Chapter 1114: Prosperous Scene

On the peak of Dan Fu mountain, Ye Chen and his companions, all drunk, had fallen into a deep slumber.

The night was quiet and peaceful.

In the Jiu Chong Tian, Ruo Tian Zhu Que was still watching silently, without speaking.

After some time, Ruo Tian Zhu Que withdrew her gaze and stared blankly at the painting she had created under the bright moonlight and starlight, occasionally reaching out with her jade-like hand to gently touch it.

The night passed without incident, and dawn arrived in the blink of an eye.

Early in the morning, before the sky was fully light, Xie Yun on the mountain peak was awakened by a loud shout.

"I've advanced!"

"I've advanced!"

When Xie Yun sat up with a dark expression, he saw a Lian Dan Shi shouting excitedly.

"Damn it!" Xie Yun muttered curses under his breath while rubbing his forehead, annoyed that his good dream had been interrupted.

Nian Wei was also awakened, opening her misty eyes to find herself lying on Ye Chen's leg. Seeing that Ye Chen was still asleep, she smiled lightly and lay back down on his leg.

"Nian Wei, you're not fooling anyone by pretending to sleep!" Ye Chen woke up and stretched lazily.

At his words, Nian Wei quickly got up, her face awkward, with a faint blush flashing across her cheeks.

"I've advanced!"

"I've advanced!"

From the foot of the mountain, such shouts echoed one after another, as Lian Dan Shi after Lian Dan Shi ran out of their caves, dancing with joy and full of excitement—mostly those who had advanced in their Lian Dan Shi ranks.

"Not bad!" Ye Chen glanced around and saw that quite a few Lian Dan Shi had advanced—several hundred in total, mostly from third-tier to fourth-tier, fourth-tier to fifth-tier, and only one from fifth-tier to sixth-tier.

He was quite pleased with their progress. After all, this was just one day, and there would be more advancements in the future.

"Line up to collect your rewards!" Down below, one of Nian Wei's personal guards had already set up a stone table in front of the grand hall, piled high with storage bags.

The Lian Dan Shi rushed over, feeling a bit thrilled. Not only had their Lian Dan Shu advanced, but they also got paid for it—this was an incredible deal.

Ye Chen kept his word and didn't mind spending the Yuan Shi.

Compared to Yuan Shi, what Ye Chen valued more were talents. He knew full well the immense potential and influence of Lian Dan Shi. With proper cultivation, they could be as formidable as an army of cultivators.

"Getting paid explains their enthusiasm." Watching the Lian Dan Shi line up for rewards, Xie Yun sighed.

"Spending some money is necessary." Ye Chen continued stretching his somewhat numb body. "For now, stay at Dan Fu and don't wander around You Du anymore. I don't want them targeting you again."

"They don't have time for me right now." Xie Yun tucked his hair behind his ear. "Before coming here, I went to the First Chong Tian. You wouldn't believe it—I was shocked. Yue Shan and all my imperial brothers are holed up there."

"Better safe than sorry." Ye Chen smiled and waved his hand, summoning his Lian Dan furnace along with various Lian Dan materials.

However, what he planned to refine wasn't a seven-wen Ling Dan, but a six-wen Ling Dan. Among the hundred types of six-wen Ling Dan he had bought in You Du, ninety-nine were ones he had never refined before.

With some free time, practicing his Lian Dan Shu was a good idea—it would also build up his resources. Most importantly, the materials were essentially free, paid for with Zhu Que family's money, so failures wouldn't bother him.

"The Dan Sheng is on another level." Xie Yun watched Ye Chen's skillful Lian Dan techniques and couldn't help but sigh.

"The Sheng Zhu is skilled at everything!" Nian Wei smiled charmingly, resting her chin on her hands as she watched quietly. As she watched, she became lost in thought, her beautiful eyes filled with an intoxicated gaze.

"Come here, imperial sister. Your imperial brother has a treasure for you." Xie Yun pulled Nian Wei aside.

"What treasure? So secretive."

"A great one." Xie Yun took a jade bottle from his sleeve and slipped it to her sneakily, then added earnestly, "This is really good stuff."

"What is it?" Nian Wei held up the jade bottle and shook it, seeing that it contained a translucent liquid.

"Later, put it in Ye Chen's wine, and then..."

"You keep it for yourself!" Before Xie Yun could finish, Nian Wei pried open his mouth and stuffed the entire jade bottle inside.

"Wow, cough cough...!" Xie Yun choked, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Serves you right." Nian Wei stomped on Xie Yun's foot hard. From his words, she had figured out what was in the bottle. Her face flushed red, and after a final glance at Ye Chen, she covered her face and ran off.

Ye Chen glanced at the departing Nian Wei, then at Xie Yun, and finally at the jade bottle Xie Yun was pulling out of his mouth. He instantly recognized what was inside and couldn't help but twitch his mouth. Really? That's your imperial sister—playing like that?

"What are you looking at? Refine your dan!" Xie Yun shook his head and scurried away, as Ye Chen's palm was already swinging toward him.

