Two hours had passed since they left Baiyin when their horse carriage suddenly came to a stop as a group of bandits stepped out and blocked the road ahead.
The coachman pulled on the reins, bringing the carriage to a halt and startling Mu Chen.
"What is it?" Mu Chen asked.
"Forgive me, Daoist. A group of bandits is blocking the road ahead."
Mu Chen narrowed his eyes and asked how many there were. The coachman replied that there were five bandits in front of them.
"Hey, you! What's inside your carriage?" one of the bandits shouted.
"Just passengers."
"Bring them out... now!"
The man inside the carriage listened to the bandits shouting. He stood up carefully, trying not to wake Liu Mei, then stepped down from the carriage and stood to the side.
"Is it just him?" the bandit asked the coachman.
"They're... private passengers."
"Ohh, you must have a lot of money to rent an entire carriage just for yourself."
Mu Chen gave a faint smile and summoned an earth-grade sword into his hand, shocking the bandits.
The bandit leader's eyes widened in disbelief when he saw Mu Chen standing there holding the sword.
It was obvious that the sword had come from a bag of holding, simple proof that Mu Chen was a cultivator.
"A... cultivator?"
The man moved quickly, stepping forward and swinging his sword sideways. The blade sliced through one man's neck, shocking the other bandits.
When one of them tried to clash swords with Mu Chen, his weapon snapped instantly and shattered into pieces.
Clearly, the power of Mu Chen's earth-grade sword far surpassed ordinary weapons like theirs.
"Wait, Master Daoist! We were careless."
Mu Chen stopped his attack when only three bandits remained. All three looked terrified and resigned, their faces pale and their bodies trembling.
"I'll spare you if you're willing to pay."
"I'll pay. I'll give you all my savings if you spare my life."
The bandit leader reached into his satchel and handed over eight brown pouches containing 800 taels. Not only that, but he also ordered his men to hand over all of their savings to Mu Chen as well.
In total, Mu Chen received around 2,500 taels from them. It was not a particularly large amount compared to the total taels inside his bag of holding.
He stored everything away and ordered them to leave. One by one, the bandits fled and no longer blocked the dirt road.
"Thank you, Master Daoist," the coachman said.
Mu Chen turned and smiled faintly. "It's nothing."
After Mu Chen returned to the carriage, the coachman resumed the journey.
They still had to travel through forest roads, pass through the hills, and go through villages and towns before finally reaching Xianyin City.
Mu Chen saw that Liu Mei was still sleeping soundly, half of her body covered by a warm blanket against the biting cold of the night air.
The journey is still long... I have no idea what kind of trouble awaits me next.
I should use this moment to cultivate and improve my abilities.
***
Three days passed, and the horse carriage carrying Mu Chen and Liu Mei finally came to a stop in Xianyin City.
Mu Chen had not found a chance to break through, as his cultivation had constantly been interrupted by either the movement of the carriage or Liu Mei.
"Master Daoist. We've arrived at Xianyin City."
Mu Chen opened the window and looked outside. The city's condition was almost similar to Baiyin, only larger and farther away.
Even so, rows of shops, restaurants, and inns lined both sides of the main street.
Liu Mei immediately became excited. Even though the snacks were similar, there were far more vendors here than in Baiyin City.
"I want that... and that too, Mu Chen."
Mu Chen fell silent. Every snack Liu Mei pointed at was some kind of candied sweet. He was genuinely amazed that Liu Mei could eat all of that without feeling anything strange in her body.
"Then we'll be leaving," Mu Chen said as he took his leave.
"Of course, Master Daoist. Thank you for using my carriage."
He and Liu Mei stepped down from the carriage and saw rows of small vendors setting up stalls to sell their snacks.
Mu Chen tapped his bag of holding and handed the girl a brown pouch containing 100 taels.
"You can buy whatever you want with this," Mu Chen said.
Liu Mei smiled, quickly took the brown pouch, and ran off to visit the snack stalls one by one along the city's main street.
Mu Chen walked after her, occasionally stopping whenever Liu Mei bought something. Even so, his attention shifted toward the city's residents.
Compared to Baiyin City, there were fewer sect cultivators in Xianyin City, but far more mortals.
There were also several wandering cultivators wearing neutral robes, and Mu Chen felt safer around this kind of community.
"Hello, beautiful girl. Are you alone?"
A man in a light blue cultivator robe approached Liu Mei, clearly drawn by her beauty. Liu Mei's gaze sharpened, piercing and full of intimidation as she looked at him.
"Do you have a problem?"
"A beautiful woman with such an aggressive attitude. I like it, I really like it."
"I see you're still at the 1st Layer of Qi Condensation. If you come with me to Hengyue Sect, you'll become famous."
"No need. I was already planning to go there," Liu Mei replied coldly.
"Good. I can—"
"Not with you, but with my lover," Liu Mei cut in sharply.
She stepped closer to Mu Chen and wrapped herself around his arm right in front of the Hengyue Sect cultivator.
The man glanced at Mu Chen, narrowing his eyes when he saw that his cultivation was only at the 13th Layer of Qi Condensation.
