"Did Yin Mianmian send you to give me a warning?"
"Mm. The bounty I took was issued by the Holy Maiden herself."
"Not to kill me, just a warning?"
"Exactly."
Under Shang Wu's piercing gaze, Xu Yi answered without hesitation.
He had no doubt that if he showed even a moment's hesitation, that woman as beautiful as a flower would reduce him to dust with a single punch.
"Even the Holy Maiden has to place a bounty to command someone like you... truly mercenary to the core..."
Li Mo couldn't wrap his head around it:
"What exactly is she warning me about?"
Qian Bufan said gravely:
"Once you enter the Drizzle Pavilion, you can never leave—unless in death."
"So she's telling me... that if I betray the Drizzle Pavilion, they can find me anytime?"
Li Mo finally understood Yin Mianmian's message, his expression turning odd.
He had obtained the Hallfront Swallow by sheer coincidence and never truly considered himself a member of the Drizzle Pavilion.
The Three Evils of Huai Mountain weren’t just him alone.
Why was she targeting him specifically...
"Seems like our precautions weren’t for nothing."
Xue Jing had initially thought that he and Qian Bufan would be enough and hadn’t wanted Shang Wu to tag along.
"Hm? Trying to steal my disciple?"
Shang Wu’s almond-shaped eyes narrowed as she sneered, "Yin Mianmian, was it? Better hope I don’t catch her. If I do, I’ll beat her into a soft, squishy mess!"
"The Drizzle Pavilion sent an Outer Scenery expert this time," Li Mo reminded her.
Shang Wu pondered for a moment before declaring, "So what? I’ll still beat them up!"
"And a Dharma Body."
"Then lure them into the sect... I’ll give it a shot."
Her tone softened slightly as she huffed.
Li Mo was taken aback. He had expected his beautiful master to dodge the topic with a laugh—after all, her principle was never to fight a battle she couldn’t win.
Who knew that within the Qingyuan Sect, she could actually hold her own against a Dharma Body?
The group exchanged uneasy glances, debating whether to summon the sect leader immediately.
Meanwhile, Li Mo’s gaze fell on Xu Yi.
"By the way, where’s the black market in Yunzhou where the Drizzle Pavilion issues bounties?"
"That... I can’t say."
This time, even Shang Wu’s death glare had no effect.
Xu Yi paled, shaking his head repeatedly.
Leaking the Drizzle Pavilion’s secrets? Even a madman would fear the consequences...
"Really won’t talk?"
"You don’t know the Pavilion’s creed? It’s every assassin’s oath—"
"You’re scared of that?"
"Only those of the Drizzle Pavilion can—"
"I have the Hallfront Swallow. It doesn’t break the rules. And... I’ll pay extra."
"..."
And so, Xu Yi spilled everything, even offering to guide them personally.
Watching Xu Yi spill secrets like beans from a sack, Li Mo suddenly felt his earlier act as the "Northwest Hammer King" to extract information had been entirely unnecessary.
Every assassin in the Drizzle Pavilion truly had a deep love for money.
If that was the case...
Young genius Li Mo began scheming.
After securing the unexpected guest Xu Yi, the group at the lakeside tavern turned their attention back to the center of the lake.
The Hidden Dragon Ranking within the Dragon Gate had already listed over half of the prodigies from the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths.
[Hidden Dragon Ranking, 47th: Zhi Duoluo.]
[Martial Arts: Seven Apertures of Divine Insight, Half-Demon Golden Roc physique, Mastery of Qiyun Movement Technique, exceptional blade skills, one perfected supreme art, and mastery over bloodline liberation—capable of summoning the Golden Roc’s divine intent.]
[Achievements: In the Southern Border, beheaded a Divine Insight general amidst ten thousand soldiers. In liberated bloodline form, single-handedly shattered 800 armored foes.]
[Title: Sun-Eclipsing Golden Roc.]
Zhi Duoluo.
Ying Bing had some recollection of this man.
Later, after some unknown opportunity in the Southern Border, he soared to the top ten of the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
Eventually, he even climbed the Human Ranking and Earth Ranking, securing remarkably high positions.
Even the divine intent he observed later evolved into an ultimate form.
"Did I miss my name while distracted earlier?"
Li Mo turned back to check the ranking.
"No." Before he could finish his thought, the icy voice of the "ice block" chimed in.
Jiang Chulong, hugging an apple, blinked her pale gray eyes:
"Brother Li... no, not yet."
"I’ve been... watching the whole time."
Jiang Chulong had noticed Xu Yi’s odd behavior early on.
People could lie, but swords never did...
Still, she knew that sword could never harm Brother Li. So while others were distracted by the minor incident, she had kept her eyes fixed on the Hidden Dragon Ranking.
Don’t mistake Chulong for slow—most of the time, she was sharp as a tack.
"Past the 40s, and still not here."
Xue Jing took a deep breath.
He felt it was close.
But... Old Xue’s instincts were wrong.
[Hidden Dragon Ranking, 35th: Zhang Shier.]
......
[Hidden Dragon Ranking, 29th: Jia Tengying.]
......
[Hidden Dragon Ranking, 20th: Xie Wanqiu.]
The names appearing on the Hidden Dragon Ranking grew increasingly renowned—most were figures long celebrated across the land.
