Aint Translations

DIV Chapter 56: The Ancestor's Defeat

Li Chang'an's outwardly displayed strength wasn't particularly high.

Fourth layer of Qi Refining and a first-tier mid-grade talisman master.

This level of strength was decent enough in normal times.

But now, robber cultivators were everywhere.

After killing batch after batch, there was simply no end to them.

The accumulated talismans would eventually be consumed completely, ultimately forcing reliance on one's own cultivation to kill enemies.

"His cultivation is even inferior to this old man's, I'm afraid he won't last long," Luo Kun sighed.

He was severely injured and couldn't help Li Chang'an at all.

Those robber cultivators had already spotted Li Chang'an, their eyes lighting up with greed.

"Hehehe, there's actually an unexpected bonus. This boy can afford to live in such a place, he's definitely a fat sheep!"

"Attack together, kill him!"

Several robber cultivators wore savage grins, their eyes cruel.

As if they could already see Li Chang'an dying at their hands but the next instant, an invisible blade swept across.

"Szzzt!"

One person's head immediately flew off, blood gushing from his neck like a fountain.

That headless corpse rushed forward several more steps before collapsing to the ground.

"Not good!" The others' faces changed drastically as they hastily retreated.

But before they could exit the courtyard, countless invisible blades emerged from the surrounding void, like a deadly net covering the sky, instantly penetrating their bodies.

A moment later, these people became a pile of minced flesh.

"With such meager cultivation, you dare play at being robber cultivators?" Li Chang'an's tone was cold as he casually collected these people's storage bags.

Nearby, Luo Kun watched in stunned amazement.

The entire development completely exceeded his expectations.

He had originally thought Li Chang'an was surely doomed to die.

Yet in just the blink of an eye, those powerful robber cultivators were thoroughly dead!

"This... this is a formation array?" Luo Kun asked incredulously.

Li Chang'an glanced at him but didn't answer, instead asking in return, "Senior Luo, you've been a talisman master for so many years, your wealth should be considerable. Why didn't you think to buy a residence-protecting formation array?"

"I..." Luo Kun felt somewhat ashamed.

Having lived for decades, his sense of crisis wasn't as good as this young man Li Chang'an's.

After all, Qinghe Market had Foundation Establishment ancestors presiding over it and had always been relatively safe.

Even when there had been several incidents with robber cultivators, those who died were all bottom-tier rogue cultivators.

"Sigh, I originally thought Qinghe Market couldn't descend into chaos," Luo Kun swallowed several healing pills and sighed.

He struggled to stand up and cupped his hands toward Li Chang'an.

"Fellow Daoist Li's life-saving grace, this Luo will never forget!"

In the past, he had relied on his status and seniority, liking to put on the airs of a senior.

But he was very clear that the current Li Chang'an had long since outgrown the "young friend" identity.

He must be addressed as "Fellow Daoist."

Li Chang'an himself didn't particularly care about titles.

"Senior Luo, do you plan to stay here or return to your own residence?"

"This..." Luo Kun glanced at his own ruined residence.

"If Fellow Daoist Li doesn't mind, I'll shamelessly remain here."

Staying here with formation protection was much safer than his own residence.

After a moment, Luo Kun gradually stabilized his injuries.

He thanked Li Chang'an again, then said with some embarrassment, "Fellow Daoist Li, I was previously disrespectful in speech, speaking without restraint and making presumptuous comments about you. Please don't take it to heart."

"No matter," Li Chang'an was very calm, not caring about such things at all.

This attitude made Luo Kun even more ashamed.

Then he began explaining why he liked hearing flattery from juniors.

"When I was young, I was also a rogue cultivator. To obtain talisman inheritance, I served an old talisman master like an ox or horse, constantly flattering and bowing obsequiously, enduring his abuse for over ten years..."

Luo Kun sighed. He had finally obtained the talisman inheritance with great difficulty, managing to make something of himself.

Therefore, he also wanted to experience being flattered by others.

"Sigh, I ultimately fell into conventional patterns, unable to compare with Fellow Daoist Li," Luo Kun said sincerely.

"In the future, if Fellow Daoist Li needs help, just say the word, and I will certainly do my utmost to assist!"

"Mm, I need help right now," Li Chang'an nodded slightly.

Luo Kun was stunned upon hearing this.

What could he possibly help Li Chang'an with in his current state?

"Senior Luo, I need some materials. They're quite rare and not easy to purchase," Li Chang'an said, handing over a materials list.

On it were recorded some of the materials needed for cultivating the "Demon Blood Body Tempering Art."

Among them were some rare spiritual medicines and demon beast essence blood, very difficult to gather in a short time.

"You have broader connections than me. Do you have a way to obtain these materials?"

"Let me see..." Luo Kun's expression became serious as he accepted the materials list.

After just a few glances, shock appeared on his face.

"Fellow Daoist Li, these materials are all extremely precious and valuable."

"I know," Li Chang'an was somewhat helpless.

The path of body refining was truly difficult.

Not only were the techniques hard to obtain, even the required materials were difficult to procure.

No wonder there were so few body refining cultivators.

He had only given Luo Kun a small portion.

If he had given everything, Luo Kun would probably be too shocked to speak.

"If you want to gather all these materials at once, perhaps only the Zheng family's treasury could satisfy this need," Luo Kun replied after long contemplation.

Li Chang'an remained silent.

The Zheng family treasury was not to be thought of, outsiders simply couldn't enter.

"Besides that, you can only slowly find people to trade with," Luo Kun offered another method.

"The 'Wind-Winged Tiger' essence blood on this list can be obtained from beast tamer Wang Hu."

"As for the spiritual medicine 'Clear Heart Lotus,' spiritual plant master Chu Mu should have it."

"And this 'Exquisite Fruit'..."

Luo Kun explained in detail, mentioning methods to obtain over ten different materials.

It must be said, his network was indeed extensive.

Whether ordinary rogue cultivators or craftsmen with various skills, he knew quite a few.

"Fellow Daoist Li, if you're not in a hurry, I can help connect you and facilitate trades."

"Then I'll trouble Senior Luo," Li Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief. Being able to obtain materials was good enough.

A somewhat troublesome process didn't matter.

He had plenty of time anyway.

At this moment, over ten robber cultivators suddenly came killing from outside the courtyard.

"More are coming?" Li Chang'an's eyes turned cold.

He discovered that these dozen-plus robber cultivators were different from previous ones, seeming to have planned ahead, each holding prohibition-breaking talismans.

At the same time, another puppet body he had hidden in the shadows discovered a familiar figure.

"Zheng Lingfeng!"

At this moment, Zheng Lingfeng was hiding nearby, his eyes full of killing intent, staring fixedly at Li Chang'an's residence.

The dozen-plus robber cultivators now attacking Li Chang'an's residence were precisely arranged by him!

"Zheng family people really do love colluding with robber cultivators!" Li Chang'an snorted coldly, activating the formation and using talismans.

In just a moment, those dozen-plus robber cultivators became minced flesh on the ground.

Not far away, Zheng Lingfeng showed unwillingness and hastily retreated.

"I'll spare your life for now!" Li Chang'an suppressed his killing intent and didn't pursue to attack.

Qinghe Market was ultimately still Zheng family territory.

Moreover, as the second-ranked of the younger generation publicly, Zheng Lingfeng certainly had many life-saving treasures.

Attacking him within the market was truly unwise.

Just then, an earth-shaking explosion suddenly came from the distant horizon.

"Boom!"

Two extremely terrifying auras collided with each other, the force they erupted causing heart-stopping fear.

Just watching from afar made many people deeply frightened.

After a moment, everything returned to calm.

The entire market quieted down, many people looking up in that direction.

"Has the Foundation Establishment battle ended? Who won?"

The next instant, a delighted laugh rang out in the night sky.

"Hahaha, Old Ghost Zheng, you're old!"

The one laughing heartily was precisely the Cao family ancestor, Cao Zhengxiong!

Hearing this voice, many Zheng family disciples showed anxious expressions.

Could it be that their family ancestor had been defeated?

Before long, two figures, one in front and one behind, crossed the night sky heading straight for the market.

The foremost person was precisely the Zheng family ancestor, Zheng Yuandao.

His face was pale at this moment, his aura chaotic, with multiple tears in his robes.

Behind him, Cao Zhengxiong pursued relentlessly.

This scene made everyone understand.

The Zheng family ancestor had been defeated!

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 55: Killing Zheng Jinbao

About a quarter of an hour later, Li Chang'an finished his inventory.

"This fellow is truly fat with wealth," he silently marveled.

The treasures within the bracelet had a total value of no less than three thousand spirit stones.

Adding to the over two thousand spirit stones he already had, the total exceeded five thousand spirit stones!

What an enormous sum!

Some small-scale Qi Refining families couldn't even produce this many spirit stones.

Li Chang'an put away the bracelet and looked at Zheng Jinbao.

"I have some questions for you. If your answers satisfy me, I can let you go."

"Really?" Zheng Jinbao was stunned, a trace of hope arising in his heart.

He had thought he was surely doomed to die but now there was light at the end of the tunnel, a hope for survival.

"Rest assured, I'm a man of my word and never lie," Li Chang'an said with a serious face and solemn tone.

"Alright then, go ahead and ask," Zheng Jinbao swallowed hard.

Though he knew the hope was slim, he still harbored a sliver of luck.

What if Li Chang'an really did let him go?

"What's the real situation with your ancestor Zheng Yuandao? How many years can he still live?" Li Chang'an spoke, his gaze resting on Zheng Jinbao's face, observing his expression changes.

Hearing this, Zheng Jinbao was stunned.

His face showed bitterness as he shook his head, "Such matters are family secrets. How would I be qualified to know?"

"You're at least a core member of the Zheng family, yet you don't even know this?"

"Not even a few people in the entire Zheng family know," Zheng Jinbao honestly explained the reason.

"The family head fears there are spies within the clan, so he hasn't publicly disclosed the ancestor's physical condition."

He thought for a moment and added, "However, the young miss should know the ancestor's true situation."

He indicated that Zheng Qingqing was the Zheng family's Foundation Establishment candidate, deeply trusted by both Foundation Establishment ancestors.

She was the direct bloodline descendant of one of the ancestors, and her own strength was formidable enough, having long ago broken through to late-stage Qi Refining.

The reason the Zheng family didn't keep her at the clan grounds but sent her to the market was to temper her character.

"This young miss is indeed unfathomable," Li Chang'an pondered.

If nothing unexpected happened, Zheng Qingqing would very likely be the Zheng family's next generation Foundation Establishment ancestor.

"Does the Zheng family still have Foundation Establishment Pills?" Li Chang'an asked again.

Zheng Jinbao knew some information about this question.

He shook his head and replied, "There shouldn't be any left."

"Oh?" Li Chang'an looked thoughtful and asked again, "Could it be that someone failed Foundation Establishment and wasted the pills?"

"Yes."

This kind of news was also a family secret that Zheng Jinbao wasn't normally qualified to know.

But Foundation Establishment attempts caused abnormalities in heaven and earth spiritual energy.

Though the Zheng family tried to conceal it, they simply couldn't hide it.

Over the past several decades, four instances of spiritual energy abnormalities had occurred within the Zheng family, yet no new Foundation Establishment ancestors had emerged.

Foundation Establishment Pills could only increase success rates by twenty percent.

Whether one could ultimately succeed still depended on the individual.

"Later, I inadvertently heard the family head sigh that although those few had good talent, their characters were all too poor, lacking tempering, which led to their failures."

Four consecutive failures had somewhat hurt even the Zheng family's foundation.

After all, for such great families, each Foundation Establishment attempt was prepared according to extremely high standards.

Not only did they need to prepare Foundation Establishment Pills, they also had to ready Foundation Establishment spiritual items like "Earth Dragon Saliva," along with various auxiliary treasures.

The spirit stones consumed were astronomical.

"The last time spiritual energy abnormalities appeared was thirteen years ago. There's been no movement since, yet there are clearly several more in the family who meet Foundation Establishment conditions."

Therefore, Zheng Jinbao speculated that the Zheng family no longer had extra Foundation Establishment Pills.

"Perhaps the ancestors are preparing materials for refining more. After all, they value the young miss highly and will surely prepare Foundation Establishment Pills for her."

"I see," after listening, Li Chang'an pondered for a moment.

This Zheng family could be considered quite unlucky, failing four times in succession!

However, this also proved from the side that Foundation Establishment was indeed difficult!

Subsequently, Li Chang'an asked several more questions.

Zheng Jinbao was very cooperative, answering everything he knew.

Finally, he looked nervously at Li Chang'an and asked carefully, "Chang'an, you promised you would let me go, right? We've known each other for so many years, we're old friends after all."

"Mm," Li Chang'an responded and turned to glance at Big Yellow.

Nearby, Big Yellow understood perfectly. His eyes flashed with fierce light as he directly pounced, swiping down with one claw!

"Szzzt—"

Zheng Jinbao's face was filled with horror, unable to dodge in time.

His entire neck was torn in two by the sharp claws.

Blood instantly stained his robes red.

"You... you..." Zheng Jinbao stared fixedly at Li Chang'an, knowing he wouldn't survive.

At the moment of death, various emotions flashed through his mind.

There was venomous hatred, unwillingness, and regret...

Back then, he had taken Li Chang'an's spirit stones.

He should have removed Li Chang'an's name from the mining roster.

But at that time, he simply looked down on bottom-tier rogue cultivators like Li Chang'an, still insisting that Li Chang'an go to the mines.

One should know that cultivators assigned to mining mostly met tragic ends.

"Back then, you never thought of letting me go," Li Chang'an's expression was indifferent, his tone extremely cold.

Hearing this sentence, Zheng Jinbao's whole body trembled.

He said nothing more, slowly lowering his head as his breath faded away.

Past causes, present effects.

Perhaps everything had long been destined.

"Boom!"

Raging flames rose up, swallowing his corpse and burning him to ash.

After this, Li Chang'an instructed Big Yellow to fill this underground space.

One person and one dog used earth escape techniques to flee far away, finding another place to hide.

...

At this moment, the two Foundation Establishment ancestors had not yet determined victory or defeat.

The market was still in great chaos.

Through his puppet body controlling the formation, Li Chang'an had already killed over ten robber cultivators who attacked his residence.

During this time, he discovered several familiar robber cultivators.

"There are actually Black Wind Mountain people here."

Those robber cultivators were precisely the ones who had once pursued Zheng Yunting.

Their appearance here meant that Black Wind Mountain had interfered in tonight's events.

"Perhaps the market chaos was secretly instigated by Black Wind Mountain," Li Chang'an thought silently.

"However, Black Wind Mountain should only be targeting the Zheng family and has nothing to do with me."

Until now, he had remained relatively relaxed, suffering no losses.

Instead, he had gained quite a bit.

But not everyone could be as relaxed as him.

...

At this moment, Luo Kun, who lived next door, had reached the end of his rope.

"Why are these robber cultivators endless?" Luo Kun's face was pale, gasping for breath.

When the chaos first erupted, he had wanted to leave the market.

However, because he was usually too high-profile and well-known, he was targeted by a group of robber cultivators as soon as he stepped outside.

He fought while retreating, forced to return to his residence.

"Sigh, why was I so high-profile in daily life? I should have learned more from that boy Li Chang'an!" Luo Kun silently regretted.

In the past, he thought Li Chang'an was too rigid and didn't understand social affairs.

Now, thinking about it, not understanding social affairs had its benefits, at least not so many people would recognize oneself.

But regret was too late now!

In the blink of an eye, another group of robber cultivators came killing.

Among them were clearly several whose strength was not inferior to his.

"Hehehe, Old Man Luo, hand over all the treasures on you!" As soon as the words fell, a large blade chopped down.

Luo Kun's expression changed drastically. He summoned his magical artifact to block, but simply couldn't withstand it.

"Puff!"

His face paled as he spat out a mouthful of blood.

His entire body was sent flying by the chop, crashing through the courtyard wall with a thunderous sound.

He actually landed in Li Chang'an's courtyard.

"How has that boy Li Chang'an not run away yet?" Luo Kun discovered Li Chang'an's figure and couldn't help but sigh.

Now it was too late to run.

"Sigh, this old man has implicated him."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 54: Astonishing Gains

Zheng Jinbao's voice trembled as he stammered out the location of his hidden treasures.

"I did indeed hide many treasures, they're... they're in this storage bag."

"Hmm?" Li Chang'an frowned slightly, staring at the storage bag in his hand.

He had already searched this storage bag thoroughly. Aside from a few hundred spirit stones, the rest were all mundane objects.

"I'm not lying to you, they really are inside," seeing that Li Chang'an seemed not to believe him, Zheng Jinbao hastily added.

"There's a bracelet inside, also a storage treasure, but it can't be opened with magical power, it requires spiritual power."

"Oh?" Li Chang'an's mind stirred.

The next instant, a dark green bracelet appeared in his hand.

This bracelet looked nothing special on the surface, seemingly just an ordinary mundane item.

Li Chang'an hadn't paid it any attention before.

Now, hearing Zheng Jinbao's explanation, he examined it again and finally discovered a clue.

On the bracelet, there was a tiny silver dot almost imperceptible to the eye.

"Another one of these silver dots," Li Chang'an was surprised.

Previously, he had found a bargain at the black market, a damaged formation flag.

On that flag, there had also been such a silver dot.

It contained a space within, discoverable only through spiritual power.

"These treasures are truly strange, I almost missed it," Li Chang'an silently extended a thread of spiritual power, touching the silver dot on the bracelet, and indeed discovered a special space.

Within it were piled large quantities of treasures, worth far more than those in the storage bag.

Spirit stones alone exceeded two thousand!

Additionally, there were quite a few magical artifacts, pills, talismans, techniques, and spells, their value temporarily difficult to estimate.

"Quite a haul indeed!" Li Chang'an silently marveled.

Zheng Jinbao was merely at mid-stage Qi Refining.

But his wealth far exceeded those two late-stage Qi Refining robber cultivators from Black Wind Mountain!

"This fellow is insatiably greedy and blinded by profit. In his years as steward, who knows how many corrupt dealings he's done. But now... all the wealth he accumulated through greed belongs to me," Li Chang'an was thoroughly satisfied.

With this windfall, his plans for Foundation Establishment would be much easier.

He looked at Zheng Jinbao and asked again, "This bracelet is rather peculiar, where did you obtain it?"

"The ancient secret realm," Zheng Jinbao answered honestly.

This bracelet had been brought out from the secret realm by some rogue cultivator.

After changing hands several times, it came to him.

"The secret realm again," Li Chang'an pondered.

The damaged formation flag he'd bought at the black market had also been obtained by the vendor from the secret realm.

There might be more such treasures in the secret realm.

"Why did ancient cultivators specifically create magical artifacts driven by spiritual power?" Li Chang'an found it strange.

Could it be that in ancient times, spiritual power, like magical power, could be cultivated?

"Forget it, these matters are too distant, focus on the present," Li Chang'an shook his head and gathered his thoughts.

He settled down and began carefully identifying the treasures in the bracelet.

"Two first-tier superior-grade magical artifacts, one offensive and one defensive, both fire element treasures. Not very useful to me, but valuable. I'll find time to sell them at the black market."

"Five mid-grade magical artifacts, also all fire element."

"Quite a few low-grade magical artifacts as well..."

Just the quantity and quality of magical artifacts alone would amaze many late-stage Qi Refining experts.

Additionally, there were large quantities of expensive pills.

The Zheng family was, after all, a pill-refining family, and Zheng Jinbao was considered a core member of the Zheng family.

The pills stockpiled in his storage space made even Li Chang'an secretly amazed.

"This is a first-tier superior-grade pill called Clear Spirit Pill, essentially an advanced version of Qi Nurturing Pills, suitable for late-stage Qi Refining. For someone at mid-stage Qi Refining like Zheng Jinbao to consume these is truly extravagant."

"This Spirit Awakening Pill is also a first-tier superior-grade pill, with effects of awakening the mind and clarifying the spirit, quite expensive."

"Eh, there's even a Cloud Breaking Pill!"

Li Chang'an's eyes lit up with joy as he took out a small pill bottle.

Inside the bottle was indeed a Cloud Breaking Pill!

This type of pill could help mid-stage Qi Refining cultivators break through to late-stage Qi Refining, worth far more than the other superior-grade pills.

At the last auction, a Cloud Breaking Pill had sold for the high price of nine hundred fifty spirit stones!

Higher than the value of many superior-grade magical artifacts.

After all, cultivation advancement was permanent, while magical artifacts were merely temporary external possessions.

"I have no use for this Cloud Breaking Pill, but it should fetch a good price at the black market," Li Chang'an pondered.

Breaking through from mid-stage to late-stage Qi Refining using pills would cause one's potential to decline, affecting future Foundation Establishment.

He put away the Cloud Breaking Pill and continued cataloging other treasures.

"Quite a few mid-grade and low-grade pills too, I won't need to buy pills for a long time to come."

Besides pills, the quantity of talismans was also considerable.

Most were life-saving talismans.

Zheng Jinbao clearly knew he had offended many people, which was why he'd bought so many life-saving talismans.

It was just that he hadn't had the chance to use them before falling into Li Chang'an's hands.

"No matter how good treasures are, one must have the opportunity to use them," Li Chang'an couldn't help but sigh.

With insufficient strength, what use were countless treasures?

After finishing the talisman count, Li Chang'an began examining the numerous techniques and spells.

"All fire element techniques and spells, not very useful to me."

Suddenly, his gaze paused.

"Eh... this is..."

Li Chang'an's mind stirred.

A jade slip immediately appeared in his hand.

This jade slip contained a technique called "Demon Blood Body Tempering Art."

"It's actually a body refining technique!" Li Chang'an's eyes brightened, feeling delighted.

He had searched both the black market and the regular market for a long time, never finding a body refining technique.

He never expected to obtain one from Zheng Jinbao!

Li Chang'an held the jade slip, browsing for a moment before his joy dimmed somewhat.

He frowned slightly, thinking it a pity.

"This body refining technique isn't complete, only containing first-tier content, cultivatable at most to first-tier peak."

First-tier body refining corresponded to Qi Refining cultivators.

Second-tier corresponded to Foundation Establishment.

According to legend, reaching second-tier body refining allowed one to withstand attacks from Foundation Establishment masters with the physical body alone.

"Forget it, I shouldn't be greedy. First-tier peak is sufficient," Li Chang'an set down the jade slip with a light sigh.

First-tier peak body refining cultivation would make his qi and blood far exceed cultivators of the same realm.

When breaking through to Foundation Establishment, he wouldn't need to worry about the "essence" barrier.

Li Chang'an looked at Zheng Jinbao and asked, "Since you have a body refining technique, why didn't you cultivate it?"

"I tried, but it was too painful," Zheng Jinbao shook his head repeatedly.

"My aptitude isn't good, and my chances of Foundation Establishment are slim, so why suffer like that?"

"Don't want to suffer?" Hearing this, Li Chang'an couldn't help but laugh.

The path of body refining was indeed extremely painful, but which cultivator couldn't endure hardship?

Seeking immortality through cultivation was inherently going against heaven.

This path inevitably involved suffering.

"With such a mindset, no wonder you haven't broken through to late-stage Qi Refining," Li Chang'an looked Zheng Jinbao up and down.

This fellow lived in luxury every day, his face full of fat, living like a wealthy lord. Where did he resemble a cultivator?

He probably hadn't put his mind on cultivation at all.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 53: The Market in Chaos

This Foundation Establishment battle, just as Li Chang'an had guessed, was not conducted within the market.

Qinghe Market was, after all, the Zheng family's territory, so Zheng Yuandao couldn't possibly fight here.

And Cao Zhengxiong seemed to have his concerns as well.

"Both Foundation Establishment ancestors have gone outside the market, and the fighting won't affect the market, so when will the market chaos mentioned in the divination occur?" Li Chang'an silently pondered.

He had been watching Zheng Jinbao all along, waiting for the chaos to appear.

Just then, a sharp voice suddenly rang out within the market.

"Fellow Daoists, the Zheng family ancestor has already left, what are you still afraid of?"

"If we don't rob now, when will we?"

This voice seemed to carry some kind of bewitching power, making quite a few cultivators feel secretly moved.

Moreover, just as this voice fell, another voice responded.

"Well said!"

"Tonight, this Qinghe Market is our opportunity!"

Then, from various parts of the market, more than ten additional voices responded in succession.

"Fellow Daoists, without opportunities, we rogue cultivators will never have hope of Foundation Establishment!"

"If we join forces, the Zheng family people are nothing to fear!"

"Kill! Rob!"

"..."

Almost in an instant, the entire market descended into chaos.

Shops throughout the market continuously echoed with thunderous sounds.

"What are you doing? Stop immediately!" A shop owner looked panicked, trying to collect all the treasures in his shop into his storage bag.

But the next moment, a blade light flashed, severing his head.

The blade-wielding man laughed wildly as he charged into the shop to loot.

"Hahaha, who would have thought this old man could have such an opportunity!"

But before he finished looting, the sound of breaking wind came from behind him.

Boom!

A magical artifact staff heavily fell, smashing his head to pieces.

Behind him, a ferocious-looking cultivator holding a magical artifact sneered coldly, "This is this old man's opportunity, do you deserve to take it?"

With that, he also began looting the treasures in the shop.

Such situations were occurring throughout the market.

The market had always harbored quite a few robber cultivators.

During this period, they had been suppressed by the Zheng family and dared not show themselves, each one feeling aggrieved.

Tonight they finally had the chance to act wildly!

Additionally, many ordinary rogue cultivators, unable to resist the temptation, had temporarily joined the ranks of robber cultivators.

"It descended into chaos so quickly?" Li Chang'an observed from the shadows, secretly startled.

Behind this chaos, there were most likely people fanning the flames.

In the great chaos, whether it was shops in the market or residences in the core area, all became targets for the many robber cultivators.

Everyone knew clearly that the closer residences were to the core area, the wealthier their owners would be.

"Someone actually dares to target me," Li Chang'an's eyes turned cold, staring at several robber cultivators charging toward his residence.

He immediately used his puppet body to control the formation, showing no mercy.

He killed them one by one as they came!

In just a moment, he had already killed six robber cultivators.

"These fellows are so poor, they don't even have storage bags, and the wealth on them is pitifully little..." Li Chang'an searched them and frowned secretly.

"Forget it, even mosquito legs are meat."

They had delivered themselves to his door anyway. It would be foolish not to take what was offered!

Just then, the puppet that had been watching Zheng Jinbao finally had results.

"Is Zheng Jinbao planning to flee?" Li Chang'an hid in the shadows, watching carefully.

At this moment, Zheng Jinbao had already changed his outfit, looking like an ordinary rogue cultivator.

His expression was tense as he quietly left his residence and walked toward the outskirts of the market.

Many cultivators were busy plundering, so very few noticed him.

Before long, a group of robber cultivators rushed into his residence, searching everywhere for a long time.

"Where is that dog Zheng Jinbao?"

"He probably ran away long ago!"

"Damn it, we finally have an opportunity, I really wanted to kill him!"

Li Chang'an witnessed this scene and wasn't surprised, having anticipated it.

"Over the years, Zheng Jinbao has relied on his steward position to offend many people."

In the past, the rogue cultivators he oppressed could only swallow their anger and didn't dare resist but now the situation had reversed.

In this great chaos, many Zheng family disciples could barely protect themselves, with no one able to care about Zheng Jinbao.

"This fellow runs quite fast."

Under Li Chang'an's watchful gaze, Zheng Jinbao had already reached the edge of the market.

He secretly breathed a sigh of relief, looking back at the market filled with bloodshed and slaughter.

"As long as I survive tonight, everything will return to normal."

He turned back and walked out of the market, planning to go to the safe residence he had prepared long ago to hide.

However, after walking only a short distance, he suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet give way.

"Not good!"

Zheng Jinbao cried out in alarm, his entire body immediately falling into the dark underground.

Before he could react, a large net swallowed his body.

Big Yellow's figure flashed and disappeared, taking him into the spirit beast bag.

The next instant, the earth returned to its original flat state, as if nothing had ever happened.

...

Before long, in the deep underground far from the market, Big Yellow appeared and handed the spirit beast bag to Li Chang'an.

"Well done!" Li Chang'an praised with a smile.

Then, with a thought, Zheng Jinbao was thrown out of the spirit beast bag.

His face was full of panic, and as soon as he emerged, he shouted, "Senior, spare my life, this junior is willing to..."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly saw Li Chang'an's face and immediately froze.

"Li... Li Chang'an..."

Zheng Jinbao's face turned pale, his entire being as if fallen into an abyss.

He would rather have fallen into the hands of robber cultivators than be caught by Li Chang'an!

