lu Chen clenched the Beast Hide tightly, eyes brimming with ecstasy.

With this technique, breaking through to the Meridian Connecting Realm was no longer a distant hope—he might even glimpse the higher Innate Realm!

Compared to that, what was Li Qingyi?

Beauty and charm were nothing but Withered Bone in the end; only power was eternal!

Lu Chen suppressed his excitement, forcing himself to calm down, and looked at the panel again.

[Note: This technique is Yin-cold in nature, with extremely harsh cultivation conditions. It requires "Cold Pond Water" or "Yin Fiend Qi" as auxiliary aids during training; otherwise, the cold qi will backlash, causing at minimum damaged meridians, or at worst Qi Deviation.]

[Current Status: Incomplete. Lacks subsequent mental methods; cultivation stops at early Meridian Connecting Realm.]

Seeing these two prompts, Lu Chen steadied himself a bit.

As expected, high-tier techniques weren't easy to train.

Cold Pond Water? Yin Fiend Qi?

Both were rare items.

Still, now that he knew the conditions, there was always a way to solve it.

As for the incompleteness...

Lu Chen looked at the Beast Hide in his hand, lost in thought.

Since this was a fragment, other parts must be scattered elsewhere.

Li Qingyi had obtained this piece—she might know where the rest were.

Too bad she'd already been thrown into a brothel; she probably wouldn't last long.

"No!"

Lu Chen suddenly thought of something.

Li Qingyi, as Gang Leader, wouldn't keep something so important solely on her person.

The Red Fish Gang's secret chamber!

Or perhaps this Beast Hide itself held some secret.

Lu Chen picked up the Beast Hide and examined it closely again.

He noticed that those seemingly chaotic lines, under a certain angle, seemed to form a pattern.

Like a mountain, or like a river.

"Angry River..."

Lu Chen muttered to himself.

This map seemed to depict the underwater terrain of a certain stretch of the Angry River!

Could it be that the complete inheritance of Profound Nether Hand was hidden beneath the Angry River's waters?

Thinking back to the Water Ghost he'd encountered earlier, and the attack on the Black Water Gang's cargo ship, Lu Chen's heart stirred with a bold guess.

Beneath the Angry River's waters, there was likely a shocking secret buried.

And this Beast Hide was the key to unlocking it.

"It seems I have no choice but to dive into the Angry River."

Lu Chen put away the Beast Hide, tucking it close to his body.

Outside the window, the night was deep.

The distant cheers and screams gradually faded.

Lu Chen blew out the oil lamp and sat cross-legged on the bed.

Though he had obtained a treasure, he didn't rush to cultivate.

Now, with his injuries not yet healed and his foundation unstable, forcibly cultivating this kind of yin-cold technique would be no different from seeking death.

The top priority was to first recover from his injuries and fully digest the gains from this great battle.

Then, using the resources of the Black Water Gang, he would seek out "Cold Pond Water" or "Yin Fiend Qi."

Once everything was in place, that would be the moment Lu Chen soared to the heavens.

In the darkness, Lu Chen's eyes flickered with a dim light.

This path to becoming a strong one was destined to be filled with bloodshed and scheming.

But he was already prepared.

Even if ahead lay a mountain of blades and a sea of flames, even an abyss of ten thousand zhang.

He would never turn back.

If you can't find the book by searching the title, try searching by the author—maybe it's just been renamed!