Stop it, Taoist, Your Fight almost Ruins the DAO!

Nine days later.

The Wang family was draped in white.

Amidst the sounds of sorrow, everyone respectfully accompanied the old madam on her journey up the mountain.

Yi Chen's masterful skills as a Funeral Host naturally earned effusive praise from the mourners who had come to pay their respects.

It could be called an art!

Soon after the Wutong Demon Body perished that day, the Wang family old madam unfortunately passed away.

Her brief improvement that day was nothing more than the final flicker of vitality before the end.

Yi Chen ultimately still completed the task as a Funeral Host.

"These past days have been arduous for the Taoist master."

Madam Wang, dressed in mourning clothes, bowed deeply to Yi Chen, her eyes red-rimmed.

There's a saying that's right, wearing mourning clothes makes one more fetching.

Madam Wang, who was naturally beautiful, now appeared even more moving. A plain ribbon tightly cinched her waist, only a handful wide, and a white flower adorned her head. The somber grace of her figure was revealed as she bent forward in respect.

Sometimes, being too attractive is both a blessing and a curse.

She clapped her hands and Xiu'er gracefully approached, handing over an envelope.

After the Wutong Demon matter was resolved, Xiu'er had returned to her position as Madam Wang's chief maid and had grown more composed after her ordeal.

Looking at the envelope in front of him, Yi Chen pinched it with his hand and revealed a satisfied smile.

Not bad, three banknotes of a thousand taels each.

He unhesitatingly put them into his purse, for he had spent his life following a path of benevolence and righteousness, accumulating good deeds; this was his due.

The Wutong Demon, before dying, had attempted a final act of defiance. Had not Yi Chen acted swiftly, had his final word been revealed, matters would have taken a dire turn.

Some things, as long as the lid is not lifted, can still be managed.

Once it's opened, there's no going back.

Regardless of what the future held for Madam Wang and her husband, at least in the eyes of the others, Yi Chen had preserved her dignity till the end.

"You are too kind, Madam."

"Now that the matter is settled, I should take my leave."

Just then, the Family Head of the Wangs came in upon hearing this.

"The hour is already late, and it's difficult to travel at night. Why doesn't the Taoist master stay another night and depart early tomorrow morning?"

After thinking it over, Yi Chen ultimately chose to decline.

He thought that tonight, Madam Wang and her husband were sure to have much to discuss, and it just wouldn't be convenient for him to stay on.

But the Family Head had a point; it was difficult to travel at night.

Upon leaving the Wang residence, Yi Chen, with a thought, decided to rent the best room at a city inn and stay for the night, returning the next day.

This week, he had been either busy supervising the Wang family old madam's funeral or returning to his room to work on the Thunder Jade; even with his extraordinary strength and will, he was feeling a bit weary.

"A person is not a machine; one should relax a bit too."

After a short while, Yi Chen bought himself a set of casual clothes and walked out of the inn where he was staying.

Now, having shed his Taoist robe and dressed in splendid garments, he presented himself as a dashing wanderer and immediately stepped into Ping'an County's largest... establishment for human connection—Tianxiang Pavilion.

How to dispel worries?

By listening to songs in the courtesan house.

The Hidden Dragon Temple did not forbid marriage; why shouldn't he expand his horizons at Tianxiang Pavilion?

Besides, today he had taken off his Taoist robe and was no longer Taoist Yichengzi.

...

...

Tianxiang Pavilion.

Yi Chen, imposing and majestic, took a seat in the main hall and immediately called for eight girls.

There were plump ones and slender ones, each with their unique charms.

The girls were busy massaging, peeling grapes, and pouring wine, bustling with activity.

"Sir, you have yet to tell us your esteemed name," said a girl with a fox-like face as she peeled a grape and brought it to Yi Chen's mouth.

"Remember it well, I'm known as 'Heaven-Overturning Sparrowhawk,'" Yi Chen laughed heartily, swallowing the grape offered by the beauty.

After a round of feasting and frolicking, he amiably placed eight banknotes of twenty taels each into the inner clothing of the eight girls and then asked them all to leave, not to let anyone else disturb him.

The noise from the hall and the surrounding sounds of silk and bamboo music entered his ears; despite the lively surroundings, Yi Chen felt an intense loneliness within him.

He had changed and was different from others.

The muscles of those girls who massaged his arms were so dense that even with all their might, they couldn't manipulate them, and if they continued, he feared they might sprain their wrists.

His muscular density was so great that he now weighed six to seven hundred pounds; if he were to exert himself, he doubted whether the combined weight of those eight girls even matched his own—that would be deadly.

Of course, there was a more significant reason.

Although the eight girls were quite attractive, their demeanor did not meet his standards; nowadays, beauty was often a result of makeup, and upon careful observation, he could even see the foundation in their pores, which made it hard for him to be intimate; he'd rather have his peace.

Unless it were someone with natural grace like Madam Wang, perhaps.

