Fantasy: Starting with a bowl, you can exchange it for endless cultivation.

Just as Gu Chen was pondering.

The conversation of several people around him caught his attention.

"I heard that the eldest daughter of the Cheng family is on this ship. I wonder if we'll have a chance to catch a glimpse of her on this trip," said a person behind Gu Chen.

"Miss Cheng is said to be one of the four beauties of Chiyang City. If we can catch a glimpse of her beauty along the way, this trip will be complete," someone to Gu Chen's left answered.

"I doubt it. I've been on this ship for days and have long missed the dock, just to catch a glimpse of Miss Cheng. But she's been staying in the private room on the second floor of the ship all day and hasn't shown herself. I guess she won't come out until Chiyang City," someone behind Gu Chen replied.

Gu Chen listened to their conversation. Miss Cheng?

It seems that this merchant ship belongs to the Cheng family of Chiyang City.

"Not only does the eldest daughter of the Cheng family have a great talent for cultivation, but she has also reached the level of a first-class master at such a young age. She is expected to become a Xiantian master in the future. If I could marry such a beautiful and talented girl, I would have no regrets in this life." Someone chimed in.

"What are you daydreaming about? That Miss Cheng is not only talented, but also has a talent for business. She's only eighteen years old and has already started running goods on the family's merchant ships. How could such a career-oriented woman be interested in someone like us who just travel the world? Forget about it," someone retorted.

"I was just thinking about it, I didn't even expect her to actually like me, why are you getting so worked up!"

Just as everyone was discussing the eldest daughter of the Cheng family.

boom!

boom!

boom!

Three deafening explosions rang out, and three large splashes of water appeared in front of the merchant ship and on both sides, with water columns blasted dozens of feet high.

The shock caused the entire merchant ship to rock from side to side.

"What exploded?! What happened?!"

The sudden tremor startled all the passengers on the merchant ship, causing a small-scale panic.

At this time.

A dozen or so figures dressed in black walked across the water from the shore a dozen feet away and landed steadily on the boat.

"All of you behave yourselves!" As soon as these men in black stepped onto the merchant ship, one of them shouted at the passengers.

"We're only robbing people, we won't hurt anyone, so don't make a move."

"Anyone who dares to run around will be killed on sight and thrown into the river to feed the fish!"

A dozen or so men in black stood in the four directions, surrounding the entire merchant ship.

At this time.

Seven or eight powerful figures emerged from the merchant ship.

They were powerful members of the Cheng family who were protecting this merchant ship.

The eldest daughter of the Cheng family, who had been the subject of much discussion among those around her, was also among them.

Gu Chen glanced at the men in black around him; they seemed to be a group of water bandits below the Innate Realm.

Two are top-tier, four are first-tier, and the rest are second-tier.

He lost interest in a bunch of weaklings.

Then, their gazes fell upon the group of powerful members of the Cheng family who had emerged, with the first one landing on the eldest daughter of the Cheng family who was leading them.

Yes, she is indeed beautiful, no less so than some internet celebrities from my previous life.

"Who are you people, daring to rob us on the way? Do you know that this merchant ship belongs to the Cheng family of Chiyang City?" Cheng Mengling, the eldest daughter of the Cheng family, shouted at the group of men in black.

"Retreat immediately, and my Cheng family will forgive your past transgressions. Otherwise, don't blame my Cheng family's experts for being ruthless," Cheng Mengling advised.

The Cheng family's escort team this time included a top-tier retainer, a first-class expert-level guard, and herself, a first-class expert. The other six guards were all second-class experts.

This group of men in black is quite powerful. As of now, they have two top-tier experts, four first-tier experts, and the rest are all second-tier experts.

If a fight breaks out, the Cheng family might not gain the upper hand.

It would be best if we could use the Cheng family's name to drive away these bandits blocking our way.

Otherwise, the only option is to give up money to avoid disaster.

"Oh, so it's the Cheng family's merchant ship. We're so scared." Among the group of black-clad pirates, a leader with top-notch strength said sarcastically.

"Don't try to intimidate me with your Cheng family connections. I'm not afraid of the Divine Dynasty government, let alone your Cheng family." The black-clad leader coldly shouted, "Everyone on the ship, including your Cheng family members, put down your weapons and hand over all your silver and valuables at your feet."

