Qing Mo's eyes froze in the final moment, filled with horror, before slowly losing their luster.

Chen Yuan's expression was calm, as if he had done something insignificant.

The Blood Demon Old Man was indeed a threat, but what did he have to fear?

It wasn't like he was right in front of him.

If he were scared off by a mere reputation, Chen Yuan would have no business trying to make a name for himself.

The only pity was that he hadn't discovered any fortune on this ghost child. Chen Yuan had even opened his Heavenly Eye Pupillary Technique when he first entered the inn.

But there was no reaction.

He originally thought that this Qing Mo, who came to stir up trouble, possessed it, but it seemed he had overestimated things.

Fortune isn't so easy to obtain.

But...

Thinking about it more carefully, perhaps that wasn't necessarily the case.

The Liu siblings who clashed with him initially didn't have fortune, but their father, Liu Shuanghe, did. Could this mean that perhaps the Blood Demon Old Man also had it?

"Brother Wang, you...were a bit impulsive."

Seeing Chen Yuan swiftly decapitate the ghost child, Chu Yunfeng felt a bit regretful. The Blood Demon Old Man's strength was extremely high, and being alone, he had no scruples.

He dared to kill anyone.

Offending such a person was truly unwise.

"It's nothing, he's dead."

Chen Yuan smiled.

The middle-aged woman who had come with Qing Mo was terrified, especially after seeing Qing Mo die. She quickly ran towards the door, wanting to get away from this place.

However, she certainly wasn't going anywhere. Chen Yuan snapped off a table leg and with a sudden flick, the table leg instantly shot through the air, directly piercing the middle-aged woman's back.

It completely pierced her, and her legs went weak, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Th...thank you, Senior."

The few strong men from earlier, supporting each other, walked to Chen Yuan and cupped their hands in thanks, their tone somewhat restrained.

They couldn't help but be like this when facing a strong man suspected of being in the Coagulating Core Realm. Moreover, Chen Yuan had just saved them.

If Chen Yuan hadn't acted, their fate would probably be no different from Qing Mo's, who was lying on the ground like a dead dog.

"It's nothing."

Chen Yuan waved his hand, without any haughty expression.

These few men were not bad. They hadn't shown any intention of provocation before, and instead, had told him to stay away to avoid being injured. Chen Yuan really didn't have any ill feelings towards them.

"Senior, you have shown great kindness in saving our four brothers' lives. In the future, if there is anything you need, just give the order, and we brothers will never refuse."

The leading strong man said with an extremely solemn expression.

Chen Yuan: "I don't know your names yet?"

"I am Zhao Beishan."

"I am Qian Xishan."

"I am Sun Nanshan."

"I am Li Dongshan."

The four men reported their names in turn.

"Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li..."

Chen Yuan thought to himself.

"Your names?"

The leader, Zhao Beishan, said:

"To be honest, Senior, our names are all aliases. As for our real names...they were abandoned long ago."

Afterwards, Zhao Beishan briefly explained their origins. They brothers were originally soldiers in the Nanling Prefecture's military reserves, but due to disagreements with their superiors, they simply left the army and stayed here as bandits.

With their exceptional strength, they had quite a reputation in the vicinity, being called the Five Ghosts of Yunjiang, but another brother was killed by Qing Mo, so now they can probably only be called the Four Ghosts of Yunjiang.

Because they didn't do much evil, only looting gang supplies and basically not provoking the imperial court, they had been safe until now, and the government had no intention of eliminating them.

As for whether they had anyone protecting them in the background, he didn't say much.

"Yunjiang..."

Chen Yuan's eyes flickered. There were many rivers in Nanling Prefecture, but the most famous was Yunjiang, which led directly to the nearby prefectures. Many merchants liked to travel by water.

Wang Ping's father, Wang Dafu, had once told Chen Yuan and Wang Ping about this.

"Have you four been alone all the time, or have you created a force?" Chen Yuan asked.

Zhao Beishan truthfully said:

"Creating a force is too conspicuous. We have always cultivated alone."

Chen Yuan nodded and didn't ask any further questions. He did have the intention of recruiting some manpower, but it was obviously not suitable now. At least he would have to wait until his strength had advanced to a higher level.

Afterwards, Chen Yuan and the Four Ghosts of Yunshan and those Green Wood Sect disciples gathered at a table and exchanged some information. Chen Yuan also gained some understanding of the current situation in Nanling Prefecture.

Looking at Qing Prefecture, Nanling Prefecture was one of the top prefectures, with a vast territory and a large population, encompassing more than a dozen counties. Ping'an County was just one of them.

There were also many Jianghu forces in Nanling Prefecture, but only five could be considered prominent: Dragon-Tiger Gate, Divine Firmament Hall, Chang Le Gang, Golden Mountain Temple, and the Qingjiao Society, which dominated Yunjiang.

These forces all had Transcendent Realm experts guarding them, and even the Nanling government would not easily offend them.

As for more top-level sect forces, there were none based in Nanling Prefecture.

Sects like Chu Yunfeng's Green Wood Sect were considered decent in strength, but they didn't have Transcendent Realm experts guarding them, so they could only be considered second-rate sects. However, the Green Wood Sect rarely fought with others.