"I know Jia Tengying. He won the Martial Arts Summit three tournaments ago and created his own supreme finger technique. Incredibly skilled."
"Xie Wanqiu is one of the Sword Manor of Heavenly Mountain’s prodigies, right? How is he only 20th?"
"I’ve seen Ying Bing lecture on swordsmanship—his skill surpasses even Xie Wanqiu’s. Why isn’t he listed yet?"
"Li the Sword Immortal left behind the Horizontal Cloud Sword Scar too!"
"Even if he’s just entered Divine Insight, he should still be ranked..."
As the chatter continued, it dawned on everyone—the top 20 were all capable of facing Inner Scenery experts head-on!
Tang Xiaobao, watching his master and Elder Qian hyperventilate, stirred his finger in his teacup.
Then, the Dragon Gate announced the 19th name:
[Hidden Dragon Ranking, 19th: Li Mo.]
[Martial Arts: Divine Insight (Two Apertures), possesses a supreme toughening art, peerless swordsmanship, follows the path of "Skill Approaching the Dao," but suspected to have even more astonishing talent with heavy weapons. Bears an immensely powerful secret technique.
Notably, his physiognomy suggests he greatly prospers his wife...]
[Achievements: Destroyed a crumbling pocket realm, joined Ying Bing in slaying Han Zhen and Yin Huaxuan, disrupted the Drizzle Pavilion’s Endless Trial, and repelled the Heavenly Demoness Yin Mianmian alongside Ying Bing during the Yunzhou Martial Assembly.]
[Title: Lonely Marvel Sword, Wife-Prospering Battle Soul.]
"It’s Li the Sword Immortal! Young Master Li!"
"Divine Insight with two apertures, ranked 19th? Behind him are experts with nine apertures!"
"In the history of the Hidden Dragon Ranking, has anyone ever ranked so high with such a low cultivation level?"
"Wife-Prospering Battle Soul? Might I ask if Young Master Li is married?"
"This old man is the wealthiest in Yunzhou. If Young Master Li would wed my daughter, half my fortune shall be her dowry!"
The lakeside erupted in an uproar.
"???"
Only young Li Mo himself fell into deep contemplation.
"Lonely Marvel Sword" was fitting—he had no complaints there.
But "Wife-Prospering Battle Soul"? What kind of nonsense was this? Huh? Didn’t that sound ridiculous?
Hmm...
Li Mo suddenly realized where this title came from.
Tian Miao!
"Was there nothing else to report? They had to include this?!"
Li Mo rubbed his temples.
While Tian Miao hadn’t exposed his World Seed or divine weapon—avoiding utter ruin—this wasn’t much better.
Next, the Dragon Gate revealed another name:
[Hidden Dragon Ranking, 18th: Ying Bing.]
world slacker. But a genius female disciple just had to get clingy, insisting that he take her as a disciple. Not only that, she was always making advances on him, thoroughly disrupting his peaceful slacker life...
ng to die together with you." Lin Xuan is dead, his body thrown into the river by his scumbag lover and her accomplice. She, the president of the Su Group, is decisive, ruthless, and ice-cold. For three days and three nights, she had his body fished out of the river, and without hesitation, she kissed the bloated corpse of Lin Xuan. She laid down beside him in a cold coffin, their fingers intertwined, a smile lingering on her lips as she closed her eyes. The noble and cold-hearted woman, only bending for one man—Lin Xuan. Lin Xuan, with his golden finger, is reborn and returns to the day of his wedding to the treacherous woman. Su Qiang comes to steal the bride. Lin Xuan's eyes light up, eager to pledge his loyalty on the spot, but instead, her kiss transfers a glass of drugged wine into his mouth, causing him to pass out... 【Male Protagonist with Single Female Lead】【Yandere Tycoon】【Action-Packed】【True vs. Fake Heir】
transmigrates into the world as the sect master of the Heavenly Yan Sect, which is on the verge of being wiped out. He binds a system that grants him cultivation power based on the number of disciples he has: for each disciple, he automatically gains a year's worth of cultivation every single day! Take one disciple: every day he gains 1 year of cultivation power. While others struggle through a year of bitter training, he gets the same just by sleeping through a single night. Take ten disciples: every day he gains 10 years of cultivation power. Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, Nascent Soul—he breezes through all bottlenecks without lifting a finger. Take one hundred disciples: every day he gains 100 years of cultivation power. Even a Soul Transformation Venerable before him can’t survive a single blow. Take ten thousand disciples: every day he gains 10,000 years of cultivation power! With a wave of his hand, he topples empires. With a single step, he crushes the sacred grounds of the universe. ... While others fight tooth and nail for secret techniques, Lin Yan casually hands out Nascent Soul-level cultivation manuals as beginner textbooks. While others strain to find talented recruits, Lin Yan opens his doors to anyone—so long as they’re human. In just three short years, the Heavenly Yan Sect went from a backwater sect made up of three crumbling huts to a sacred land that every cultivator under heaven would kill to enter. ... One day, otherworldly demon gods invade, with a million demon soldiers pressing down upon the realm. Lin Yan, yawning, rises from his lounge chair and glances at the system panel: [Current Disciples: 1.28 million] [Daily Cultivation Increase: 1.28 million years] He waves his hand casually, and the countless demon soldiers are reduced to ashes in an instant. “So noisy… interrupting my fishing.”
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
