Heaven rewards diligence; he fought his way through chaos to become a saint.

Chapter 131 Being Deceived

Upon hearing Yuan Mulin say that living in Wucheng was not easy, Yan Qian looked at Yuan Mulin and smiled, saying, "That's true. I hope you will take good care of me in the future."

"It's not really about taking care of them."

Yuan Mulin waved his hand and looked at Yan Zhan beside him: "You told me before that there was a third-tier trash who wanted to join the Nine Dragons Academy of the Blazing Sun Sect, who was it again?"

Ye Ci's body trembled slightly, but he quickly calmed down.

Because Yan Zhan didn't respond, he just stood by the window with his arms crossed.

Feeling bored, Yuan Mulin raised his chopsticks: "You wouldn't happen to be this young—Grandmaster of Internal Energy, would you?"

The previously lively atmosphere suddenly became somewhat subtle after these words were spoken, and everyone looked at Ye Ci.

Shen Yixi's expression turned cold as she stared intently at Yuan Mulin: "You're new here, and we don't know where we've offended you, Young Master Yuan."

"It's not a matter of offending anyone."

Yuan Mulin smiled and waved his hand: "If you can't stand what I'm saying, you don't have to listen. Just plug your ears. As for me, I just look down on those foreign merchants and warriors—"

"Of course, that doesn't include you, Brother Du."

Yuan Mulin looked at Du Ruofeng, then glanced at the others at the table, who all lowered their heads.

Du Ruofeng didn't seem to care, and explained to everyone in a carefree manner, "Yuan Mulin just has this bad temper. After all, he comes from an old family in Wucheng, and his ancestors were martial artists who followed the Martial Saint. He's always putting on this show of being arrogant and haughty."

"Um, Brother Ye, please don't mind."

As Du Ruofeng spoke, Yan Qian also took the opportunity to change the subject.

That's how the atmosphere didn't drop to freezing point.

What followed was quite difficult for Shen Yixi. She was so angry that her face turned pale and she almost bit her red lips until they bled.

She had planned to ask Yan Qian for help during the banquet to see if Ye Ci could join one of the three major sects, but Yuan Mulin's appearance prevented her from speaking.

Bringing up Ye Ci's matter again would only encourage Yuan Mulin to continue mocking him.

She thought Yuan Mulin's whole family might be useless, but Ye Ci definitely wasn't.

But she couldn't lash out.

Ye Ci guessed what Shen Yixi was thinking. This girl came from a wealthy family in the county and wouldn't give face to anyone.

However, to be fair, this woman has a good temperament. When she needs help from others while out and about, she doesn't lose her composure when she's angry.

But a moment later, Yuan Mulin deliberately looked at Shen Yixi, seemingly sharing his experience: "If you want to establish yourself in Wucheng, or start a business locally, it will be very difficult to run a business if you can't afford to hire a few Core Formation cultivators."

"In the martial arts world, one can move freely with hidden strength, and in counties and towns, one with transformed strength can even hold down a family position. In reality, a master of transformed strength only makes a few moves throughout the year. As for your Shen family doing business in the local area, I reckon no newly established family would dare to steal your business."

"But Wucheng is different. The competition is quite fierce, and every year there are quite a few martial arts masters who are killed by fistfights."

As he continued speaking, Ye Ci realized that he was implying something, and that he must know that Ye Ci was a retainer of the Shen family.

"Not to mention the families that can establish themselves in the outer city, even in the counties near Wucheng, a decent family would need to hire a guest elder who has reached the Core Formation stage, and hiring a cultivator who has reached the Transformation stage to oversee the family would be insufficient."

"But these elite advisors who have attained the highest rank cannot always be hired with money. They value their reputation even more, and the reputation of small families in counties and townships is probably not enough."

"Being able to hire a Dan-level guest elder reflects the family's strength. If their strength wasn't sufficient, doing business in Wucheng would be difficult!"

"Even the local bandits will inquire about it. If you don't have a powerful family member, they won't even accept the peace money."

He continued talking to himself, and no one at the table interrupted him except for Du Ruofeng, who kept nodding in agreement.

"Business is tough, we need to hire a talisman to decorate our storefront."

Ye Ci wouldn't let a few words from others ruin a drinking party, especially since everyone present was a classmate.

He's not that kind of bad person.

In truth, he felt he was the most magnanimous person in the world.

Since killing Zhang Guan, I have become more at peace and even find him quite amusing.

At the same time, Shen Yixi took a deep breath and bit her red lips: "Foreign merchants have their own ways of dealing with things, so there's no need for Young Master Yuan to worry about it."

Yan Qian realized that her best friend didn't like it, so she took the initiative to speak up.

"It's getting late. Yixi just arrived and came back from a nearby county. She's exhausted. I'll take her home first, and then we can have a private chat."

