"Don't be fooled by Chai Haotian's apparent straightforwardness."
While Shen Qian was lost in thought, Ling Xiao downed a glass of red wine and suddenly said, "No one who can sit in the position of city lord is simple."
"Huh?" Shen Qian sensed the hidden meaning in his fifth senior brother's words and couldn't help but ask, "What does fifth senior brother mean?"
"He seems to be completely open with you and genuinely wants to help you become the next city lord, but there's another very important reason he didn't mention."
Ling Xiao said leisurely.
"What?"
“Normally, once the lord of a city leaves office, the people’s livelihood will stagnate, and may even collapse. But there is an exception.”
Seeing that Shen Qian seemed to be deep in thought, Ling Xiao couldn't help but smile and say, "It seems you've already thought of it."
"Personally designate the successor?" Shen Qian asked.
“That’s right.” Ling Xiao nodded. “If the successor you designate is recognized and you personally support him to take the throne, your people’s way will be preserved to the greatest extent and will have a symbiotic relationship with you. Your people’s way can give back to his people’s way.”
"In other words, the better you manage Jingcheng in the future, the more he will benefit."
"I see," Shen Qian said with sudden realization.
Now I finally understand why Chai Haotian was pushing me to take over.
"Of course, having selfish motives does not mean denying his character. He was indeed considering Jingcheng's interests. Humans are complex beings, and this is not a black-and-white world. You should judge the degree of his actions yourself."
Ling Xiao smiled faintly.
"I know."
Shen Qian nodded, then turned to look at the hazy lights under the night sky of Jingcheng, somewhat lost in thought. "Fifth Senior Brother, don't you have... a sense of responsibility?"
"Huh?" Ling Xiao was taken aback.
"Don't old movies always say that with great power comes great responsibility?"
He murmured to himself, "I've been feeling confused lately. I'm clearly not a saint, and I even have quite a few flaws, but I also seem unable to bear seeing too much suffering. Maybe I have the ability to change something..."
"Perhaps some things are not my responsibility, but I still feel a kind of inexplicable guilt."
"Fifth Senior Brother, you've lived for so long and are strong enough, do you really have this strange feeling of righteousness?"
Shen Qian turned his head and stared at Ling Xiao.
Ling Xiao raised an eyebrow, and after a brief moment of thought, he seemed to understand something. He smiled and said, "Is it because of... those soldiers in Toothless Valley?"
"Mm." Shen Qian nodded.
"normal."
Ling Xiao smiled nonchalantly and poured Chen Qian a glass of wine.
"Humans are complex beings, but also social beings. Your bonds are what make you human."
"Rather than saying that with great power comes great responsibility, it is more accurate to say that with great responsibility comes great power."
"Junior brother, I am glad that you always examine your own heart. I hope you will keep it up and not become a 'non-human' monster in the future."
"Fifth Senior Brother means... the Martial Arts Department?"
Before sinking, he recalled Shi Dingyan's rebuke that day.
"I'm not in a position to comment on the Martial Arts Department. Let those kings and nobles judge it." Ling Xiao shook his head. "As for your confusion, it's really not a big deal. Just follow your heart."
"Just like that ancient poem, 'Though battered and bruised, it remains firm and strong...'" Ling Xiao recited aloud.
"Let the winds blow from east, west, north, or south!"
Shen Qian blurted out, then looked at Ling Xiao and laughed, raising their glasses to drink together.
"Let's go, the teacher will get angry if we drink any more."
Ling Xiao called the owner over to settle the bill and said this at the same time.
"Why is the teacher angry?" Shen Qian was taken aback.
"I just returned to Jingcheng and instead of reporting to him first, I came here to fool around with you. Of course, the teacher has reason to be angry."
Ling Xiao said irritably.
"Don't let the teacher's seemingly open-minded appearance fool you; deep down, he's extremely particular about etiquette. That's why only the third senior brother, who knows the rules best, can stay with the teacher all the time. Do you understand?"
Ling Xiao lowered his voice to the next sentence, almost humming it out. Fortunately, Shen Qian was sharp-witted and could roughly guess what Ling Xiao was saying.
Shen Qian initially wanted to refute, because the big boss Gao was still quite easygoing in front of him, but when he thought of Liu Changqing's tragic past, he became less certain.
...
Shen Qian and Ling Xiao returned to the Tower of Babel. Ling Xiao went to see the big boss Gao first, while Shen Qian exchanged pleasantries with Shi Dingyan before returning to his 99th floor.
Although the senior disciple Gao has returned, it will take another day or two to set up the Heaven-Seizing Array, and we still need to wait for the other senior brothers and sisters.
Time was running out, and Chen Qian was too lazy to go out and cause trouble again. He decided to go into seclusion for two days to further improve his strength.
The renovation cooling-off period on the 99th floor has ended, and it is now habitable. Shen Qian went directly to his private cultivation room, which is 100 square meters in size.
Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of the training room is an infinity pool that connects to the balcony.
The layout of this luxury house is just that amazing.
...The huge training room only had a single, lonely training mat, making it seem quite empty.
There was nothing they could do before they sank.
Although Gao paid for the renovation and the renovation company gave him some basic daily furniture, it was only enough to solve his basic needs for food and sleep.
With so little furniture, it clearly doesn't match the style of a luxury home.
However, if this more than 3,000 square meters of space were to be furnished with high-end furniture, the cost would be enormous, and Chen Qian does not have that kind of spare money at the moment.
Not to mention that cultivation equipment is the most expensive part. For example, a high-frequency treadmill, even from a random brand, costs tens of thousands of yuan.
If you were to set up a training room according to the standard configuration of the Kyushu Martial Arts Hall's Diamond Training Room, it would easily cost at least five million.
Considering the previous pace of progress, upgrading and replacement would be another huge problem.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
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