Chapter 85 - 86: Level 4 Iron Cloth Shirt, Zhu Bao Wanted

Chapter 85: Chapter 86: Level 4 Iron Cloth Shirt, Zhu Bao Wanted

Three hundred and twenty-seven taels!

Zuo Chong alone had two hundred and eighty taels on him. His net worth was incredibly generous!

"A pleasant surprise, what a pleasant surprise!" Su Chen exclaimed in delight. "With these three hundred taels, I can use Krypton Gold for the Iron Cloth Shirt!"

Without hesitation, Su Chen immediately ordered the panel in his mind, "Top up!"

In the blink of an eye, the silver taels in his hands completely vanished, and the number of times he could use the Easy Mode for the Iron Cloth Shirt increased by one.

"Activate Easy Mode!"

[Easy Mode activated: Bathe in warm water for forty minutes to cultivate the Incomplete Iron Cloth Shirt to the fourth layer.]

The panel’s notification chimed.

"I won’t execute Easy Mode just yet. I’ll wait until I get back."

Su Chen shook his head. He was still out in the wilderness—where would he find warm water? He had to wait until he returned.

However, he wasn’t planning on heading back just yet. While observing from the shadows earlier, he had inadvertently overheard Zuo Chong talking to himself, which gave him an idea.

"So Zuo Chong and his men came here to capture Zhu Bao. Does that mean Zhu Bao is highly likely to be at Lianyun Stronghold?"

This certainly matched the trope of "the most dangerous place is the safest place," but wasn’t that usually just a cliché used in movies and TV shows?

He felt somewhat uncertain. If it were him, he definitely wouldn’t choose to stay at Lianyun Stronghold. If he needed to heal, he could just find a random place. Why go back there?

But on second thought, he wasn’t Zhu Bao. Perhaps Zhu Bao really was hiding out in Lianyun Stronghold.

"Lianyun Stronghold previously conquered the Lin Family Castle. Combined with their own wealth, they must be quite rich. Zhu Bao is currently injured. If I can really get my hands on Lianyun Stronghold’s fortune through him, it would benefit me tremendously.

"With my current strength, killing Zhu Bao would be as easy as crushing an ant... oh, wait, crushing a chick. I might as well go take a look tonight. If he really is staying at Lianyun Stronghold, I’ll kill him and take the money."

Having made up his mind, Su Chen hurried toward Lianyun Stronghold at full speed. If it had been before, it would have taken him at least half a day to reach Lianyun Mountain.

But with the enhancements of the Thunderbolt Leg and Wind Chasing Step, his traveling speed had increased significantly. It only took him two and a half hours to reach the foot of Lianyun Mountain.

Since he didn’t know the exact location of Lianyun Stronghold, he spent a great deal of effort finding the tracks left by Zuo Chong and his men. By following their footprints, he finally found the stronghold.

Just as Zuo Chong had said, Lianyun Stronghold had been completely burned to the ground. The remaining structures were dilapidated, looking especially eerie under the quiet night sky.

"Is there really anyone in this godforsaken place?"

Looking at the ruined Lianyun Stronghold before him, Su Chen grew suspicious.

After observing for a while and not hearing any unusual sounds, he quietly slipped into Lianyun Stronghold, grabbed a handful of ashes, and felt it.

"The ashes are ice-cold, but judging by the state of the stronghold, it doesn’t look like it burned down too long ago. Could Zhu Bao have intentionally come back to set it on fire?"

Su Chen guessed. He then wandered around the stronghold but still found nothing out of the ordinary. This left him slightly disappointed. Although it confirmed his initial doubts, it also meant Zhu Bao wasn’t in Lianyun Stronghold at all.

"Forget it. I should head back!"

After checking into a nearby inn, Su Chen asked the waiter to prepare a tub of warm water for him. He then had a simple meal. By the time he finished eating, the waiter had already prepared the warm water, so Su Chen took off his clothes and soaked in the tub.

After enjoying the bath for forty minutes, Su Chen’s eyelids twitched. The panel in his mind suddenly shifted, and the Iron Cloth Shirt upgraded from the third layer to the fourth layer.

"The inner force has suddenly become so thick!"

Su Chen carefully experienced the changes of the fourth layer of the Iron Cloth Shirt. The most obvious sensation was that his inner force had grown considerably thicker.

This change was even more drastic than the transition from the second layer to the third.

If the inner force of the third layer was only as thick as a blood vessel, the inner force of the fourth layer was as thick as a middle finger. In terms of volume, the inner force had nearly tripled!

"All three streams of inner force in my body have become as thick as my middle finger. Based on this, my strength has multiplied by at least three times. But without a point of reference, I can’t confirm exactly how strong I am now."

Su Chen pondered, feeling happy about his increased strength on one hand, but on the other, feeling helpless because he couldn’t gauge the true extent of his power.

"I remember Master mentioning that Tao Dingfang’s strength is at the Refining Internal Realm. I wonder how I compare to him with my current strength?"

Refining Internal Realm was a realm above the Refining Force Realm. It focused on driving inner force into the internal organs, primarily using it to temper and strengthen them.

Once a martial artist reached the Refining Internal Realm, their five internal organs would undergo an astonishing transformation. Tempered to the extreme, their organs would become as tough as iron, meaning they wouldn’t be easily injured even if struck by inner force attacks.

In terms of cultivation realm alone, Su Chen was definitely no match for Tao Dingfang, as he hadn’t yet reached that level. But in terms of the sheer volume of inner force, things might be different—after all, he possessed three streams of inner force.

Shaking his head, Su Chen stopped overthinking it and lay down on the bed to sleep. After a day of running around, he was quite exhausted and soon drifted off to dreamland.

The next day.

Before dawn, Su Chen set off back to White Stone City.

However, before heading back, he changed his clothes. The identity of Yang Guo had long been exposed, and Tao Wenxuan might have planted informants in White Stone City. Entering the city looking like that could blow his cover, and he would have to waste time shaking off people from the Government Office.

After spending two hours, Su Chen arrived back at White Stone City just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

Even before entering the city, Su Chen noticed something was off. The City Guard was extraordinarily strict today, interrogating almost every single person who passed by.

"Zuo Chong’s body must have been discovered."

Su Chen guessed. Not taking it to heart, he proceeded into the city as if nothing had happened.

He was also asked a few questions. Su Chen casually made up an excuse to fool them and was let through.

After entering the city, Su Chen asked around a bit and learned that early that morning, upon hearing that Zuo Chong and his men had been killed, Tao Dingfang flew into a rage. He issued a city-wide wanted poster, offering a heavy bounty for Zhu Bao’s head.

Security within White Stone City had become incredibly tight, which was exactly why the City Guard was interrogating all pedestrians entering and leaving the city.

However, to Su Chen’s surprise, the wanted poster wasn’t targeting him; it was for Zhu Bao. Tao Dingfang presumably believed Zuo Chong and the others were killed by Zhu Bao, which was why he put a bounty on his head.

After all, Lianyun Stronghold was wiped out in the morning, and Zuo Chong’s group was killed that same night. It was only natural for people to connect the two incidents.

Su Chen wasn’t bothered by this. He went back to his own house to change back into his original clothes, then sneaked into the Lin Mansion and returned to his room.

Not long after, Hong Ming and the others woke up one by one and began their respective martial arts practice. Seeing Su Chen, they all greeted him.

A thoroughly boring day began and ended just like that. This continued until the following morning, when news finally arrived from Tao Dingfang’s side.