The Journey of Projection Upgrading
Chapter 166: Brainstorming

It was indeed very clean.

There was no other way.

Chen An's methods were simply too ruthless.

All the scheming spirits that he could easily take care of were basically wiped out by him.

Just a while ago, he was pondering whether to expand his business to the neighboring county.

After all, this place in Yuan County was just like this, and there was no future in staying here for too long.

After chatting with Bai Changyue for a while, Chen An left.

After a while, several mystical items were delivered, and after some tinkering, Chen An's account gained a dozen more points of source power.

It could only be said to be better than nothing.

Thinking in a positive direction, he now needed more than a hundred source power to advance one level.

These dozen or so source powers were about one-tenth of that, which was already quite a lot.

Chen An comforted himself like this, then turned and left, silently starting his seclusion.

Time passed slowly.

Soon, half a month had passed.

During this time, Bai Qing's departure was naturally discovered, and the news spread back.

But Chen An had already made arrangements in advance, and covered it up easily with a pretext.

This matter did not cause much of a stir.

On the other hand, Princess Changping, recently seemed to be less active, and even began to stay indoors more often, rarely going out.

At least Chen An hadn't seen her for a long time.

What exactly they were discussing, Chen An wasn't sure.

But he was also curious about the princess's situation.

Unfortunately, if the princess didn't take the initiative, he couldn't just go over to find her.

After all, no matter what, she was a princess.

If he sneaked over and was discovered, it wouldn't sound good for his reputation.

It's better to forget about it.

Instead of spending so much energy, it's better to focus on cultivating.

It's better to advance to the congenital realm sooner, regain his former cultivation, and not have to worry about anything.

That's what Chen An thought, and that's what he did.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the Bai Family's ancestral worship.

On this day, when the sun had just risen, Bai Zhilan pulled Chen An up, heading towards the outside.

Not just them, many Bai family members had also gotten up.

For example, Bai Changren and other elite members of the Bai family also got up early, looking like they were preparing to worship their ancestors.

The ancestral tomb of the Bai family was not in this residence, but on a nearby mountain.

When the Bai family members left the residence and headed towards the ancestral tomb, the previously bustling Bai family residence suddenly became quiet.

The figures around seemed to have lessened all of a sudden.

It seemed a bit unusual for a while.

After many people left, Liang Yao also walked out of her residence.

"Is it already time."

Standing still, she felt the sunlight around her and looked interestedly at the procession of Bai family members.

"Princess."

Beside her, Mr. Zhong's figure appeared, standing next to Liang Yao.

Of course, he was not wearing a mask now, dressed very formally.

His figure was not strong but rather lean, on the surface he looked nothing like a martial artist, but more like a scholarly scholar.

With his appearance and usually following Liang Yao closely, who would guess that this ordinary middle-aged man was actually a powerful martial artist with strong gangqi?

"That person has left. Shouldn't we..."

Mr. Zhong looked around and only spoke after confirming for a while.

During this time, they had been staying in their residence and seemed very docile and decent.

Of course, it wasn't because of their personalities, but because of Chen An's intimidation before.

The deterrence of a gangqi expert was indeed strong.

At least it made them more cautious.

After all, they wouldn’t stand a chance against most of them.

Now, with the Bai Family's ancestral worship beginning, Chen An also followed.

If they wanted to do something here at the Bai Family, now was the best time.

However, an unexpected situation occurred.

"What do you mean?"

Liang Yao looked at Mr. Zhong with some surprise, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

This time Mr. Zhong was a bit confused, "What should we do?"

"We were planning to secretly take the Bai family's treasure, right?"

"Yes."

Liang Yao nodded, "But how do you know where that treasure is?

Indeed, if you don't know where it is, how can you take it away?

"So what should we do?" Mr. Zhong continued to ask, but only got a one-word answer.

"Wait."

Liang Yao whispered.

For the whereabouts of the Bai family's treasures hidden in the mist, she was actually uncertain.

Unfortunately, her dreams had a precognitive effect, but due to certain conditions, many details were not always clear.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have ended up like this.

Just think about it.

If she could really predict the future one hundred percent, with such a powerful ability, how could she only have Mr. Zhong by her side?

Probably she could have pushed the Emperor of the Grand Liang aside and become the Empress herself.

In reality, this ability did have its limitations.

It was certain that some details could not be figured out.

Especially things happening outside her own immediate surroundings.

So, regarding what would happen next at the Bai Family, Liang Yao wasn't completely clear, she only knew the overall picture.

She knew that a treasure would appear at that location which could have a huge impact.

But where that treasure was located, and how to get it, she didn't know.

Since she didn't know where it was, the only thing she could do was wait.

According to Liang Yao's dream manifestation, after the Bai Family's ancestor worship, that treasure would soon be revived.

In the upcoming changes, it was because the aura of that treasure leaked out, attracting people from all over and causing a great commotion.

What Liang Yao was preparing to do now was to wait.

Wait for the time when the treasure was born, and then seize the opportunity to take it away.

According to her original plan, this process shouldn't be difficult.

After all, the strongest among the Bai Family, the white family head, was now in seclusion, and nothing major would happen easily.

The other elders were already old and their strength was at the bottom of the gangqi, far inferior to Mr. Zhong by her side.

If she could handle it properly and create a time difference, the probability of success was still very high.

However, the current situation was that Chen An had appeared out of nowhere.

This was troublesome.

"Are you sure that person's strength is not weaker than yours?"

After standing still and pondering for a moment, Liang Yao looked at Mr. Zhong next to her and couldn't help but ask.

Mr. Zhong's face immediately showed a wry smile, "That's just a general statement."

