Daily News: You promised yourself to be a fisherman, but you've become a martial arts god?

"You are not worthy to be my opponent!"

Li Nian's words were earth-shattering, leaving the entire audience stunned.

Zong Zhengyu flew into a rage, gripped the hilt of his sword, and roared:

"court death!"

Cough!

Just then, Yi Huan, standing at the door, coughed heavily twice, breaking the awkward silence, and said:

"Young Master Zong, I'll take you to get a uniform."

Upon hearing this, Zong Zhengyu frowned in displeasure, and a sinister glint flashed in his eyes as he looked at Yi Huan.

He thought to himself, "No matter how much a lackey's cultivation increases, it's still a lackey. It even dares to betray its master, ruining my plan to cripple Li Nian!"

"Once I break through to the Dark Force realm and rise to a position of real power in the Yi family, that will be the time to eliminate you!"

"And you—Li Nian!"

Composing himself, Zong Zhengyu lowered his hand from the sword hilt, glared at Li Nian, and stormed off.

Little did he know, Yi Huan had saved his life!

Yi Huan knew very well that Li Nian was the one who killed Liu Tanqi.

Liu Tanqi had been licking blood off the edge of a knife for many years and had reached the peak of Bone Refinement in his cultivation, but he was still killed by Li Nian in the end.

If Zong Zhengyu were to fight Li Nian, he would only end up losing face!

"Gentlemen!"

Yi Huan addressed the crowd again, saying:

"I will begin my seclusion tonight. During my seclusion, unless the pirates of Shenyuan Village launch a major invasion, they must not disturb me!"

Seclusion!

Li Nian narrowed her eyes, a hint of contemplation flashing in them.

From Yi Huan's words, it was clear that this seclusion was no ordinary event.

I had heard from Cao An and others that Yi Huan's cultivation had reached the Tendon Refining stage.

Could it be that Yi Huan's seclusion this time is to unlock the door to internal energy?

With this in mind, Li Nian had her answer.

Composing himself, he joined the others in clasping his hands in a fist salute:

"clear!"

...

The banquet ended.

The lakeside path in front of Team C's camp.

The starlight fell onto the lake, scattered by the ripples, creating a shimmering expanse of clear light.

Li Nian walked ahead, while Huang Gang behind her hesitated several times before finally unable to hold back and reminded her:

"Your Excellency, you had a falling out with Zong Zhengyu at the banquet just now."

"This person speaks in a sarcastic and unfounded manner, offending you without any basis. He must be a narrow-minded person. You should be careful in the future."

Upon hearing this, Li Nian stopped, smiled, and said:

"He's just a clown, I have my own way of dealing with him."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Huang Gang and the other three, and asked:

"Working under me, are you worried that you'll be implicated and that Zong Zhengyu will make things difficult for you?"

Cao An and the others had all drunk some wine, and as the alcohol took effect, they could no longer hold back the things they usually kept to themselves, and their words became increasingly frank and open:

"Your Excellency, your words are too formal. Although I, Cao An, am not particularly capable, I understand that as a person in a subordinate position, I should share the burdens of my lord. I would rather die than do such a despicable thing as betraying my lord for personal gain!"

"Your Excellency, we are your subordinates. If Zong Zhengyu wants to target us, he can't overstep his bounds!"

"Even if something happens, I will have no complaints and will follow the Inspector to the death!"

These words came from the bottom of my heart.

Since they started dating Li Nian, their lives have been much better than before.

The previous inspector, Zhang Shun, protected them outside, but he did no inspection work at all and treated them like servants.

Li Nian is different.

Li Nian not only took the initiative to share some of the patrol work, but also treated them like brothers, fishing for them every day to supplement their meals, so that they could eat meat for all three meals a day on this remote lake island.

In addition, Li Nian would occasionally point out their shortcomings when she saw them practicing, which greatly benefited them and improved their strength considerably.

In these waters teeming with bandits, every bit of improvement in strength increases the chances of survival.

"good!"

Li Nian nodded in satisfaction.

If he brings out an ungrateful wretch, he will abandon him without hesitation!