"Steward Zheng, it's been a long time," Li Chang'an said with a smile, casually greeting him.

Zheng Jinbao's face twitched.

He forced an ugly smile.

"Yes, Chang'an, we haven't seen each other for a long time. How have you been lately?"

"Very well," Li Chang'an smiled in response, his voice revealing no killing intent.

But the more he acted this way, the more uneasy Zheng Jinbao became.

He swallowed hard, his heart filled with anxiety.

"Chang'an, I didn't expect you to grow so quickly, becoming so formidable in just a few years."

"Steward Zheng, this is all thanks to your blessing," Li Chang'an said with a smile.

"The robber cultivators you hired came to my door one after another to deliver treasures, so I didn't need to worry about cultivation resources and could focus on cultivation."

Hearing this, Zheng Jinbao's body trembled.

He lowered his head, fear in his heart, not daring to look into Li Chang'an's eyes.

"Chang'an, these robber cultivators you mention, what... what do you mean?"

He still wanted to play dumb but Li Chang'an had no intention of wasting words with him.

He took away Zheng Jinbao's storage bag, removed the restrictions, and opened it.

After carefully examining it once, he said, "Zheng Jinbao, you've been a steward in Qinghe Market for so many years, your wealth should be considerable. Why are there only a few hundred spirit stones in this storage bag?"

"I..."

Zheng Jinbao opened his mouth.

He did indeed have a hidden batch of treasures but once he revealed them, he would lose his value.

Therefore, he planned to use this batch of treasures to make a deal with Li Chang'an, exchanging them for a way to live but Li Chang'an had no patience for making deals with him.

"Forget it, since you won't speak, I'll find a way to get it out of you."

Li Chang'an put away all his smiles, his expression immediately becoming cold and stern.

He immediately turned and ordered, "Big Yellow, begin the torture!"

"Woof!"

Big Yellow looked at Zheng Jinbao, fierce light flashing in his eyes.

Terrifying demonic wind instantly swept toward Zheng Jinbao's face, frightening him until his whole body trembled.

"Wait! I'll talk, I'll talk right now!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 52: Foundation Establishment Attacks

The night gradually deepened.

Inside the room, Li Chang'an slowly opened his eyes, a trace of joy flashing in their depths.

"Fifth layer of Qi Refining!"

This breakthrough had been quite smooth, a natural progression!

He had remained at the fourth layer of Qi Refining for a long time, accumulating quite deeply, needing only that final step.

This change of cultivation technique had become the opportunity for breakthrough.

"After converting to the Green Wood Technique, my efficiency in absorbing spiritual energy far exceeds the past," Li Chang'an contemplated.

His current self lacked nothing in cultivation resources, had an excellent cultivation spiritual ground, and had even changed to a better cultivation technique.

"All other problems are solved, only my spiritual roots are somewhat weak, but cultivating to Foundation Establishment should be no problem," Li Chang'an silently pondered.

Low-grade spiritual roots made breakthrough to Foundation Establishment difficult, but not impossible.

"If there's an opportunity, I should get several more Foundation Establishment Pills."

Taking Foundation Establishment Pills, even if breakthrough failed, cultivators wouldn't suffer backlash.

Therefore, if there were enough Foundation Establishment Pills, if one attempt failed, one could try several more times.

There would always be one success!

"However, Qinghe Market is ultimately a small place, making it very difficult to obtain Foundation Establishment Pills and various Foundation Establishment spiritual items," Li Chang'an thought silently.

In the end, he would still need to go to Yellow Crane Immortal City.

After a moment, he made his decision.

After breaking through to the seventh layer of Qi Refining, he would leave Qinghe Market and head to the immortal city to seek Foundation Establishment opportunities.

"Before that, I need to save more spirit stones and try to obtain a body refining technique," Li Chang'an contemplated for a moment, determining his goals.

Accumulating spirit stones was for purchasing Foundation Establishment Pills.

Body refining was for qi and blood.

Breaking through to Foundation Establishment required overcoming the three barriers of "essence," "qi," and "spirit."

The spirit barrier referred to spiritual power.

Li Chang'an's spiritual power far exceeded cultivators of the same period, so this barrier wasn't much of a problem.

The qi barrier represented magical power.

"The magical power cultivated from the Green Wood Technique is extremely thick and shouldn't hold me back when breaking through to Foundation Establishment," Li Chang'an was fairly satisfied with his own magical power.

Only the essence barrier gave him some uncertainty.

"The essence of human flesh and blood begins to weaken after sixty years old, so Foundation Establishment is best achieved before sixty, unless one has cultivated body refining techniques to firmly lock in qi and blood."

With Li Chang'an's current cultivation speed, before sixty, he could definitely cultivate to the ninth layer of Qi Refining.

Even without body refining, he would meet the conditions for attempting Foundation Establishment but he felt it wasn't secure enough.

"After body refining, qi and blood are more vigorous, making Foundation Establishment breakthrough easier," Li Chang'an pondered.

In the coming period, he needed to pay more attention to news about body refining techniques.

At this moment, a golden light flashed before his eyes, revealing divination content.

[Divination has been refreshed]

[Today's Divination: Auspicious]

[The Cao family ancestor breaks through to mid-stage Foundation Establishment and attacks through the night, engaging in great battle with the Zheng family ancestor. The market falls into chaos, and you take advantage of the chaos to eliminate Zheng Jinbao, obtaining the wealth he has accumulated over many years]

"A Foundation Establishment ancestor attacking?"

Li Chang'an's heart jumped with alarm.

His expression grew grave as he carefully read the divination content several times.

"The struggle between the three great families has ultimately affected the market, and it comes so fiercely," Li Chang'an's mood grew heavy.

A Foundation Establishment battle!

Two mid-stage Foundation Establishment ancestors, once they began fighting within the market, who knew how many casualties it would cause.

One must know that below Foundation Establishment, all were ants.

A Foundation Establishment ancestor's casual magical power could slay late-stage Qi Refining experts.

"In such a perilous situation, the divination actually shows auspicious, could it be that the battlefield of those two Foundation Establishment ancestors is outside the market?" Li Chang'an pondered for a moment, feeling it should be so.

Otherwise, how could he possibly have the opportunity to eliminate Zheng Jinbao?

"I cannot be careless, I must consider the worst-case scenario."

Li Chang'an didn't hesitate in the slightest, immediately beginning preparations.

After a moment, he quietly distanced himself from the market and employed the Minor Five Elements Escape Technique, escaping underground.

He went all the way down, entering extremely deep underground regions.

"Hiding here should be safe. Unless I'm extremely unlucky, there's no way I could be affected," Li Chang'an calmed his mind and concealed all his aura.

Like a stone, he quietly remained beneath the thick yellow earth.

He had left several puppets in the market.

One was his body double, another watched Zheng Jinbao, while the rest were responsible for observing overall changes in the market.

Time slowly passed.

About half an hour later, a streak of flowing light suddenly crossed the distant horizon.

Immediately after came an unrestrained laugh.

"Hahaha, Old Ghost Zheng, quickly come out and reminisce with this old man!"

This voice was like thunder, exploding in the silent night sky.

In an instant, the entire market was awakened.

"What happened?"

"Old Ghost Zheng, are they talking about the Zheng family ancestor?"

Countless people woke from their dreams with terrified expressions.

What kind of person dared call the Zheng family ancestor "Old Ghost Zheng"?

Thinking of the struggle between the three great families, everyone felt uneasy.

"Could it be that Foundation Establishment ancestors from the Cao and Wu families have attacked?"

Soon, an extremely powerful aura appeared outside the market.

The newcomer was a square-faced middle-aged man with vigorous qi and blood and overwhelming presence, precisely the Cao family's Foundation Establishment ancestor.

Cao Zhengxiong!

"Old Ghost Zheng, have you already died of old age? Why don't you come out to see this old man?" He roared, his voice like thunder.

The sound made countless people dizzy and disoriented.

Moreover, the terrifying pressure of mid-stage Foundation Establishment was released without reservation, suffocating many cultivators in the market.

Just then, a cold snort rang out in the night sky.

"Hmph!"

Everyone felt the pressure on their bodies lighten.

The next moment, they saw a white-robed elder with white hair and beard rise into the air, facing Cao Zhengxiong from afar.

His aura also reached mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

It was precisely the Zheng family ancestor.

Zheng Yuandao!

"Old Ghost Zheng, this old man knew you weren't dead!" Cao Zhengxiong laughed heartily.

Zheng Yuandao's expression was grave, his aged eyes resting on Cao Zhengxiong.

"You've actually advanced to mid-stage Foundation Establishment?"

"Correct!"

Cao Zhengxiong's aura was powerful, without the slightest restraint.

"Back then, you relied on your cultivation level to repeatedly oppress this old man, even blocking outside the Cao family clan grounds. If not for the array protection, this old man would probably have been slain by you long ago!" Cao Zhengxiong's voice was like a great bell, speaking of past events.

Now, he was high-spirited and delighted in his heart.

"Old Ghost Zheng, back then, did you ever imagine there would be today?"

Hearing this, Zheng Yuandao's expression remained unchanged, but a trace of worry rose in his heart.

He was already in his twilight years but Cao Zhengxiong was in his prime, with at least another hundred years to live!

"You came here today just to display your cultivation level?" Zheng Yuandao asked blandly.

Seeing his calm and composed appearance, the many Zheng family disciples below felt slightly reassured.

Many rogue cultivators also breathed sighs of relief.

Looking at the current situation, the Zheng family ancestor didn't seem to be at a disadvantage but Cao Zhengxiong suddenly sneered coldly.

"Old Ghost Zheng, your lifespan is limited, why struggle? How many years can you still live? How many more spells can you cast?"

"Hmph, one battle will tell!" Zheng Yuandao's aura suddenly increased, actually taking the initiative to start battle.

His momentum was magnificent, showing not the slightest sign of weakness!

"Good, good, good! This old man has exactly that intention!" Cao Zhengxiong showed no fear, his battle intent surging.

Both sides transformed into two streams of light, instantly distancing themselves from the market.

Before long, earth-shaking roars came from beneath the distant night sky.

The Foundation Establishment battle had begun!

[NEXT CHAPTER]

DIV Chapter 51: The Young Miss's Surprise

Previously, the robber cultivator who died under the sneak attack was the Seventh Chief of Black Wind Mountain.

"These two were both at the seventh layer of Qi Refining cultivation. The reason they targeted the Zheng family was because they accepted employment from the Foundation Establishment Cao family."

After some interrogation, Li Chang'an obtained the answers he wanted.

The Foundation Establishment Cao family had actually colluded with the notorious Black Wind Mountain robber cultivators.

If this matter were to spread, it would definitely cause an uproar.

But Li Chang'an felt no surprise whatsoever.

After all, Zheng Jinbao had once colluded with Wei Sen, the Third Chief of Black Wind Mountain.

"Among immortal cultivation families, few are clean," Li Chang'an shook his head slightly.

Black Wind Mountain survived within the sphere of influence of three major Foundation Establishment families, not only without weakening, but becoming increasingly powerful.

That First Chief was indeed as the rumors claimed, just one step away from Foundation Establishment.

It was just that he lacked some treasures to assist in Foundation Establishment, so he dared not attempt it yet.

"If that First Chief successfully establishes his foundation, a Foundation Establishment robber cultivator would definitely cause considerable trouble," Li Chang'an pondered briefly.

"Forget it, this matter has nothing to do with me. Let the Zheng family worry about it."

After the interrogation ended, Li Chang'an struck down with one palm, ending this person's life.

As usual, he activated a talisman, burning the corpse to ash.

Then he opened this person's storage bag.

After a brief examination, a smile immediately appeared on his face.

"Not bad, another treasure worth over two thousand spirit stones."

This trip out today had yielded quite a harvest!

...

At the same time, at the previous battle site, quite a few Zheng family disciples had arrived one after another.

Among them was clearly the figure of Zheng Qingqing.

"The young miss actually came," Li Chang'an glanced over there, immediately startled in his heart.

Because he detected a trace of extremely subtle yet powerful aura in the distance behind Zheng Qingqing.

Could it be that Foundation Establishment ancestor?

"Elder Songshe, how are your injuries?" Zheng Qingqing stepped forward, asking with concern.

Beside her, the still-shaken Zheng Ling'er followed.

"Sigh, I nearly remained here today. Fortunately, this Fellow Daoist intervened," Elder Zheng Songshe sighed with emotion.

Then he told everyone the entire process in complete detail.

After hearing it, the Zheng family members present looked at Li Chang'an with several more degrees of goodwill.

Of course, there was also some confusion.

After all, this matter was really too coincidental.

Did this late-stage Qi Refining expert who suddenly appeared have other purposes?

Could he even be one of Black Wind Mountain's people?

At this moment, Zheng Qingqing suddenly spoke.

"Everyone can rest assured, this Fellow Daoist is trustworthy."

"Young miss, do you know this Fellow Daoist?"

"Mm."

Zheng Qingqing smiled slightly, turning to look at Li Chang'an.

She secretly transmitted her voice, with a trace of surprise in her tone, "Fellow Daoist Li, I didn't expect it would be you. Could this puppet body of yours be Zheng Lingfeng's Shadow Chasing Puppet?"

Hearing this, Li Chang'an was stunned.

He transmitted back, "Young miss, how did you see through it?"

Actually, he hadn't planned to hide this puppet from Zheng Qingqing.

After all, the Zheng family couldn't possibly let an unknown masked person enter the scripture library.

But being suddenly exposed by Zheng Qingqing still surprised him somewhat.

Zheng Qingqing pursed her lips and answered, "I obtained an ancient treasure in the secret realm that can investigate auras."

"I see," Li Chang'an realized.

Quite a few ancient treasures had emerged from the secret realm, and some of these treasures had extremely special abilities.

It seemed that Zheng Qingqing was also someone with opportunities.

"This young miss is most likely hiding very deeply too," Li Chang'an thought silently.

Little did he know that Zheng Qingqing had similar thoughts.

Regarding Li Chang'an, she was already finding him somewhat unfathomable.

Every time they met, Li Chang'an would display abilities beyond her expectations.

"Logically speaking, that Shadow Chasing Puppet could only be used by our Zheng family members. Why can Li Chang'an control it?" Zheng Qingqing fell into contemplation.

Before long, everyone returned to the market.

Zheng Qingqing did not reveal Li Chang'an's true identity to the others.

After all, with so many people around, who knew if there were Black Wind Mountain spies within the Zheng family?

She definitely didn't want Li Chang'an to be targeted by Black Wind Mountain.

"Fellow Daoist, please come with me," Zheng Qingqing said in a gentle tone, calling Li Chang'an aside.

The two came together to her residence.

"Fellow Daoist Li, why can you control the Shadow Chasing Puppet?"

At this time, she voiced the confusion in her heart.

Li Chang'an shook his head in denial.

"Young miss, this puppet is not the Shadow Chasing Puppet, but rather the one I bought at the auction. I had someone repair it."

"Oh? So that's how it is."

Zheng Qingqing didn't ask further.

The puppet auctioned back then was indeed first-tier superior grade.

If one didn't spare spirit stones and hired a superior-grade puppet master, there was indeed hope of repairing it.

It was just that such expenditure was too great, and most cultivators wouldn't do this.

"Young miss, this is that robber cultivator's head," Li Chang'an took out a head from his storage bag.

Zheng Qingqing glanced at it and said, "This person is Black Wind Mountain's Seventh Chief. He killed quite a few of our Zheng family disciples. This time Fellow Daoist Li has helped our Zheng family greatly."

"Young miss, I have a presumptuous request."

"Please speak, Fellow Daoist Li."

Zheng Qingqing had already anticipated this.

Facing two late-stage Qi Refining experts, with Li Chang'an's cautious character, if he hadn't had some scheme, he definitely wouldn't have intervened.

Li Chang'an said straightforwardly, "I want to enter the Zheng family scripture library to choose a better cultivation technique."

"Indeed, just as I thought."

Zheng Qingqing had also guessed this matter.

The corners of her mouth curved up, a pair of beautiful eyes staring at Li Chang'an.

"Fellow Daoist Li, for outsiders to enter our Zheng family scripture library, they must make a trip before our family's ancestor. Are you certain you want to try?"

"This..." Li Chang'an was stunned.

He hadn't expected the Zheng family's rules to be so strict.

He definitely didn't want to face a Foundation Establishment ancestor directly.

If that ancestor saw through his hidden opportunities and wanted to forcibly keep him, that would be troublesome.

Although the possibility wasn't great, he didn't want to gamble.

At this moment, Zheng Qingqing suddenly smiled.

"Rest assured, Fellow Daoist Li, you don't need to see the ancestor. I happen to have extra family contribution points and can privately exchange a wood-element cultivation technique for you."

"That would be wonderful, many thanks, young miss!" Li Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief.

He had almost wanted to give up.

Afterward, the two discussed for a moment, finally determining the cultivation technique Li Chang'an needed: the Green Wood Technique!

"This Green Wood Technique is a fine piece among mid-grade techniques. The wood-element magical power cultivated from it is extremely thick and possesses the characteristic of endless regeneration, with extremely fast recovery speed," Zheng Qingqing slowly explained.

This technique was the most suitable for Li Chang'an at his current stage.

...

That very evening, this cultivation technique was delivered into Li Chang'an's hands.

He sat cross-legged, carefully studying it.

The more he read, the more delighted he became.

"This technique is indeed extraordinary!"

The Eternal Spring Technique he had previously cultivated simply couldn't compare with it.

Between the two, there was a world of difference!

Li Chang'an immediately dispersed the foundation of the Eternal Spring Technique and began converting to the Green Wood Technique.

This kind of technique dispersal would only scatter the characteristics of the original technique.

His cultivation level would still exist.

About an hour later, Li Chang'an successfully converted, transforming all his magical power into the thick Green Wood Technique magical power.

At this moment, he clearly felt that his speed of absorbing heaven and earth spiritual energy far exceeded the past.

"From now on, cultivation speed won't be so slow anymore," Li Chang'an silently sensed.

Suddenly, his whole body trembled, and a mysterious aura escaped.

Li Chang'an's face showed joy.

"My cultivation is finally about to break through!"

What double happiness!

He immediately gathered his mind and concentrated on breaking through.

...

This night, it wasn't only Li Chang'an who was breaking through.

At the Foundation Establishment Cao family, quite distant from the market, within the clan grounds, a hearty laugh suddenly rang out from deep within the clan territory.

"Hahaha, after years of cultivation, I've finally advanced to mid-stage Foundation Establishment! Old Ghost Zheng, this old man is coming for you!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 80: Murder

Some female players, after seeing he only brought a bottle of mineral water, directly showed him a cold face and that was the end of it.

Some female players passed the first screening, expressing gratitude after receiving the mineral water, but then immediately revealed their true colors.

When Zheng Jie proposed that they must first exchange likes once before he could give them the voucher, he almost immediately faced cold mockery and ridicule.

"What do you mean we must first exchange likes once? Are you saying you don't trust me?"

"Ha, then where's your sincerity?"

"Really treating a worthless voucher like a family heirloom to worship? If you don't give it, plenty of others will. Keep it to yourself. I'll just see if you can still give it away in the end."

Zheng Jie had heard such words several times.

Not only that, Zheng Jie could clearly feel that as the game progressed, the female players he matched with increasingly hinted through various methods that he should give them vouchers.

Zheng Jie had hesitated, but ultimately didn't fall for the deception.

Because of poverty.

As a player who had only recently arrived in the New World, he didn't have much visa time to begin with. How could he easily exchange for a 10,000-minute voucher and then give it away indiscriminately?

Many meetings ended unpleasantly, and in the end he received 3 more dislikes.

Zheng Jie also performed “Dislike” operations on those female players with particularly bad attitudes, but couldn't see what specific consequences this might cause.

Of course, there was also one piece of good news. Zheng Jie still received two likes.

One of them was obtained during the talent show activity.

The other was voted by another female player.

And from the attitudes of the other two female players in the same hour, it was easy to filter out who gave him the like:

Zhou Rong from Community 12.

Zhou Rong looked like a small, cute type of girl, and was very polite throughout the entire meeting, taking care of Zheng Jie's emotions.

As for the other two he encountered in the same hour... don't even mention them, they weren't as good as Lu Xinyi.

Lu Xinyi only deceived Zheng Jie and didn't give him a like. Originally Zheng Jie was a bit angry, but by comparison, he actually felt Lu Xinyi was quite decent.

At least Lu Xinyi split the room fee with him without a word.

As for the other female players, if their attitudes in the meeting room were very bad, they absolutely wouldn't give him likes.

So Zheng Jie naturally determined that the female player who gave him a like was Zhou Rong.

This was already quite good. If either of the other two female players in the same hour had performed less authentically and deceived him into giving a like, Zheng Jie really wouldn't have been able to tell.

But what should he do next? Zheng Jie fell into confusion again.

According to their previous agreement, as long as Zhou Rong exchanged likes with him once, after he confirmed it, he would invite Zhou Rong to meet again in subsequent meetings and give her a 10,000-minute visa time exchange voucher.

This was equivalent to a deposit.

After settling this, in the final meeting, he would invite Zhou Rong again, and both would like each other to complete the "final vote," each receiving 30,000 minutes of visa time.

But now Zheng Jie was confused again. He suddenly worried a bit about what would happen if the other party refused his invitation in the final round after taking the voucher.

Could Zhou Rong be a swindler?

That player from Community 9 had shouted earlier, saying a female player from Community 12 had deceived him. Could it be Zhou Rong?

But each community had 2 to 4 female players participating, and they couldn't contact each other. One female player deceiving someone didn't mean Zhou Rong would also deceive people.

From the current situation, if he didn't choose Zhou Rong, Zheng Jie really had no other options.

After 12 meetings, Zheng Jie had roughly figured out this game's matching mechanism:

This game defaulted to avoiding matches between players from the same community, so he hadn't encountered any Community 17 players so far.

If he could meet players from the same community, that would be easy to handle. They could smoothly establish mutual trust. After all, if either party lied, they would face social death upon returning to the community, which was quite constraining.

But now he couldn't even talk to them and had no idea what the other three's situations were like.

The probability of matching with same-sex versus opposite-sex players was roughly 1:3 or 1:4. In other words, there was only a small probability of matching with same-sex players.

Giving likes to same-sex players was meaningless since there were no extra benefits.

As for giving likes to opposite-sex players, he simply received no response.

For Zheng Jie, this game was incredibly difficult, completely unplayable.

Since Zheng Jie didn't have many likes, he successfully got on the talent show once.

He used all his skills to sing his best song, then barely managed to get 12 "Interesting" votes, earning one precious "Like."

This was already quite good.

Because many male players, after taking the stage, were voted enough “Boring” within two minutes and were forcibly cut off.

So far, among male players participating in the talent show, only that handsome guy had successfully earned 3 likes.

But that approach was too dependent on appearance, with very harsh conditions.

Besides this, some talent shows had no one on stage.

Zheng Jie had seen two or three instances where the stage was empty after the talent show started. Obviously, for male players who knew they had no talent and weren't good-looking, taking the stage would only be humiliating. Since they couldn't earn likes, why embarrass themselves?

In such cases, they would generally be quickly voted enough “Boring” and then forcibly cut off.

At this moment, a new round of talent show was also playing on the big screen.

A crying girl appeared on the left side of the screen.

[Community 9 - Xue Qi].

She had no distinctive features, neither particularly pretty nor very ugly. From the order of appearing on the talent show, she probably wouldn't receive too many likes either.

"Sorry everyone, I don't have any talents or anything to perform, but can you give me two minutes to finish speaking?

"I don't know what's wrong, maybe I'm unlucky, but after entering this game, the system determined that I need to have over 1000 minutes of visa time deducted every hour. I've already had nearly 4000 minutes of visa time deducted...

"I don't know what to do. Could everyone please give me a random free like? Thank you everyone!"

Zheng Jie was stunned. Could this much really be deducted?

The game rules did say that all female players would have a certain amount of visa time randomly deducted in this game, but Zheng Jie had previously thought it would only be a very small number.

He hadn't expected this girl to be so unlucky, having over 1000 deducted per hour.

Was this real or fake?

Zheng Jie was a bit suspicious, but then thought that clicking "Interesting" or “Boring” here had no cost anyway. Since that was the case, what harm was there in clicking once?

He still clicked "Interesting," although describing his current mood as "Interesting" was a bit absurd.

As for the No. 2 performer competing with her, he was a male player from Community 8 who sang quite well. Although he wasn't forcibly cut off and got to finish singing, the likes they received were obviously incomparable.

Zheng Jie also gave him an "Interesting" vote.

[Performer No. 1 cumulatively received 31 “Interesting” votes, earning 3 additional likes.]

[Performer No. 2 cumulatively received 15 “Interesting” votes, earning 1 additional like.]

"Thank you! Thank you everyone!"

Although there was no longer any sound from the big screen, Zheng Jie could still easily guess what Xue Qi was saying through lip reading.

Seeing this result, Zheng Jie felt somewhat regretful and speechless.

What happened to performing talents?

Selling misery could earn 3 likes, making others who seriously sang look like clowns!

If I had known she could get so many likes, I wouldn't have voted.

But thinking again, him not voting “Interesting” didn't seem to affect the final result anyway. Whatever, let it be.

Zheng Jie came to the small screen at the entrance to the meeting room corridor. He was considering whether to send an invitation to Zhou Rong, the only one who had given him a like.

However, just then, new information appeared on the big screen.

[From now on, the game enters Phase 2, with a cumulative time of 4 hours.]

[Phase 2 will add the following rules:]

[1. Accusations and Murder]

[The meeting room's operation panel will activate two new function buttons: "Accuse" and "Murder."]

[After pressing "Accuse," when your own like count is higher than the opponent's, you can consume 2 “Likes” to complete an accusation.]

[Players who are cumulatively accused three times will suffer instant death penalty after 10 seconds.]

[After pressing "Murder," when your own dislike count is higher than the opponent's, you can consume 5 “Dislikes” to complete a murder.]

[Murdered players will suffer instant death penalty after 10 seconds.]

[After killing other players through any rule in the game, you will receive 1/10 of that player's remaining visa time as a personal reward.]

[When multiple people participate in a player's death, the above reward will be split equally.]

[2. Data Query]

[All data queried by consuming “Likes” can now also be queried by consuming “Dislikes.”]

[3. Matching Rules]

[From now on, meeting invitations between same-sex players are prohibited. Players still have a certain probability of matching with same-sex players, but only through system random matching.]

[4. Additional Penalty]

[After the final meeting ends, if players still have unconsumed “Likes” or "Dislikes," each will result in an additional deduction of 10,000 minutes of visa time.]

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 79: Accusations

Yang Yuting frowned and thought for a while, then said, "But... even if I don't deceive people and normally fulfill my promises, assuming there are male players willing to split the 30,000, I could still guarantee getting 45,000 minutes of visa time.

"Why would I need to deceive people for an extra 40,000?"

Lu Xinyi was somewhat helpless, "You're a rich second-generation who's never lacked money since childhood, aren't you?

"Listen to what you're saying. Is an extra 40,000 really that little?

"How much risk would you have to take in other games to earn 40,000?

"Besides, so what if you keep your promise? Apart from the male player from another community who actually matches with you at the end, who knows? Who cares?

"On the contrary, if other female players deceive too much and many male players get deceived multiple times, they won't attack any specific person, but will attack all female players in this game.

"From the results perspective, your persistence is completely meaningless."

Yang Yuting frowned and asked, "What about the male players in your community? What happens to them?"

Lu Xinyi smiled without speaking, seeming unwilling to answer this question.

Yang Yuting suddenly understood, "I get it now. From the 'Blood Poker' situation, your community has already established some kind of mandatory profit-sharing proposal, so male players can also benefit from your actions.

"Even if they can't communicate after entering the game, they can guess what you'll do.

"So they'll actively give other female players more benefits, add fuel to the fire, and even actively broadcast messages unfavorable to male players, essentially providing support for you.

"No wonder that male player I met from your community before was so generous. So this is also part of your strategy."

Lu Xinyi nodded, "Not bad. Among the female players from Community 17 I've encountered, you're relatively smart.

"In any case, this strategy won't only be thought of by me. Smart people from other communities will definitely think of it too.

"It will spread faster than you imagine.

"When more male players get deceived, they'll also realize this and some will start refusing to make concessions.

"So we need to take advantage of this time gap.

"Those who adopt this strategy first get maximum benefits, those who adopt it later pick up some scraps, and those who don't adopt this strategy get no benefits but share the consequences.

"This process is irreversible. You'd better think it through quickly."

Yang Yuting thought for a moment and said, "But you seem to have forgotten a very important point.

"The 'Blind Date Game' will have two phases. The last 4 hours will update with some completely new rules.