Upon hearing this, before anyone else could speak, Du Ruofeng interjected, "Hey, hurry up, you two young ladies, let's go quickly so I can call up some pretty girls from next door."

Yan Qian rolled her eyes at him and was about to get up when Yuan Mulin looked over and deliberately said to Ye Ci, "You're a retainer of the Shen family. How can you be a retainer without the strength to reach the Core Formation stage?"

Ye Ci felt that some people were born with a face that deserved a beating.

But he remained unperturbed. Seeing that the beast meat was not finished, he calmly picked up a piece and put it in his mouth, saying indifferently, "Isn't it enough to cultivate to the Core Formation stage?"

After finishing his meal, he was too lazy to waste any more words on such a person, so he got up and left the table.

At this moment, Yan Qian, holding Shen Yiqian's arm, also stood up.

The group walked to the door.

He said goodbye to everyone.

Du Ruofeng then urged everyone to continue drinking and chatting happily.

"Practicing until one reaches the state of 'embracing the elixir' —"

Even though Ye Ci had already left, Yuan Mulin still couldn't help but laugh: "To cultivate a third-tier root bone to the Core Formation stage? Are you kidding me? I heard Yan Qian buying white jade snow lotuses a few days ago. She must have bought them for him. Even if he becomes a fourth-tier root bone, it's impossible for him to cultivate to the Core Formation stage."

That's not how it works.

Du Ruofeng casually remarked, "My father said that there are countless talented people in the world, so we shouldn't underestimate anyone. When I was a child, I had a neighbor who spent ten years practicing internal strength, and then in three years he broke through to the Dantian stage. It's said that his physical constitution wasn't that great either—"

Yuan Mulin waved his hand dismissively: "People in the capital have different connections. If someone like the Shen family's retainer could be trained in three years, I—"

He shook his head.

Du Ruofeng laughed loudly, "Let's make a bet: what if you eat shit after three years of training?"

'

Yuan Mulin frowned slightly, finding Du Ruofeng's language truly vulgar and offensive after the woman left, so he changed the subject.

I

"Brother Du, let's get down to business—"

"Tell me, tell me—"

Du Ruofeng, on the other hand, was in high spirits, imagining the scene of betting on "eating shit" in his mind.

Yuan Mulin said, "As you know, since the turmoil in Wucheng twenty-three years ago, many families have been affected, and it can even be said that they have suffered heavy losses. You probably know who my Yuan family supports."

"Now, the master hopes that the Yuan family can recruit more fresh blood, and I have come up with an idea—"

"It's boring."

Du Ruofeng was not interested; he had come from the capital specifically to avoid getting involved in this kind of thing.

"You can make money on the side," Yuan Mulin said.

"it is good."

Du Ruofeng immediately changed his tune.

******

Why is he targeting me?

Shen Yixi and Yan Qian sat in a carriage, while Ye Ci followed behind with Wu Tan. They agreed to send Yan Qian back first.

Upon hearing Shen Yixi's question, Yan Qian nodded slightly: "He's not deliberately targeting anyone, he just has a natural sense of superiority and has always treated foreign businessmen this way."

"Secondly, the Yuan family has declined over the past twenty years, mainly because the martial arts masters they trained in the past did not yield ideal results, and the investment did not match the return. In addition, they once had a young master of Gang Jin, who was trained at great expense, but he died in an accident a few years ago. Therefore, the Yuan family had to get involved in more businesses in an attempt to reverse the decline. He does not like outsiders, perhaps because he feels that they are in competition with his family."

"Thirdly, his deliberate mention of the Dan-level guest advisor might be an attempt to introduce one of his family's Dan-level warriors to you as a guest advisor—"

However, it was just a guess, but she still gave a hint: "Local martial artists are different from those in other places. They have always been somewhat arrogant. After all, this is the hometown of the Martial Saint. So, if you come from out of town, it will really be difficult to invite a martial artist who has reached the Dan stage."

Yan Qian suddenly remembered something, slapped her forehead, and exclaimed, "That's not right!"

"Your family's retainer wasn't favored by Baichuan Academy before, so I asked Yuan Mulin to use his connections at Jiulong Academy. Perhaps that's why he was ridiculed and lost face—or perhaps it's because we started eating early today and didn't wait for him—he felt he helped you, but no one gave him face. After all, the old families of Wucheng value face the most."

Upon hearing this, Shen Yixi, though disliking Yuan Mulin, nodded slightly and then asked, "Why does the sect only consider innate talent? With Ye Ci's speed of reaching the Transformation Realm in just over a year, isn't that enough?"

Yan Qian smiled at Shen Yixi and gently took her slender white hand: "Yixi, you weren't fooled by his handsome appearance, were you? How could someone with only a third-tier root bone cultivate to the Transformation Realm in just one year? Am I just ignorant?"