Chen Chen had no idea that the Liang Family had completely gone berserk because of him.
At that moment, he was sitting cross-legged in the secret chamber of the safe house, carefully examining the azure token in his hand.
Azure Cloud Token.
The token felt cool to the touch. It was forged from an unknown kind of azure jade, with two lifelike auspicious clouds carved on the front and an ancient "Azure" character engraved on the back.
Other than that, there was nothing else.
Yet Chen Chen could sense an extremely faint but exceptionally pure fluctuation of spiritual power within the token.
And at the core of that spiritual fluctuation, there seemed to be an exceedingly complex divine soul imprint.
This should be the special anti-counterfeiting mark that the Sky Listening Pavilion steward had mentioned, one used by the Azure Cloud Sect.
"Good stuff."
Chen Chen nodded in satisfaction.
With this token, entering the Azure Cloud Sect was practically set in stone.
He carefully stored the Azure Cloud Token in his storage bag, then began tallying his gains from the gambling house.
One thousand Spirit Stones in capital, plus the Azure Cloud Token he had won.
This deal had made him a fortune.
He took out those thousand Spirit Stones. Added to what he had obtained from the Ghost Shadow Three Fiends and what had originally been in Wang Zhan's storage bag, his wealth had now surpassed two thousand Low-grade Spirit Stones.
This money would be enough to support his cultivation for quite some time.
"My cultivation... is still too low."
Chen Chen clenched his fist, feeling the power of the Second Level of Qi Condensation within his body.
Though he was several times stronger than before, in a place like Tianfeng City, he was still not worth mentioning.
Liang Hu, the Liang Family Head, was at the Qi Condensation Ninth Layer Peak.
That assassin from Blood Fiend Tower was at least at the Qi Condensation Fourth Layer.
And Wang Teng, who would soon arrive, had two Azure Cloud Sect disciples at the Qi Condensation Fifth Layer by his side.
None of them were opponents he could easily handle right now.
"System, how many Cultivation Points do I have now?"
[Host's current remaining Cultivation Points: 1040.]
"Still not enough to break through to the Third Level of Qi Condensation."
Chen Chen frowned.
Breaking through from the Second Level of Qi Condensation to the third would probably require even more Cultivation Points than advancing from the first level to the second.
It seemed he could only think of another way.
His gaze fell upon the name "Wang Teng" once more.
As long as he killed Wang Teng, the Cultivation Points rewarded by the system should be enough for him to break through again.
"Less than two days remain..."
Chen Chen closed his eyes and carefully mapped out every step of his upcoming plan in his mind.
He had to ensure nothing went wrong.
Just as Chen Chen hid in the safe house and planned how to hunt Wang Teng.
On the second floor of Immortal's Abode.
The gamblers who had lost everything had long since dispersed.
Only Steward Wang, with his great belly, remained, personally directing the attendants as they cleaned up the mess of gambling tables.
"Steward, that... Liang Family, they won't come looking for trouble with us, will they?" An attendant approached and asked anxiously.
After all, Liang Feng had lost the Azure Cloud Token at their Immortal's Abode and had even been angered into vomiting blood and fainting.
"Come looking for trouble with us?" Steward Wang sneered. "What right does he have to trouble us?"
"He chose to join the game himself. He placed the wager himself. If he lost, it was because his gambling skills were poor and his luck was bad. What the hell does that have to do with our Immortal's Abode?"
"We do business with our doors open, and what we value is fairness and impartiality. No matter how overbearing the Liang Family is, they would not dare pick a fight with Immortal's Abode over something like this. Unless they want to wrestle arms with the City Lord's Mansion behind us."
Steward Wang's face was full of disdain.
Hearing this, the attendant immediately relaxed and hastily flattered him. "Steward, your foresight truly reaches far."
Steward Wang ignored him. Instead, he walked to the window and watched the unceasing stream of people below. Shrewd light flickered in his cloudy eyes.
The image of that young man in gray robes and a bamboo hat surfaced in his mind again.
"The outward appearance of the Fifth Level of Body Tempering, his true cultivation at the Second Level of Qi Condensation, yet he possesses a terrifying divine soul comparable to the Late Qi Condensation Stage..."
"He casually spends a thousand Spirit Stones, and when facing Lin Feng's provocation, his expression never changes..."
"During the gambling match, he was calm to a terrifying degree, as though everything lay in the palm of his hand..."
"This boy is no creature meant to remain in a shallow pond."
Steward Wang gave Chen Chen an extremely high appraisal in his heart.
In Tianfeng City, he had received and seen off countless people from all walks of life.
Yet someone like Chen Chen, so young yet possessing such strength and composure, was someone he had encountered for the first time.
As long as such a person did not die halfway along the road, his future achievements would surely be beyond measure.
"Perhaps... I can invest in him."
A thought arose in his heart.
What merchants like them excelled at most was adding flowers to brocade; from time to time, they also made investments that delivered charcoal in the snow.
"Go. Bring me one of Immortal's Abode's highest-grade Purple Gold VIP Tokens," Steward Wang instructed the attendant behind him.
"Ah?" The attendant froze. "Steward, aren't Purple Gold Tokens only granted to honored guests of the City Lord's Mansion or lavish spenders who throw around fortunes? Who are you giving it to?"
"Just go when I tell you to go. Why so much nonsense?" Steward Wang shot him a glare.
"Yes, yes, yes." The attendant dared not ask further and hurried downstairs.
Before long, a token crafted entirely from purple-gold jade, carved with the two characters "Immortal's Abode," was brought upstairs.
Steward Wang accepted the token and nodded in satisfaction.
He gave several quiet instructions to a black-clad guard standing in the shadows.
"...After finding him, do not alert anyone. Place this token into his hands personally."
"Tell him this is a small token of goodwill from Immortal's Abode. From now on, he will be Immortal's Abode's most honored guest. If he encounters any trouble in Tianfeng City that he cannot resolve, he may use this token to come find me."
"Also, remind him of one thing. The Liang Family has already gone mad and is searching the entire city for him. And that assassin from Blood Fiend Tower has been unusually active lately as well. Tell him to take greater care."
The black-clad guard nodded, accepted the token, and with a flicker of his body, vanished into the shadows as though he had never been there.
Steward Wang watched the direction in which the guard had disappeared, and the smile on his face became deeply meaningful.
"Kid, this is all I can do for you."
"I just hope this investment of mine doesn't prove to be a misjudgment..."
He knew very well that sending out this token was equivalent to Immortal's Abode extending a gesture of goodwill toward that gray-robed youth.
If the other party truly soared into the heavens one day, then the returns from the goodwill he had sown today would be impossible to measure.
Of course, if the other party died at the hands of the Liang Family or Blood Fiend Tower, he would lose nothing. It was merely a token.
No matter how he calculated it, this deal could not lose.
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