Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

A stable situation always leads to prosperity. Jiang Cheng and Shi Ying's pleasure boat is very impressive in other places, but it is nothing when it comes to the banks of the Qinhuai River.

After experiencing the Sun Shooting Expedition and the Qiongqi Sect's siege on Wei Wuxian, the number of cultivators has dropped sharply, but this cannot change the mortals' yearning for a better life, nor does it hinder the mortal heroes from enjoying various kinds of life.

What they most hope for is to have a son or nephew with the aptitude to cultivate immortality, and then spend a large sum of money to send their children to the hundreds of immortal families to learn skills. If they are lucky, they can return with a set of skills and establish a small and influential family; even if they are unlucky and do not learn any skills, they can still use this opportunity to establish connections with the hundreds of immortal families, which is really killing two birds with one stone.

However, most of the so-called aristocratic families are purely tyrannical. Mortals can only get a little peace by paying a full amount of protection fees, and things like exorcising evil spirits have to be charged extra.

Therefore, apart from the four major families today, most of the other small families are notorious. It is no wonder that after Jin Guangyao ascended to the position of Immortal Supervisor, he tried his best to promote the Supervisory Office system to facilitate the common people.

The scenery on both sides of the Qinhuai River has been described by literati and poets since ancient times, and it can be seen that Jiang Cheng did not stay in such a place for long.

Although the world does not approve of the relationship between the two men, they are strangers in a place like this and others will not say anything.

Especially those with eyes could see that their pleasure boat was brightly lit but there was no one accompanying them. However, it did not affect their drinking and playing music, which showed that they were not ordinary people, but rather looked like the sons of some immortal family who were out for fun.

Therefore, a lot of people wanted to gather over to their pleasure boat, but they were afraid of the bad temper of the children of the immortal families as said in the legend. Moreover, Jiang Cheng had been pulled into the cabin by Shi Ying and the windows were closed. They could only see some vague shadows outside and hear the sounds of stringed instruments coming from the cabin. In the end, they did not dare to step forward to say hello.

Jiang Cheng, who closed the doors and windows and enjoyed the dance music alone, was somewhat speechless. "You still don't trust me? I'm just good at talking, but I can't really do anything..."

Shi Ying was also quite speechless, "Then may I ask, Master Jiang, am I not outstanding enough?"

Jiang Cheng immediately felt guilty and said ashamedly, "Of course she is outstanding. I was wrong. I shouldn't have been greedy for the prosperity of this place. I made you unhappy."

Shi Ying was originally feeling a little uncomfortable, but seeing that he was serious at the moment, she suddenly didn't know what to say.

He understood that Jiang Cheng's feelings for him were definitely not as deep as his feelings for Jiang Cheng. He originally thought that they would have to pull together a few more times before they could be together, but he didn't expect that Jiang Cheng would be unexpectedly decisive sometimes. It was he who was worried all day long because he couldn't figure out what decision Jiang Cheng would make next, and he seemed a little timid.

Jinling City was not far from the Nie Clan in Qinghe, so Jiang Cheng simply maneuvered the pleasure boat to a place with few lights and asked Shi Ying to collect the boat. The two of them changed out of their gorgeous clothes and appeared in the downtown area again wearing ordinary silk clothes.

If they replaced the swords in their hands with folding fans, Jiang Cheng and Shi Ying would present a completely different style. They went from being sons of immortal families to talented and romantic men, so naturally there were fewer people trying to curry favor with them.

Jiang Cheng thinks that fireworks are the most moving, and no matter how many times he sees them, it always looks different. But Shi Ying thinks that no matter how good the scenery is, it cannot compare to the people around him.

The two of them ate, drank and strolled along the way, and after walking only three streets, it was almost time to disperse. It was then that they remembered that they had to find an inn to stay for the night, otherwise they would have to launch the pleasure boat secretly.

But Jiang Cheng didn't expect to run into Meng Yao in Jinling City. He thought Meng Yao was hiding in Yunping City.

In this world, Jiang Cheng and Shi Ying have never met Meng Yao, but Meng Yao's insight is terrifying. Just by looking at Jiang Cheng's slightly surprised eyes, she thought that she might have been discovered. So she packed her bags that night and disappeared into the crowd again. When Jiang Cheng went to look for her again in the morning, the place was already empty.

Meng Yao did not go far. He simply left the city and hid in an empty yard in a wealthy businessman's manor that he had long had his eyes on. He even took the risk of contacting his own people early the next morning to inquire about the situation. After learning that Jiang Cheng and Shi Ying had only gone to his previous residence in a perfunctory manner, he started to travel around. Although he felt that he could not completely let his guard down, he was relieved in the end.

Jinling City has been prosperous for hundreds of years, and there are many places to visit in the surrounding area. Jiang Cheng and Shi Ying did turn around and go out to play because they couldn't find Meng Yao, but Meng Yao still kept the frequency of changing residence every three days. He didn't return to the city until he was sure that Jiang Cheng and Shi Ying had left Jinling City and continued to head north.

Jiang Cheng and Shi Ying didn't expect that Meng Yao was so good at hiding, especially Jiang Cheng. He only regretted that he didn't use a tracking talisman on Meng Yao at the first time, otherwise Meng Yao would not have escaped.

Shi Ying comforted Jiang Cheng, "We didn't come here for Meng Yao, so it's not disappointing that we didn't catch Meng Yao. But we can pass this news to the two masters of the Lan family and see what they decide. We should still focus on the Nie family's cannibal castle first."

Talking about the Nie family's man-eating castle, Jiang Cheng couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. He seemed to have been having a lot of fun in Jinling City these few days.

Shi Ying saw it but pretended not to see Jiang Cheng's embarrassed expression. The two of them now walked with swords in hand and decided to go through the mountains instead of taking the wide official road. This way, they could slay demons and monsters along the way, and when they reached Qinghe, it would not be easy to arouse suspicion from others.

The mountains in the south are very different from those in the north. Jiang Cheng and Shi Ying encountered many magical herbs and medicines while walking there, but they were not very interested in them. They were either busy getting on with their journey or they suddenly felt like sightseeing. They did eliminate many evil spirits along the way, but they felt that those evil spirits were not very powerful.

Jiang Cheng complained to Shi Ying as he walked along, "The two great families in the north are the Nie family and the Jin family. The worst thing about the Nie family is that they used to be not far from the Qishan Wen family, and not far from the Lanling Jin family either, but they happened to be blocking the Qishan Wen family's way to the east. So the Jin family was lucky enough not to be harmed by the Wen family. In addition to Jin Guangshan's flattery of Wen Ruohan, I'm afraid the Nie family also contributed a lot."

Shi Ying thought this made sense and commented, "But Jin Guangshan himself is not a good person. He only thinks that if the Wen family falls, it's time for his Jin family to take over and command the hundreds of immortal families. He doesn't care about the fact that the Nie family is helping him."

Jiang Cheng curled his lips upon hearing this, "So, I don't understand why Lan Huan would drag Meng Yao and Nie Mingjue into sworn brotherhood. It's fine that Lan Huan himself received a life-saving favor from Meng Yao, but there's no reason for him to drag Nie Mingjue into this to save face for the Jin family."

"Besides, in this way, the three great families will directly exclude our Jiang family!"