Mr. Jiang, You're So Spry?

On the way to prepare the porridge distribution, Jiang Yuan was still mulling over martial arts.

Now that he had obtained Late-Blooming Talent.

Seventyfold cultivation speed was undoubtedly the ultimate cheat for martial arts training!

Practicing martial arts could extend his lifespan and earn him more rewards from the Scroll of Immortality.

Perhaps one day, he too could attain the Dao of immortality?

Tell me, in the White Jade Capital beneath the heavens, among the Twelve Towers and Five Cities, who would not yearn to receive immortality upon coming of age?

But all things were difficult at the start. Cultivation could not be practiced blindly.

His physical body had already reached the ninth level of body tempering, yet he had never come into contact with the martial path. He still needed to study it properly.

Having made up his mind, Jiang Yuan was a little impatient to begin.

Lost in thought, Jiang Yuan had already arrived at the rear kitchen.

The clerk, Ma Shan, had prepared a large barrel of freshly cooked rice porridge. Seeing him enter, he smiled with an honest-looking face. "Mr. Jiang, you finally came."

"The proprietor is kind-hearted. This time, she increased the amount of porridge quite a bit. Can you really carry it, old man?"

There was a mocking edge to his words.

Jiang Yuan glanced at Ma Shan, a trace of disdain in his eyes.

Like him, this fellow was a refugee Mei Lan had taken in and hired as a clerk at the teahouse.

But this fellow was no good person.

Unwilling to remain a mere clerk, he had repeatedly set his sights on the proprietor, Mei Lan, attempting to become the male master of this teahouse.

There had even been a time when he secretly drugged Mei Lan, only for Jiang Yuan to discover it by chance.

Unfortunately, Mei Lan was simple-minded and simply refused to believe that this seemingly honest fellow would drug her behind her back. Thus, the matter had been dropped.

If this old man had not kept watch over the years, this fellow might have succeeded long ago.

"It's nothing. This old man can still carry it."

Jiang Yuan spoke calmly as he rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

Still putting on an act, old bastard?

Not afraid the wind will be so strong it twists your tongue?

The large barrel was filled to the brim with porridge. Barrel and porridge together weighed at least sixty or seventy jin. It might be nothing to a martial artist, but for an old fossil like him, even with help, it would take the strength of nine oxen and two tigers to move it.

Not afraid you'll strain yourself and throw out that old back?

Ma Shan sneered inwardly, though he kept smiling on the surface. "Mr. Jiang is vigorous even in old age. Of course, it won't be a problem."

Go on, lift it.

Better fall flat on your face and smash those old bones to pieces!

But the next moment—

Ma Shan's smile froze, replaced by utter shock.

Jiang Yuan sank his qi into his dantian, wrapped both arms around the porridge barrel, and with a slight exertion, lifted the heavy barrel. He did it as easily as if he were carrying an empty bucket, his expression not changing in the slightest.

"Gasp!"

"Th-this... Mr. Jiang, you're this spry?!"

Ma Shan sucked in a cold breath, his eyes widening. He had never imagined that an old man with one foot already in the grave could possess such strength.

This old bastard has been hiding himself well.

"Hehe. This old man has been idle lately, so I practiced a little martial arts. I was just worrying that I had all this strength with nowhere to use it."

Jiang Yuan smiled and offered no further explanation, but then his tone abruptly shifted.

"However, if there are any ill-intentioned people who wish to harm the proprietor, perhaps this old man can stretch his limbs a little."

With that, he carried the porridge barrel out of the kitchen and placed it on the wooden cart outside.

The old bastard is warning me?

Ma Shan stood there dumbfounded. When he came back to his senses, his formerly honest-looking face immediately darkened.

No, I have to act!

This old man had always been getting in the way of his plans.

He had endured for several years, waiting for the old man to die so that no one would stand in his way anymore.

But now, it seemed this old man was in robust health. Who knew how many more days he might live?

An old man who refused to die was a thief.

If this could be endured, what could not?

Damn it!

With that thought, Ma Shan's gaze hardened, and his face returned to its honest-looking guise.

Three to five li from the teahouse, at the end of the street, lay Refugee Alley.

This was where the Jiangning City authorities specifically housed refugees. Because there were simply too many refugees, arriving in an unending stream, the City Lord's Manor had designated an entire Refugee Alley and gathered them all here for management.

Quite a few clans and commoners came to provide relief to the refugees.

Some came with sincere intentions, some put on a show, and some came to recruit thugs and deathsworn men.

