What a coincidence

The next morning, three suns rose from the horizon of Qingyuan. The Purple Sun Prefecture, which had stood for millennia, witnessed an exceptionally bustling flow of carriages and horses coming and going.

The Qingyuan Sect was about to become a major sect governing the region, and the excitement rivaled the days when it was the old capital of the Great Shang.

Even the storytelling masters under the overpass had improved their skills considerably.

The "Fengyun Rankings of the Nine Heavens and Ten Earths" could be bought with silver, but lately, many preferred to gather under the overpass to listen to the cross-talk performances.

"The new issue of the Human Ranking has been announced. Our 'Wife-Fortune Little Overlord' and 'Frost Fairy' are, needless to say, on the list, but that's not the main point."

"I heard that this time, besides the 'Hundred Flowers Beauty Ranking,' they will also release a 'Jade Tree and Orchid Ranking' (Handsome Men Ranking)."

"Just a passerby, but I think Young Master Li Mo could take first place."

Under the overpass, Huang Donglai was weaving tales with eloquence and vivid expression.

Initially, he might have done it to gather the power of common souls for Li Mo, but later he discovered he genuinely loved storytelling.

And he had a real talent for it.

Of course, even with Old Huang's excellent storytelling skills, there were still skeptics.

"Bullshit. I've seen Li Mo. He's just average-looking at best."

"I've figured it out. This storyteller is a Li Mo fanboy."

A disciple of the Lingxi Sect snorted coldly, his comment about "average looks" heavily tinged with personal bias.

He had been sent to gather information on Li Mo and heard this storyteller knew something about him, only to find it was all awkward praise.

So he turned to leave but bumped into someone at the street corner.

"Indeed."

He jumped in fright, looking up to see a sunny, handsome face.

"Li... Li Mo??"

"You can also call me Li, the average-looking, Mo."

Li Mo felt a bit rueful. Old Huang was such a low-key person, yet it seemed all his flamboyance was used right here on him.

His arrival caused a stir among the crowd.

The previously contentious and opinionated voices quieted down. Many carefree, weapon-carrying wanderers even adopted a more polite tone when greeting him.

His absence was one thing.

But now, the number one Hidden Dragon, a top-ten contender on the Human Ranking before reaching the age of twenty, possessing Heaven's Craftsman talent, the Qingyuan Sect's famous best actor, and a strong competitor for the Jade Tree and Orchid Ranking, was standing right in front of you.

To ordinary people, he already had his own legend.

"Young Master Li is truly a dragon among men, with the bearing of the sun."

"When the Qingyuan Sect holds its promotion ceremony, we hope to beg a cup of wine."

Facing the flattery from the crowd, Li Mo cupped his hands in acknowledgment one by one.

Before long, the storytelling stall under the overpass packed up.

"Brother Li, why are you out by yourself today? Aren't you preparing for the engagement banquet?"

"Helping Elder Qian buy some supplies. Can't just freeload off his dumplings for nothing."

"What happened to your mouth?"

"Burnt it on a dumpling."

"?"

Huang Donglai looked at the red mark on the corner of his lips, thinking it was clearly a bite mark. What kind of dumpling bites people?

Seeing he was alone, Li Mo asked, "Where's Old Xiao?"

"Went back to the sect to go into seclusion."

"And Murong Xiao?"

"Went to the brothel to challenge his own weakness."

"Everyone has their own serious business. How come you're here under the overpass telling stories?"

Li Mo asked helplessly as they walked.

"Hit a bottleneck. I was thinking if I could gain insights from related fields," Huang Donglai sighed.

Old Huang, always well-versed in the way of caution, naturally wouldn't reveal his depths to others, but he was quite frank with Li Mo.

Li Mo roughly understood.

Old Huang's martial arts were rather special.

You could tell from the names of his moves: "Disfiguring Kick," "Tendon-Softening Palm"... The divine concepts he observed were related to somewhat illicit and unlawful poisons.

The path was unorthodox, the power immense, and hard to guard against.

But it was a road no one had walked before. He had only gotten this far thanks to that strange pearl he obtained by chance.

Now he had tried every method he could think of but didn't know how to proceed to the Inner Scene realm.

"My talent was always ordinary. It wouldn't be surprising if I were stuck at the third realm for life,"

Huang Donglai said somewhat gloomily.

"We can think of ways slowly regarding martial arts matters."

From Li Mo's perspective through the Eye of Heavenly Destiny, Huang's destiny simply couldn't be trapped at the third realm.

"But... what's the connection between gaining insights from related fields and storytelling?"

Huang Donglai was silent for a moment, changing the subject:

"Brother Li, seems like a Lingxi Sect disciple is following us."

"I know."

"Don't need to deal with him? Hmm, right, probably here to gather information. Acting rashly might alert the enemy."

"That's not entirely it. Lingxi Sect disciples have terrible luck. No need to bother; they'll run into misfortune on their own."

"......"

As they talked, the two headed to the market of Purple Sun Prefecture.

.....

Meanwhile, at an inn in the eastern city of Purple Sun Prefecture.

A group of men wearing straw hats sat in a private room of a tavern drinking tea, as if waiting for something.

The middle-aged leader wore a blue robe embroidered with purple clouds. He was missing two fingers on one hand and was lightly tapping the table with his index finger.

"Sss..." A disciple suddenly sucked in a sharp breath.

"What is it?"

The middle-aged man opened his eyes from feigned sleep; one eye socket was empty.

"It's nothing, Sect Master. I got a toothache from drinking cold water..."

"Hmph, one should be used to such things by now."

The Lingxi Sect Master snorted coldly.

The disciples chimed in agreement:

"Yeah, a toothache from cold water is nothing. This morning, I found a blade in my food."

"I went to the temple to offer incense, my money pouch fell into the donation box. Got beaten up as a thief when I tried to retrieve it."

"That's nothing. There's actually a nail on this stool of mine. See me complaining?"

"Damn, I thought you had rectal bleeding recently and messed your pants."

"Enough!"

The Sect Master waved his hand, his gaze sweeping over the disciples, comforting them:

"As the saying goes, 'After extreme bad luck comes good luck.' Our bad luck is to have good luck when using our arcane arts. Suffer small losses, gain great fortune. That's the principle."

The disciples nodded in unison.

BANG—

The door was suddenly pushed open with great force, as if kicked.

"Huh? Where is everyone? Were they arrested?"

The disciple who had gone out to gather information looked bewildered.

Only then did he see the elite members of the Lingxi Sect crawling out from under the table.

"Why didn't you knock?"

"I thought the authorities were raiding us for prostitution again."

"Wait, then why did we hide? We weren't doing anything illegal."

"It's a conditioned reflex, isn't it..."

The Lingxi Sect appeared to be a righteous sect, but they practiced unorthodox arts and were no strangers to shady dealings in private.

"I slipped when I reached the doorway..."

"Enough. What information did you gather?"

The middle-aged Sect Master returned to his seat and asked seriously.

"Li Mo... he is indeed dazzlingly handsome."

"?"