"Are you sure your strategy will still apply in the second half?"

Lu Xinyi wasn't surprised, "I've naturally considered this problem.

"But as I said before, since this game passed the Gallery's review, then at least in design logic, it should maintain consistency throughout.

"If the God's Imitator who designed this game forcibly added hidden rules like 'the player with the most likes gets executed at the end,' that wouldn't conform to logic at all and would be almost impossible to pass Gallery review.

"So I believe that even if the second half of the game updates rules, or even updates some killing rules, 'Likes' will still be a crucial resource in this game, and 'visa time' will still be solid benefits that can be taken out of the game.

"The accumulation in the first 4 hours will inevitably determine the starting point for the last 4 hours.

"Of course, I can't be 100% certain.

"But no matter what, I can only think about the optimal solution for Community 3 under the existing game rules."

As they spoke, the system notification sounded.

[Meeting time has ended. Please both players exit and return to your respective rooms.]

Lu Xinyi stood up, "Want to exchange a like?"

Yang Yuting shook her head, "No need, I don't trust you."

Lu Xinyi didn't mind. She turned and waved, "Think about it carefully. See you later."

...

Before they knew it, nearly 4 hours had passed.

Zheng Jie was already starving. He endured the hunger and didn't buy food from the vending machine.

After checking his received likes situation, he sighed silently.

[Community 17 - Zheng Jie]

[Current 'Thumbs-ups' owned: 1]

[Current 'Thumbs-downs' owned: 1]  

[Current ‘Likes’ received: 2]

[Current ‘Dislikes’ received: 4]

"Who exactly is receiving likes? Can this game still be played??"

Zheng Jie was also helpless. He felt he had done enough, but the final result was still terrible.

On the big screen, a talent show player's voice came through.

[Community 9 - Xiao Zhiyu].

"I want to make an accusation! I was deceived by three female players of 30,000 minutes worth of visa time exchange vouchers!

"This was clearly a mutually beneficial thing, why didn't they keep their word? I want to expose the names of these three female players. They are from Community 12..."

[Performer No. 2 has cumulatively received over 20 ‘Boring’ votes. Performance forcibly terminated.]

Zheng Jie had originally perked up his ears wanting to hear exactly which female players were deceiving people so he could avoid them, but unexpectedly this guy's words were cut off before he finished.

"It takes 20 players voting ‘Boring’ together to cut it off. Could it be... all female players voted ‘Boring’??

"No, there were probably male players among them too.

"But so what? Isn't the situation equally bad?"

Zheng Jie realized that wanting to know through the talent show exactly which female players were deceiving people was basically impossible.

Because talent show opportunities were rare to begin with. Each player probably only had one chance, and many players would directly vote ‘Boring’ and cut it off as soon as they heard similar news.

The deceived couldn't speak out at all.

[Community 8's Jiao Hongtao broadcasts data to all players.]

[The percentage of female players who, after receiving 10,000-minute exchange vouchers, did not continue accepting invitations in subsequent meetings: '100%'.]

Zheng Jie held his head in his hands, feeling somewhat desperate.

Oh right, he had almost forgotten about broadcasting.

But the problem was that broadcasting could only broadcast game data related to 'percentages' that could be queried, and couldn't broadcast lists of deceiving players or specific deception methods.

This player named Jiao Hongtao, Zheng Jie had some impression of him. He seemed to be that disheveled uncle whose talent show performance was cut off at light speed before.

It looked like he was also extremely angry, otherwise he wouldn't have specifically broadcast such data.

This was quite explosive data. A 100% rate looked very intimidating.

It even gave people the feeling that 'all female players are swindlers.'

Of course, Zheng Jie felt this probability might not be accurate. Perhaps only three or four female players had received 10,000-minute exchange vouchers so far and they all went back on their word?

In that case, although it would still conform to this data, the deceiving female players would only account for 20% of total female players, which wouldn't be that bad.

The same thing, calculated with different methods to get different percentages, when broadcast would give people completely different feelings.

But players who could think through these probability tricks like Zheng Jie probably wouldn't be too many.

Moreover, even if they could think through these probabilities, so what?

Staying clear-headed didn't improve one's own earnings.

In previous meetings, Zheng Jie had executed his predetermined strategy: first test with mineral water, and if the other party didn't appreciate it, then directly pass. If the other party showed gratitude, then try using a 10,000-minute visa time exchange voucher to get the other party's promise to exchange likes in the final meeting.

Of course, Zheng Jie couldn't possibly give it away just based on the other party's empty words. He required the other party to first conduct a like exchange.

After confirming the exchange, he would invite the other party for a second meeting, and only then would he give them the voucher.

As for how he got those 3 additional dislikes? That's exactly how.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 78: Lu Xinyi's Optimal Strategy

Yang Yuting also didn't want to meet with Lu Xinyi. After all, everyone knew that although this girl looked very sweet, she actually had countless schemes, and no one knew when they might be calculated against.

"Let's split the bill?" Yang Yuting suggested.

Lu Xinyi smiled and pressed [I'll pay], "It's fine, I like beautiful women, I'll pay."

Yang Yuting had no choice but to press [You pay].

"It seems like you people from Community 17 discussed strategy from the beginning? When encountering me, it's best not to say a single word?"

Lu Xinyi observed Yang Yuting's expression with great interest.

Yang Yuting was silent for a moment, then shook her head, "Not really, I just purely feel that you're too formidable. Saying the wrong thing might lead to being tricked, so I'm taking some necessary self-protection measures."

Lu Xinyi helplessly spread her hands, "Alright, alright, it seems my credibility can't be salvaged.

"But since you acknowledge that I'm smart, would you be willing to listen if I tell you the optimal solution for this game?"

Yang Yuting was stunned, "Optimal solution?

"Would you really be so kind? I'm afraid you have ulterior motives."

Lu Xinyi smiled, "Of course I have ulterior motives, but it just so happens that in this game, our interests align.

"So you can listen to my analysis first. If you think it makes sense, then do it. If you think it's a trap, then don't believe it. How about that?"

Yang Yuting remained noncommittal, not giving a clear response.

Lu Xinyi didn't mind and just started analyzing on her own.

"By now I've basically figured out the mechanism of this game.

"The 'Blind Date Game,' as the name suggests, isn't a confrontation between communities, but between male and female players.

"The method to win as much visa time as possible is also simple, which is... to squeeze as much as possible from every male player you meet."

Yang Yuting was somewhat helpless, "I knew it, you definitely weren't thinking of anything good."

Lu Xinyi was very frank, "Think whatever you want. If you want to criticize me with those boring morals, go ahead.

"This is just the optimal solution I analyzed based on the game rules.

"First, this game is unfair to male and female players from the start. Male players get extra visa time, while female players have visa time randomly deducted.

"Although we know that actually very little is deducted, it's still being deducted nonetheless.

"Assuming we play completely within the game rules, then male players' earnings will always be 30,000 more than ours.

"If we really want to talk about fairness, then we should at least balance those 30,000 minutes of visa time, with each of us taking 15,000."

Yang Yuting thought about it and nodded slightly, "If you had said to split the 30,000 from the beginning, I would find that understandable."

Lu Xinyi leaned forward slightly, staring into her eyes, "My question is, since this is already an unfair game, why should I rack my brains only to get a barely fair result?

"Do you think this process itself is fair?

"In other words, this is the Gallery's game, where bets are final and life and death are left to fate. It's inherently an unfair game. What's wrong with me using my skills to create even greater unfairness?"

Yang Yuting fell into silence.

Lu Xinyi continued, "As for how exactly to do it? It's actually very simple.

"You can propose to every male player from other communities that you match with the requirement of 'splitting 30,000 minutes of visa time equally.'

"They take out 10,000 or 15,000 minutes worth of exchange vouchers as a deposit, while you promise to exchange likes with them in the final meeting.

"As for how exactly to trick these vouchers out of them, that depends on individual skill.

"Deceive those who are easy to deceive, and appropriately give some likes to those who are harder to deceive, giving them some sweetness. Anyway, keeping these 'Likes' is useless, they'll have to be given out eventually.

"I believe for a young, beautiful, and elegant girl like you, as long as you're willing to do it, it would be as simple as eating and drinking.

"In any case, after getting the vouchers, refuse all meeting invitations from them and continue looking for the next target.

"Until the final meeting, choose someone you find most pleasing to exchange likes with.

"Of course, if you're more greedy, you can also take the opportunity to deceive some more likes in this process.

"Let's assume that in 8 hours of gaming you can match with a dozen or so male players, and five or six of them accept your proposal. That's a solid 60,000 minutes of visa time.

"Plus the final 30,000, you could get a total of 90,000 minutes. That's quite substantial, isn't it?

"You know, in many judgment games, even risking your life, you might not earn this much."

Yang Yuting was somewhat shocked, "But wouldn't this lead to social death?"

Lu Xinyi looked at her somewhat helplessly, as if mocking her stupidity.

"How would this lead to social death?

"First, you're deceiving people from other communities. After this game, everyone goes their separate ways. Who can hold you accountable?

"Second, in this game, information is completely non-transparent. Even if you make promises to several male players simultaneously, they can't verify with each other.

"Finally, even if some of them get on the talent show and denounce you, it would be meaningless.

"Because the promise you made to them was 'exchange likes in the final meeting.' This can't be verified until the final meeting actually happens. How can they determine whether you changed your mind or are waiting for the final meeting?

"Even if they really get on the talent show to denounce you, they'll quickly be voted ‘Boring’ and eliminated. After all, who wants to see a grown man crying and whining on screen?

"That would only disgust people.

"As for players from your own community, what does it have to do with them? Your earning as much visa time as possible from the game is your skill. If you've established some proposals to share benefits, they can even profit from it.

"Blood is thicker than water. Would they really distance themselves from you because male players from other communities got deceived?

"So, from a game mechanism perspective, this is the optimal solution for us to earn visa time."

Yang Yuting fell into deep thought.

Soon, she looked up and asked somewhat puzzledly, "Since this plan is so perfect, why don't you execute it yourself? Why do you need to involve me?"

Lu Xinyi smiled meaningfully, "Aren't you asking the obvious? Of course it's because the more people who execute this strategy, the more and faster everyone profits.

"You might think that fewer swindlers means less chance of being exposed. Wrong, more swindlers means the law can't punish everyone.

"If many people execute this strategy together, then for male players, they'll have no choice. Either give me the voucher, or give you the voucher.

"Otherwise, they can forget about getting the final 30,000 reward from exchanging likes.

"After we meet other female players in meetings, we share this concept with them, making 'male players should give vouchers' a consensus, so all female players can benefit.

"Moreover, taking a step back, assuming this game really has some targeted punishment mechanism, having only one swindler would be dangerous, but having many swindlers would reduce everyone's risk."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 77: Yang Yuting's Choice

Lin Sizhi handed over a 1000-minute exchange voucher, "Very good, this is a reward for your cleverness.

"Next, you just need to give me a like when you leave."

Zhao Duo happily accepted the exchange voucher, but was somewhat puzzled, "But the query machine only refreshes once per hour, how can you be sure I gave you a like?

"Do you want to use the broadcast function to verify? But if you do that, the like would be consumed."

Lin Sizhi explained, "Of course there's no way to distinguish, and I won't waste extra energy thinking about those problems.

"As long as I don't receive 3 likes during the three meetings in one hour, that means someone didn't keep their promise.

"In that case, I won't send invitations to those three people again, but will re-match three new players instead.

"Until a certain hour when I receive all 3 likes, then I'll send invitations to these three players in order on a rotation basis, maintaining this cooperative relationship until the game ends."

Zhao Duo was somewhat surprised, "Doesn't that mean if the other two people don't keep their agreement, I'll also be eliminated?"

Lin Sizhi nodded, "Yes, you'd better pray that doesn't happen."

Zhao Duo thought for a moment, then asked, "So when the time comes, will you invite me or will I invite you? And what about the time when I'm not meeting with you?"

Lin Sizhi had obviously already made plans, "I'll invite you. You just need to decline other people's invitations after seeing mine and immediately agree.

"Of course, I'll generally invite in a fixed order. For example, if you're the third person in this hour, then I'll invite you for the third meeting of every subsequent hour.

"As for the other two meetings within an hour, you can arrange them as you please, I won't interfere.

"Oh, by the way, if we can establish a stable cooperative relationship for more than three times, then I'll consider increasing the reward amount.

"I'll raise the price for purchasing 1 like to 2000 minutes."

Zhao Duo imperceptibly swallowed, finding it hard not to be tempted by this condition.

Although Zhao Duo knew that if she was lucky, she might be able to squeeze 10,000 minutes of visa time from some foolish male player, that hope was slim after all.

Such fools were hard to find. Many male players, although holding a 10,000-minute exchange voucher, were just empty promises and wouldn't easily give it away.

Of course, even if she really found such a fool who readily gave her 10,000 minutes, the optimal choice afterward wouldn't be to keep the promise, but to directly take the voucher and run, continuing to look for the next fool.

Lin Sizhi's plan looked much more attractive.

Because this was a stable income strategy. Although each individual amount wasn't much, accumulated it would be a considerable sum. Moreover, the price for one like could double later, increasing to 2000 minutes.

Zhao Duo could completely use one-third of her upcoming meetings to match with Lin Sizhi, steadily earning visa time, and use the remaining two-thirds of meetings to execute other schemes.

Like deceiving people.

No matter how she thought about it, this was an irresistible proposal.

Zhao Duo smiled, "Alright, then let's celebrate our pleasant cooperation in advance!"

...

On the other side, Yang Yuting, who had just finished her third meeting, checked her current number of “Likes” and “Dislikes” in the rest area.

[Community 17 - Yang Yuting]

[Current 'Thumbs-ups' owned: 2]

[Current 'Thumbs-downs' owned: 2]

[Current ‘Likes’ received: 3]

[Current ‘Dislikes’ received: 0]

"All three people really gave me likes?

"And someone even wants to give me visa time exchange vouchers...

"This is so hard to choose."

Yang Yuting fell into some distress.

Unlike Zheng Jie, her three meetings in the first hour had all gone very smoothly.

The first meeting was with a male player from Community 9, who proactively chose to pay the room usage fee from the start and kept trying to find topics throughout, with both sides having a fairly good conversation.

But when leaving at the end, Yang Yuting politely declined the other party's proposal to exchange likes.

After all, she could only exchange one like per hour, and Yang Yuting wasn't sure if there would be more suitable candidates for likes later.

Of course, she also didn't ask the other party to like her, but the other party still claimed to have liked first to show sincerity, hoping that after Yang Yuting confirmed receiving the like, she could accept his invitation to meet again and start exchanging likes from the next meeting.

The second meeting was with a male player from Community 3.

Yang Yuting had initially been wary because he was from the same community as Lu Xinyi, but this male player was very generous, immediately taking out a 1000-minute visa time exchange voucher to give to Yang Yuting unconditionally, which caught Yang Yuting off guard.

The other party said this was compensation for female players having visa time randomly deducted in the game.

But Yang Yuting quickly clarified that while she would indeed have visa time deducted in this game, it was only 3 minutes per hour, which wasn't much.

Moreover, even if compensation was needed, it shouldn't come from other players.

This made the other party admire her honesty even more, and he proposed hoping Yang Yuting would agree to exchange likes at the final meeting, so both could get an additional 30,000 minutes of visa time.

After consideration, Yang Yuting still declined and didn't accept the voucher.

Although she could have chosen to accept it first and then change her mind, Yang Yuting ultimately couldn't make such a decision.

The other party also felt it was a pity, but still very gentlemanly expressed that if Yang Yuting changed her mind, she could invite him to meet anytime.

"You will always be my highest priority choice," he had said.

The third meeting's gentleman performed adequately, bringing two bottles of mineral water and a plate of snacks. Yang Yuting felt a bit embarrassed and wanted to split the visa time with him, but the other party was also very generous, saying it wasn't necessary and proactively pressed [I'll pay].

Yang Yuting naturally couldn't press other options. They didn't have particularly great chemistry, but it was still decent.

Originally, if any of these three people had lied and not given likes, Yang Yuting actually wouldn't have been able to tell at all.

As it turned out, all three people had given likes, which made it very difficult for Yang Yuting to choose.

Who should she invite for the next meeting?

She was certain that whoever she invited would definitely agree, but it was really hard to choose.

In this dilemma, a new meeting began.

Yang Yuting walked into the meeting room and was stunned for a moment.

Because sitting across from her was a young, pretty, short-haired girl, not the opposite sex.

Moreover, the name on the nameplate made Yang Yuting instantly wary.

[Community 3 - Lu Xinyi].

Yang Yuting hadn't expected to encounter players from Community 3 twice in four meetings.

But upon reflection, it made sense.

Although this game had 6 communities participating, players from the same community didn't seem to be matched together, and different communities had different numbers of participants.

If Community 3 had a maximum of 8 people participating, then encountering multiple players from it would be normal.

Lu Xinyi saw Yang Yuting's reaction and community number and immediately understood what was happening.

She somewhat helplessly spread her hands, "Am I so destined to meet people from Community 17? Sigh, now there are no free drinks and snacks to mooch."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 76: Rat Race

[Community 9's Xue Qi broadcasts data to all players.]

[As of current time, the proportion of players who actively brought items into the meeting room is: '55%'.]

As expected, this data had risen again.

[Community 12's Zhao Duo broadcasts data to all players.]

[In the last meeting, the proportion of male players who did not press the 'I'll Pay' button is: '20%'.]

Zheng Jie was surprised there were still guys as stubborn as him, though not many remained.

[Community 9's Zhang Shichao broadcasts data to all players.]

[As of current time, the proportion of male players who actively pressed 'I'll Pay' in the same meeting but did not receive a thumbs-up from their counterpart is: '75%'.]

Finally, a counter-broadcast from a male player appeared.

But it seemed to have minimal effect so far.

In this mechanism, female players more easily obtained 'likes,' and sending broadcasts could promote this positive cycle, so with the first broadcast being free, they were very enthusiastic.

Male players weren't easily able to obtain 'Likes' to begin with, and even if they used their first free opportunity to broadcast, it was hard to have any effect.

Take Zhang Shichao's data for example. Even knowing that "male players actively paying room fees probably won't get thumbs-ups," what could you do about it?

Likes were already very scarce. If you stopped paying room fees because of this, then even the small possibility of originally getting likes would be completely gone.

...

With a little time left before the next meeting, Zheng Jie went to the vending machine again to re-examine the exchange voucher items.

"Although I don't want to engage in this meaningless rat race, for the sake of visa time, I have no choice but to compete. Exchange vouchers... meaning I spend 1,200 minutes of visa time to buy vouchers, then give them to the other party, and they can exchange them for 1,000 minutes of visa time at the vending machine? This achieves visa time transfer, just with a 20% handling fee taken by the Gallery. Hmm..."

Zheng Jie fell into internal conflict.

He instinctively resisted this behavior, but thinking calmly, what the long-haired woman said did make sense.

This 'Blind Dating Game' had 20 men and 20 women.

Although numerically it was a 1:1 match ratio, theoretically everyone should be able to get that final 30,000 minutes of visa time from pairing up.

But that was only in theory.

In the actual game process, the number of meetings was limited, and there could be same-sex meetings or repeated meetings.

If certain players had already formed fixed partnerships and kept choosing to continue meeting, other players might be forced to match with players they'd already met or had intense arguments with.

In such situations, it was very possible that the 'Final Selection Vote' wouldn't reach consensus. As long as one party was unwilling to give a thumbs-up, neither would get visa time.

This probability wasn't high, but what if? That would be a huge loss.

If he wanted to ensure he could reliably find a female player willing to exchange thumbs-ups with him in the end, then early concessions could indeed greatly improve his competitiveness.

After all, the 30,000 minutes of visa time obtained when leaving was something every male player got, clearly written in the game rules.

Being completely stingy would probably make it hard to leave a good impression on female players.

The broadcasts constantly scrolling on the big screen were continuously raising the standards for male players to obtain 'Likes.'

Since Zheng Jie couldn't play those strategies that relied heavily on appearance, he could only honestly submit to being fleeced.

After a brief internal struggle, he made up his mind and only bought a bottle of water from the vending machine, not purchasing exchange vouchers.

"I'll use mineral water first as a simple test. If the other party is like that long-haired woman, rolling their eyes at me when they see mineral water, then without thinking, I can directly pass on that type. If the other party is happy after receiving the water and shows basic gratitude, then I can try chatting deeper to see if we can exchange thumbs-ups. If the thumbs-up exchange succeeds, that means the other party is relatively trustworthy. Next meeting, I'll use a 10,000-minute visa time exchange voucher to arrange mutual thumbs-ups for the final meeting."

Zheng Jie didn't know if this plan was stable enough, but with his wisdom, he couldn't think of a better strategy for the moment.

...

While Zheng Jie was continuously conducting meetings, other players were also starting their different meetings.

Ten minutes ago.

Lin Sizhi's third meeting.

He came to the table empty-handed and sat down.

"Hello."

An inquiring voice came from across the table. A somewhat thin female player with a slight smile on her face entered and sat in the opposite seat.

[Community 12 - Zhao Duo].

She looked Lin Sizhi up and down, but after discovering he was empty-handed without bringing anything, her brow unconsciously furrowed.

Only seeing that Lin Sizhi's appearance was decent did she refrain from erupting on the spot.

However, the next second, Lin Sizhi politely raised his hand and pointed to the payment buttons on the table.

"Hello, to show your sincerity, could you please pay the room fee first?"

Zhao Duo was shocked and even doubted whether she had heard correctly.

"What did you say? I should pay?? You really made me laugh with anger. You look like a decent person, how can you say something so shameless? What do you mean 'to show my sincerity'? Where's your sincerity then?"

Obviously, Zhao Duo had already encountered those "more polite" male players in her previous two meetings, so she had begun to take things like actively paying room fees and bringing drinks and snacks for granted.

She was already somewhat unhappy seeing Lin Sizhi hadn't brought anything, and now he was actually asking her to pay, which was completely upside down.

However, Lin Sizhi didn't get angry. He simply reached into his pocket and pulled out a thick stack of exchange vouchers.

"My sincerity is here."

Seeing the thick stack of exchange vouchers in Lin Sizhi's hand, Zhao Duo was stunned.

There were three different denominations of exchange vouchers: 1,000, 5,000, and 10,000 minutes. These three types were easily distinguishable by appearance.

What Lin Sizhi held were single 1,000-minute exchange vouchers. Although the face value of each wasn't particularly high, such a thick stack conservatively had over ten vouchers and still had significant visual impact.

Zhao Duo tentatively asked, "These are... for me?"

Lin Sizhi shook his head, "They could be, or they might not be. As I said, this depends on your sincerity."

Zhao Duo frowned, "You want to trick me into paying the room fee with a bunch of empty promises?"

Lin Sizhi put away the exchange vouchers again, "You should know, it's clearly written on the vending machine that these exchange vouchers have special usage rules. The purchaser cannot convert them back into visa time. They can only be transferred to others. I'm definitely going to give out these exchange vouchers, it's impossible to use them as empty promises to deceive people. But I also can't give them to just anyone. I'll only give them to people I trust, and naturally expect to exchange them for some 'Likes.' So, for this meeting, I need you to pay the room fee to show sincerity. After that, I'll give you a 1,000-minute visa time exchange voucher in exchange for one of your thumbs-ups."

Zhao Duo looked at Lin Sizhi, hesitated for a moment, then her expression relaxed as she pressed [I'll Pay].

Lin Sizhi also pressed [You Pay], "Good, you're a smart person. Why aren't you worried I'll deceive you?"

Zhao Duo shook her head, "Your willingness to exchange so many non-recoverable vouchers at once shows you're not lacking in visa time. There's no need to deceive me over a mere 200 minutes in room fees."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 75: Shabby Gifts

Zheng Jie reflected on his own stupidity and quickly realized more possibilities.

Lu Xinyi's scheme very likely had planned follow-ups:

If any of the remaining two people gave Zheng Jie a thumbs-up, then Zheng Jie couldn't tell at all who had actually given it.

If he mistakenly thought Lu Xinyi had given it and sent another meeting invitation, perhaps another trap would be waiting for him.

And even if the current situation occurred, where Zheng Jie didn't receive a single thumbs-up and Lu Xinyi's fake thumbs-up was discovered, there would be no additional losses.

Because from the current game mechanisms, even if Zheng Jie was deceived, he had no way to convey this information to other players from Community 17.

"Forget it, she didn't give me a thumbs-down, which was already merciful. It's my fault for being too stupid. I should wait and see if there are any more honest and trustworthy female players I can partner up with."

Zheng Jie felt his brain wasn't suited for playing these scheming games. While he was struggling with these thoughts, the meeting room opened again.

...

This time, a tall woman with long golden hair walked into the meeting room.

Zheng Jie immediately looked at her nameplate: [Community 9 - Zhang Xiaoxia].

"Hello, I'm Zheng Jie. This game is quite tiring, have some water."

Zheng Jie wasn't particularly good at socializing or smooth-talking, so his words came out somewhat stiffly, not very polished.

But he thought that since his attitude was friendly, he was smiling, and he was actively offering a bottle of water, this shouldn't be a big problem.

However, Zhang Xiaoxia frowned deeply, looking completely impatient, "Mineral water? You're giving me this?"

Zheng Jie was stunned, completely confused by her words.

"What? I kindly offer you a bottle of water and you're still not satisfied?"

Zhang Xiaoxia sat in her chair, arms crossed, scrutinizing Zheng Jie from head to toe.

"What are you pretending? What's the point of pretending with such petty thoughts? You're the third guy to give me something, and also the most shabby. Can't you feel that you're being completely insincere? Let me ask you, in this game, you men do nothing and get 30,000 minutes of visa time when leaving the game. Find a female player to mutually thumbs-up in the final meeting, and you get another 30,000. That's 60,000 total, easily earned. Why? You give a bottle of water, nothing more than wanting to find some naive little girl and use this cheap gesture to trick her into mutually thumbs-upping in the final meeting, earning that extra 30,000. If you had actually calculated this properly, you wouldn't have the nerve to give just one bottle of water, would you?"

Zheng Jie was dumbfounded. He felt the game's version was changing too fast, and he couldn't keep up at all.

In the first meeting, they were still splitting the room fee, but by the fourth meeting, giving a bottle of mineral water worth 50 minutes of visa time was being scorned.

"Then what should I give?"

Zhang Xiaoxia's face darkened, "The last guy said he was willing to give me a 10,000-minute visa time exchange voucher and wanted to mutually thumbs-up in the final meeting. But I'm just considering it, I haven't agreed yet."

Zheng Jie's eyes widened, "Ten thousand minutes?"

Zhang Xiaoxia got angry, "What's wrong? You men can earn 30,000 by doing nothing, and when you want to earn another 30,000, you can't bear to give away 10,000?"

Zheng Jie felt something was off but couldn't figure out how to refute it for the moment.

Zhang Xiaoxia waved her hand, "Alright, stop wasting words. There's nothing to talk about with someone like you."

With that, she slammed down [You Pay].

Zheng Jie got even angrier. If there hadn't been the previous argument, he wouldn't have minded paying these 200 minutes of visa time, but now he changed his mind.

He still pressed [Split].

When the options didn't match, both were simultaneously deducted 200 minutes of visa time.

Zhang Xiaoxia pointed at Zheng Jie in shock, "You... do you have some serious problem? Just wait, I'm definitely giving you a thumbs-down!"

Zheng Jie was also angry, "Whatever, at worst we'll give each other thumbs-downs!"

...

Ten minutes later, both stormed out of the meeting room angrily.

Without question, they both gave each other “Dislikes” at the end.

Zheng Jie was furious. Originally, giving a bottle of water was just out of politeness. A normal person, even if they didn't need it, should say thank you, but she actually complained about it.

During the meeting, he simply opened the mineral water and drank it himself.

It was just right since the game had been going for over an hour, and he was somewhat thirsty.

At this point, the talent show had begun again. What surprised Zheng Jie was that this time's performer No. 1 was a handsome guy, very handsome.

[Community 1 - Gao Jialiang].

He had sharp eyebrows and bright eyes, his hairstyle was well-groomed, and his fashion sense was impeccable. He belonged to the type who would naturally attract many second glances walking down the street.

Performer No. 2 was an aunt who looked to be in her forties, with kind eyebrows and eyes, except there seemed to be some water stains on the chest of her clothes, probably accidentally spilled while drinking.

[Community 12 - Zhou Guifen].

The handsome guy Gao Jialiang's performance was singing plus dancing, while Aunt Zhou Guifen also sang, but with semi-professional bel canto technique.

This time, no one was voted too many "Boring" votes to cause an early end to the talent show. They both performed for about three minutes.

[Performer No. 1 received 34 'Interesting' votes, earning 3 additional 'Likes.']

