My gorgeous wife Chapter 2297 - 2265: Duan Yu

"The Zhao guest’s tassels trail, his barbarian cap-strings long; the Wuu Hook gleams bright as frost and snow."

"A silver saddle shines on a white horse, rushing forth like a shooting star."

Li Chen hummed a stanza of "Song of the Chivalrous One" as he walked along the road across the Desolate, yet he himself did not feel much of that so‑called Jianghu knight‑errant flavor.

Many times—or perhaps it was simply that he walked too fast—he never really had the time to savor that so‑called Jianghu feeling.

In truth, when he was young, Li Chen had also yearned for those wandering heroes in the wuxia novels he secretly pulled down from his grandfathers’ bookshelves; but now, as for that "ten steps to kill a man, a thousand miles without stopping" in "Song of the Chivalrous One," Li Chen instead no longer felt much stirred by it.

What moved him more was not the knight‑errant’s dashing ease, but the knight‑errant’s loneliness.

This thing called loneliness harms a person more than any Power.

All along the way, Li Chen saw peddlers and porters struggling to survive, and he also saw high‑born nobles of royal blood, who could squander Gold and Silver with a flick of the wrist.

And he himself was nothing but a passerby, fundamentally out of place with this world.

No matter how hard Li Chen tried to make himself look like an ordinary man of the Eight Directions, that distant sense of estrangement still remained.

"A passerby is a passerby, then."

Shaking his head, Li Chen gave up on this attempt at blending in; he had never belonged to this world to begin with, and no amount of effort to assimilate could change that outcome.

Still, be that as it may, as a member of the Starry Universe, in the end, he still wished to protect such a world.

Although Li Chen could no longer quite understand the differing thoughts that filled these people’s minds, it did not stop him from loving this world filled with countless vivid lives.

Several months later, Li Chen Traversed the fringes of the Desolate and entered the territory of Yudi.

The Earth Devouring Beast Little Feng was very fast, and with Li Chen feeding it Spirit Grass without regard for the cost and imparting cultivation experience, Little Feng’s growth rate was likewise exceedingly quick.

Originally, a young Earth Devouring Beast like Little Feng, not yet grown, even in the Heaven Realm would at most be Third Order, merely equivalent to a normal expert of the Heaven Following Realm.

Yet at Little Feng’s side stood an Ancient Ancestor like Li Chen; no matter how dull it might be, it was impossible for it to halt at such a Realm.

In just a few short months, with Li Chen’s help, Little Feng directly crossed the threshold of the Domain Realm, reaching a Fourth Order state, and faintly, it was already on the verge of breaking through to the Fifth Rank.

"This truly is a fine era." Li Chen narrowed his eyes slightly. The Spiritual Energy density on the Eight Directions was indeed terrifyingly high, yet he could be sure that before the advent of the Banquet Era, even the Eight Directions could never have possessed such rich Spiritual Energy.

But now, Li Chen could directly open the Sea of Laws for Little Feng to comprehend the Law, while at the same time letting it devour the dense Spiritual Energy of the Eight Directions; under such circumstances, Little Feng’s wish not to Advance quickly simply could not be granted.

The era was different now.

Just like that Divine Wind Wolf King Xuan Ming he had taken away back then from Tian Shang Star Continent—today, Xuan Ming was already a Soul Realm expert who could howl proudly over a region of the Borderland Realm.

As for Xuan Ming’s freedom, Li Chen had not restricted it. The last time he returned to the Red Dust Heavenly Palace, he had even heard that Xuan Ming had gone back to Tian Shang Star Continent on a Land Progeny Visit, likely intending to lend a hand to his wolf sons and wolf grandsons.

After all, this fellow could be counted as a once‑in‑many‑generations existence among the Divine Wind Wolf clan—a seedling who had broken through his imprison.

"Is it that I’m getting old, and so I’m prone to nostalgia?" Li Chen laughed at himself.

All of a sudden, Li Chen heard a commotion coming from the road ahead.

"He’s appeared, it’s really him!"

"The strongest hero of Yudi, Duan Yu!"

"It really is him! They say he walked from one end of Yudi to the other, challenging countless experts, and never once met a true rival—everyone fell beneath a single strike of his."

"I heard heroes from other three lands and four Domains also came to challenge him, but without exception they were all utterly defeated!"

"Is it really Duan Yu? Move aside, move aside, let me see!"

The strongest hero of Yudi?

Li Chen tilted his head slightly, sitting cross‑legged on Little Feng’s back, and lifted his gaze.

Only to see, at the end of the road, a young man dressed in a goose‑white fur coat, draped in a bright red Cloak, with features as fine as carved jade, slowly walking in this direction.

He had no means of transport, relying only on his two legs to move forward at an unhurried pace.

Yet the strange thing was that though his steps were not fast, every step he took spanned a great distance.

"Interesting." The corner of Li Chen’s mouth curled up. The Eight Directions truly lived up to being a Spiritual Energy‑rich planet; though cultivation here was difficult, it still managed to produce some bizarre fellows.

Much like that Qing he had met before, or this fellow called Duan Yu.

However, Li Chen held no particular intention; after glancing over, he simply continued along the road.

Once Duan Yu appeared, the people and caravans on the road subconsciously withdrew to the sides, opening a path for Duan Yu to pass; no one dared stand in front of him.

In this fashion, the sole person who did not give way—Li Chen—naturally became an oddity among the crowd.

Li Chen’s self‑absorption caused many around him to reveal looks of surprise, and then to furrow their brows deeply.

Clearly, they had grown displeased with this hero who did not know the proper courtesies.

Even if you are a hero as well, you’re just some nameless nobody—how could you be mentioned in the same breath as Lord Duan Yu?

Yet quite obviously, neither Duan Yu nor Li Chen himself paid the slightest attention to the gazes of others.

The two of them walked along the middle of the road, brushing shoulders as they passed.

But just as they were about to miss one another, Duan Yu suddenly turned his head, confusion in his eyes, looking toward that figure seated astride the Earth Devouring Beast.

"Wait a moment."

Li Chen casually patted Little Feng’s neck, turned his head with leisure, and glanced at that jade‑faced youth.

"Something?"

Duan Yu cupped his hands. "I am Duan Yu, counted as something of a hero. I observe that you seem... very strong? May I ask your esteemed name?"

Li Chen chuckled lightly. "Li Chen; I suppose I can also be considered a hero. But this ’very strong’ you speak of... to gauge a man’s strength, one needs a point of comparison."

Duan Yu pondered a moment, then said, "Then, compared to me?"

"I’d say you’re quite strong." Li Chen smiled.

At this, Duan Yu couldn’t help but knit his brows slightly.

"In that case, might Duan Yu be permitted to ask you for a brief instruction or two?"

Li Chen swept a glance around them, then snapped his fingers.

With that one snap, the people nearby were startled to discover that they could no longer hear what the two of them were saying.

Those who had been eager to watch the fun, even hoping to see Duan Yu teach this hero who did not know his own limits a lesson, all found their mouths hanging open. They clearly saw the two men’s lips moving, yet could not hear a single word, as though they had been struck deaf.

And yet, when others around them spoke, they could still hear every word with perfect clarity.

Within the field, Duan Yu clasped his fists firmly toward Li Chen. "I have a question that has been buried in my heart for a long time, and I would like to ask you to graciously enlighten me."

Li Chen smiled as he looked at this rare seedling from the Eight Directions Star, one who might yet break his imprison, and he nodded.