He was lucky to escape quickly—if Ye Chen's palm had landed, he would have been sent flying. After all, Ye Chen's cultivation was a whole major realm above his, and it could easily cripple him on the spot.

"Bastard!" Ye Chen cursed and refocused on his Lian Dan.

Just like on the day of the Lian Dan Shi selection, in less than half an hour, the first six-wen Ling Dan was successfully refined.

As before, the emergence of the six-wen Dan brought a surge of heavenly phenomena and dan rainbows. If not for the restrictions isolating Dan Fu Ling Mountain from the outside world, people in the Third Chong Tian would surely have seen the dan anomalies.

After a brief rest, Ye Chen started again.

While he was busy, the Lian Dan Shi below weren't idle either, with people constantly running out of their residences, excited—mostly those who had advanced—and then heading to the grand hall to collect their rewards.

This scene repeated frequently.

As Ye Chen refined, he occasionally looked down, mentally tallying that the number of Lian Dan Shi who had advanced that day had already exceeded a thousand, and it was still increasing.

"Not bad!" Ye Chen smiled slightly and tapped his Lian Dan furnace, producing another dan—this was the ninth six-wen Dan he had refined.

Nian Wei didn't return, and Xie Yun had chosen a quiet cave in Dan Fu Ling Mountain to focus on improving his cultivation.

Time flew by, and three days passed.

On the mountain peak, Ye Chen let out a long breath and sat wearily on a rock.

Over the three days, his gains were substantial: he had successfully refined all ninety-nine types of six-wen Dan.

If outsiders knew this, they would be shocked. Six-wen Ling Dan were incredibly difficult to refine, with complex processes where any mistake could ruin everything. Yet Ye Chen had produced ninety-nine in three days—it was nothing short of monstrous.

His gains were plentiful, and the Dan Fu Lian Dan Shi had also reaped great rewards.

In three days, over five thousand Lian Dan Shi had advanced, including more than three hundred who reached sixth-tier. That was a terrifying number, even leaving Ye Chen astonished.

This confirmed what he had said earlier: among these Lian Dan Shi, there were many with exceptional talent—they just lacked opportunities.

He and Dan Fu were providing those opportunities: unconditional Lian Dan materials, Lian Dan intent, and Lian Dan methods. All these factors created such a prosperous scene.

"The future is boundless!" Ye Chen smiled contentedly, feeling it was worth the effort he had put into cultivating them.

After downing a pot of wine, he got up and tried refining a seven-wen Ling Dan, but failed every time.

This string of failures made him give up on attempting seven-wen Ling Dan for now—at least until his Yuan Shen reached the Huang Jing, he wouldn't try again. The materials for seven-wen Ling Dan were extremely valuable, and even if money wasn't an issue, he couldn't waste them like this. It was also a way to save some for Xie Yun in the future.

It wasn't until the fourth day that Ye Chen descended the mountain and left Dan Fu Ling Mountain.

Before leaving, he imprinted the refining methods for all the six-wen Dan into the Wan Dan Bao Dian.

He reappeared at the Mu Family gambling house in the Second Chong Tian.

The Mu Family gambling house was as lively as ever, with people yelling themselves red in the face—many losing everything they had, while a few struck it rich overnight, though that was rare.

"Damn!" As he walked, Ye Chen heard a familiar howl and looked up to see Fan Tong, who had lost everything except his floral underwear.

Standing beside Fan Tong were eight people, all with grim expressions—his neighborly eight Zun Huang. They had probably been tricked by Fan Tong into gambling and ended up losing it all.

Though his quirky neighbors were there, Ye Chen didn't see Hu Xian Er. As a female cultivator, she likely wouldn't come to a place like this.

After a final glance at Fan Tong, Ye Chen headed upstairs to the third-floor small world.

When Ye Chen entered, Mu Wan Qing was happily drinking from her wine gourd. Seeing him arrive, she tossed him a wine pot. "Got some free time to visit my Mu Family today?"

"Made your family ancestor wait a bit." Ye Chen coughed lightly.

"No problem, the ancestor just came out of seclusion."

"Has anyone come around causing trouble lately?" Ye Chen took a swig of wine and asked casually.

"They don't have the spare time to bother my Mu Family." Mu Wan Qing stood up and stretched lazily. "They're all lurking in the First Chong Tian and outside You Du City, ready to catch you. I wonder if they'd pass out from shock if they knew you were right here in You Du."

"Let them keep looking— no harm in it." Ye Chen shrugged.

"I'm just curious how you sneaked in that day." Mu Wan Qing looked at Ye Chen with a sigh.

"That's my signature skill." Ye Chen smoothed his hair.

"You've got a lot of those signature skills. Xuan Yu told me all about it—said I should watch out for you. He went through every one of your shameless exploits in detail."

"Does big sister want to hear about that guy's exploits?" Ye Chen grinned at Mu Wan Qing.

"Come on, spill it." Mu Wan Qing sat down, resting her chin on her hands, and blinked her beautiful eyes at Ye Chen.

"So, like this— all those shameless things I did? He's done them all too."

"What? He's visited brothels too?"

"Hey, cut it out— I haven't!"