On the way back to Senluo Valley, Yuwen Cuojin examined the instant noodle recipe.
When the celestial being handed them the recipe, there was only one condition:
No matter the method—whether selling or gifting—it must bear the brand name "Celestial Venerable."
Yuwen Cuojin was finally starting to grasp the implications.
"If we succeed, wouldn’t a significant portion of the gathered faith be attributed to the Celestial Venerable?"
"Luo Yexian mentioned that the celestial being is usually elusive, yet today he just happened to be in Nanjiang, right at Sanshan Town—the very place where he first began spreading his teachings... waiting..."
"He was waiting for me! And this recipe was prepared in advance?! Using me to expand his influence?"
At this realization, Yuwen Cuojin couldn’t help but inhale sharply—along with a whiff of instant noodle seasoning.
What a profound scheme!
On the surface, it seemed effortless, as if everything had fallen into place naturally. Yet every step was meticulously orchestrated!
Even more terrifying was that what he saw was likely just the tip of the iceberg. The Wanxiang Immortal Sect, dormant for years, was suddenly preaching across the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths—their ambitions must be vast indeed!
No wonder even the Cloud Dream Ancestral God willingly chopped scallops for him!
"Let’s deliver this recipe to the Blood Refining Hall first."
"See if they can produce the Celestial Venerable Sauce..."
......
Time passed, and the three suns gradually sank behind the Qingyuan Mountain Range.
The reluctant last glow of dusk fell upon the leaves of the great banyan tree in the courtyard, causing the final withered leaf to flutter down and land on a pair of slender, jade-like hands.
Yet, as if separated by an invisible veil, the leaf slipped away.
Ying Bing sat beneath the banyan tree, her skin not only pale but also shimmering with a jade-like sheen.
She had changed into a white bathrobe, but the silhouette of her body beneath was outlined in black. The robe was shorter than her usual moonlit dress, revealing a glimpse of her calf—wrapped in sheer black silk, its allure breathtaking.
Her expressionless face, bathed in twilight, was half-lit in serene beauty, half-shadowed with the hues of night.
Her gaze lingered faintly at the courtyard gate, as if waiting for someone...
Suddenly, footsteps echoed.
"Exhausted."
But it was Qin Yuzhi who entered. She glanced at Ying Bing’s attire and raised an eyebrow.
"Little Bing, have you been practicing body-refining martial arts?"
"Mm. Just a little."
"Just a little?"
Qin Yuzhi thought to herself—this was already mastery.
Who could refine their physique so effortlessly on the first day without even injuring themselves?
Studying Ying Bing’s outfit, she asked curiously,
"Why are you wearing a bathrobe?"
"Soaking in the hot springs after body refinement aids recovery."
"And underneath...?"
"Training clothes. Didn’t have time to change."
Qin Yuzhi blinked. "Then why haven’t you gone yet...? What are you waiting for?"
"I’ll go soon."
The ice block sipped her tea nonchalantly, insisting her reasons for visiting the springs were purely practical.
Qin Yuzhi stretched. "I heard the hot springs are great for relaxation. Perfect for today—Li Mo isn’t treating me like an employee, but a beast of burden!"
Her Dream Step technique couldn’t be used dozens, let alone hundreds, of times in a single day!
Who knew what method that kid used to teleport wherever he pleased? The only downside was he couldn’t bring others along.
"I’ll join you for a soak. Little Bing, shall we go together?"
"I prefer solitude."
"??"
Qin Yuzhi suddenly recalled Li Mo mentioning that the ice block was waiting for him to bathe.
Now Ying Bing claimed she liked being alone.
Which one of them was lying?
The sect master suspected Li Mo—after all, that kid could spin tales like no other.
"You go ahead. I’ll rest in my room for a bit."
Ying Bing tugged her bathrobe lower, slipped her silk-clad feet into her shoes, and headed upstairs.
She opened the window, where the misty Blossom of Eternity Spring’s artificial mountain steamed with rising heat.
......
Meanwhile, Li Mo remained blissfully unaware of the unintended consequences of his actions.
He had finished touring the remaining towns, though he skipped the live demonstration of cooking braised beef noodles.
Instead, he left the ingredients for the locals to prepare themselves.
By the time he wrapped up, dusk had fallen.
"Another layer?"
At the gates of Qiushui Pavilion, Li Mo retrieved the Empty Myriad Colors Pagoda, surprised by the unexpected gain.
But then it struck him.
The higher one’s cultivation, the more faith energy they contributed.
So this additional layer in the pagoda? Likely fueled by the disciples of the Summoning Demons Sect.
Another step closer to projecting the Great Dao’s divine form.
Pity the Summoning Demons Sect had to remain in the shadows. Otherwise, he’d have recruited them as Wanxiang Immortal Sect’s affiliates.
Shaking his head, Li Mo watched the mist disperse, revealing Qiushui Pavilion’s gates once more.
Yet in the courtyard, the ice block was nowhere to be seen.
Under the banyan tree, only Qin Yuzhi sat, carving bamboo slips with a knife—still unaccustomed to using a brush.
"Hey, the great swindler returns."
"???"
Li Mo cleared his throat solemnly. "Swindler? The Bamboo of Sincerity itself confirmed I’m a gentleman. Every word I speak is true."
"Oh really? You lied to me today." Qin Yuzhi huffed.
"What did I lie about?"
"You said Little Bing was waiting to bathe with you—used it as an excuse to rush me back here. Even your own people aren’t spared from your schemes. Outrageous."
"???"
Question marks floated above Li Mo’s head. "That’s true! We agreed to admire the moon at the Blossom of Eternity Spring."
"Then Little Bing lied to me."
"What did the ice block say?"
Qin Yuzhi gave him a knowing look. "She claimed she was soaking to recover from training and preferred solitude."
Li Mo pondered. "What was she wearing when you got back?"
"A bathrobe, with something black underneath... oh right, ‘training clothes.’"
Qin Yuzhi described the scene vividly—dreamers had a knack for details.
Li Mo leaned back slightly.
Training clothes...
Since when did training outfits include stockings?
"Based on my experience, the one you spoke to wasn’t the ice block."
"Then who was it?"
"The bad ice block."
"????"
Qin Yuzhi recalled the scenes she’d glimpsed in Ying Bing’s dreams.
So who was deceiving her? She couldn’t tell anymore—truly couldn’t!
Meanwhile, Li Mo headed upstairs.
Sure enough, Ying Bing’s room was empty.
But... the window was open.
If the ice block had returned to Qiushui Pavilion but wasn’t in the courtyard or her room, where else could she be?
"Shinji wa mou ichido!"
Li Mo smirked, adjusting imaginary sunglasses.
The bad ice block had pulled off her deception—she’d kept their rendezvous!
In that case...
He’d better sneak into the springs without a sound.
With that, Li Mo stepped onto the windowsill and leaped out, soaring toward the misty peak of the artificial mountain.
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)
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.
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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?!