"In reality, if we were to really fight, after a long time, I definitely wouldn't be his match."

He had already experienced Chen An's strength.

That choking combat experience and decisive and sharp martial arts were still fresh in his memory, and he dared not forget them.

Liang Yao said that he and Chen An were evenly matched, but that was actually flattering him.

If they were really to fight to the death and not back down, he was afraid he would be beaten to death by Chen An.

"Is he really so terrifying?"

Liang Yao frowned, somewhat surprised.

Her mood was somewhat complicated, mixed with surprise and confusion.

The reason was simple.

Because in her dreams, there was no mention of Chen An.

In the dreams, over the next few decades, many young strong figures had risen, with many even becoming gangqi experts in a short time, even having the hope of reaching the congenital realm.

But Liang Yao was sure that Chen An wasn't among them.

After all, his performance was too outstanding.

A gangqi expert under twenty years old with such strength, once this news got out, it would surely shake the entire Grand Liang.

But in reality, she knew nothing about Chen An, as if he had suddenly emerged out of nowhere.

This was quite unreasonable.

"Could it be that he has been lurking in the Bai Family, cultivating quietly, without actually taking action?"

After thinking for a long time, Liang Yao went crazy brainstorming and finally came up with a somewhat plausible explanation, "Maybe he is a pure warrior who is indifferent to fame and fortune and only focuses on cultivation?"

Martial artists are usually competitive and prone to conflict with each other.

Those with skills often like to show off in various settings to gain fame.

The so-called rankings, such as the heavenly, earthly, and human rankings, all come from this.

But there were also some who were indifferent to fame and fortune, and even though they had great skills, they chose to live in seclusion quietly and never show off.

At this moment, in Liang Yao's eyes, Chen An might be one of these people.

Well, in a way, her thought might not be wrong.

Chen An was indeed indifferent to fame and fortune.

Things that could move him were few and far between now.

Being famous was not something he desired.

But if this conclusion continued to be deduced, more interesting things would come up.

"Wait a minute."

Liang Yao's mind suddenly stirred, and a thought flashed through her mind, "Could it be that Bai Qing was able to obtain the treasure in the end because this person was secretly helping him?"

"Is it just because he has been hiding all this time that he is not known to others?"

This was indeed very possible.

From a logical point of view, Bai Qing was now just a waste, not even a martial artist, and his strength was very low.

With such low strength, how could he have taken the treasure from the Bai Family among so many strong enemies?

There must have been someone helping him!

Chen An might be that helper, secretly assisting Bai Qing in the process.

Just because the other party didn't like to show off, he remained unknown.

It seemed that the logic suddenly became clear and reasonable.

Liang Yao suddenly realized.

The key to the matter was not Bai Qing, but the seemingly ordinary Chen An who had been lurking in the Bai Family all this time.

How deceiving appearances could be.

This must be the case!

Compared to others, Liang Yao was absolutely intelligent and would not easily be misled by others.

But intelligent people like her often had some flaws.

Once they reached a conclusion, they would firmly believe it and consider it correct.

And now, she was in this situation.

If Chen An were here, he would probably be gossiping.

What's going on here?

I just wanted to rest peacefully and maybe do some fishing, when did I become a mastermind behind the scenes again?

Don't spread rumors!

Unfortunately, he wasn't here, so he couldn't defend himself.

After confirming Chen An's identity, Liang Yao began to think of a solution.

Initially, she thought that the main obstacle they faced was Bai Qing.

Now it turned out to be Chen An.

And she found out that facing Chen An seemed to be more difficult than facing Bai Qing.

Although Bai Qing had some special and mysterious traits, he was just a waste person with no internal energy, easy to deal with whether by other means or simply by using force, there shouldn't be any problem.

But Chen An.

His methods seemed to be of no use.

He had the status, wealth, and power if he wanted it.

Thinking of confronting him directly?

Who knows, he might just punch you out.

In these years, she had indeed gathered some subordinates, but the strongest among them was Mr. Zhong by her side.

If he couldn't match up to Chen An, it was needless to say that the others would be even less match for him.

Troublesome.

Liang Yao felt a headache and tugged at her hair, feeling quite puzzled by this thorny issue.

"Alright, let's take it step by step."

In the end, she shook her head and thought to herself, "I can always just give up."

There were many ways to achieve one's goals.

Although the treasure here at the Bai Family was precious, if she really couldn't obtain it, she could just give up.

It was regrettable, though.

In the next few decades, despite frequent unrest in various places and the emergence of many treasures, the treasure that appeared here at the Bai Family's ancestral land was extremely rare and had a very good effect.

If obtainable, it would bring Liang Yao one step closer to her ultimate goal.

But unfortunately, they were just a little short of it.

She sighed in her heart, then quietly got up and continued walking forward.

Elsewhere.

Thick fog rose, wafting around, forming clouds of white fog that looked quite spectacular.

Various places seemed very lively, with smoke and fire everywhere.

Many Bai family members were lighting fireworks and there were sounds of firecrackers all around.

This was the scene at the Bai Family's ancestor worship.

Chen An looked around, standing in the crowd, not standing out at all.

Of course, not standing out was relative.

In reality, the position he currently stood in was still relatively forward, just behind the positions of the few elders.

This was arranged by the elders.

Even though Chen An had instructed to treat him like a normal Bai family member, would the other elders really do that?

If they ended up neglecting him, Chen An might get angry and beat them up.

So this arrangement was quite cautious.

He was still satisfied with this position.

It was good - not too flashy, but not too far back either.

Most importantly, he could enjoy the show up close.

(End of chapter)