42: Defuse the conflict

Without hesitation, Gu Chang directly chose to exchange for Cultivation, and instantly he felt his entire body strengthen again, his Internal Qi surged, and his overall strength reached the Realm of Marrow Refining Minor Achievement in one fell swoop.

"Hoo~ so refreshing!"

This feeling of being full of power made Gu Chang extremely comfortable; he was clearly a level stronger now than when he was Refining Bone!

If he were to encounter Second or Third-rate Experts again, even if he stood there and let them strike him, those people would have difficulty harming him in the slightest.

"It's a pity that the Mist Mountain Iron Snake's venom is already ineffective against me, but its scales and leather are good things. With simple modification, they can be made into soft armor, and its bones can be crafted into a long whip."

"The excess venom can be collected and used to poison weapons; the effect will definitely be better than various common poisons."

He hadn't forgotten that there was still a complete snake carcass in the large Cylinder in his kitchen.

So, he immediately went to the kitchen and began to skin and debone it.

The entire Mist Mountain Iron Snake weighed about 280 catties, and after skinning and removing the internal organs, the bones and meat combined were roughly 200 catties.

The venom from the poison sac was carefully collected by Gu Chang, and the useful tendons and bones were also kept by Gu Chang, which could be used to make weapons and equipment in the future.

Among the remaining parts, the most valuable were the snake gall, scales, leather, and snake bones. As for the snake meat, it could be used for stewing soup, which was also an excellent item for nourishing Qi and blood.

The houseboat stored a charcoal stove for cooking and plenty of charcoal, which was more convenient than Gu Chang burning firewood.

After washing the snake meat, it was directly cut into small pieces, then placed in a clay pot with side dishes to stew.

"Gurgle~"

"Mmm, fragrant!"

Soon, a rich aroma wafted from the houseboat, causing Gu Chang's throat to involuntarily roll.

In reality, this was not just because he was hungry, but also because his body was intensely craving good things that nourished Qi and blood at this moment.

After stewing for about an hour, the snake meat in the clay pot finally became tender.

Gu Chang immediately opened the pot, eager to devour the entire pot of snake meat.

"So fragrant! This young brother certainly has good taste, cooking snake soup alone on the river."

However, just then, a voice that sounded refreshing reached his ears.

This caused Gu Chang to frown, but he still put down his chopsticks and turned to look outside the houseboat.

He saw another houseboat anchored not far away on the Wu River, and on its bow, a rather handsome man was speaking to him.

"Who are you?"

Gu Chang's expression remained unchanged, and he calmly spoke to the other party.

Now that his strength had reached the Marrow Refining Minor Achievement Realm, he was by no means comparable to ordinary Martial Forest Experts in this world. Even if the rumored Innate Expert came, Gu Chang had the confidence to escape.

"I am Lin Zhong of Pai Jiang Sect, and my Jianghu friends have given me the nickname Azure Dragon of the Waves. I came here to make friends with you, young brother, but I didn't expect the rich aroma of this snake soup to stir my gluttony. Please forgive me, young brother."

The other party was also stunned upon hearing this but then cupped his hands and openly explained to Gu Chang.

"Pai Jiang Sect? Azure Dragon of the Waves? Lin Zhong?"

Instantly, these key pieces of information surfaced deep in Gu Chang's mind; the other party was indeed one of the First-rate Experts near Taihu Lake mentioned by Baixiaosheng!

"Make friends? I'm afraid not necessarily. I consider myself just a small fisherman, and I wouldn't dare to associate with a big shot like you."

How could Gu Chang not guess that the other party had probably come for revenge? Otherwise, how could things be such a coincidence?

"No, no, people of Jianghu don't look at origin, but at strength."

"With your martial arts, young brother, you are already capable of holding down one side, so you can naturally associate with us."

"As for those ignorant Disciples, if they died, they died. It's only because their greed caused trouble, and their deaths can be considered a cleansing of scourges for Jianghu."

The other party shook his head repeatedly upon hearing Gu Chang's words, then proactively brought up the topic.

Lin Zhong looked young, but in reality, he was already in his forties, and his strength had reached the First-rate Realm, giving him a more thorough understanding of this world.

Thus, after learning about Gu Chang's relevant information, he immediately made a decision.

That is, a master who can kill five experts bare-handed without injury and remain completely unharmed must never be made an enemy. Such a person must be befriended, and even if friendship is impossible, hostilities must be resolved peacefully!

