143: Chapter 143 Stepping onto the Central Continent, A New Journey Begins

The morning light of the wilderness filtered through the carriage curtain, casting a bright mark across Tang Xun's Face.

He opened his eyes, his arm feeling somewhat numb from being used as a pillow.

In his arms, Zhang Ruowei was curled into a ball. Her skin had a healthy wheat-colored glow, looking like a small leopard that had just been tamed.

Last night's one-sided domination had completely wrecked her small Qi Refinement Stage body; she was currently fast asleep.

Tang Xun moved the long leg draped over his waist and briskly put on his green robe.

Pushing open the carriage door, the moist, cool air unique to the Central Continent entered his lungs, carrying a hint of sweet musk.

Deep in the distant mountain forests, several bird cries carried a trace of restlessness.

Rustling movements came from inside the carriage.

Zhang Ruowei woke with a start. The blanket slid down her shoulders, revealing a large expanse of delicate skin.

She sat up abruptly, the blanket sliding down her shoulders to reveal a large expanse of delicate skin.

She met Tang Xun's eyes, which were calm to the point of being cold, and her Face instantly flushed red down to her neck.

"Up... up so early?"

She clutched the blanket, her voice still carrying a hint of raspiness.

Tang Xun didn't respond, merely pointing toward the nearby stream.

"Wash up. Mud City is just ahead; don't go in smelling like poverty."

Zhang Ruowei gritted her teeth inwardly. The illusion of a 'gentle Senior' in her heart shattered into dust.

This man was a beast with his clothes off and a bastard with them on.

Zhang Ruowei gave an acknowledging grunt and briskly put on her martial attire. Her legs were still a bit weak when she jumped off the carriage, nearly causing her to stumble.

She steadied herself against the carriage shaft and shot Tang Xun a glare, only to find the man was already leisurely adjusting the horse's reins.

The stream water was crystal clear. Zhang Ruowei scooped up a handful and splashed it on her Face; the icy sensation finally settled her racing heart.

Back in the merchant caravan, she was the Young Miss who always had the final say and fought to win everything. Now, she had become this man's 'bed-warming Maidservant'.

In this damned cultivation world, strength was the only truth.

After washing up, she took the initiative to feed the horses and check the wheels.

Tang Xun leaned against the carriage frame, watching her bustle about. He thought to himself that this girl actually had a talent for being a housekeeper.

"Hey, Young Master Tang, can we reach Mud City today?"

Zhang Ruowei brushed the residue off her hands. Though her speech still carried some of her former Jianghu air, the submissiveness in her tone was impossible to hide.

"Depends on if those two horses give us Face. Get in the carriage; don't wander around outside, you're making me dizzy."

With a tug, Tang Xun pulled Zhang Ruowei—who had just hopped onto the shaft—directly into the carriage.

The air inside the carriage was somewhat thick; the scent lingering from last night had not yet dissipated.

Zhang Ruowei sat down close to Tang Xun, her head unconsciously leaning on his shoulder. This intimacy felt more intoxicating than practicing a Cultivation Technique all day.

"Once we reach the Central Continent, we'll settle in Mud City first. That place is a major transportation hub, so the news there is the most varied."

Tang Xun pulled a yellowed map from his robe and traced his finger over it, his mind already calculating how to fleece some people there.

"The Central Continent isn't like the Northern Region. The Cultivators there have more schemes than a lotus root has holes. With your Qi Refining Sixth Layer cultivation, you're at most a slightly pretty mouse."

Tang Xun's words were harsh, but they were the honest truth. Hearing this, Zhang Ruowei pursed her lips but didn't dare to argue.

The carriage traveled south along the official road. The scenery gradually shifted from the desolation of the Northern Region to a lush green, as if they were entering another world.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the air began to rise. Taking a deep breath, one could feel the Impurities in their internal organs being washed away bit by bit.

The weeds by the roadside grew sturdier than the crops in the Northern Region; some even showed the faint beginnings of Spirit Medicine. This was the disparity in the power of the earth veins.

As they passed a forest shrouded in mist, a foul-smelling demonic wind blew without warning, making the carriage curtains rattle loudly.

It was a second-rank Peak Shadow Leopard, which had clearly targeted this solitary carriage as its lunch.

Zhang Ruowei's palms sweated as she instinctively reached for the long whip at her waist. The chill of being targeted by a high-level predator made her entire body tense.

Tang Xun didn't even lift his eyelids. His Sea of Consciousness transformed into an invisible heavy hammer, smashing ruthlessly toward the several auras deep in the forest.

The Yao Beast, which had been eager to strike, suddenly felt as if its neck had been squeezed. Unable to even let out a whimper, it collapsed on the spot before scurrying into the depths of the bushes with its tail between its legs.

The crisis dissipated faster than it had arrived. Zhang Ruowei stood dazed, her gaze toward Tang Xun shifting from dependence to something bordering on fanatical worship.

"Take this. Don't look at me like that, or I'll be tempted to throw you back onto the Snow Fox Furs."

Tang Xun casually tossed out a jade bottle containing several round, full First-Grade Medicinal Pills.

But in Zhang Ruowei's eyes, these things were more precious than her life. This was a treasure that Loose Cultivators in the Northern Region might not be able to obtain even if they sold everything or risked their whole family's lives.

"Reach Foundation Establishment as soon as possible. I don't want people to think I'm traveling with an unweaned child when we go out."

Zhang Ruowei took the jade bottle, her heart feeling warm. The gloom from being insulted earlier vanished instantly.

She immediately sat cross-legged, using this dense Spiritual Qi to begin her cultivation.

A few days later at dusk, a massive expanse of glowing clouds burned in the sky.

On the horizon, a pitch-black giant beast rose from the ground.

The hundred-zhang-tall city walls were cast from obsidian, shimmering with a cold metallic luster under the setting sun.

Cultivators flowed in and out of the city gates in an endless stream. Occasionally, experts riding exotic beasts or piloting flying shuttles streaked across the sky, leaving ripples of spiritual power in their wake.

Compared to this, Sang City was like a rural earthen enclosure, so shabby it could make one cry.

Tang Xun opened his eyes, a playful smile appearing at the corner of his mouth—the expression of a hunter seeing a fertile hunting ground.

"Central Continent, here I come."

"I hope the 'leeks' here grow a bit sturdier. I'd hate for them to all disappear with just one swing of my sickle."

The carriage rolled over the smooth bluestone slabs, its creaking drowned out by the bustling noise of the marketplace.

Tang Xun lifted the carriage curtain, looking at the rows of Medicinal Pill shops and Magic Treasure stores on both sides, already scouting for his first victim.

Wiping his hand across his Face, 'Wang Debiao' was back online.

He patted Zhang Ruowei's head as if patting a docile pet.

"Let's go. I'll take you for a good meal and see just how deep the waters of this Mud City really are."