Chapter 16: Setting Out as a Team

The morning sunlight streamed through the window lattice, casting a warm glow upon Lin Chuan’s bed. He opened his eyes and gently brushed his fingers over the storage ring beside his pillow.

For five days, the wealth contained within this ring had been growing at an astonishing pace.

“Nine thousand low-grade spirit stones…” Lin Chuan murmured the number softly, a faint smile curling at the corners of his lips. Things were going smoother than he had anticipated; his recent “showing off” hadn’t exposed him.

“Chuan’er, don’t get cocky too soon,” the voice of Little Fat echoed teasingly in his mind. “That amount of spirit stones won’t even make a splash in the entire Cangxuan Continent, let alone in this small Tianyun City.”

Lin Chuan swung his legs off the bed and dressed as he replied in his mind, “But for us right now, this is the most precious startup capital! By the way, your talent in alchemy is impressive. Using your prescriptions these past days, my body has strengthened several times over. My cultivation has already reached Body Refinement Stage Eight, and it won’t be long before I enter the Spirit Martial Realm.

Of course, your improved medicinal bath formula is excellent, but it’s terribly expensive—six hundred and thirty low-grade spirit stones gone in just five days.”

“Hmph!” Little Fat’s voice suddenly rose in pitch. “Back in the day, your old man was one of the top-tier alchemists in Shenluo Tian. It’s not the formula that’s the problem—it’s you!”

Lin Chuan chuckled and shook his head, pulling a jade bottle filled with dark green liquid from the storage ring.

“I know you’re formidable, but that stuff really tastes awful,” Lin Chuan said, his smile fading into a serious expression.

Leaving his residence, Lin Chuan headed straight for the Tianyun Tower.

The early morning streets were sparsely populated, and a unique tranquility filled the air. He cherished moments like this, as if the entire world belonged solely to him.

At the entrance of Tianyun Tower, Manager Liu was already waiting. Upon seeing Lin Chuan approach, his face immediately lit up with a broad smile.

“Xiao Chuan, you’re early today!”

Lin Chuan smiled faintly. “Manager Liu, no need for formalities. I came to request leave.”

The smile on Manager Liu’s face stiffened, a hint of subtle disappointment flickering in his eyes. “How long will you be gone?”

“About ten days,” Lin Chuan replied, feigning indifference to the change in Liu’s expression. “Some personal matters need attending to.”

Liu rubbed his hands nervously, seeming hesitant to speak.

In recent days, Lin Chuan had appraised treasures worth over ten thousand low-grade spirit stones each, earning Manager Liu thousands in commissions. Naturally, Liu was reluctant to see him leave suddenly.

“Xiao Chuan...” Liu finally spoke, “If you need any help, don’t hesitate to ask. Though I’m just a manager of the Tianyun Tower branch, I do have some connections in the city.”

Lin Chuan smirked inwardly but kept his face composed. “Thank you for your concern, Manager Liu. It’s just family matters; no need to trouble yourself.”

After departing Tianyun Tower, Lin Chuan hurried to the city center to meet Wang Tiezhu.

On the way, Little Fat’s voice chimed again in his mind, “Manager Liu’s expression was priceless—as if he’d lost his soul.”

“Driven by self-interest,” Lin Chuan replied coolly. “There’s no such thing as gratuitous kindness in this world.”

At the city center plaza, Wang Tiezhu had been waiting for a while. The burly man strode over the moment he saw Lin Chuan.

“Brother Lin, you finally made it!”

Wang Tiezhu clapped a heavy hand on Lin Chuan’s shoulder, nearly making him stagger.

Lin Chuan, now a Body Refinement Stage Eight warrior, could only imagine how formidable Wang Tiezhu’s cultivation must be.

Rubbing his shoulder with a wry smile, Lin Chuan asked, “Brother Wang, your greetings sure pack a punch. Where’s Brother Zhang Lin?”

Wang glanced around and lowered his voice. “That guy said he’s going to meet some friends for backup, so his wife won’t get suspicious.”

Lin Chuan nodded. Zhang Lin, like a typical henpecked husband, needed others to cover for him when undertaking big tasks secretly.

After waiting about fifteen minutes, Zhang Lin finally appeared in the distance.

Just as Lin Chuan and Wang Tiezhu stepped forward to greet him, they both suddenly halted.

“What’s wrong?” Zhang Lin asked, puzzled by their strange expressions.

Lin Chuan looked up at the sky without answering, while Wang Tiezhu stared intently at the ground, as if there were a rare treasure there.

Before Zhang Lin could press further, a familiar voice called out sharply from behind: “Zhang Lin!”

The voice struck like thunder, freezing Zhang Lin in place.

He slowly turned around, forcing a smile more pitiful than tears. “Yu… Yu’er, what are you doing here?”

Li Yu stood with hands on hips, her almond-shaped eyes wide open.

“I knew you were hiding something from me! If I hadn’t caught you sneaking around packing provisions this morning, you might have fooled me!”

Sweat beaded on Zhang Lin’s forehead. “Yu’er, let me explain…”

“Don’t bother!” Li Yu cut him off briskly. “You’re going to a spirit-level secret realm, right? I’m coming too!”

“No way!” Zhang Lin immediately objected. “It’s too dangerous!”

Li Yu sneered. “Dangerous? Then why are you going? Am I any less capable than you?”

Lin Chuan observed the couple’s argument silently, swiftly weighing the pros and cons.

Though Li Yu’s presence might add some complications, her cultivation was no weakling. One more person meant one more strength.

“Let her come along,” Lin Chuan said suddenly.

Zhang Lin and Wang Tiezhu looked at him in surprise.

Lin Chuan calmly explained, “The more the merrier. Besides…” He shot a meaningful glance at Zhang Lin. “With your wife around, you’re more likely to stay cautious and not let greed cloud your judgment.”

Zhang Lin’s face shifted slightly before sighing. “Fine, but you must follow my orders. No acting on your own.”

Li Yu pouted but said no more.

The four finally reached an agreement and headed toward the secret realm plaza.

The moment Lin Chuan laid eyes on the plaza, even his strong resolve faltered, and he drew in a sharp breath.

The entire plaza was astonishingly vast, paved with an unknown black stone etched with intricate runes.

Most striking were the thirteen towering spatial teleportation gates.

Apart from the central gate, which led to Tianyun City’s sole earth-level secret realm, the remaining twelve gates each connected to nine spirit-level and profound-level secret realms.

“So this is... the power of space?” Lin Chuan murmured, sensing the pervasive distortion in the air, a faint tingling prickling his skin.

Little Fat’s voice echoed nostalgically in his mind, “Indeed, this is the oppressive aura of spatial power. Back in the day, when your old man cultivated spatial power, even a fart could blow up a planet…”

Ignoring Little Fat’s reminiscing, Lin Chuan fixed his gaze on the third teleportation gate on the left.

Among the elaborate carvings was a cyan cloud pattern—the symbol indicating this gate connected to the Qingming Secret Realm.

If his venture into the Qingming Secret Realm succeeded in obtaining the Qingming Grass, both he and Little Fat would have preliminary security, no longer needing to live in constant fear.

“Let’s go.”

Lin Chuan took a deep breath and was the first to step toward that teleportation gate.