"A modest gift for our first meeting. What do you all think?"
Sun Gui straightened up, stroking his chin with a faint smile.
The Qingyuan Sect was considered a major sect within a single prefecture, but Yunzhou comprised three domains and twenty-seven prefectures, each no less prosperous than Purple Sun Prefecture. The financial accounts he handled annually could easily fund the establishment of several sects of Qingyuan Sect's scale.
His calculations were precise.
The items displayed outside were roughly equivalent to the treasury of a mid-sized sect.
Yet, the hall remained silent.
Qian Bufan: "..."
Ouyang: "..."
He scratched his head, mentally tallying how many sets of Li Mo's calligraphy supplies those gifts could buy.
Xue Jing: "..."
Recalling the sight of young Li Mo casually pouring out medicinal herbs, Old Xue remained utterly unfazed.
The room was dead silent.
So silent it grew awkward.
Sun Gui was at a loss. Could the Qingyuan Sect's wealth far exceed his expectations?
Or were they simply too worldly to show any reaction?
Li Mo, young as he was, surely hadn’t seen such extravagance before...
"Young Hero Li, what do you think?"
"I’ve always regarded wealth as dirt and have never been interested in gold or treasures."
Li Mo smiled politely.
He sensed a gaze boring into his back.
As everyone knew, Li Mo didn’t have eyes on the back of his head.
But had his training with his beautiful master been for nothing?
Now it proved useful.
"Please take these gifts back, Manager Sun."
Sun Gui’s expression shifted. Skilled in reading people, he detected not a trace of greed or reluctance in Li Mo’s demeanor.
Was this young man truly noble, free from base desires?
But... everyone in this world sought something.
Be it fame, fortune, or personal transcendence.
Sun Gui narrowed his eyes and chuckled.
"In that case, I’ve been presumptuous."
"However, Young Hero Li, you should know that our Hengtong Trading Company has branches across the land. We possess every manner of rare treasure, miraculous elixirs, divine weapons, and secret manuals. Even if we don’t have something in stock, we can procure it through our connections."
"Divine weapons?"
"Uh..."
"Do you have any divine-grade swords?"
Sun Gui’s smile froze.
Divine weapons were typically in the hands of Heaven Ranking experts—treasures even they hesitated to wield, often enshrined in ancestral halls.
"The company could acquire one, but that would exceed my authority..."
"So it was just an exaggeration. What about divine techniques?"
"..."
Sun Gui himself only practiced a top-tier martial art, far from divine.
"Do you have any pills like the Nine-Aperture Dragon-Tiger Golden Elixir?" Li Mo asked.
"Ah? What’s that?"
Sun Gui had reached the limits of his knowledge.
For the first time, he felt... constrained by his own lack of imagination.
Tang Xiaobao scratched his head. "Junior Brother Li, it seems everything he mentioned was just hyperbole."
Sun Gui suddenly felt the weather grow unbearably warm, sweat beading on his forehead.
After an awkward pause, he cleared his throat.
"Let’s order first."
"We can discuss further over dinner... Waiter!"
Li Mo said, "The waiter’s asleep in the firewood shed."
"Huh?" Sun Gui blinked, then forced a smile. "Actually, I’m quite close with the owner here. I’ll invite him to join us."
"You mean Manager Zhang? He’s... probably halfway back to his hometown by now," Li Mo mused.
"He left? Why so suddenly..."
"Naturally, because he sold the tavern for a good price."
"Old Zhang once said this tavern was his life’s work. What sum could make him abandon it and retire in peace..."
Sun Gui took a sip of tea.
Li Mo replied, "A chest of banknotes—about the size of yours."
"A chest... of banknotes? What kind of fool would..." Sun Gui glanced around, then frowned.
"Young Hero Li, how do you know this so clearly?"
Li Mo pointed at himself expressionlessly.
"Because that fool was me."
"??"
Sun Gui suddenly understood why Li Mo had no interest in money.
He coughed lightly, his voice shrinking.
"Well... my eldest daughter is quite beautiful, refined, gentle, and deeply admires you. She should meet your standards for a partner."
"A rich, beautiful noblewoman, dear disciple," Shang Wu teased, nudging Li Mo with her elbow.
Li Mo waved his hand emphatically. "I have no interest in well-bred ladies."
Sun Gui pressed on. "Then my second daughter—though a bit spoiled, she’s lively and loves chivalry..."
"Same for the spoiled heiress."
"My third daughter serves in the magistrate’s office as a constable. She despises evil and fights injustice relentlessly."
"...Can she help me wipe out the Drizzle Tower?"
Li Mo’s forehead creased with exasperation.
Just how many daughters did Manager Sun have?
This was getting ridiculous. If he weren’t careful, Sun Gui might offer him the whole lot.
But his stance was clear!
Why was this man so determined to make him a son-in-law?
Blame Tian Miao—whether the "prosperous spouse" rumor was true or not, why did the Hidden Dragon Ranking have to include such nonsense?
"I have no plans to marry anytime soon," Li Mo said firmly.
Sun Gui pondered, then suggested, "Then perhaps... Young Hero Li could spend time with my daughters individually? Feelings might blossom over time..."
Li Mo’s gaze was unwavering. "Impossible. Absolutely impossible!"
As he spoke, someone sat down beside him.
Ying Bing sipped tea as if no one else existed, her jade-like complexion radiating an untouchable nobility.
When her eyes swept over him, Sun Gui no longer felt hot.
Yet his sweat poured even more uncontrollably.
"Manager Sun, I appreciate your kindness, but please take these gifts back."
Li Mo picked up his teacup.
Sun Gui, ever the diplomat, conceded gracefully.
"A gift once given cannot be taken back."
"Just having made your acquaintance makes this trip worthwhile."
He clapped his hands.
Servants carried in another chest—this one far more ornate, its material alone worth its weight in gold.
"What’s this?" Li Mo asked.
Sun Gui strode to the chest in the center of the hall and patted it.
"Though it may not be precious to you, Young Hero Li, it’s something you’ll find useful."
Just as he moved to open it—
A sudden chill gripped his heart.
Across the room, the Qingyuan Sect elders stiffened in unison, sensing an abrupt shift.
No—not abrupt.
The chest exploded the next instant.
A domain of inner vision descended.
Pitch-black darkness swallowed the tavern, so absolute that not a sliver of light remained.
"Altering Heaven and Earth"?
Wasn’t this the signature technique of the Malevolent Bright King?
A name flashed through their minds:
Disciple of the Malevolent Bright King, ranked 73rd on the Human Ranking—
Ten Thousand Horses Silenced Blade, Peng Keshan.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
grated, and just when he finally managed to get into an elite academy, he discovered that he actually had a system, and the way to earn rewards was extremely ridiculous. So for the sake of rewards, he had no choice but to start acting ridiculous as well. Su Cheng: "It's nothing but system quests after all." But later, what confused Su Cheng was that while he was already quite ridiculous, he never expected those serious characters to gradually become ridiculous too. And the way they looked at him became increasingly strange... (This synopsis doesn't do it justice, please read the full story)
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...
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
