Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Having made up his mind, Wang Chen set his worries aside and freely joined Li Yian in drinking and chatting.

Regardless of the purpose behind her approach, as long as she held pure and righteous intentions, he naturally had nothing to fear.

Of all the female cultivators Wang Chen had encountered before, Li Yian was undoubtedly the most unique.

Firstly, she was truly beautiful.

After downing several cups of Hundred Flowers Brew, her pretty face blushed faintly, her eyes became watery, and her sparkling pupils seemed to speak for themselves, shy and charming to the extreme without her saying a word.

But her drinking style was very bold—never a drop left in her cup once it made its way to her lips.

When the drinking got merry, she proposed playing a drinking game with Wang Chen.

How would Wang Chen know how to play those games?

Li Yian was unrelenting, so he had no choice but to bring out a drinking game artifact from his past life—the Bluff Dice.

The rules of Bluff Dice were simple and fun.

The contents of Wang Chen's Storage Bag were plentiful, making self-made dice cups and dice not a problem at all,

and once Li Yian understood the rules, she became very interested indeed.

She then started to play with Wang Chen.

Neither side used mana or Divine Sense, nor any tricks; they relied solely on luck and skill just like ordinary people.

Wang Chen thought he would win by a landslide.

At first, he did win several rounds against Li Yian, but as soon as she became completely familiar with the rules, Wang Chen started losing more and winning less, until eventually, he faced nothing but defeats.

Out of the two jars of Hundred Flowers Brew Li Yian had brought out, Wang Chen finished off a jar and a half by himself.

Even with his current Purple Mansion cultivation level, he felt overwhelmed!

"No more playing."

Li Yian put down the dice cup and took out another jar of Hundred Flowers Brew from her storage bag, "You've lost too much; I have no more brew to drink."

The female cultivator's eyes glimmered with light annoyance and anger, and even with a heart as steadfast as Wang Chen's, he couldn't help but be momentarily distracted.

She was sheer trouble!

And Li Yian, now the recipient of Wang Chen's latest appraisal, opened the jar and directly brought it to her lips for a generous drink.

Crystal-clear liquor spilled from the corners of her mouth, trickling down her delicate chin, leaving wet tracks along her slender neck, before finally disappearing into the high collar of her Taoist robe.

This scene left Wang Chen stunned.

It was as though he was looking at the leader from a movie in his past life, despite the fact that the two bore little resemblance to one another.

Li Yian, noticing Wang Chen's unusual gaze, gave a giggle, set down the jar, and touched her wet lips with her delicate finger before pressing it against Wang Chen's lips.

With a gentle smear,

The next moment, the female cultivator swung her sleeves and with a swift turn, she flew out of the Wuge Tent.

Wang Chen came back to his senses only to hear her voice lingering by his ear, "Thank you, fellow Daoist, for accompanying me in drinking."

A seductress!

Wang Chen could be certain that she hadn't used any seductive arts on him.

Li Yian's charm felt like a mighty, peerless Innate Divine Ability, silently affecting his Divine Soul without making him feel repulsed or alerted.

This, he had to acknowledge, was truly impressive.

Wang Chen hung his head—his wide Taoist robe was feeling uncomfortably tight!

That night, he actually had a dream.

A bizarre and ludicrous dream.

The next morning when he woke up, Wang Chen suspected he was still dreaming.

But as Wang Chen set off with the team once more, the unfriendly looks from those around him jolted him back to reality.

The Mountain-Breaking Team Wang Chen was with only traveled during the day and sought a campsite at dusk.

For safety, the campsite was limited to a small area, with everyone's tents set up close to each other.

Even the weakest member in the team had reached the ninth tier of Qi Cultivation and would sense the slightest movement.

Without a doubt, last night's incident of Li Yian running to Wang Chen's tent to drink could not be concealed from the others.

Those cultivators who had taken a liking to Li Yian naturally saw Wang Chen as a rival.

Wang Chen was quite speechless about this.

Women are truly the root of all trouble!

But despite the hostility, no one came out to cause trouble for Wang Chen.

The rules of the Overmountain Association were crystal clear: infighting among the Mountain-Breaking Team was strictly prohibited, and anyone who dared cause trouble would be kicked out to fend for themselves—and the ten Ferrymen leading the way were certainly not vegetarians.

Moreover, the Purple Mansion cultivators eligible to cause trouble for Wang Chen were not witless; even if they considered Wang Chen a target, they would wait until after leaving the Jade Dragon Mountain Range.

Most importantly, more than one Purple Mansion cultivator had their sights set on Li Yian. With many competitors, no one wanted to give the sly fisherman a benefit!

Thus, the subsequent journey, despite Wang Chen being deliberately isolated, passed by safely and peacefully.

On the ninth day into the mountain, as the team passed through a narrow valley, a group of monsters blocked their path.

Over a hundred wolf-headed, human-bodied creatures riding on wild boars with sharp tusks in hand, held metal spears, eyeing the Mountain-Breaking Team with predatory intent.

The atmosphere became extremely tense all of a sudden.

Many cultivators readied their spells, or quietly took out their talismans or magic artifacts, preparing for battle.

Before entering the mountain, everyone knew that the Jade Dragon Mountains were fraught with unpredictable dangers; even Purple Mansion cultivators, let alone Golden Core or even Nascent Soul individuals, could fall inside.

Although Great Monsters and Demon Kings would not attack cultivators below Golden Core, the mountain was home to an endless number of monster beasts, with a mere three hundred-man team not amounting to much.

However, during the past eight days, everyone had been spared any real trouble.

The Ferrymen of the Overmountain Association were extremely familiar with the mountains and always managed to lead the team in avoiding dangers ahead of time.

The journey had gone very smoothly.

But no one was about to grow complacent, thinking that the rest of the journey would be completely safe.

And now, trouble had truly arisen!

Yet, to everyone's surprise, the lead Ferryman gestured for the group to stay calm.

He rode his Guardian Mountain Rhinoceros forward by himself to negotiate with the monsters.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, the high-tier Purple Mansion Ferryman took out a Storage Bag and handed it to the opposing leader.

The monster chieftain opened the Storage Bag, looked inside, showed a satisfied expression, and then murmured a few words to him in a language that was clearly not human.

But the Ferryman understood it completely.

After the negotiation concluded, the "Wild Boar Knight Brigade" turned around and quickly disappeared into the vast jungle.

The lead Ferryman waved his hand, signaling that it was safe to continue on the journey.

Interesting!

Having witnessed the entire negotiation process, Wang Chen realized that the Overmountain Association was essentially an Escort Agency specializing in the routes through the Jade Dragon Mountain Range, providing safe passage for cultivators heading to the West Sea Spirit Domain.

The Ferrymen were actually escort masters.

The teams of the Escort Agency didn't rely on swords and fists on their journeys through the Martial World.

Instead, they relied on connections and relationships!

They clearly had deals with the monsters living in the mountain, trading protection fees for passage rights.

Therefore, the escort fee of three thousand for Purple Mansion and ten thousand for Qi Cultivation was genuinely reasonable.

However, after dealing with the monsters, the Ferryman's expression was serious, with no signs of relief or ease. After reuniting with the team, he declared in a grave tone, "There has been an Evil Wraith active in the mountain lately; everyone must stay vigilant!"

The Jade Dragon Mountain Range was the territory of monster beasts and demon cultivators—if an Evil Wraith dared to roam in these mountains, it must be no ordinary entity.

The tension that had just eased within the group immediately tightened again!

---------

The second update is here.