Getting up, Evan Yang went to a patch of loose soil, buried all the useless items there, and absorbed the useful pills and herbs in one go. The pill residue was worthless, but the herbs—revived by Evan—turned green again in his hands. Smiling, he said, "These herbs probably won't do me any good anymore. I'll just trade them for better materials."
If Evan wanted to exchange for better materials, he needed to use these herbs to trade for a few higher-grade ones.
He acted as soon as he thought of it. The next morning, after many shops opened, Evan brought his carefully prepared herbs to Spirit Treasure Hall, heading toward where the Seed wanted to go. To his surprise, he was drawn to the second floor. Just as he was about to go up, someone stopped him. "Little beggar, everything upstairs is expensive. You'd better leave."
"Me?" Evan knew his current status probably wasn't enough to get upstairs, so he could only step back helplessly. He asked, "I want to trade for some materials."
"Oh? What materials? Don't tell me you picked some wild grass from the fields?" The clerk mocked Evan, judging by his appearance.
Evan really wanted to slap him, but he had to hide his identity for now. So, he reluctantly took out his herbs. The attendant inspected them and, seeing they were real, looked at Evan strangely. "You didn't steal these, did you?"
Evan wasn't worried about the clerk taking his things. After all, Spirit Treasure Hall insisted on fair trade. So he said, "I picked them myself, alright?"
"Fine, fine. We're Spirit Treasure Hall, after all." The attendant was annoyed—a beggar talking to him like this—but held back, not wanting trouble from the higher-ups.
Evan quickly traded for a few more expensive herbs, then left Spirit Treasure Hall and found an inn to eat.
Everyone recognized this beggar—it was the same one who'd been seen with a beautiful woman days ago. Some people wanted to teach him a lesson, but the inn had a rule: no fighting inside, or they'd report it to the City Lord's Mansion.
The City Lord’s Mansion only puts on a show for the public. It can keep weaker cultivators in check, but if any big shots show up, even the Mansion will be in trouble.
Evan understood this well: if cultivators could fight whenever they wanted, ordinary people wouldn’t bother opening shops in the city at all. With every cultivator stronger than regular folks, no one would feel safe, and the city wouldn’t attract any business.
Evan knew what everyone was thinking. He didn’t bother with them—if it really came to a fight, he’d have to waste a lot of energy. Soon, he finished eating and got ready to leave.
Those guys were like bored street thugs, blocking Evan’s way. One even joked, "Hey, little beggar, why aren’t you with that beauty today?"
"Boring," Evan replied, then slipped away in a flash.
Such quick movement? The crowd only realized he was gone after a moment. Unwilling to give up, they chased him, only to arrive at the ruined temple. Staring at it, they stopped and cursed, "Damn beggar, come out here!"
"If you’ve got guts, come in!" Evan chuckled, even making a few mocking gestures at them.
"You—" Everyone knew the ruined temple was taboo. None wanted to risk their lives for a little beggar.
Seeing they wouldn’t come in, Evan ignored them and found a corner of the ruined temple to cultivate, no matter how loudly they shouted outside.
Soon, the angry shouts faded away, disappearing completely.
Elsewhere in an inn, a disciple hurried over to Mr. Li and whispered something.
"Oh? Are you serious?" Mr. Li had been troubled for days, but was shocked when he heard the disciple’s words.
"Absolutely. He showed up at Spirit Treasure Hall, then was chased by a crowd into a ruined temple. Looks like he still hasn’t come out." The disciple nodded.
"Good, heaven’s helping me! That little beggar—don’t think hiding in the ruined temple means we can’t deal with him." Mr. Li snorted coldly.
"So what should we do?" the disciple asked.
"Send more people over. Watch every approach around the temple. Don’t let him slip away," Mr. Li instructed.
"Yes." The disciple received the order and immediately left the inn.
Mr. Li, left behind, muttered to himself, "The young master wants to go there and gave me five days to deal with this guy. Luckily he hasn’t left the city. I’ll go tell the young master."
Tara Chu, since Evan left, hadn’t fallen into despair. Instead, she focused on something else.
"Four days left. Looks like that Bai brat will go there too." Tara Chu muttered in her room.
Just then, Lily, the young maid, pushed open the door and walked up to Tara Chu, saying, "Miss, the Bai Family has sent out a lot of people."
"Oh? Where to?" Tara Chu asked in surprise.
"A ruined temple in the city." Lily had been observing the Bai Family’s actions for Tara Chu, and only noticed their mass mobilization just in time to report it.
"A ruined temple? What are they doing there?" Tara Chu paced by the window, muttering.
"Miss, is there some treasure there?" Lily asked innocently.
