The cruise ship sailed upstream against the river.

Inside the cabin, Murong Yan watched Lin Chen drink tea like a bull, finishing a large pot, and she finally couldn’t sit still.

"Brother Lin, Cloud Cauldron tea is good, but you shouldn’t overdo it; a pot a day is the limit, drinking more is useless."

Upon hearing Murong Yan’s words, Lin Chen reluctantly put down his teacup.

From the first sip of Cloud Cauldron tea, he felt a hint of warmth in his abdomen. Murong Yan wasn’t lying; this tea really was extraordinary.

With his current physical strength, the pills provided by the Martial Arts Academy for disciples at the early stage of Viscera Refining would elicit a reaction for ordinary martial artists, but they were useless for him.

According to the dean, his Qi Blood already far exceeds that of average Viscera-Refining Martial Artists, and usual Viscera Refining pills have no effect on him.

However, the pills that Grade-Entering Martial Artists can take are mainly aimed at Martial Path Will, which he doesn’t need. This leads to him having to boil some medicinal herbs into a liquid for absorption.

"Brother Murong, is there any more of this Cloud Cauldron tea?"

Murong Yan rolled her eyes in her mind, wanting to drink and take some away?

This Cloud Cauldron tea was a gift from the Zhao Kingdom to their Yan Country Royal Family, and she only brought eight taels to the Canglan Martial Arts Academy this time, having already drunk one tael.

"Brother Murong, I have a good relationship with Junior Sister Murong at the academy; she’s mentioned Cloud Cauldron tea several times. Last time, she said she’d bring me a pound of it."

Lin Chen said with a big smile, spouting nonsense with wide-open eyes. Since Murong Yan had her own schemes involving him and even disguised herself as a man, he decided to ask boldly without reservation.

"When did I ever have a good relationship with you!"

Murong Yan was furious. Lin Chen was too hateful; he avoided her like the plague several times at the Academy, yet now he had the audacity to claim this.

But alas, she couldn’t expose him; doing so would reveal her own identity. Up to now, Murong Yan felt she was successfully disguised as a man with a fabricated identity that had fooled Lin Chen.

"Perhaps next time I can have someone from home bring Cloud Cauldron tea to send to Brother Lin."

"Brother Murong, you don’t have any right now?"

Lin Chen’s gaze shifted behind Murong Yan. Fearing he might see something, she hastily said, "There’s one box left; since Brother Lin likes to drink it, take it."

"Then I won’t stand on ceremony."

Seeing Murong Yan grudgingly hand over the tea box, Lin Chen quickly took it. Murong Yan was silent for a few moments, calming her emotions before saying, "Brother Lin, at your leisure, I need a bit of rest."

At this moment, she didn’t want to see Lin Chen’s face one second longer.

Lin Chen is like a completely different person at the academy; his behavior has completely changed. It made her suspect that the Lin Chen at the Academy was just pretending to be a gentleman, when in reality, he’s just a thick-skinned fellow.

Murong Yan got up and walked inside the cabin, where there was a special bed for resting.

"If Brother Lin is tired, there’s a room inside where you can rest."

"No need."

Having gotten what he wanted, Lin Chen didn’t continue pulling at Murong Yan; he stored the tea box, watching Murong Yan enter the inner cabin, while he went to the deck.

In the winter season, many trees on both sides of the riverbank were bare and leafless. Standing on the deck, Lin Chen noticed a middle-aged man with sharp eyes staring at him.

He hadn’t noticed this middle-aged woman when boarding the ship, but those sharp eyes made him feel she was a Grade-Entering Powerhouse.

Was she responsible for protecting Murong Yan’s safety?

"Greetings, Elder."

Lin Chen greeted politely, but the middle-aged woman snorted coldly. With her hearing, she heard the conversation between the Princess and Lin Chen crystal clear earlier, and she was quite displeased with how shamelessly Lin Chen had asked the Princess for Cloud Cauldron tea.

"Aunt Qin, come inside for a moment."

Just as Su Qin was about to teach Lin Chen a lesson, Murong Yan’s voice came from inside the cabin.

Su Qin coldly retracted her gaze, no longer paying attention to Lin Chen, and instead walked into the cabin.

"Princess, this Lin Chen is too presumptuous. You are our Great Yan Princess, and he dares to act like this; let me teach him a lesson."

Murong Yan lay on the bed, her slender fingers holding a folding fan, with sleeves slipping, revealing her slender white wrist bones. She sighed softly and said, "Our Yan Kingdom’s land is but the breadth of three roads in Liang. Lin Chen is the number one among the younger generation in Liang, and Liang has more than a dozen roads, not to mention several special locations. In terms of status, he is not beneath me."

"Princess, it’s not calculated like this. No matter how small Yan Kingdom is, you are a princess; our Yan Kingdom’s national power is not comparable to just three roads in Liang."

Su Qin frowned, feeling the Princess was overestimating Lin Chen.

"That’s just what Aunt Qin thinks; Liang wouldn’t think so." Murong Yan sat upright, with a serious expression: "Aunt Qin, don’t forget the purpose of my visit to Liang this time."

Upon hearing this, Su Qin’s expression darkened, as she knew the Princess’s purpose for coming to Liang.

