Reversing the Milky Way

After arriving at the Supervisory Office, Fu Jinchuan went straight to Zuoqiu because the two servants he had sent to protect his son had also died tragically on the spot. According to the experienced coroner, the person who did it was very likely that he was already able to cultivate spiritual energy. Otherwise, if it were only a battle between two people at the Great Perfection of Body Refinement Realm, it would not be easy.

Moreover, he had already sent people to inquire about the situation at nearby hotels. Indeed, a commotion had occurred at one hotel that night, and the two men in black had chased a young man away from that hotel. According to the information provided by that hotel, the young man who ran away was Bai Cheng.

Fu Jinchuan could be said to know Bai Cheng to some extent, because he knew that Bai Cheng could indeed cultivate spiritual energy, and in addition, Bai Cheng had once won second place in the Wuling Town Grand Competition, so he could not be regarded as an ordinary martial artist.

Therefore, after finding Zuo Qiu, Fu Jinchuan's first request was to issue a warrant for Bai Cheng's arrest as a cultivator. After understanding the whole story, Zuo Qiu agreed to Fu Jinchuan's request. After all, as the inspector of Wuling Town, he had an obligation to handle cases involving cultivators who committed crimes.

Soon, Bai Cheng's wanted poster was posted on the bulletin board in Wuling Town, attracting a crowd of onlookers.

Bounty: Bai Cheng, guilty of maliciously killing the second young master of the Xifu government, is at the Great Perfection of the Body Refinement Realm and possesses a cultivation physique. The bounty is 300 silver coins.

At this time, Bai Cheng was completely unaware of all this, and he was still walking on the road leading to Baifeng City.

As noon approached, Bai Cheng stopped to rest. The clouds had dispersed, and beams of sunlight shone on the road ahead. He leaned against a rock by the roadside and took out a map. According to the map, the main road bypassed the swamp marked on the map with a C-shaped bend. After traveling more than a hundred miles, he would reach a place called Xiaguan, and beyond Xiaguan was at least another four hundred miles.

After putting away the map, Bai Cheng also felt a surge of hunger in his stomach. He had been traveling since the latter half of the night and had been walking until now, around noon, so his physical strength was almost completely exhausted.

Bai Cheng lay on the boulder, gazing up at the newly clouded sky, a jumble of complex thoughts surfacing in his mind. This was the first time since his transmigration that Bai Cheng had felt so troubled. He didn't know where his path lay, nor what he would encounter in the future. However, his primary goal at this moment was to reach the Qi Condensation Realm.

Because Fu Jinchuan would definitely send people to hunt him down. Judging from the nature of this world, as long as he reached the Qi Condensation Realm, he could basically get rid of the government's pursuit. Once he learned to fly on a sword, he would be free to roam the world at will.

Just then, Bai Cheng suddenly noticed what appeared to be a spirit boat slowly drifting by in the sky.

"Hmm, is that a spirit boat? And it came from the direction of Wuling Town. That's great. When will I be able to possess such a flying technique?"

After sighing, Bai Cheng sat down on the rock and began to meditate and cultivate, because even if he were to sleep, he wouldn't want to miss this time to cultivate spiritual energy.

As time slowly passed, a caravan appeared in the distance, consisting of three carriages. The man at the head of the caravan drove the first carriage slowly forward. Upon seeing Bai Cheng not far away, his expression suddenly turned serious, and he quickly raised his left hand to signal a halt.

"Wait! There are people ahead."

As the caravan slowly came to a stop, a middle-aged man dressed in magnificent attire stepped down from a carriage.

"What happened?"

"A person has been spotted ahead."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man slowly got out of the car and looked at Bai Cheng, who was meditating on a rock not far away.

"He's probably just a traveler. No need to be nervous. Let's keep going."

"Yes, Lord Cui."

The middle-aged man then returned to the carriage, and the convoy slowly passed in front of Bai Cheng. Bai Cheng also slightly opened his eyes at this moment, having already noticed the carriage passing in front of him.

"This is my first time heading north, and I'm unfamiliar with the area. If I can keep up with this convoy, I won't have to worry about getting lost."

Thinking of this, Bai Cheng immediately jumped off the rock, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and followed the convoy at a distance.

The man at the head of the convoy seemed to have noticed that Bai Cheng had been following them.

"Master Cui, that man has been following our convoy. Should I go and check on him?"

