Schemes

Night fell, and the moon hung high overhead.

Cloud Arrival Market remained as bustling as ever, its lights still blazing.

In a small forest not far from the market, a figure emerged. He wore a black coat, his frame tall and straight, his bright eyes as sharp as an eagle's.

That youth was none other than Lin Chen.

It was not that he did not wish to return to the sect. Rather, when he had used his Invisibility Technique to sneak toward the sect, he discovered quite a few people lying in ambush along the route he had taken when leaving.

Lin Chen was not afraid to fight them, but charging headlong into a trap when he knew it was there was not bravery—it was stupidity.

"I snuck close to them, yet not a single one noticed me. That means they haven't pinpointed my location, or rather, their means of tracking me..."

"I changed routes several times and found ambushes on every one. Someone must have leaked the direction in which I left..."

"And when I fought those three rogue cultivators earlier, someone caught up to me. They must have used the sounds of the battle to determine my position..."

The news that he had obtained several thousand Spirit Stones had leaked. The direction of his departure had been exposed. Rogue cultivator raiding teams had been mobilized, and squads dispatched to hunt him down...

As he linked all the information together, Lin Chen's aura grew increasingly sharp.

After all, he had spent ten years in the Cultivation World. Though he had focused on scientific research into cultivation and knew little about the hidden dealings, schemes, and social graces beyond the sect and within the Cultivation World, that did not mean he was a fool.

He had conducted the transaction in a room within Hundred Treasures Tower, and had worn black when entering and leaving, keeping his Storage Bag well hidden. How had those cultivators who so loved killing for treasure determined that he carried several thousand Spirit Stones and was a fat sheep?

Furthermore, he was certain that no one had followed him when he left.

But if informants had been planted throughout the market, passing information around and arranging for different people to lock onto his location and determine the direction of his departure, then that was not an unlikely possibility.

Then, by mobilizing blood cultivator teams to set countless ambushes along that route, there would be an excellent chance of cornering him.

Taking all this into account, Lin Chen could be certain that Fang Mingyuan, the manager of Hundred Treasures Tower, was absolutely implicated in the attempt on his life!

I merely wanted to make a proper transaction, yet they took me for an easy target. Looks like unless I use some methods, they'll really think I'm someone they can push around. A trace of icy light flashed in Lin Chen's eyes.

Though it was said that a gentleman could take revenge even ten years later, if he had the ability, why would a gentleman need to wait ten years for revenge? He would probably be carrying a sword to his enemy's doorstep that very night!

Of course, although Lin Chen had the ability to break into Hundred Treasures Tower and kill someone, he was not foolish enough to do so.

Let alone the fact that killing Fang Mingyuan would put him on Hundred Treasures Tower's wanted list and cut off this path through Cloud Arrival Market.

Simply figuring out how to deal with the Azure Cloud Sect cultivators stationed in the market—and perhaps even pursuit by Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators—after killing someone would be a huge problem!

For all he knew, this might even be Fang Mingyuan's scheme: using himself as bait and the market's Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators as blades, borrowing a knife to kill someone!

"Charging in recklessly and drawing a blade to kill would only lead me into danger. I won't do something so foolish." Lin Chen's gaze was dark and unfathomable.

"But who says that killing someone has to be done with my own hands?" Lin Chen glanced at Cloud Arrival Market, then leaped toward it.

Cloud Arrival Market, inside a restaurant.

The rich aroma of wine and food filled the hall. Cultivators dressed in all manner of clothing sat in twos and threes, while waiters occasionally passed by carrying exquisite dishes. Amid clinking cups and flowing drinks, people came and went, creating a scene of extraordinary liveliness.

Although Qi Refining Stage cultivators possessed Transcendental Power, they could not yet abstain from food like Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators. Thus, eating and drinking remained indispensable to them.

At mealtime, cultivators who knew one another began chatting and exchanging the information they had learned.

Most of them were rogue cultivators who lived in Cloud Arrival Market by working for others or selling their labor.

