Chapter 336: Chapter 334: Good Deeds Are Rewarded
Qin Li was instantly overjoyed. As the saying goes, human power has its limits. No matter how strong they were, they were complete strangers to this great sea. If they could have an experienced guide lead them, the chances of finding the two types of Spirit Flowers needed to refine the Strengthening Pill would increase dramatically.
After all, trying to find two specific plants in the vast, boundless sea was truly no easier than finding a needle in a haystack.
Besides, and most importantly, just as the old fisherman had said, with him around, they wouldn’t get lost.
A grateful smile touched Qin Li’s face. "Then, thank you very much!"
"Don’t thank me! Please, don’t say thank you! You are our benefactor! You are the benefactor of all the fishermen of Hai City... no, of all the common people in Hai City! If it weren’t for you, we don’t know how many more years we would have had to live like this, or when it would ever end!" the weathered old fisherman said, tears streaming down his face.
At this moment, more and more people began to slowly walk toward them, their faces showing a mixture of nervousness and hesitation. Though their movements were slow, the profound gratitude in their eyes was unmistakable.
Many were shedding tears. For them, the complete eradication of the Sea Tide Gang’s power in Hai City was nothing short of a liberation. It gave the common folk of Hai City the feeling that they had finally turned their lives around.
Qin Li looked at the gratitude on their faces and slowly extended his Divine Sense. From their mental fluctuations, he felt nothing but heartfelt emotion and excitement.
This was something Qin Li hadn’t expected. He gave a wry smile. ’To think that a former gang boss like me would one day be revered by the masses.’
Just then, the fisherman, Old Zhang, suddenly shouted, "Our benefactor is heading out to sea, and I’m going to be his guide! So, let’s not waste his time here. Our benefactor is an important man; he doesn’t have time to talk much with us. Now that all the Sea Tide Gang scum are dead, we’ll build a shrine to our benefactor’s long life in the future!"
"Yes!" A unified shout rose from the crowd.
At that moment, someone in the crowd yelled, "I say, Old Zhang, when it comes to experience sailing the great sea, if you say you’re second, no one in Hai City would dare claim to be first. But as for your boat... no offense, but that thing is too dilapidated! It could never withstand a real storm! How can our benefactor travel on a boat like that? How about this: I’ll provide a ship for our benefactor! And I’ll give you twenty experienced sailors. When you get back, that ship is yours, Old Zhang. If it weren’t for you today, the Sea Tide Gang might not have been wiped out. So, I, Jinbo, on behalf of all the people of Hai City, thank you! But you’ll have to return those twenty sailors to me when the time comes!"
As soon as he finished speaking, a wave of good-natured laughter swept through the crowd, followed by a buzz of discussion.
"Heavens, Boss Jin is here too! Old Zhang has really struck it rich! Is there any ship given by Boss Jin that’s not top-notch?"
"Yeah, yeah, but Boss Jin’s actions are understandable. Over the years, the Sea Tide Gang has probably extorted him for more than a hundred large ships!"
"Old Zhang is so lucky! He’s hit the jackpot. From now on, we’ll have to call him Boss Zhang!"
"I get the feeling that if it weren’t for Old Zhang today, the benefactor might not have even acted!"
"Who’s Boss Jin?" someone suddenly interjected.
The surroundings suddenly fell silent. Everyone stared at the speaker as if he were an idiot. The man felt a little awkward and forced a grin. "Uh, I’m... I’m an outsider, just got here..."
"Tch, you’re an outsider, what are you doing getting mixed up in this? You don’t even know who Boss Jin is? Do you know who the biggest shipbuilder in the entire Yan Kingdom is? It’s Boss Jin of our very own Hai City’s Yifan Shipyard!"
Qin Li heard all of their discussions. He cupped his fists toward the crowd and said in a clear voice, "My thanks to Boss Jin!"
A refined-looking man in his fifties with a humble smile on his face stepped out from the crowd. He gave Qin Li a deep bow and said, "Benefactor, you are too kind. You have removed a great scourge for our Hai City. What I have done is trivial, truly trivial!"
The Snake Woman stood beside Qin Li, watching everything with a pensive expression. In the days she had been following Qin Li, she had experienced the complexity of human nature—the good, the evil, the simple, the treacherous... all of it. While it made her sigh with emotion, it also helped her mature a great deal.
She suddenly had a feeling. ’Compared to these humans, whose ages aren’t even a fraction of my own, my long years of life were truly... lived in vain!’
’Those three monkeys will definitely regret this in the future!’
Leng Yao’s expression was calm and placid, but her heart was in turmoil. A feeling called pride was spreading through her. Humans are social creatures; to live is to need a sense of recognition.
It was just like the famous saying: "To achieve wealth and glory without returning home is like wearing fine silks in the dead of night." No matter who a person was, as long as they lived in this world, they needed to be acknowledged and recognized. Their unintentional act of kindness today had earned them the gratitude of tens of thousands of Hai City’s citizens. It was foreseeable that in the near future, statues carved in their likeness would appear in Hai City, worshipped for generations to come.
