Chapter 285: Third Layer of Qi Refining

Chapter 285: Qi Refining Layer Three

The man in the black jacket stared at the Kunqing Grass on the table, his gaze profound.

He finally said, “Could we meet in person?”

With a hundred-million deal at stake, he couldn’t rest easy without seeing the other party.

Losing Qi Yuan was a small matter; losing a hundred million would be a real pain.

“Hurry up, I’m busy,” Qi Yuan said casually.

Perhaps in a while, once his power was fully developed, he wouldn’t even care about a hundred million.

“Two days from now, how about the Haixingyao in Tianyue City?” the man in the black jacket asked tentatively.

Two days later, the luxury cruise ship Haixingyao would dock in Tianyue City for three days, during which it would resupply and also hold a banquet, inviting various social elites.

“Mm… the ticket and travel expenses, you’ll cover those,” Qi Yuan agreed.

He’d treat it as a free meal.

“Tomorrow, the invitation will be delivered to you; the day after, a chauffeur will come to pick you up,” the man in the black jacket arranged smoothly.

In truth, this was also a show of strength.

It was telling Qi Yuan: I know your information and your address.

“Fine. Oh, and bring more Kunqing Grass—I’m running low.” Qi Yuan looked at the man in the black jacket, then added, “If it’s convenient, gather some materials for me too. Deduct the cost from our transaction.

Oh, and the transaction amount should be after tax.”

Having said that, Qi Yuan listed a few more materials he needed, then ended the video call.

In the border town, the man in the black jacket’s expression shifted between gloom and uncertainty.

From the exchange just now, he had gleaned too little useful information, and the initiative remained in the other party’s hands.

As the saying goes, the customer is king.

But he felt that the man named Qi Yuan was the true king.

That ease and casual confidence in his words were not something an ordinary person could possess.

The man in the black jacket, an arms dealer with many guns under his command, had killed before and met all sorts of people, but he had never encountered anyone like Qi Yuan.

The man in the short jacket, however, was extremely displeased: “This Qi Yuan is way too arrogant—he doesn’t show any respect! This is a hundred-million deal!”

Qi Yuan’s attitude had greatly irritated the man in the short jacket.

“A-Zhi, remember to prepare the materials Qi Yuan mentioned,” the man in the black jacket ordered.

The man in the short jacket, A-Zhi, hesitated: “Boss, are we really going to gather them?”

“Mm… if the meeting goes smoothly, this deal… I suppose we’ll go through with it,” the man in the black jacket said, knowing himself well.

Since he was already tempted.

Then this deal would definitely proceed.

Unless, during the meeting, the other party showed a major flaw.

But in the video chat, the other party had been flawless; a major flaw during the meeting… was almost impossible.

“Are we really doing it?” A-Zhi swallowed hard.

That was a hundred million Qin Yuan!

And after taxes.

If he had that much money, he would have quit this job long ago and gone to enjoy life.

“We’re doing it,” the man in the black jacket said in a low voice.

A-Zhi seemed to understand something. He raised an eyebrow and said, “Should I arrange some people on the Haixingyao to… take him out…”

“What are you thinking? This is a legitimate transaction!

Business must be done with integrity!” The man in the black jacket glared at A-Zhi.

He knew what A-Zhi meant—probably a double-cross.

How could a transaction involving a cultivation method be a double-cross?

If it turned out to be real, wouldn’t that mean the other party was a cultivator?

…

“Already reserved. Temporarily declining private messages. No tips—no refunds.”

Qi Yuan thought for a moment, then commented on his own video and pinned it.

Having said that, he logged out of the short video app.

“Qi Yuan, this is our Mingwu member group. I’ve invited you—please accept.”

Second Senior Brother sent an invitation, along with a link to join the group.

“Okay, thanks for the trouble, Second Senior Brother.”

Qi Yuan entered the group called “Mingwu Gathering Place.”

The group had over three hundred members.

After joining, Qi Yuan lurked, watching the group messages.

“Ugh, secret substances are way too expensive. I can’t afford them at all,” a female member with the nickname Little Fish complained in the group.

“Sister Fish, your husband’s about to kick the bucket, and you’re still worried about that hundred-thousand-plus worth of secret substances?” a member joked.

“The bulk of the inheritance goes to his sons; I only get scraps?” Little Fish’s text carried discontent.

“Not bad—three years for a hundred-million inheritance. I’m jealous!”

“@Master, can secret substances be cheaper? Too expensive—can’t afford them!” Little Fish said in the group.

A few other trainees chimed in.

“Cheaper—can’t buy anymore!”

“We’re so poor we don’t even have underwear!”

Watching the group messages, Qi Yuan couldn’t help but ask, “What are secret substances?”

Qi Yuan always maintained the good habit of asking when he didn’t know.

“Bro, new here? When martial artists cultivate to a high level, they need secret substances to boost their strength.