[Performer No. 2 received 32 'Interesting' votes, earning 3 additional 'Likes.']

The talent show ended with both performers' thank-you gestures.

Zheng Jie couldn't help but sigh, "Everyone's so talented? Come on, buddy, you're this handsome but started the talent show before me, is that reasonable?"

So far, all four players who participated in the talent show chose to sing.

Because singing was a cultural skill most people possessed, and this simple talent show stage had no accompaniment, so pure dancing might be very awkward.

A cappella singing was relatively the easiest way to win favor.

Or if you really had the ability, you could sing and dance like this handsome guy, which was better than just singing or just dancing, but it required good looks and skill.

This guy was indeed very handsome, so handsome that Zheng Jie almost wanted to deliberately vote "Boring."

But after all, his singing and dancing were indeed good, and there was nothing else to do while waiting for the next meeting, so Zheng Jie still chose to listen to the end.

From this talent show's participants, Zheng Jie also roughly guessed some of the game's selection rules.

Obviously, there were many players who hadn't received even 1 like, and even this handsome guy hadn't gotten any.

This was normal because each player could only get one like per hour. If the people this handsome guy was matched with had already given theirs away, then even if they wanted to give one, they couldn't.

Since everyone had 0 likes, the game could only randomly select. Zheng Jie also had 0 likes but wasn't chosen.

But this didn't matter because players who had already participated in talent shows definitely wouldn't be selected again in the short term. If Zheng Jie continued to be unlucky and didn't get any "Likes," he would eventually get on stage.

Rather than worrying about why he wasn't selected, he should think about what kind of talent he could perform when the time came.

During the talent show, the big screen also frequently interspersed several new broadcasts.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 74: Talent Show Opens

Looking at Fang Wencong's mineral water, Zheng Jie asked, "Buddy, your water doesn't seem to be for your blind date partner, you're drinking it yourself?"

Fang Wencong subconsciously moved his mineral water closer to himself, "Oh, this? This bottle is for me to drink, but I am indeed considering whether to buy some for the female players I meet."

Zheng Jie looked at the mineral water in his own hands, "Do we really have to buy it? Doesn't that mean each meeting would cost an extra 50 minutes of visa time? Add the room fee, that's 250 total. Over 20 meetings, that would be 5,000 minutes of visa time!"

Zheng Jie was also thirsty and wanted to drink water.

Fang Wencong sighed, "What you're saying... what else can we do? It's hard to imagine you'd ask such a question after playing 'Blood Poker.' In multiplayer games, you have to actively compete, otherwise your gains will definitely be at the bottom. Everyone's giving gifts, if you don't, you can forget about getting any likes, you won't get any. Although the game hasn't said what likes are specifically for, they must be good things, right? "

"Even if they can't directly exchange for visa time, they can probably indirectly exchange for it. As long as they can exchange for anything, spending these 50 minutes of visa time would be worth it. Besides, if you can find a suitable female player and mutually thumbs-up in the final meeting, you can get an additional 30,000 minutes of visa time. You can't wait until the final meeting to try cramming, right? Don't you need to find suitable candidates early and cultivate some feelings?"

Zheng Jie nodded, "Ah, that's true. Actually, I know this logic too, I just feel somewhat reluctant."

Fang Wencong shifted to a more comfortable position in his chair, "Being reluctant is useless, these are the game rules! Speaking of which, I don't know what the female players you've met are like, but the two I met both had terrible tempers. "

"I just asked if we could split the bill and they wanted to give me thumbs-downs. It took a lot of coaxing to calm them down, I don't even know if they gave me thumbs-ups in the end. So I'm being more careful, it's just one game. No need to argue with women, just give in a bit. We'll earn more than them in the end anyway."

...

The ten minutes passed quickly, and Zheng Jie still felt like he hadn't talked enough.

Especially since the two had privately complained about the weird female players they'd each encountered, which felt strangely satisfying.

Zheng Jie said honestly, "Bro, thanks for telling me so much, but if we're exchanging thumbs-ups, I really don't have any left. I already gave mine to someone else."

Fang Wencong waved dismissively, "No problem. Besides, you shouldn't exchange thumbs-ups with other men."

Zheng Jie was somewhat puzzled, "If two men trust each other, wouldn't exchanging thumbs-ups be more reliable?"

Fang Wencong looked somewhat helpless, "It would indeed be more reliable, but what's the point? In the final meeting, men giving each other thumbs-ups doesn't give extra visa time! You definitely need to exchange thumbs-ups with female players early and accumulate mutual trust and goodwill. If you exchange all your likes with men, even if you want to exchange with female players in the final round, they won't trust you."

Zheng Jie had an epiphany, "Ah, that makes sense too. Alright, see you later, bro."

...

Returning to the waiting room, Zheng Jie had just sat down in the rest area when he saw images appear on the big screen.

The talent show activity had begun.

The huge screen was split in half. On one side was a slightly overweight girl who looked somewhat nervous, and on the other side was a disheveled, dark-skinned middle-aged man.

From the scenes around them, they appeared to be in waiting rooms identical to Zheng Jie's, standing in that empty space with additional lighting.

At this moment, all the lights were on, really giving it the feel of a stage.

The overweight girl's name appeared on screen: [Community 1 - Zhong Yuanyuan].

"Hello everyone, I, I'll sing a song for you..."

The overweight girl began singing. Of course, it was unaccompanied singing, and her voice wasn't particularly beautiful, but her gentle tone still made people feel cheerful.

Zheng Jie listened while continuing to think about the game rules.

The overweight girl sang for about three minutes, then shyly bowed to the camera and pressed the button to end her performance.

Each player could perform for a maximum of five minutes but could also end early.

The big screen's audio system switched to the other side, and the disheveled middle-aged man also began his performance.

[Community 8 - Jiao Hongtao].

He didn't have any special talents either and also chose to sing.

Zheng Jie noticed that next to the chairs in the best viewing position for the big screen, there were also two sets of buttons. Each set had 'Interesting' and 'Boring,' corresponding to the two people participating in the talent show on the big screen.

Beside them was a reminder message emphasizing again: [No matter how you choose in talent show activities, no existing resources will be consumed.]

That meant during each talent show, these two buttons could be pressed freely without any restrictions.

But for the same person's performance, you could only choose between 'Interesting' and 'Boring.'

"Such a cute girl, just slightly overweight, and she didn't get any likes? This game is too realistic."

Without thinking much, Zheng Jie directly clicked 'Interesting' for the overweight girl who had finished her performance.

Because according to the rules, anyone who made it to the talent show stage was at the bottom in terms of likes.

In that case, casually giving a like didn't matter.

As for this skinny thirty-something brother...

His singing was really quite unpleasant. Zheng Jie wanted to mute the big screen, but unfortunately, there was no such option.

Zheng Jie hesitated. Logically, this brother was also a poor person without likes, and giving him a like would just be a casual gesture, but...

While he was hesitating, the big screen's audio system had already been cut off. Although the image remained, new notification information appeared above.

[Performer No. 2 has received over 20 'Boring' votes, performance forcibly terminated.]

[Performer No. 1 has received 31 'Interesting' votes, earning 3 additional 'Likes.']

[Performer No. 2 has received 2 'Interesting' votes, earning 0 additional 'Likes.']

On screen, the overweight girl Zhong Yuanyuan was busy expressing thanks to the audience in front of the screen. Although no sound could be heard, her joy could still be felt through her body language.

The talent show screen on the big screen was cut off and returned to basic game rule reminders.

Zheng Jie felt somewhat melancholic. Although these two players had both received talent show opportunities, their outcomes were worlds apart.

Suddenly, he remembered something and got up again to go to the query machine.

An hour had passed, and he could finally check the specific number of likes and dislikes on himself.

[Community 17 - Zheng Jie]

[Current 'Thumbs-ups' owned: 1]

[Current 'Thumbs-downs' owned: 2]

[Current 'Likes' received: 0]

[Current 'Dislikes' received: 0]

"This..."

Although Zheng Jie had somewhat prepared himself mentally, seeing this result was still very disappointing.

Since it was a new hour, the game had issued him a new 'thumbs-up' and 'thumbs-down.'

But the likes and dislikes other players had given him were both zero.

That meant...

Lu Xinyi hadn't given him a thumbs-up.

"I'm so stupid, what was I even expecting..."

Zheng Jie wanted to slap himself twice. He had actually been fantasizing that someone like Lu Xinyi would keep her promise and exchange a like with him.

Obviously, Lu Xinyi had made a fake motion of pressing the button but hadn't actually given a thumbs-up.

First, she really pressed the Split button, then during the subsequent chat gradually made Zheng Jie lower his guard, and finally, before leaving, a casual fake motion, a perfectly natural performance, completely fooled this naive guy Zheng Jie.

Previously, Zheng Jie had somewhat held onto false hope, thinking that since Lu Xinyi knew he was a player from Community 17, perhaps she would give Lawyer Lin some face?

In an unclear game situation, they could mutually thumbs-up to form a good relationship? Was it necessary to deceive people from the start?

Now it seemed he was on the second level while Lu Xinyi was on the third level.

For Lu Xinyi, this was probably the easiest like to deceive in the entire game.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 73: Vending Machine Prices

Anyone who wasn't too stupid could gather some information from the data:

If 75% of male players had already taken the initiative to pay, what would happen to the male players who still insisted on splitting the bill?

If 35% of players would actively bring items into the meeting room, how many of these do you think were male players?

What were they bringing items for?

What would happen to male players who didn't bring items into the meeting room?

And after this data was released, do you think it would continue to grow?

It was clearly just a simple percentage figure, but the amount of information contained within was quite substantial, with very strong implications.

"The so-called items should refer to the things sold in the vending machine, right? That is, some people actively bring water or snacks in to share with the players they meet, thereby earning thumbs-ups? ...You can do that??"

Zheng Jie suddenly felt he was too naive, completely unable to keep up with this game's tricks.

He was certainly among the 75% who pressed "I'll Pay," and originally felt quite wronged about being forced to actively pay money. But after seeing this data, he felt that since most male players were doing this, it was quite normal.

Moreover, he really needed to buy something to bring into the meeting room.

Because after this data was disclosed, male players who realized they should buy things would definitely increase.

By the next meeting, if everyone brought something, then bringing something might not necessarily benefit Zheng Jie, but not bringing something would definitely be detrimental.

He might get thumbs-downed then.

He could certainly thumbs-down back in retaliation, but the problem was you only get one thumbs-down per hour.

Besides, he was here for blind dating, not to argue. Since leaving the game would give him a fixed income of 30,000 minutes of visa time, why bother calculating these trivial matters?

Zheng Jie hurried to the vending machine to check the item list.

"So expensive! This is highway robbery!"

Unlike the vending machines in the community, this one only had necessary food and drinks. Not only were there far fewer varieties, but the prices had almost all increased by 5 to 10 times.

A bottle of ordinary mineral water cost 5 minutes of visa time in the community, but here it cost 50 minutes.

Additionally, at the bottom of the product list, there was a special category of goods: visa time exchange vouchers.

There were three types of vouchers: 1,000 minutes, 5,000 minutes, and 10,000 minutes, requiring 1,200 minutes, 6,000 minutes, and 12,000 minutes of visa time respectively to purchase.

There was also a note: [Once purchased, exchange vouchers cannot be converted back into visa time by the buyer and can only be given to other players through the meeting room.]

"Isn't this pure loss? What sucker would buy these things!"

The expensive prices made Zheng Jie hesitate.

After struggling for a while, he only bought a bottle of the cheapest mineral water.

Returning to his seat, there was just over a minute left in the rest time.

Zheng Jie looked again at the two pieces of data on the big screen. As he looked, his brow furrowed.

"Huh? Wait, something's wrong! This data seems problematic!"

Initially, Zheng Jie hadn't paid much attention because he instinctively believed that since data queries were part of the game rules, even if the data seemed somewhat counterintuitive, it must be true.

But after examining the wording several more times, Zheng Jie suddenly realized something was wrong: the data was indeed true, but had limiting conditions.

[As of current time, among all male players, the proportion of male players who have pressed the 'I'll Pay' button is: '75%'.]

But two meetings had already taken place. As long as a male player had pressed the "I'll Pay" button once, they would be counted in the numerator.

This didn't mean they would press "I'll Pay" every time, nor did it mean both parties had reached agreement.

The next piece of data had even bigger problems.

[As of current time, the proportion of players who actively brought items into the meeting room is: '35%'.]

This 35% didn't seem low at first glance, creating an illusion that "more than half of male players are actively buying water and snacks for female players."

But actually, careful consideration revealed this definitely included female players, as well as those who simply bought a bottle of water for themselves to drink.

Only after excluding these would you get the actual cases of male players specifically buying water or food to share with female players in the meeting room.

But when querying, one could manipulatively manipulate the preconditions for proportion calculations to mislead other players.

For example, this 35% created a false impression that "many male players have already taken action to actively buy water and snacks for female players."

Zheng Jie looked speechless.

"Come on, how can these people be so devious!"

Initially, he wondered if this Qian Li and Lu Xinyi had conspired together to release such data to influence all male players.

But he quickly felt this possibility was unlikely.

Because besides the meeting room, players had no way to communicate privately.

Moreover, Qian Li and Lu Xinyi belonged to Communities 1 and 3 respectively, so there was no possibility of prior conspiracy.

Most likely, after seeing the rules related to data queries and broadcasts, they immediately realized this usage and put it into practice at the first opportunity.

Among 40 players, there were definitely quite a few smart ones.

For a smart player like Lu Xinyi to guess this through the game rules, Zheng Jie wasn't surprised at all.

"But... this function seems unusable for male players, right? This isn't fair!"

Zheng Jie temporarily couldn't think of any data that, when broadcast, would benefit male players.

While he was thinking, the third meeting began.

...

Zheng Jie entered the meeting room, but as soon as he saw his counterpart, he froze.

Because both of them were men.

[Community 1 - Fang Wencong].

This was an unremarkable-looking man, thin and small in stature, with a short beard, looking somewhat unkempt.

The two looked at the mineral water bottles in each other's hands, and the scene became somewhat awkward for a moment.

However, Zheng Jie noticed that the other person's mineral water seemed to be already opened and only half full, appearing not to be intended as a gift but for his own consumption.

After a moment of silence, he said, "Excuse me, what is your gender?"

Zheng Jie tried to make his question sound more polite through his tone.

Fang Wencong looked at him somewhat bewildered, "Is this hard to tell? Male."

Zheng Jie was even more confused, "Strange, I'm male too. Did this game make an error? How can two men go on a blind date? Could it be that this game's designer is LGBT? Quite trendy."

The two took their seats.

Fang Wencong put his mineral water aside, somewhat speechless, "What's all the fuss about? The game rules never said you could only be matched with the opposite sex. Besides, this activity is strictly called a 'meeting,' not a 'blind date.'"

Zheng Jie was clearly not convinced, "But this game is called 'Blind Dating Game'! Does same-sex blind dating make sense?"

Fang Wencong shrugged, "How would I know? Go ask the game designer."

Compared to the previous two meetings, Zheng Jie was obviously much more relaxed.

So was Fang Wencong. Originally somewhat tense, he now comfortably slumped in his seat and stretched.

"What about the room fee? Split it?"

"Of course."

The two quickly reached agreement and each pressed the Split button to pay the meeting room usage fee.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 72: Proportion Data

This machine was right next to the vending machine, with a very simple interface divided into two sections: [Basic Data Query] and [Special Data Query].

After clicking on the Basic Data Query interface, it looked like this:

[Community 17 - Zheng Jie]

[Current 'Thumbs-ups' owned: *]

[Current 'Thumbs-downs' owned: *]

[Current 'Likes' received: *]

[Current 'Dislikes' received: *]

'Thumbs-ups' and 'Likes' were different, with clear explanations on this machine:

The 'thumbs-ups' and 'thumbs-downs' automatically received each hour could only be used to operate the corresponding buttons in the meeting room to rate others, and couldn't be used for other purposes.

Only the likes or dislikes that others gave to oneself might be related to certain unactivated game mechanisms.

Zheng Jie's first instinct was to check whether Lu Xinyi had actually given him a thumbs-up, or if she was really that bad, saying they'd exchange thumbs-ups but secretly giving him a thumbs-down instead.

However, the query interface only showed one sentence.

[Query results refresh once per hour.]

Zheng Jie felt somewhat deflated. He hadn't expected this query function wasn't real-time.

That meant he had to wait until after an hour, when all three meetings were completely finished, before he could check how many ‘Likes’ or ‘Dislikes’ he had actually received.

Zheng Jie then clicked on the [Special Data Query] page.

[Players can freely query all 'proportion'-related data within the game through voice commands.]

[Each query costs 1 'Like.' (First query is free)]

[Queried data can be broadcast on the big screen at any time. (Same data can be broadcast at most 2 times, with intervals greater than 10 minutes.)]

[After accumulating 5 queries and broadcasts, you can cut in line for a talent show and freely designate any player as your talent show opponent.]

[Note: Data related to individual player 'Like' and 'Dislike' number changes cannot be queried.]

Zheng Jie was stunned, "What's the use of this? It even costs 'Likes.' Are the hard-earned 'Likes' only useful for this? Querying data? Cutting in line for a second talent show seems somewhat useful, but the prerequisite is spending 5 likes to query data. The talent show definitely can't earn back 5 likes, so it's still a loss."

He was somewhat puzzled and could only close the page, returning to the sofa in the rest area to think.

"No matter what, likes are definitely the most important resource in this game. The 'Final Selection Vote' is also completed through mutual thumbs-ups. So does that mean giving thumbs-ups to people you like, thumbs-downs to people you dislike, and trying to perform well yourself to get likes from others? Is this a game that tests personal charisma? Considering there's a 'Final Selection Vote' at the end, this game is indeed very similar to real blind dating, meeting until you find the most trustworthy person to marry."

...

During Zheng Jie's internal struggle, the second meeting began.

He came to the meeting room. This time sitting across from him was a woman with exquisite makeup, though from her figure management and fine lines around her eyes, it was clear she was no longer young.

She wore a pair of large gold-rimmed glasses and was already sitting upright in her seat, arms crossed as she looked Zheng Jie up and down.

Looking at the nameplate: [Community 12 - Liu Lin].

Zheng Jie also sat down and said casually without thinking much, "Let's split the room fee Split?"

Liu Lin's eyes widened in shock, her voice suddenly rising, "What did you say? Split? How can you, a grown man, have the nerve?"

Zheng Jie was stunned for a moment, but then reacted and asked back, "What does this have to do with gender? This isn't a real blind date, and I'm not taking advantage of you in any way. It's just a meeting. According to the game rules, isn't it normal to split the room fee?"

Liu Lin questioned, "Ah, so you do know the game rules? Then let me ask you, don't the game rules also state that all male players can unconditionally receive 30,000 minutes of visa time after leaving the game! What about female players? Not only do we not get this visa time reward, but we also have visa time deducted over time! The game rules are already unfair. You're going to get 30,000 minutes of visa time, but you want to split these 200 minutes of room fee with me? Do you hear yourself speaking like a human being?"

Liu Lin's words really stumped Zheng Jie. Thinking it over, the game rules did seem to mention this.

Male players unconditionally receive 30,000 minutes of visa time after the game ends, while female players not only don't get any, but also have visa time continuously randomly deducted.

As for exactly how much would be deducted, the game rules didn't specify.

"Alright, then I'll pay."

Zheng Jie instinctively still felt somewhat reluctant, but seeing her attitude, if he refused he'd probably get a thumbs-down.

Although he could also give her a thumbs-down, but...

After thinking it over, he finally pressed the [I'll Pay] button.

Liu Lin also pressed the [You Pay] button, "You should have paid anyway!"

[Zheng Jie has been deducted 200 minutes of visa time.]

[Room usage fee has been paid in full. We wish you both a pleasant meeting!]

Zheng Jie sighed quietly. A pleasant meeting was unlikely. The atmosphere in the meeting room had been off from the start.

"So, shall we chat casually?" Zheng Jie wasn't very happy, but still tried to continue according to normal procedure.

Liu Lin nodded, "Fine."

...

After this meeting ended, Zheng Jie felt somewhat dejected.

Throughout the entire time, he had been trying hard to find topics to discuss, but he wasn't a particularly humorous or witty person, so her reactions were also cold. There were several awkward silences lasting over a minute.

If they had phones, they definitely would have been playing with their phones.

But without phones, these silences seemed even more awkward.

At the end, Zheng Jie was somewhat worried whether she might suggest they exchange thumbs-ups, since he had no thumbs-ups left.

But she apparently didn't have this idea either. She didn't even place her hands near the buttons and got up to leave.

Zheng Jie thought about it but didn't feel it necessary to give her a thumbs-down over this. After all, you only get one thumbs-down per hour, and she wasn't bad enough to warrant that.

So, nothing happened.

"Looking on the bright side, at least she didn't give me a thumbs-down either."

Although he couldn't see what she specifically pressed, whether she pressed anything was easy to tell.

Returning to the rest room, Zheng Jie looked at the big screen. There were no new notifications, nor any talent show screens.

Because according to the game rules, the talent show would officially begin after 1 hour into the game, equivalent to after the third meeting.

Zheng Jie waited somewhat boredly on the sofa.

Just then, new information appeared on the big screen.

[Community 1's Qian Li broadcasts data to all players.]

[As of current time, the proportion of players who actively brought items into the meeting room is: '35%'.]

Zheng Jie was stunned, "Huh?"

He hadn't expected that someone would use the broadcast function during just the second meeting.

Although the first query was free, the second query would cost a 'Like.' Didn't they consider carefully before broadcasting?

Even free opportunities should be cherished, right?

Zheng Jie couldn't understand, but after waiting a while, another broadcast appeared on the big screen.

[Community 3's Lu Xinyi broadcasts data to all players.]

[As of current time, among all male players, the proportion of male players who have pressed the 'I'll Pay' button is: '75%'.]

Zheng Jie stared at these two broadcasts on the big screen for a while, then suddenly had an epiphany.

"Ah? So this is how broadcasts are supposed to be used?"

These two pieces of data, one at 75% and one at 35%, appeared to be one high and one low, but actually had the same intent.

To put it crudely, they were urging male players to spend more gold.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

GOD Chapter 71: Talent Show Rules

Zheng Jie was instantly struck as if by lightning, opening his mouth somewhat stiffly, "You, hello..."

After arriving at Community 17, he had already learned about some examples of games everyone had previously participated in, especially the "Blood Poker" game. Because the strategies and results of the three groups were all different, Fu Chen considered it excellent teaching material and had explained it to him in detail.

Naturally, Zheng Jie also came to know about Lu Xinyi from Community 3.

Putting himself in their shoes, if he had been in the same situation as Jiang He back then, he really could only have stuck his neck out to be slaughtered, completely helpless.

He had thought the probability of encountering Community 3 players again would be very small, but he never expected such a coincidence.

What was this called?

Meeting a max-level boss right after leaving the newbie village?

Lu Xinyi didn't seem to mind, casually tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "It seems like you have quite a deep prejudice against me?"

Zheng Jie quickly waved his hands, "No!"

Lu Xinyi glanced over the meeting room rules on the table and suggested, "Let's first decide on the payment method for the room usage fee, shall we? You look so gentlemanly, surely you wouldn't be unwilling to pay even 200 minutes of visa time, would you?"

Zheng Jie was somewhat stumped by the question. He looked at the buttons in front of him, his brain momentarily freezing.

His instinct was to want to pay.

But thinking it over, that didn't seem right either. This wasn't a real blind date.

This was a life-and-death game in the Gallery! Since visa time was everyone's life, why should these 200 minutes of visa time all come from him alone?

While he was still struggling with this dilemma, Lu Xinyi had already burst out laughing with a "pfft."

"Can't you tell when a girl is joking? I've already pressed Split, you press it too."

Zheng Jie was somewhat surprised. He looked up and saw that among the three buttons in front of Lu Xinyi, the button representing Split was indeed in a pressed state, with its indicator light on.

Zheng Jie worried there might be a trap, but thinking it over carefully, he felt it couldn't possibly be a trap.

Lu Xinyi had already pressed the [Split] option, he couldn't very well press something else, could he?

If he pressed a different button, both he and Lu Xinyi would be charged an additional 100 minutes of visa time. That would be insane, wouldn't it?

After thinking it over, Zheng Jie still pressed the [Split] button in front of him.

[Lu Xinyi has been deducted 100 minutes of visa time.]

[Zheng Jie has been deducted 100 minutes of visa time.]

[Room usage fee has been paid in full. We wish you both a pleasant meeting!]

Zheng Jie let out a long breath. There was no trap, he had been overthinking.

The room fell quiet again.

Lu Xinyi leaned back in her chair in a very relaxed posture, her right hand supporting her chin, observing Zheng Jie with interest.

"Since we have nothing else to do with the remaining time, how about we chat casually? What was your Community 17's last judgment game?"

Zheng Jie sat upright in his chair and after clearing his throat a couple of times said, "I can't tell you that."

Lu Xinyi laughed, "Oh, quite security-conscious, aren't you? Alright, then let's not talk about games and community matters. What's your profession? We can at least chat about that, right?"

Zheng Jie remained very vigilant, "Then why not talk about your profession?"

Lu Xinyi shrugged noncommittally, "That's fine too, as long as you're interested. I'm an amateur magician. Sometimes I randomly grab passersby to perform street magic, and sometimes I make teaching videos online."

Her body leaned forward slightly, the corners of her mouth turning up, "Do you believe me?"

...

The ten minutes felt like an eternity to Zheng Jie.

Chatting with such a beautiful girl should have been a pleasant thing, but thinking about Lu Xinyi's previous performance in "Blood Poker," Zheng Jie always felt a chill down his spine.

He didn't dare mention anything about Community 17, nor did he dare mention his own profession or experiences, fearing that any inadvertent information might be picked up by Lu Xinyi and turned into a trap for himself.

Although this thinking was somewhat paranoid, Zheng Jie was participating in a Gallery game for the first time after all, so he kept telling himself to be cautious above all.

He absolutely couldn't drag down the other big brothers and sisters in the community.

Lu Xinyi didn't seem to mind either, simply chatting with Zheng Jie about some of her own affairs, but obviously, Zheng Jie didn't dare believe a single word.

After enduring for a long time, the ten minutes finally ended.

As the countdown on the table reached zero, the notification sound rang out again.

[Meeting time has ended. Please exit individually and return to your respective rooms.]

[Before leaving, please don't forget to rate this meeting.]

The so-called rating referred to giving a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down."

Actually, these two buttons could have been pressed upon entering the meeting room, but considering this was a rather important operation, Zheng Jie had held off until now.

Lu Xinyi placed her right hand on the thumbs-up area and pressed it.

Immediately, she widened her eyes in apparent shock, "We had such a pleasant chat, surely you wouldn't be unwilling to exchange even a free thumbs-up with me?"

Zheng Jie hesitated for a moment. According to the game rules, he could only receive at most 1 thumbs-up per hour, but he had to conduct three meetings.

If he gave it to Lu Xinyi this round, then for the next two meetings, he wouldn't have any thumbs-ups left.

Should he give a thumbs-down instead?

That seemed a bit too harsh. Lu Xinyi hadn't shown him any aggression throughout, had been chatting very friendly, and had even split the room usage fee Split.

The other party also only had one thumbs-up per hour. If she had given one and he didn't, wouldn't that make him worse than an animal?

After a brief internal struggle, Zheng Jie cleared his throat twice, "Alright then, let's exchange thumbs-ups."

With that, he pressed the [Thumbs Up] button.

Lu Xinyi smiled at him, "Well then, a pleasant meeting. Hope we'll meet again if fate allows?"

...

As soon as Zheng Jie returned to his room, he saw new game rule introductions appear on the big screen again.

[Congratulations on completing your first meeting.]

[The 'Talent Show' rules will now be updated.]

[One hour after entering the game, that is, during the waiting period before the fourth meeting begins, the 'Talent Show' activity will commence.]

[From then on, a 'Talent Show' will be held during each rest period.]

[In the 'Talent Show,' two players with fewer thumbs-ups will be randomly selected to take the talent show stage for a PK.]

[The two players can take turns performing any content, with each person limited to 1-5 minutes. They can also press the button beside the stage to end their performance early.]

[Other players, as audience members, can vote 'Interesting' for performances they like.]

[Accumulating 10 'Interesting' votes will earn the performer an additional thumbs-up.]

[Accumulating 20 'Boring' votes will immediately end the talent show performance.]

[Voting 'Interesting' or 'Boring' during talent show activities will not consume any existing resources.]

After hearing the rules, Zheng Jie's brow furrowed even more tightly.