It was not that they did not want a Spirit Land of their own to cultivate in. It was merely that, in the Lingnan Cultivation World, most Spirit Lands already had owners. Of the small remainder, some lay in places rarely visited by people and were difficult to discover, while others were occupied by powerful demonic beasts.

Moreover, spiritual energy was indispensable in the course of cultivation. Therefore, to preserve their hard-won path to immortality, they could only remain in the market, becoming cheap labor. While laying the foundation for Cloud Arrival Market's prosperity, they earned those meager few Spirit Stones.

Yet after food and other expenses were deducted, barely any of those Spirit Stones remained, let alone enough for cultivation.

Of course, faced with such an exploited life, worse than pigs and dogs, it was not as though no cultivators had thought of leaving.

But if they all left, whom would the market's higher-ups exploit?

Thus, every cultivator working in the market was forced to sign a contract. The moment they left the market, their cultivation level would be crippled and all their property confiscated.

And if that happened, what use would leaving be?

Thus, most cultivators completely gave up on the thought of departure. They chose to toil bitterly here, accumulating Spirit Stones generation after generation in exchange for a chance for their descendants to rise above their station.

Yet even with such hopes, their lives remained miserable. Not only did their children and grandchildren fail to accumulate wealth, they were continuously exploited and grew poorer and poorer. After all, in this Cultivation World governed by the law of the jungle, who would care about those rogue cultivators working for the market?

"Have you heard? A few days ago, that lucky fellow who picked a Centennial Spirit Herb was killed by those blood cultivators who murder for treasure!"

"Really? Is your information accurate?"

At one of the tables, several people spoke in low voices, sharing what they had seen and heard.

Blood cultivators was the name rogue cultivators within the market gave to those rogue cultivators who specialized in killing for treasure and did not engage in any productive work.

"This is already the third time this month! The blood cultivators near the market are this rampant, and the market's guardians still won't do anything about it?" someone said angrily.

"Do something? To those big figures higher-up, as long as the market's prosperity isn't affected, everything else is just a minor branch and a trifling leaf." Someone shook his head.

Blood cultivators generally killed to silence their victims during ambushes. Unless the target killed them instead, few survived. As a result, news of such raids rarely spread.

Although cultivators coming and going through the market knew that some people killed for treasure, they did not understand how severe the situation truly was. Coupled with the fact that most cultivators had confidence in their own strength, the market's prosperity was not greatly affected.

"I just don't understand. Isn't it good enough to earn Spirit Stones honestly? Why insist on killing people and robbing them of their wealth?"

"How can working honestly compare with exploiting others and plundering resources? It's such a simple truth, and you still don't understand?"

"That makes me want to become a blood cultivator too."

"Give me a break. With that little strength of yours, you want to be a blood cultivator? You'd probably get butchered on your very first day," someone beside him sneered.

"I don't know whether I'm strong or not, but beating you won't be any problem!"

"Heh, you? Dare to have a go?"

"Come on, then! Whoever chickens out is a grandson!"

Perhaps because they had drunk a little, the discussion grew increasingly heated.

"Speaking of which, why was that guy selling spirit herbs targeted by blood cultivators?" someone suddenly raised this question.

"What's so puzzling about that? Everyone knew he sold spirit herbs. It'd be stranger if the blood cultivators didn't set their sights on him," a cultivator said dismissively.

"But the problem is, spirit herb transactions are conducted inside the shop's private rooms. Other than the shop and the person involved, no one else should know about them. So how did the news get out?" A voice rose from among the crowd.

As soon as that question was raised, everyone inside the room froze and looked at one another. For a moment, the room fell silent.

"I heard that guy went to Hundred Treasures Tower in the market to make the trade..." someone seemed to mutter. Though his voice was low, it came through with startling clarity in the silent hall.

"Shh~ It's enough to know certain things in your heart. Don't say them out loud, or you might run into blood cultivators the next day!" After a moment of silence, a voice rang out in the hall, sounding both like a warning and a mockery.

Quite a few people inside the room nodded in deep agreement. They exchanged glances, then resumed eating as though nothing had happened.

