"Zhao... Zhao Family..."
"Why... this cultivator grandpa... is actually... connected to the Zhao Family we were going to rob?!"
The bandits were stunned for a moment when they heard what Chen Guan had said.
They had never imagined that the Zhao Family, which ran an ordinary rice shop in an ordinary little town, would have a powerful cultivator among them.
Of course, the Zhao Family was considered one of the more prominent rice merchants in Little Liuzi Town.
But across the entire Qi Dynasty, which spanned ten thousand li in every direction, the rice merchants in this remote little town were insignificant.
Yet even a place this small had a cultivator?
If they had known that earlier, how would they have dared lay a hand on the Zhao Family?
They wouldn't have dared even if they had a hundred times the courage!
And forget cultivators—even if the Zhao Family had just had a few experts at the Post-Heaven Minor Accomplishment level guarding it,
they would have thought it over carefully for several days, then erased the traces of their scouting and made a quick retreat.
Even the weakest Post-Heaven Minor Accomplishment expert had a strength of nearly seven or eight hundred jin.
Against people like them, he would be like an adult beating a child.
At the same time, as they thought back over what had happened, they recalled how Chen Guan had butchered them like chickens and dogs from the very start.
"This expert can use spells... and his body is terrifyingly strong, too..."
"He cultivates both martial arts and spiritual power..."
The bandits were even more shaken when they thought of that. They hadn't expected this expert to choose the most difficult path of cultivation!
But if Chen Guan had known what they were thinking, he would have thought they knew little about cultivation.
A martial artist's inner force was simply another name for spiritual energy.
So there were, in fact, quite a few people who cultivated both martial arts and spiritual power. It wasn't something unique to him.
However, in most cases, people focused on one path.
Either they used spiritual energy to ascend to immortality,
or they used it to unlock the many mysteries within their bodies.
But
Chen Guan didn't want to waste his "special constitution," so he pursued both paths side by side.
Even so, he focused more on "spiritual cultivation."
As for his body, he mainly used spiritual energy to bolster it, making the most of his constitution's natural advantages.
At least, in Chen Guan's view, killing seven or eight people with his fists and feet consumed far less spiritual energy than casting a single spell.
"I killed so many people earlier, and only used up half a tenth of my spiritual energy.
But that one spell cost me three tenths.
At my current rate of absorption, I'll need to meditate for an hour to recover completely."
Chen Guan calculated the gains and losses of the battle and reviewed what he had learned, all without delaying the important business of going home.
"Come with me."
With that, Chen Guan led the way out of the clearing in the woods.
The bandits looked at one another, then at the bodies littering the ground, before obediently following Chen Guan.
The next morning, at dawn.
In the Zhao Family's rear courtyard.
"Good morning, Master..."
"Master, breakfast is ready."
The servants bustled around the residence, sweeping the courtyards and preparing breakfast for the young masters and young misses.
Whenever they ran into Patriarch Zhao or one of the young masters, they hurriedly stopped what they were doing to greet them.
At present,
the married Eldest Young Master and Second Young Master still lived here.
But as the family had grown, Patriarch Zhao had also bought a small residence next door. He had opened a back gate in the alley beside each of the two homes, connecting them.
As for knocking down the courtyard walls between the homes and blocking off the alley to combine them into one large residence—
that wasn't allowed.
At least, given the Zhao Family's connections and standing, if the "registrar" in charge of buildings at the county office found out, they would be fined and forced to rebuild the walls.
Meanwhile,
in the Zhao Family's dining hall,
Patriarch Zhao, his sons, and his grandsons had gathered around one table.
The women and young misses were eating at another.
Clink—
For the moment, the only sounds were the soft clatter of chopsticks and the slurping of porridge.
Aside from holiday feasts and celebrations, the Zhao Family usually observed the rule of "no talking at meals" during breakfast.
At that moment,
outside the residence,
the morning streets were already busy with people heading to work, along with peddlers carrying their wares on shoulder poles.
"Good morning, Official Liang..."
From time to time, passersby greeted someone with awe and envy.
One or two constables and clerks in official uniforms also passed by the Zhao Family residence.
"I heard Clerk Liang is about to get promoted."
At the Zhao Family's gate, two guards stood on either side, chatting about the gossip they'd heard.
But when the steward came out of the residence with two servants, they stopped talking and turned to greet him.
"Steward Lin!"
They were respectful, their eyes briefly sweeping over the steward.
The steward was nearly fifty, with a stout build and a face that was almost always smiling, giving people the impression that he was easy to get along with.
In truth, the two guards knew how strict he was.
He was strict not only with them, but with himself as well.
"Seems like... the steward was the Zhao Family's bookkeeper a long time ago. He always did things by the book..."
The two guards quietly sized up the steward.
"Buy more greens." The steward ignored them and handed the two servants a shopping list, telling them to leave the residence and buy vegetables.
It was also a chance for him to make his rounds and see whether the servants were working attentively.
But just then,
a series of startled cries came from the distant street.
The steward followed the sounds and saw a burly, rugged man wearing a Hundred Beast Garment, leading several silent men with their heads bowed.
It was Chen Guan's towering, over-six-foot frame and his unmistakably savage appearance that had caused the people in the street to cry out and whisper among themselves.
"That man's so tall and muscular..."
"That build... that outfit... He looks like a martial arts expert..."
Most people are only a little over five chi tall, but he... he's at least seven chi!"
Five chi in the Qi Dynasty was about one meter seventy.
Seven chi was over two meters ten.
At that moment,
with his wild appearance, Chen Guan naturally drew everyone's attention as soon as he stood out on the street.
And when the steward at the gate saw Chen Guan walking straight toward him, he paused in the middle of instructing the servants and turned his curious gaze toward him.
"Is this man a guest of the household?"
The steward didn't recognize Chen Guan at first.
That was because Chen Guan had changed so much over the past ten years.
But the man's face seemed vaguely familiar, so the steward assumed he was some kind of "guest."
Guest or not,
the steward didn't exactly respect martial arts experts, but at the very least, he didn't dare offend them.
"May I ask what brings you here, hero?"
The steward addressed him politely, while discreetly sizing up the men behind him.
Although the bandits following Chen Guan were all cowering with their heads bowed, they wore animal-hide knife sheaths at their waists, and their hands were covered in scars and calluses. Anyone could tell at a glance they were seasoned fighters.
But from the steward's point of view,
these men seemed afraid of this hero?
"If this hero can keep these martial artists with knives in line, then he must be incredibly powerful..."
The steward decided the man was not to be trifled with.
At the same time, the two guards saw the expert approaching and tightened their grips on their swords, their palms sweating.
The other two servants stood nervously where they were, not daring to move.
Chen Guan's sudden arrival with a group of men, combined with his imposing stature, put tremendous pressure on everyone around him.
Especially since vendettas between martial artists and cases of entire households being wiped out happened all too often.
No one wanted to risk provoking a martial arts expert—or dare do so.
But the next moment,
just as everyone was growing tense,
Chen Guan smiled and cupped his hands toward the steward, whose forehead was already beaded with cold sweat.
"Uncle Lin, it's been a long time. I'm Zhao Ling, the Fifth Young Master who left home ten years ago.
But I've since taken my mother's surname and given myself a new name: Chen Guan."
Before you continue