Cao Jichuan, White Ape Shakes the Mountain, Strange Fragrance

Chen Residence.

Luo Bin followed Chen Tianren back. Surprisingly, Chen Manqing also returned to the Chen Residence by car.

"Luo Bin, you've protected Manqing once again. I was thinking..."

Before Chen Tianren could finish, Luo Bin waved him off. "Uncle Chen, I was right nearby at the Zhenyuan Escort Agency. It was no trouble. No need for thanks... Sparring with Shao Yancheng was my goal anyway."

Chen Tianren was sharp enough to deduce from the scene's destruction, Luo Bin's clean clothes, and the bystanders' murmurs that Luo Bin hadn't suffered at all. Still, he couldn't help sighing. "Your progress is so fast that my impression of you is still that young man from our first meeting... Now, I see you've grown into a man who can protect others."

Luo Bin smiled without a word, listening silently to Chen Tianren's reflections.

"I don't know much about Shao Yancheng, but I know he made a name for himself in Jinmen a few years back. Later, the Jiang Family recruited him, and he returned to Ping City to establish himself. His martial strength is at least mid-stage Jade Bone Pass... Even in the old days, when the old master was still alive, the Chen Family didn't have many like him." Chen Tianren said with a sigh.

Hearing this, Luo Bin recalled his earlier thought about the Chen Family "playing themselves." A major family entrenched in Ping City for years, yet they'd barely seen any Jade Bone Pass martial masters—it was oddly strange.

Noticing his puzzled expression, Chen Tianren explained, "The Chen Family isn't truly a martial lineage. Our right to inherit the 'Yellow Court Inner Landscape' divine art came from a good deed and opportunity my father made in his youth. We did have a few Jade Bone Pass masters before, but the eldest took them all to Jinmen. He's short-handed there..."

Luo Bin understood. So the eldest son, Chen Du, had pulled the personnel away... What kind of existence awaited in Jinmen that required him to bring people from home? What bizarre and monstrous things lurked in the waters that the Gushang Peace-Waves Society faced?

Chen Tianren continued, "Ping City is relatively small. Profound Mastery Great Martial Masters who can counter firearms generally don't stay in places like this. Martial masters who can't handle guns, though, have to behave themselves here... After all, our Chen Family isn't stingy in that regard, so there's no need to hire too many martial masters."

Two words popped into Luo Bin's head.

Reasonable.

Low-tier martial masters couldn't beat guns. With a firearm in hand, you could "eat without beef" in a small place.

Some questions that had puzzled him for a long time now cleared up... So the Chen Family had their own considerations. They weren't deliberately "acting."

"Uncle Chen, about Commissioner Cao of the Southern Democratic Alliance's son... staying in Ping City—what's that about?"

Luo Bin was very curious about this.

Chen Tianren and Luo Bin sat on the sofa. A maid poured tea for them and set out some dried fruits.

Hearing Luo Bin's question, Chen Tianren snorted coldly. "The Southern Democratic Alliance. The name sounds nice, but it's practically a heap of loose sand... Why 'Southern'? Because it's just a separatist regime. Why 'Democratic'? Because it apes the systems of Western powers like Balun and the Yingluo Kingdom, putting on airs. And why 'Alliance'? Because it's a regime formed by countless warlords big and small banding together, and it just happens to govern our Ping City at the border."

"We're right on the boundary between the Southern Democratic Alliance and the territories of several northern warlords... Commissioner Cao Hua originally planned to stop in Ping City to meet with some northern big shots, but he changed course to Tianhai at the last minute. His son, Cao Jichuan, is very interested in Ping City's ancient culture, so he split off from his father and insisted on coming here with his own people."

After hearing Chen Tianren's account, Luo Bin finally understood all the twists and turns. Ping City sat on the dividing line between north and south, far from safe—war could break out at any moment.

"Cao Jichuan is only nineteen, but he's no pushover. Rumor has it he often kills people for sport..."

Luo Bin's breath caught. Images from his past life flashed through his mind—that slick-haired warlord's son, also killing for amusement...

"The Great Xin Republic really has no shortage of madmen. The Pei Family dancing with demons, Cao Jichuan eating without beef, monsters and warlords everywhere..."

Damn it. When would he ever get to settle down and marry eighteen concubines?

Luo Bin cursed inwardly. After ending the conversation with Chen Tianren, he returned to the Qinghui Courtyard, which had been tidied up. Inside, rockeries, flowing water, pavilions, and elegant rooms made for a very comfortable and refined atmosphere... Jiang Ling had even transferred the two pretty maids, Chuntao and Xiahe, to Qinghui Courtyard.

To look after Luo Bin's daily needs.

The next day.

Luo Bin lay on the soft bed, pulled up "Crimson," and began checking his information.

[Luo Bin] [Realm: Golden Skin Pass (Peak)] [Techniques: White Ape Through-Arm Fist (Second Layer, 2/6), Primordial Stance (Third Layer, 5/20)] [Essence Soul: Water Ghoul · Phantom] [Modification Value: 2] [Spirit Charm: 5] [Techniques: Pure Yang Body-Forging Technique (Third Layer, 5/20), White Ape Through-Arm Fist (Second Layer, 2/6)]

The Chen Family's meals were decent, and Chen Tianren occasionally sent tonics and precious medicines. Luo Bin accepted them all, but accumulating Spirit Charm was still too slow... Given his cautious early-development strategy.

Luo Bin kept his ability to grow stronger by eating "good things" tightly under wraps... This overly cautious mindset meant he put little effort into searching for "heavenly treasures" rich in Spirit Charm.

So Luo Bin's next goal was to find a way to eat.

But even though his recent direction was clear, he still had to take it step by step.

He poured all five points of Spirit Charm into [White Ape Through-Arm Fist]. Instantly, a mixed yet profound insight rained down on him like sweet dew, and a refreshing clarity of enlightenment surged through his mind.

[White Ape Through-Arm Fist (Minor Mastery)]

Luo Bin saw the display above "Crimson" and couldn't help but freeze—how had it become Minor Success... shouldn't it be the third layer?

After racking his brain for a while without figuring it out, he could only attribute this change to the nature of [White Ape Through-Arm Fist], where the division of levels after the third layer became simpler and clearer.

It was also possible that in the later stages of this martial art, major changes only occurred every three layers... so the interface had been simplified.

Luo Bin collected his thoughts and began to immerse himself in a flood of new fist technique insights. After [White Ape Through-Arm Fist] reached Minor Success, the previous characteristics of "Muscle and Bone Might" and "Through-Arm Wind Splitting" vanished, replaced by four killing moves: "Mountain Shaker," "Wave Subduer," "Tiger Hunter," and "Dragon Capturer."

And the killing move that Luo Bin smoothly mastered through the Minor Success insights was "Mountain Shaker."

After upgrading his martial art, Luo Bin went outside Qinghui Courtyard to stretch his body, greeted Jiang Ling, and then spotted several white cars speeding into the mansion's main gate. From one of the cars, an old man and a young man stepped out.

Under the guidance of the steward Fang Zijing, they entered the mansion's main hall.

Luo Bin stood not far away, his nose twitching slightly as he caught a faint, refreshing fragrance... He stood still for a long time, then suddenly his heart jolted.

"This fragrance—how is it exactly the same as that scent by the Fu River during the River God Festival at Yingshui Ferry?"