"Performing shows, 10 'Interesting' votes for one 'thumbs-up'? This really is a game that tests personal charisma! First blind dates, now talent shows. Although it doesn't seem particularly dangerous, I'm neither handsome nor do I have any special talents. I really shouldn't have come!"

After reading the new rules, Zheng Jie sighed quietly and walked over to the data query machine.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

📅 August 19 (UTC +8) - Chapter Releases

For Pledged Members:
Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems — Chapters 121 to 130
American Hunting: Starting From Alone In The Wilderness — Chapters 121 to 130
We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? — Chapters 81 to 90

For Free Members:
Necromancer, What the Hell Is A Type 055 Summon? — Chapters 75 & 76
Wasteland Border Inspector — Chapters 75 & 76

My Father Is Superman, But I'm Just An NPC? — Chapters 65 & 66
Wizard: Starting With Synthesized Gems — Chapters 65 & 66
American Hunting: Starting From Alone In The Wilderness — Chapters 65 & 66

We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real? — Chapters 41 & 42
God's Imitator — Chapters 41 & 42

Daily Divination: From Market Rogue Cultivator To Immortal Venerable — Chapters 27 & 28
I Run A Prison In America — Chapters 23 to 26

IMT Chapter 90: The More Beautiful a Woman Is, the More She Deceives

Without realizing it, within the Book of a Hundred Lives, a month had passed.

Bai Ruxue had completely settled down in Huan Fishing Village.

Bai Ruxue washed clothes and cooked for Xiao Mo, dried fish, and took Xiao Mo out to sea to fish.

Every time they went out to sea to fish, the two of them would return with a full catch.

And every time Xiao Mo praised Bai Ruxue, saying "Sister Bai, you're so amazing," the woman's eyes would crinkle into crescents, and sometimes she would even place her hands on her slender waist, lift her proud little chin, and say happily, "Your Sister Bai is the most amazing, you know~"

Bai Ruxue also often gave some fish to the villagers.

Huan Fishing Village already had simple and honest folk customs, and after Bai Ruxue had given fish several times, the villagers completely trusted her.

Even some of the aunties and elderly women in Huan Fishing Village wanted to introduce matchmaking prospects to Bai Ruxue.

After all, this girl was truly beautiful.

However, Bai Ruxue politely declined them all, saying she already had someone in her heart.

Sometimes Bai Ruxue would secretly leave Huan Fishing Village.

Although Ruxue said she was going out alone to catch fish, in reality, Xiao Mo knew that Ruxue was going to handle some matter.

The most direct evidence was that every time Bai Ruxue returned, Xiao Mo could smell a faint medicinal fragrance on her body.

Ruxue seemed to be secretly refining some kind of pills.

Xiao Mo pretended not to know anything.

Another month passed.

Xiao Mo wanted to go out to study.

The neighboring fishing village was called Dragon Sea Village, and like Huan Fishing Village, it also originated from Qingshan County from three thousand years ago.

The two fishing villages would pool money together to hire a teacher to enlighten the children.

The reason Xiao Mo wanted to go to school was because he wanted to help Bai Ruxue transform into a true dragon.

Admittedly, in this life, Ruxue was already a Demon Empress at the Immortal realm, so even if he reached the highest position as a minister, his help to Ruxue would probably be minimal.

Not to mention that the current Great Chu had the appearance of a dynasty's final years, completely terminally ill.

The mountains, rivers, and destiny of Great Chu were far inferior to the Qi Kingdom of three thousand years ago but Xiao Mo really couldn't think of any other way to help Ruxue transform into a true dragon.

After all, he was just an ordinary person in this lifetime.

Fortunately, he had the knowledge from his previous life, and even after three thousand years, he still had some foundation.

If he understood what current students were learning and what the rules of Great Chu's imperial examinations were, he should still be able to enter officialdom.

"Eh? Xiao Mo, you want to go out to study?" That evening, when Bai Ruxue heard that Xiao Mo wanted to go to the neighboring village to attend school, her expression was very surprised.

"Mm." Xiao Mo nodded, "The village chief said that I've reached the age where I can go to a private school to read and learn characters. Setting aside whether I'll be scholarly material in the future or whether I can become a high official, at least when I leave the village, I'll be able to recognize some characters and won't be deceived by others."

"I see." Bai Ruxue lowered her head and took small bites of rice, seeming to be thinking about something.

Soon, Bai Ruxue lifted her head, "Little Mo, how about sister teaches you to read and write instead?"

"Sister Bai, you'll teach me?" Xiao Mo was stunned for a moment.

Bai Ruxue's eyes crinkled into crescents, "Don't underestimate your sister. Sister has read quite a few books, and if sister teaches you to read, you won't need to run to the neighboring village every day. Wouldn't that be better?"

"Then alright, I'll trouble Sister Bai."

Xiao Mo's eyes carried a hint of distrust.

In his previous life, he was the one who taught Ruxue to read and write.

In this life it was reversed, which felt somewhat subtle.

"Then it's settled. Starting tomorrow, sister will go buy some books and begin teaching you to read and write."

Hearing Xiao Mo agree, a bright light flashed through the woman's peach blossom eyes, and her excited appearance was like a little girl.

Who knows what kind of expression the demon clan of the North Sea Dragon Palace would have if they saw their Majesty with such a little girl-like demeanor.

The next day, Bai Ruxue indeed went to town and bought two large boxes of books back, all required reading for the imperial examinations.

Xiao Mo looked at the names of these books.

Many were still Confucian classics he had read three thousand years ago, but there were also some books written during these three thousand years.

Xiao Mo even saw his own "Agricultural Manual of North and South" and "Qi Kingdom Water Conservancy Techniques."

"Starting today, Sister Bai is your teacher." Bai Ruxue looked at Xiao Mo with full enthusiasm, "Quick, call me Teacher Bai and let me hear it."

"Teacher Bai," Xiao Mo called out.

Hearing Xiao Mo call her teacher, Bai Ruxue felt as if an electric current passed through her heart, tingling and numb, but very comfortable.

"Call me again, let sister hear it." Bai Ruxue seemed somewhat addicted.

"Teacher Bai."

"Call me once more."

"Teacher Bai."

Xiao Mo watched as Ruxue became intoxicated with the repeated calls of "teacher" and couldn't extricate herself, and couldn't help but smile and shake his head inwardly.

Where was Ruxue like a three-thousand-year-old Demon Empress?

What difference was there between her and three thousand years ago?

"However," Xiao Mo looked at her upturned corners of her mouth, "this seems good too."

"Sister Bai, you should teach me to read now." Xiao Mo tugged at her sleeve.

"You should call me teacher." The woman lightly flicked Xiao Mo's brow, "Usually call me sister, but during study time, you must call me teacher, understand?"

"Alright, teacher."

"So obedient." Bai Ruxue pulled over a chair and sat beside Xiao Mo, her silver-white hair giving off a faint pleasant fragrance, "Today teacher will first teach you a few lines of poetry."

Bai Ruxue's jade-like finger wrote the first line of poetry on the rice paper.

"Come, recite with me."

Bai Ruxue pointed at the elegant small characters and read word by word.

"Hold your hand, grow old together with you."

Xiao Mo followed along, "Hold your hand, grow old together with you."

After finishing, Xiao Mo lifted his head and pretended not to know as he asked the woman, "Sister Bai, what does this mean?"

"The meaning of this phrase..."

Bai Ruxue's eyes moved as she thought, then she reached out her finger and lightly flicked Xiao Mo's forehead, smiling as she said, "When you grow up, sister will tell you."

"Alright." Xiao Mo didn't mind and continued to ask innocently about the next line, "Then sister, how do you read this line?"

"This line of poetry, recite with sister: 'A graceful and virtuous woman, a gentleman's good match.'"

"A graceful and virtuous woman, a gentleman's good match." Xiao Mo repeated once, "Sister, what does this phrase mean?"

"The meaning is that gentlemen all like beautiful women with good figures who are gentle and virtuous."

"..." Xiao Mo was stunned for a moment. When I explained this line of poetry to Ruxue back then, did I explain it this way?

"However, Xiao Mo." Bai Ruxue's brows furrowed slightly, "You must remember that the more beautiful a woman is, the more she deceives. You absolutely must not believe what pretty girls say, understand?"

"What about Sister Bai?" Xiao Mo asked.

"As for me, I'm naturally an exception."

Bai Ruxue gently pinched Xiao Mo's nose.

"No matter how much time passes, no matter when it is, sister will never deceive Little Mo.”

“So, you can only listen to sister, okay~"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 89: This Life, I Won't Let Him Leave Again!

The next morning, when Xiao Mo woke up and walked out of the bedroom, he saw Ruxue bustling about in the courtyard.

She wrung out the washed clothes and hung them on the pole one by one.

The sea breeze blew past, gently lifting her silver-white long hair.

She tucked the hair strands behind her ear, droplets of water from the clothes staining her cold white lotus-like arms, like dewdrops soaking white silk.

Looking at the woman's appearance, Xiao Mo felt somewhat dazed for a moment.

It was as if he had returned to that courtyard in Stone Bridge Village again.

As if the old days had never changed.

"Little Mo, you're awake. Wait a moment, Sister will go get hot water from the kitchen for you to wash up."

When Bai Ruxue saw Xiao Mo come out of his room, she quickly put down the clothes and hurried into the kitchen.

Before long, Bai Ruxue came out carrying a water basin, her delicate jade fingers wringing dry a cloth towel, wanting to personally wipe Xiao Mo's face.

"White Sister, I can do it myself."

"It's fine, it's fine, Sister will help you." Bai Ruxue pressed down Xiao Mo's small hands and happily wiped Xiao Mo's cheeks.

Xiao Mo's head was turned this way and that by the face towel.

Bai Ruxue looked at the snake scale pendant around Xiao Mo's neck, her eyes growing even more gentle.

"Alright, that's good. You sit in the courtyard for a bit, Sister will go bring out the hot porridge for you to drink."

After Bai Ruxue helped Xiao Mo wash up, she went into the kitchen again and brought out the cooked hot porridge.

After finishing breakfast, Bai Ruxue had Xiao Mo take her around the village, wanting to meet the aunties who usually took care of Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo naturally didn't refuse.

When the villagers saw Bai Ruxue, they were also quite surprised that such a beautiful woman had come to Huan Fishing Village, and that head of silver-white long hair was especially rare.

Moreover, they felt that this white-haired woman's every movement carried the bearing of a well-bred lady.

To be honest, everyone was still a bit uneasy in their hearts about such a woman staying at Xiao Mo's house but when the village chief said it was fine, everyone stopped saying anything more.

Indeed, their Huan Fishing Village had nothing special, it was just an ordinary small fishing village.

Xiao Mo was also just an ordinary child, so what ulterior motives could someone have in approaching Xiao Mo?

Perhaps she really just wanted to rest here, happened to meet Xiao Mo, felt sorry for him, so decided to stay and take care of him for a while.

However, people who lived long-term in Huan Fishing Village needed to go to the village ancestral hall and offer three incense sticks to show respect for the ancestors of Huan Fishing Village and pray for ancestral protection.

The village chief led Xiao Mo and Bai Ruxue into the ancestral hall.

At the very front of the ancestral hall was a scholar dressed in a blue robe.

The scholar held a scroll in one hand and had the other hand behind his back, gazing into the distance.

"Isn't this me?" Xiao Mo was stunned.

He hadn't expected to see his own statue here.

Xiao Mo turned to glance at Bai Ruxue, whose eyes flickered slightly, but in just half a breath's time, Bai Ruxue had calmed her expression.

Bai Ruxue stepped forward, took the incense sticks from Granny Wang's hands, bowed three times, and inserted them into the incense burner at the front.

"Grandfather Village Chief, is this our ancestor?" Xiao Mo asked.

"Yes."

Village Chief Zhao nodded with a smile.

"This is our ancestor, named Xiao Mo, a great sage from three thousand years ago. In the past, our village wasn't called Huan Fishing Village, but Stone Bridge Village.

However, fifteen hundred years ago, when the Qi Kingdom experienced war and chaos, our ancestors came to the seaside to avoid the disaster and established this Huan Fishing Village."

As he spoke, the old village chief patted Xiao Mo's head:

"Moreover, according to legend, the ancestors of Stone Bridge Village were able to safely reach here because they were protected by a silver-white dragon. Originally, the ancestral hall also had a dragon sculpture, but the county magistrate said relations between the human and demon races were becoming increasingly tense, so it had to be temporarily removed."

"I see."

Xiao Mo lowered his head. Hearing that the Qi Kingdom had fallen, he naturally felt some regret but in this world, which dynasty could exist forever?

For the Qi Kingdom's reign to last a thousand years was already extremely remarkable.

After Bai Ruxue finished offering incense and bowing three times, the simple ceremony was complete.

Bai Ruxue and Xiao Mo strolled around the village for a while longer, and when it was near noon, the two finally returned home.

But just as Xiao Mo and his companion were approaching the courtyard.

Xiao Mo saw a woman in a green long dress standing outside the courtyard.

Little Green heard footsteps, turned around, looked at her sister, then at the child her sister was holding by the hand, her expression somewhat complex.

"Sister..." Little Green called softly to Bai Ruxue.

Bai Ruxue smoothed her dress, crouched down, and reached out to pat Xiao Mo's little head, "Little Mo, Sister has something to discuss. Could you go home first and wait for Sister?"

"Mm." Xiao Mo nodded and ran into the house.

Bai Ruxue stood up, walked to Little Green's side, and said calmly, "Let's go somewhere farther to talk."

Bai Ruxue walked toward the seaside, with Little Green following beside her sister.

Half an incense stick's time later, they reached the seaside. Bai Ruxue looked at the boundless ocean, her hands folded in front of her, "Little Green, what is it? Is there something wrong?"

"Sister... the Demon Realm has sent envoys again." Little Green said, looking at her sister's profile.

"What did they say?"

"The envoy said that Sister, being an Immortal realm Demon Empress controlling the North Sea, should act together with them to attack the Myriad Laws Realm.

Furthermore, they also said that if Sister is willing to stand with them, after the Myriad Laws Realm falls, all the territory of the Qi Kingdom from three thousand years ago will belong to Sister, and Sister's domain won't be limited to just the North Sea.

If Sister remains devoted to the human race and betrays the demon race, then they..."

At the end, Little Green lowered her head and said no more.

"If I protect the human race, then I'm a traitor to them, and they'll destroy my North Sea?" Bai Ruxue completed what Little Green was going to say.

"..."

Little Green remained silent.

Silence meant consent.

"I understand the situation. Tell the envoys from the Demon Realm that the North Sea conducts its own affairs and doesn't need their instruction."

Bai Ruxue looked at the calm sea surface and continued speaking.

"I probably won't return to the Dragon Palace recently. Leave all North Sea affairs entirely in your hands. Additionally, help me prepare medicinal materials like Sweet Orchid Grass, Dragon Blood Flower, Abyssal Spirit Pearl, and have the Seven Dragons go to Dragon Abyss, I need to refine a type of pill."

Bai Ruxue handed a list to her sister.

Little Green took it and immediately understood what her sister intended to do.

All these medicinal materials were items for clearing spiritual meridians and strengthening foundation, all to maximize the effectiveness of one particular thing!

Bai Ruxue held the blue glass bottle, facing the sea, the blue-green light of the Dragon Thunder Liquid reflecting on the woman's delicate and exquisite face, "This life, I won't let him leave again!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 88: Is That Person Very Important to Sister?

"Little one, what's your name?"

The woman in the white dress stood outside the courtyard, hands clasped behind her back, smiling as she looked at the little boy collecting dried fish.

Xiao Mo gazed at the woman in white not far away, with an indescribable feeling in his heart.

For himself, this second life was merely the blink of an eye but for Bai Ruxue, this was three thousand years of waiting.

"I, I'm called Xiao Mo," Xiao Mo slowly spoke, "The 'xiao' from 'bleak and desolate,' the 'mo' from ink, it's the name Grandfather Village Chief gave me."

Hearing the little boy say his name, Bai Ruxue's eyes trembled slightly, and her small hands beneath her long sleeves couldn't help but clench but quickly, Bai Ruxue regained her composure, "Xiao Mo, what a beautiful name."

"Thank you for the praise, Big Sister. Is there something you need?"

"Nothing much really." Bai Ruxue shook her head, "Big Sister was just passing through here and got a little thirsty. Could I ask you for some water to drink?"

"Of course, Big Sister, please wait a moment."

Xiao Mo acted like an enthusiastic child, quickly running back into the house, drawing a bowl of water from the water jar, and carefully carrying it to Bai Ruxue, "Sister, please drink some water."

"Mm, thank you, little brother." Bai Ruxue took the clay bowl and sipped the clear water in small mouthfuls.

After finishing, Bai Ruxue handed the bowl back to Xiao Mo, "Little brother, could Sister sit inside for a while? Sister has walked so far and hasn't had anywhere to rest."

"Of course, Sister."

Xiao Mo opened the bamboo fence, allowing Bai Ruxue to enter the courtyard.

"Sister, please sit wherever you'd like. Since Sister has walked so far, you must be tired. Let me get you something to eat."

Xiao Mo ran into the kitchen again and brought out the sesame flatbread that Aunt Niu had given him the day before yesterday.

Actually, in Xiao Mo's heart, he already had some suspicions.

It was very likely because of that Three Lives Array that Ruxue knew he had been reincarnated, and had even pinpointed his location.

Otherwise, how could Ruxue have so coincidentally come to this fishing village and found him so precisely?

And as an Immortal realm Demon Empress, why would she ask a small child for water to drink?

"Sister, this flatbread was made by Aunt Niu, it's very delicious."

Xiao Mo held up the sesame flatbread in his hand, still wrapped in oil paper.

"Thank you, little brother." Bai Ruxue didn't refuse, taking the sesame flatbread from the little boy's hands, breaking off half, and handing it back to him, "Sister can't eat so much, let's eat together."

"Mm."

Xiao Mo sat beside Bai Ruxue, and the big one and little one ate the dry flatbread with cool water.

"Little brother Xiao Mo, do you live here alone?" Bai Ruxue looked gently at the little boy beside her.

"Yes, Sister." Xiao Mo nodded.

"Then where are your parents?" Bai Ruxue asked again.

"My parents have passed away," Xiao Mo lowered his head, "When I was five years old, Mother and Father went out to sea to fish, but they encountered a tsunami."

"Little brother, I'm sorry, I made you think of something sad." Bai Ruxue's voice carried deep apology.

"It's alright, Big Sister." Xiao Mo lifted his head and shook it, looking very strong, "Aunt Niu and Uncle Xiao are all very good to me, and the Village Chief also cares about me. Sometimes when I help the uncles and aunts with some tasks, they give me payment, enough to support myself."

"I see." Bai Ruxue reached out and ruffled the little one's head, her eyes showing a hint of heartache.

"What about you, Big Sister? Where do you come from? Where are you going?" Xiao Mo changed the topic and asked curiously.

"As for Sister..."

Bai Ruxue held the flatbread in her hands and looked up at the azure sky.

"Sister comes from a very, very far place. As for where I'm going, Sister doesn't know either, because Sister has been searching for someone all these years."

Xiao Mo's eyes moved slightly, but he quickly suppressed the emotions in his heart and asked with childlike innocence, "Is that person very important to Sister?"

"Mm." Bai Ruxue nodded without the slightest hesitation, "Very important, more important than Sister's own life."

Xiao Mo tilted his head, "Then Sister, have you found him?"

Bai Ruxue turned her head and looked gently at Xiao Mo, her eyes curving, extending a pale tender finger to lightly tap Xiao Mo's nose, "You guess."

Xiao Mo: "..."

"I'm full."

Bai Ruxue finished the flatbread in her hands and stood up, crossing her hands and raising them above her head, standing on her tiptoes and stretching, her white dress clinging to the woman's undulating curves.

"Little brother, I think this place is quite nice. Sister has been wanting to find somewhere to rest lately. Since you live alone, little brother, could Sister temporarily live with you for a while?" Bai Ruxue asked Xiao Mo.

In the girl's peach blossom eyes was a pleading that was hard to refuse.

"Eh? Big Sister wants to live with me?" Xiao Mo asked in surprise.

"Is that not okay?" Bai Ruxue's eyes flickered with hints of disappointment, "Sister is very capable. I can wash clothes, cook, and with Sister here, the two of us could catch lots and lots of fish."

"This..." Xiao Mo's eyes moved, his expression showing some hesitation.

Bai Ruxue gently smoothed her dress and crouched down, her tone pitiful, "Little brother, Sister really has nowhere else to go. Can't you really take Sister in? Would little brother really have the heart to let Sister wander the streets?"

"Then, then alright..."

After hesitating and struggling for quite a while, Xiao Mo seemed to reluctantly agree.

"Since Sister has said so much, then Sister can stay here. But this place of mine is very shabby, I hope Sister won't mind."

"I won't mind. Little brother, just your agreeing to let Sister stay makes Sister very happy." Bai Ruxue reached out again to pat Xiao Mo's head, "From now on, you can call me White Sister. As for Sister, I'll call you Little Mo. In the future, Little Mo mustn't find Sister annoying."

"I won't." Xiao Mo shook his head very seriously.

"Hehehehe..."

Bai Ruxue laughed cheerfully, her voice very pure, like the sound of a blown conch shell.

"Little Mo, you gave Sister water to drink, food to eat, and let Sister stay here, so Sister must give you some reward."

Bai Ruxue lowered her head, brushing aside her silver-white hair, using both hands to untie the red string around her neck, gently drawing the pendant from her high neckline.

Bai Ruxue opened Xiao Mo's palm and placed the pendant in his palm.

The pendant still carried traces of warmth from the woman's body.

“Little Mo, this snake scale pendant is for you. You must take good care of it.”

“Don't lose it, okay?”

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 87: My Name is Bai Ruxue, What's Your Name?

Little Green left.

Bai Ruxue continued sitting in the formation array, her legs curled up, arms tightly wrapped around her knees, eyes earnestly watching the Three Lives Array floating above but since the Three Lives Array had been established for so many years, there had never been any movement.

Xiao Mo stood beside Ruxue, looking at her appearance.

He hadn't expected that after more than two thousand years had passed, Ruxue would still be so devoted to him.

Time could indeed dilute everything but on her, time seemed to be an exception.

[The Book of a Hundred Lives Third Life ("Bai Ruxue's Life" Second Life) has been prepared and completed. Does the host wish to enter the Book of a Hundred Lives for the experience?]

The text of the Book of a Hundred Lives appeared in Xiao Mo's mind.

"Yes."

Xiao Mo didn't hesitate.

[Please create a name for this life.]

Xiao Mo thought for a moment, then finally decided to use his original name: "Xiao Mo."

[Character Xiao Mo has been successfully created. The host is about to begin a new life experience. Please prepare yourself.]

[Third Life countdown: ten, nine, eight, seven...]

With each countdown, Xiao Mo walked step by step toward Bai Ruxue.

[Five, four...]

He crouched down, extended his hand, and gently stroked the woman's hair, "Ruxue, I'll wait for you in seven hundred years."

[One.]

[Book of a Hundred Lives Third Life begins]

The moment Xiao Mo scattered with the wind.

Bai Ruxue suddenly withdrew her gaze and looked ahead.

"Xiao Mo?"

"Xiao Mo!"

Bai Ruxue stood up and kept running around the palace.

"Xiao Mo, are you there?"

"Xiao Mo!"

The woman ran and called out, her anxious expression sweeping over every flower, every blade of grass, every tree in the palace.

Throughout the palace, the woman's voice echoed again and again.

"Sister, what's wrong?"

Hearing the commotion, Little Green thought something had happened and hurriedly ran into the palace.

"Little Green!" Bai Ruxue tightly gripped her sister's arm, her eyes covered with a thin layer of mist, "I just heard Xiao Mo's voice. He said he would wait for me in seven hundred years!"

"Sister..."

Little Green's expression was complex.

After more than two thousand years had passed, those who should have reincarnated had already reincarnated. How could any soul linger in the world for so long?

Not to mention that sister was already a Demon Empress at the Immortal realm.

Under sister's dragon might, which mortal soul could approach?

Just as Little Green was thinking about how to comfort her sister.

Suddenly, the Three Lives Array floating above the imperial palace began spinning faster, blooming with a deep blue light.

The light gradually condensed, forming a pillar of light that shot straight into the clouds.

Bai Ruxue leaped up, rushed out of the deep sea, and followed the light to the sea surface.

She saw this blue light spreading across the sky, circles of spiritual energy rippling outward like waves on the sea surface.

Then, these lights formed a massive array diagram.

The array diagram kept changing, flowing like liquid.

Finally, when the array diagram fixed in place for an instant, the light shot toward the distance.

At the distant end was a fishing village.

(Book of a Hundred Lives: Seven Hundred Years Later)

As the Book of a Hundred Lives countdown disappeared, Xiao Mo felt a spinning sensation.

However, Xiao Mo was already familiar with this feeling.

When Xiao Mo came to his senses, he found himself once again transformed into a small child.

Xiao Mo looked around and saw a shabby little house, not much different from the dilapidated small courtyard where he had started in his previous life.

[Character Background: Your name is Xiao Mo. Born in Huan Fishing Village, Guanshui County, Cangyun Prefecture, North Sea State. When you were five years old, your parents went out to sea to fish but encountered a tsunami and tragically perished. The villagers of Huan Fishing Village took care of you, and you grew up eating at many different households. Now you are seven and a half years old, and you often go out to sea to catch fish or help the village dry fish and do work to make a living.]

"..."

Looking at this character background, Xiao Mo was momentarily speechless.

This life was almost identical to his first life in terms of background, with only the birthplace being different, previously in a mountain village, now in a fishing village.

[Mission for this life: In the host's previous life, you helped Bai Ruxue walk the path to becoming a dragon. Since the host's death, a full three thousand years have passed. Bai Ruxue's realm has reached the Immortal level, becoming a Demon Empress of one region. Please help Bai Ruxue complete her final transformation into a dragon.]

[Note: Because the host's soul was scattered, even after reincarnation, you are still rejected by the Heavenly Dao. According to the laws of the Heavenly Dao, although the host can live another life, it is almost impossible to recover memories. However, the Book of a Hundred Lives has concealed the heavenly secrets for the host. Please follow the laws of the Heavenly Dao and do not tell anyone about recovering your memories, otherwise the heavenly secrets will be revealed, the Heavenly Dao laws will sense it, and Soul-Destroying Thunder Tribulation will descend. Furthermore, if the host is exposed, it will trigger the Heavenly Dao laws and may also be detected by "That One," which could pose certain dangers to the host's reality. Please remember this carefully.]

As the text of the Book of a Hundred Lives disappeared, Xiao Mo couldn't help but frown.

Not being able to tell others about recovering his memories, Xiao Mo could understand but what did the Book of a Hundred Lives mean by "That One"?

Was it the Heavenly Dao?

No, it probably wasn't. If it were the Heavenly Dao, the Book of a Hundred Lives would directly mention "Heavenly Dao."

"That One" should be a specific existence, and possibly a divine being.

"Forget it, I won't worry about those things. I'll just be careful."

Xiao Mo walked out of the house.

He was immediately greeted by a breeze blowing from the sea surface, carrying the salty smell of seawater.

Xiao Mo walked to the courtyard and began gathering the dried fish that had been laid out to dry.

Later he would deliver them to the uncles and aunts in the village, in exchange for some copper coins.

While collecting the dried fish, Xiao Mo thought about how he should go about finding Ruxue.

After all, with his ordinary human identity, trying to find an Immortal realm dragon was no ordinary difficulty.

"Hey, little one in the courtyard."

Just as Xiao Mo was thinking of various methods in his heart, a gentle and familiar calling voice came from outside the courtyard.

Xiao Mo's heart trembled, and he slowly turned around.

Outside the courtyard, a silver-haired woman in a white dress was walking toward him step by step.

The woman had a wooden deer-spirit hairpin inserted in her hair, with the rest of her long hair cascading over her shoulders like white snow, reaching just to her waist.

Her skin was a delicate cold white, like premium mutton-fat jade covered by fresh snow, lustrous with a hint of cool aloofness that was not easily approachable.

The woman's figure was tall and graceful, with smooth and beautiful lines. A simple white long dress clung to the curves of her body, outlining an impeccable slender silhouette.

Her eyelashes were also silver-white, like fresh snow coverage.

Beneath the curved and upturned white eyelashes, those peach blossom-shaped eyes were extremely beautiful, with slightly upturned eye corners carrying a natural, subtle charm.

"Hello, little one."

The woman walked to the front of the courtyard, smiling as she looked at the little boy in the courtyard.

"My name is Bai Ruxue, what's your name?"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 86: Then What's Wrong With Spending My Lifetime Looking For Him?

Xiao Mo returned to the imperial palace as evening fell.

