53: Fengyun Pavilion

Qin Chen waved his hand, letting them leave.

After the guests had all gone, half of the people remained.

Qin Chen made some simple arrangements, letting Feier temporarily take over the management of Drunken Immortal Tower. None of the other top courtesans, songstresses, servants, or bodyguards dared to utter a single word of dissent.

Feier clutched her severed arm, enduring the intense pain. She suddenly spoke up, "Senior... can I choose not to stay here? I don't like this place."

"You have a severed arm; where else could you go to work?" Qin Chen countered.

Feier whispered, "I can go find Brother Yao. He said he would marry me... he will take care of me."

"He's dead," Qin Chen said indifferently. "He sold you here for ten taels of silver, and I later killed him at the gambling den."

"Ah—!" Feier's eyes widened in shock.

"I hate foolish women the most. If you want to join him, I don't mind sending you on your way," Qin Chen's tone remained calm.

Feier lowered her head, a single tear falling to the ground.

"I will send someone to take over Drunken Immortal Tower. You should look out for yourself," Qin Chen said, then turned and left.

A moment later,

Qin Chen arrived outside the city and reverted to his original appearance—

Maintaining the Illusionary Form Technique required a continuous consumption of Spiritual Qi, and there was no need to waste it for nothing.

After thinking for a moment, he took out the white smiling face mask and put it on. He circulated his True Essence to cover his body, then slightly bent his knees and leaped—

Boom!

With a sharp sound of breaking through the air, he flew toward Longyang Town like a streak of light.

It was about two hundred kilometers from Nanjiang City to Longyang Town. With his cultivation at Heavenly Human Realm Perfection, he arrived in less than ten minutes.

Looking down from high above, Longyang Town went from a small dot to gradually becoming clear and expanding.

He flew straight toward the building where Tianxiang Pavilion was located.

At this time, on the top-floor terrace seating of Tianxiang Pavilion, Fragrant Lord Qiao was lazily slumped in a chair, drinking tea.

Suddenly, she heard a strange, faint sound coming from among the clouds.

She looked up and was instantly stunned—

A piercing streak of light, like an aurora, cut through the sky and was flying straight toward her.

This power immediately made her think of the Imperial City Guard's Commander, Cold Dustless—that Great Grandmaster could also fly through the air for short periods.

But the Aura of the person before her was likely far above Cold Dustless.

She absolutely could not afford to offend him!

Before she could even regain her senses, the streak of light landed steadily in front of her.

Looking closely, the newcomer wore a white smiling face mask, and that smile was so eerie it made one's skin crawl.

She felt a chill run through her entire body, and her mind was a mess.

She quickly recalled her experiences over the years—fleeing, living under an assumed name, never easily making enemies... Logically, she shouldn't have provoked such a powerful enemy!

And by the look of it, this Senior didn't seem to have any killing intent.

It was better to wait and see how things developed.

She suppressed the fear in her heart and, with her legs still trembling, managed to stand up and bow with cupped hands. "Greetings, Senior. I wonder what brings such a distinguished guest to this remote place?"

"I won't beat around the bush. I'll give you two choices: one is death, the other is to work for me," Qin Chen said, deliberately lowering his voice to make it sound raspy and deep.

"Junior chooses the second!" Fragrant Lord Qiao answered hurriedly, cold sweat already seeping from her forehead.

She felt secretly relieved: as long as he wasn't here for revenge, it was fine.

Qin Chen looked at her and nodded. "Since you're working for me, from now on, your business is my business. I'll be your backer."

Qin Chen deliberately didn't mention helping her with her revenge—after all, in reality, Qin Chen wasn't supposed to know about her past.

Less trouble was better than more; it was best not to let her realize he knew her inside out, to avoid unnecessary complications.

Many people often exposed themselves or even brought death upon themselves just because they said one wrong thing.

He chose to subdue Fragrant Lord Qiao also because there was less Karma involved between them, making it relatively safe.

Furthermore, the fact that Fragrant Lord Qiao would be promoted to Great Grandmaster in the future showed that her Aptitude and talent were top-notch.

Upon hearing Qin Chen's words, Fragrant Lord Qiao was instantly overjoyed.

With such a powerful Senior backing her, wasn't there hope for her revenge?

But she was sensible enough not to immediately state any conditions, only bowing respectfully with cupped hands. "Junior swears her life in loyalty."

