Chapter 450

Didn't even hold up for a single glance?

Are Chi Jiuyu and this tea seller really that weak?

The thought flashed through Zhao Ruohan's mind, then was immediately denied by herself.

Impossible!

She doesn't know this tea seller, but Chi Jiuyu is definitely not weak.

The two of them fought not long ago!

Without using primordial divine powers, she was even slightly inferior.

Then there's only one possibility left…

"So my father… was letting me win all along?"

You finally figured it out!

"Yes yes! When I went to fetch my senior uncle out of seclusion, I fought someone at the same realm—I couldn't even block a single sword strike!"

You already admitted getting wiped out in one glance.

So admitting you couldn't block a sword strike isn't anything to hide.

"…" Zhao Ruohan fell silent for two seconds. "Really? That strong?"

At the same realm, one sword strike defeated Chi Jiuyu…

"Of course it's true! Do you think I'm the type to lie casually?"

"…"

Indeed, given Chi Jiuyu's personality, she wouldn't lie about something like this just to save face.

"But why?"

According to their account, this gap is absurdly huge.

Whether it's her, Chi Jiuyu, or this tea seller, all of them have top-tier talent and cultivate supreme-level lineages.

Whether it's cultivation scriptures or divine techniques, refined generation after generation and continuously optimized, they should far surpass their original forms.

Even if there's a gap, it shouldn't be this vast—unresolvable.

Hearing this question, Chi Jiuyu suddenly grinned smugly: "I know this."

"Hm?"

You know?

Not just Zhao Ruohan, but Ye Zhiwei also turned to look at Chi Jiuyu.

She knows this too?

Seeing both staring at her, Chi Jiuyu lifted her head, straightened her chest, and clasped her hands behind her back.

"We've gone from entering the Dao to Soul Transformation in just over twenty years," she said in a calm, wistful tone—clearly trying to sound impressive—"but when our senior uncle reached peak Nascent Soul, he was already over two hundred years old."

Chi Jiuyu's expression was full of sighs, though she was secretly observing their reactions.

"Over two hundred years? Why?" Ye Zhiwei couldn't help asking.

These were the founding ancestors of the Xian Sect—how could their talent have been so poor?

"Of course it's because…"

Chi Jiuyu stole a glance to the side and noticed Xiao Zhao staring at her—her confidence instantly surged.

After all, she's a fairy—maybe she already knows too?

She immediately gazed at the sky at a forty-five-degree angle, still in that calm-yet-wistful, pretentious tone: "In ancient times, when there was no path ahead, they could only halt and keep trying."

After speaking, she sneakily glanced at the two—seeing them stunned by her words, she secretly gloated.

Hahaha!

Back then, she thought her senior uncle's line had serious vibe—especially that subtle, restrained kind.

It was the kind of vibe that screamed class!

She'd never found a chance to say it out loud—until now!

Cough cough!

With no change in expression, Chi Jiuyu lowered her head and looked back at them: "That's the advantage of accumulated years—we're still young, so no need to lose heart."

Neither replied; a strange emotion stirred within them, just as it had when Chi Jiuyu first heard those words.

No path ahead…?

What kind of past could that have been?

Come to think of it, no one knew why, but legends of the Xian Sect's founding ancestors had long been passed down.

Yet in surviving historical records, the past was extremely vague—as if deliberately erased.

Even this small world had multiple calendar systems recording years, yet in the original world, no such thing was ever heard—only a simple division of the year into twelve months.

The two were lost in thought for a long while before snapping back.

Zhao Ruohan hesitated, then asked: "If we were willing to spend the time, would we also…"

"Possibly, but it's unnecessary," Chi Jiuyu shrugged. "I asked the same thing back then, but my senior uncle said it's abandoning the root for the branches—if you do that, you're a fool!"

Satisfied with her perfect display, Chi Jiuyu immediately urged: "Alright, alright, let's hurry inside and heal up—Brother Dog might need our help any moment."

"Mm."

Both gave a slight nod.

Immediately, Zhao Ruohan raised her hand and unleashed a 【Wan Qing Yuan Mu Tai Shang Xian Guang】 toward the purple fruits.

Hum!

The Xian Light flowed like a ribbon of azure-green, and upon touching the fruits, slowly sank beneath their skins.

As this happened, the fruits' surfaces began sprouting facial features—just as before.

But those features appeared only briefly before vanishing again.

Clearly, these fruits had transformed once more from ordinary fruits into that special kind of "puppet."

"Is this Xiao Zhao's innate spiritual ability?" Chi Jiuyu's heart stirred slightly.

Could her previous purchases of spiritual plant seeds at the market also be tied to this innate ability?

