Seven Star City was a sprawling beast of stone and timber, bustling with merchants, mercenaries, and cultivators seeking their fortune. To normal mortals, it was a paradise of wealth. To Jiang Chen, it was a buffet.
"Listen closely," Jiang Chen said, adjusting his robes as they stood before the city gates. "We have fifty Spirit Stones. To a beggar, that is a fortune. To a cultivator, it is lunch money. We must spend it wisely to increase our strength before the Mystic Cloud Sect notices us."
Ye Kai nodded solemnly, clutching the bag of loot. "Understood, Sect Leader! I will buy only the cheapest stale bread so we can save money for weapons!"
"No!" Jiang Chen slapped the back of Ye Kai's head. "We are Hidden Royalty, remember? If we act poor, we look weak. We must spend with the arrogance of gods."
He pointed to the most expensive restaurant in the district—the Golden Phoenix Pavilion. "We start there. You cannot cultivate on an empty stomach."
Location: Golden Phoenix Pavilion, Main Hall.
The trio sat at a corner table. The waiter looked at their dusty robes with disdain, until Ye Kai slammed a Spirit Stone onto the table, cracking the wood. The waiter's attitude instantly flipped to groveling servitude.
"Bring us your finest Spirit Beast meat," Jiang Chen commanded, channeling every ounce of his inner 'Young Master' energy. "And a pot of 'Clarified Mind Tea' for my disciple here. She looks like she's about to stab a chopstick."
Su Ling was indeed gripping her chopsticks like daggers, eyeing the other patrons. "Master, the man at the third table is scratching his nose. That is a secret sign for an ambush."
"He just has an itch, Su Ling. Eat your vegetables."
As the food arrived—steaming platters of roasted Tiger-Wolf meat—Jiang Chen began his "lesson."
"Cultivation," Jiang Chen said, tearing off a piece of meat, "is not just about meditating in a cave. It is about resources. Ye Kai, your Ancient God Body is a furnace. It needs fuel. Eat."
Ye Kai didn't need to be told twice. He devoured the meat, bones and all. Crunch. Crunch.
As the spirit energy from the meat hit his stomach, Ye Kai's skin began to flush red. Steam rose from his ears.
"Hot!" Ye Kai gasped. "I feel... power!"
"Good," Jiang Chen nodded sagely. "That is the 'Devouring Heaven' method. Most people chew. You must inhale."
He then turned to Su Ling. She was picking at her food, testing it for poison with a silver needle.
"Su Ling," Jiang Chen slid a small, tattered book across the table. He had bought it from a street vendor for two copper coins. It was titled 101 Ways to Knot Rope.
"This," Jiang Chen lied effortlessly, "is the 'Constellation Web Array'. It teaches you how to bind the karma of your enemies."
Su Ling gasped, touching the book with trembling fingers. "A Karma-binding array disguised as a knot-tying manual? Master... your foresight is terrifying."
"Study it," Jiang Chen said. "Learn to tie knots that not even the wind can escape."
As his disciples busied themselves—one eating like a starving wolf, the other intensely studying how to tie a 'Sheepshank Knot'—Jiang Chen sipped his tea.
This is the life, he thought. I just need to keep them busy until—
The air in the restaurant suddenly dropped ten degrees.
The chatter in the hall died instantly. Every head turned toward the entrance.
A young man walked in. He wore robes of pristine white, embroidered with silver clouds and a soaring hawk. His face was handsome but cold, like a statue carved from ice.
It was him. The Mystic Cloud Sect Disciple who had accidentally saved them from the assassins yesterday.
Jiang Chen choked on his tea. 'Why is he here?! Seven Star City has thousands of restaurants!'
The Young Master, whose name was Gu Jian, scanned the room with bored eyes. He was looking for something—or someone.
His gaze swept over the crowd. It passed Jiang Chen (who looked like a mortal scammer). It passed Ye Kai (who looked like a starving beggar). Then, it stopped on Su Ling.
Gu Jian's eyes narrowed. He recognized the aura. The strange, shimmering luck that had deflected the arrow yesterday.
He began to walk toward their table.
"Don't look up," Jiang Chen hissed under his breath. "Keep eating. Be arrogant."
Gu Jian stopped right next to their table. The pressure of a Foundation Establishment cultivator weighed down on them like a heavy blanket.
"You," Gu Jian said, his voice smooth and dangerous. He was looking at Su Ling. "I saw you in the alley yesterday. You survived the 'Shadow Killers'."
Su Ling froze. Her hand slowly moved toward the 'poison powder' in her sleeve.
Jiang Chen knew he had to act. If Su Ling attacked a Mystic Cloud Disciple here, they were all dead.
Jiang Chen slammed his tea cup down. Clack.
"Junior," Jiang Chen said, not looking up. "Is this how the Mystic Cloud Sect teaches manners? Interrupting a senior's meal?"
The entire restaurant gasped. A nobody in dusty robes dared to scold a Mystic Cloud Disciple?
Gu Jian frowned. He looked at Jiang Chen. He sensed... nothing. No Qi. Just a mortal. But the tone. The absolute, unwavering arrogance. It was the tone of someone who had scolded thousands of disciples.
"Senior?" Gu Jian scoffed, though he hesitated slightly. "You have no cultivation. Why should I show you respect?"
Jiang Chen finally looked up. He didn't use the System to bluff an aura this time. He used the truth.
He looked at the hawk emblem on Gu Jian's chest—the emblem of the sect that had banished his master. A flash of genuine, deep-seated anger flickered in Jiang Chen's eyes.
"I have no cultivation," Jiang Chen said softly, "because I gave it all away to ungrateful children. Tell me, Junior... does Elder Wei still complain about his knee pain when it rains?"
Gu Jian stiffened. His eyes went wide. Elder Wei was his Master. And yes, Elder Wei had a chronic knee injury from an old war that only his close disciples knew about.
"How..." Gu Jian took a step back, his arrogance cracking. "How do you know my Master's private ailment?"
Jiang Chen picked up his chopsticks again, dismissing him. "Go home, boy. Tell Wei that 'The Hawk has not forgotten the nest'. He will understand."
It was a gamble. A massive, terrifying gamble. Jiang Chen was using knowledge his old Master had told him on his deathbed.
Gu Jian stared at Jiang Chen for a long, agonizing silence. He looked at the strange, lucky girl. He looked at the gluttonous boy. And he looked at this mortal who knew his Master's secrets.
"I will deliver the message," Gu Jian said stiffly. He clasped his hands in a half-bow—not out of respect, but out of caution. "But if you are lying... the Mystic Cloud Sect does not forgive."
Gu Jian turned and swept out of the restaurant, his appetite ruined.
Jiang Chen waited until he was gone. Then, his legs turned to jelly under the table.
Ye Kai stopped eating. He looked at Jiang Chen with shining eyes. "Master! You know the Elders of the Mystic Cloud Sect?"
"Know them?" Jiang Chen let out a shaky breath, hiding his trembling hands. "Ye Kai... I used to change their diapers."
Ding!
[System Notification] [A Seed of Doubt has been planted in a Core Disciple of the Mystic Cloud Sect.] [Reputation +500.] [Warning: You are now on their radar.]
Su Ling tightened the knot she was tying. "He suspects us. Master, should I preemptively poison the city's water supply just in case?"
No, Jiang Chen stood up, throwing money on the table. We are leaving. We need a weapon. A real one. Before he comes back with questions I can't answer.