Qin Chen nodded. "Mm, you're a sensible person, which saves me a lot of trouble."

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Chen stepped forward and grabbed Fragrant Lord Qiao's slender waist.

Fragrant Lord Qiao's whole body trembled, and her mind went blank—what was this Senior doing?

If he wanted to force himself on me, what should I do?

If I resist... will I lose my life?

The next second—

A surge of powerful True Essence enveloped her whole body, and with a "boom" of breaking through the air, Qin Chen was already flying toward Nanjiang City with her in his arms.

In just a few minutes, the two of them landed on the top floor of Drunken Immortal Tower.

Qin Chen didn't delay and directly assigned her a series of tasks—

Including taking over the Drunken Immortal Tower, the properties of the Jin and Long families, wiping out the remaining forces of the Nine Dragons Gang, and dealing with all the illegitimate children of Long Yucheng and One of the Three Tyrants of Nanjiang, among other related matters.

Fragrant Lord Qiao also roughly guessed the cause and effect from Qin Chen's words.

She was very sensible and didn't ask any questions, immediately starting to handle the tasks.

Until nightfall, after completing most of the cleanup work, Fragrant Lord Qiao reported to Qin Chen:

"Master, a total of 2.28 million taels of silver and 236 mansions have been inventoried. Additionally, a large quantity of weapons was found in their treasury, including sabers, spears, crossbows, and armor, totaling about 10,000 sets."

"Furthermore, a total of 168 remaining subordinates of One of the Three Tyrants of Nanjiang and Long Yucheng have been incorporated; they are all Martial Artists of the Houtian Realm and Xiantian Realm."

"According to the information provided by these people, we found a total of 326 illegitimate children and female family members of One of the Three Tyrants of Nanjiang and Long Yucheng... They have all been silenced."

Qin Chen sat in the terrace seat and took a sip of tea. "This equipment is enough to arm a ten-thousand-man army, isn't it?"

"Master, in fact, many martial arts families secretly stockpile such materials."

Qin Chen looked at Fragrant Lord Qiao, who was standing straight, and said, "From today on, our organization will be called 'Fengyun Pavilion.' You can just call me Pavilion Master."

"And you will be the Commander of Fengyun Pavilion's Secret Department."

"However, for the time being, only you can know my true identity. If you encounter any problems you can't solve, let me know at any time."

Qin Chen had been thinking that he needed a name for his organization to facilitate his actions, so he came up with this domineering name—Fengyun Pavilion.

As the saying goes: When wind and clouds meet, they swallow the universe; with one palm over heaven and earth, the sun and moon grow dim!

Fragrant Lord Qiao nodded repeatedly. "Understood!"

Becoming the Commander of the Secret Department right after joining?

She couldn't help but be curious: why would this Senior, whom she had never met before, trust her so much?

Fengyun Pavilion... such a domineering name, how come she had never heard of it?

Could it be... a hidden top-tier organization?

"Also, help me purchase a batch of medicinal ingredients for refining obstacle breaking pills and realm breaking pills, the more the better," Qin Chen suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Fragrant Lord Qiao was instantly overjoyed. "Pavilion Master, you can refine obstacle breaking pills and realm breaking pills?"

Qin Chen nodded. "Mm, go and handle it quickly."

"Yes!" Fragrant Lord Qiao excitedly turned and left.

When she originally joined the Imperial City Guard, it was for resources and to improve her strength, and what she valued most were obstacle breaking pills and realm breaking pills.

This way, as long as she worked hard, she would soon be able to break through to Grandmaster, or even Great Grandmaster!

Qin Chen watched Fragrant Lord Qiao's receding figure and nodded with satisfaction. "It really is much more worry-free. In reality, it's better not to let her do those risky things anymore."

Remembering a simulation where he sent her to spy on a Cultivator, which resulted in her death, a hint of guilt couldn't help but rise in Qin Chen's heart.

In reality, it was better to be safe and focus on steady development.

Thinking of this, he subconsciously looked up at the sky. He knew—

Behind that largest mass of clouds, a giant bronze ancient mirror was hidden.

That was also the exit to another world.

He suddenly remembered an important matter: "I need an identity jade pendant!"

As he thought, time quickly reached the hour of the Ox—it was already the next day.

He didn't hesitate and immediately began the seventh simulation.

After seeing the simulation start, he went to sleep peacefully.