"That's enough." Zhao Ruohan withdrew her hand. "Come in."

Saying this, she walked in first.

Chi Jiuyu followed immediately, while Ye Zhiwei cast several lingering glances at the fruit.

It could even awaken non-spiritual plants…

This spiritual ability is truly peculiar.

She flipped her hand and tossed out several Jin Dan pills, then set up a simple pill array before stepping into the cave.

…………

Meanwhile, at the rest site of the resource convoy team of Zhitui Xiancheng.

Some elderly, slick individuals who had visited Zhitui Xiancheng several times before were boasting about their past experiences.

Of course, all they spoke of were useless pieces of information.

In this era where cultivation level reigns supreme and everything is expendable, you cannot obtain useful information without paying a price.

Yet the young newcomers to cultivation listened with rapt attention.

Some cultivators at Foundation Establishment or Jin Dan levels sat in silence, eyes closed, breathing and meditating like Zhao Ruohan.

No one noticed.

Without a sound, a faint, ethereal aura drifted near and merged into the black-robed figure seated motionless on the blue stone.

The illusory form conjured by the spiritual ability dissolved, replaced by the true Zhao Ruming.

Huh~

He exhaled softly, then rose and stepped down from the blue stone.

Instantly, everyone fell silent, rising to their feet and turning toward Zhao Ruming, awaiting his next command.

They regarded this new master of Qingfu Tang—who had seized Qingfu Tang by thunderous means and subdued all factions in Zhitui Xiancheng except the city lord—with both reverence and fear.

"Are you all ready?"

The group exchanged glances; finally, a middle-aged man with a hawk-like nose and Mid-Golden Core cultivation bowed.

"My lord, all preparations are complete."

He was the deputy director of the Jishen Fang branch in Zhitui Xiancheng and had originally sought to lead this resource convoy.

But after Zhao Ruming nearly crushed him with a single blow, he became utterly obedient.

"Then set out," Zhao Ruming said coolly.

He raised his hand and flung out a miniature flying vessel, no larger than a palm.

The delicate palm-sized artifact grew with the wind, transforming in moments into a massive tower-ship.

On the tower-ship hung countless white lanterns, each inscribed in bright red paint with the characters "Zhitui."

Inside the lanterns glowed a deep, eerie green light, carrying a peculiar fishy stench.

Though it was broad daylight, the sight sent a chill down the spine.

"Yes!"

The others paid no mind, responding and boarding the magical vessel.

During this time, some cultivators at Foundation Establishment mid-to-late stage or Jin Dan level silently grumbled in their hearts.

"Damn, after all this handling, how much of this resource batch has been stolen?"

They grumbled, but dared not show even a hint on their faces.

All they wished was that he hadn't devoured everything—leaving even a little broth to taste would be better than nothing!

Thus, once everyone had boarded, the massive tower-ship slowly rose and headed toward nearby Wujue Xiancheng.

Zhao Ruming stood at the bow, his black robe snapping in the wind.

All were cultivators—if uncomfortable, they could simply cast a wind-blocking spell; this tower-ship had never been designed for comfort.

After all, adding any feature required substantial resources…

Some low-level Qi Condensation cultivators, unwilling to waste their spiritual power, sought shelter behind wind-blocking structures, enduring the cold gusts.

"What a fucking world!" Zhao Ruming muttered inwardly.

His current appearance was just like a Dafan Sect villain.

And everyone on this ship was abnormal—more demonic than any demonic sect in his own world.

Yet in this world, they were still considered "orthodox"?

And then there was Ye Zhiwei's matter…

Sigh~

After returning, I must first confirm it—if true, I'll probably have to deal with it.

As for how to deal with it, he had no idea yet.

Soon, as the tower-ship drew nearer to the skull-built Wujue Xiancheng, Zhao Ruming's thoughts gradually calmed.

Now was not the time to dwell on these things.

With a thought, he activated the bracelet's hidden functions: Divination Interference and Anti-Causal Tracing.

In his palm, he concealed a Lingyin III-generation array virus, set to slow-invasion mode.

As the tower-ship neared Wujue Xiancheng, ripples surfaced in the air—ripples visible even to ordinary people, revealing the gray-white bony structure of the walls.

Zhao Ruming acted decisively, channeling a trace of magic power to activate the array virus.

Hum~

The pale-gold hexagonal crystal instantly dispersed, beginning to slowly invade the formation array and seize control of it.

"Are you a fellow Daoist from Paper Cicada Immortal City?"

A handsome, valiant man with long white hair arrived, stepping through the air with a bright, easy smile.

Spiritual light flowed in his eyes, and his sleeves fluttered.

