Chapter 737 - 223: [Flying Boat]
Chapter 223 [Flying Boat] (6300)
The old rascal in front of him was not simple. Seeing Chen Yan’s cold attitude, keeping others at a distance, he merely focused his gaze, suppressing the awkward expression on his face.
Bowing slightly to Chen Yan, East Sea said loudly, "I suppose the esteemed neighbor hasn’t been here long and may have heard some irrelevant rumors. Most people in the world simply parrot what others say, enjoying gossip that tarnishes reputations. I disdain explaining myself to others. As we will be neighbors for some time to come, Fellow Daoist will naturally understand my character in time."
After speaking, he seemed rather upright.
If Chen Yan hadn’t personally seen Zhao You being dragged into unpaid "electric bills," or heard the three neighbors discuss how he owed alchemists money and cheated people out of materials...Chen Yan would have almost believed him.
East Sea took a deep breath, swung his sleeves, and turned to leave, but deliberately walked very slowly, and after three steps, slowed down intentionally.
But to his surprise, Chen Yan made no effort to stop or retain him, only gently closing the courtyard door.
With a click, the door shut. Only then did East Sea’s steps falter, and turning his head, his face flashed with a hint of anger at the already closed courtyard door.
He knew that his reputation was already ruined, and it seemed impossible to deceive anyone in West Platform City any longer.
He could only try his luck with some newly arrived cultivators.
He found out that the person who moved in next door was a newcomer to West Platform City, with a high-level Guiyuan Realm cultivation. In the Western Border’s West Platform City, this level of cultivation was quite distinguished.
Thinking that the other had substantial cultivation and was a new face, he might not know of his tarnished reputation, so he wanted to make an acquaintance and see if he could gain some benefits. Yet the other party had already found out about his disgraceful deeds so quickly.
East Sea’s eyes darkened, feeling anxious.
He was at the end of his rope, with no way to generate income, and in significant debt. Without a way to make money, he feared he couldn’t remain in West Platform City any longer.
Previously, relying on his cultivation, the city administration wouldn’t easily bother him, but now he owed for the local district’s primordial qi array, which counted as public debt.
Private debts might not concern the authorities, but public debts were different.
Moreover, if he couldn’t repay the public debt in the next two days, he might not even be able to stay in this district. If the city’s officials came to evict him, his carefully maintained image would collapse overnight, wouldn’t it?
He was barely maintaining a façade now. If evicted from the district, and creditors still fooled by his pretenses heard the news, wouldn’t they all come to collect their debts?
By then...
East Sea’s expression fluctuated, powerless to change the situation, returning angrily to his own courtyard.
His courtyard was not far from Chen Yan’s, separated by two walls, yet he could hear the bustle from Chen Yan’s side: servants were cleaning and arranging the courtyard, creating a lively scene.
Meanwhile, East Sea’s courtyard was cold and quiet. It was clean enough—after all, a cultivator could use spells to clean—but no one helped to organize things that got messy. The plants originally growing in the courtyard also became disorderly from neglect.
He had long driven away his servants—because he couldn’t afford their wages.
The courtyard was desolate, the kitchen cold and empty, adding to his frustration.
He had especially picked this time to visit—right at mealtime.
He thought the other party, out of courtesy, would invite him to stay for a meal.
East Sea pondered in frustration; he couldn’t possibly go to Snow Cliff Pass to become a low-level loose cultivator hunter, could he?
Was he really to venture outside the pass, to kill for money, risking his life?
·
Back in his own cave dwelling, Chen Yan didn’t think about East Sea any longer. Brother Xiaohai’s identity was questionable, but Chen Yan didn’t want to delve into it just yet.
He rested in his dwelling for a while, then took out the Domain Realm map drawn by You Su Yi and examined it some more.
Outside, Zhang the Third knocked on the door of the cave dwelling to inform Chen Yan—dinner was ready.
This Domain Realm truly treated cultivators like Celestial Dragon People.
The cooks under Zhang the Third were indeed skilled. Two maidservants brought in four dishes and a soup, plus a plate of fruits as dessert.
The fruit was reportedly a specialty of the Western Border, called the Green Jade Melon, known for its sweet, fragrant flavor and rich primordial qi. Even ordinary people who ate it would find it quite nourishing—but it was grown at official farms in West Platform City with arrays gathering primordial qi, so naturally, ordinary people couldn’t afford it.
The four dishes consisted of two meat and two vegetarian options. Chen Yan couldn’t tell what kind of vegetables or meat they were—and to avoid showing his ignorance, he simply ate.
The meat was so flavorful upon entering his mouth that his eyebrows rose—in contrast to pork, beef, or lamb from the real world, it was incredibly rich. The aroma filled his mouth with no gamey taste at all. It felt as if his entire digestive system welcomed the food with open arms, urging it down.
He had only encountered such a texture once in reality—after he became wealthy, he went to a renowned, expensive restaurant in Jinling Prefecture and tasted the legendary bluefin tuna for the first time. This was known for being exorbitant in the real world, yet most restaurants that advertised it as bluefin tuna would be selling fakes eight out of ten times!
When Chen Yan tasted the genuine product, he found the meat incredibly tender, almost as if the fish would melt without chewing, merely dissolving with a slight pressure—a tactile delusion, but one that let the impoverished Chen Yan savor the "taste" of wealth for the very first time after twenty years.