The disciples of the sect were more skilled in alchemy and medicine, so they were considered to have a voice in Nanling Prefecture, and generally no one would offend them.

As for the government, it was somewhat weak. Although the major forces in Nanling Prefecture were constantly fighting among themselves, they would generally join forces when facing pressure from the imperial court.

The imperial court had too many concerns, and the government's experts were unable to suppress them, so conflicts were rare, and they were considered to be living in separate worlds.

Chen Yuan judged that the situation in Nanling Prefecture was relatively stable, but he didn't know if this was the surface or the reality. Chu Yunfeng and the others were too low in status and strength.

Perhaps they didn't know the real situation.

During the inquiry, Chen Yuan also indirectly asked about the Yang family in Nanling Prefecture, but the few of them didn't know much about it, which made Chen Yuan slightly relieved.

If no reputation had spread, it meant that this Yang family was probably just a small family.

Chu Yunfeng was also very vigilant in inquiring about Chen Yuan's background, but he disguised it well and wasn't tricked. Chu Yunfeng didn't dare to ask too much.

After all, the strength Chen Yuan had just displayed was extraordinary.

It was very likely that he was a strong man in the Coagulating Core Realm.

And with Chen Yuan's age and strength, Chu Yunfeng secretly guessed that Chen Yuan might be a disciple of a major sect from another prefecture traveling the Jianghu.

His words were quite enthusiastic.

This meal lasted for about an hour. Afterwards, Chu Yunfeng and the others took the lead in bidding farewell. They had important matters to attend to and needed to go to the county below.

However, he still warmly invited Chen Yuan to visit the Green Wood Sect if he had nothing to do in the future. With him as the host, he would definitely make Chen Yuan's trip worthwhile.

Chen Yuan responded with a few smiles. Chu Yunfeng seemed to have no bad intentions, but he was definitely a very shrewd character. Chen Yuan didn't know if he really hadn't thought of the ghost child's identity at the beginning.

He had to exclaim only when Chen Yuan moved to kill him.

But by that time, it was already too late.

Chen Yuan had chopped off one of the ghost child's arms and had already formed a great enmity. If he didn't act, he would definitely face revenge in the future.

Chen Yuan wouldn't reveal his true identity to such a person.

After Chu Yunfeng and his party left, the Four Ghosts of Yunjiang also bid farewell. They were going to find someone to treat Sun Nanshan, who had been struck in the chest by the ghost child's palm.

To avoid leaving any hidden dangers.

At the last moment, they sincerely hoped that Chen Yuan could visit them in Yunjiang if he had time, and left their address.

They also said that as long as Chen Yuan gave the order, they would definitely not refuse.

Chen Yuan just smiled at this.

......

......

After finishing his meal, the stable boy in front of the door had already brought the horses over, his body trembling slightly. He looked at Chen Yuan with some evasiveness, but mostly with fear.

The two people who were killed earlier had given him money to keep his mouth shut, and now he was afraid of being implicated.

These Jianghu people kill people at the drop of a hat, with no regard for the laws of the imperial court. Dealing with a small stable boy like him would be as easy as a flick of a knife, right?

"Sir, your horse?"

The stable boy put on a flattering smile.

Chen Yuan 'hmmed' in response, without answering, and mounted his horse, leaving directly.

As for the tables and chairs that were destroyed in the fight inside the inn, it was none of his business. The inn could bear the responsibility themselves, because they hid far away earlier and didn't dare to say a word of reminder.

Not getting angry with them was already Chen Yuan being very generous.

The stable boy breathed a sigh of relief as he watched Chen Yuan's departing figure.

After leaving the inn, Chen Yuan slowed down his pace again. Anyway, Zhang Xuan hadn't given him a specific time to go.

It would be better to take advantage of these few days to improve his strength to the extreme.

Compared to Ping'an County, Nanling Prefecture was much more dangerous. The five major forces mentioned by Chu Yunfeng were all beyond his ability to contend with, which made him eager to have a force of his own.

In the past, in Ping'an County, Bone Forging cultivation was needed to have self-protection ability.

Now, in Nanling Prefecture, I'm afraid a strong man in the Coagulating Core Realm is needed to have self-protection ability!

On a certain mountaintop.

Chen Yuan was naked to the waist, and the scorching sunlight shone on his body. A faint dark golden light shone, constantly flowing over his body.

In front of Chen Yuan was an empty black wooden box, which was used to hold the Profound Spirit Pill.

In order to complete the body refinement before arriving in the prefectural city tomorrow, Chen Yuan decided to be cruel to himself.

He would use half a day to devour two Profound Spirit Pills!

Chen Yuan did it. Although his body was a little bloated, he could still bear it. Afterwards, he controlled the majestic medicinal power, constantly circulating throughout his body.

Cooperating with the blood and qi, he refined his muscles and bones.

Chen Yuan had already refined three-quarters of his body's muscles and bones, leaving only his legs. Refining these two Profound Spirit Pills again would hardly cause any accidents.

In fact, that was indeed the case. Chen Yuan cultivated the Vajra Glazed Body, a top-level foundation building and body refining divine art. His body's muscles and bones were extremely strong, and after nine blood refinements,

The medicinal power he could withstand was far greater than that of ordinary people!