Not long ago, Yan Shan'ao had spoken with Xiao Mo.

The empress coronation ceremony was postponed to four months later.

The reason was that Elder Huang of Ten Thousand Swords Sect had arrived several days late, missing the auspicious day that had been the day before yesterday.

The next good day would only come four months later.

Although delaying it to four months later did create some uncertainty, Yan Shan'ao and Empress Dowager Yan wished they could immediately send their clan's woman to Xiao Mo's bedchamber but for such an empress coronation ceremony, they dared not be negligent.

Auspicious days helped ensure marital harmony, prosperity of descendants, and stability of the kingdom.

So even if it meant waiting, they would wait for a good day.

Xiao Mo was indifferent to this, whether he married or not made no difference to him.

Besides, marrying later was actually better.

Otherwise, he would have to spend time accompanying the empress.

Moreover, once Yan Ruxue became the master of the harem, she could legitimately stay by his side.

His every move might be monitored by her.

After bathing in Clear Spring Palace, Xiao Mo returned to his bedchamber and immediately entered the Book of a Hundred Lives.

[Book of a Hundred Lives Third Life ("Bai Ruxue's Life" Second Life) is not yet ready. Would the host like to enter the River of Time as an observer to watch what happened after the host's death?]

"Yes."

Xiao Mo didn't hesitate. He once again became an observer and stepped into the Book of a Hundred Lives' River of Time.

Coming to Stone Bridge Village, Xiao Mo stood outside the courtyard, watching the woman in the yard cleaning the courtyard.

Her hair had turned completely silver-white, and her body emanated extremely strong dragon's might but in her golden eyes, there was no trace of vitality.

It seemed like this woman's heart was about to die, held by only a fragile thread.

"Sigh." Xiao Mo sighed softly.

How could he not know the reason?

But as an observer, he could do nothing, only watch quietly, hoping that time could fade his mark in her heart.

"It seems your internal injuries have healed," Fuchen came to the courtyard, quietly looking at the white-haired woman before her.

"Mm."

Bai Ruxue nodded.

On the woman's absolutely beautiful face was a coldness like ice and snow.

The girl who used to love smiling seemed not to have smiled for a very long time.

"This is your last day here?" Fuchen noticed the bundle on the table.

Bai Ruxue raised her head, looking at this courtyard where she had lived for so long, "Now that my injuries are healed, it's time to go. He's waiting for me."

"Ruxue..." Fuchen sighed.

"Before he left this courtyard, he told me that after he died, he hoped to be buried under the rocks on the small path south of She Mountain. Although Xiao Mo scattered in the North Sea, humans believe in being laid to rest in the earth. Bury his clothes there."

Bai Ruxue seemed not to hear Fuchen's words and called to Little Green, "Little Green, it's time to set off."

"Yes, sister."

Little Green, who had been eavesdropping on her master's and sister's conversation in the room, responded and opened the door to come out.

Bai Ruxue walked past Fuchen, "Daoist Fuchen, only the dead need to be laid to rest in the earth. Xiao Mo, he didn't die!"

The woman's silver-white long hair was lifted by the breeze, gently brushing Fuchen's shoulder.

When Fuchen turned around, Bai Ruxue and her sister had already disappeared into the horizon.

For the next several years, Bai Ruxue and Little Green continued searching for Xiao Mo's reincarnation.

Bai Ruxue led her sister across all of Qi Kingdom's rivers and lands.

In most of Qi Kingdom's prefectures and counties, especially at dams and riverbanks, shrines to Xiao Mo were usually erected.

Whenever she saw the statue of the scholar in blue robes in the shrines, Bai Ruxue would stand for a long time.

"Uncle, why are Prime Minister Xiao's shrines mostly built by the water?" Once, Little Green asked an old man who had come to pay respects.

"You're from out of town, little girl." The old man smiled.

"This Prime Minister Xiao, during his lifetime, built water conservancy projects and dredged waterways. I don't know how many common people he saved and how much fertile land he created. Wherever Prime Minister Xiao was, no flood was too big to fear.

So, the Prime Minister's shrine is here to suppress river disasters and protect us.

Let me tell you something ordinary people don't know."

The old man grinned, showing his big yellow teeth, "When I was little, there was a flood once. Prime Minister Xiao personally came for disaster relief. I was fortunate enough to see Prime Minister Xiao and even spoke with him.

I asked Prime Minister Xiao, Grandpa, why don't you lie in your mansion like other officials, eating delicacies, instead of coming here to suffer?

Guess what Prime Minister Xiao said?"

The old man's eyes were full of memories.

"Prime Minister Xiao said that he wasn't used to delicacies, preferring his hometown's coarse rice and wild vegetables. Moreover, dredging waterways and building water conservancy was for the people of the world, and also for a bit of personal selfishness.

I asked again, then Grandpa Xiao, what is your selfishness?

The old Prime Minister said, My selfishness is for a woman I love."

After the old man finished speaking, Little Green glanced at her sister.

Bai Ruxue said nothing more, only gazed deeply at the statue of the scholar holding a book.

Years passed, who knows how many.

Bai Ruxue left Qi Kingdom and went to other human kingdoms to search for Xiao Mo's reincarnation.

She crossed snow mountains, traversed deserts, walked through plains.

At the same time, Bai Ruxue was also collecting techniques that could locate reincarnated people.

Several times, these techniques actually showed reactions but each time, when Bai Ruxue ran excitedly to the place the techniques indicated, the person she saw was not him.

During this period of wandering, Bai Ruxue would also practice medicine to help people and assist in subduing demons and monsters.

Once, when a great plague struck Pingchang Prefecture in Wei Kingdom, Bai Ruxue stayed there for three years just to treat the people.

Little Green watched her sister's busy figure.

She discovered that sister seemed to be gradually living like Brother Xiao.

A thousand years passed like this.

Bai Ruxue entered the Immortal realm.

In the North Sea, Bai Ruxue established a Dragon Palace.

Many people thought it was normal for an Immortal realm demon emperor to establish a Dragon Palace and expand her influence but Little Green knew that sister established the Dragon Palace so more people could help her search for Brother Xiao together.

Another hundred years passed.

One day, Tianxuan Sect sent a letter.

Inside was an array diagram that Fuchen had sent to Bai Ruxue.

The array was called the "Three Lives Array," which Fuchen had found in the Desolate Lands.

After establishing this array, if Xiao Mo reincarnated, perhaps his location could be sensed.

However, building this array required far too many heavenly materials and earthly treasures but Bai Ruxue wasn't afraid.

After spending another seven hundred years, Bai Ruxue completed the array but the array still showed no reaction.

All Little Green could see was her sister sitting in that array every day, quietly waiting.

"Sister," Little Green approached one day.

"Little Green, what is it?" Bai Ruxue raised her head, looking at her sister.

Little Green clenched her fists tightly, her expression very hesitant, but finally, Little Green gathered courage and spoke, "Sister, let it go."

Bai Ruxue tilted her head, "Let what go?"

"Sister, stop looking for Brother Xiao." Little Green pressed her small hands tightly against her chest. "Sister, you've been searching for two thousand three hundred years. If Brother Xiao could reincarnate, he would have reincarnated long ago. After two thousand three hundred years, Brother Xiao's soul might have already..."

At the end, Little Green couldn't say it out loud.

She lowered her head, her expression very dejected.

She also missed Brother Xiao very much but after so many years, there was no hope left.

She didn't want to see her sister like this for her whole life.

Hearing her sister's words, Bai Ruxue hugged her knees and raised her head to look at the Three Lives Array floating above the Dragon Palace, "Little Green, sister knows your feelings, but sister can sense that Xiao Mo didn't 'die.' His soul is still there."

"But sister, even if Brother Xiao's soul still exists, how can we find him in this vast sea of humanity?" Little Green raised her head, looking directly into her sister's eyes. "Sister, you've been searching for over two thousand years. Does sister intend to spend her entire life looking for Brother Xiao?"

Little Green's voice echoed through the palace.

As Little Green's words fell, the palace fell silent again.

The Three Lives Array continued operating above the palace. Below the array were spiritual pillars, and in the center of the pillars was a spirit-gathering array, all maintaining the Three Lives Array together.

After a long while, the corners of the woman's mouth curved up slightly.

Seeing her sister's smile, Little Green couldn't help but be stunned.

In over two thousand three hundred years, this was the first time she had seen her sister smile.

"Little Green, he waited for me his entire life."

Sister stood up, walked to her sister's side, and gently caressed her sister's cheek. Her gentle words were like spring sun shining on the sea surface.

"Then what's wrong with spending my lifetime looking for him?"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 85: What Is The Name Of That Yan Family Woman Who Is To Enter The Palace?

["My name is Xiao Mo. From now on, I am your master. Call me that and let me hear it."]

["Master, Qingyi will definitely become a very powerful sword immortal!"]

["In our hometown, this is called a birthday cake. Come, make a wish, and it will come true."]

["Qingyi, Master wants to go outside for a walk. Do you want to come with Master to see?" "Through thousands of mountains and rivers, this disciple is willing!"]

["Xiao Mo! Let go of me! Without that sword bone, I can still kill them!"]

["Qingyi, forgive Master. This is the last time."]

Scenes from three thousand years ago surfaced in the woman's heart, his voice floated by Jiang Qingyi's ears.

Jiang Qingyi tightly gripped the long sword in her hand, her eyes seeming to see only the man before her.

As for other people's figures and voices, they had long since disappeared for the woman.

After Xiao Mo exchanged pleasantries with Elder Huang of Ten Thousand Swords Sect, he noticed the two female disciples behind Elder Huang.

One of the female disciples had been looking at him, her gaze never shifting even slightly.

And for some reason, when Xiao Mo looked at this female disciple, he always felt a strange familiarity.

Unfortunately, she wore a veil over her face, so he couldn't see her appearance at all.

"The three of you have had a long journey. I have prepared a banquet to welcome and honor you all," Xiao Mo withdrew his gaze from the veiled woman and continued speaking to Elder Huang.

"That would trouble Your Majesty," Elder Huang said with a smile.

"No trouble at all. Please, the three of you."

"Your Majesty, please go first."

After Xiao Mo exchanged a few more pleasantries with Huang Wei, he boarded the dragon palanquin while the three from Elder Huang's group were also helped onto carriages.

All officials gradually entered the city.

In the outer hall of the imperial palace, Xiao Mo hosted a banquet for Elder Huang of Ten Thousand Swords Sect.

Dish after dish of delicacies was served, carefully selected dancers performed, and all officials accompanied them.

Everything was arranged with the highest specifications.

All of this was prepared by Yan Shan'ao.

It could only be said that Yan Shan'ao indeed valued this visit from Ten Thousand Swords Sect very highly but this was understandable.

Zhou Kingdom was currently weak, and several neighboring countries were eyeing it covetously, wishing they could swallow Zhou Kingdom whole.

If Zhou Kingdom didn't find a patron now, who knew when it might fall.

If Zhou Kingdom fell, even if Yan Shan'ao sought glory by betraying his country, he wouldn't have as comfortable a position as he did now.

Actually, in Xiao Mo's view, Zhou Kingdom becoming a subsidiary of Ten Thousand Swords Sect wasn't really a problem.

Although the Yan family's control over the court would become even more outrageous, his own situation compared to now wouldn't differ much.

As for whether Yan Shan'ao would change his allegiance and proclaim himself emperor with Ten Thousand Swords Sect's support, Xiao Mo thought it impossible.

First, regardless of whether Yan Shan'ao had intentions of changing allegiance, as a regent minister appointed on the deathbed of the previous emperor, if he proclaimed himself emperor, he would truly bring eternal infamy to the entire Yan clan, and even the Empress Dowager wouldn't agree.

Second, as a Dragon Gate realm cultivator with a lifespan of several hundred years, how could he possibly give up this path of longevity?

Finally, the child he would have with that talented woman from the Yan family would definitely become Zhou Kingdom's future ruler.

At that time, the entire realm would rightfully become the Yan family's.

So they had no need to take such risks.

And he could now take advantage of Ten Thousand Swords Sect's protection to deter other countries and develop peacefully.

When the time came to eliminate Yan Shan'ao, everything would be fine.

As for whether Ten Thousand Swords Sect would care about Yan Shan'ao's death?

Heh.

They only cared about whether the mortal dynasties provided offerings to the sect, not who provided those offerings.

The atmosphere at the banquet grew increasingly lively.

All officials flattered Huang Wei, especially with Yan Shan'ao taking the lead in bootlicking, which made Elder Huang extremely pleased.

Xiao Mo was thinking about quickly ending this welcoming banquet so he could return and start the next life but speaking of which, Xiao Mo glanced again at that veiled woman, she was still looking at him.

This made Xiao Mo very puzzled.

Did he know her?

Did she have a grudge against him?

Or had she fallen in love at first sight?

An hour later, the banquet ended, and under the Ministry of Rites' arrangements, the three were housed in the Honglu Temple's guest quarters.

Though called guest quarters, it was actually a large mansion with several courtyards specifically for sect members and envoys from other dynasties to stay in.

After entering the mansion, Elder Huang wanted to rest, but was called to the front courtyard by Jiang Qingyi.

"Sect Master, what are your instructions?" Elder Huang dispersed the alcohol from his system, walked to the front courtyard, and bowed to Jiang Qingyi.

Jiang Qingyi sat in the pavilion, watching fish swimming freely in the nearby lake, "How much do you know about Zhou Kingdom's ruler?"

"Reporting to Sect Master, this subordinate doesn't know much."

"Speak."

"Yes, Sect Master."

Elder Huang wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, organizing his words mentally.

"This Zhou Kingdom's ruler is called Xiao Mo."

The moment Elder Huang's first sentence landed, Jiang Qingyi suddenly turned to look at Huang Wei.

In an instant, it felt as if thousands of sharp swords were pointed at Huang Wei's entire body.

That sharp sword qi and profound sword intent made Huang Wei immediately kneel, "Sect Master, this subordinate speaks only truth, not a word of lies..."

"I never said you were lying," Jiang Qingyi withdrew her gaze. "Elders of my Ten Thousand Swords Sect shouldn't always be kneeling. Stand up and speak."

"Yes."

Huang Wei shakily stood up.

He didn't want to kneel either.

The main thing was that Sect Master, your sword qi and sword intent were truly frightening.

"This Xiao Mo is actually a descendant of the Prince of Zhongshan, but because the previous Zhou Kingdom ruler left no heirs, they could only select someone virtuous and talented from the imperial relatives to adopt as heir.

Yan Shan'ao and his elder sister, who is now the Empress Dowager, chose Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo is actually just a puppet emperor.

In the current court, everything is decided by Yan Shan'ao."

Jiang Qingyi said, "Continue."

"Regarding this Xiao Mo, this subordinate truly doesn't know much. However, there is one thing, this subordinate heard that this Xiao Mo has come of age but has no one in his harem. Yan Shan'ao selected a talented woman from the Yan clan to enter the palace and wants to make that talented woman empress.

I heard they're already preparing for the grand ceremony.

That Yan Shan'ao insisted that this subordinate must participate in celebrating this grand occasion together."

"Boom!"

Just as Huang Wei finished speaking, the pond in front of Jiang Qingyi suddenly exploded, fish falling to the ground, water splashing everywhere.

"Sect Master, spare my life..." Huang Wei knelt down again.

"You didn't do anything wrong. Why would I kill you?" Jiang Qingyi looked at Huang Wei.

"This subordinate... this subordinate..."

Huang Wei was almost crying. How would this subordinate know why?

But seeing your angry expression, this pond was destroyed by your sword qi. I had to quickly kneel and beg for mercy.

"The empress coronation ceremony."

Jiang Qingyi looked coldly ahead.

"What is the name of that Yan family woman who is to enter the palace?"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 84: I Found You

Hearing Wei Xun's report, Xiao Mo realized that twenty days had already passed since Wei Xun last reported on the Ten Thousand Swords Sect elder's progress.

Xiao Mo frowned, "Why is the Ten Thousand Swords Sect elder nine days later than expected?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, it's like this," Wei Xun replied. "I heard that Elder Huang felt he didn't have a proper gift to bring, which wouldn't be appropriate for meeting Your Majesty. So Elder Huang took a small detour to West Beast Mountain to obtain a fourth-grade fierce beast's magic core, specifically to present to Your Majesty."

"I see," Xiao Mo nodded. "Elder Huang is truly thoughtful."

Human and demon cultivators were divided by realms.

While fierce beasts were divided by grades, corresponding to the nine great realms of cultivators.

A fourth-grade fierce beast's strength was comparable to a Nascent Soul realm cultivator.

"Go prepare the imperial procession. I'll go bathe and change clothes. Wait for me at Clear Spring Palace," Xiao Mo waved his hand.

"Yes, Your Majesty. This old slave will prepare immediately," Wei Xun hurriedly prepared to withdraw.

"Wait," Xiao Mo suddenly remembered something and called Wei Xun back.

"Does Your Majesty have further instructions?" Wei Xun respectfully lowered his eyebrows.

"Vice Censor-in-Chief Wang Can of the Censorate, how is he?"

Wang Can had secretly entered the palace to discuss eliminating the traitor, but was discovered by Yan Shan'ao and subsequently demoted to Lingnan.

Throughout it all, Wang Can had cursed Yan Shan'ao without showing a moment of cowardice.

He was truly a loyal minister.

Moreover, Wang Can's name was the same as the old village chief in the Book of a Hundred Lives.

The old village chief had treated him extremely well, which gave Xiao Mo a special closeness to Wang Can.

"Reporting to Your Majesty," Wei Xun's expression was complex. "Lord Wang should have already arrived in Lingnan and taken up his post."

"Mm," Xiao Mo nodded. "Prepare some people to secretly go to Lingnan. Have them stay by Wang Can's side day and night, ensuring his safety. Understood?"

"Your Majesty, rest assured. This old slave understands. If nothing else, I will definitely ensure Lord Wang's life remains safe."

"Mm, go then."

Xiao Mo waved his hand.

Although he was a puppet emperor, this didn't mean he had no one available to use. It's just that most pro-emperor forces had been transferred out of the capital.

However, protecting Wang Can far away in Lingnan was still achievable.

After Wei Xun withdrew, Xiao Mo went to Clear Spring Palace for a bath, then with the maids' service, changed into imperial robes.

When Xiao Mo emerged, Wei Xun had already prepared the dragon palanquin.

"Depart! Leave the palace!"

As Wei Xun's shrill voice rang out, several unicorn red-blood horses pulled the dragon palanquin forward, with two rows of palace maids following behind.

Xiao Mo left the imperial palace. Xuanwu Street already had Jingzhao Prefecture soldiers maintaining order, with all officials following behind the dragon palanquin. Only Yan Shan'ao rode a horse slightly behind and to the side of the dragon palanquin.

Arriving outside the northern gate of the imperial city, numerous officials arranged themselves properly, preparing to welcome the arrival of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect immortal master.

At the same time, less than five li from Zhou Kingdom's imperial capital, Jiang Qingyi and her two companions had descended from the sky.

In the mortal world, there was an unwritten rule.

When sect envoys visited dynasty capitals, if the hosts came out to welcome you, you had to stop five li away, then walk forward to show respect.

Although with Ten Thousand Swords Sect's status as one of the world's ten great sects, even if they ignored this etiquette when meeting a small country like Zhou Kingdom, the other party wouldn't dare say anything.

But Ten Thousand Swords Sect always followed the principle of "propriety first, sword second."

"Sect Master, should you... should you personally lead the mission to Zhou Kingdom?" Elder Huang Wei looked nervously at the veiled Sect Master beside him, speaking hesitantly.

Huang Wei truly couldn't fathom the Sect Master's thoughts.

Huang Wei was just one of many elders in Ten Thousand Swords Sect, thinking to casually recruit a small country as a subordinate to gain some benefits for himself.

Who knew the Sect Master would come along.

It would be one thing if the Sect Master just came along but the Sect Master used a veil to cover her face, pretending to be an inner sect disciple of Ten Thousand Swords Sect coming down the mountain to see the world.

When Zhou Kingdom received him with great ceremony, the Sect Master would be standing to the side.

How could he dare?

"No need," Jiang Qingyi spoke coldly. She had used spiritual power to change her voice, and the veil was also a magical artifact. Unless someone's realm was higher than hers, no one could see her face beneath the veil.

"Do what you should do. I am just an ordinary inner sect disciple. Don't expose my identity. Understand?"

"Yes, Sect Ma, "

Just as Huang Wei was about to bow, he saw the Sect Master's coldly narrowed sword-like eyes, got startled, and quickly changed his words. His strong survival instinct made Huang Wei immediately get into character:

"Rest assured, Jiang Rou, Qiu Ye, you've been cultivating on the mountain all this time. This trip down the mountain for training will let you experience the customs of the mortal world."

Seeing Huang Wei's awkward appearance, Qiu Ye's lips curved slightly.

Jiang Qingyi walked straight ahead, "Then let's hurry."

"Right away!"

Elder Huang wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly caught up.

About one incense stick's time later, Huang Wei and his two companions appeared in the sight of Zhou Kingdom officials.

"Your Majesty, the immortal masters from Ten Thousand Swords Sect have arrived."

Yan Shan'ao dismounted, cupped his hands and bowed, respectfully addressing His Majesty in the palanquin.

The reason he lowered his posture was mainly because he needed to put on a show in front of all the civil and military officials.

"Mm," Xiao Mo in the palanquin nodded. "Then let's welcome the immortal master."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Yan Shan'ao straightened up and led the civil and military officials quickly toward the Ten Thousand Swords Sect elder.

According to Zhou Kingdom's protocol, it was always the Prime Minister leading the officials in welcome first.

Then the emperor would dismount and meet with them.

"This official pays respects to Elder Huang," Yan Shan'ao stepped forward and quickly bowed, his fawning appearance making other officials somewhat uncomfortable.

It seemed like this Elder Huang was Zhou Kingdom's emperor, while he, Yan Shan'ao, was like a dog wagging its tail before Elder Huang.

"Prime Minister is too courteous," Elder Huang smiled and helped him up. "I arrived a few days late. I hope the Prime Minister won't take offense."

"How dare I, how dare I... Elder Huang not disdaining our Zhou Kingdom's small temple is Zhou Kingdom's fortune," Yan Shan'ao smiled obsequiously, then noticed the two women behind Elder Huang. "These two fairy maidens are?"

"Oh, these are inner sect disciples of our Ten Thousand Swords Sect. This trip down the mountain for training, they happened to come with me to see the mortal world," Elder Huang naturally explained. "Where is His Majesty?"

"His Majesty has personally come to welcome Elder Huang. Elder Huang, this way please," Yan Shan'ao quickly led Elder Huang toward the dragon palanquin.

Just as they approached, several palace maids pulled open the curtain, and with Wei Xun's support, Xiao Mo slowly stepped out.

Originally casual and indifferent, Jiang Qingyi was still thinking about having Zhou Kingdom search for the person she wanted.

But the moment she saw this emperor walking toward her, her pupils suddenly contracted.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 83: Reporting to Your Majesty, the Ten Thousand Swords Sect Elder Has Arrived

"Cough cough cough!!!"

The moment Xiao Mo broke away from the Book of a Hundred Lives, he felt dizzy and disoriented.

"Urgh!"

Xiao Mo braced himself on the ground, retching continuously, but nothing came up.

[Husband, you're back]

[Xiao Mo, I don't want to cross the river!]

[Xiao Mo, do you know that in this entire vast sea, I only want this one grain of you.]

[Don't worry, I will definitely obtain the Dragon Thunder Liquid. I won't let you leave!]

[Ruxue, tell me, does this count as us growing old together with white hair?]

[Xiao Mo, as a mortal sage of the human world, don't you care about your posthumous reputation?!]

Several years of memories flooded into Xiao Mo's mind simultaneously.

His head throbbed with excruciating pain, making him want to bash his head against something and die.

It took a full half hour before the soul-tearing agony gradually subsided.

Xiao Mo lay on the floor tiles, drenched in sweat, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

"I really can't set the time ratio between the Book of a Hundred Lives and reality so fast anymore."

Xiao Mo wiped the hot sweat from his forehead.

To quickly obtain rewards, Xiao Mo had recklessly tried an 800-times time ratio, meaning 800 days passed in the Book of a Hundred Lives for every day in reality.

The result was that Xiao Mo felt he nearly died!

Fortunately, he could now barely be considered a cultivator, and his soul had been strengthened to some degree.

Otherwise, if he still had the ordinary person's body from before, he would definitely have died.

Xiao Mo struggled to his feet, sat up on the ground looking at the sky, and deeply exhaled a breath of stale air.

In his mind, the figure of a woman in white dress involuntarily emerged.

Just like in the first life, although Xiao Mo knew all of this was false, merely a life experience simulation, in the Book of a Hundred Lives, it had been a solid fifty-seven years, every minute and second personally experienced.

Every person in the Book of a Hundred Lives was flesh and blood.

To say this immersive experience left no feelings would just be deceiving himself.

"Yan Ruxue, Bai Ruxue."

Thinking of his future empress, Xiao Mo couldn't help but smile and shake his head.

They both shared the name "Ruxue," differing only in surnames.

He wondered how that empress forced upon him would compare to Ruxue in personality.

Speaking of which, she was also pitiful.

As Zhou Kingdom's foremost talented woman, she probably didn't want to enter this deep palace either. Perhaps she too was forced by her parents and clan.

[Book of a Hundred Lives Second Life (White Snake First Life) life experience ended. Book of a Hundred Lives rewards calculation complete.]

Just as Xiao Mo was reflecting in his heart, strings of text appeared in his mind.

Xiao Mo collected his thoughts and looked at the Book of a Hundred Lives that appeared in his mind.

[You were born into a poor family, your parents died early, but you were diligent in study, participated in imperial examinations, were valued by Zhang Qianzhi, promoted to Provincial Top Scholar, thus half-stepping onto the official career path. Later you became County Top Scholar, then Imperial Top Scholar, achieving the triple crown.

The Qi ruler assigned you to a poor county for training. You improved people's livelihood and were deeply loved by the people. When you were transferred, the people saw you off for miles.

After returning to the capital, your teacher Zhang Qianzhi and senior brother Fang Ling led reforms. Though you knew the great resistance to reform, you still resolutely stood by their side, even when eventually demoted together, without complaint or regret.

As a friend, you remembered your teacher's and senior brother's guidance, always standing by their side, with clear conscience.

As a minister, you assisted two rulers. No matter how much power you held, you never harbored disloyalty, with clear conscience toward your rulers.

As an official, you were perceptive and incorruptible, authored "North-South Agricultural Book" and "Qi Kingdom" to benefit future generations, with clear conscience toward the world.

After your death, the aristocratic families and many officials you had suppressed jumped out to impeach you, saying you colluded with demon clans and aided evil, with court officials petitioning for the posthumous title "Li."

Li: Not repenting past mistakes, not thinking of submission, knowing mistakes but not changing, containing meanings of fierceness, perversity, and rebellion.

Later your students and ministers who received your kindness argued with them in court. When the people heard this, they were extremely angry and submitted ten thousand petitions to the imperial capital.

The Qi ruler finally decided your posthumous title would be "Wenzheng," posthumously known as Duke of Qingshan, honored in the imperial ancestral temple, entered the Qi Kingdom Yunlin Pavilion's twenty-four meritorious ministers, ranking first among the twenty-four.

Task One Rewards, ,

1. Ten Thousand Families' Incense: From now on, you have ten thousand families' incense protecting you. In future cultivation and tribulations, regardless of what calamities, success probability increases by 20%.

2. Official's Righteous Qi: Corrupt officials and evil spirits will feel afraid to some degree when seeing you (specific effects depend on host's realm).]

[In your youth, you saved Bai Ruxue. She smoothly transformed from snake to python to boa, and finally with your help crossed the river to become a flood dragon. Your contribution was indispensable.

Task Two Rewards, ,

1. Dragon Thunder Liquid: Cultivators can improve aptitude when consumed, mortals can build acquired spiritual veins when consumed.

2. Flood Dragon Essence Blood: Can be used for body tempering to enhance physique. This blood is extremely domineering, use cautiously below Foundation Building realm.]

[Host has reached the pinnacle of ministerial position in "Bai Ruxue's Life (First Life)." This task is complete.]

[Incomplete task: Help Bai Ruxue transform into a dragon.]

As the text in his mind faded, Xiao Mo felt his body being blessed by "Ten Thousand Families' Incense" and "Official's Righteous Qi."

This gave Xiao Mo an indescribable feeling.

The general sensation was extremely comfortable, always feeling vaguely protected by something.

Before Xiao Mo appeared two bottles of liquid contained in glass.

One bottle was blue Dragon Thunder Liquid.

