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“Silly Greg, where have you run off to?”

“Silly Greg, aren’t you coming home? Be careful or Uncle Hall will beat you!”

Greg mimicked his previous silly chuckle and, with his belongings, swiftly climbed up the mountain.

The villagers, watching his retreating figure, couldn’t help but sigh.

“Silly Greg is done for this time.”

“Yeah, I heard Uncle Hall went to the city to call for some people, no telling how they’ll deal with him!”

“Alas, his family’s land is surely lost.”

Greg, with keen ears and sharp eyes, could still hear these discussions even from a distance, but he didn’t take them to heart.

He had already reached the first level of Qi Refinement, dealing with Uncle Hall was nothing to him.

Even if Uncle Hall brought many people, Greg wasn’t afraid.

Moreover, Uncle Hall probably wouldn’t bring too many people, because he didn’t know his own strength and thought he was just a fool, only capable of throwing a few punches at most.

Suddenly, Greg remembered an ancient saying: “Hiding skill in clumsiness, using obscurity to shine, embedding clarity in murkiness, using constraint to stretch.”

The meaning of this saying was that no matter how clever a person is, it isn’t suitable to show off all the time; it’s better to appear a little clumsy…

Even when capable, it’s not advisable to be too aggressive, it’s better to retreat to advance, and not to be too impulsive.

After all, the tree that stands out in the forest is the one that the wind fells, and the person who sticks out in the crowd is the one that the crowd will destroy.

One must learn to hide their clumsiness, which can not only protect oneself but also allow one to silently build up strength, achieving success without showing off.

Just like this time, if he hadn’t played the fool, Uncle Hall surely would have brought more people for revenge, and by now he might not have been able to handle it.

Greg reminded himself silently that in the future, he should hide his cleverness as much as possible, keep a low profile, and never act rashly without considering the consequences.

Although Greg was only twenty years old this year, after having experienced being beaten into foolishness, he had felt the warmth and coldness of the world and had grown up a lot all at once.

After returning home, he locked the courtyard door and found a large basin to start washing the herbs.

Although these herbs were already processed, there was still some dirt and sand on them that had to be washed off before they could be used.

While washing the herbs, he simulated the steps of elixir production in his mind.

This time, Greg planned to refine an elixir known as a Qi-enhancing pill, which could nourish Qi and replenish blood, providing adequate energy to the body.

Before each cultivation session, he could eat one, not only accelerating his cultivation speed but also preventing the “nearly starved to death” predicament he had encountered before.

After cleaning the herbs, he placed them in the pot one by one and began to cook them.

The cooking took half a day, and it wasn’t until the sun set that Greg finally turned all the herbs into a paste.

After cooling it down, he carefully rolled the paste into pills.

Once he finished, Greg found, to his disappointment, that thirty thousand worth of herbs had yielded only fifteen Qi-enhancing pills.

“These things are way too expensive.”

Fortunately, the effects of the Qi-enhancing pills were good. After eating them, Greg’s cultivation speed had indeed increased significantly.

Previously, of the spiritual energy he absorbed, he could only refine two or three parts out of ten, but after eating a Qi-enhancing pill, this ratio went straight up to fifty percent.

With this pace, it wouldn’t take long for him to advance to the second level of Qi Refinement.

“The second level of Qi Refinement, ah!”

Greg sighed. To reach the second level of Qi Refinement, he had to refine that yang energy, and the idea of Dual Cultivation with that woman was a bit troublesome.

Just then, a sudden noise came from outside, followed by a pleasant female voice.

“Is anyone home?”

Greg was slightly startled and walked to the door to look. He saw a woman in a white, low-cut, cinched-waist dress approaching.

The woman had a slender waist that accentuated her impressive chest even more, and with the low-cut neckline, a large expanse of snow-white skin was revealed.

“Lois Abbott? What’s she doing here?”

Greg Jensen was very puzzled; the woman had driven him away that morning, yet unexpectedly, she had sought him out in the afternoon.

Lois Abbott also spotted Greg Jensen, especially seeing the sweat trickling down his well-defined muscles, a flash of something strange crossed her eyes.

She was instantly reminded of the wild entanglements in the cave, causing her pretty face to blush slightly.

She took a deep breath, forced herself not to indulge in wild thoughts, and tried to speak calmly:

“Hello, my name is Lois Abbott, I’m the general manager of the Reverie Inn. I misunderstood you earlier, and… and please forgive me.”

After she finished speaking, she bowed slightly, and her proud chest also swayed, half-revealing itself restlessly.

Greg Jensen couldn’t help but take another look; this woman’s figure was truly exquisite.

Unfortunately, he had fainted in the cave that day and knew nothing about it.

“No problem, do you need something from me?”

Lois Abbott hadn’t expected Greg Jensen to be so direct and could only say, “I want to buy your Dragon fish; I don’t know if you’ve sold them already?”

“They’re all sold out.”

Lois Abbott’s face turned pale at once, and her insides were filled with such regret that she felt sick, it took her a while to say: “There… there’s none left?”

Seeing her strong reaction, Greg Jensen knew the Dragon fish must be very important to her, and after thinking it over, he said:

“There are some, but I’ve already promised them all to someone else.”

Lois Abbott was first delighted, then anxiously said, “Can you sell them to me? I’ll pay you more!”

Greg Jensen shook his head, “But I’ve already promised them to someone else…”

Lois Abbott interrupted before he could finish, “Eight thousand! I’ll give you eight thousand per pound!”

“It’s not about the money, I…”

“Ten thousand! I’ll give you ten thousand per pound!”

Seeing her urgency, Greg Jensen decided not to beat around the bush, “It’s really not about the money, I… I want you…”

Greg Jensen felt embarrassed saying it himself, feeling like he was taking advantage of someone’s misfortune, almost like a threat.

But Lois Abbott was too important to him; if he couldn’t Dual Cultivate with her, his Qi Refinement would remain stagnant at the first level forever.

However, if he could Dual Cultivate with her, all the challenges he was facing would be easily overcome.

When Lois Abbott heard this, she was immediately stunned and then cursed:

“You’re despicable, shameless, and vile, I… I would rather die than be with you.”

Greg Jensen hadn’t expected her to react so strongly; aren’t modern women supposed to care less about these things?

What’s more, they had already shared a night of passion; what was a few more times to them?

He felt that Lois Abbott might have misunderstood and quickly tried to explain: “I’m not asking you to be with me, I… I just want you to sleep with me…

Not… not sleep with me for one night, but for many nights…”

The more Greg Jensen spoke, the more he felt it was inappropriate, and eventually, he was too embarrassed to continue.

Lois Abbott was so furious her face turned beet red, this man was even more despicable, shameless, and vile than she could have imagined!

“You, you, you!!”

Lois Abbott was so angry she didn’t know what to say and after a while managed to speak:

“What do you take me for? Let me tell you, it’s impossible, absolutely impossible!

I would rather die, even jump down from here, than sleep with you!”