A Gentleman Does Not Stand Beneath a Crumbling Wall—Some People Cannot Be Provoked

[Chen Mo]

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Age: 15/127

Talent: Latent Dragon in the Abyss

Skills: Archery (Perfect Accomplishment) Tracking (Initiation) Culinary Arts (Initiation)

Techniques: Turtle Breath Health Cultivation Technique (Perfect Accomplishment) Tiger Fist (Perfect Accomplishment) Flying Cloud Steps (Initiation) Cleaving Wind Blade (Initiation) Iron Body Technique (Initiation)

Realm: Body Tempering (Divine Strength Realm)

Enlightenment Count: 0

The Turtle Breath Health Cultivation Technique had increased his lifespan by twelve years from Proficient to Minor Accomplishment, fifteen years from Minor Accomplishment to Great Accomplishment, and an astonishing twenty years from Great Accomplishment to Perfect Accomplishment.

"My lifespan upper limit has risen to 127 years. I'm only fifteen now, so that leaves me with another 112 years to live."

Seeing this, Chen Mo suddenly felt that Longevity did not seem all that difficult for him to achieve. The prerequisite was that the Turtle Breath Health Cultivation Technique could continue advancing through Epiphany into an even more powerful health cultivation technique, or that he found a stronger lifespan-extending technique.

Even if his lifespan no longer increased from this point onward, he still had plenty of time left.

What was more, Hequ County also sold some health cultivation techniques. Once he possessed sufficient means to protect himself, Chen Mo would buy some and practice them, to see whether they could add a little more to his lifespan.

If he could not add to his lifespan, improving his talent would be good too.

His gaze shifted to the talent section, and Chen Mo's smile widened. "My talent has improved too—Latent Dragon in the Abyss. Does that make me a genius now?"

After his talent improved, the time needed to initiate techniques in the future would certainly be much shorter than before. Perhaps once his talent became high enough, he would not even need Epiphany; he could rapidly cultivate techniques to Perfect Accomplishment through his own efforts.

His attention moved to the realm section. Seeing the words Divine Strength Realm, Chen Mo could not help clenching his fists. Feeling the vastly greater power coursing through his body, he acted on a whim and immediately began practicing Tiger Fist in the courtyard.

With his full strength unleashed, every punch seemed capable of detonating the air itself. The Fist Wind it raised howled past his ears, making the scene thoroughly chilling.

With one punch, an ordinary person would not even be given the chance to be seriously injured.

It was far too fierce!

"If the Divine Strength Realm is already this terrifying, then how powerful would the Divine Valor Realm above it be? And the Qi and Blood Realm beyond Body Tempering?" Chen Mo's heart filled with longing.

With an Epiphany opportunity available to him every day, the Divine Strength Realm certainly would not be his endpoint, nor was Longevity some unattainable dream.

No one could refuse Longevity, and Chen Mo was no exception. But the necessary means and abilities to protect himself were equally indispensable.

Suppressing his urge to start saving Epiphany opportunities immediately and use the Turtle Breath Health Cultivation Technique as a foundation to create an even stronger health cultivation technique, he decided to raise the three techniques that had already reached Initiation to Perfect Accomplishment next.

Thanks to the Great Tonic Soup and a huge table of food, his energy had been replenished, and his body was recovering rapidly. Chen Mo could clearly feel himself continuing to grow stronger.

Clearly, his transformation into the Divine Strength Realm had not yet finished. So he did not train. Instead, he changed clothes, took the medicinal ingredients sent by the Green Gang, and prepared to visit a pharmacy to have them checked. He also intended to stroll around the Commercial District and relax a little.

He had been in Hequ County for nearly half a month. Other than wandering around on the first day he arrived, he had spent all his time training.

Now that he had successfully broken through to the Divine Strength Realm, he needed to rest properly too.

A bowstring could not remain taut forever; one had to know when to tighten and when to loosen.

He made his way to the pharmacy he often visited and asked the physician to inspect the medicinal ingredients. No problems were found, and Chen Mo immediately felt relieved. It seemed this Green Gang was fairly aboveboard and had not resorted to any underhanded tricks.

