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Longevity: Starting from Refining Gu-Chapter 102 - 90: Nanli Produces a Ferocious Tiger, The Caravan Hides an Ice Coffin_2
After drinking tea, Chen Qing and Jing Ying bid farewell. This little girl seemed to have a hint of reluctance, inviting him to visit her home again in the future.
Arriving at Jiang Miaoxian’s camp, there were over thirty mice the size of Green Bulls, carrying goods on their backs, lazily lying in the sun sleeping.
Seven carriages were parked nearby, two of which were for Jiang Miaoxian’s house guards, one for Jiang Miaoxian, and three for the three guards Jiang Miaoxian had hired.
A middle-aged man, about forty years old, in the ninth level of Qi Refinement, named Hao Changchuan.
Another looked about fifty years old, an elder whom everyone respectfully called Elder Liu, also in the ninth level of Qi Refinement.
Elder Liu’s clothes were tattered, wearing only coarse hemp clothes, clearly an ascetic, though the years of asceticism were unknown.
Then there was a curvaceous woman named Song Yuqing, who didn’t like coming out much. Chen Qing had only seen her once during meals.
Wearing a white veil, her face was unclear; she appeared to be at the ninth level of Qi Refinement. However, Chen Qing sensed a faint fluctuation in the spiritual pressure on her through Wind’s Breath.
The spiritual pressure was changing; it was a perfect Qi Refining Realm!
Chen Qing didn’t pay much attention to it either. With his current strength, he rarely found an adversary in the Qi Refining Realm. As long as it wasn’t a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he had the confidence to leave calmly.
Yes, it was to leave calmly, not to kill on the spot.
The less he had to act, the better.
As for a Foundation Establishment opponent appearing, Chen Qing was also confident he could escape unscathed.
There was also an elder from Jiang Miaoxian’s clan in the carriage. After discovering he was only in the ninth level of Qi Refinement, Chen Qing immediately put his worries to rest.
Everyone here was weaker than himself, so there shouldn’t be any problems.
Moreover, based on their attire, mostly black clothes paired with silver ornaments and large axes on their backs, they were people from Nanli, making Chen Qing feel more at ease.
Chen Qing usually didn’t like eating food from outside. So, he typically brought it into the carriage and stored it within his internal space, finding a convenient time to discard it.
Traveling outside was not the same as being within a sect; caution was advisable.
The merchant caravan stayed in Jinzhou City for three days, purchasing supplies, before setting out towards Nanli.
During this time, Chen Qing also procured items for the advancement of Fire Gu, Iron Butterfly, and Power Butterfly and then sat in the carriage, traveling south with the merchant caravan.
As the merchant caravan left Jinzhou City, Chen Qing lifted the curtain and looked at the increasingly distant Jinzhou City. They were truly leaving the boundaries of Da Yan and entering Nanli.
Nanli’s scenery differed from Da Yan, abundant in forests and ancient trees. Even in spring, it offered a variety of ingredients.
Tender new sprouts and mushrooms after the rain, many could be used as food.
Chen Qing’s favorite was still the banana heart. Here, the banana trees were extraordinarily large, cutting down one and extracting the banana heart to eat—it tasted like bananas, albeit with a bit less sweetness.
Soft, warm, and fragrant,
Yet carrying a hint of the Qingshuang taste of banana leaves.
Whenever the caravan brought this food, he would partake, although he would usually chop a piece himself.
Having traveled for three days and not long after entering the jungle, Chen Qing, sitting in the carriage with the curtain lifted, heard that the wind brought new information.
Ahead, three miles to the east by the mountain stream, there was a stalk of Blood Ginseng.
Although tempted, Chen Qing suppressed his desire. It was just a stalk of Blood Ginseng—not worth exposing Wind’s Breath for.
After another mile, Chen Qing suddenly opened his eyes, withdrawing from his cultivation state.
Damn it, the merchant caravan’s scout discovered that Blood Ginseng and dug it up, disturbing a wild leopard demon at the eighth level of Qi Refinement!
Jiang Miaoxian, at the eighth level of Qi Refinement, rode a mouse, leading the team forward. Not long after, a black-clad scout, holding a Blood Ginseng with the thickness of a teacup, approached, "My Lady, I acquired a Blood Ginseng to offer you!"
He barely finished speaking when he felt a gust of wind, and a leopard, a zhang in length, roared as it lunged at him.