As he drew near, a tremendous pressure bore down upon them; every person behind Zhao Ruoming flushed crimson from this sudden force.

Those whose realm was only Qi Refining were pressed flat to the ground in an instant.

Nascent Soul.

"A thousand strands of second-grade spiritual energy, or a hundred portions of Jin Dan magic power, and I'll escort you into the city—guaranteed no one will give you trouble along the way. How about it?"

Zhao Ruoming furrowed his brow.

Yan Han, the previous Hall Master of Green Talisman Hall, had told him that this kind of 'fee' for entering the city never exceeded two hundred strands of second-grade spiritual energy, or fifteen portions of Jin Dan magic power.

Although he didn't care, the cultivators of this world valued every scrap of spiritual material dearly…

His persona couldn't collapse!

Having made up his mind, Zhao Ruoming released a wisp of magic-power pressure to offset the force the other had brought, preparing to haggle with him.

However, the moment that mere wisp of magic-power pressure spread out—

It was like a great river tumbling down from the heavens, drowning a tiny brook in a ditch.

The white-haired man felt the firmament collapse; a will utterly pure and utterly yang blazed like a great sun, as though it would scorch his soul dry and melt his flesh away!

A Soul Transformation Immortal Lord!

Thud!

Thud thud thud!

He dropped to his knees without the slightest hesitation, knocking his head against the ground with loud thuds—spreading a layer of magic power beneath himself as he did so.

He kowtowed while shouting at the same time, both hands held high above his head, clutching a storage bag.

"Spare me, Immortal Lord! Spare me, Immortal Lord! This lowly one was blind, offending the Immortal Lord—please, Immortal Lord, spare this lowly one's life! This lowly one is willing to ransom back his own life!"

A Nascent Soul offending a Soul Transformation Immortal Lord…

Even if the Soul Transformation Immortal Lord beat him to death on the spot, at most it would only cost a fine.

Now he could only gamble—gamble that this Soul Transformation Immortal Lord couldn't be bothered to go pay the fine.

Zhao Ruoming: "…"

Immortal Lord?

Soul Transformation Immortal Lord?

Although he had long heard of it, hearing those two words actually put together still left him feeling a bit awkward inside.

He hadn't wanted to bother with this fellow, but then he thought of the persona he was currently maintaining.

So he waved his hand and summoned the storage bag the man was holding high.

"Scram."

"Yes, yes! This lowly one will scram right now, scram right now!"

The man was visibly relieved, but he didn't dare stand up; instead, he wrapped both arms around his own feet, curled his whole body into a ball, laid down a path of magic power, and swiftly 'rolled' away.

"…"

When it came to showing off, he really showed off; when it came to dropping to his knees, he was genuinely fast too.

Sigh~

After sighing inwardly and cursing this wretched world once more, Zhao Ruoming steered the tower ship slowly into the city.

He had never intended to conceal his realm to begin with—after all, if his realm were too low, he might never even get close to the truth…

Yet the people behind him still hadn't recovered from what had just happened.

Soul Transformation… Immortal Lord?

The new Hall Master of Green Talisman Hall was actually a Soul Transformation Immortal Lord?!

No wonder—no wonder even the City Lord himself treated him with such deference…

Wait!

That meant they were now under a Soul Transformation Immortal Lord!

Realizing this, everyone puffed out their chests—even some of those at Qi Refining first or second layer now looked at others with a hint of scrutiny in their eyes.

……

……

Several minutes later, the slowly advancing tower ship finally arrived at the docking area.

Before he had even disembarked, a female cultivator at the Nascent Soul realm—her figure sinuous as a snake, draped in nothing but a thin purple gauze robe—came forward to greet him with a bewitching smile.

"Greetings, my lord Immortal Lord."

As she drew closer, a fragrance clear and secluded as orchids wafted over, and her boneless, slender hand was about to rest on Zhao Ruoming.

Beneath his black robe, Zhao Ruoming furrowed his brow and, without showing any change in expression, avoided contact with her.

The female cultivator paused, but did not dare take offense.

Perhaps thinking Zhao Ruoming didn't care for this type, she reined in her smile considerably: "This servant is Ziying. Please, my lord Immortal Lord, come with me—the City Lord requests your presence."

"Lead the way," Zhao Ruoming said coolly.

"Yes."

Just as the two of them walked off the tower ship one behind the other, another flying vessel drew near and slowly docked.

On its entirely vermilion hull were written the two characters 'Jishen'—it was precisely a resource escort convoy from Jishen Immortal City.

Zhao Ruoming paused, his gaze involuntarily turning to the figure standing at the bow of the ship. (End of chapter)