Chapter 204: Wei Chen Task
Lian Cheng smiled and leaned back. His eyes fixed on the elder as if everything were under his control.
"That is true. The laws of Heaven and Earth do not allow it. But as you know, laws can be bent, depending on who is bending them. Traveling from the Immortal Realm is certainly challenging, but not impossible."
"What!?" The elder’s eyes widened in shock. Did this mean the stranger before him was someone from the Immortal Realm?
The elder tried to sense the stranger’s cultivation, but there was no response from his spiritual probe. He considered applying pressure, but if the man truly came from the upper realm, that would be a foolish move.
The elder thought for a moment, weighing everything the stranger had said, especially the code phrase used to summon him. He was already eighty percent convinced of the man’s authenticity.
"If you do not mind me asking, since you know that phrase, it means you must have known Lord Heavenly Sword Saint personally. That would give you a noble status. Why not go directly to Vice Sect Leader Jian Heng? I believe he could offer you far more assistance than a branch elder like me," the elder said.
This was the one question he could not understand. He had some influence, but why come to him when there were far more powerful figures available?
"I do not have time to travel to the main Heavenly Sword Sect. What I need are some rare materials, and for you to send a letter on my behalf," Lian Cheng said.
He took out an envelope, placed it on the table, and slid it toward the elder.
"Deliver this letter to the Vice Sect Leader for me. Also, gather the materials listed here." Lian Cheng took out another sheet containing a list of materials and handed it over.
The elder looked at the list, then back at Lian Cheng. "Senior, these materials all come from dangerous and fierce beasts. We do not have them in our storage. Could you give us some time?"
His tone became more respectful now that his doubts had mostly faded. He did not want to offend someone who might truly be from the Immortal Realm.
"Is one month enough?" Lian Cheng asked.
"It will be tight, but we will do our best to gather them," the elder replied.
"Good." Lian Cheng nodded and stood up.
Just as he was about to leave the private booth, the elder spoke again.
"May I have your name, Senior?"
Lian Cheng glanced back at him. "Just call me the Forge Lord."
With that, he walked out of the private booth without looking back.
After Lian Cheng walked out of the inn, the elder moved to the entrance and gazed at the doorway where Lian Cheng had just left.
"The Forge Lord... what a mysterious person," the elder murmured, then looked at the letter in his hand.
"I wonder why he did not just ask for the Vice Sect Leader’s phone number..."
— Meanwhile - Thousand Treasure Pavilion —
At Wei Chen’s courtyard, which had now been turned into his personal residence with Dream Butterfly, things had settled into a new arrangement. As for Mo Xingyao, she did not live here because Mo Jue did not allow it. She had to marry him first before she could move in.
In the guest hall, Wei Chen walked in from outside along with two people, one little girl and one woman.
"Sister Yuyu! Sister Yaoyao, I’m back!" the little one shouted happily as she ran toward Dream Butterfly, who had come out to receive the guests. She was always the one who handled such matters, as she believed it was beneath Mo Xingyao, the first wife, to do so.
However, Mo Xingyao, who had grown up as a princess of the demonic path sect, did not care much for such formalities. She followed Dream Butterfly out to greet her fiancé.
"Oh! The little troublemaker is here!" Mo Xingyao said with a smile, her tone completely free of reprimand. She hurried forward and picked the girl up.
Seeing this, Wei Chen smiled mischievously. "You seem to like children. But when I try to make one with yo... oof."
Before he could finish, a delicate hand covered his mouth. The touch was soft and gentle, but the pain came from the sharp pinch twisting at his waist.
"Please refrain from speaking inappropriately, my lord. There is a child here," Dream Butterfly said in a gentle voice, her smile just as soft.
Wei Chen could only smile awkwardly, his mouth still covered. This girl... she seemed fiercer now. Was this the power of becoming a wife? It felt as though a woman became more powerful to her husband after becoming their wife.
"Just you wait. Tonight, I will teach you how inappropriate I can be," Wei Chen whispered into her ear.
Dream Butterfly blushed and lightly slapped his back to hide her embarrassment.
"Ahem!"
A deliberate cough came from behind them. It was Yan Rongjun, reminding Wei Chen that she was still there.
"Oh, my apologies, Lady Yan," Wei Chen said with an awkward laugh. He then turned to Mo Xingyao, who was holding little Ningning in her arms.
"Yaoyao, Yu’er," he said, gesturing toward Yan Rongjun, "this is Lady Yan Rongjun. She is the second wife of the Underworld Palace Lord and the former supreme general of our Underworld Palace."
At the introduction, Yan Rongjun nodded toward both Mo Xingyao and Dream Butterfly.
"You two must be this guy’s wives that I heard about from Sister Youqi. Nice to meet you," Yan Rongjun said casually. Her demeanor was friendly, without even a hint of arrogance, unlike most people with power and influence.
"The honor is ours, Lady Yan," the two replied at the same time. Dream Butterfly cupped her fists in greeting, while Mo Xingyao gave a slight bow, as she was still holding the little girl.
"Enough with the formalities. I am not some stuck up as my fourth sister. My daughter and I will be troubling you for the next few days," Yan Rongjun said with a wide smile. Her chest was lifted and her posture straight, like a sword, the bearing of a seasoned soldier.
"Please make yourself at home, Lady Yan," Mo Xingyao said, then turned to Yin Lan, who was standing not far from her.
"Sister Lan, please bring our honored guest to her courtyard."
"Yes, Young Miss," Yin Lan replied with a bow. She then walked up to Yan Rongjun.
"Please follow me, Lady Yan. I will lead you to your private courtyard," Yin Lan said, cupping her fists.
"Mama, I will stay here with Sister Yaoyao and Sister Yuyu," the little one said joyfully as she waved at her second mother.
"Fine... just do not trouble them too much, alright?" Yan Rongjun nodded.
"Yay!" With permission granted, the mischievous girl raised her hands in delight.
"What are we going to play today? Uno? Monopoly?" Ningning chirped nonstop to the two, while Wei Chen shook his head at the little one’s antics.
Right now, he had two tasks he needed to take care of.
The first was the urgent one, keeping an eye on that regressor. This, he could delegate to some of his men. They had far stronger cultivation than the people in the lower realm.
As for the second, it was his main job... reducing the death rate in this savage culture called the cultivation world.
As of now, he was doing a fine job, if he said so himself. But that was not enough. He needed to do a brilliant job if he wanted to pass the probation period. He needed to reduce more deaths, at least to a level not too different from his previous world.
Even though there had clearly been a significant reduction in sect annihilations, clan calamities, and family massacres, such incidents still existed somewhere, especially in provinces without access to his broadcasts, or in poorer regions like Jade Bamboo Province, where a U-Phone was considered an extremely luxurious item.
He had lived in this world long enough to understand how it operated, and he found it... inconvenient.
For example, news. Free news in this world traveled only through word of mouth and rumors. Yes, when a family was massacred or a clan was annihilated, other prefectures would learn about it only after it had passed through countless mouths. By then, its authenticity might be fifty percent or even less compared to what actually happened.
This made it easy for perpetrators to exploit the situation, often spreading false accusations and slander against their rivals or competitors, whether it worked or not.
Authentic news, on the other hand, was mostly monopolized by information brokers. That was because there was no dedicated organization or business in this world that specialized in distributing or monetizing news.
People still believed that news was something only the upper strata needed to care about, not the common folk.
Which was completely mistaken, and it had already been proven in his previous world. Major news, such as wars, could affect the prices of everyday goods. Even more niche news, like the discovery of a new genius by a sect, could still impact the grassroots level.