To achieve such a thing in one’s lifetime truly made it all worthwhile.
As she thought this, Leng Yao’s gaze grew hazy as she looked at the man beside her. Though she had been fond of him for several years, this was the first time she had so clearly realized that Qin Li... was an exceptionally outstanding man.
’For a woman, just being able to stay by the side of a man like this is a tremendous blessing in itself!’
Qin Li thought for a moment, then casually took out a bottle of mass-produced elixirs from the Qin Family—the same kind that Shiyu’s master, Ye Qianyu, had given to the Shangguan Family back then. Then he took out a book on combat techniques and a Primordial Power Heart Method, both of which were things used by the junior disciples of the Qin Family. Now that the Qin Family had better combat techniques and Heart Methods, these items naturally no longer held the same value they once did.
But to an ordinary person in the secular world, these things were absolute priceless treasures. Forget one ship; not even a thousand... or ten thousand ships could be exchanged for even one of them!
Qin Li casually handed them to Boss Jin and said with a smile, "These are just some small trinkets. Boss Jin, you can pass them down. No matter the era, increasing one’s own strength is the best way to protect oneself. There are forty or fifty elixirs here. If a disciple has good aptitude, reaching the Celestial Level shouldn’t be a problem. The Imperial Family of this Yan Kingdom has some connection with me. Boss Jin, continue to do business well in the future, and strive to become the wealthiest merchant in all of Yan Kingdom!"
Everyone who heard Qin Li’s words looked at Boss Jin with eyes full of envy. They all thought, ’For Boss Jin’s small act of kindness to receive such a bountiful reward is truly enviable!’
One had to understand that in the eyes of these people, Qin Li and his companions were practically gods! Could anything they offered possibly be trash?
Didn’t you hear? Forty or fifty elixirs could create forty or fifty Celestial Level masters!
Jinbo’s hands, holding the porcelain bottle and the books, were trembling. His voice shook as he was about to kneel before Qin Li. "Benefactor, this magnificent gift... I... I..."
A surge of Power emanated from Qin Li, preventing Jinbo from kneeling. He smiled and said, "Our meeting was fated. I can see that Boss Jin holds great prestige in Hai City and is also a generous person. Therefore, these are merely a small token of my appreciation. There’s no need for further pleasantries. Go on now."
With his eyes red, Jinbo left, thanking Qin Li profusely. From that day forward, relying on these elixirs and Secret Manuals, the Jin Family of Hai City not only became the wealthiest in the Yan Kingdom but also grew into an incomparably powerful clan! Their experts were as numerous as the clouds, and their wealth could rival a nation!
They even produced several masters who surpassed the Celestial Level!
Many believed the Jin Family possessed the strength to replace the Yan Royal Family. Even the Yan Imperial Family themselves thought so at first and were nervous for quite some time. It was only later, after a Qin Family disciple serving as a Tributor to the Imperial Family investigated and learned of the past connection, that they had a sudden realization.
However, the Jin Family passed down an ancestral decree through the generations: So long as the Yan Royal Family existed, they were to remain loyal to them! Should the Imperial Family ever face a crisis, the Jin Family was to stand with them, sharing their boat through the storm, to live and die as one!
Thus, many years later, the Jin Family also became a legendary clan in the Yan Kingdom! Likewise, the story of how the Jin Family’s ancestor, Jinbo, performed an unintentional act of kindness in Hai City after the destruction of the Sea Tide Gang, thereby creating a legendary family, spread throughout the entire Yan Kingdom.
Countless years later, many households in Hai City enshrined statues of three unknown young people, where the incense of worship never ceased to burn.
Standing on the deck of the brand-new ship as it cut through the waves, the Snake Woman’s face was a little pale as she gripped the railing tightly. That’s right—she was seasick.
Qin Li had been teasing her about it for days. It was hard to believe that a Martial Artist whose strength had reached the Shattered Void realm could actually get seasick!
In reality, the ship was extremely stable. The sailors were highly experienced, and with Jinbo’s earnest and repeated instructions, the vessel sailed so smoothly that one could barely feel any rocking at all.
But even so, the Snake Woman still felt awful. Especially when looking out at the endless great sea, she felt a sense of profound unease.
The strong confidence she had on land was quickly worn away at sea. To make matters worse, the girl was stubbornly proud. Despite knowing she held an immense fear of the water, she was determined to conquer it.
So, for three or four days straight, whenever Qin Li rose at dawn to cultivate by absorbing the Innate Purple Qi, she would always follow him out. Then, just like now, she would grip the railing with both hands, her face pale, and stare out at the vast ocean with fear in her eyes.
"You know, you really don’t have to do this. If you’re scared, just go back inside."
The streak of purple qi on the horizon had already dissipated. The sun rose from the distant sea level, casting the entire surface of the water in a golden light. Qin Li finished his practice and stood up, speaking to the Snake Woman with a smile. "Look at Leng Yao. She’s smart enough to stay and cultivate in her cabin."
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