48: Breaking through again, reaching the fourth level of Ju Yuan!

A moment later, at Chen Heguang's home.

“Oh, Lan'er, how much silver did this cost?”

The beautiful woman stared, dumbfounded, at the table laden with exquisite dishes.

Jiang Lan chuckled, “It’s not worth much.”

Chen Heguang pouted, “It cost eight taels and three mace of silver in total when we settled the bill.”

The beautiful woman’s eyes widened even more.

“How much?” She waved her hands repeatedly, “No, no, this won’t do, it’s too expensive.”

“It’s already bought, and Uncle Chen and I just finished eating. If you don’t eat it, Aunt, it will go bad tomorrow.”

“Mom! I want this!”

A delicate little girl, like a porcelain doll, reached out her chubby little hand and pointed at the plate of steamed sugared cream.

“I want that!” A slightly younger, also chubby little boy, pulled his finger from his mouth and, mimicking his sister, pointed at the plate.

The beautiful woman looked at the two children, seemingly about to scold them.

Seeing this, Chen Heguang quickly stopped his wife and said,

“You two little rascals, why aren’t you thanking Big Brother?”

“Thank you, Big Brother Jiang!”

“Tha... thank you, Big Brother Jiang!”

Two childish voices rang out, and a smile appeared on Jiang Lan’s face.

“Aunt, you don’t need to feel bad. This meal is just the rent for me staying here.”

“Hmm?” The beautiful woman was a little surprised.

Chen Heguang explained, “Lan'er’s home is lent to a friend for a few days, so Lan'er is staying with us these days. It’s a good opportunity for us two men to bond.”

The beautiful woman’s eyes crinkled with a smile.

“Alright then, I’ll go clear out a room. Lan'er, where do you want to stay?”

“You eat quickly, I’ll go.”

With that, Chen Heguang pulled Jiang Lan to the east wing room, which was usually unoccupied.

After closing the door, Chen Heguang let out a long breath.

To say he wasn't at all afraid in his heart would be impossible.

If Jiang Lan had arrived a step later, a tragedy might have already occurred.

He had been deliberately controlling his emotions just now, trying his best not to show them in front of his wife.

If his wife knew about such a thing, it would only make her anxious and fearful, and serve no other purpose.

Jiang Lan surveyed the room.

The wing room was quaint and antique. Although it was clear no one had lived there for a long time, it was tidied up meticulously, with not even a speck of dust visible.

“Lan'er, you’ll stay here for these two days. Please make yourself at home.”

“Mm.”

Jiang Lan nodded slightly, but his mind was already wondering how he could find that Altar Lord.

After all, there’s only the saying of ‘a thousand days of being a thief,’ but never ‘a thousand days of guarding against a thief.’

Currently, the only information Jiang Lan had was the Altar Lord’s identity; he knew nothing else.

He could only wait and ask later to see if Wu Qingyun had any information about that Altar Lord in his head.

If Wu Qingyun didn't know either, then he could only place his hopes on Hong Luan.

Thinking of this, Jiang Lan pulled out a brocade box from his in arms.

This was the box containing the Scent-Tracking Bug.

Jiang Lan had specifically gone to retrieve it when he passed by his small courtyard earlier.

Placing the brocade box on the Eight Immortals table, Jiang Lan said:

“Uncle Chen, you don’t need to worry. Since he has already left, he probably won’t come back.”

“Alas…” Chen Heguang sighed, “That’s the theory, but do you think I can not worry?”

Chen Heguang’s parents had passed away long ago, and this family was basically his everything.

If something really happened… Jiang Lan said:

“I’ll stay here today, but I might need to go out tomorrow. Then, tomorrow when you go to the Demon Suppression Division, find Wu Qingyun and ask him to come over. I’ll have him watch over things here for you.”

“Who is Wu Qingyun?”

Chen Heguang hadn't heard that name before and was a bit puzzled.

Jiang Lan replied:

“It’s Centurion Wu.”

“Centurion?”

Chen Heguang’s eyes widened slightly.

He was a captain; the highest official he usually came into contact with was Centurion Chou.

He simply couldn't reach a position like Centurion.

Within the Demon Suppression Division, the hierarchy was very strict.

Just like before, when a tiger demon appeared on Black Wind Mountain, Chen Heguang first reported it to the Centurion, and the Centurion then reported it to the Centurion.

Reporting across ranks was considered overstepping.

“Mm.” Jiang Lan nodded, “If you can’t find him, then have Centurion Chou go. Just tell him to come directly here.”

“This… this might not be appropriate, right?”

Chen Heguang felt a bit uncertain.

That was a Centurion.

Asking a Centurion to come to his house and act as a bodyguard for his wife and children?

“There’s nothing inappropriate about it; he’s your nephew.”

Chen Heguang: “?”

Jiang Lan also saw Chen Heguang’s nervousness and said, half-jokingly:

“He recognizes me as his brother, so isn’t he your nephew?”

“Don’t joke…” Chen Heguang was quite scared.

How could he dare to acknowledge a Centurion as his nephew?

Jiang Lan smiled at his reaction.

“Alright, go accompany Aunt. I’ll be fine here by myself.”

“Okay, then I’ll go first. The bedding is all in the closet; you can get it yourself.”

With that, Chen Heguang pushed the door open and left the room.

Seeing that he had left, Jiang Lan walked into the bedroom and sat cross-legged on the wooden bed.

“Three Yuan True Nurturing Skill, six hundred years.”

Currently, he still had six hundred and forty-three years of life left.

In fact, earlier, Jiang Lan hadn't planned to use all his lifespan to improve his cultivation. Instead, he intended to look for suitable Martial Skills for him to Cultivate.

But the appearance of that Altar Lord had given him a sense of urgency.

The plan to Cultivate Martial Skills would be put on hold for now.

In front of Jiang Lan, a virtual light screen appeared.

【Year one, you are already at the Gathering Yuan First Level. Continuing to Cultivate the Three Yuan True Nurturing Skill, while still showing progress, yields minimal results.】

【Year one hundred and thirty-two, a century has passed in a flash. You Cultivate day and night, not daring to slack off for a moment, and your Martial Dao Realm finally reaches the Gathering Yuan Second Level.】

【Year one hundred and thirty-three, you feel your Realm improvement is becoming increasingly slow. The Three Yuan True Nurturing Skill seems to barely support your Cultivation.】

【Year three hundred, through your unremitting efforts, your Martial Dao Realm has advanced to the Gathering Yuan Third Level.】

【Year four hundred and ninety-three, water drips through stone. Under your long-term Cultivation, your Martial Dao Realm finally achieves a Breakthrough to the Qi Gathering Stage Level 4.】

【Year four hundred and ninety-four, your improvement speed has become even slower. Just then, an idea vaguely emerges in your mind. Perhaps the slow progress is not entirely due to your poor talent; perhaps a part of the reason comes from this Cultivation Technique.】

【Year six hundred, your Realm remains at the Gathering Yuan Fourth Level, with no further Breakthrough.】

As the text on the light screen slowly faded, Jiang Lan let out a long, turbid breath.

Although he had anticipated it, seeing such slow progress still made him feel a little disappointed.

But soon, Jiang Lan regained his spirits.

The light screen just said that slow progress might not be entirely due to his talent.

It also had a lot to do with the Cultivation Technique he Cultivated.

However, the only Cultivation Technique he could access at the moment was this one.

As for others… the entire Great Yan Nation only had a handful of Cultivation Techniques in existence.

Just then, his eyes lit up.

Since the System could deduce Martial Skills, there was no reason it couldn't deduce Cultivation Techniques!