Oh, and don’t mistake secret substances for gene serums—they’re all-natural,” a kind trainee explained further.

“At what stage do you take secret substances?” Qi Yuan asked again.

“When you’ve cultivated ‘Mingwu Resonance Fist’ to the seventh layer, you have to start taking secret substances, or you simply can’t progress.

It’s usually us senior trainees, who’ve been practicing ‘Mingwu Resonance Fist’ for three or four years, that take secret substances to enhance our strength,” the kind senior said a lot.

“You’ve trained so long, you must be really strong, right?” Qi Yuan asked curiously. “Can you catch bullets with your bare hands?”

“Ahem…” The senior was at a loss for words. “Bro, you’re joking, right?”

“It seems even the senior members aren’t that strong,” Qi Yuan thought to himself.

He naturally wouldn’t post these words in the group—that would be too socially inept.

He lurked in the group for a while, and most of the messages he saw were complaints about how expensive secret elixirs were.

According to the information Qi Yuan gathered from the group, a month of normal martial arts training required consuming secret elixirs worth hundreds of thousands.

That meant several million a year.

No wonder only the rich practiced martial arts.

How could an ordinary person bear to spend millions a year on training?

“I need to reach the seventh layer quickly and see what these secret elixirs really are.”

Qi Yuan was quite curious.

Right now, he was only at the first layer of the *Mingwu Resonance Fist*, still far from the seventh.

Moreover, martial arts and immortal cultivation had many differences.

For instance, immortal cultivation, which was harder to advance, had already brought Qi Yuan to the third layer of Qi Refining.

If resources were sufficient, he could immediately build his foundation.

But martial arts were different—they required practice.

Real practice.

Every time he performed the *Mingwu Resonance Fist*, Qi Yuan felt a slight improvement.

This improvement wasn’t in proficiency, but in his martial arts cultivation.

“But ordinary people… they probably can’t keep practicing more than a few times a day… while I’m different—I can keep going!”

In the living room, Qi Yuan practiced the *Mingwu Resonance Fist* for a while longer.

After finishing, he began cultivating his immortal techniques.

“I probably won’t be able to summon the projection of the Stellar Golden Core until I reach the Yuan Dan stage.

Right now… I’m too weak—I need to keep a low profile.”

Qi Yuan felt he was already keeping a low profile.

For example, posting videos to sell techniques.

There were quite a few comments below… well, if this were the Canglan Realm, Qi Yuan would trace the network and pay them a visit.

But now, he was just a little newbie at the third layer of Qi Refining.

Trace the network and beat people up?

Too much trouble.

Couldn’t be bothered. At least until the Yuan Dan stage, then he’d consider cleaning up society, right?

Otherwise, he wouldn’t even have the confidence to say he doesn’t eat beef.

Late the next night, Qi Yuan returned again, took a shower,

and lay on the sofa, watching the news on TV.

“Recently, lawless elements have infiltrated this city. Citizens are advised to ensure personal safety.”

“The jewel of Qinyuan, the Sixth Princess of Tiancheng, celebrates her coming-of-age today. Hail the princess!”

“Canxing becomes the word of the year; more and more citizens yearn to emigrate to Canxing!”

“Yuelang’s cabinet imposes a ‘rain tax’; protesters gather in the streets.”

The news reported various events happening around the world.

“If I remember correctly, in a few days, the Sixth Princess will be assassinated, and Yuelang will undergo a coup,” Qi Yuan mused.

He still had memories of the coming year, though he didn’t know most events.

But matters big enough to trend and make headlines—those, the innate seed still knew.

“With those restarters around, this Sixth Princess probably won’t be assassinated this time.”

Although Qi Yuan hadn’t yet contacted the Gongyi family, with so many restarters, surely some had already reached out to the Seven Martial Star families.

Preventing the Sixth Princess’s death—such a great merit—someone would definitely take it on.

Just then, Qi Yuan’s phone rang.

He glanced at it—it was a call from Wang Xu.

“Qi Yuan, how did the blind date go? Was the person Cui Fan introduced reliable?”

“Didn’t work out,” Qi Yuan said, recalling the woman in the tight dress—he’d even lent her quite a bit of money.

“It’s okay, there’ll be better ones later. The job I recommended… want to consider it?”

“No need, thanks, old class monitor. I’ve found something to do for now, and I can make money.”

“Make money?”

“Yeah, working for someone else is out of the question. I’m going into business. See you tomorrow, gotta go.”

Qi Yuan hung up.

Too much kindness to refuse, but he couldn’t be bothered to talk more—he still had to practice a while.

On the other end of the line, Wang Xu was a bit stunned.

“Going into business?”

Qi Yuan, going into business?

That was too surprising.

After all, everyone knew Qi Yuan was a mental patient.

Could a mental patient go into business?

Sell what?

His body?

But the other party had already hung up, so he couldn’t say anything more.

“Sigh, Qi Yuan’s got a point—working for others is too tiring. Tomorrow I still have to work hard investigating that sea monster. Damn the Starfish Cove!”

