Chapter 237: 236. To Join the Sect, I Have No Choice But This

I truly am.

Wang Wu put on his clothes while answering the question from the female cultivator on the bed.

"By the way, are you really a trial cultivator of the Jade Mist Sect?" After dressing, Wang Wu walked to the bedside and helped the still‑unrecovered female cultivator to stand. After a half‑minute verbal sparring between a human and a demon, he assisted her with her clothing while sniffing—no, asking.

"What, don't you trust me?" The female cultivator smiled brightly at Wang Wu, her eyes flashing with some kind of light—perhaps watery, perhaps something else—doesn't matter.

"That's not it; I'm just curious." Wang Wu shrugged. "Whether you're that so‑called trial cultivator, I really don't care."

"If you don't care, then why did you agree to dual‑cultivate with me?"

"Because that's just my nature; I rarely refuse others."

"Huh…" Facing Wang Wu's remark, the female cultivator let out a burst of laughter, giggling wildly.

"And moreover…" Wang Wu leaned in. "I don't dislike you, so why wouldn't I…"

The female cultivator couldn't finish her sentence, and the freshly donned clothes were… um, nothing special.

Although Wang Wu isn't good at refusing others, he does have a discerning eye; if it truly didn't work out, he wouldn't even give the other a glance.

Though the Asura Blood Curse's stealth skill is of little use against a strong opponent a tier or two above him, he can still refuse it.

It's not a big deal to skip this so‑called Jade Mist Sect; staying a few more years or decades on the planet below doesn't matter.

As a demon, he doesn't have much else, but time is certainly not lacking at all.

Time kept passing, and this Jade Mist Sect's entrance selection was held on another gaseous giant 1.2 billion km away from Ronglan Star, while the airship's speed was slow, requiring a full day to arrive.

Interestingly, the transcendental civilization here also seems to use gaseous giants for cultivation, but their method differs entirely from Wang Wu's Earth martial cultivation; it's a completely different approach.

Yet its intensity is low, merely equivalent to the body‑refining step that Wang Wu experienced when he was at Fourth Rank, striking the Complete Realm.

Time quickly reached the next morning—more precisely, the forenoon, since ten o'clock in the morning is not normally breakfast time.

"What's going on? Where's Luo Lan?"

In the airship's main hall, several cultivators whose true ages were indiscernible gathered together; a male cultivator with long silver hair looked at the other four and asked.

"We… we don't know either."

The cultivators all shook their heads in unison. "Since yesterday afternoon, Luo Lan has disappeared; we sent a Communication Jade Slip but got no reply, and we have no idea where she went."

A cultivator with purple hair replied.

"The speech is about to start; what on earth is she doing??"

The purple‑haired cultivator's words furrowed the silver‑haired one's brow, clearly showing great displeasure toward the cultivator named Luo Lan.

"Then… perhaps we should use a Locator?"

A red‑haired cultivator suggested at that moment.

As soon as he spoke, everyone's gaze turned to him, causing him to step back a few paces, immediately feeling regret.

"Liu Daoyou, good idea." The silver‑haired cultivator smiled. "Thanks, Daoist friend; then it's up to you."

"Um, this, this…"

The red‑haired cultivator wore an uneasy expression, but by then the other cultivators had already gathered around.

Luo Lan is the highest‑ranking Jade Mist Sect cultivator on this airship and the overall coordinator of this Jade Mist Sect entrance selection.

Although her strength is unremarkable, her temperament is poor, and most importantly she's petty and extremely decadent.

But there's nothing to be done; after all, she's the daughter of the Sect's Transmission Hall elder.

Moreover, that elder's mother was the previous Jade Mist Sect sect master, a top‑level being of Immortal Emperor caliber.

Cultivators' fertility isn't stronger than that of the demon race; that Immortal Emperor had only one son and one granddaughter—obviously not a granddaughter‑in‑law, since Luo Lan shares the same surname as her grandmother.

