CHAPTER 106: 106 LIMITATIONS

"666"

"Mu Ming has made a killing off this run!"

"Compared to other Novice Villages, Jiamucheng’s style is a drastic change; it’s just wild!"

"This has to be the most brutal distortion of Xianxia I’ve seen!"

"I wish I could join their fun!"

"The Beggar Gang is the richest. Compared to their expedition, the players in other Novice Villages appear penniless; they don’t even have a carriage and have to leave the city on foot!"

"It’s not that they can’t afford a carriage; the leader doesn’t allow it. The key is that Lin, the Storekeeper, has such Charm. He’s already won over the leader."

"It feels like a variety show. No one watches the live streams of players in other Novice Villages anymore."

"The Beggar Gang is going to attract so much hate. I’m afraid many teams will target them in the future. I wonder if Lin, the Storekeeper, can handle it."

"I must say, I’m kind of looking forward to the day Lin, the Storekeeper, screws up."

「...」

「At the top of the city wall.」

Watching the caravan disappear into the distance, Zhou Jiang asked, "City Lord, do you think Lin, the Storekeeper, will return?"

Xu Longyun glanced at him, not saying a word.

Zhou Jiang scratched the back of his head. "Lin, the Storekeeper, caused quite a stir in the city. It’s a bit hard to adjust now that he’s suddenly gone..."

"He will return." Xu Longyun stood with his hands behind his back. "The Chef’s Divine Food Stall is here, and he promised me he would hold the Sky Remnant Cultural Festival. Lin Bai is a man of his word."

Zhou Jiang glanced furtively at Xu Longyun and chuckled. "My lord, I think so too."

"A turbulent dragon enters the sea. Who knows what chaos he’ll cause in Qian City?" Watching the caravan disappear from sight, Xu Longyun sighed deeply. A gloomy shadow seemed to flash across his face before he collected his thoughts. "Zhou Jiang, many newcomers will enter Jiamucheng tomorrow. Notify the City Guard Army and the Peacekeeping Squad to maintain order in the city and try to get everyone into the Beggar Gang..."

「...」

"Master, are we going to Qian City?" Dragon Breath asked Daoist Priest Qingfeng gloomily from a corner, watching the Beggar Gang’s caravan. He had once thought he had found a hidden NPC and latched onto a powerful backer. He had even stopped live-streaming, just waiting to make a big splash.

But in just a few days, the Beggar Gang was Like the Midday Sun, and almost everyone else seemed to be living a more comfortable life than him. Dragon Breath couldn’t be more frustrated. Now, he dared not live-stream at all. Before, he wanted to keep his progress a secret; now, he was afraid of being ridiculed.

"We’ll go. I’ll take you to the Return to Dragon View to register your status." Daoist Priest Qingfeng was also quite frustrated. He had originally thought Dragon Breath, with all his meridians open, was a rare treasure he had found.

But later, he discovered that this trait was common among the newcomers. By then, he couldn’t even compete with Lin Bai for disciples.

Compared to the vast Beggar Gang, those newcomers simply looked down upon his small, dilapidated City Temple.

And Lin Bai’s astonishing growth rate also frightened Daoist Priest Qingfeng.

He had a feeling that the shares he had invested in the Chef’s Divine Food Stall were likely to go sour. Furthermore, Lin Bai, who was in control of Jiamucheng, would probably monopolize the Spiritual World Gap.

Thinking it over and over, Daoist Priest Qingfeng felt he had to make a trip back to the Return to Dragon View. Whether to confess his mistakes or to report Lin Bai, he had to at least make the Return to Dragon View aware of the threat Lin Bai posed.

Otherwise, not only might he lose the wealth he had accumulated over a lifetime, but the Spiritual World Gap might also be lost to Lin Bai. Then he would truly be an outcast, and it would be too late for regrets.

「...」

Jiang Qingqin and Lin Bai each rode a horse at the front of the caravan.

Little White Fox crouched in front of Lin Bai’s saddle, while in a small cage next to Jiang Qingqin’s saddle sat a little white rabbit.

"A Demon Beast?" Lin Bai glanced at the rabbit and asked.

"No." Jiang Qingqin smiled. "Just a wild rabbit that hasn’t gained spiritual intelligence yet. I use it to practice my Spoken Law Follows."

"How’s your progress?" Lin Bai asked.

"It’s so hard," Jiang Qingqin sighed. "I often stumble over my words, and even when I’m talking to a clueless rabbit, I sometimes feel so embarrassed."

"Don’t worry. It’s like this in the beginning. You’ll get used to it with more practice," Lin Bai smiled. "The key to practicing Spoken Law Follows is to let yourself go. When you practice this Cultivation Technique, your mentality is also tempered. My master said that even if you ultimately fail, the practice itself will forge an incredibly strong mentality, so you won’t panic when facing even the most difficult situations..."