The scout quickly drew out the giant axe from his back. The demon leopard’s claws came down, leaving finger-deep marks on the steel axe, striking the scout with a swipe, sending him crashing into the trees lining the mountain path.
Just as Jiang Miaoxian was about to shout, she noticed a sudden gust of wind beside her. A shadow flashed by, stepping swiftly over the heads of three mice, leaping high, and swinging the large axe toward the leopard’s neck!
Chen Qing channeled Spiritual Energy into the sword Gu, concentrating Geng Metal Sword Energy onto the axe’s blade, beheading the leopard demon in one clean strike.
Neat and swift, like lightning!
After accomplishing this, Chen Qing returned, stepping on the mice heads. In just over ten steps, he was back in his carriage.
Except for the slight sway of the curtain of the carriage he sat in, it was as if he had never left.
Hao Changchuan, Elder Liu, and Song Yuqing lifted the curtain, only to see the lifeless body of the leopard demon lying in the middle of the path, its head severed, blood gushing out.
They glanced at Chen Qing’s curtain, still slightly swaying.
Song Yuqing didn’t look any further and immediately dropped the curtain, returning to the carriage.
Hao Changchuan and Elder Liu were both shocked. Hao Changchuan exclaimed, "There’s such a master within the caravan!"
Elder Liu nodded slightly, "In my twenty years of asceticism, I’ve rarely encountered such a master."
Hao Changchuan said, "What a formidable Nanli tiger, worthy of being paired with White Tiger, truly extraordinary."
Jiang Miaoxian curiously glanced at Chen Qing’s carriage, surprised by Chen Qing’s strength for a moment, but she soon understood Chen Qing’s intention.
She had once suggested that Chen Qing intimidate the other three experts in the team; now, this was Chen Qing’s intimidation!
Jiang Miaoxian promptly said, "Thank you, Brother, for protecting the caravan!"
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She then turned to Hao Changchuan and Elder Liu, "If danger arises in the future, I hope you both can lend a helping hand!"
Hao Changchuan and Elder Liu looked at Chen Qing’s carriage with great apprehension, "Of course, being paid to dispel calamities for others."
Elder Liu also nodded, "Naturally, I will follow the lady’s arrangements."
Jiang Miaoxian exchanged polite words before moving to reprimand the reckless scout and clear the path for onward travel.
Sitting in the carriage, Chen Qing contemplated the gains and losses of his actions.
Although he exposed a bit of his strength, it wasn’t crucial.
After all, he hadn’t used his usual Gu.
Conversely, the Power Gu was common in Nanli, so possessing a Power Butterfly was entirely normal.
The important part was that he succeeded in intimidating the experts within the caravan. In the face of future danger, he could let those three confront it first.
Rather than facing unknown opponents together, it was better to decisively attack a well-understood leopard demon, leaving a lasting impression.
The strongest in the team should be the last to act; that’s common sense.
He could also calmly observe the battlefield and contemplate his choice to stay or leave.
Three thousand six hundred low-grade Spirit Stones, he could earn far more by merely attending a gathering. As for risking his life?
At night, the merchant caravan camped by the river, Chen Qing clearly felt the awe in the gazes from the others.
The Nanli girl who usually arranged his food and lodging became exceptionally attentive, while Hao Changchuan and Elder Liu’s attitudes towards him grew much warmer.
Only Song Yuqing remained indifferent, her emotions unfathomable.
This must be her pride, as she was at the perfect Qi Refining Realm.
Chen Qing paid little attention to this; he was now more interested in that mysterious elder.
Previously, he only found him to be at the ninth level of Qi Refinement, thus not particularly noteworthy; however, passing by the elder’s carriage, Chen Qing sensed a chill.
And this elder rarely left his carriage, not even for meals, which he took inside the carriage.
Deep into the night, Chen Qing sat by the fire chatting with Hao Changchuan, as the night wind rustled through the caravan, lifting the curtains of the carriages.
The wind passed through the gap in the elder’s carriage, brushing Chen Qing’s hair.
Despite his cheerful demeanor, Chen Qing was suddenly taken aback.
Ice coffin?
There was clearly an ice coffin within that elder’s carriage!
The information carried by the wind told Chen Qing that the ice coffin was eight feet long, three feet high, and three feet wide, exuding a biting cold.
The wind could only reveal that there was an ice coffin in the carriage, but the exact contents of the ice coffin were unknown.
He carefully observed the caravan, pondering, could it be that the caravan’s true cargo was that ice coffin?