"If anyone dares not hand it over within ten breaths, I'll kill them all and throw them into the river to feed the fish!" he said to everyone on the boat.

The other men in black also gripped their knives and pointed them at the people around them.

"ten!"

"Nine!"

"eight!"

The leader in black began to count.

The experts from the Cheng family looked at Cheng Mengling, seeking her opinion.

Should we fight these bandits or compromise and hand over the silver to them?

These bandits look like troublemakers, especially since the other side has more top-tier experts than them.

They were inclined to compromise; they were merely guards for the Cheng family, not assassins.

They only have five taels of silver a month, why risk their lives!

The stolen silver belonged to the Cheng family; they were simply robbed anyway, as they didn't have much silver on them anyway.

Their lives are their own; once they're gone, they're truly gone.

They drew their swords and confronted the group of bandits, awaiting Cheng Mengling's decision.

"seven!"

"six!"

"five!"

The bandit leader continued counting.

Seeing this, some of the people on the boat began to take out their own silver and put it at their feet.

These bandits are too ruthless; they're clearly heartless killers. Even the powerful members of the Cheng family didn't dare to attack them immediately.

It would be better for these pedestrians to obediently hand over their silver.

Money can be earned back, but once a person is gone, they're truly gone.

"Four!"

"three!"

"two!"

Just as the bandits were about to count to one, Cheng Mengling gave in and made all the Cheng family members on the boat hand over their silver.

Hopefully, these bandits will take the money and leave.

The Cheng family is in business; money can be earned back, so there's no need to fight these bandits head-on.

They have more powerful members, and if they fight, the Cheng family's entourage will suffer heavy losses, making it a losing proposition.

Give them the silver first, and once we return to the Cheng family, we'll have the Cheng family's innate master take action and cause them trouble.

The Cheng family has two experts at the Innate Realm: one is a mid-stage Innate Realm expert, and the other is the current head of the Cheng family, her father Cheng Sihai, who is at the early stage of the Innate Realm.

The two usually stay at the Cheng family's residence and don't come out to sell goods.

Seeing that the young lady had chosen to compromise, the powerful members of the Cheng family breathed a sigh of relief.

He quickly took out all the silver he had and placed it on the boat deck at his feet.

Seeing the Cheng family members compromise, the bandit leader laughed triumphantly and said to the men in black beside him, "Go inside and search the place. Take all the silver notes and valuables with you."

"Yes." Upon receiving the order, the men in black rushed into the boathouse and began to ransack it.

at this time.

On the entire ship, everyone had silver and their valuables placed at their feet.

They dared not hold back anything, lest the bandits search them and find something, and then kill them in a fit of rage and throw them into the river to feed the fish—that would be a terrible injustice.

The pirates began to divide their forces and pick up the silver and valuables that the people on the ship had left at their feet.

Not long after, the bandits who had gone into the boathouse to loot it came out; they hadn't found much silver inside.

There were only a little over three hundred taels of silver.

This merchant ship was going out to purchase goods. Most of the silver that the Cheng family brought with them was used to exchange for goods, so there wasn't much left.

Soon, the bandits collected all the silver coins that were at the feet of everyone on the boat and piled them up.

The total value of all the silver notes and loose silver obtained was roughly estimated to be at least three thousand taels.

The entire ship, right at Gu Chen's feet under the sail, had no silver or valuables to be found.

Gu Chen didn't put down the long sword in his hand.

His unusual behavior immediately caught the attention of a black-clad bandit standing not far from him, who shouted at him, "Kid, everyone has paid up. Are you really poor and have no money on you, or do you have money but refuse to pay?"

"If you have silver on you and don't want to hand it over, and I find it, I'll chop you up and throw you into the river to feed the fish."

Gu Chen said calmly, "I have the money, but I don't want to pay it."

He currently has a total of over three thousand taels of silver notes on him.

These silver notes were intended for him to purchase the Skin Tempering Pill to break through to the mid-stage of the second realm of the Innate Realm after he went to Chiyang City; it was impossible for him to hand them over.

Not only did he refuse to pay, he would even borrow some silver from these bandits to use.

They were nothing more than a bunch of bandits who weren't even at the Innate Realm, yet they dared to block the road and rob us.

Meeting him today is a calamity for this group of river bandits.