Upon hearing this, the head of the Cui family inside the carriage gestured to ignore it. Bai Cheng followed the caravan, and soon it was dusk.

After seeing that the convoy ahead had already started setting up camp, Bai Cheng stopped as well. He opened the map again and began to examine it carefully.

At this moment, the head of the Cui family, who had already set up camp, came to the man's side.

"How's it going? Is that kid still following us?"

"He stopped not far from us, we don't know what he's going to do, we'd better be careful."

"I think Liu Weishi is overreacting. In my opinion, this young man is just following us. Maybe he's just not familiar with the area."

The man referred to as Guard Liu was named Liu Xieyang, and he was a silver-ranked imperial guard.

“Patriarch Cui, don’t underestimate that person. He seemed to be sitting quietly on the rock, but he was actually cultivating spiritual energy.”

The man known as the head of the Cui family is named Cui Yuanfang. He is a businessman. Although he has undergone body tempering, his cultivation level is only at the mid-stage of the Body Refinement Realm. His main purpose is to improve his physical health.

Cui Yuanfang was quite surprised when he heard this.

"Cultivating spiritual energy? That person is only in his early twenties, yet he can already cultivate spiritual energy?"

As the sun completely set, the last rays of light on the horizon gradually faded into a deep blue-purple. With the arrival of night, several lights illuminated the area around the convoy's camp, and a bonfire rose in the center.

Bai Cheng kept a distance of 200 meters from the convoy. Watching from afar, hunger surged up in his heart again. He looked around and saw that although they were on a plain, there were many woodlands around them. He then went into the woods to pick some wild fruits.

Although he did not have a metal-attribute spirit orb, he had two flints that he had brought with him. However, due to the recent heavy rain, the flints in his backpack were practically useless.

Just then, he noticed someone from the convoy walking towards him from a distance.

"My master requests your presence."

Upon hearing this, Bai Cheng shouldered his backpack and followed the man to the convoy's camp. When Cui Yuanfang saw Bai Cheng arrive, he gave him some dry rations, which Bai Cheng immediately thanked him for.

"Thank you, patriarch."

Cui Yuanfang was also taken aback when he heard this.

"Oh, how did you know I'm the head of the family?"

You are the only one in this convoy dressed in finery and behaving with extraordinary manners; you must be someone who frequently visits other people's homes.

"Hahaha! That's right, I'm a merchant heading to White Maple City. My surname is Cui, you can just call me Patriarch Cui. May I ask if you, young man, are also heading to White Maple City?"

Bai Cheng nodded after hearing this.

"That's right, but it's my first time going to White Maple City, and I was worried about getting lost, so I followed behind the caravan."

At this moment, Liu Xieyang approached Bai Cheng and struck up a conversation.

"May I ask your name, young man? I am a bodyguard hired by this caravan; you can just call me Guard Liu."

"Junior Bai Cheng greets Imperial Guard Liu."

Upon hearing the name, Liu Xieyang was slightly taken aback.

"Bai Cheng? That's quite a unique name."

After giving a wry smile, Bai Cheng distributed the wild fruits he had just picked to the people in front of him. He noticed that in addition to the Cui family head and Liu Weishi, the caravan also included two coachmen and three servants. The two coachmen were ordinary people with no cultivation level, while the other three servants were all martial artists in the late stage of Body Refinement.

As night fell, Bai Cheng sat quietly by the campfire and continued to cultivate the Qi Condensation Technique. Even when he was resting, he would not let go of any time for cultivation, because the spiritual energy in ordinary places was too scarce, so the conversion rate of the Qi Condensation Technique was also relatively low.

At this time, a voice came.

"Young brother, who taught you the Qi Condensation Technique? Unless you join a sect or a prestigious family, you're unlikely to be taught the Qi Condensation Technique. Even if you buy it yourself, you probably won't be able to grasp the basics."

Bai Cheng slowly opened his eyes and found that Liu Xieyang, who was sitting opposite him, was also meditating and cultivating.

"How should I put it? This Qi Condensation Technique was taught to me by a benefactor. It was because of his teaching that I was able to embark on this path of cultivation. If it weren't for him, I would probably still be just an ordinary person who hasn't even tempered his body."

As Bai Cheng spoke, his voice gradually lowered. He recalled Yu Qing'an's teachings and couldn't help but feel grateful.

Liu Xieyang also sensed the sadness in Bai Cheng's words, so he did not press the matter further.