After returning home to put down the medicinal ingredients, Chen Mo wandered the streets without any particular destination. Before he knew it, he had arrived at the entrance of a brothel called the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. After hesitating for a tenth of a second, he walked straight in.

He did not mean anything by it. He was simply curious about what kind of place this was. Why were so many older sisters and aunties chirping like orioles and swallows at the entrance, their gazes so gentle?

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Because his clothes were rather ordinary, Chen Mo did not receive an especially enthusiastic welcome. He was happy enough with the peace and quiet, though. Finding a seat in a corner, he ordered some food. As he drank tea and ate snacks and pastries, he listened to the little tunes and watched the singing and dancing, gradually relaxing completely.

With nothing to do today, he listened to brothel music.

If he wanted to do anything else, that would cost extra.

Chen Mo had seen countless beauties in short videos in his previous life, so he truly had no interest in these heavily made-up older sisters and aunties.

Naturally, he did not spend money seeking any other services.

"Ah, the Hundred Flowers Pavilion in the Outer City is still lacking by a fair bit. They're all goods discarded by the Inner City. Their faces and figures fall short by more than just one level."

"Be content. Even if you went to the Inner City, you couldn't afford the price there."

"That's true. How about we save some money and do it together tonight?"

"Get lost!"

"..."

Listening to the conversation between the two people at the next table, Chen Mo could not help developing considerable expectations for the Hundred Flowers Pavilion in the Inner City.

"With my current strength, getting into the Inner City shouldn't be too much of a problem, right?"

The moment the thought surfaced, Chen Mo abandoned it. The Divine Strength Realm was still too early for entering the Inner City. He would wait until he reached the Divine Valor Realm.

A gentleman did not stand beneath a crumbling wall!

He should not go looking for trouble. He had all the time in the world to enjoy himself; there was no need to put himself in danger for a moment's pleasure.

He did not have dinner at the Hundred Flowers Pavilion. The food there was outrageously expensive, tasted merely average, and came in tiny portions.

As for the atmosphere and the singing and dancing performances, they had seemed novel at first, but afterward, they felt like nothing special. The main reason was that the girls here were too old and their looks were average. Otherwise, Chen Mo definitely would have played Martial God Zhao Zilong at Changban Slope tonight.

Finding a restaurant, Chen Mo ordered a huge table of dishes for himself and enjoyed them alone.

Eating alone actually felt quite nice. He did not need to worry about too much. In his previous life, Chen Mo had liked going to all-you-can-eat buffets alone—it had been incredibly satisfying.

Who would have thought that in this world, he would find that feeling again?

The surrounding diners secretly marveled when they saw Chen Mo order an entire table of dishes by himself and finish every last bit. One after another, they lowered their voices.

In their understanding, anyone who could eat that much was most likely a martial artist.

Someone they could not afford to provoke.

Chen Mo noticed this but did not care. After finishing his meal and paying, he left directly.

Thinking of how little money he had left in his pocket, and how quickly dozens of taels would disappear given the immense expense of cultivation, he deliberately went to a tailor's shop and bought several sets of clothes. When paying, he intentionally revealed his wealth, then headed straight into an alley with few people around.

The "tails" behind him made him greatly anticipate what was to come.

By the time Chen Mo returned home, there were ten taels of silver more in his pocket. He could not help sighing.

"The security in the Commercial District is no good either. I casually showed a bit of wealth, and it drew three groups of people. But these guys are truly poor—so many people together only had a little over ten taels."

If even the people in the Commercial District were like this, there was even less need to mention the Slum District. There was no need to go there. Chen Mo decided that next time, he would cast his bait in the Inner District instead. Hopefully, they would give him a bigger surprise.

That night, Chen Mo did not train. Instead, he spent several hours expanding the cellar, which had already grown to three times its original size, by quite a bit more.

For the past few days, he had been sleeping in the cellar. He had also disguised the entrance and exit, greatly improving his safety while sleeping at night.

Looking around the cellar of more than fifty square meters, with one obvious entrance and one hidden entrance, Chen Mo nodded in satisfaction. It was finally starting to take shape.

Early the next morning, the moment he woke up, Chen Mo habitually opened his panel. Seeing an additional skill—Excavation (Initiation)—in the skills section, he did not know whether to laugh or cry...