For a time, every voice of conversation in the room vanished, leaving only the sounds of people eating and moving about.

At this moment, Lin Chen sat on the second floor of the tavern, looking down at the cultivators below who had all fallen silent. A mocking smile tugged at his lips.

Naturally, Lin Chen had arranged for those few people who had raised questions in the room.

It was indeed true that someone who had sold spirit herbs at Hundred Treasures Tower had been robbed and killed by blood cultivators. But Lin Chen truly did not know whether it had been Hundred Treasures Tower that leaked the information.

But it was okay. Rumors were like tigers born from the mouths of three men—once enough people said it, even a lie became truth.

Moreover, the scene before him was not playing out only here. It was also unfolding in taverns throughout Cloud Arrival Market. Though it had cost him some spirit stones, it was worth it to Lin Chen!

Scheming and intrigue aren't what I'm good at. Even counting both my past life and this one, I'm only a little over forty years old. How could I compare to those old foxes who have lived nearly a century?

Lin Chen was well aware of his weakness. In his previous life, he had only been a university student. Even though he had lived two lives, he had scarcely entered society. How could he possibly match those old foxes in the Cultivation World who had lived for over a hundred years when it came to schemes and calculations?

But no matter. He was a transmigrator!

"What we transmigrators carry isn't merely systems, immortal artifacts, Scientific Thinking, and the like. We also possess the perspective and breadth of vision forged by the baptism of the information age!" Lin Chen's Gaze was dark and distant.

In ancient times, information was blocked off. Some principles could only be understood after one had personally experienced them.

But modern times were different. As long as one absorbed enough information and thought carefully about it, one could naturally draw certain lessons about navigating the world!

For example, when Lin Chen had watched gossip from a certain entertainment circle, he had summed up two principles:

First, targeting one person was easier than targeting a collective. Second, there were far more people who stood by with folded arms or kicked someone when they were down than those who offered charcoal in the snow!

Take a certain entertainment circle from his previous life. If you said that the entire circle was chaotic and its atmosphere corrupt, they would join forces with major media outlets to suppress your voice. They might even subtly make you feel that this was simply how things were, until you no longer dared to speak out.

But if you only targeted one person within it and reported him, then the others in that circle who opposed him would, at best, stand by with folded arms. Even more would kick him when he was down without hesitation!

Though Lin Chen did not know what the business world was like, there was no doubt that the same principles applied!

If I expose the news that all the major shops in Cloud Arrival Market are colluding with blood cultivators, I might not necessarily bring down Fang Mingyuan. Instead, I would offend the upper ranks of Cloud Arrival Market, causing them to unite and suppress the news, perhaps even hunt me down as the mastermind behind it all...

But what if I only spread word of the collusion between Hundred Treasures Tower and blood cultivators...?

In this world, where black-on-black robberies could occur at any moment, no one wanted a transaction to bring about their death.

Thus, in the Cultivation World, the most important things for a shop were its reputation and the confidentiality of its transactions!

And if rumors spread that this shop deliberately leaked information and engaged in black-on-black dealings, would cultivators still come here to trade?

Furthermore, although the many shops within the market all belonged to the Azure Cloud Sect, they also competed with one another. If the managers of the other shops learned that this rumor was spreading, what would they do?

A single rumor could not bring down the manager of a major shop, but what if someone with ulterior motives fanned the flames?

At that thought, Lin Chen looked toward Hundred Treasures Tower. His black eyes became ever deeper and more unfathomable.

Petty men excelled at schemes; the wise calculated the human heart.

No matter how precise a conspiracy was, as long as one link went wrong, the rest would begin to fail in succession. Even with countless backup plans, it would only be mending the pen after the sheep had bolted.

But the human heart was different. As long as one accurately calculated the interests involved, Most People would make the choices one anticipated!

And Lin Chen believed that as long as he gave others an opportunity to make a move against Fang Mingyuan, someone would definitely seize the chance to kick him when he was down!

So this time, what he spread was a rumor—but what he calculated was the human heart!