The mission of the Yan Kingdom Princess was to join another country’s royal family, but the Princess did not want to take this path, so she left the Yan Yellow Family Martial Arts Academy to come to the Liang Academy.

The Princess wishes to find a Prince Consort, a true martial arts prodigy!

"But Princess, do you really think Lin Chen can meet your standards, and isn’t this person too morally deficient?"

"Deficient, are the princes from the various royal families really paragons of virtue?"

Murong Yan sneered, her eyes lowered, a cold light in them, after a while she raised her head and returned to normal: "This time the geniuses from Zheng Kingdom and Xiang Kingdom have arrived just in time, if Lin Chen can defeat these two families, investing in him wouldn’t be out of the question."

Su Qin was about to speak, but Murong Yan raised her hand to stop her: "Aunt Qin, please call Lin Chen in for me."

...

...

When Lin Chen returned to the cabin again, Murong Yan had once again resumed her cheerful demeanor.

"Brother Murong, have you recovered so quickly?"

"I felt a bit unwell when I first boarded the ship, but I’ve adjusted now."

The tea set on the table had been cleared away, replaced by a stack of papers.

"Brother Lin, this is all the information on the disciples from Xiang Kingdom and Zheng Kingdom who came this time."

Upon hearing this, Lin Chen’s expression became serious as he picked up the papers on the table, containing information on twelve people in total.

"Zheng Kingdom’s Sihe Martial Arts Academy and Xiang Kingdom’s Pilgrim Martial Arts Academy each brought six disciples, generally every martial arts exchange each academy also brings six disciples."

"Why six?" Lin Chen asked curiously.

"Because in the academy ranking competition, each academy can only arrange for six disciples to participate each time."

"Thank you, Brother Murong, for clearing up my confusion."

Lin Chen suddenly understood and began to carefully examine the profiles of these twelve people, eventually putting aside ten of them and keeping four.

Two of these four profiles were marked with red circles, Lin Chen was curious why these two were marked, while the other two he held were because these disciples had defeated the top figures of Qingyun Martial Arts Academy and the Capital City’s Martial Arts Academy.

"Brother Murong, what’s the situation with these two?"

Murong Yan seemed to have anticipated that Lin Chen would inquire about these two individuals marked with red circles, she said calmly: "Hu Bing and Benshan Lang likely are the real trump cards of the Pilgrim Martial Arts Academy and Sihe Martial Arts Academy."

"You mean these two are stronger than those two?"

Lin Chen’s eyes narrowed, pointing to the names on the left hand papers, these were the ones who defeated Kong Qing of Qingyun Martial Arts Academy and Zhang Ming of the Capital City’s Martial Arts Academy.

If Hu Bing and Benshan Lang were stronger than these two, then he might not have the upper hand.

"Yes."

"How does Brother Murong know?"

"I... I have my sources."

Murong Yan wouldn’t tell Lin Chen that this information was gathered by her Murong Royal Family.

Since she harbored the thought of finding a Prince Consort, she had been gathering information on the young geniuses from the Nine Kingdoms.

"Hu Bing is a closed-door disciple taken by the High Priest of Xiang Kingdom, although the news hasn’t been released to the outside, while Benshan Lang is the heir cultivated by the Benshan Clan in this generation."

"Hu Bing practices Xiang Kingdom’s White Elephant Fist, his fist wields the power of five elephants, while the Benshan Clan’s body technique is considered the best in Zheng Kingdom, and Benshan Lang has apprenticed under the Cyan Fortune Blade Master, learning the dark blade, he has killed a Viscera-Refining Martial Artist while Opening the Acupoints 24 places, although by ambush, it suffices to prove his strength."

Zheng Kingdom and Xiang Kingdom are wary of Liang, but Yan Kingdom, due to its neutrality, allows Yan people to travel conveniently in various kingdoms, relying on this advantage, the Yan Country Royal Family’s intelligence is the best among the Nine Kingdoms.

"Brother Lin, would you like to know the flaws in the White Elephant Fist and Benshan Clan’s body technique?"

Murong Yan smiled at Lin Chen, he didn’t answer directly, but after pondering for a while, said: "What do I need to pay?"

Murong Yan wasn’t from Liang, she couldn’t possibly help him deal with Zheng Kingdom and Xiang Kingdom for free, earlier he acted as a greedy scoundrel to provoke Murong Yan into anger, hoping she wouldn’t have any designs on him, allowing him to quietly reach Lingxiao City.

"Nothing at all."

Seeing Lin Chen frown, Murong Yan explained: "After all, my sister is also from Canglan Martial Arts Academy, from my standpoint as an elder brother, naturally I hope Brother Lin can prevail."

Lin Chen stared at Murong Yan for a moment, Murong Yan, being stared at, wasn’t even slightly embarrassed, appearing very frank.

After a few moments, Lin Chen made up his mind: "Then I must thank Brother Murong in advance."

"Brother Lin, please follow me to the deck!"

Upon hearing Lin Chen accept her kindness, Murong Yan smiled, before standing up, subconsciously wanted to lift her hair, but as her hand reached mid-air, she realized this movement was somewhat inappropriate, and silently lowered it.

Lin Chen naturally noticed Murong Yan’s subtle movement, but he didn’t want to expose it now, just pretending not to see it.