70: Chapter 70 A New Beginning

I was awakened by the scent of medicinal herbs.

Opening my eyes, I found myself lying in a room filled with antique furnishings, with warm light filtering through the paper windows.

A thin quilt covered my body, and the wound on my shoulder had already been treated, wrapped in clean bandages that still exuded a faint herbal scent.

"Awake?"

A voice came from nearby. I turned my head to see Mo Wentian sitting at the table drinking tea, holding a celadon teacup in his hand and slowly blowing away the tea foam.

I hurriedly tried to sit up, but my whole body hurt as if it were falling apart, and I grimaced as I lay back down.

"Don't move," Mo Wentian said without raising his head. "Thirty percent of your meridians are damaged, and your internal energy is exhausted; you need to lie down for at least three days. With your physique, if you keep tossing around, you'll be crippled."

I chuckled, "Elder Mo, how long have I been lying here?"

"A day and a night." Mo Wentian put down his teacup and looked at me. "You brat, you're quite capable; you even leveled up before passing out. You're level twenty-three now."

I scratched my head. "Heh heh, just lucky."

"Luck?" Mo Wentian snorted. "Your battle with Qin Wuji has spread throughout the entire Sword Pavilion. You, a level twenty-two sword cultivator, tore a crack in a sword formation composed of thirty-six Tiangang Sword Qi. You call that luck?"

I smiled sheepishly and didn't reply.

Mo Wentian stood up, walked to the bedside, and pulled a token from his robes to hand to me. The token was dark green, with the words "Sword Pavilion" carved on the front and my name—Chen Ergou—on the back.

"Inner Sect disciple token," Mo Wentian said. "From today on, you are an Inner Sect disciple of the Sword Pavilion."

I took the token and clutched it in my hand; it felt heavy. To be honest, this token felt heavier than any trophy I had won before.

"Thank you, Elder Mo," I said, my voice a bit hoarse.

Mo Wentian waved his hand. "Don't thank me; you earned this yourself. However, I must remind you that once you enter the Inner Sect, everything starts from scratch. The training in the Inner Sect is ten times harsher than the Outer Sect; if you can't keep up, you'll still be eliminated."

"Don't worry, Elder Mo, when has Chen Ergou ever dropped the ball?"

Mo Wentian looked at me, didn't say anything else, and turned to leave. But when he reached the door, he paused and said, with his back to me, "Rest well and recover."

Although his tone was still icy, the more I listened, the more I felt that this old man actually approved of me a little.

Not long after Mo Wentian left, the door was pushed open again.

I thought it was the disciple delivering medicine, so I turned my head to look—it was Qin Wuji.

He had changed into a new set of clothes, still white, but the hem was intact, no longer torn. He was carrying a food box, which he walked over and placed by my bedside.

"You... why are you here?" I was a bit confused.

Qin Wuji sat down on a chair and opened the food box, which contained a steaming bowl of porridge and a few side dishes.

"Delivering your meal," he said, his tone as flat as if he were commenting on the nice weather today.

I was even more confused. This was the Chief Disciple of the Inner Sect, delivering food to a small fry like me who had just entered the Inner Sect? This scene felt wrong, didn't it?

Qin Wuji seemed to see my confusion and said indifferently, "You fought me, thirty percent of your meridians are damaged, and your internal energy is exhausted. Elder Mo gave you medicine, but the medicine needs physical strength to take effect. If you don't eat, the medicinal effect will be halved."

I: "..."

This guy is truly blunt.

I took the porridge and took a sip, almost scalding myself to death. But I have to say, this porridge was cooked really well; the rice grains had dissolved, melting in my mouth, and a warm current flowed down my throat, making me feel so comfortable I almost groaned out loud.

Qin Wuji watched me wolfing down the food, and the corner of his mouth twitched slightly.

"The way you eat is completely different from when you fight."

"That's a given," I said, my mouth stuffed with porridge, speaking indistinctly. "Fighting is risking your life; eating is enjoyment. How could they be the same?"

