Chapter 266 142: Variable

"My name is Qin Xiangyun."

The woman said with a beaming smile,

"I'm sure Young Master Chen has never heard of me, but you certainly won't be a stranger to my brother's name."

She paused deliberately, her tone growing heavier.

"Qin Zhao of the Cloud Platform Upper Courtyard."

Chen Cheng gave a slight nod but didn't reply.

When he was chatting with Zhuang Zhen yesterday, she had indeed made a point of mentioning this Qin Zhao.

The Qin Family was also one of the Seven Great Races of Zhao City, and their primary influence was in North City, same as the Bai Family.

When the Bai Family's assets were carved up last month, the Qin Family had profited the most.

As for why this Qin Xiangyun standing before him knew who he was, Chen Cheng didn't find it strange at all.

After all, Qin Zhao was going to participate in the Young Qilin Association. It was only natural for his younger sister to investigate his potential rivals beforehand.

Information and portraits weren't difficult things to acquire.

"I hear Young Master Chen holds a position at Wu's Fishing Village. The Treasure Fish and Treasure Snake in this cage must be your payment, correct?"

Qin Xiangyun's gaze returned to the fish cage, and she continued with the same smile,

"My brother is in urgent need of some resources to strengthen his physique, and that Cyan Silver Dragon in the cage is perfect. Would Young Master Chen be willing to part with it? I'm willing to offer eight hundred taels of silver as thanks."

"No. I'm short on resources myself."

Chen Cheng shook his head and began to walk away.

"One thousand taels!"

Qin Xiangyun hurriedly raised her price.

She was still beaming, but a glint of coldness, almost imperceptible, flashed deep in her eyes.

"No. Farewell."

Chen Cheng didn't stop, calmly walking past the carriage at a steady pace.

He hadn't said it outright, but his meaning couldn't be clearer: it wasn't for sale, not at any price.

He currently had more than three thousand seven hundred taels of silver, so he wasn't short on money. What he desperately lacked were resources.

He had already finished the Treasure Fish he was raising at home. He had originally hoped to buy more from Wu's Fishing Village today, but a large, vicious fish had unexpectedly appeared and completely disrupted his plans.

The key issue was that as long as that vicious fish wasn't eliminated, it would be difficult for the Wu Family to transport their Treasure Fish, and Chen Cheng's own supplemental resources would not be replenished.

If he hadn't caught the Cyan Silver Dragon and the Cyan Ink Treasure Snake himself today, his future daily training would have been severely impacted.

To say nothing of other things, both the Four Gods Profound Body and the Thunder Treading Skill placed an extreme strain on his physique, overdrawing his energy.

Without supplemental resources, the daily training time for these two Martial Arts would be drastically reduced, severely slowing the pace of his power growth.

For this reason, Qin Xiangyun's offer of a mere one thousand taels had no chance of tempting Chen Cheng.

Besides, Dragon Mountain and Cloud Platform had an old grudge.

How could Chen Cheng hand over such a precious supplemental resource to the most popular prodigy of the Cloud Platform Upper Courtyard?

「Inside the carriage.」

Qin Xiangyun yanked the curtain shut with a flick of her wrist. The pearls adorning the bottom of the curtain struck the window frame with a series of muffled thuds.

The smile on her face was gone, replaced by a rage that was bone-deep cold.

And at that moment, a young man in equally luxurious clothes was sitting across from her.

His black brocade robe was woven all over with a dark pattern. When the light hit it at an angle, cloud-and-water-like textures seemed to flow across it. It was made of Nanyue Flowing Cloud Brocade, a material more precious than gold.

And this man was none other than Qin Zhao.

"He's just a nobody. Not worth getting angry over."

Qin Zhao was holding an ancient book with yellowed pages, reading it intently. He spoke casually without even lifting his gaze.

"It's because he's a nobody that it's so infuriating!"

Qin Xiangyun said coldly,

"I humbled myself, condescended to deal with him, and it would have been one thing if he was just ungrateful, but he didn't even give me a pleasant look! Me! Qin Xiangyun! When have I ever been treated with such disrespect by a nobody?"

Qin Zhao said nothing, simply continuing to read his book.

It was as if the person and the matter Qin Xiangyun was speaking of were so insignificant that they weren't even worthy of him lifting his gaze.

"Brother!"

Qin Xiangyun's voice grew even colder.

"Three days from now, at the Young Qilin Association, I want you to cripple him for me!"

"Does he even dare to get on stage?"

Qin Zhao retorted indifferently, slowly turning to the next page.

Qin Xiangyun was stunned for a moment, at a loss for words.

According to the information she had gathered, it had only been a few days since Chen Cheng had condensed his Sixth Pillar of Blood Qi.

The others participating in the Young Qilin Association were the top geniuses in Zhao City under the age of eighteen. They were either infinitely close to the Seventh Pillar of Blood Qi or had reached the Entry Level of a Secret Inheritance.

Any single one of them was far beyond what Chen Cheng could compare to.

Qin Zhao's point was succinct: if Chen Cheng didn't even dare to get on stage, what was the point of talking about crippling him?

With his prompting, Qin Xiangyun immediately understood. Her bellyful of anger had no outlet, and it burned in her chest, making her expression even uglier.

"Alright, don't get worked up over such a trivial matter."

Qin Zhao put down his book. His astonishingly bright eyes looked directly at Qin Xiangyun, and his tone, though bland, carried an indescribable persuasiveness.

"Dragon Mountain Hall is about to collapse anyway. That Chen... what was his name again? Never mind... In any case, he doesn't have many days left to hop around."

"Fine. I'll be waiting."

Qin Xiangyun responded, then slowly pulled a palm-sized cloth doll from her sleeve.

The doll was made entirely of coarse linen, with crooked, messy stitches. It looked very crudely made.

A few strands of some unknown, dry, yellowed hair were wrapped around its hands and feet.

It had no facial features, just a ghastly white surface with a single dark red dot on its forehead.

Qin Xiangyun clenched the doll tightly in both hands, tearing and mangling it. She used all her strength with every motion, her knuckles turning white.

Qin Zhao picked up his book again and was soon engrossed in it once more.

...

「After returning home.」

Chen Cheng gave the Cyan Silver Dragon and the Cyan Ink Treasure Snake to the Li Family, asking her to stew them in two separate pots.

Since the weather was cold, he wasn't worried about it spoiling. Having it stewed in advance would be convenient; he could just heat up a portion in a small pot whenever he wanted to eat.