This woman's temper is notoriously foul; she hates being bothered for no reason. If you need to find her, send a Communication Jade Slip; she'll come once she receives it.

As for other methods, like a Locator, once you use such a thing, expect her to give you a hard time.

No cultivator on this ship has a more illustrious lineage than she does, so naturally no one wants to offend her.

That's why, at this moment, all Jade Mist Sect cultivators turned their gaze toward the red‑haired cultivator who suggested using a Locator to find her.

"This, this, this…"

Facing the crowd's stare, the red‑haired cultivator, though deeply regretful, knew under everyone's expectant eyes that he was now on the tiger's back and couldn't back down.

There's no helping it; being targeted means being targeted. Although Luo Lan's temperament is poor, she's not exceptionally evil, so being slapped a few times for a reason isn't a huge problem.

Determined, he prepared to pull out a Locator to find the senior sister, but at that moment a gust of wind blew, and a figure materialized before them.

"Everyone ready?"

The sudden female voice startled everyone, and they all turned their gazes to its owner, shouting in unison:

"Senior Sister!"

Then they noticed that the senior sister's condition seemed a bit off at that moment.

Her complexion was rosy, hair disheveled, clothing somewhat messy, and she kept gasping heavily.

This situation was clearly abnormal, and since everyone had been through similar experiences, they naturally understood what it signified.

"Ugh, can only say… can only say the senior sister has refined tastes."

Of course, such words couldn't be said to her face, lest they'd be severely punished… they could only mutter contempt silently.

So everyone pretended not to see it, selectively ignoring Luo Lan's current state, and bowed, continuing to address her:

"Senior Sister, everything is ready; we're just waiting for you."

"Hmm." Luo Lan, composed, nodded, then waved her hand. "Then come with me and see this batch of newcomers."

"Yes."

Hall.

More accurately, it resembled a plaza, since it was on the airship's deck, and looking up revealed the star‑filled sky outside.

The starry sky here matched the kind Wang Wu had seen in sci‑fi movies and games—brilliant and beautiful, perfectly ordinary, with no hint of any eerie aura.

"Daoist friend, Daoist friend."

Wang Wu is currently standing here with other cultivators, waiting for a practitioner from the Jade Mist Sect to appear on the empty spot in the hall's center, when a voice beside him called out.

"What's up?"

Wang Wu turned his head toward the speaker; it was a handsome… ah no, a female cultivator.

It's a woman.

After the encounter with the two dragon‑clan sisters, Wang Wu is no longer fooled by simple looks and voice; a visage of this level doesn't trouble him at all.

Actually, it's because she's just too big.

Though her appearance, voice, and hairstyle are gender‑neutral, her figure is anything but.

Seeing Wang Wu turn his head and catch sight of that face, the female cultivator's cheeks flushed briefly, then she stammered, "N‑no, I don't know, fellow cultivator, which sect are you from?"

"Yin Extreme Diamond Sect."

Wang Wu considered it for a moment, and of course, in reality he blurted it out.

"My sect is the Yin Extreme Diamond Sect."

"Hm, we don't seem to have a sect with that number on Rong Lan Star. Are you an outsider?" After hearing Wang Wu's sect name, the tomboyish female cultivator thought for a while, then asked.

"Yes." Wang Wu nodded.

Facing this tomboy, his attitude was very cold, because he could tell at a glance that she was an ultimate fledgling just awakening to love; he's currently traveling, and prefers not to provoke such a person.

Mainly because of his master's advice—Qin Xiang warned him not to waste too much time here on romance and pleasures.

"Too much time" here means courting and fast‑food romances; Qin Xiang also knows Wang Wu is a monster, so he won't completely forbid him from doing certain things.

"Th‑that fellow cultivator, you…"

Rong Lan Star, or rather the entire Qiong Yuan and the few surrounding human societies, are not the same; demons are rare here, only seen in border regions.

