Heaven rewards diligence, but there are always fairies plotting against me.

"Senior Brother Song Qing, what a coincidence."

Lin Ruoxue lifted the carriage curtain and gracefully stepped down from the carriage.

The young man called Song Qing reined in his horse, cupped his hands in greeting, and said with a smile, "So it's Junior Sister Lin! What a coincidence, what brings you here..."

As he spoke, his gaze passed over Lin Ruoxue and landed on Gu Ling Shuang, who had just stepped out from beside the carriage.

Lin Ruoxue stepped slightly to the side and introduced, "This is Junior Sister Gu Ling Shuang. I went to her home to help with some things, and I'm bringing her back to the sect now."

Gu Ling Shuang stepped forward at the opportune moment and bowed slightly, saying, "Greetings, Senior Brother Song."

Song Qing looked Gu Ling Shuang up and down and nodded slightly: "I see. Since we're all going back to the sect, let's travel together so we can look after each other on the way."

"Alright, then I'll do as you say, Senior Brother." Lin Ruoxue readily agreed.

Then, her gaze shifted to the heavy iron prison cart, and she asked curiously, "But... Senior Brother Song Qing, what's the situation with this demon cultivator? Judging from its aura, it's not simple."

When the prisoners in the iron cage were mentioned, a look of undisguised smugness immediately appeared on Song Qing's face.

He patted the sword at his waist and said arrogantly, "Hey, this guy is a water demon from a village downstream. He somehow acquired some incomplete martial arts techniques and cultivated them to a great extent, harming many innocent people. I happened to run into him while I was out on business, so I just captured him!"

Lin Ruoxue sincerely exclaimed, "Senior Brother Song Qing is truly amazing. Everyone knows that these kinds of water demons are masters of concealment, and once they dive into rivers, they are hard to find. Senior Brother was able to capture it alive; I truly admire you."

This compliment clearly greatly satisfied Song Qing's vanity.

He couldn't help but burst into unrestrained, triumphant laughter: "Hahahaha! It's all that beast's fault for being too greedy, unwilling to part with the village's fresh blood offerings. I merely used a little trick, setting a small lure, and it walked right into it. Hahahaha..."

Song Qing smiled smugly.

No wonder he was so excited.

Within the Divine Sword Sect, such demonic cultivators can exchange for extremely generous sect contribution points at the Enforcement Hall.

With these contribution points, he can exchange them for a lot of good things.

Just thinking about it makes me happy.

Sitting idly in the coachman's seat, Chu Chang had nothing to do. Upon hearing the words "water demon," he couldn't help but crane his neck curiously, scrutinizing the demon cultivator in the iron cage as if he were looking at a rare wild animal in a zoo.

Unexpectedly, this glance revealed a problem.

The demon cultivator, who had been lifeless, suddenly seemed to sense something, abruptly raising his head and staring intently at Chu Chang with his dead fish eyes that emitted a ghostly green light!

Immediately afterwards, an ethereal voice exploded directly in the depths of Chu Chang's mind without warning!

"Young man...do you want to become stronger?"

"Do you want the woman beside you?"

"Do you want to become a big shot, admired by thousands?"

"Then, tonight... come to me, and I will grant you an unparalleled opportunity!"

Chu Chang was chewing his dry rations when the sudden sound startled him so much that he almost dropped his riding whip.

Holy crap, what's going on? Am I hallucinating?

Chu Chang forced himself to keep from crying out, his eyes casually scanning his surroundings.

Song Qing was still boasting about his incredible bravery, spitting as he spoke.

Lin Ruoxue smiled politely from the side.

Gu Ling Shuang was idly kicking small pebbles on the roadside with her boots.

Clearly, the people around didn't hear anything at all.

Chu Chang reacted instantly!

The demon cultivator only spoke to him.

After the initial shock, Chu Chang's expression became somewhat strange.

"These lines... why do they sound so familiar? Are they trying to pull off a cultivation pyramid scheme?" Chu Chang couldn't help but think to himself.

Chu Chang glanced sideways at Lin Ruoxue.

Excuse me, old demon brother, but that unattainable beauty you mentioned has to pull me into the carriage every night to borrow my extremely yang constitution to heal her injuries.

Although everyone maintained a proper doctor-patient distance, there were still things that should and shouldn't be touched...

Well, anyway, I've already had my fill of these benefits, why would I need you to grant me this opportunity?

Besides, what kind of incredible opportunity is this?

If you really had some incredible stroke of luck, would you be chained up like a dumpling and locked in an iron cage as an exhibit?

Although Chu Chang desired opportunities, he was definitely not stupid.

The water demon probably looked around and found that he had the lowest status in the group.

After all, he was just an ordinary coachman.

What kind of skills could these kinds of rickshaw pullers possibly have?

So we're looking for him as a breakthrough point for our escape.

Picking on the weak, huh?

Thinking that working-class people are easy to fool, he tries to use the old-fashioned three-question combo of "become stronger, get rich, and marry a beautiful woman" to turn them against him and help them escape.

"Ha, do you really think I'm some hot-blooded fool?" Chu Chang sneered inwardly.

At this time, Song Qing and Lin Ruoxue had also discussed it and decided to set up camp on the flat ground in front of them and rest for half a day.

"Alright, everyone get moving and set up camp!" Song Qing waved his hand.

Chu Chang simply treated the eerie voice transmission in his mind as spam and ignored it.

He nimbly jumped off the carriage, not even glancing at the water demon in the iron cage again. He patted the horse's rump and led it to the stream to feed it water and graze.

As for what about going there at night to seize the opportunity?

Just kidding. Working people should have the awareness of working people. Taking good care of the horse and keeping your own life is more important than anything else.

Inside the iron cage, the water demon stared intently at Chu Chang's busy back, originally expecting the boy to show either ecstasy or inner turmoil.

And then they actually went to feed the horses! Feed the horses!!!

Then what is he?

A hint of human-like bewilderment and annoyance flashed in the water demon's pair of eerie green eyes.

During the breaks while feeding the horses, Chu Chang did not waste any time and continued to practice the Burning Wave Shadow Technique.

After these few days of practice, this technique is nearing completion.

[Technique: Burning Wave Shadow Hand: 1190/2000 (Mastery).]

Looking at the information on the panel, Chu Chang's lips curled up slightly.

"Ten more practice sessions and you'll reach perfection!"

"Swish, swish!"

"Swish, swish!"

Suddenly, the sound of his meditation echoed through the forest.

However, after only five cycles of cultivation, a faint voice echoed in his mind once again.

"Young man, you are indeed diligent!! But how far can you go with such diligence?"

The water demon's voice came again!

"Young man, I can see that you have extraordinary potential. If you listen to me, you will surely achieve great things in the future. Don't even mention the Qi Refining Realm or the Foundation Condensation Realm; I can even guarantee that you can enter the Purple Mansion Realm!!"

"What? You don't believe me?? Heh, aren't you by the water right now? Look into the water, do you see that glowing spot? That's an iron sword that can cut through iron like mud..."

Upon hearing this, Chu Chang was immediately surprised.

Good grief, weren't you locked up? How do you know about my situation?

and……

He stared intently at the water's surface and, sure enough, saw something among a clump of water plants.

A sword!!! It really is a sword.

But... damn, this sword is rusty.

He also had a sword in his hand, which was given to him by the Gu family.

Although the quality isn't great, it's perfectly fine for chopping tree bark and bones.

But the sword in the water... he just wanted to laugh it off...

It's not even as good as that rusty sickle from his hometown.

"You're kidding me? This sword must be broken."

The voice came again: "No, this is a treacherous weapon!!"