It is always right to adopt a low posture and show sincerity when facing a strong person, unless the other party is truly unreasonable and insists on a fight to the death.

When he met Gu Chang, his judgment became even more firm, because he found that he could not see through the strength Realm of this sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy!

The other party was clearly just standing casually on the houseboat, but his aura was like a great mountain, and the Qi and blood within his body were like solidified iron, completely unlike the frenzied Qi and blood of ordinary Martial Forest individuals.

"Hmm, so you don't intend to pursue this matter?"

Gu Chang was also somewhat interested in his words. To put it bluntly, if there were no special reasons, he also didn't want to leave the familiar Taihu Lake area and run around.

"Of course, not only will we not pursue this matter with the young one, but we also have generous gifts to offer!"

Lin Zhong immediately agreed, then waved his hand, and immediately, servants carrying trays emerged from behind him.

There were five large trays, each filled with gold, valuable medicine, a treasured sword, books, and some land deeds.

"We hope, young brother, that you will accept these as an apology from my Pai Jiang Sect."

The other party's posture was very humble, as long as Gu Chang didn't see anything amiss with him.

"Good to say, then let it be so!"

After a brief moment of thought, Gu Chang, out of confidence in his own strength, still agreed to the other party's proposal.

"Hahaha, splendid!"

Upon hearing Gu Chang's reply, the other party was immediately overjoyed and quickly ordered people to send these gifts to Gu Chang's houseboat.

"Young brother, since that's the case, I won't disturb you from enjoying your snake soup."

"In the future, if you need anything, you can come to Pai Jiang Sect to find me. As long as it's something we can do, we will definitely try our best to fulfill it."

After all the compensation was delivered to Gu Chang's houseboat, the other party finally laughed heartily and bid farewell to Gu Chang.

"It's impolite not to reciprocate. This bowl of snake soup is for you!"

However, the next moment, a large porcelain bowl filled with steaming hot snake soup flew directly from Gu Chang's houseboat towards him.

Seeing this, Lin Zhong immediately circulated his Internal Skill and caught the large porcelain bowl with one hand. Under the effect of the heavy hidden force, not a single drop of soup spilled from the bowl.

"Young brother is indeed extraordinary. Then I shall drink it!"

Looking at the milky white snake soup in the porcelain bowl in his hand, Lin Zhong's body instinctively produced a strong craving. He then simply thanked Gu Chang and drank it while it was hot.

Immediately, he felt his entire body's Qi and blood seemingly boil, so he immediately said to Gu Chang:

"Thank you, young brother, for such precious snake soup!"

"Go, let's go back!"

His second sentence was directed at the Disciples on his boat.

Then he immediately returned to the cabin, sat cross-legged, and circulated his Cultivation Technique to digest this highly nourishing snake soup.

Seeing this, the other Pai Jiang Sect Disciples on the boat dared not delay and immediately rowed away, quickly disappearing into the distance of the Wu River.

"Indeed, only powerful strength is true!"

Gu Chang watched the other party's houseboat disappear while drinking his snake soup, understanding the fundamental rules of this world more and more clearly in his heart.

With powerful strength, even if you kill someone, the other party will still proactively come to apologize.

If not for this, the seemingly generous Lin Zhong would probably show a different face and demand his life for a life.

Of course, no matter what, this was a good thing for Gu Chang.

At this stage, his strength might already be considered a notable figure in the Martial Forest, but let's not forget that Cultivators exist in this world!

He hadn't yet considered himself invincible. If he could turn hostilities into friendship and reduce trouble, then it was ultimately a good thing.

After finishing the snake soup, Gu Chang continued to practice martial arts until he had completely digested the nutrients from the snake soup before stopping.

"I still can't return to Taihu Lake for a short time. Although I don't know what that ice lotus seed is exactly, anything that interests Cultivators is probably not simple, and Taihu Lake will likely experience more twists and turns next."

"So there's no need for me to stubbornly charge in. It won't be too late to go back after the dust settles."

"Next, the focus will still be on the Reincarnation World, and incidentally, I can start inquiring about matters related to Cultivators in this world."

Martial arts are ultimately just martial arts. No matter how powerful martial arts are, they cannot grant eternal life, flight, or the ability to move mountains and fill seas. To achieve these things, one must cultivate Immortality!"