The other bottle was red Flood Dragon Essence Blood.

Xiao Mo placed the Flood Dragon Essence Blood in his chest, opened the Dragon Thunder Liquid, and drank it all in one gulp.

"Hiss!"

Xiao Mo sucked in a cold breath. He felt his spiritual veins and spiritual roots burning with pain.

Immediately after, the spiritual power within Xiao Mo became increasingly intense, his realm continuously climbing.

After half an incense stick's time, the pain disappeared. Xiao Mo panted heavily, steadied his mind and examined himself internally.

"Excellent!" Xiao Mo rejoiced in his heart.

After drinking the Dragon Thunder Liquid, his realm shot straight to the fifth level of Qi Refinement, and the spiritual power flow within his spiritual veins became much smoother.

This Dragon Thunder Liquid also enhanced his aptitude, making future cultivation faster.

As for "Ten Thousand Families' Incense" and "Official's Righteous Qi," they weren't immediately useful.

But "Ten Thousand Families' Incense" was what Xiao Mo anticipated most.

You must know, regardless of what calamity, having an additional 20% success rate was enough to change fate, let alone a full 20% probability.

"Your Majesty."

From outside the plaza gates came Eunuch Wei's voice.

"Enter," Xiao Mo concealed his fifth level of Qi Refinement aura.

Eunuch Wei pushed open the gates and quickly walked in. When he saw His Majesty, he couldn't help but pause.

Wei Xun felt His Majesty seemed somehow different, but couldn't say exactly how.

"What matter?" Xiao Mo asked indifferently.

"Reporting to Your Majesty," Wei Xun organized his words mentally.

"Elder Huang of Ten Thousand Swords Sect, bringing two Ten Thousand Swords Sect disciples, is now only thirty li from the imperial capital. The Prime Minister and Ministry of Rites are prepared. Please, Your Majesty, condescend to personally go to the city gates to welcome them."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 82: Eh? Sister Bai? Why Are You Crying?

The last tribulation lightning struck the ground.

The dark clouds in the sky dispersed.

Rays of sunlight pierced through the cloud layer, shining onto the sea surface like pillars of light.

Bai Ruxue stepped on the sea surface, walking forward step by step.

Her body was covered with wounds, the bloodstains at the corners of her mouth had dried, and the true dragon essence blood within her was repairing her body that was so bloody and mangled that white bones were visible.

Fuchen watched as Bai Ruxue walked toward her step by step, sighing inwardly.

Just moments ago, Bai Ruxue had rushed straight into the sky and truly protected Xiao Mo's soul, allowing his spirit to return to reincarnation.

The price was that Bai Ruxue nearly had her body destroyed and soul scattered.

When Bai Ruxue walked in front of Fuchen, she seemed not to see her and brushed past her.

Fuchen turned around, looking at Bai Ruxue's gradually departing figure, and spoke, "Although you saved Xiao Mo's soul, this is ultimately reincarnation that deviates from the laws of the Heavenly Dao. His reincarnation may also fail, and even if it succeeds, no one knows how much time it will take.

Ruxue, how many years will you spend looking for him?

In this vast sea of humanity, can you even find him?"

The white-haired woman stopped, "Whether it takes a hundred years, a thousand years, or ten thousand years, I will search."

Fuchen shook her head, "You will search for a very, very long time."

The white-haired woman again stepped forward with her legs beneath her dress, walking toward the front, her voice drifting from behind her, "I don't care."

Leaving the North Sea, Bai Ruxue let her body's instincts guide her flight.

Her mind was completely blank, not even aware of where she was flying.

Finally, when Bai Ruxue raised her delicate head, she discovered that unknowingly, she had already flown back above Stone Bridge Village in Qingshan County.

Bai Ruxue transformed into human form.

At this time, her external injuries had completely healed under her amazing self-healing ability.

Although she still had some internal injuries that would require long-term recovery, at least Bai Ruxue now looked no different from normal.

Only the woman's originally raven-black cascading hair had turned completely silver-white.

Bai Ruxue slowly landed, standing in front of the fence of the run-down old courtyard.

Looking at this ordinary farmhouse courtyard, in the woman's eyes, there was a scholar in blue robes sitting on the stone bench in the courtyard, holding a book and reading it earnestly.

There was a woman in a white dress who had rolled up her sleeves, revealing snow-white arms, her raven-black cascading hair tied up. She took clothes from the washing basin, wrung them out forcefully, water droplets sliding down her arms and dripping to the ground, then hung the clothes neatly on the bamboo pole.

There was a young girl in a green dress carrying a large basket filled with chaff, barnyard grass, and wild peas, enthusiastically feeding the chickens and ducks but a gust of wind blew.

When Bai Ruxue snapped back to reality, she found that there was nothing in the courtyard.

Everything was empty.

Pushing open the small fence gate, Bai Ruxue walked in.

Just as usual, she tied up her hair, rolled up her sleeves, took a broom and swept the two rooms, took a cloth wrung with water and carefully wiped the furniture, even wiping the stone table in the courtyard, not leaving a speck of dust.

After finishing everything, Bai Ruxue used the remaining things in the cellar to make some dishes, steamed some rice, and ate small bites in the courtyard.

Only, compared to the laughter and joy when three people ate together before, there was only the woman's solitary figure in the courtyard.

After finishing lunch, Bai Ruxue washed the bowls and chopsticks, sat on the stone bench in the courtyard, and continued to gaze at that small path she had come from.

Bai Ruxue had looked at every blade of grass and tree on this small path countless times.

"Sister Bai," a little girl's voice reached Bai Ruxue's ears.

Where the woman's gaze fell, those four children were happily running toward the courtyard.

"Sister Bai, you're back!" Shen Lili and the other three children entered the courtyard and said happily.

"Mm," Bai Ruxue nodded with a smile. "I'm back."

"Sister Bai, why did your hair turn white?" Hu Hui asked curiously.

"Because sister encountered some things, and then her hair turned white," Bai Ruxue patiently explained.

"Oh," Hu Hui nodded and didn't pursue what exactly sister had encountered.

Their parents had said that when adults were evasive and didn't want to talk, children shouldn't keep asking.

Moreover, although Sister Bai's hair turning completely silver-white was a bit strange, this silver-white long hair seemed to suit Sister Bai's temperament even better.

Sister Bai had become even more beautiful.

"That's strange, Sister Bai, where's Grandpa Xiao?" Hong Hui blinked curiously. "Grandpa Xiao said before that he was going to help Sister Bai with something. Why didn't he come back with Sister Bai?"

Hearing the little girl beside her mention his name, Bai Ruxue's heart twinged slightly, like ants biting, and her eyes trembled.

"Sister Bai, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?" Qi Ming looked at big sister with concern.

"I'm not unwell," Bai Ruxue shook her head, reached out and gently touched Hong Hui's little head, smiling. "Grandpa Xiao, because he helped sister, he got a bit tired, and now he's resting in a very distant place. He won't be coming back for now."

"Oh, I see," the four children nodded simultaneously, a trace of disappointment flashing through their innocent eyes.

They really liked the beautiful and gentle Sister Bai, and they also really liked the kind and benevolent Grandpa Xiao.

Although Grandpa Xiao and Sister Bai had a big age difference, for some reason, when Grandpa Xiao and Sister Bai stood together, they felt very comfortable.

As if the two were indispensable and should stand together.

"Sister Bai, are you in a bad mood?" Lili looked into Sister Bai's eyes.

Bai Ruxue smiled, "Maybe a little."

Hui Hui's eyes rolled around, thinking about how to cheer up Sister Bai.

Soon, a bright light flashed in the little girl's eyes, "Sister Bai, while you and Grandpa Xiao were away, a song spread around, and it's so beautiful. Sister Bai, do you want to hear it? After listening, sister's mood might get better."

Bai Ruxue nodded, "Alright, then sing it for sister."

"Then I'll sing it, Sister Bai, don't think I sing badly."

Hui Hui cleared her throat, her voice like an oriole's.

"Moonlight bright, the scholar's might.

Riding a white horse past the lotus pond.

Yellow chives by the lotus bank.

Watching koi fish eight feet long.

Reunion folk brew their wine.

Next year to wed a pretty bride.

Stepping through time, one step, one look behind."

Hui Hui's song drifted melodiously through the courtyard, and the other children hummed along.

But when the song ended, Lili was startled, "Eh? Sister Bai? Why are you crying?"

"Am I?" Bai Ruxue hurriedly wiped the tears on her cheeks, but the tears kept flowing uncontrollably.

"Sister isn't crying," Bai Ruxue shook her head. "It's just that some dust got in sister's eyes."

"Is sister really not crying?" Lili asked.

"Mm," Bai Ruxue pinched Lili's little face. "Sister can't cry."

"Why not?"

"Because, if he sees from heaven, he'll worry."

[NEXT CHAPTER]

IMT Chapter 81: Heaven Wants To Take Him Away, Did I Agree To That?!

Above the sea, a white-haired woman in a white dress stood on the azure sea surface.

Her embroidered shoes touched the water, creating ripples that spread outward in circles.

This deep sea was originally boundless, but it reflected the woman's figure.

Within hundreds of miles of the woman, whether ordinary fish or ferocious deep-sea beasts, all trembled in fear.

It seemed that if the woman merely lifted her small foot in its cloud-patterned embroidered shoe and lightly stepped on the sea surface, their souls would be scattered to the winds.

One mile away from the white-dressed woman, a female Daoist in robes was walking step by step toward the white-haired woman.

The female Daoist was accompanied by her female disciple, who was looking at the white-haired woman on the sea surface with lingering fear, cold sweat involuntarily breaking out on her forehead.

That silent dragon's might was like a great mountain, almost making Li Sisi unable to breathe.

When Fuchen was less than ten meters from the white-haired woman, Li Sisi gently tugged at her master's sleeve and looked at her master with frightened eyes.

Fuchen gently patted her disciple's hand and continued walking forward.

Finally, Li Sisi also gathered her courage and followed her master forward.

Fuchen walked to the white-haired woman's side and looked at her profile.

The white-haired woman lowered her delicate head. Though the woman's eyes were entirely golden yellow, they somehow felt pitch black.

She tightly grasped something unknown in her hand, pressing it against her chest, motionless like a statue on the sea.

"He's gone," the white-haired woman finally spoke, her voice hoarse, no one knew how long she had been crying.

"This poor Daoist knows," Fuchen nodded. "I'm sorry, I cannot intervene."

"I know. Behind you stands the Tianxuan Sect, which avoids worldly conflicts. As an elder of Tianxuan Sect, you cannot act."

Bai Ruxue slowly opened her palm.

It was a silver-white snake scale.

The only thing he had left behind.

"So you’re not acting is reasonable, and I have no grounds to demand Elder Fuchen's intervention. But I suddenly thought of something I'd like to ask Elder Fuchen."

Bai Ruxue slowly raised her delicate head, turned around, and looked directly into Fuchen's eyes.

"Elder Fuchen, in the ancient text called 'Return to the Sea' that I saw, is the description of Dragon Thunder Liquid true?"

Bai Ruxue tightly clenched her small hands, "Can Dragon Thunder Liquid really extend life?"

As soon as Bai Ruxue finished speaking, Li Sisi glanced at her master.

"It cannot," Fuchen calmly shook her head.

"The function of Dragon Thunder Liquid is that after cultivators consume it, it can improve spiritual veins and enhance aptitude. It fundamentally cannot directly extend life."

"What about ordinary people consuming it?"

"After ordinary people consume it, they can forcibly form a type of acquired spiritual vein, allowing ordinary people to cultivate. But even so, these acquired spiritual veins are extremely fragile. Unless one's talent is truly outstanding, it's difficult to build foundation, and it must be consumed before age ten to be effective."

Bai Ruxue lowered her head and looked at the snake scale in her hand.

Even though she had already guessed the truth, when her speculation was confirmed, Bai Ruxue's heart felt like it was falling into a bottomless abyss.

"Return to the Sea. Return to the sea."

Bai Ruxue's hair was gently lifted by the sea breeze.

"I had never seen this book before, but on that day, when Xiao Mo took out the River Journey Map for me and told me to go river walking, I happened to see it.

If I'm not mistaken, this book was written by Xiao Mo, wasn't it?"

Fuchen still nodded, "Yes, at that time Xiao Mo had the Jiangnan Prefecture Governor send me a package with a letter and a book. This book was written by Xiao Mo.

He knew long ago that you were searching the Tianxuan Sect's library for ways to extend his life but he understood even more clearly that everything you did was futile.

Xiao Mo wanted to do one last thing for you before he passed away.

So he had me place this book where you could easily discover it."

"As I thought," Bai Ruxue lowered her delicate head. "Everything he did was always for me."

"Miss Bai," Li Sisi at the side finally couldn't help but speak up.

"Miss Bai, please leave quickly. Those cultivators have already locked onto Miss Bai's location and are rushing over now. I believe Mr. Xiao wouldn't want Miss Bai to get into trouble either, and would want Miss Bai to live well."

"They're coming?" Bai Ruxue looked toward the distance. "They're finally coming?"

"Miss Bai," Li Sisi stepped forward, wanting to say more, but was stopped by her master.

"Daoist Fuchen, you should go. It's not appropriate for you to be here," Bai Ruxue said slowly, her tone sounding as if her heart had died.

Fuchen frowned, glanced at Bai Ruxue, then finally turned around and walked toward the distance, "Sisi, let's leave for now. Don't disturb Miss Bai."

Li Sisi looked at Bai Ruxue with concern, wanting to say more, but seeing those lifeless golden vertical pupils, she could only close her mouth and follow her master away with frequent backward glances.

Less than half a cup of tea's time after Fuchen and her disciple left, over a hundred cultivators flew over from the sky.

Bai Ruxue stepped forward with her long legs beneath her dress. She lowered her head, swept back the long hair covering her neck, and while walking, tied the silver-white scale around her neck, finally placing the scale within her high, undulating collar.

When everyone saw Bai Ruxue standing on the sea surface, they felt somewhat puzzled.

They had originally thought that Bai Ruxue was too severely injured and had to stop to rest but looking at her like this, she seemed to be waiting for their group.

"Evil beast! You have nowhere to escape!" the Sect Master of Azure Sun Sect shouted at Bai Ruxue.

Over a hundred cultivators had surrounded Bai Ruxue from all directions.

Bai Ruxue raised her head and swept her gaze over everyone.

For some reason, everyone felt their hair stand on end when she stared at them.

Moreover, the way she had just looked at them showed no panic whatsoever, but was more like the King of Hell calling names, remembering each of these people one by one, not wanting to let any escape.

"Everyone's here," Bai Ruxue said, but it didn't seem like she was speaking to them, more like talking to herself.

"Don't waste words with her! Kill her directly!" the Sect Master of Flower Moon Sect's voice echoed out as she personally charged toward Bai Ruxue.

Actually, the Sect Master of Flower Moon Sect already felt something was wrong.

This white dragon's aura seemed different from before.

When she looked at her with that glance, the Sect Master of Flower Moon Sect had already begun thinking of retreating.

But the Sect Master of Flower Moon Sect understood even more clearly that this white dragon must die here, or she would become a great threat in the future!

The other cultivators naturally understood this point as well.

Killing her was not just about opportunities, but also about their own group's survival!

Not to mention she had just passed through tribulation, her body hadn't recovered to its peak, and she was severely injured, so surely,

"Roar!"

Just as this thought was half-formed in everyone's minds, a white shadow flashed before their eyes.

When they came to their senses, the woman had already transformed into her original form and caught someone.

Bai Ruxue gripped this man tightly in her claws, those golden vertical pupils looking at him as if he were an ant.

This man was the cultivator who had struck Xiao Mo with an axe.

The man tried to struggle, but couldn't break free from Bai Ruxue's dragon claws at all.

Bai Ruxue squeezed hard, and the man burst into blood mist. She then locked his soul in an ice pillar.

"How is this possible?" the Sect Master of Blazing Sun Sect was shocked.

This man named Ding Ao was a Nascent Soul realm cultivator.

Although this white flood dragon had successfully passed tribulation and reached the Jade Simplicity realm, her injuries from tribulation hadn't healed yet, and she had even taken his full-force attack head-on, suffering severe wounds.

Under the influence of these injuries, she should only have Nascent Soul strength.

How could she casually crush Ding Ao to death?

"Wait, her injuries," the Sect Master of Blazing Sun Sect seemed to notice something and looked toward the white flood dragon's back.

Only then did he notice that the injuries on this silver flood dragon's back had healed, and new flesh and scales had grown out!

Besides this, all the other places on her body that had suffered from tribulation had completely regenerated.

"What kind of opportunity did this white flood dragon obtain?!" the Sect Master of Blazing Sun Sect's heart trembled.

He had hunted quite a few flood dragons before.

Most python snakes after passing tribulation would only be at the peak of Nascent Soul realm.

Flood dragons that entered Jade Simplicity realm after tribulation weren't unheard of, just extremely rare. But they were usually weak because their injuries from just passing tribulation hadn't recovered yet.

But this white flood dragon was different.

In such a short time, all the injuries on her body had healed.

It was simply too outrageous!

He even had a feeling that this white flood dragon might truly be able to pass tribulation and transform into a true dragon in the future!

"Roar!"

After killing Ding Ao, Bai Ruxue swept toward the other cultivators.

Every time Bai Ruxue flew through the air, cultivators would burst into blood mist, like red fireworks blooming in the sky.

However, all these cultivators' souls were locked by Bai Ruxue in ice pillars.

"Don't hold back anymore! Kill her quickly!" the Sect Master of Azure Sun Sect shouted.

Some sect masters and elders would think of preserving their own strength, letting others go first.

This way they could bear minimal risk and loss.

It also guarded against fighting over spoils after this white flood dragon died, giving themselves a better chance of winning.

If they were just dealing with an ordinary flood dragon that had just passed tribulation, this would be fine. but this flood dragon was so different, her dragon's might extremely terrifying.

If everyone held back, they'd all die here!

After hearing this, the other cultivators naturally understood. They brought out their life-bound magical artifacts and bombarded Bai Ruxue, but Nascent Soul realm and below cultivators were like thin paper before Bai Ruxue.

Even when they brought out their life-bound magical artifacts, they couldn't last two rounds.

"Evil beast, seeking death!" the Sect Master of Azure Sun Sect threw out a fish basket.

This fish basket wasn't for catching fish, but for catching dragons.

The Dragon-Catching Basket flew above Bai Ruxue, growing larger and larger, finally becoming like a great mountain, covering Bai Ruxue.

Then the basket mouth contracted! Trapping Bai Ruxue with no escape!

But Bai Ruxue rampaged inside the Dragon-Catching Basket, making the Sect Master of Azure Sun Sect break out in hot sweat, feeling like he was about to lose control of the Dragon-Catching Basket.

"Fellow Daoists, please help me refine her to death!"

The Sect Master of Azure Sun Sect called for help from several other Jade Simplicity realm cultivators.

"I'll help you!"

"Me too!"

Having a chance to kill this flood dragon, they naturally wouldn't let it pass.

Ten Jade Simplicity realm sect masters flew to Bai Ruxue's side, pointed their sword fingers at the Dragon-Catching Basket, and ten beams of spiritual power shone on the Dragon-Catching Basket simultaneously, trying to refine this white flood dragon to death in the shortest time.

But in the next moment, the white flood dragon's aura surged, and she used all her strength to breathe out dragon breath, piercing a large hole in the Dragon-Catching Basket.

Rippling spiritual power accompanied by dragon's might scattered, and the ten Jade Simplicity realm sect masters suffered spiritual backlash and flew backward simultaneously!

"Not good!"

They were truly in despair now.

After a hundred rounds, Bai Ruxue had killed through four Jade Simplicity realm cultivators.

Bai Ruxue fought more fiercely as the battle continued, nearly mad.

Moreover, her physique was terrifyingly powerful.

Though they had never seen a true dragon, they felt this must be about the same.

"Retreat!"

After another hundred rounds, less than thirty remained of the hundred-plus cultivators.

They knew the situation was hopeless and could only flee but how could Bai Ruxue let them leave alive?

Bai Ruxue circled in the air, and thousands of ice cones rained down on them.

Seawater poured backward, forming prison water cells that trapped them!

For the next incense stick's time, Bai Ruxue conducted one-sided slaughter.

After one incense stick, of the hundred-plus cultivators, not one survived. All their souls were trapped in ice pillars.

Bai Ruxue didn't leave immediately.

She roared angrily at the heavens and dark clouds instantly gathered in the sky.

In moments, layers of heavy dark clouds pressed down, gradually forming the shape of an altar.

At the same time, seawater poured upward like a brush, stroke by stroke in the air, finally forming a magic array.

Finally, Bai Ruxue moved with her intent, controlling the ice pillars, and placed all these cultivators' souls on the altar.

"Master," Li Sisi, standing in the distance, looked toward the battlefield and frowned. "What is Miss Bai doing?"

"Sigh," Fuchen sighed and shook her head. "Xiao Mo's soul scattered to the winds. She's using the dragon clan's inherited Soul-Gathering Array, trying to condense Xiao Mo's soul, and the sacrifices are these cultivators' souls."

As Fuchen finished speaking, Bai Ruxue let out a dragon roar, and all the cultivators' souls were shattered, turning into points of light that entered the altar array.

The array activated, and a beam of light shot up, breaking through the heavy clouds.

Tiny points of light like fireflies continuously gathered in the sky, finally forming a light orb.

"Xiao Mo."

Sensing the familiar soul, Bai Ruxue knew she had succeeded.

"Rumble!"

But at this moment, thunder roared in the sky.

A bolt of lightning struck toward Xiao Mo's soul orb.

Bai Ruxue rushed forward, forcibly blocking this tribulation.

The second bolt, the third bolt!

Several tribulation bolts struck toward Xiao Mo's soul, but Bai Ruxue held it tightly in her embrace, letting the tribulation strike her own body.

Fuchen stepped forward, arriving beneath the altar, looking up at the thirty-zhang-long white flood dragon, "Ruxue, stop! Your dragon clan's Soul-Gathering Array harms the natural order. Soul scattered to the winds means soul scattered to the winds. What you're doing goes against heaven, and the Heavenly Dao won't permit it!"

"The Heavenly Dao? So what?"

Bai Ruxue looked up at the heavens. Thunder gathered again, but the woman charged straight toward the sky that was brewing thunder!

"Heaven wants to take him away, did I agree to that?!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

HUN Chapter 130: Deterring the Poaching Team

The three men reorganized their equipment and set off toward the plateau where the ram king had fallen.

Although the straight-line distance wasn't far, a steep canyon lay before them, requiring them to first descend to the valley floor and then climb up the other side.

Just as they reached the middle of the canyon, surrounded by towering rock walls, a faint but distinctive "buzzing" sound suddenly came from overhead.

All three stopped simultaneously and looked up.

A white quadcopter drone was passing several hundred meters above their heads, flying toward their destination.

"A drone?" Stan's brow immediately furrowed, his expression becoming alert.

"At this time, in this godforsaken place, how could there be such a thing?"

"Maybe it's those university research folks from the University of Alaska," Old George speculated.

"I heard the state university's biology department is recently studying the impact of glacial melting on alpine vegetation. They might need something like this."

Lin Yu'an also found it somewhat strange. Watching the drone's flight path, it didn't seem to be conducting wide-range mapping but was flying very purposefully toward a fixed direction.

Stan said gravely, "Using drones during hunting activities is completely prohibited. This is an iron rule that all Alaskan hunters know! I hope it really is just for research purposes."

Although they all felt a twinge of doubt, at this moment, retrieving that hard-won prey was their only goal.

They didn't discuss it further, just kept this small incident in mind and quickened their pace.

When the three finally reached the isolated rock plateau, breathing heavily, the scene before them made them instantly forget all their fatigue.

That majestic Dall sheep king lay quietly on the tundra, pure white without a single blemish.

Its pair of thick, heavy massive horns appeared even more stunning at close range!

The perfect curvature and deep annual rings silently told of its glorious years as king of these ridges!

"May... look... how beautiful it is..." Old George knelt on one knee, tremblingly extending his hand to gently stroke the ram's cold fur.

Stan and Lin Yu'an stood silently to the side, not disturbing this old man's conversation across time and space with his departed beloved.

They knew this moment belonged only to George and May.

However, this tranquility didn't last long.

The sound of falling stones came from below the steep slope they had climbed, breaking the mountain's silence.

Lin Yu'an's body instantly tensed. He immediately turned, quietly placing his hand on the Glock pistol at his waist.

Stan also frowned, discreetly unfastening the snap on his chest holster.

Soon, three figures appeared at the edge of the plateau, all wearing matching jackets with "University of Alaska Department of Earth Sciences" printed on them.

They carried professional-looking climbing packs, but their appearance made the atmosphere suddenly tense.

They were three Black men.

This wasn't strange in itself, but such a single-ethnicity combination was very rare among Alaskan research teams or outdoor groups.

More importantly, these three men didn't have the slightest scholarly air that intellectuals or researchers should possess.

Instead, they exuded the shrewd alertness of those who had fought their way up from the bottom of society. When their eyes swept over the ram carcass, a flash of barely concealed excitement appeared.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen."

The tallest one, apparently the leader, spoke first, forcing what he thought was a friendly smile onto his face.

"We're a research team from the University of Alaska, conducting studies on Dall sheep migration patterns."

"We've been tracking this herd with our drone for a long time. We didn't expect to encounter local hunting! I wonder if you have Dall sheep hunting permits?"

Lin Yu'an and Stan exchanged glances, understanding immediately that it was indeed their drone.

The lead Black man continued, "But regardless, congratulations. This is a very rare, top-quality ram."

"Its data would be very valuable for our research. Processing and transporting such a large animal is very difficult. We could help you exchange this burden for a convenient check."

"Would you be interested in selling it to us? We can offer a reasonable price."

He paused and held up five fingers, "Five thousand dollars. How about it? Cash."

Hearing this offer, Stan nearly laughed out loud.

In Alaska, an ordinary Dall sheep that met hunting standards had hunting costs and value, including guide fees and transportation, far exceeding this amount.

The horns of this ram king before them were obviously not of ordinary size. In collector circles, the price would be at least twenty to thirty thousand dollars, possibly more.

Five thousand dollars wasn't even a fraction of the value. This wasn't purchasing, it was insulting.

Old George slowly walked to the front, having regained the calm and dignity of an experienced old hunter.

He stepped forward, looking at them calmly, "Gentlemen, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game regulations, hunters must immediately mark the date on their harvest ticket and cut the corresponding tag after successfully taking large game."

"Before transporting the animal from the hunting ground, the skull and hide must remain naturally connected to the carcass for law enforcement inspection at any time."

"Furthermore, while the law allows residents to sell inedible parts of their harvest, they must hold special permits and submit detailed transaction reports to the Department of Fish and Game."

"But one thing is absolutely prohibited: selling edible meat. Any commercial transaction involving wild game meat is a felony."

Old George looked at them, then shifted his tone, "So, do you want to buy its horns, or do you want to buy the whole thing including the meat?"

This question was like a sharp knife, instantly piercing through their researcher disguise.

The lead Black man's expression changed slightly, but he still forced a smile, "We certainly follow the rules. We mainly need the skull specimen for research..."

"Then there's nothing to discuss."

Old George directly interrupted him, "This sheep was taken for my wife. Its horns will hang above my fireplace. I won't sell any part of it. Now I want you to leave my harvest and not interfere with our subsequent processing."

After speaking, he discreetly adjusted his Remington 700 rifle to a more accessible angle.

"Old man, you better think clearly!"

The shortest but most vicious-looking of the three Black men couldn't contain himself. He stepped forward, his tone full of threat.

"With you two old men plus one yellow kid, you think you can get this three-hundred-pound thing down the mountain? This place is deserted. If something really happens, police and law won't help you!"

The moment these words were spoken, the atmosphere dropped to freezing point.

Lin Yu'an said nothing, just slowly worked the pump action of his Mossberg 590A1 in front of them.

That crisp, loud "ka-chack" was like sounding a battle alarm in the silent valley, filled with unmistakable warning.

Stan chuckled, removed his gloves, and leisurely breathed on the barrel of his massive Ruger Super Redhawk revolver.

Then he carefully polished it with his sleeve, as if admiring a work of art.

Those six black .44 Magnum cylinder holes were like Satan's six disciples, ready to claim lives at command!

The three men obviously hadn't expected this seemingly weak combination to be so tough. They felt that genuine willingness to fight for their lives in the wilderness!

The lead Black man stepped forward again to mediate, raising both hands to signal his companions to stay calm.

"Alright, alright, gentlemen, don't get excited. We'll offer twenty thousand dollars! This is almost the highest market price!"

"We just don't want to see such a good specimen clumsily processed by amateurs. That would be such a waste."