"Impossible. If there were treasure in a ruined temple, the City Lord’s Mansion would’ve dug it up ages ago. There’s no way outsiders like us would get a turn." Tara Chu shook her head.
"There are still four days left. Maybe they’re trying to find some way to break through to Foundation-Building there?" Right now, both the Chu and Bai Families were focused on whether Tara Chu and Gavin Bai could break through to Foundation-Building.
"Foundation-Building—you can either rely on pills or cultivate up naturally. The first way is easier; with enough Foundation-Building Pills, you can succeed. The second is rare, but if you manage it, your future growth will be amazing." Tara Chu spoke, her eyes full of longing.
"Do we really have to go to that place?" Lily asked anxiously.
"Go. I have to go. I need to break through to Foundation-Building before that guy does, or I’ll always be stuck growing passively." Tara Chu sighed.
"But..." Lily was deeply worried for her mistress.
"Don’t worry. As long as I’m careful, I should be fine. You, though—keep watching what the Bai Family is up to for me." Tara Chu knew the Bai Family was watching her every move, so she had to send someone else to check outside.
Lily nodded and left the room, heading toward the ruined temple.
Evan, who had been cultivating in the ruined temple, suddenly heard many people approaching. The footsteps covered the whole area. Curious, he got up and looked out through a cracked wall—Bai Family disciples. "Wow, they sent so many people so quickly."
If it were only one or two, Evan wouldn’t be worried—he could deal with them inside the temple. But if a whole group rushed in, it’d be a headache. He began thinking about how to handle them.
Soon, the worst-case scenario appeared—a young man walked in, followed by a fat Mr. Li, both glaring at Evan.
"Kid, you’re lucky to be alive. Four of my disciples died because of you." Gavin Bai said angrily, holding a birdcage in his right hand.
"I don’t know what you’re talking about." Evan knew they couldn’t confirm he was the killer, so he didn’t admit anything and prepared to strike.
"Really don’t know?" Gavin Bai wasn’t convinced a little beggar could kill four Qi-Refining disciples.
Mr. Li wasn’t sure either, his face darkening as he asked, "Kid, did you see anyone chasing you these past few days?"
"You mean the guy with a beard? And three others dressed like him?" Evan asked, surprised.
"So it was you?" Mr. Li said angrily.
"I just saw them following me for a while, then lost track of them." Evan tried to push the blame away.
"Impossible. They were killed." Gavin Bai snorted coldly.
"Killed? No way!" Evan immediately put on an innocent, shocked face.
Seeing Evan’s expression, Gavin Bai and Mr. Li exchanged glances. Neither believed a beggar could be a killer.
Finally, Gavin Bai snorted, "Doesn’t matter if you did it or not. We’ll take you back first."
Mr. Li agreed—it wouldn’t hurt to catch him, since they wanted him dead anyway.
Evan was at a loss for what to do. Just then, a woman stepped in through the door, sneering, "Gavin Bai, didn’t I say you’re not allowed to touch my partner?"
The newcomer was Tara Chu. When Lily reported the Bai Family was after Evan, Tara rushed out and arrived just in time to see Evan about to be taken.
Seeing Tara, Evan wasted no time and hid behind her, saying, "They said I killed someone!"
Gavin Bai felt awkward after hearing Tara’s voice. Only when Evan spoke did he say, "The Bai Family lost four disciples, so I want to take him back for questioning."
"Ridiculous! Just because you lost disciples, you blame my partner? That’s a flimsy excuse. Maybe I should tell everyone outside that the Bai Family is so desperate, they’re dragging off a useless beggar for questioning. What would your clan leader think?" Tara Chu retorted coldly.
Tara’s words stung Gavin Bai, who could only glare at Evan. Mr. Li cursed inwardly about someone interfering at the last moment, but neither dared accuse Tara of killing their disciples outright.
Tara Chu took the chance to lead Evan away.
"Phew, that was close," Tara said with a smile once they were away from the crowd.
"Just you alone?" Evan realized Tara had pulled him out in front of everyone. He couldn’t help admiring her innocence—she fooled even outsiders with her appearance.
Looking at Evan, Tara asked, "You should stick with me."
"Not letting me leave?" Evan felt like he was back under Tara’s protection.
"I never thought Gavin Bai would send so many people after you. If you leave the city, you’ll probably be ambushed. So stay with me until I find a good chance to send you off." Tara had only seen Evan as a beggar before, but Gavin’s anger changed everything—now Evan had the Chu Family’s protection.
Only Evan knew why—the Bai Family had lost four killers, so of course they were furious. But now, thanks to the Chu Family, Evan had found a shield. Thinking about how the Bai Family still couldn’t confirm he was the murderer almost made him laugh.