The forty gold coins were gone from our table, but the remaining three hundred and sixty sat safely inside the storage ring. We spent the afternoon turning that currency into actual comfort. I didn’t go to the local town market; instead, I had the capital merchant firm deliver the supplies directly to our yard using their large transport carriage.
By evening, the four private rooms looked completely transformed.
Instead of plain straw, the raised bamboo beds were covered with thick wool mattresses and soft green silk quilts. We hung woven linen curtains over the windows to block the evening drafts. In the central dining space, the small wooden stool was replaced by a wide pine table, complete with four comfortable chairs and a new set of white ceramic tea cups.
Chu Ning’er lay flat on her stomach in her new room, her chin resting on her palms as she kicked her feet in the air. Her face was bright and smooth. "Lu Chen, this blanket feels like cloud fur! It doesn’t scratch my skin at all."
"It’s clean wool," I said, leaning against her doorframe with a nod. "Go to sleep early tonight. Tomorrow we start your true breathing exercises."
Mo Ran walked out of her space, her steps smooth and silent. She wore her new blue dress, her long black hair tied back with a simple string. She walked straight to the new pine table, her fingers tracing the smooth wood before she looked up at me. Her cheeks carried a faint, shy red color, but her voice was sweet.
"The house doesn’t smell like a prison anymore," she said softly. "It feels like a real home... husband."
Ye Xinyang and Gu Qinghan walked out of the kitchen, carrying a fresh pot of hot water. Hearing Mo Ran say the word so smoothly this time made Xinyang chuckle, her own face turning a pretty red color as she set the cups down. Gu Qinghan sat on the bench next to me, her clear eyes looking toward my face with absolute love and proud.
"The house is settled," Qinghan said, her fingers lightly brushing against my sleeve. "But the elders won’t stop plotting. Lu Chen, we also want to help you, we can’t just be standing and watching only. So We also want to train now."
" If you really made up your mind then alright i will help you. We start tomorrow at dawn," I told the four of them. "But now Get some rest."
When the sky turned gray the next morning, the yard was completely still. I stood in the center of the grass, holding a long, plain wooden staff I had shaved down from a pine log. Ye Xinyang, Mo Ran, and Gu Qinghan stood in a line opposite me, their clothes shifting slightly as they took their stances.
"Xinyang, show me the bone-cultivation flow," I commanded.
She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. A soft, clean ripple of energy moved beneath her skin, traveling from her shoulders straight into her forearms. She didn’t use a traditional core; her skeleton absorbed the heat from her blood, making her frame look completely solid and stable. She lunged forward, her palm striking the air that it’s shockwave making a voice that echoed in whole valley.
"Good," I said. "Your framework is holding the pressure perfectly. Now, Mo Ran."
The assassin girl didn’t wait. She took two rapid, silent steps forward, her body blurring for a fraction of a second before her foot swept out in a low, lethal arc. Her legs were almost healed, her agility restored by the blue pill. She finished her strike and landed lightly on the grass, a proud, beautiful smile lighting up her face.
Gu Qinghan drew her wooden sword sheath. She didn’t look with her eyes; her head tilted slightly, listening to the rhythm of the wind. With a sudden, whistling swing, she cut her sheath through the air three times, her movement so fast it left a faint blue trail of intent behind.
I watched them, my heart feeling completely steady. They weren’t broken anymore. They were becoming a force that could challenge the entire outer hall.
Suddenly, the hidden boundary flags at the four corners of our plot gave a tiny, silent throb.
The air didn’t ripple, but my Asura Spear Intent instantly picked up a sharp presence approaching the lower path. It wasn’t the clumsy, weak footsteps of Zhou Kang or the local town guards. This person moved with a deep, crushing rhythm that belonged to a true expert.
"Stop training," I told the girls, my voice dropping all its warmth, turning flat and calm. "We have a guest."
A massive carriage made of white jade and silver trim stopped at the edge of our field. It was pulled by a Rank 2 Silver-Maned Stallion, an animal worth more than the entire outer administration hall. The carriage bore the official crest of the Iron Sword Sect—the absolute largest, most powerful Foundation-Establishment level sect in the capital region, located hundreds of miles away from our small backwater valley.
The carriage door opened, and a young man stepped down. He looked about twenty, wearing a flawless white robe embroidered with silver blades. His face was sharp, arrogant, and cold. His cultivation pressure expanded the moment his boots hit the grass—a massive, suffocating wave of a ninth-level Qi Condensation master. He was at the absolute peak of the realm, just one step away from reaching Foundation Establishment.
Behind him walked two senior elders from the Ashen Cloud Sect, both of them bowing and scraping like servants. One of them was Elder Ironwood, his face full of an ugly, vindictive grin as he pointed at our bamboo house.
"Young Master Han," Elder Ironwood said, his voice dripping with greasy politeness. "This is the shack. The four fallen maidens from the Solar Sect and the Hidden Veil are being kept here by this trash servant."
The young man, Han Xiu, completely ignored the old man. His sharp eyes swept across the yard, instantly bypassing me and locking straight onto my four Wifes. When he saw their clean blue clothes, their radiant skin, and the deep spiritual energy humming inside their bodies, his eyes narrowed into slits.
"Ironwood said you were all crippled garbage," Han Xiu said, his voice cutting through the yard like a cold blade. He looked at Ye Xinyang, then at Gu Qinghan. "But your foundations are cleaner than the core disciples in my own sect. Who gave you the medicine to rebuild your bodies?"
He took a step forward, his ninth-level pressure slamming toward the girls like a falling boulder.
I didn’t use any spiritual energy. I simply took one step forward, my body appearing directly between Han Xiu and my wifes.
The young master’s pressure hit my chest and broke apart into nothing, completely absorbed by the defensive silk array in my blue cotton robe. My clay-dense bones didn’t even twitch under his gaze.
Han Xiu froze, his hand instinctively dropping to the hilt of his silver sword. "An outer servant with no core... blocking my intent? Who are you?"
"I am Lu Chen," I said, my voice smooth, calm, and completely devoid of emotion as I raised my plain wooden pine staff, pointing the tip straight at his throat. "And you are standing on my property. State your business or get off my mountain."