Qin Wuji was silent for a while, then said something that surprised me a bit: "Your Unrestrained Sword Intent is very interesting."

"Huh?"

"Complete Sword Intent emphasizes neutrality, peace, and following the rules," he said. "But your Sword Intent is different; it has no fixed form and is not constrained by convention. This kind of Sword Intent is theoretically called 'Wild Sword Intent'—no master, no heritage, completely realized naturally through combat."

I was stunned. "This thing even has a scientific name?"

"Yes," Qin Wuji looked at me. "And as far as I know, in the entire history of the Sword Pavilion, only three people have realized Wild Sword Intent. You are the third."

I almost choked to death on the porridge.

"Cough, cough, cough—are, are you serious?"

Qin Wuji didn't answer my question but stood up, walked to the door, and said with his back to me, "When your wounds heal, come find me. I will spar with you."

After saying that, he left.

I sat on the bed holding the porridge bowl, stunned, unable to come back to my senses for a long time. This Qin Wuji, who looked so cold, was actually a closeted softie? First delivering food, then praising my Sword Intent, and even asking to spar—if this were in a novel, I would suspect he was about to swear brotherhood with me.

But then again, being able to spar with an opponent of this level was definitely a good thing for me. Only by exchanging moves with the strong can one become stronger.

After finishing the porridge, I lay on the bed, and since I had nothing better to do, I opened the system panel.

I didn't know until I looked, and what I saw gave me a shock.

The Stall order list was so long that I scrolled for three minutes and still couldn't reach the bottom. Backlogged orders were piled up like a mountain, with purchase requests for various rare materials, medicinal pills, and equipment lined up densely.

I opened the revenue tab and looked—

[Total Revenue of the myriad worlds stall system: 208,657 Gold Coins]

Over two hundred thousand Gold Coins!

I almost jumped off the bed, but was pulled back by the wound on my shoulder. It hurt so much that I grimaced, but I felt so good inside, like I had drunk honey.

My stall business actually earned this much money on its own while I was fighting? This myriad worlds stall system is too awesome, right?

Just as I was happily counting my money, the system popped up another notification—

[Ding! myriad worlds stall system upgraded! New feature unlocked: myriad worlds stall · Chain Stores]

[Chain Store feature description: Players can simultaneously open multiple stall branches in unlocked cities, with each branch operating and settling independently. Each branch can hire one NPC clerk for daily management.]

[Cities currently available for opening branches: Qingyun City, Long City, Tianqi City (Main Store)]

[Cost to open a branch: 10,000 Gold Coins each]

My eyes went wide.

Chain stores? This means I can do business in multiple cities at the same time? Doesn't that mean I can just lie down and make money?

Over two hundred thousand Gold Coins; opening two branches only costs twenty thousand, I can totally afford it!

Without a second word, I operated the system directly.

[Ding! Congratulations to player Chen Ergou for successfully opening a myriad worlds stall branch in Qingyun City!]

[Ding! Congratulations to player Chen Ergou for successfully opening a myriad worlds stall branch in Long City!]

Two branches, one opened in Qingyun City—that's where novice players gather, and the demand for low-level materials and medicinal pills is huge. The other opened in Long City—that's the territory of high-level players, where rare equipment and high-level materials sell better.

I hired an NPC clerk for each of the two branches, set up automatic restocking and pricing strategies, and then happily closed the system panel.

This is great; the main store in Tianqi City plus two branches, three stores open at once, making a fortune every day is no longer a dream.

Just as I was enjoying this, footsteps came from outside the door, and then the door was pushed open.

"Chen Ergou!"

A crisp voice came in, and I looked up—it was Ye Liuli.

She was wearing a light blue long dress today, with her hair loose, looking a bit softer and more beautiful than usual. She was carrying two jugs of wine and a bag of food, and walked to my bedside with a smile.

"I heard you woke up, so I came to see you specifically." She placed the wine and food on the table. "How are you? Does it still hurt?"

"It definitely hurts," I grinned, "but seeing you makes it not hurt anymore."

