Chapter 106: The Neighbor, Old Xu

In the room, a young man drained of vitality knelt before Xiang Weiyuan, speaking earnestly. Another sat cross-legged on the bed, back turned, a spiritual barrier sealing off the interior from the outside.

“My name is Xu Wenwu, from another world. After graduating university, I couldn’t find a job, so I just stayed home… Oh, university is about like your academy…”

“That night, I was watching borderline content, then everything went black—I woke up here…”

“Since arriving in this world, I’ve wandered far and wide, never once encountering a true master…”

“Immortal! I’m useful—I know many things, I’ll surely help you! With me assisting, we’ll make the entire world kneel at our feet. From now on, you’re the boss, I’m the second-in-command!…”

“Big brother, rest assured—I’ll one day achieve such glory I’ll overshadow you, and you’ll be draped in yellow robes…”

Xiang Weiyuan sealed his mouth with a surge of spiritual power; otherwise, he might have gone on babbling indefinitely.

Xu Wenwu’s words were startling, yet human history had seen outsiders from beyond the heavens before. But those individuals all achieved great things—like the one who proposed the Immortal Sect’s Unified Exams, who revealed his origin only after reaching the pinnacle. Once one enters the Immortal Path, origin matters little.

But this Xu Wenwu had none of the aura of an outsider. The moment Xiang Weiyuan set him down, he knelt immediately and launched into a long, rambling monologue—mostly fantasizing about dominating the world, like filling his harem with every female, occasionally inserting his thoughts on borderline content.

Though Xiang Weiyuan didn’t understand why people from that world loved watching the edges of tables and chairs, he could tell from this man’s inability to articulate even one concrete plan for world domination that he was a complete fool.

Xiang Weiyuan suddenly recalled a Human-grade Dao Foundation he’d once seen in the Hall of Ten Thousand Forms: [Style Makeup]. If everyone in that world was like Xu Wenwu, this foundation would be invincible.

Moreover, Xu Wenwu’s body was frail, his Body Casting virtually nonexistent. If thrown into the Northern Frontier, he couldn’t even defeat a single Liao horse, let alone the Liao cavalry—yet he dreamed of dominating the world?

He’d been in this world for over half a month, yet still knew little of it. After arriving at the Lieping Inn, he was like a mouse dropped into a grain pile—watching storybooks day and night for over ten days straight, exhausting the innkeeper’s entire collection.

At least he had some sense—he wanted to cling to Xiang Weiyuan to achieve world domination, not go it alone. But Xiang Weiyuan didn’t think world domination urgent; first, he’d repay his debts. Besides, this world had plenty of True Immortals—achieving domination would likely take millennia of cultivation.

Even now, Xiang Weiyuan couldn’t fathom why this man warranted the expenditure of an entire thread of his fortune to suppress him. Let him stay up late reading storybooks a few more days—he might just vanish back home.

Xiang Weiyuan set Xu Wenwu aside for now, dissolving the spiritual barrier, and turned to the one on the bed: “And you—who are you?”

The figure on the bed turned around—not the face of an ordinary youth, but a delicate, serene visage, pure and clean as a sheet of jade paper, utterly out of place in Qu Liu Town. Her gaze met Xiang Weiyuan’s, heavy with sorrow.

She rose from the bed and bowed gracefully to Xiang Weiyuan: “I am Xu Waner. I greet you, Senior Brother. My father, Xu Zhijie, once served as Prefect of Ningxi County.”

Now this was someone with real lineage.

Xiang Weiyuan recalled the records: the Six-Thousand-Li Shattered Region had once been divided into four counties. Ningxi was the largest and westernmost, spanning two thousand five hundred li. The Xu family’s celestial cave and Lashen Palace both lay within Ningxi. Prefect Xu Zhijie was born into the Xu family, but a year before the great war, he was arrested for embezzling military pay and colluding with foreign tribes, then swiftly beheaded. The affair was recorded in the local annals—eternally disgraced.

Seeing Xu Waner, Xu Wenwu’s eyes went wide—he clearly wanted to say something. Xiang Weiyuan flicked a finger, sticking him to the wall again, this time facing inward. Without expression, he asked: “Why did you kill Wang Lang, and dump his corpse in my courtyard?”

Xu Waner instinctively replied: “It wasn’t me…”

But when she met Xiang Weiyuan’s gaze, her body trembled. “Senior Brother’s insight is piercing—it was indeed me. I disguised myself as a female cultivator with only rudimentary cultivation, pretending to be captured by Wang Lang, then infiltrated his party westward to evade pursuit. But when we reached the town’s outskirts, Wang Lang suddenly tried to assault me. Just then, Yun Jiejie informed me you cared deeply for Wang Lang, so I killed him—and tested whether you were the person Yun Jiejie sought.”

“Which Yun Jiejie?”

“Yun Feifei. She was originally the Sacred Maiden of Lashen Palace. I’ve known her a long time. After my father’s downfall, she rescued me and helped me evade capture ever since. After Lashen Palace fell, she too was hunted, and we were forced to separate and go into hiding.”

“What if I’m not the person you’re looking for?” Xiang Weiyuan asked.

“Wang Lang had to die anyway. If you’re not him, you’re not him. I put the bounty on him too—if I hadn’t acted, someone else would have. I have a humble request, Senior Brother—could you…”

Xiang Weiyuan cut her off: “If it’s a humble request, then don’t say it. Where is Yun Feifei?”

Xu Waner cast one more sorrowful glance at Xiang Weiyuan. “Yun Jiejie isn’t here—but I have a way to contact her. The artifact to do so is currently in your possession.”

Xiang Weiyuan waved his hand, and a pile of magic treasures and seized items appeared on the bed—several of them intimate garments. Xu Waner’s face flushed crimson as if on fire; she lowered her head, refusing to meet his gaze, quickly pulled out a jade pendant, and handed it to him without touching anything else.

!

Xiang Weiyuan probed it with his spiritual sense—he understood at once: it was a highly refined communication artifact. Input a message, and it would appear on another identical pendant. Such artifacts varied in range; Xiang Weiyuan himself carried a jade tablet granted by a True Immortal, capable of transmitting messages within a hundred thousand li. Xu Waner’s likely reached a thousand li.

“Ask where she is. How do we meet?”

Xu Waner input spiritual power into the pendant right before Xiang Weiyuan’s eyes. Moments later, the pendant flickered, revealing a brief message: “Meet at the former site of Lashen Palace. There, fragments of the celestial cave have fallen—ideal for evading powerful enemies.”

After the message appeared, the pendant dimmed—its spiritual power fully depleted.

Xiang Weiyuan studied Xu Waner. “Why are you so certain I’m the one you seek? Why not verify it?”

“I’ve never seen anyone with your bearing in the Xu ancestral home. Only the Tai Chu Palace could produce someone like you. Besides, your demeanor is refined, your methods formidable—I hid so well, yet you found me at once.”

(End of Chapter)