I can only beat noobs.

Chapter 142 Jiang Family
Inside the carriage, Su Zhining, dressed in pristine white, sat opposite Chen Ming, her deep, clear eyes fixed on him for a long time.

Chen Ming had already noticed her gaze, so he quietly turned off the panel and asked calmly, "Why is Miss Su looking at me like that?"

"Your progress is much faster than I expected."

Su Zhining's tone remained aloof, but her beautiful eyes were still fixed on him.

Chen Ming laughed and said, "You didn't just find out today, did you? I've always been a martial arts prodigy."

Su Zhining said, "I have a senior uncle who is hailed as a peerless genius who appears only once in a century. It took him a year to go from the fifth rank to the fourth rank. With your current progress, I'm afraid you won't even need half a year to break through to the fourth rank."

"You think too highly of me, young lady."

Chen Ming's smile was a little dry, and he inwardly cursed the trouble.

Su Zhining was by his side every day, and in order not to expose his secret, he could only spend time practicing his internal strength every day. It was probably during his practice that she saw through his disguise.

He has tried his best to distribute the experience points evenly, sometimes even dividing them into several sessions a day, so that the increase in his true energy doesn't seem so abrupt.

Even so, his progress was still too fast, too supermodel-like.

Chen Ming knew who the senior uncle she was talking about was. The peerless expert ranked tenth on the first page of the "World Ranking" of the World's Number One Pavilion was from the Heavenly Dao Alliance.

One of the comments next to it was that he was a once-in-a-century genius who ascended to the Heavenly Ranking at the age of thirty, shocking the world.

During this period, Chen Ming sparred with the fifth-rank members of Shang'an Trading Company every day, and after a month and a half, he reaped more than 1.1 million experience points.

He also spent 400,000 on the Vermilion Bird Sword Technique. If he had spent it all on the Yin-Yang True Skill, it would have been even more terrifying.

Such good fortune doesn't come around often.

A trip to sea by Yunniang and her companions can take anywhere from two to three months to half a year. There's a long gap in between.

Fortunately, there was an upcoming competition for the Azure Cloud Ranking, which would allow him to gain another wave of experience points. Otherwise, his progress over the next few months would have slowed to a crawl, with no improvement whatsoever, which would have aroused Su Zhining's suspicion.

Chen Ming promptly changed the subject, "Speaking of which, are you going to participate in the Azure Cloud Ranking? If you don't go, it will truly be a shame."

"This kind of empty competition for fame is of no benefit to those who practice martial arts. Many disputes in the world arise from this. The actions of the Number One Pavilion Under Heaven can be described as bringing chaos to the world."

Chen Ming saw the hatred in her eyes when she mentioned the Number One Pavilion Under Heaven, and wondered if she would demolish it once she had enough power.

……

Seven days later, they arrived at Jiangzhou City, a city even larger than Qingfeng City, with its tall and magnificent city gate bearing the marks of time.

It is said that this city gate was built more than a thousand years ago and has a long history.

When Chen Ming entered the city gate, he felt that this city had a completely different atmosphere from Qingfeng City.

Qingfeng City is a newly emerging young city with a strong commercial atmosphere.

Jiangzhou City, on the other hand, feels more imposing, with a slower pace of life, more leisurely pedestrians, and a higher proportion of martial artists.

Of course, this is related to the upcoming competition for the Qingyun Ranking. Besides those who came to compete for the ranking, many more were just there to watch the spectacle.

After entering the city, Chen Ming was observing it.

On the other side, Feng Siyuan was saying goodbye to two friends he had met on the road. “Brother Jiang, farewell. I wish you great success and a place on the list of successful candidates.”

Brother Jiang was a handsome young man with an extraordinary demeanor. He cupped his hands towards Feng Siyuan and said, "Then I'll take your kind words, brother."

The two then parted ways.

After Jiang's carriage had gone some distance, Feng Siyuan got into Chen Ming's carriage and angrily cursed, "What a piece of trash! He's just a descendant of the Meng family, yet he dares to look down on people like this."

He was standing up for Chen Ming.

This morning, Feng Siyuan encountered the Jiang family's carriage on the way. Since they knew each other, he stopped to greet them and they traveled together.

The Jiang family is one of the three great families of Jiangzhou, with a long history.

Jiang Shihua is the most outstanding young man of the Jiang family in this generation. He was already promoted to the fifth rank when he was twenty years old. Now he is twenty-three years old and is probably not far from the fourth rank. He is a strong contender for the Qingyun Ranking.

This person comes from a top-tier family and possesses exceptional talent, so naturally he is arrogant and haughty. Feng Siyuan is a member of the Feng family; although he is not very accomplished, he can still befriend some people.

When he heard Feng Siyuan introduce his friend, he realized that the friend was neither from a prominent family nor affiliated with any sect, so he didn't bother to pay him any attention.

Feng Siyuan was angry at Jiang Shihua for treating his friend so disrespectfully, but he didn't dare to show it to his face.

After everyone left, he ran over to Chen Ming and gave Jiang Shihua a good scolding.

Chen Ming found it somewhat amusing. "By saying that, aren't you insulting yourself too?"

He advised, "The Jiang family is a thousand-year-old family, it's normal for them to be a little arrogant. If I had such a family background, I would be even more arrogant than him."

Seeing that he wasn't angry at all, but instead comforted himself, Feng Siyuan sighed, "Brother Chen has a broad mind, which I cannot match."