Ye Liuli rolled her eyes at me. "Stop with the slick talk."

But the corners of her mouth clearly lifted slightly.

She sat down by the bed and poured me a cup of wine. I took it and sipped it; the spicy liquid burned down my throat, and my whole body warmed up.

"I watched your match against Qin Wuji," Ye Liuli said, her voice softening a bit. "When you were being knocked back by sword strike after sword strike, I..."

She paused and didn't continue.

I looked at her profile, and a warmth surged in my heart. This girl might not say it, but she must have been worried about me.

"Don't worry, I have a tough life," I said with a smile. "Even the King of Hell doesn't want to take me; he thinks I'm too noisy."

Ye Liuli giggled and reached out to gently pat my shoulder. "You just keep on with your nonsense."

We ate, drank, and chatted in the room; the atmosphere was really good. Ye Liuli told me about what happened while I was unconscious—the results of the Inner Sect Selection had been announced, and I ranked second with a record of three wins and one loss, second only to Qin Wuji. The entire Sword Pavilion was in an uproar; an Outer Sect disciple had directly fought their way into second place in the Inner Sect, which was unprecedented.

"You're a popular figure in the Sword Pavilion now," Ye Liuli said. "Everywhere you go, people are talking about you."

"Isn't that just perfect?" I chuckled. "The bigger the fame, the easier it is to do business at the stall."

Ye Liuli shook her head helplessly. "You only ever think about your stall."

As we chatted, Ye Liuli suddenly went quiet. She looked out the window, her eyes somewhat complex, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something.

"Ergou, actually I..."

She had just started speaking when she suddenly stopped.

"Actually you what?" I looked at her.

She shook her head and smiled. "It's nothing. I'll tell you another day."

I looked at her expression and felt a faint sense that something was wrong. This girl seemed to have something on her mind, and it wasn't a small matter. But since she didn't want to say it, I couldn't press her.

Just at this moment, the system suddenly popped up a message, in red, accompanied by a harsh alarm sound—

[!!! myriad worlds stall system emergency warning!!!]

[Abnormal energy fluctuations detected! Shadow Pavilion is planning a large-scale operation!]

[Target: Tianqi City.]

[Estimated time of operation: Seven days later.]

[Warning level: Extremely high. It is recommended that the player immediately prepare for defense.]

The smile on my face instantly froze.

Ye Liuli also saw this message, and her expression changed instantly.

We looked at each other, neither of us speaking.

Shadow Pavilion. It's Shadow Pavilion again.

The last time Shadow Pavilion caused trouble, they almost destroyed the entire Tianqi City. Now they are coming again, and this time it's a "large-scale operation," and the target is still Tianqi City.

Seven days later.

I clenched my fists, my knuckles cracking.

Ye Liuli looked at me, her eyes filled with a trace of worry. "What are you planning to do?"

I stood up, walked to the window, and pushed it open. Outside, Tianqi City was as prosperous as ever, with people coming and going on the streets, and the sounds of hawking and laughter rising and falling. The afterglow of the setting sun spilled onto the city walls, golden and bright.

These people didn't know what would happen in seven days.

"Let them come," I said, my voice not loud but very steady. "I, Chen Ergou, have never been afraid of anyone."

I turned around and looked at Ye Liuli. She was standing in the middle of the room, the sunset light hitting her face, looking unbelievably beautiful.

"No matter what is ahead, I have to shoulder it," I said. "Because there are people behind me."

Ye Liuli didn't speak.

But I saw that the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.

Very lightly, very briefly, but I saw it.

Outside the window, the setting sun was slowly descending. The silhouette of Tianqi City gradually blurred in the twilight, and the distant mountains looked like a sleeping giant beast.

Seven days.

What exactly does Shadow Pavilion want to do? What exactly is their large-scale operation? Can I turn danger into safety once again?

I don't know.

But I know one thing—no matter what comes, I, Chen Ergou, will stand in front of Tianqi City.

Because this is my territory, my business is here, and the people I care about are here.

If anyone dares to touch these things—

Then just come and try.