"That’s not mental strength; that’s being thick-skinned," Jiang Qingqin laughed, giving him a playful glare. "Lin Bai, what does ’Mu Ming Milk’ mean?"

Lin Bai replied, "It’s the business of the Beggar Gang’s Patron."

Jiang Qingqin said, puzzled, "But I’ve traveled all over the world and never heard of anyone selling milk. Milk is difficult to store and even harder to transport..."

"Businesses from the Land of the Newcomers have nothing to do with us." Lin Bai sat leisurely on horseback, letting Little White Fox hold the reins. Meanwhile, he inserted Pill Medicines one by one into arrowheads, then placed the medicine-laden arrows into different quivers.

"The Land of the Newcomers!" Jiang Qingqin murmured, her expression suddenly changing. "You mean, people from their land can see everything we do?"

"Yes," Lin Bai nodded, looking at Jiang Qingqin with approval.

"Heavens!" Jiang Qingqin glanced up at the sky, her face instantly turning very pale.

"Scared?" Lin Bai smiled at her and asked.

Looking back at the jubilant players in the carriages, Jiang Qingqin shook her head, frowning slightly. "Not scared, just... a bit unsettled. I don’t know what the world will become in the future!"

"What the world becomes largely depends on what we do," Lin Bai smiled.

"What we do?" Jiang Qingqin asked.

"Like me!" Lin Bai shrugged and chuckled. "Look how well I get along with them; so many people follow my lead. Try to accept them, and you’ll find this group is actually quite easy to deal with. As for those people in the sky watching us, what does that have to do with us? It’s not like you can pierce the heavens. Legend says there’s an ultimate, sacred being in the sky who knows countless ages past and future, aware in an instant of the thoughts of all creatures. With such a being watching from above, would you stop living your life?"

"..." Jiang Qingqin seemed lost in thought.

"Do you remember the night I held a kitchen knife to your throat?" Lin Bai asked.

"I’ll never forget it as long as I live," Jiang Qingqin bit her lip and huffed.

"When you can’t resist, you might as well quiet your mind and enjoy it," Lin Bai smiled. "At least you listened to a whole night of sweet nothings that made you happy, didn’t you?"

"How do you know I was happy?" Jiang Qingqin retorted. "At the time, I hated you to death! All I thought about was skinning you alive and pulling out your tendons..."

"You can’t fool me." Lin Bai glanced at her sideways, placing the last batch of Arrows of Rejuvenation into a quiver. "Junior Sister Jiang, tell me about the outside world!"

"Why are you putting Pill Medicines on your arrows?" Jiang Qingqin didn’t answer Lin Bai, instead looking curiously at his quivers. She had been wanting to ask for a while.

"Supply arrows." Lin Bai drew an arrow and showed it to Jiang Qingqin. "This one is embedded with a Revitalizing Pill. During battle, if there’s no time for a direct rescue, one shot from this can give a teammate a new lease on life. It’s my new invention—super practical..."

"..." Jiang Qingqin was stunned. Looking at the sharp, glinting arrowhead, her eyelids twitched violently a few times. "Let’s get this straight beforehand: your arrows should be used for your own gang’s disciples. Just don’t use them on me!"

"Alright!" Lin Bai chuckled, sliding the arrow back into the quiver. "You don’t recognize good stuff. You have no idea how expensive this Pill Medicine is, do you?"

Jiang Qingqin rolled her eyes at him. "Before you came down the mountain, did your master never tell you about the situation in the world? Isn’t he afraid you’ll offend someone important and meet an untimely end?"

"I’m not afraid. If I die prematurely, it’s due to my own incompetence. Members of the Righteous Door all forge their paths like I do," Lin Bai said, looking ahead. "My master said that everyone starts as a blank sheet of paper, and its contents must be written by their own hand. Losses suffered, deceptions experienced—only by tasting them personally can one truly engrave them in their heart. If he told me everything, I would be confined within a framework, and my growth would ultimately have a ceiling."

Losses? Deceptions? Jiang Qingqin recalled everything that had happened since she met Lin Bai. It felt like those two words had nothing to do with him. However, his fantastical method of delivering Pill Medicines with a bow and arrow truly showed no limitations in his thinking... What kind of sect is the Righteous Door, exactly? Jiang Qingqin muttered, then asked, "What do you want to know?"

"For instance, the power distribution in Qian City, who are the leaders of the various sects, what are their personalities and cultivation levels? At our current speed, how many days will it take to reach Qian City, and what dangers might we encounter on the way? What Spells does each sect specialize in? You can tell me all about it," Lin Bai said.

"Aren’t you afraid I might lie to you?" Jiang Qingqin asked.

"I’ve taught you the cultivation method for Spoken Law Follows. In the spirit of reciprocity, I believe you won’t lie to me," Lin Bai smiled gently. "If I can’t even trust someone who would draw their sword to help at the sight of injustice, who else in this world can I trust?"