"Just a Qi Condensation cultivator?"
"Even if he's lower, he can defeat you easily!" Liu Mei said firmly.
"HAHA!"
"Don't make me laugh. I'm an Early Foundation Establishment cultivator. There's no way someone like him is stronger than me."
"Then let's fight!" Liu Mei said firmly. "If you can defeat him, then I'll go with you."
"Agreed!" the male cultivator said.
Mu Chen was somewhat shocked that Liu Mei had made such a bet. The girl turned around, looked at Mu Chen, and pinched his waist, making him wince in pain.
"Ahh!"
"You have to win, no matter the risk."
"If not, Su Qingyue will come out of her closed cultivation and kill that man!"
Why do I have to be the one carrying this burden?
"Do you understand, Mu Chen?" Liu Mei asked.
"Gosh... yeah, I understand."
A wide smile spread across Liu Mei's face. She and Mu Chen followed the Hengyue Sect cultivator away.
The three of them walked out of the city and arrived at an open area near the forest, where Mu Chen and the man from Hengyue Sect prepared to fight.
Liu Mei stood at the edge of the field, watching the battle between them.
"What's your name, beautiful girl?" the man asked.
"Liu Mei," Liu Mei said.
"A beautiful name, fitting for the beauty shining from your face," the man praised. "I'm Ah Bao. I promise I'll be a good and gentle senior brother to you."
Mu Chen listened to Ah Bao's words. For some reason, the man's way of speaking felt cheesy and disgusting, the kind of flirting that would absolutely make a beautiful woman on Earth walk away from him.
"You! I don't need to know your name. You'll lose to me within five moves!" Ah Bao declared confidently.
Liu Mei began the fight between them.
Ah Bao formed hand seals and summoned a blue magic rune behind his back. A blue flame lion appeared and roared loudly, sending a powerful gust of wind into Mu Chen's face.
"Look! With this power, you won't have any chance of winning."
"Attack him!" Ah Bao shouted.
The blue flame lion roared and leaped forward with its mouth wide open.
Mu Chen reacted quickly, forming hand seals and summoning a golden rune. Ah Bao was shocked by Mu Chen's technique.
Golden qi light appeared at the tips of his fingers. With a thrusting motion forward, he released a golden qi dragon from the magic rune.
Mu Chen's qi dragon breathed golden flames toward Ah Bao's blue flame lion. Ah Bao immediately reacted when he realized Mu Chen's technique was stronger than he had expected.
The two exchanged attacks as their flames collided. However, Mu Chen gradually took control of the battle.
He channeled more qi into strengthening his attack, causing Ah Bao to panic.
BLAST!
An explosion erupted, destroying Ah Bao's blue flame lion.
The man staggered in shock, suffering backlash and coughing up blood. As the smoke cleared, Mu Chen was still standing with the qi dragon floating behind him.
"I didn't expect you to destroy my technique."
"Fine! I won't hold back anymore!" Ah Bao said sharply.
He formed another series of complicated hand seals. A blue magic rune appeared once more and launched a sword wrapped in a massive qi aura that shocked Mu Chen.
Even Liu Mei could sense the aura from that sword technique. She shouted to warn Mu Chen.
"That's a profound-grade technique!"
Profound?
Mu Chen immediately turned serious, switching to another technique with power equal to a profound-grade art.
A golden magic rune appeared, and a golden sword crackling with lightning emerged, blocking the incoming attack. The clash of qi energy was intense, and Ah Bao laughed loudly.
"Are you stupid?! A sword that small is trying to destroy my profound-grade sword?!" Ah Bao shouted.
Mu Chen felt the pressure on his body, but he quickly reacted by channeling more Primordial Origin Qi into his sword.
The more he poured into it, the stronger his technique became. However, it would also take a toll on his stamina.
Mu Chen's lightning sword glowed with brilliant golden light, increasing its power and shocking Ah Bao.
"What?!"
Mu Chen's attack began to wear down Ah Bao's blade, continuously eroding it while Ah Bao struggled to maintain it.
BLAST!
Another explosion erupted, shattering Ah Bao's sword and sending the man flying backward before crashing flat onto the ground, coughing up blood from the backlash.
"Ugh!" Ah Bao groaned.
"You... who are you really? What is your cultivation base?!"
Mu Chen raised his hand, pointing the golden lightning qi sword directly at Ah Bao's face. Ah Bao panicked, his face turning pale as fear of death filled him.
"S-Senior Daoist. Please don't kill me."
"I admit defeat. I won't trouble you again."
Liu Mei smiled brightly, stepped into the arena, and announced Mu Chen as the winner. Mu Chen let out a short breath and deactivated his technique.
Ah Bao was finally able to breathe in relief. He stood up, cupped his hands, and bowed respectfully.
"I heard the two of you want to join our sect," Ah Bao said.
"Yes," Mu Chen replied. "I plan to register directly at your sect gate."
"That won't be necessary, Senior Daoist."
"Hengyue Sect always opens a new disciple registration stand in Xianyin City. As an apology, I'll escort you there."