Staying Alive Cautiously in the Celestial Realm and Becoming the Strongest

Chapter 474 Acting is Useless

After moving into the Shangxun Heavenly Master Pavilion, Wang Chen had all the servants, maids, and guards in the estate cleared out.

Then, through the Xi Family, he recruited a new batch of people to come in.

Though this resulted in a dramatic increase in the Xi Family's influence over the Shangxun Heavenly Master Pavilion,

it came with the risk of being undermined.

But Wang Chen didn't care, for he would stay in Dayi City for at most three years before he inevitably had to return to his Sect.

Whether the Xi Family had any ambition was irrelevant to the greater scheme of things, as long as they were extremely respectful to him for the time being, that was enough.

The Old Gardener hoeing the garden undoubtedly was also assigned by the Xi Family.

The man appeared very old, with white hair and a face full of deep wrinkles that silently told of the mercilessness of time; his coarse skin and cracked hands further proved he was a genuine farmer.

The Old Gardener hadn't noticed Wang Chen's arrival, working diligently and meticulously with his back turned, clearing weeds bit by bit.

He was working very seriously and carefully.

When he turned around, ready to put the weeds he had gathered into the bamboo basket, he was startled to see Wang Chen.

The Old Gardener promptly dropped his hoe and clumsily bowed to Wang Chen, "Heavenly Master, I greet you."

Wang Chen asked, "Do you know me?"

The Old Gardener humbly replied, "Yes, yes, the steward pointed out the Heavenly Master to me when he brought me to the estate."

Wang Chen nodded, "You've worked hard."

"It is my duty."

The Old Gardener, filled with anxious respect, said, "It's an honor to serve you, sir."

"Heh heh."

Wang Chen laughed, "It must be hard on you, dao friend, to have achieved Qi Cultivation Perfection and still lower yourself to serve others, doing such menial tasks."

The Old Gardener was confused, "Sir, what, what are you talking about?"

"Not bad acting."

Wang Chen laughed, "You deserve the honor of being an old master of the craft; it's just unfortunate that no matter how skillful your Stealth Breath Technique is, it can't withstand the Clarify Technique. Let's not beat around the bush—there's no need for you to keep pretending." Explore stories at empire

This Old Gardener's disguise was almost flawless, manifesting only the aura of first-level Qi Cultivation, and his appearance and attire were utterly ordinary, making him easy to overlook at first glance.

His Stealth Breath Technique must have been cultivated to a very high level.

Unfortunately for him, he encountered Wang Chen.

To tell the truth, if it weren't for detecting an issue through the upgraded Immortal Cultivation panel 2.0, Wang Chen probably wouldn't have noticed that there was a scheming Cultivator in his own backyard.

Finding this hidden threat was the hard part; peeling back the layers was much easier.

Wang Chen was a master of disguise himself; his Stealth Breath Technique had once reached the level of Great Perfection, and now he possessed the Purple Mansion-grade Clarify Technique, making it simple to see through the other party.

The key here was detection.

Otherwise, how could Wang Chen possibly use the Clarify Technique to scrutinize a mere servant on a regular basis?

This demonstrates the power of the Immortal Cultivation panel's global mode.

Within the range of Divine Sense perception, friend or foe was clear at a glance; the human heart was unpredictable, but a cheat code never lies!

In Wang Chen's map view, this Old Gardener was conspicuous, radiating a yellow light tinged with streaks of black.

Especially at the moment he was exposed, the other party's malice almost erupted forth!

"Heavenly Master."

Realizing he could no longer maintain his disguise, the Old Gardener suddenly stood up straight, his eyes transforming from cloudy to bright and sharp, and he said in a deep voice, "This old man had no intention of offending you. I merely offended Chief Town Heavenly Master Luo Han and had no choice but to hide here."

"If the Heavenly Master dislikes my presence, I will leave immediately!"

His voice was forceful, neither servile nor overbearing, and his reasoning was clear.

Wang Chen almost believed him.

The Old Gardener's excuse seemed quite convincing, as everyone in the upper echelons of Dayi City knew that Chief Town Heavenly Master Luo Han wasn't very fond of the new appointment to the Shangxun Heavenly Master Pavilion.

Wang Chen had been in office for a while now, and after Luo Han summoned him for a meeting on the first day, he took no further action.

It seemed Luo Han was content to let Wang Chen sink or swim on his own.

Without any special circumstances, Luo Han wouldn't likely condescend to visit the Shangxun Heavenly Master Pavilion to see Wang Chen. The Old Gardener's claim of having offended Luo Han and hiding here was, in fact, not flawed at all.

The problem was, the truth that Wang Chen "saw" wasn't so.

If the other party had been telling the truth, then what should have shown up on the map was a white dot!

"Thinking of leaving?"

Wang Chen shook his head, "It's not that easy."

Before his words fell, he reached out to grab the other, "Bind!"

As his command was issued, the binding skill followed, causing the Old Gardener's body to shiver, his limbs instantly stiffened, and the flow of mana inside his body came to a halt.

He had actually been ready to escape for a long time, prepared to trigger his magic artifact to flee as soon as Wang Chen turned hostile.

He never ever imagined that Wang Chen would act without martial integrity, striking with such decisiveness and speed, so fast that he had no time to react.

Most importantly, the Old Gardener could never have dreamt that Wang Chen's Binding Skill was so powerful.

The old hand of the Martial World capsized in an instant!

The time he was bound was actually only a moment, merely the blink of an eye.

But even such a brief moment could decide life and death!

A mana-congealed giant hand descended, gripping the Old Gardener tightly, plunging him into unconsciousness in an instant.

"Where is Xi Chenlong?"

The next moment, Wang Chen said solemnly, "Come to me at once!"

His voice instantly spread throughout the entire Heavenly Master Pavilion.

The head of the Heavenly Master Pavilion's patrol guards, Xi Chenlong, quickly arrived at the back garden with two guards in tow.

When he saw the Old Gardener lying unconscious on the ground, his complexion changed immediately, and he quickly knelt on one knee, "Xi Chenlong pays respects to the Heavenly Master!"

"This man is a spy."

Wang Chen pointed at the Old Gardener on the ground and said indifferently, "He was brought here by you all, so you should take him away."

Xi Chenlong immediately knocked his forehead to the ground, "Yes."

He dared not retort anything, nor did he believe that Wang Chen was speaking offhandedly, feeling full of fright and unease.

In the Heavenly Master Pavilion, aside from the dozen or so children Wang Chen had brought with him, everyone else had been arranged by the Xi Family.

Now, with a spy surfacing, the Xi Family couldn't possibly escape responsibility.

In fact, Xi Chenlong did know this Old Gardener.

"Go."

Wang Chen did not say much else, waving his hand to indicate they could leave.

Xi Chenlong felt the Immortal's might to be unfathomable and hastily took the Old Gardener to admit guilt and depart.

This matter wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't trivial either. He needed to notify the Xi Family immediately and then provide Wang Chen with an explanation.

Otherwise, what standing would the Xi Family have before Wang Chen in the future!

After Xi Chenlong and the others left, Wang Chen took a tour around the Heavenly Master Pavilion.

Then he went out to the streets.

In the map vision he activated, a dense array of white dots appeared.

Then Wang Chen discovered a problem.

A big problem!

His Human Virtue points were rapidly depleting.

The more luminous points appeared in his vision, the faster the Human Virtue points dropped, to an extent that even Wang Chen felt a pang of heartache.

He quickly closed the global mode.

If he continued, the remaining twenty thousand or so Human Virtue points would not last very long.

And such consumption was completely meaningless.

A bloody loss!

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First release delivered.