Skywind Rain-Listening Tower

Thirteen secret courier boxes lay on the table. Chen Yuan locked the doors and windows before opening and inspecting them one by one.

This scene really did feel a little like opening loot boxes in a game back then.

These small secret courier boxes mostly contained private letters and the like. Chen Yuan even found a love letter.

However, the contents were a little too explosive, practically on par with erotica.

It was already so bold on paper. Who knew how many tricks they could get up to when they met in person?

By the time Chen Yuan opened the seventh secret courier box, he finally found a small porcelain bottle.

The bottle was made of fine Jun ware crackle porcelain, while its stopper was carved from thousand-year fire pine, keeping out moisture and preventing the medicinal potency from dissipating.

The bottom of the bottle bore the mark of Medicine King Valley, along with the five small characters: Nine-Turn Nourishing Origin Pill Realm.

Chen Yuan pulled out the stopper, and a rich medicinal fragrance immediately wafted out. Just one breath left him instantly refreshed.

"Sure enough, it's good stuff."

Chen Yuan praised it, but he did not rush to swallow the pill. Instead, he opened all the remaining secret courier boxes as well.

After opening all thirteen secret courier boxes, he found two more bottles of pills produced by Medicine King Valley.

One bottle was called the Fire Dragon Pill. Its medicinal power was tyrannical and blazing; after taking it, one's strength would greatly increase for a short time, but the medicinal power would scorch the meridians, requiring a period of recuperation before they could recover.

The other bottle was called the Essence-Restoring Blood-Coalescing Pill. It could rapidly heal internal and external injuries and was one of Medicine King Valley's precious healing medicines.

"Sure enough, there were unexpected gains."

Chen Yuan had previously felt that there should be more than one bottle of pills in these secret courier boxes. The player in the original plot might have missed some of them.

Now, it seemed that was indeed the case. All three bottles of pills had been sent by the same client.

Clearly, someone was meant to take the Nine-Turn Nourishing Origin Pill Realm to increase their strength, then use the Fire Dragon Pill to unleash their power in a life-or-death battle, and finally use the Essence-Restoring Blood-Coalescing Pill to treat their injuries.

However, that person must have met with some accident. The pills went unused, turning into dead deliveries and ultimately benefiting Chen Yuan.

After putting away the other two bottles, Chen Yuan directly tossed the Nine-Turn Nourishing Origin Pill Realm into his mouth and began circulating his internal force through a full cycle to refine it.

In truth, Chen Yuan did not even need to refine it.

The pills produced by Medicine King Valley were of exceptional quality. The Nine-Turn Nourishing Origin Pill Realm practically melted the moment it entered his mouth, turning into the purest medicinal power and seeping into Chen Yuan's extraordinary meridians.

His originally meager internal force began wildly coursing through his body under the pill's guidance. In just one minute, it completed an entire circulation cycle.

Yet such rapid circulation of internal force did not overwhelm Chen Yuan's meridians.

This medicinal power was balanced and gentle. While accelerating the circulation and refinement of his internal force, it also protected his meridians, producing no side effects whatsoever.

Only after an hour did the circulation gradually slow, shifting from rapid to gentle.

Two hours later, the medicinal power had been completely refined. A thin layer of sweat covered Chen Yuan's body as he let out a long breath.

Yet the stream of air he exhaled shot out like an arrow, producing a sharp, crisp crack inside the room.

Refining a Nine-Turn Nourishing Origin Pill Realm could not directly allow Chen Yuan to enter the Blood-Shifting Realm, but it did push him straight to the peak of the Meridian-Unblocking Realm. He only needed to break through the bottleneck to enter the Blood-Shifting Realm.

The tiny thread of internal force cultivated through the Azure Wood Method had originally been as thin as silk inside his body, pitifully weak.

Now, it had thickened several times over. When his internal force circulated and his strength erupted, he was several times more powerful than before.

Chu Ziping and Qin Yuancheng had both entered the Meridian-Unblocking Realm years ago, yet neither possessed internal force as powerful as Chen Yuan's now.

This single pill was enough to equal ten years of arduous cultivation of the Azure Wood Method.

After taking a bath, Chen Yuan pulled out his notes and read through them once. His fingers lightly tapped the table as he fell into thought.

He urgently needed a cultivation method, but none of the beginner opportunity Easter eggs in Linked Mountains City would appear anytime soon.

Still, it did not matter. If opportunities would not appear on their own, he could simply go out and find them himself.

Duan Mubai's matter was a cautionary example. He could not act entirely according to the original plot.

Even if he recreated the original plot perfectly, it would be useless. With a different person involved, the result could still change.

Since that was the case, there was no need to follow the clues laid out before him. Taking the initiative was also an option.

Early the next morning, Chen Yuan arrived at Worry-Free Tower.

Taverns like Worry-Free Tower were usually crowded at night, but there were not many people during the day.

A few martial artists who had just awakened from drunken sleep were startled awake by Chen Yuan. They had just wanted to curse at him, but upon seeing who it was, they forcibly swallowed their words.

This lord had slaughtered people in Worry-Free Tower not long ago. What blind fool would dare provoke him?

Chen Yuan called over a waiter who was still dozing off. "Where is your proprietress?"

"The proprietress is upstairs. I'll go call her right away."

At that moment, a languid and alluring voice drifted down from upstairs. "Young Master Chen seems rather fond of my Worry-Free Tower?"