…

“Please, have a seat, sir.”

In the neighborhood, a burly man in a suit opened the car door. Qi Yuan sat in the car and closed his eyes to rest.

This car was arranged by the man in the black jacket to pick Qi Yuan up.

Though the man wore a suit, Qi Yuan still caught a faint smell of blood.

This man had taken a life.

Such a person, placed in a civilized city, could frighten ordinary folk, but to Qi Yuan... well, that was all there was to it.

“Your boss has plenty of money, right?” Qi Yuan asked casually.

The driver paused, then answered in a lisping Qinyuan dialect: “Plenty.”

“Plenty is good—since he’s strong, cooperation will be convenient.”

Qi Yuan couldn’t be bothered to seek partners.

Finding one partner was enough.

Especially since all sorts of materials had already been gathered for him; he only needed to cultivate—that was best.

The driver fell silent, saying nothing.

About two hours later, the car stopped at a port.

“Mr. Qi, please follow me. The boss is waiting for you on the yacht.”

Qi Yuan nodded and followed the man in the suit onto the yacht.

The Haixingya yacht was a medium-to-large vessel on Gongxing, nearly 500 meters long, capable of carrying close to ten thousand passengers.

At that moment, the yacht was docked at the port, with guards in uniform watching the entrance.

Groups of men and women entered from time to time, smiles on their faces.

Not far off, some young men and women were taking photos with phones and cameras.

Some were livestreaming, others checking in.

Snatches of conversation reached Qi Yuan’s ears.

“I heard this yacht belongs to Prince Tael. Ah, I wonder if I’ll ever have a chance for a beautiful encounter with him.”

“Stop dreaming—you need money for the ticket. I heard it costs over ten thousand!”

“Sigh, some people don’t pay. A friend of mine—a girl and a guy—got in!”

“Special passage?”

“Mm... sigh, too bad I failed the medical check, or I’d have had a chance to go in too!”

Inside the yacht were many wealthy and powerful figures, attracting plenty of young boys and girls.

After all, if they could squeeze into such high society, it could change the course of their lives.

Qi Yuan followed the man in the suit through the VIP passage, boarding the yacht under the envious gazes of those young men and women.

The yacht was huge, with many people inside, all respectable sorts.

Guards carrying guns and weapons could be seen patrolling from time to time.

“Security on the ship is excellent; ordinary guests can’t bring weapons, so Mr. Qi need not worry about his safety,” the man in the suit emphasized.

“Don’t worry, I’m not concerned.”

Though Qi Yuan was only at the third layer of Qi Refining, his third layer was different from others’.

On this ship, there was nothing that could threaten him.

The man in the suit fell silent, saying no more.

“Where’s your boss? Hurry it up—I need to get back to practice martial arts.”

Qi Yuan followed the man in the suit, weaving through the yacht for about twenty minutes.

“Right away, one minute—the boss is waiting for you in the hall ahead,” the man in the suit said hastily.

All along the way, he had deliberately taken Qi Yuan on a detour to give the boss more time to observe him.

“Mm.” Qi Yuan nodded and said nothing more.

Meanwhile, not far from the yacht, a young girl in an evening dress blinked, as if doubting whether she had seen correctly.

“What’s wrong, Wu Qi?”

“Nothing, I thought I saw a high school classmate—must have been mistaken.

Not to mention, that high school classmate of mine was probably my junior... really handsome. Back then, a few girls in our class would follow him every day.

If it weren’t for constant training, I might have wanted to date him—too bad... now that I’m a public figure, I have to be careful about love.” Wu Qi’s airy bangs and pear-shaped hairstyle framed a delicate, pretty face; her makeup was cool and glamorous, with heavy eyeshadow on her lashes, and the black dress perfectly accentuated her figure.

“Even if you can’t date openly, you earn a lot—aren’t you still an outstanding alumna of your school?

People see you and call you a big star.”

“Big star, my ass—just a high-end service worker. I still have to go in and drink with them...” Wu Qi rolled her eyes.

Hearing this, her agent couldn’t help but say, “If you don’t want to socialize, we can cancel the arrangement.”

Of course, she was just saying it; cancellation was out of the question.

“No, I have to seize this opportunity—who knows, it might be a big break. I don’t want to be a nobody idol forever!” Wu Qi said pragmatically, pulling her dress down a bit to reveal more pale skin.

This social engagement was something she had requested herself.

She understood that if necessary, she might even have to give herself up, but she still agreed to come.

Such things happened often in various circles, for both men and women.

“I hope it’s not some potbellied old geezer,” Wu Qi thought to herself.

On the other side, Qi Yuan entered a resplendent reception hall.

The hall was vast, lavishly decorated, with no hint of understatement.

The man in the black jacket stood up, looked at Qi Yuan, and smiled: “Qi Yuan, I’m Carnival.”

(The end of this chapter)