Chen Ming laughed and said, "If I get angry every time someone looks down on me, then I'll be so angry that I'll die on the day of the competition for the Azure Cloud Ranking."

In this world, people like Jiang Shihua are the majority. It's foreseeable that after he takes the stage, those scions of powerful families and members of various sects will definitely look down on him.

It's because he wasn't born into a prestigious family and didn't belong to any sect.

Feng Siyuan suddenly chuckled, "I'm actually looking forward to the day Jiang Shihua meets you in the ring. You'd better teach him a lesson he won't forget."

Chen Ming laughed, "You have a lot of confidence in me." "Of course. I've seen Brother Chen's cultivation advance by leaps and bounds in the past few years. In terms of talent, how can that arrogant Jiang Shihua compare to you? I believe you can definitely beat him senseless."

……

On the other side, a pretty girl of sixteen or seventeen sat in the Jiang family's carriage. A hint of mockery flashed across her face. "Seventh Brother, you've met that boy surnamed Chen. What did you think of him?"

"That's all."

Jiang Shihua appeared calm, but the jealousy in his eyes was not hidden from his sister's eyes at all.

Jiang Yingxue smiled and said, "Since Sister Yan regards this person so highly, he must be quite capable. I heard that he broke through from the sixth rank to the fifth rank in less than half a year. He must be here in Jiangzhou City to compete for the Qingyun Ranking. He might be a formidable opponent for you, Seventh Brother."

Jiang Shihua sneered, "Most people are foolish and only know how to parrot others and spread rumors. You actually believe a rumor that someone can rise from the sixth rank to the fifth rank in half a year? Qingfeng City is full of merchants who love to exaggerate. You actually believe such a thing, Ninth Sister?"

Jiang Yingxue seemed to enjoy seeing him lose his composure like this, her eyes crinkling with laughter as she looked delighted. "Sister Yan is always full of ideas; I'm afraid she wants to repeat the mistakes of our great-aunt..."

"Humph!"

Jiang Shihua raised an eyebrow, his gaze suddenly sharpening, and said, word by word, "I am not the King of Zhenhai, and he could not possibly be Shang Jianfei!"

The "Sister Yan" that Jiang Yingxue mentioned was Zhao Xiyan.

They are cousins; her grandmother and grandfather were cousins ​​and had a very close relationship.

Several years ago, both sets of parents had intended to arrange a marriage.

However, Zhao Xiyan had just broken through to the sixth rank and was unwilling to get married so soon, which delayed their marriage.

In Jiang Shihua's heart, he had already regarded her as his future wife.

Until last year, he heard rumors that Zhao Xiyan had an ambiguous relationship with a man. To him, this was nothing short of a disgrace.

Today, Jiang Shihua happened to run into Feng Siyuan. When Feng introduced his friend, upon hearing the name "Chen Ming," a fierce killing intent surged within him.

If it weren't for "Uncle Fu" beside him intervening, he would have drawn his sword and killed Chen Ming on the spot.

Seeing that he was truly angry, Jiang Yingxue stopped provoking him.

Jiang Shihua asked, "Uncle Fu, why did you tell me not to do it?"

The coachman's voice came from ahead, "There was a third-rank official hiding in the shadows at the time."

"Third rank?"

Jiang Shihua was startled at first, then said, "Then it should be to protect Feng Siyuan."

No matter how low the Feng family tries to keep a low profile, they can only fool outsiders. A powerful family like the Jiang family is well aware of the Feng family's strength.

The coachman said, "The patriarch instructed that the young master's purpose in coming here is to leave his name on the Qingyun Ranking, and that no unforeseen complications should be caused."

When Jiang Shihua saw that he had brought up his grandfather, he said no more.

The coachman asked again, "Young master, shall we go straight back to the villa?"

"No, go to the Governor's Mansion."

"Yes."

Jiang Yingxue observed her seventh brother with amusement, knowing full well that he was still anxious.

Sister Yan has been living in the Governor's Mansion since she came to Jiangzhou City a few months ago.

……

…………

The Feng family also owns a house in Jiangzhou City. It's a very large mansion, much bigger than Chen Ming's. It looks quite old. The mansion is fully staffed with servants.

Feng Siyuan insisted on inviting him, so he stayed there. It was better than looking for an inn outside. He figured all the inns would be full by now.

Feng Siyuan arranged a large courtyard for Chen Ming and also assigned him several pretty maids.

He had always thought the two maids beside Chen Ming were too ugly and had long wanted to send him some beautiful maids. So this time, he stuffed the prettiest maids into his courtyard.

Unfortunately, Chen Ming remained oblivious to romance and did not allow these beautiful maids to serve him.
After nightfall, Chen Ming made sure no one was around before speaking, "Miss Su, are you there?"

Su Zhining was incredibly elusive; she suddenly left halfway through the journey and hasn't reappeared since. He didn't know if she was nearby.

After a while, there was no response.

"Looks like he's not here."

Chen Ming was somewhat worried. With her naive and innocent nature, without him by her side, she might run into those cunning old foxes and be sold out without even knowing it.

He quickly put aside his distracting thoughts, took out the sword jade, and placed it between his eyebrows to meditate on it.

……

The next morning, Chen Ming went out alone; he had something to take care of.

P.S.: Only two updates today, I'm thinking about the plot.

(End of this chapter)