The next morning, Bai Cheng opened his eyes early. After a night's rest, he was full of energy.

"Brother Bai Cheng, since our destination is Baifeng City, why don't you come with us?"

Bai Cheng nodded in agreement. He then followed the convoy forward. Soon, half a day had passed, and the convoy reached a three-way intersection.

"Young Brother Bai Cheng, are you in a hurry to get to Baifeng City?"

Bai Cheng was clearly taken aback by Cui Yuanfang's words. There were two roads ahead: one extended southeast, which was the main road to Baifeng City, while the other went west. After examining the map, Bai Cheng discovered that the western road led to only one place: the Tang Family Manor.

Bai Cheng seemed to have heard of Tang Family Manor before. It was said that the Osmanthus Wine came from Tang Family Manor. However, the journey seemed to be more than 300 li one way, and it would take at least four or five days to go back and forth.

Bai Cheng pondered for a while. Anyway, there was still more than half a month before the so-called White House Academy admissions. In terms of time, there was still enough time. Since he had nothing else to do, he might as well go and see for himself.

“Patriarch Cui, I’m not in a hurry these next few days.”

"Alright, then let's head to the Tang Family Manor first."

As the convoy slowly turned and headed west, its silhouette gradually disappeared in the glow of the setting sun.

Two days later...

The convoy slowly entered the territory of the Tang family manor. As the mountains on both sides of the road began to rise and fall, the greenery almost filled Bai Cheng's entire field of vision.

As the caravan entered the manor, Bai Cheng noticed that besides them, there were many other merchant caravans. In addition to the caravans, he could also see a number of cultivators gathered in the manor. These people were dressed differently, and many of them appeared to be from sects.

After Cui Yuanfang stepped down from the carriage, he gave Liu Xieyang a few instructions, and then he went inside with his three men, leaving Bai Cheng, Liu Xieyang, and two coachmen behind.

Bai Cheng looked around and found that the Tang family manor seemed to be built in the mountains. The peaks on both sides of the manor were towering and looked to be about a thousand meters high.

The Tang Family Manor appears to be a small village built on a hillside. The spiritual energy within the manor seems to be twice as abundant as in ordinary places, making it a truly blessed and auspicious location.

Just as Bai Cheng was admiring the beautiful scenery, a huge shadow suddenly loomed over the sky. Bai Cheng looked up and saw a spirit boat nearly 500 meters long slowly drifting into the Tang family manor.

"This! What a huge spirit boat!"

As the spirit boat slowly descended into the open space inside the Tang family manor, it immediately drew gasps of amazement from many people present.

"Look! It's the Wang family from Falling Star City!"

As Bai Cheng's gaze fell upon the spirit boat not far away, the prominent character "王" (King) on ​​the spirit boat fluttered in the wind. Suddenly, a wooden ladder opened in the middle of the spirit boat, just like the door of an airplane cabin.

Immediately afterwards, two young men dressed in magnificent clothes stepped down, followed by six guards. Judging from the aura emanating from them, the six guards were all at least at the late stage of the Qi Condensation Realm.

The two were dressed extravagantly, adorned with sparkling jewels from head to toe. Under the sunlight, their clothes immediately became the focus of everyone's attention.

Bai Cheng slowly looked over and discovered that the patterns on the two people's clothes were actually moving! He had only seen moving patterns on Shuo Chen's clothes before, and this was the second time he had encountered such peculiar clothing.

However, what surprised Bai Cheng was the cultivation level of these two young men; they both seemed to be only at the Body Refinement Realm.

Just as Bai Cheng was surprised, he heard a voice beside him.

"These are the real rich people."

Liu Xieyang slowly walked to Bai Cheng's side, his eyes also fixed on the spirit boat not far away.

"The truly wealthy? What's the meaning of that phrase?"

"Did you see that 500-meter-long spirit boat? That spirit boat costs around 500 gold coins."

Bai Cheng frowned slightly upon hearing this.

"Huh? Gold coins?"

Seeing Bai Cheng's puzzled look, Liu Xieyang immediately understood.

"Young Brother Bai Cheng, it seems you've never seen gold coins before."

“That’s right. Even in Wuling Town, I’ve never seen any trading of gold coins. But what exactly are these so-called gold coins? Are they something like gold?”

Liu Xieyang nodded slightly after hearing this.

"That's right, you could call it gold. But its official name is Xuanlong Gold Coin."