As they walked and talked, Li Nian suddenly remembered something and said to Ruan Hanzhou:

"Ruan Hanzhou, your surname is Ruan. Are you related to the Ruan family?"

"Your Excellency, I am a member of the Ruan family, one of the five great families of Qianhu."

Ruan Hanzhou replied.

He smiled helplessly and said:

"To be honest with you, Inspector and my elder brothers, although I am from the Ruan family and within the five degrees of kinship, I am a very distant collateral descendant with no status in the clan. I just take the surname Ruan."

Li Nian nodded knowingly and asked:

"At my martial arts academy, Qinyun Martial Arts School, there's a junior sister named Ruan Hanyuan. Have you heard of her?"

When he first entered the Blood Refining Realm by knocking on the Blood Gate, Ruan Hanyuan was the first person to recruit him, and he always remembered that.

Ruan Hanyuan entered the sect earlier than him, but because his cultivation level surpassed that of the former, Ruan Hanyuan is now his junior sister.

"Your Excellency, Ruan Hanyuan is my elder sister."

Ruan Hanzhou replied.

Having said that, he took out an exquisite silk sachet from his bosom and said:

"Your Excellency, my elder sister knew I was going to the island, so she specially sewed this sachet. She said there would be many mosquitoes on the island after spring, so she asked me to give it to you. Please accept it."

Ruan Hanzhou's understanding of Li Nian came from Ruan Hanyuan.

He originally thought that his sister was the one he truly loved and that everything was perfect, until he saw Yi Huan's attitude towards Li Nian and realized that Li Nian was no ordinary person!

Especially during the banquet, he could tell that Li Nian was a humble person, and Li Nian's domineering response to Zong Zhengyu must mean that she had abilities far exceeding Zong Zhengyu's!

Li Nian looked at the sachet in front of her, hesitated for a moment, then accepted it, saying:

"Please thank Junior Sister Ruan for me."

Since it's a gift from a fellow disciple, there's no harm in accepting it.

"I never imagined you and the Inspector had this kind of relationship!"

Cao An, in a familiar manner, put his arm around Ruan Hanzhou's shoulder and gave him a few knowing glances.

Sun Tao, who was still relatively sober, reprimanded in a low voice:

"Old Cao."

As he spoke, he glanced at Li Nian without making a sound.

Cao An suddenly realized something, and instantly sobered up. He quickly changed the subject, gossiping:

"Little Ruan, since you're from the Ruan family, you must have met Bai Fengjia before, right?"

"I've heard that Bai Fengjia is Master Ruan's granddaughter, exceptionally talented in martial arts, and stunningly beautiful. Is she really that pretty?"

Huang Gang and Sun Tao were also very curious.

They had only heard of Bai Fengjia by name, but had never met her in person.

"Brother Cao, you flatter me. Someone of my status is hardly qualified to see Miss Fengjia..."

Ruan Hanzhou scratched his head awkwardly, then said:

"Miss Fengjia is exceptionally talented and is regarded as the apple of the master's eye. She was sent to Zening Prefecture at a young age to study at Chaoyuan Pavilion. Now in her twenties, she has already reached the peak of her tendon-strengthening stage."

"I heard from some of the servants in the Ruan family that Miss will be able to break through the barrier of internal energy cultivation within two years!"

At this point, Ruan Hanzhou suddenly thought of something and said:

"Before I left home, I heard from several young masters and ladies that a while ago, the young lady had retired from her school and returned to her hometown. She will be going to the prefectural city in a few days, and may pass through the waters near our Crescent Moon Island on the way."

"If we're lucky, we might be able to meet Miss Fengjia."

"Is that so!"

Cao An and his companions were overjoyed and rubbed their hands together excitedly.

"I've been handling all the daytime patrols these past few days by myself!"

"Your Excellency, I implore you to allow me to patrol continuously, 24 hours a day!"

"Me too!"

Looking at the excited group, Li Nian shook his head speechlessly.

A woman I've never even met before, and she's got me all excited...

...

at the same time.

Under the starry night, a small boat sailed from a waterway three miles from Crescent Moon Island toward an island about seven miles away, surrounded by jagged rocks...