Moreover, Qiong Yuan's attitude toward demons is among the worst of the human factions, but unlike some factions, their disdain means they don't accept demons yet they also don't go shouting "attack!" when they see one.

Basically, Qiong Yuan treats demons with indifference: you don't pick a fight with me, I don't pick a fight with you—a relatively peaceful stance.

Of course, this also relates to their relatively weak power; they keep the doors shut, fighting internal wars among the several celestial emperors who dominate the major star domains, leaving no time for external conflicts.

After all, it's a world whose style leans toward cultivation web novels, even if the reality differs greatly, the aesthetic still leans that way.

Human cultivators can certainly enhance their looks, even completely change their appearance; any cultivator qualified for the Jade Mist Sect's entry selection can do this, so there's no shortage of top‑looking beauties here.

But no matter how much they sculpt themselves, human features still can't reach the level of demons.

It's strange, because even if you model every feature exactly after a demon's, matching perfectly, somehow you still lack that shocking, breathtaking impact.

"Peerless appearance" in this world seems to be a setting unique to demons, or a classification for beings whose looks reach that tier.

No one recognized Wang Wu as a monster, not even the members of the Jade Mist Sect.

And a human possessing a demon‑level visage would be tolerable among the few human factions where demons are more common, but here…

Peerless appearance is not common here, nor in any human society.

Because the underlying code is written that way, just as demons' base code is "peerless looks" and "whatever for food and water".

With such looks, Wang Wu's appearance on this ship naturally draws everyone's attention.

After all, they're all small‑town cultivators—ah no, big‑city cultivators. The Jade Mist Sect isn't some ordinary 985/211; it corresponds to a C9‑level school, ah no, sect.

Those who can board this ship are the top competitors rolled out from Rong Lan Star and the neighboring planets and stellar systems.

And since they're top competitors, they naturally have little time for such matters.

After all, cultivation isn't enough; they spend twenty hours a day taking pills and dantian pills, meditating the remaining four hours—how much time is left for this?

Of course, rewarding oneself is still necessary; cultivation here also values following one's heart—if you have desire, you must release it, not a grim ascetic.

Cultivators like Luo Lan are few in the Jade Mist Sect, but they're certainly not rare, and those from better families naturally indulge more in such things…

But obviously not this one.

Her clothing shows it's not high‑quality, even though Wang Wu hasn't stayed here long—just a little over two months before getting on this ship.

Yet Luo Lan's clothes he has examined piece by piece; their texture, the energy fluctuations, are incomparable to the garments on this female cultivator.

"My name is Wang Wu."

Though he didn't intend to interact, Wang Wu still gave his name.

"Pei, Pei Wuji…"

Pei Wuji stammered to Wang Wu.

Wang Wu nodded at her as a greeting, then turned his head away, because the cultivators in the hall's center had just emerged.

As soon as they appeared, Wang Wu saw a familiar face.

And the other party also spotted him among the thousands of cultivators.

This time Luo Lan's hair wasn't a mess, her aura was steady, her clothes were tidy, and she looked quite presentable.

Thinking back to last night, she had also been wearing this outfit, with an indescribable… forget it, forget it.

"Everyone, welcome to the Jade Mist Sect's entry selection. Of course, the selection arena isn't here; it's atop the Luan Moon."

Luo Lan's voice echoed across the huge plaza, reaching every cultivator's ears.

"But before that, I need to remind everyone:"

"The entry selection carries certain dangers, even death. Even with our sect's cultivators guarding, problems can't be fully avoided."

"If you wish to withdraw, you can still do so now."

"I know you all consider yourselves the pride of heaven where you came from, full of arrogance. Yet I must remind you, this is no child's play."

While speaking, Luo Lan's gaze never left Wang Wu.

Their eyes exchanged countless glances; in the time it took to say those few sentences, they had already communicated tens of thousands of words.

(End of Chapter)