Sect Leader! Please strengthen our Dao Sect!

Inside Jiangling City, crowds thronged and carriages flowed, making it even more bustling than when Shen Shanshui had visited before.

Immortal sect disciples in uniform are a common sight; if you were to hit ten people with a brick on the street, nine of them would probably be cultivators.

"Haha... I'm finally back!"

Qian Duoduo was already very excited on the way here, and now she was even more excited than ever.

Just as Shen Shanshui was about to find an inn to settle everyone down,

Qian Duoduo glanced at the shops on both sides of the street, then went into one of them, and soon came out with a grin on his face.

"Master, the city is crowded right now, the inns must be full. Why don't we go to my house?"

"My house is quite large! It's perfect for my disciple to show hospitality."

Shen Shanshui nodded with a smile at Qian Duoduo's suggestion. Since Qian Duoduo had this intention, he naturally wouldn't refuse.

"Dodo, is that your business?"

Seeing that Qian Duoduo came out of the shop and soon after, a shop assistant hurriedly came out, Li Daniu guessed that this might be a business owned by Qian Duoduo's family.

"I don't know either, but I guess so. Anyway, more than half of the shops in Jiangling City, even if they're not part of the Qian family's business, are rented out by the Qian family."

"Alas, it is shameful to say. Although my Qian family has a vast fortune, since my great-grandfather passed away, only my father, a direct descendant, has reached the Foundation Establishment stage. Now we are so poor that all we have left are spirit stones."

These outrageous remarks made everyone's eyes twitch involuntarily. Even Shen Shanshui wanted to raise his hand and give this guy a good beating.

In the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the shop assistant from the previous shop led a young man dressed as a pageboy in quickly, followed by a group of more than a dozen guards.

Since all the guards were at the seventh level of Qi Refining, there was even a ninth-level Qi Refining leader leading the team.

With such a configuration, it could almost easily annihilate those registered immortal sects that didn't have Foundation Establishment cultivators in charge. Shen Shanshui couldn't help but take a deep breath upon seeing this.

In Qingyang County, the Tang family was considered wealthy, but compared to the Qian family, they were far inferior.

"Young Master! Young Master!"

"Um?"

"Where is the young master?"

Upon arriving at the destination, the page looked around anxiously, his expression so excited he was almost in tears. However, when he didn't see Qian Duoduo as he remembered, his face immediately turned grim, and he snapped at the servants following behind him:

"You scoundrel, where is the young master? Didn't you say he was back?"

Seeing that the young man dressed as a page was about to roll up his sleeves and beat up the waiter, Qian Duoduo calmly stepped forward.

"Hey, what are you looking at? The handsome guy is right here!"

"Um?"

When the page saw the newcomer, he was first stunned, then looked him up and down carefully, and asked with some uncertainty: "He only looks a bit like the young master, yet he dares to impersonate the young master of my Qian family."

"I, Wang Dong, have been with the young master since I was a child. How handsome and dashing the young master is, don't I know that?"

"You son of a bitch! Open your dog eyes and look carefully! Your young master has now been transformed after studying under a renowned master!"

Qian Duoduo raised her hand and slapped the pageboy directly on the head.

The pageboy, unperturbed by the slap, instead burst into laughter at Qian Duoduo's arrogant demeanor. He immediately prostrated himself on the ground, clinging tightly to Qian Duoduo's leg, sobbing and wailing:

"That's the feeling! Young Master, it really is you!"

Wang Dong misses Young Master terribly. Why didn't Young Master take Wang Dong with him back then?

"Young Master, how much suffering have you endured? How did you become so thin?"

"Get out of here, you're disgusting!"

Seeing Wang Dong crying so sadly, Qian Duoduo scolded him, but felt a warmth in her heart.

"Young Master..."

Wang Dong stood up, wiped away his tears, and smiled happily, "Young Master, where have you been for the past year? The head of the family said you were fine and wouldn't let me bring people to look for you."

"It's a long story."

"Stop rambling on. My master, uncle, and fellow disciples are all waiting behind us."

After several days on the treasure ship, I haven't been eating or sleeping well, so I need to get to the arrangements done quickly.

Qian Duoduo didn't want to get too entangled here, so after explaining, she happily ran back to Shen Shanshui's side.

Wang Dong glanced at the group of people beside Qian Duoduo, wondering: Has the young master become an apprentice? Young master, such a simple-minded and kind person, could he have been deceived?

However, he dared not disobey Qian Duoduo's orders. Once he brought the person back to the mansion, if he was a person with ill intentions, the head of the household would certainly deal with him.

Led by Wang Dong, the group set off in a grand procession toward the Qian residence.

Throughout the journey, Wang Dong barely stopped talking. One moment he would tell Qian Duoduo to wait while he went back to the manor to fetch a carriage, so that the young master wouldn't tire his legs. The next moment he would sob to himself, wildly imagining that Qian Duoduo must have suffered a lot to have caused his drastically changed appearance.

Qian Duoduo gradually lost patience with this, finding Wang Dong too noisy and kicking him occasionally.

Wang Dong's image as a lackey was so convincing that not only the young disciples but even Shen Shanshui were stunned.

It's so great to have spirit stones!

Of the group, only He Wenzheng frowned deeply, remaining silent while looking disdainfully at Qian Duoduo and Wang Dong.

Scholars cannot stand servility and obsequiousness, and He Wenzheng was, to some extent, a stubborn man.

……

West of Jiangling City, a huge complex of buildings was visible from afar. The streets there were no longer any pedestrians; instead, guards were stationed there, driving away any pedestrians who approached.

The guards all wore chests embroidered with a dragon and phoenix on their chests, and the vast area they guarded seemed to be the Qian family's private property.

Before the group could even reach that area, a young man dressed in fine clothes, who looked remarkably similar to Qian Duoduo when he was fat, strode over, followed by a group of guards and servants.

Shen Shanshui secretly scanned the young man with his divine sense. The young man looked to be about the same age as He Wenzheng and actually had the cultivation level of the seventh level of Qi Refining. However, his aura was weak and his every move exuded a strong medicinal power, fully demonstrating the arrogance of a drug-using cultivator.

Perhaps it was because of their blood ties, but the young man recognized Qian Duoduo at a glance.

"Duo Duo! You brat, you finally know how to come home? How come you've gotten so thin? You must have suffered a lot!"

"Big brother!"

Qian Duoduo was delighted to see her older brother, but she still introduced him to Shen Shanshui in time.

"Master, this is my eldest brother, Qian Lai."

"Big brother, I am a cultivator now. This is my master, my junior uncle, and a few fellow disciples."

Shen Shanshui nodded with a smile, and the others also bowed slightly.

"Master? Wenzheng is here too?"

"Brother Qian Lai, it's been a long time."

He Wenzheng nodded to the other party.

"Duoduo, you and Wenzheng..."

Qian Lai, who had just been overjoyed at his younger brother's return, paused for a moment, but still cupped his hands and said:

"Esteemed Daoist, may I ask your esteemed name? And from which sect do you belong, a highly accomplished cultivator?"

……