C81

When the fire started, the surrounding people immediately fell into chaos. They could only watch as no one went up to save the fire.

"Quick, go extinguish the fire." Halfway through the burning of the temple, a plump middle-aged man dressed in brocade walked over and commanded the two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

Lu Chen stood in the crowd and silently looked at this man. He could clearly see that this man's cultivation level was at the 6th level of the Refinement Stage, which was even lower than his before. However, he was able to order two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. In addition, there was a symbol on the man's sleeve that was shaped like a ingot. This allowed Lu Chen to instantly identify this man.

"The news from the people of the Treasure Yuan Tower is really fast." Lu Chen sighed in his heart. In the time it took for him to put out the fire, it was already half a cup of tea and all the people from the Treasure Yuan Tower were already there. "But it seems like there's a spy from the Treasure Yuan Tower nearby as well." Lu Chen thought.

Indeed, just as Lu Chen had thought, the people from the Baoyuan Tower were always in charge of overseeing the affairs of the half pavilion, and when he saw the half pavilion's fire, he immediately used the sound transmission stone that they had set beforehand to send a message to the people from the Baoyuan Tower, secretly observing who was setting the fire here.

Originally, the fire that Lu Chen had used to burn half of the temple was just ordinary mortal fire combined with the efforts of two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators with water spirit roots. Within the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the fire was extinguished, and the middle-aged man saw the burnt half of the temple and the two corpses inside not knowing who it was, he gloomily left with the two Foundation Establishment stage cultivators.

The people who had been secretly supervising the fight also quietly left.

"The people from the Treasure Yuan Tower are really careful." Lu Chen noticed the man's departure and the corner of his mouth hooked up into a smile. Seeing as there was nothing wrong, Lu Chen also returned to the Qing Xuan Residence. After all, he had been out for so long and was afraid that Lu Quan would be worried.

"Third brother, you're back." Seeing that Lu Chen had returned, Lu Quan excitedly went up to greet him.

"Let's go to the house first." Lu Chen said with a faint smile.

Lu Quan knew that there were a lot of things that couldn't be said here. In addition, he had just heard from others that Lu Chen was the reason for the fire in the main hall, so he followed Lu Chen back to the living room.

"Third Brother, did you set that fire?" Lu Quan asked impatiently as soon as he returned to his room.

Lu Chen did not say anything. Instead, he nodded his head, indicating that he was the one who did it.

Seeing Lu Chen admit his worries, Lu Quan asked worriedly, "Third Brother, could you have done too much?"

Looking at Lu Quan's expression, Lu Chen knew that Lu Quan was worried about him, so he said with a faint smile, "There's nothing wrong. Adding on what I just did, it was to tell others that I came."

Lu Quan knew that Lu Chen had his own plans and had trusted Lu Chen since he was young, so he didn't say anything about it. He just discussed his views on the matter with Lu Chen and decided to close the restaurant and bribe the Lu family beforehand.

When Lu Chen returned to the Lu family's mansion, he saw that there were still a few Lu family disciples in the yard cultivating. Looking at the Lu family members smiling face to face, he felt warm in his heart. "Feng Er, if only you could meet with my family again." Lu Chen said sorrowfully as he thought of Jin Feng'er, his eyes flashing with pain.

"Third brother, you're back." Lu Lei was teaching a disciple of the Lu family to fight when he saw Lu Chen.

"Mm, Lu Lei, it's been a few years since I last saw you and your cultivation has already reached the eleventh level of the Refinement Stage. You are indeed worthy of being the most talented disciple in the Lu family." Lu Chen looked at Lu Lei in satisfaction. When they were in Lin Zhou City, the Lu family was even more excluded by the Wang family, so the pills and spirit stones needed for cultivation couldn't keep up. Lu Lei's cultivation had always been stuck at the 8th level of the Refinement Stage, and later on, there were pills and other items that Lu Chen gave him in order to break through to the 9th level of the Refinement Stage. Now that he had a better environment, Lu Lei's talent was immediately released. In just three years, he broke through from the 9th level of the Refinement Stage to the 11th level. This was comparable to some of the elite disciples of the Cloudsoaring sect.

"Third brother, you only know how to laugh at me. How could I be as talented as you?" Lu Lei said in embarrassment.

Lu Chen let out a bitter laugh. He was very clear about his talent. If it wasn't for the fact that Yue Hua had taken the Fruit of Destiny, he probably would have died in the Forest of Death long ago, let alone today.

Lu Chen and Lu Lei chatted for a while longer before he asked Lu Lei to continue instructing his disciples while Lu Quan and Lu Chen went to listen at Lu Yun's place.

"Lu Chen, you're back?" Lu Yun looked at Lu Chen in surprise.

"Mm. With such a huge incident happening to Qingxuan, how can I just continue to be a careless shopkeeper?" Lu Chen said with a smile.

"Sigh, we didn't expect things to turn out like this, and now we still need you to worry about us." Lu Yun said guiltily.

"Great Elder, what are you talking about? This was something that I should have done. In addition, I created this Qing Xuan Hall because of my sweat and blood. I tolerated others to destroy it." A cold glint flashed across Lu Chen's eyes.

Lu Yun didn't say anything more and started to chat with Lu Chen about what had happened to Lu Chen over the past few years, "Right, Lu Chen heard that you were engaged to Heaven Ghost Sect's Jin Feng'er a few years ago, and in the end she betrayed you, right?" Luyun asked.