This was their final pricing offensive, an offer full of temptation.

But Old George just looked at them coldly and shook his head.

"This is the last warning for you to leave," his voice gradually took on a fighting edge!

"According to Alaska law, deliberately interfering with or lingering around others conducting legal hunting activities or processing game constitutes 'hunter harassment' and is illegal!"

"I have the right to demand you leave immediately, or you'll bear the consequences yourselves!"

He paused, a flash of determined ferocity appearing in his eyes.

"We two old men aren't afraid to die. The question is whether you three are willing to risk your lives here for twenty thousand dollars."

This final warning completely shattered their psychological defenses.

The lead Black man looked deeply at Old George, then swept his gaze over Lin Yu'an standing guard with his weapon and the nonchalant Stan.

He knew this team was definitely not the kind of tourist-guide group that could be intimidated. If they continued pressing, the other side really would shoot.

"Alright, we were presumptuous."

He finally chose to compromise, putting that false smile back on his face, "Hope we didn't cause any misunderstanding. We'll leave now. Good luck to you."

With that, he led his two reluctant companions back the way they came.

Lin Yu'an maintained his armed guard posture, his gaze locked firmly on them.

Only after those three figures completely disappeared behind the ridge did he slowly engage the safety on his shotgun and eject the 12-gauge shell that had been ready to fire.

"Phew, those damn bastards really thought we were soft persimmons they could squeeze," Stan exhaled.

"Well done, kid!" Old George came over and punched Lin Yu'an's shoulder hard, his eyes full of approval.

"That chambering just now, the timing and presence were perfect! Remember, in Alaska, you absolutely cannot show weakness! Show weakness once, and all the wolves will want to tear a piece of meat from you!"

Lin Yu'an nodded. He had been struggling to control his limitless killing intent just then! Several times he had wanted to raise his gun and pull the trigger.

He felt he might need to study some psychology, unsure whether this active killing mentality was normal.

It was quite possibly a psychological aftereffect from accidentally killing that motorcycle man earlier.

"Alright, don't let those scumbags ruin our mood."

Old George took a deep breath of the mountain air, as if trying to exhale all the hostility from the recent confrontation.

His face once again radiated a childlike, pure joy, the honest smile of a successful harvest.

[NEXT CHAPTER]

HUN Chapter 129: Hunting the Dall Sheep King!

After circling around that massive pile of rocks, their vision suddenly opened up before them.

A bowl-shaped high mountain meadow surrounded by peaks appeared before their eyes.

A clear stream formed by melting snow meandered through the center of the meadow, its banks dotted with lush willow trees and alder shrubs that were only about waist-high.

On a rocky highland at the edge of the meadow, near the mountain slope, more than a dozen white figures were moving slowly, like scattered snow blocks.

It was a herd of Dall sheep!

All three men's hearts skipped a beat simultaneously!

Almost at the same time, they slowly crouched down, completely concealing their bodies in the shadows of the rocks.

Old George's movements were the most skilled. Without any unnecessary motion, he quickly and silently adjusted the focus of his Leica high-power observation scope, steadily aiming the lens at that peaceful patch of white.

"A group of ladies and youngsters," he muttered in the lowest possible voice.

Through the scope's field of view, the details of the herd were magnified crystal clear.

Several robust adult ewes with well-defined muscle lines were vigilantly scanning their surroundings.

Beside them, several lively young lambs were chasing and butting each other, their movements full of youthful playfulness.

On the outskirts of the herd, there were also several young rams whose horns had already grown but whose curved arc was not even half a circle, far from meeting the "full curl" standard for legal hunting, looking more like young guards within the flock.

"Don't rush," Stan also lowered his voice.

His gaze didn't linger on the herd below but used his binoculars like a comb, methodically examining inch by inch the higher slopes and rock faces around the meadow.

"That old fellow must be nearby. The ram king rarely stays with his family to graze. He'll find the best position, a vantage point where he can see both them and potential dangers, watching over everything."

Old George's observation scope also began to move extremely slowly, his movements full of patience and rhythm, carefully scrutinizing every ridge and every suspicious rock face shadow within his field of view.

But several minutes passed with still no results. Those slopes looked just like they had for millions of years, containing only stones and tundra.

Lin Yu'an adopted a completely different observation strategy.

He didn't engage in aimless wide-range searching but kept his binoculars' focus locked on the group of ewes below, especially those few that appeared to be the oldest and highest-ranking lead sheep.

He noticed an extremely subtle detail: after those lead ewes lowered their heads to nibble a few bites of tender sedge grass, almost every ten seconds or so, they would simultaneously raise their heads and look toward the same fixed elevated direction.

This wasn't the kind of all-around vigilant scanning, but a confirming kind of gaze.

His binoculars slowly moved upward following the direction where the ewes' gazes converged.

There, at least a kilometer away from them, was an isolated small plateau blocked by several huge rocks.

From that angle, if one didn't observe carefully, it was just an unremarkable protrusion on the steep mountain wall, easily overlooked.

"George, ten o'clock direction, that highest isolated rock platform," Lin Yu'an's voice was extremely low but filled with unquestionable certainty.

Stan and George immediately turned their binoculars quickly toward the direction he indicated.

At first, there was nothing there, just a few bare rocks glowing grayish-white in the sunlight.

Stan was about to ask a question when Lin Yu'an raised one hand, making a "wait" gesture.

Just then, a strong wind howled down from the ridge, blowing across the valley, apparently disturbing something.

From behind that rock platform, a snow-white, majestic figure obviously much larger than all the other sheep slowly walked out with the composure of a king surveying his domain!

It walked to the edge of the platform, proudly raising its head. Those thick, heavy horns spiraling into a perfect circle created a visual impact like demon horns in the sunlight!

"My God..." Old George's breathing instantly stopped, and his hands holding the observation scope even began to tremble slightly!

"It's him! It's him! The Ridge Ghost! After all these years, I finally encounter it!"

Stan was also stunned, rubbing his eyes in disbelief. "This... how is this possible? How did you discover it? I swept that area with binoculars several times!"

"I was constantly observing that group of ewes, especially the leading ones. They would subconsciously and periodically look toward the same vantage point to confirm safety. Following their line of sight, I locked onto that rock platform."

"The shadow behind that rock had a moment when its shape wasn't quite right, with a bit more curvature than a simple rock shadow, so I guessed something might be hiding there."

This almost intuitive observational ability left Stan and George exchanging glances, both seeing deep shock in each other's eyes.

They knew that in this hunting expedition, Lin Yu'an had brought not just a young physique, but also an innate hunter's talent!

"Luck! Kid, you're our lucky star!" Old George suppressed his excitement and patted Lin Yu'an's back forcefully.

After the excitement, the three immediately calmed down and began formulating an approach plan.

Old George analyzed, "Its current position is good, but our position is terrible."

"Downwind, and with no cover in between. We must circle around a big loop, pass through that valley bottom, then climb up the steep slope from below it to find an upwind shooting position."

That would be an arduous route of over three kilometers, and it had to be completed without being discovered by any sheep.

"I'll take point," Lin Yu'an volunteered.

"I'm faster and can scout the route first. You follow behind, keeping distance."

With the plan set, the three immediately sprang into action.

They concentrated their heavy backpacks and hid them in a concealed rock crevice, taking only the most essential equipment.

Each man's rifle, a handgun as backup, water bladders filled with water, binoculars, and that small iron pot they planned to use for celebrating victory along with a small package of sea salt.

Lin Yu'an removed his heavy outer shell jacket, wearing only the more form-fitting fleece liner, abandoning everything that might create friction noise.

"Remember, from now on, we must be as quiet as ghosts!"

The next hour-plus wasn't simple hiking but a long and tense pilgrimage.

Every step was like walking on knife edges. That three-hundred-meter straight-line distance needed to be extended by over a kilometer of winding, zigzagging route!

They first needed to cross that icy stream. The water wasn't deep but was crystal clear, with stones underneath covered in slippery moss.

They couldn't wade across in big strides like before, but had to remove their shoes, go barefoot, endure the cold, and move slowly step by step.

Finally crossing the stream, they entered a dense alder shrub thicket, which provided the best cover but also the greatest obstacle.

They couldn't walk upright but had to bend over, or even crawl completely on the ground, struggling through the dense branches.

The most difficult part was the final stretch, where they needed to climb an almost vertical rock face to reach the predetermined shooting position.

At this point, Lin Yu'an stepped forward voluntarily, indicating he would go first.

He glanced at the panting Old George beside him, knowing this stretch would be a huge challenge for him.

Lin Yu'an took out a roll of lightweight climbing rope from his pack, tying one end around his waist.

"George, Stan, I'll go up first to find a good position, then lower the rope to pull you up," Lin Yu'an said quietly.

The two older men didn't try to be heroic, silently nodding. At moments like this, reasonable team division of labor was far more important than individual heroism.

Lin Yu'an took a deep breath and began his silent climb.

His enhanced physical condition was perfectly demonstrated at this moment.

His fingers were like iron hooks, precisely gripping every tiny crevice in the rock, his toes steadily stepping on small protrusions.

His body pressed against the rock face, moving fluidly upward like a gecko.

Stan watched from below, clicking his tongue in amazement, whispering to George, "This kid... is simply not human."

Soon, Lin Yu'an reached the talus slope at the top of the rock face.

He quickly surveyed the terrain, selected a shooting position that was both concealed and provided stable support, then securely fixed the rope to a massive boulder and lowered it down.

Stan held the rope below, telling his old buddy, "Alright, George, you go first. Don't worry, Lin and I will pull you up."

Old George didn't hesitate. He handed his rifle to Stan for temporary safekeeping and gripped the rope tightly with both hands.

He was experienced after all, knowing how to use leg strength to share the load on his arms.

With Lin Yu'an and Stan's combined help from above and below, although he climbed with some difficulty, he eventually made it safely to the shooting position.

Finally, Stan hoisted the two rifles up with the rope and climbed up skillfully himself.

When all three were concealed behind the talus slope and saw that the ram king was still leisurely swishing its tail on the platform, everyone's hearts nearly jumped out of their chests.

They had succeeded!

This was the perfect shooting position! They were positioned to the side and below the target, with wind blowing from above the valley, perfectly upwind, so their scent wouldn't be carried to the herd.

Before them, countless huge granite fragments provided natural cover.

Old George used his rangefinder to confirm the distance again.

"Three hundred and ten meters." He didn't immediately set up his rifle but took a deep breath, lying behind the gun, making final observations through the scope.

That ram king still lay like a monarch on his throne.

Beside it were two slightly smaller ewes and one half-grown lamb. They appeared very relaxed, some ruminating, others rubbing their horns against rocks.

"Now's the time."

He extremely slowly withdrew his Remington 700 rifle from the gun case, which had followed him for half his life.

He picked up a cartridge with its brass case gleaming in the sunlight and pushed it into the chamber with a soft "click", the prelude to death's approaching footsteps.

He steadied the rifle on a flat rock, cushioning the stock's rear with his backpack to ensure absolute stability.

He lay behind the rifle, adjusting the scope's magnification and parallax adjustment knob until the world in the scope became incredibly clear!

Then he locked the crosshairs firmly on the white giant's position behind the shoulder blade, where the heart and lungs were located.

His breathing began to become long and steady, his gaze becoming absolutely focused.

Lin Yu'an and Stan flanked him left and right like two silent guardians.

Stan encouraged him in barely audible tones, "Steady... George... just like when you were young..."

He knew what this shot meant to Old George.

Old George closed his eyes, mentally rehearsing one final time every detail from breathing and aiming to firing.

When he opened his eyes again, those weather-beaten pupils contained only the target framed by the crosshairs!

His index finger gently, tenderly rested on the cold trigger.

Then,

"Bang!"

A crisp yet muffled gunshot instantly shattered the mountain's tranquility! The bullet, carrying the old man's lifelong persistence and promise, tore through three hundred meters of space and whistled away!

Through his binoculars, Lin Yu'an could clearly see that majestic ram king's massive body jerk violently, as if pushed hard by an invisible force.

It tried to stand up, but its limbs had lost control!

Immediately, like a white marble statue with its foundation removed, it crashed sideways, stirring up a small cloud of dust, then moved no more.

The other sheep, frightened by this sudden thunderous sound, scattered in all directions, instantly disappearing behind rocks.

Hit! A lethal, precise, perfect strike!

Stan wanted to cheer excitedly but was stopped by Lin Yu'an's gesture.

Because Old George still lay there like a statue, not getting up for a long time.

His eye remained pressed to the scope, seemingly confirming the result, or perhaps making a final farewell to that white spirit that had just passed away.

After a long while, he slowly worked the bolt, ejecting the still-warm cartridge case from the chamber, letting it fall with a "ting" onto the rocks.

Only then did he raise his head, his face showing not wild joy but a tremendous calm of relief.

Old George lay there for a long time without getting up.

Lin Yu'an saw that this man who had been resolute his entire life had shoulders that were trembling violently.

Stan silently approached and gently patted his old buddy's back, saying nothing.

He knew this shot contained more than just a successful hunt.

Finally, Old George slowly raised his head. Tears were already streaming down his weather-beaten face.

He roughly wiped his face with the back of his rough hand, his voice hoarse, as if speaking to his wife, or perhaps to himself.

"May... I did it... I got you... the most beautiful pair of horns..."

May was the name of Old George's deceased wife. He had heard Stan mention her before, a great and strong woman who had left Old George forever due to illness.

Old George's gaze looked into the distance, as if penetrating layers of mountains to see the past.

His voice became distant and tender, "Many years ago, when we had just finished building that log cabin, May stood in front of the fireplace and said to me, 'Oh, George, if we could hang a pair of beautiful Dall sheep horns above the fireplace, it would surely be even more beautiful!'"

"I patted my chest and promised her then, 'Darling, I'll definitely bring you back the biggest, most perfect pair of horns to make all the neighbors envy you!'"

He smiled bitterly and shook his head, "She was always like that, smiling and supporting all my crazy ideas, never complaining about life's hardships. But my dear May didn't even get to see one small wish fulfilled."

Since May's passing, George had stubbornly applied for hunting permits in this area every year, coming to these mountains to search every year.

Rather than hunting, it was more like completing a promise to his beloved, completing a conversation transcending life and death.

"Don't say that, George," Stan put his arm around his old buddy's shoulder.

"May saw it. She must be proud of you! You didn't break your word. You really brought her the most beautiful horns in all Alaska."

Lin Yu'an also approached. He didn't know how to use words to comfort this old man immersed in longing.

He simply silently handed over a water bottle filled with warm water.

Lin Yu'an's voice was gentle, "George, let's go bring it back. Take it home and hang it on May's favorite fireplace."

These words seemed to touch Old George. He took a deep breath, looked at Lin Yu'an with those red eyes, then at Stan, and nodded heavily.

He stood up again, his stooped back seeming to straighten a few degrees.

"Yes, bring it home!"

[NEXT CHAPTER]

HUN Chapter 128: Trapped in a Cave by Heavy Rain

At dawn the next day, before the sky was fully bright, Lin Yu'an heard the sound of zippers from the neighboring tent.

He opened his eyes and saw a thin layer of frost condensed on the inner wall of the tent.

When he stepped out of the tent, Stan and George had already started packing their equipment.

Stan and George's movements were highly efficient. Years of wilderness experience had turned these tedious processes into instinct.

A night's rest didn't seem to have completely dispelled the fatigue on their faces, but their eyes were exceptionally determined.

"How did you sleep, kid?" Stan asked while forcefully stuffing his sleeping bag into a compression sack.

"Not bad, just a bit cold," Lin Yu'an replied.

Old George remained silent. He stood at the edge of the camp, having observed through binoculars for quite some time.

He put down his equipment, turned around, and said to the two men, "The wind direction has changed, that's a good sign. Today we'll go directly over this ridge and try our luck on the eastern slope."

"I saw big rams there when I was young, they like the rock salt there."

"Alright, guys, the real challenge is about to begin! Get ready to move out!"

For the entire morning, the three men climbed slowly and arduously upward.

This was no longer the relatively gentle tundra hiking of the first day, but climbing that tested core strength and balance.

They often needed to use both hands and feet, gripping exposed rock edges, and on steep slopes covered with loose soil, they had to drive their trekking poles deep into the ground to gain a stable support point.

At midday, they reached a predetermined observation point and began systematically scanning the opposite mountainside.

However, two hours passed, and except for the occasional bush swaying in the wind and a few circling ravens, the view was lifeless.

Just as Old George was preparing to order a move, the weather changed without warning.

The sky, which had been clear just moments before, was completely swallowed by dark clouds rolling from behind the western ridge in just over ten minutes. The sky's color quickly changed from bright azure to leaden gray.

The mountain wind also suddenly became violent, carrying a bone-chilling dampness.

"It's going to pour! Quick, find shelter!" Stan shouted in a low, experienced voice.

He looked up at the wind direction and the speed of cloud movement, immediately making a judgment, "We have at most ten more minutes! Lin, go find dry firewood, take as much as you can! George, let's find shelter!"

"Only search for five minutes! If there's no suitable place, set up a tent immediately!"

The orders were clear and swift. The three immediately split up to act.

Lin Yu'an didn't hesitate for a moment. He rushed toward a slightly gentler slope not far away.

His target was the dwarf birch grove that stubbornly survived at the edge of the tree line.

There was a patch of prostrate dwarf birch, most of these trees already dead. Their trunks had been deformed by hundreds of years of wind and snow, pressed tightly against the ground, with cracked bark showing a pale gray color.

He found a gnarled, dead trunk as thick as an arm. This was it!

He drew out the hand axe Stan had given him and began chopping. "Bang! Bang!"

After several dull impacts, sections of old wood were successfully taken down.

This wood was extremely dense, heavy in the hand, the best long-burning fuel.

He also quickly broke off some thinner branches from the bottom of the dead dwarf birch as kindling.

Meanwhile, Stan and George were moving quickly on the steep slope, scanning every possible hiding spot on the rock face.

"Over there! Quick! Go there!"

George pointed to a massive granite rock wall where several boulders had fallen and formed a natural inward-curving crevice.

Old George went ahead to the crevice with Stan's equipment, while Stan came over to help Lin Yu'an collect dry wood together.

When Lin Yu'an and Stan, carrying the heavy old wood and a bundle of kindling branches, met up with George at the stone crevice, the first large raindrop had already hit his forehead.

They successfully moved into the natural cave just moments before the torrential rain poured down.

The clever stacking of several boulders at the cave entrance formed an excellent windbreak barrier.

Almost the instant they stepped into the cave, the rain curtain fell like a waterfall!

The heavy rain isolated the entire world. Raindrops hitting the rocks made a dense "pitter-patter" sound, strong winds howled at the cave entrance, and the outside world instantly became chaotic and hostile.

But inside this small cave, the wind was weakened, forming a strange and peaceful independent space.

Looking at the white expanse outside the cave, Stan said with lingering fear, "Damn, that was close! We three almost became drowned rats."

"Well done, kid!" Old George looked approvingly at the twisted pine wood Lin Yu'an had brought back.

"This is the old root of dwarf birch, very slow-burning."

In the cave, they began skillfully preparing to make a fire.

Lin Yu'an used his hunting knife to scrape some resin-rich powdered wood shavings from that section of old pine.

Old George took out tinder from his best-protected waterproof bag.

He placed the tinder on the wood shavings and struck a match. The moment the weak flame touched the wood shavings, it "whooshed" up, emitting a rich and pleasant pine fragrance.

The flame quickly ignited the thin branches with a light "crackling" sound, and a small cluster of stable, warm flame rose in the depths of the cave.

The orange-red firelight instantly dispelled the cold and dampness inside the cave, casting three swaying human shadows on the rough rock walls.

The rain showed no signs of stopping. The remaining time today would probably be spent trapped here.

But at this moment, no one complained. They unloaded their backpacks, sat down leaning against the cold rock walls, and stretched their somewhat cold hands toward the flames for warmth.

The warm feeling came from their fingertips, and the fatigue and tension of recent days seemed to slowly melt away in this dancing flame.

"Fire really is a great thing," Stan couldn't help but sigh.

Outside the cave was wind and rain, inside was a campfire, companions, and the faint scent of pine. This strong contrast between inside and outside brought an indescribable sense of security and warmth.

To pass time and boost morale, Stan looked at Old George, who was silently staring at the flames.

"Hey, George, since we're just sitting here, tell us some stories from when you were young. Tell us why you became a hunter!"

Old George didn't answer immediately. He poked the campfire with a stick, sparks crackling and flying, illuminating his deep eyes.

He seemed to see shadows of his past in the dancing flames.

After a moment, he slowly began to speak, his voice lower than usual, carrying a quality worn smooth by years.

"It was because of a black bear."

His opening immediately grabbed everyone's attention. Stan leaned forward slightly, this was the first time he was hearing Old George tell this story too.

Old George's gaze didn't look at them but was cast toward the flickering flames, as if scenes from that year were playing there.

"I was only eighteen then, had just followed my father to Alaska. We were working at a logging camp, hard and exhausting work."

"One day after work, I went to the river to fetch water. You know, the forest was denser then than now, the air was full of the smell of damp moss and rotting wood."

"I was carrying a water bucket, walking through a spruce forest, and then... right behind a big tree, I ran into it."

He paused, took a sip of water from his water pouch, his Adam's apple moving.

The cave was so quiet that only the "hissing" sound of the burning match and the rain outside could be heard.

"A mother bear with cubs," he continued, his speech slowing down.

"The moment that thing saw me, it reared up on its hind legs and roared at me!"

"That wasn't the roar you hear in movies. That sound went straight into your bones, carrying a rank wind. I felt my entire chest cavity vibrating with it!"

Lin Yu'an also thought of when he faced that black bear, that deafening roar and the overwhelming sense of oppression. He had experienced it firsthand!

Old George laughed self-deprecatingly, "I was scared stupid at the time, my mind went completely blank. The water bucket in my hand fell to the ground with a 'clang,' water spilling everywhere."

"But I still remembered what my father, Old George, had told me: when you encounter a bear, never turn your back and run! So I just stood there, facing off with that mother bear that was a head taller than me!"

"I could see the yellow teeth around its mouth, could even smell that wild animal musk on its body."

"Time seemed frozen. I don't know if it was one minute or ten minutes. At one point I thought I was definitely going to die, didn't even dare blink."

"Finally, it was the mother bear itself... it looked at me for a long time, making 'gurgling' sounds in its throat, then slowly crouched down."

"It took that little cub that was hiding behind it, curiously poking its head out, turned around and slowly walked away. Only when it completely disappeared into the forest did I feel like I could breathe again."

"When I got back to camp, my legs were still shaking. Holding a cup in my hands, the water in the cup was sloshing around."

Old George finally moved his gaze from the flames and looked at Lin Yu'an, his eyes sharp and bright.

"From that day on, I truly understood that on this land, every day you open your eyes, you're arm-wrestling with death! Fear is real, but you can't let it control you!"

"And from that day on, I started learning to use guns, learning how to observe and track, learning how to become a hunter instead of... prey."

The story was finished. The cave fell silent.

Stan silently added a thick piece of wood to the fire. The firelight flared up, dispelling the last trace of chill brought by the story.

And Lin Yu'an, looking at this old man before him, felt deeply for the first time that those wrinkles carved on his face weren't just traces of time.

They were the marks left by countless stories like this, brushing shoulders with life and death.

This story captivated Lin Yu'an. He seemed to see that young George, bursting with courage for survival in the face of fear.

The rain continued all afternoon. Only when night fell did it gradually turn to a light drizzle.

They spent the night in this cave.

On the third day of the hunting trip, the rain finally stopped.

But thick fog still filled the valley, with very poor visibility.

They had no choice but to continue toward the next target area on the slippery tundra and rocks.

Finally at midday, the sun pierced through the clouds and the view gradually became clear.

"Hey! George, look over there!"

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Stan, who had been observing through binoculars, suddenly lowered his voice, with a hint of uncertain excitement in his tone.

He pointed to a small platform in the middle of a distant cliff, "That... is that?"

Lin Yu'an and George immediately trained their binoculars in that direction.

Indeed, more than a kilometer away, there was a blurry white object.

It was motionless, but its shape and size looked exactly like a Dall sheep lying down to rest.

Old George adjusted his binoculars to maximum magnification and carefully observed for a while, then shook his head, "Something's not right. It's too still, and that posture... is a bit stiff. Let's keep watching."

His experience made him skeptical from the start. Dall sheep are extremely alert animals. Even when resting, they have unconscious micro-movements to sense their surroundings.

The three of them lay behind the cold rocks, staring intently at that white dot.

Time passed minute by minute, and that "target" remained like a white sculpture.

Stan's excitement had mostly passed, and even Lin Yu'an was beginning to think it might just be a rock.

Just then, a dramatic scene occurred.

A cloud happened to pass in front of the sun, and the light and shadow on the mountainside shifted accordingly.

When sunlight pierced through the clouds again and re-illuminated that cliff, the angle of light had subtly changed.

"It moved! I saw its head move!" Stan almost shouted out loud!

Lin Yu'an immediately looked over. In that instant of shifting light and shadow, the shadow above that white dot did indeed produce a momentary distortion, looking exactly like a sheep slightly shaking its head!

The sun in the west was rapidly sinking, and shadows in the valley were lengthening at a visible rate.

Stan said anxiously, "George, we're running out of time. We have to take a gamble!"

"Let's go! Let's get closer and see!" Old George accepted Stan's suggestion.

When they finally reached a closer distance, gasping for breath, dusk was already approaching.

Stan had frequently raised his binoculars along the way. This time, after raising them for just a few seconds, he put them down with an extremely disappointed and self-mocking expression on his face.

He cursed under his breath, "Fuck."

Lin Yu'an also raised his binoculars and saw clearly that the "white dot" wasn't a Dall sheep at all.

It was just a massive white quartz rock that resembled a resting sheep, looking remarkably lifelike in the dim light of dusk.

Old George silently put away his rifle. He didn't seem overly dejected, but instead let out a long sigh, his face showing a relieved bitter smile.

He said to the other two, "Well, now we can sleep peacefully. At least we tried, didn't we?"

This tough old man wasn't crushed by failure, but accepted reality in an admirable way.

The third day's search ended in failure once again.

Everyone set up tents, had a simple dinner, and planned to get up early tomorrow for one last search.

Time came to the fourth day, which was also the last day of their planned search. If they found nothing more, they would have to return.

In the morning chill, the team's atmosphere was no longer the heaviness of the previous day, but had more of a calm determination of burning one's boats.

Old George was the first to emerge from his tent. He didn't immediately raise his binoculars as usual, but instead spread out that well-worn topographic map on a flat rock.

"Come here, guys," he called Stan and Lin Yu'an.

He drew circles on the map with his finger, "These past few days we've been looking in high places, but we've overlooked one thing: sheep are living creatures too."

"They need to drink water, need to avoid the midday sun, and need to shelter from sudden storms like the day before yesterday. High places may be safe, but they're definitely not the only places they'll stay."

His finger finally pointed to a low valley on the map caught between two ridges, where a blue thin line of a stream wound through this area.

"This stream passes through this valley. The willow and alder brush on both sides are the best natural cover."

"If I were those cunning sheep, after experiencing the wind and rain the day before yesterday, I definitely wouldn't stay on bare mountaintops freezing. I'd bring my flock down here to recover."

He looked up at the two men, his eyes flashing with confident light, "We're changing strategy today. No more climbing up, we're going down. Let's try our luck one last time in this valley!"

Stan looked at Old George, his face showing genuine admiration and a smile, "I knew you old guy wouldn't give up so easily."

They packed their equipment and began heading toward that low valley.

When they actually entered that area filled with willow bushes, Lin Yu'an, who was walking in front, suddenly stopped.

He didn't speak, just crouched down and pointed to the edge of a clump of willow trees.

The two men came forward and saw Lin Yu'an pointing to a broken willow branch. The break was very fresh, even showing moist traces, and the height was about waist-high for an adult.

"Look at this mark, it's very shallow and very neat. Deer use their lower jaw incisors and upper jaw dental pad to tear leaves, so the marks would be rough."

"But sheep have molars on both upper and lower jaws. They cut cleanly. This mark looks more like what sheep would leave."

"Nice analysis, kid!" Stan excitedly patted Lin Yu'an.

Old George's face also showed a smile, "Good! This proves we came to the right place! Let's follow the trail from here! Even if we have to walk until dark today, we're going to root them out!"

This time, Old George took the lead in tracking.

His experience played a decisive role in close-range tracking. Like an experienced old wolf, he carefully distinguished any unusual traces on the ground.

They slowed their pace and advanced bit by bit following the trail.

Finally, after going around a pile of huge rocks, their tracking paid off!

[NEXT CHAPTER]