Volume 1, Chapter 108 – Making a Name

Since the nearby demonic beasts had all but vanished, there naturally were not as many people in need of help as before.

After several days on the road, Shi Lan’s reputation points still showed no real change.

This situation made her a little anxious. She was also gradually realizing that relying on helping scattered individuals was far too slow a way to raise her reputation. She had to think of something else.

Thinking back to that sudden surge in reputation before, Shi Lan carefully reviewed what she had done recently and gained some clarity. Perhaps she had taken a wrong path earlier. Reputation points did not necessarily have to come from saving others.

What she sought was reputation, not just a spotless good name.

The note marked after the system’s reputation value also hinted at this.

To make a name and establish oneself, one had to first make a name.

……

On a packed earth road nearly ten zhang wide, people came and went without end. Besides peddlers and laborers, there were also caravans passing by from time to time, with dozens of carriages at a stretch.

Among all these travelers, one particular group drew a great deal of attention.

Aside from the divine-looking flood-dragon steeds that were two sizes larger than ordinary fine horses, the other reason was that most of the people in this group were beautiful young women.

This group was, of course, Shi Lan and her companions, who had left Qianyun Sect seven or eight days ago. With the speed of the flood-dragon steeds, they had already covered more than ten thousand li in those seven or eight days, and that was even with several delays along the way.

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As the distance from the Boundless Demon Domain grew greater, the demonic beasts had completely disappeared.

The battle armor on Shi Lan’s group drew far too many eyes on the road, and not many people actually recognized that armor. It would only invite needless trouble.

So after discussing it with Wu Lingkong, they changed their appearance. Everyone switched to common clothes, they bought a few carriages along the way, stored all the armor and spirit crystals in them, and posed as a caravan on the road. Only then did they finally attract fewer strange looks.

But new troubles followed. Shi Lan and Wu Lingkong were rare beauties even among ordinary people, and with the group having far more women than men, their deterrent force was seriously lacking, so people often came up to strike up a conversation.

Some people’s way of approaching them was not so polite, and bloodshed was hard to avoid.

After several such encounters, Shi Lan and the others were unharmed, but they had gained quite a few extra carriages behind them. They did not look much different from regular traveling merchants anymore.

After they had followed the dirt road for more than twenty li, a city came into view.

“That should be Gufeng City,” Shi Lan said to Wu Lingkong with a tilt of her head, slowing her flood-dragon steed and angling it toward the city gate.

She had not been idle over these seven or eight days, and had been testing several methods to increase her reputation points.

After a few trials, Shi Lan picked out the fastest way to raise her reputation: “stepping on people.”

With a shift in perspective, ideas had come quickly. There were only so many ways to become famous in a hurry.

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One was to do something earthshaking so that everyone learned your name. At the moment, this was very difficult for Shi Lan to pull off. With her current strength, there really was not much she could do that would alarm large numbers of people.

Another was to commit a few acts so heinous that they enraged heaven and man alike. Infamy spread faster than a good reputation. That would also count as making a name, but it went against Shi Lan’s original intention and would only backfire, so she could only discard it.

The last method was this “stepping on people,” an idea inspired by the martial arts stories from her previous life.

In those stories, when a young expert first stepped into the world, the very first thing they did was seek out a well-known veteran and challenge them. Regardless of victory or defeat, their name would spread quickly afterward.

Stepping on someone else’s fame to climb upward would always be faster than building up one’s own bit by bit. It was a shortcut.

After a few simple trials, the results had been impressive.

In just the seven or eight days since leaving Qianyun Sect, Shi Lan’s reputation had risen from a little over one thousand to nearly three thousand, a very gratifying increase,

and it was still climbing bit by bit. Compared to helping one person at a time, this had saved her who knew how much effort. Gufeng City was not small. Its walls stood more than ten zhang high.

The group halted outside Gufeng City’s gate, asked a few simple questions, then entered the city.

Once inside, Shi Lan first found an inn and settled in. After washing up, she asked the innkeeper a few questions, then led her people straight toward the largest lumber yard in Gufeng City.

Following her to the lumber yard, Wu Lingkong could not help feeling a little helpless. “You’re going to set up another challenge platform?”

On this journey, Shi Lan had done something similar two or three times already. Wu Lingkong found it hard to understand the purpose behind it.

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If it was simple belligerence, a love of challenging strong opponents, Shi Lan did not look like that kind of martial fanatic.

Besides, along the way, even Innate Realm Ninth Layer martial artists could not last ten moves in front of Shi Lan. This did nothing to temper her.

Shi Lan nodded and walked into the lumber yard.

Seeing them enter, a middle-aged man in a green patterned brocade robe came over with a smile.

“Honored guests, are you here for lumber?”

“That’s right,” Shi Lan nodded.

“How much do you need? What will you be using it for? If it’s to make furniture or something, we can take care of it for you here.”

“I want ironwood that’s at least ten years old, only large planks,” Shi Lan said.

Ironwood over ten years old was as tough as ordinary iron plates. Layered several times over, it could just barely withstand exchanges between Innate Realm martial artists.

“How much would you like?”

“Two hundred cubic units,” Shi Lan thought for a moment and said.

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Most of the boards she had bought before had already been ruined in battle. She planned to prepare more this time for future use.

“Two hundred cubic units of ten-year ironwood comes to twelve thousand three hundred taels of silver. I’ll round it down for you. Take it at an even twelve thousand taels.”

The middle-aged man counted quickly on his fingers. “Guest, that’s quite a large order. I’ll need some time to gather it. Could you give me two hours?”

Shi Lan glanced somewhat hesitantly at Wu Lingkong.

Wu Lingkong gave a slight shake of her head. “Do what you want. We’re not in such a rush that a day or two matters.”

With how peaceful it was in the surrounding area, it was still quite safe. There was no need to hurry on.

Shi Lan nodded, told the middle-aged man to have the lumber delivered later to a market square on the west side of Gufeng City, then left the lumber yard. She went to a money house, exchanged a spirit crystal for some gold and silver, and returned to the inn.

When exchanging for silver, Shi Lan could not help clicking her tongue at the staggering conversion rate. A single low-grade spirit crystal could be swapped for eight thousand taels of gold, an amount that would be an inexhaustible fortune for ordinary people over several lifetimes.

Yet for an Innate Realm martial artist, a single spirit crystal only sustained one hour of cultivation.

Such a gap was beyond even heaven and abyss to describe.