"Feng Er." Lu Chen's eyes were filled with pain as he said softly. What he feared the most was others asking him about this, but in the end, he still had to face it, "It's true that Feng'er and I are engaged, but she has never betrayed me." Lu Chen said softly.

"That's not right. Third brother, I heard that Jin Feng'er and Lan Feng had a relationship. You're too angry and broke off the engagement." Lu Quan asked doubtfully.

Lu Chen smiled bitterly and told him about himself and Jin Feng'er. He didn't want his family members to keep misunderstanding and loathe Jin Feng'er either.

Hearing Lu Chen's words, both Lu Yun and Lu Quan could not help but feel that Jin Feng'er really did dare to love and hate her, and also felt pity for her death. After some discussion, Lu Yun decided to take Lu Chen's wife as his name and establish a memorial tablet in the Lu family.

On the other hand, Lu Chen was very grateful for Lu Yun's decision. After discussing it with Lu Yun for a while, he returned to his room to rest.

The next few days, Lu Chen spent most of his time at the Lu family's residence to accompany Lu Yun to chat, or training the Lu family's Foundation Establishment Stage disciples.

In a blink of an eye, it was time for the competition between Lu Quan and the Allied Trade Association. Today, Lu Chen and Lu Quan woke up early and did not disturb the other Lu Family disciples. They headed straight for Spirit State City's plaza.

"Third Brother, according to what you said, the people from the Treasure Yuan Tower have also joined us. Are our chances of victory still high?" Lu Quan said worriedly.

"It's alright. The people from the Treasure Yuan Tower will not do too much openly. After all, they are not meant to help each other." Lu Chen said with a faint smile. Right now, the Lu family's strongest cultivation was at the late stage of the Jindan Stage. Moreover, he hadn't had the time to refine his magic treasure for the past few years, so he was only able to use the power of the middle stage of the Jindan Stage. If they were to fight today, they would be at a disadvantage.

When Lu Chen and Lu Quan arrived in the square, they discovered that the Allied Trade Association's men were already there. Lu Chen saw that the middle-aged man in the 6th level of the Refinement Stage was also among them.

"This person seems to have a very high status in the Treasure Yuan Tower." Lu Chen thought to himself.

"Manager Lu, may I know who you are?" The owner of the Myriad Treasures Store asked Lu Chen as he pointed first.

Before coming here, in order to prevent others from recognizing him, Lu Chen had changed his appearance once more. At the same time, he had changed his name to Lu Xuan.

"This is my third brother, Lu Xuan." Lu Quan replied.

"Shopkeeper Lu's Third Brother is really a heroic youth. He's actually at the late Golden Core Stage at such a young age. His talent is comparable to the current number one person, Lu Chen." The middle-aged man said with a smile, but his words were full of suspicion towards Lu Chen's identity.

Lu Chen frowned slightly and said: "Fellow Taoist, you must be joking. I am already over 200 years old, how can I still be called a heroic youth. Could it be that just because of my appearance, you can tell my age?" Lu Chen paused for a moment before continuing, "Also, Fellow Daoist, who do you seem to not be from this Allied Trade Association?"

"I am Wang Jun, the cousin of Shopkeeper Chen. Because my cousin was secretly burnt down, I can only represent my cousin to participate in this competition." Wang Jun said.

"Since that's the case, shall we start the competition now?" Lu Chen asked.

"Senior Lu, there's no need to wait for the people from the Treasure Yuan Tower to arrive. The competition will naturally begin." Wang Jun said.

"Aren't you from the Treasure Yuan Tower?" Lu Chen thought to himself, but pretended to be helpless on the surface as he waited for the arrival of the people from the Treasure Yuan Tower.

Lu Chen and co. did not wait for half a cup of tea before they saw a few people flying over from the east. The ingots on their clothes also proved that they were from the Treasure Yuan Tower.

"I am the Outer Sect Deacon of the Treasure Yuan Tower, Hua Xiang. I have made you all wait for a long time." Hua Xiang said with a smile.

Lu Chen and the others also politely said that they had just arrived.

After Hua Xiang arrived, he took a look at the several people around him. Upon seeing Wang Jun, his pupils dilated and he was about to greet him. However, he immediately reacted with a smile and started chatting with them.

Hua Xiang's actions could not be hidden from Lu Chen's eyes. When he first arrived, Lu Chen could tell that Hua Xiang's cultivation level was the same as his, at the same level as him.

"I'm getting more and more curious about this Wang Jun's identity." Lu Chen thought.

After Hua Xiang arrived, he stood in front of the crowd and was about to read out the contents of the competition, "Everyone, because the other members of the Allied Trade Association are not satisfied with the monopoly the Green Xuan Residence has over the market, so they decided to stay for the competition. Am I right?" Hua Xiang asked.

"That's right." The person from the Allied Trade Association said.

Lu Quan also nodded his head in silence.

"Since this is the case, I will explain the contents of today's competition. As we are all in the business world, we are not good at fighting, so the competition will be conducted in the business world." "Hua Xiang said." The content of the competition is as follows. We will give the same goods to both sides, and those who can sell them all in the shortest amount of time will win, do you all have any objections? "

The people from the Allied Trade Association seemed to have known from the start that they did not say anything, while Lu Chen and Lu Quan did not either.

"Since that's the case, let the competition begin." Hua Xiang said.