Chen Yuan looked up and saw Wen Rou leaning against the railing with both hands, smiling sweetly at him.

She seemed to have only just awakened. Her cloudy hair was loosely gathered into a falling-horse bun, with a golden hairpin set at an angle. Her pomegranate-red chest wrap was tied extremely low, revealing half a patch of snow-white cleavage.

Though she wore no rouge or powder, her face carried a faint flush, like a begonia flower moistened by night dew.

The proprietress's appearance immediately made the drunken martial artists below drool.

Still, they could only think about it and make a few crude remarks. No one dared to harass the proprietress.

Because anyone who dared do so would have their corpse turn up in the drainage ditch of the alley behind Worry-Free Tower the next day.

"I'm not fond of Worry-Free Tower. I'm fond of you, Proprietress."

Wen Rou covered her mouth and chuckled. "Young Master Chen certainly knows how to talk. Would you like to come upstairs and sit for a while?"

Chen Yuan nodded and went upstairs, following Wen Rou into her room.

The martial artists below could not help grumbling inwardly.

Slut!

She never lets us touch her, yet when she sees that Young Master Chen from the Heavenly Wolf Gang is young and handsome, she takes the initiative to invite him upstairs. Is she trying to eat tender grass despite being an old cow?

Upstairs, Wen Rou led Chen Yuan into her private chamber. Its furnishings were remarkably simple, sharply contrasting with her personality.

Wen Rou poured Chen Yuan a cup of tea and asked with a smile, "The people Worry-Free Tower receives are all lowly martial artists. Why would Young Master Chen be interested in coming so early in the morning?"

"I told you, I didn't come for Worry-Free Tower. I came for you, Proprietress."

"I am but a faded and ruined flower, forced to show my face every day to run this tavern. Am I truly worth the attention of Young Master Chen of the Heavenly Wolf Gang?"

Chen Yuan took a sip of tea and said indifferently, "The proprietress of Worry-Free Tower is not worth it, but the person in charge of Skywind Rain-Listening Tower in Linked Mountains City is."

The moment those words fell, Wen Rou's expression abruptly changed.

Her flirtatious and seductive air instantly vanished, replaced by a cold, razor-sharp aura.

Skywind Rain-Listening Tower was the foremost intelligence organization in the martial world, specializing in selling intelligence and gathering information.

Its intelligence agents could be found throughout Great Xia's nineteen provinces, as well as the Western Regions, the grasslands, the great deserts, and overseas.

No matter how large or small a matter in the martial world was, it could not escape their ears and eyes.

Wen Rou was the person in charge of Skywind Rain-Listening Tower in Linked Mountains City. The reason Worry-Free Tower offered affordable prices and attracted so many lower-class martial artists was also to make gathering information easier.

In the original plot, Wen Rou was also an important character who often issued quests to players.

"How did Young Master Chen learn of this?"

Wen Rou stared intently at Chen Yuan.

To ensure their safety and facilitate the gathering of information, most Skywind Rain-Listening Tower branches were concealed.

Only in certain major cities would they openly establish branch towers, making it convenient for martial artists to buy and sell information.

Martial artists elsewhere who wished to purchase information from Skywind Rain-Listening Tower had to contact them through special secret methods.

Wen Rou had been in Linked Mountains City for many years. Even Chen Yuan's adoptive father, Jiang Kaitai, did not know her identity. How had Chen Yuan learned it?

"Is that important? I came today only because I want to make a deal with Proprietress Wen."

Wen Rou broke into a smile. "You're right. I spoke out of turn. Still, I hope Young Master Chen will not reveal my identity. Otherwise, I will be punished within the tower."

Skywind Rain-Listening Tower had no enemies and was an absolutely neutral force in the martial world.

After all, everyone needed to gather all kinds of information, and that required Skywind Rain-Listening Tower.

But at the same time, most forces did not hold much goodwill toward Skywind Rain-Listening Tower, because they did not want their own intelligence to fall into its hands.

"Rest assured, Proprietress Wen. I won't make things difficult for you."

Chen Yuan lightly tapped the table. "Proprietress Wen is well-informed. I want you to help me find someone in Linked Mountains City."

"Your Heavenly Wolf Gang occupies half of Linked Mountains City, and you are Gang Leader Jiang's adopted son. Do you still need to come through me to investigate someone in Linked Mountains City?"

After saying that, Wen Rou immediately realized something and lightly slapped her own cheek. "I spoke out of turn again. Who is Young Master Chen looking for?"

Since Chen Yuan had come directly to her, it naturally meant that the person he sought either could not be found through the Heavenly Wolf Gang.

Or Chen Yuan did not want the Heavenly Wolf Gang to know that he was looking for this person.

Skywind Rain-Listening Tower only sold information and did not investigate its customers. That was a fundamental rule.

She had merely been flustered after Chen Yuan suddenly exposed her identity, which was why she had asked such an unnecessary question.

Otherwise, with her professional standards, she would never have spoken out of turn.

"The alliance leader of Lan Prefecture's Nine-Dragon River Thirty-Six Waterways Alliance, the 'Nine-River Flood Dragon,' Zuo Xinglie!"

Chen Yuan said in a deep voice, "Of course, he definitely won't be using that name in Linked Mountains City, and there should be a little girl around seven or eight years old by his side."

Wen Rou's eyes instantly widened, her face filled with shock.

"What!? Zuo Xinglie isn't dead? He's in Linked Mountains City?"