Jiang Yuan and Ma Shan pushed the wooden cart carrying the porridge barrel all the way to Refugee Alley.

"Porridge! It's porridge!"

"There's food! There's finally food!"

"Please, give me a mouthful! My child hasn't eaten for three days!"

"Give me some! Give me some!"

At the scent of the porridge, the refugees seemed to have grasped a lifeline and surged forward in a swarm.

"Everyone, don't rush! Line up properly!"

Jiang Yuan shouted, trying to calm everyone down.

But when people were starving, they could not remain rational in the face of food. Some even intended to seize the porridge barrel outright.

"Everyone, calm down!"

Jiang Yuan frowned, drew in a breath, and shouted again. Though the shout seemed ordinary, it contained immense body-tempering power. Its penetrating force was tremendous, like thunder exploding beside their ears, instantly suppressing all the clamor.

"This old man has such a powerful presence!"

"How strange!"

Someone in the crowd muttered softly, but everyone took half a step back. Their eyes now held a greater measure of wariness toward Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan stroked his beard and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, my proprietor is kind-hearted and has prepared enough porridge for all of you. I guarantee that everyone will receive a share!"

"If anyone refuses to follow the rules, do not blame this old man for showing no mercy!"

Having lived so long and experienced the warmth and coldness of human hearts, he had long understood the temperament of these refugees. They were pitiful people, but that did not mean they were all good people. There might even be bandits and hooligans mixed among them.

Such people bullied the weak and feared the strong. If he could not keep them in line, even an act of kindness might turn into a grudge.

They looked at one another.

In the end, reason overcame desire. They began moving their feet and lining up voluntarily, afraid that Jiang Yuan would change his mind and stop distributing the porridge.

Just then, two figures suddenly rushed out from the side of the crowd. Without a word, they shoved aside the elderly, weak, women, and children in front of them, then pounced toward the porridge barrel with savage grins.

"Move! All of you, get the hell out of my way! This porridge is mine!"

"Old bastard, don't block the road!"

Jiang Yuan looked up, and his gaze instantly turned cold.

He had said all the good words he could, yet there were still people who refused to follow the rules?

The two men charging over were powerfully built, standing a head taller than the sallow, emaciated refugees around them. Though they wore clothes similar to those of the refugees, they carried the bloodlust and killing intent that only came from a battlefield.

In an instant, the pair reached the porridge barrel in a few strides and reached out to grab it.

"Hold it."

Jiang Yuan spoke blandly. With a turn of his wrist, he directly seized both men's hands and looked at them without changing expression.

"You two, go line up."

"Oh?"

One of the burly men immediately sneered. "Old bastard, you think we're giving you face?"

"I'm taking all this porridge today."

"Otherwise, I'll tear apart your old bones!"

As he spoke, he tried to shake off Jiang Yuan's hand, only to find that the old man's palm was like an iron vise, utterly unmoving. His heart jolted in alarm.

This old bastard has incredible strength.

The other, thinner man said nothing, because he too was startled.

The hands he and the burly man had extended toward the porridge barrel had both been firmly pinned by Jiang Yuan. They could not move an inch.

Jiang Yuan looked calmly at the two men as he rapidly considered the matter.

These two were clearly no ordinary refugees. They were far stronger than average people, and the vicious aura around them was exceptionally heavy.

Could they be people of the martial world?

If so, then there was no reasoning with them.

People of the martial world were the least reasonable. They bullied the weak and feared the strong, killed at the slightest provocation, and called it settling grudges with swift justice, when in truth they were selfish and self-serving.

In this chaotic martial world, one could be a good person, but one must never be a weak person.

Jiang Yuan flung his arms with force, sending both men stumbling away. He then gently stroked his beard and said calmly, "You two are from the Black Market, aren't you?"

"Which hall do you belong to?"

The moment those words left his mouth, both men's pupils contracted. They instinctively took a step back. "Y-you... how did you know?"

This old man had seen through their identities at a glance?

On the surface, the Black Market was a major merchant association. In truth, it was a mixed martial-world force of enormous scale, with its influence spread throughout the Great Yu Kingdom. From the imperial court to the common folk, traces of its power could be found everywhere.

Compared to those lofty, prestigious sects, the Black Market was an underworld force unrecognized by the authorities.

Yet now, with rebellions erupting everywhere across Great Yu, the Black Market had instead grown ever stronger.

Seeing their reaction, Jiang Yuan became even more certain. He could not help but snort coldly.

"Hmph. When this old man roamed the martial world, you were still rolling about in your mother's womb. What right do you have to ask about this old man's identity?"