The rear courtyard of the estate.
Su Chen walked down the corridor, pondering his current situation.
The Qilin Arm could help him increase his strength.
Although he did not know how much stronger it could make him, it should be able to give him a substantial boost.
Besides, even if his own strength was lacking,
with an expert like Bai Tianyu protecting him, he would be safe in this little Qingcheng City.
Setting aside his trump card,
Su Chen began reviewing what he knew from his memories about Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower.
Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower was one of the five major forces in Qingcheng City.
The other four were Lei Hall, controlled by the Lei Family; Gathering of Sages Hall, founded by the five brothers of the Ximen Family; Canteen Hall, controlled by the Wang Family, an old and established lineage; and Vajra Temple, the largest temple in Qingcheng City.
Although Qingcheng City was in a remote part of Lingnan Commandery, it was also one of the routes connecting to the lands beyond the frontier.
In that sense, Qingcheng City was a trading hub with the lands beyond the frontier. It was therefore relatively prosperous.
Of the five major forces, the four other than Vajra Temple had divided Qingcheng City's four main districts among themselves.
Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower occupied the western part of the city and ranked third among Qingcheng City's five major forces in overall wealth.
By rights, even if someone coveted it, they shouldn't have made a move against Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower!
The main reason was that, apart from Vajra Temple, the other four forces were all about equal in strength.
As one of Qingcheng City's five major forces, the rear courtyard of the Su residence was spacious, complete with pavilions, terraces, and covered walkways.
A short while later,
Su Chen arrived outside the courtyard of the two-story building where Shangguan Ziyun lived.
Looking at the courtyard gate before him,
Su Chen stepped inside.
A woman in a blue dress stood off to one side of the courtyard.
She was slender, and her blue dress covered most of her lower body. When she saw Su Chen enter, she stepped forward and bowed. "Greetings, Young Master."
"Xiao Lan, I need to see Second Madam. Please let her know."
Su Chen spoke.
Xiao Lan was his Second Madam Shangguan Ziyun's personal maid. He still had to announce himself before seeing Shangguan Ziyun.
"Madam has been overwhelmed with grief lately and just fell asleep. It would be best not to disturb her, Young Master."
Xiao Lan did not go to inform her, but instead replied,
Hearing Xiao Lan's words, Su Chen's expression tightened slightly.
"All right. Let Second Madam get some rest. I won't disturb her for now."
Su Chen glanced at the side room not far away, then turned and walked out of the courtyard.
The maid Xiao Lan watched Su Chen leave, her brows drawing together slightly.
She felt that there was something different about Su Chen today.
But she couldn't put her finger on what it was.
She turned and went into the building.
On the second floor,
Shangguan Ziyun sat before her dressing table.
She was running her fingers through her long, jet-black hair. When Xiao Lan entered in her blue dress, Shangguan Ziyun stopped.
"Madam, Young Master Su has left,"
Xiao Lan said softly.
"He seemed a little different. Have someone keep an eye on him. I want to know his every move!"
"And keep track of Ling Tianhe and the others, too."
"Tonight, I'm going to open Su Mengbai's coffin. I want to see exactly how he died—and who killed him."
As Shangguan Ziyun spoke, a cold glint flashed in her eyes.
If Su Chen had been there and heard Shangguan Ziyun's words, he would surely have been shocked.
He never would have expected Shangguan Ziyun to want to open the coffin.
Su Mengbai had only been buried yesterday.
This woman was rather ruthless.
"Miss, I don't know who killed Su Mengbai, either. He was the person we had chosen, and we spent a whole year planning how to get close to him. Now this has happened, and all of it was for nothing."
Xiao Lan grew furious as she spoke, a murderous aura rising from her.
"This isn't as simple as you think. Investigate it thoroughly before we decide what to do."
"Go make the arrangements."
Shangguan Ziyun waved her hand.
"Yes!" Xiao Lan bowed and withdrew from the side room.
Shangguan Ziyun slowly walked over to the side of the building. Through the half-open window, she watched Su Chen walking away.
"I never expected the Su Mengbai we chose to die just like that. It's truly disappointing."
"If you survive this upheaval, I'll get in touch with you."
Shangguan Ziyun watched Su Chen's back, a glimmer of light flashing in her eyes.
Meanwhile,
the news that Su Chen had taken over as the master of Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower seemed to spread throughout Qingcheng City as if someone had deliberately circulated it.
As for Su Chen himself, he sat in a room.
His expression was rather grim.
Although he had inherited the original owner's memories, he knew too little.
Unable to meet Second Madam Shangguan Ziyun, Su Chen could only return and find another way himself.
But after returning and thinking it over, he realized the situation was even more troublesome than he had imagined.
The main problem was that he had no one he could use.
Bai Tianyu was currently protecting him, so it would not be appropriate for him to go out investigating.
"I can't just sit here and wait. Perhaps I can make a move through Ling Tianhe."
A glint flashed in Su Chen's eyes.
Ling Tianhe was in such a hurry to push him into the position of master of Golden Wind Fine Rain Tower.
He must have known something.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been so eager.
"Forget all that for now. I should fuse with the Ice Qilin Arm first and improve my strength."
With that thought, Su Chen stood and headed for a cultivation chamber in the Su residence.
It was where Su Mengbai had cultivated during his lifetime.
The chamber lay beneath an artificial hill. It was rather spacious inside, with nothing but a meditation cushion.
Su Chen triggered the mechanism, closing the stone door to the chamber.
Sitting cross-legged on the cushion, he drew out the Qilin Arm he had obtained.
This Qilin Arm was not the Fire Qilin Arm he had known before, but an Ice-type Qilin Arm.
He extracted it directly onto his left arm.
The right arm was where strength was concentrated, and he often used it to attack his enemies. Once he fused with the Qilin Arm, he might accidentally unleash its power when striking.
That could expose this power.
He did not want to reveal his strength so soon.
So Su Chen extracted the Qilin Arm onto his left arm.
At once, a bone-chilling aura emerged from Su Chen's arm. As it spread, the sleeve covering his left arm shattered instantly.
The phantom of an Ice Qilin appeared over his arm.
The moment the Ice Qilin emerged, a frigid aura filled the chamber.
In just a few seconds, a layer of frost had formed throughout the room.
Frost appeared on Su Chen's eyebrows as well, and his whole body began to tremble.
But soon, he felt a pure, icy energy flowing from his arm into his body.
It began cleansing his meridians, and his whole body felt lighter.
Su Chen now knew the cultivation realms in this world: Qi Induction Realm, Postnatal Realm, Innate Realm, Spirit Refining Realm, and Refining Soul Realm.
Each realm had four stages: early, middle, late, and peak.
As for what lay beyond the Refining Soul Realm, Su Chen had not encountered it yet and knew nothing about it.
He knew about the Refining Soul Realm
because the sect master of Mountain River Sect, where Su Chen was from, was an expert at that level.
He had no idea how powerful someone at the Refining Soul Realm actually was, though.
After all, his own strength was only at the middle stage of the Postnatal Realm.
As the pure, Ice-type energy surged through him, Su Chen felt Ice-type inner energy form inside his body.
A delighted expression appeared on Su Chen's face.
Inner energy was the mark of the Innate Realm. The moment inner energy formed in the body, it meant one had entered the Innate Realm.
He had been only at the middle stage of the Postnatal Realm before. He never expected the icy energy released by the Ice Qilin Arm to propel him straight into the Innate Realm.
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