Damn it, Yichengzi, how could you think such thoughts!

Abbess Shuiyue would be more appropriate.

A beautiful lady's silhouette suddenly floated into Yi Chen's mind.

At this thought, Yi Chen felt he was really despicable, so he decided to punish himself with another drink, and then he forgave himself.

After all, tonight's wild thoughts were about the flipping hawk, what did it have to do with Taoist Yi Chengzi?

Listening to the noise of the crowd around him, the sound of finger-guessing games, cheers, and toasts, Yi Chen leaned on the carved rosewood chair, gently patting the armrest, and started to sing softly.

"East isn't bright then west is bright, ah, drying up the remaining sun I dry my sorrow."

"Not busy last night, busy tonight, ah, finishing dreams of gold I dream of millet wine."

.....

"I drift among the people at ease, originally a carefree immortal of the heavens."

"Not for the dust of vulgarity a mere object, only for fine wine does my heart string play."

For some reason, Yi Chen suddenly recalled the "Xian Er" from his past life's secondhand Yue Ji, and started singing it aloud.

"How boring."

After the song ended, Yi Chen chuckled, stood up, paid the bill, and left.

Although the noises around him were clamoring and the atmosphere was lively, he could no longer blend into the world of ordinary people.

He was truly different now.

The light of life of ordinary people, in his eyes, was as fragile as candle flames in the wind, extinguishable with a mere wave of the hand... a whole swath of them.

Dealing with ordinary people, he had to be extremely careful, afraid that a careless move might kill them.

The alcohol, wealth, and beauty that used to pass the time, now seemed more and more dull and uninteresting to him.

The mundane world was no longer his playground.

He longed for a higher level, a more thrilling world.

He craved that kind of fight where lives hung by a thread, the kind where every punch hit flesh, a true feeling of being alive, where his soul elevated.

After drinking his last cup, Yi Chen, feeling out of place with his surroundings, decided to return to the inn, when a girl blocked his way.

It was Xiao Huan, the girl with long black hair who had peeled grapes for him earlier.

"Flipping hawk, will you stay tonight?"

"I like you."

Xiao Huan's face was flushed red with courage.

Yi Chen chuckled.

"I'm a traveler of the martial world, here today, gone tomorrow. The money I had is already spent, I'm afraid I cannot return the sentiment, miss."

"I won't take your money."

Xiao Huan was very persistent, seemingly fascinated by Yi Chen's aura.

She liked this man of contradictory temperament, strong physique, and enigmatic nature.

She had secretly watched him for a long time; he carried an aura of loneliness that was utterly different from his surroundings, a bone-deep solitude.

A temperament that was both cool and maniacal.

In short, extremely charming.

"How about I return the money from earlier?" Xiao Huan was relentless.

Yi Chen: "..."

Although somewhat speechless, Yi Chen was secretly pleased.

After giving it some thought, he patted Xiao Huan's cheek, picked up a chopstick from the table, broke it, and said with a smile:

"To meet is to have fate. If the miss wishes for a different life, take this broken chopstick to Ping'an County's Bureau of Peace and look for a man named Lin Zhengyi, or go to Fengyun County and find the chief hunter Sun. Say it's an entrusted matter from an old friend of Hidden Dragon Temple. They will make arrangements for you."

"Believe me, you'll get what you wish for. Even the big boss behind Tianxiang Pavilion wouldn't ignore the face of the Flipping Hawk."

Yi Chen laughed heartily and suddenly vanished from the spot.

Only Xiao Huan was left, holding the broken chopstick in her hand, stunned.

If it weren't for the broken chopstick in her hand, it would seem as if nothing had ever happened.

Yi Chen now had the power to casually change the fate of an ordinary person.

In the whole Ping'an County, no one would dare to ignore his will.

Because he had the fist!

Standing on the balcony of the inn, Yi Chen clenched his fist, reached out his hand to welcome the moonlight, and gave a crooked smile.

Thanks to his secretive and arduous cultivation during these nine days of stolen moments, pushing himself inhumanly hard, he had accumulated a full four Origin Points.

The big moment was finally coming.

The great count is fifty, its use forty-nine, what change would reaching the full fifty points in strength attribute bring him? Yi Chen was looking forward to it.

Just as Yi Chen was watching the moonlight, ready to add points for improvement, suddenly the night sky changed dramatically, and countless blood-red meteors sliced through the sky, smashing towards the earth.

In an instant, the moon turned blood red.

This blood-red appearance immediately made Yi Chen's hairs stand on end, and he felt a deep malice fill the world that he had never encountered before—a malice of extraordinary thickness.

Compared with this malice, even Yin Manor was like a minor charm in the presence of a grand sorcerer.

This malice appeared abruptly and disappeared just as quickly.

"A change in the world, what lies ahead on the road?"

Suddenly, Yi Chen thought of the beginning of the Heavenly Master's letter, and his eyebrows involuntarily furrowed.