Words are invisible knives that kill without drawing blood.

Just outside the gates of the capital city of the Xuanwu Kingdom, in the Nanzhan Continent.

Compared to the solemnity and strict regulations of the capital's inner districts, the outskirts were bustling with life.

Cartloads of goods pulled by horses and donkeys flowed through the city gates. Many shopkeepers were already waiting at the entrance to receive their merchandise, while numerous peddlers who had just entered the city were asking around for places to unload their wares.

With such a dense flow of people, a myriad of stalls naturally sprang up.

Selling food, water, and offering all sorts of services—everything one could need was available.

Among them, tea stands were especially numerous. Pushing carts and driving horses was backbreaking work; upon entering the city, grabbing a cup of tea to refresh and hydrate was an incredibly popular choice.

Cui Hao toyed with some broken silver in his hand, his footsteps lazy yet arrogant as he headed toward a tea stand. To describe him more specifically—he looked exactly like a textbook street hooligan.

Chen Baiqing slowed her pace, following behind Cui Hao, perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed to be seen walking with him.

Watching Cui Hao's smug demeanor ahead, she gently shook her head and looked at Li Xingtian beside her.

"Second Senior Brother, sometimes it is truly difficult to resist the urge to teach Fifth Junior Brother a lesson."

Li Xingtian nodded in deep agreement.

"You've suffered these past dozen years, Junior Sister. Our junior brother is indeed a bit too mischievous."

Cui Hao was already at the absolute peak of the late Golden Core stage, just a step away from the Nascent Soul realm. The two of them hadn't used divine sense to communicate, nor had they lowered their voices, so it would have been harder for him not to hear them.

He turned his head, his tone full of dissatisfaction.

"Senior Brother, Senior Sister, talking behind someone's back is quite immoral. Having stayed by the side of a future Sub-Sage all these days, haven't you absorbed even a little bit of elegant thinking?"

Chen Baiqing's lips curled up slightly, her tone gentle.

"Listening to that, does it mean you prefer I criticize you to your face?"

Cui Hao naturally understood the underlying threat in Chen Baiqing's words—Are you asking me to beat you up?

Cui Hao didn't quickly change his expression and back down like he usually did. He lightly tossed the silver in his hand, his eyes slightly lowered as he looked at Chen Baiqing, his tone suddenly turning extremely serious.

"Senior Sister, sometimes you really need to put some faith in your junior brother."

Chen Baiqing was slightly surprised inwardly, but her expression remained unchanged as she replied.

"That depends on your performance, not your empty boasting."

Cui Hao clenched the silver tightly, his expression brimming with confidence.

"Your fifth junior brother is a genius, you know!"

Chen Baiqing's expression didn't change, but Li Xingtian beside her suddenly burst into laughter.

The laugh was sudden and completely unguarded.

"Second Senior Brother?!" Cui Hao stared at Li Xingtian in shock.

If Chen Baiqing had laughed at him, Cui Hao would have accepted it, but why was the usually stoic and honest Li Xingtian laughing at him?

Li Xingtian tried to keep a straight face, but he clearly failed. He quickly covered the lower half of his face with his hand, though hearty laughter still leaked through his palm.

This time, Chen Baiqing couldn't control her expression either, looking at her second senior brother with a strange and puzzled gaze.

"I'm fine..." Li Xingtian tried hard to suppress his amusement, then took two deep breaths, but a trace of a smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth.

Everyone's sense of humor is completely different, and even bad jokes have their audience.

Cui Hao understood this principle, but he never expected his second senior brother's sense of humor to be so bizarre.

Was his claim of being a genius really funnier than an actual joke?

He still looked somewhat resentful as he said.

"Alright, alright, I know I'm not a genius, okay?"

Chen Baiqing looked at Li Xingtian, who was struggling to hold back his laughter again. Although she didn't quite understand what was so funny either, she glared at Cui Hao, signaling him to restrain himself and stop spouting nonsense.

Cui Hao retracted his aggrieved expression as easily as he put it on, instantly replacing it with a serious look, as if nothing had just happened.

He strode forward, taking the lead to enter a small tea stand that sold coarse, broken tea leaves and had a canvas tarp hung overhead for shade.

There were already quite a few people sitting inside the small tea stand.

"Service!" Cui Hao shouted at the waiter.

Hearing the voice, the waiter hurriedly turned around. Seeing Cui Hao dressed in extremely luxurious clothes, he quickly rushed over to attend to him. He kept his eyes on Cui Hao, completely ignoring Chen Baiqing and Li Xingtian behind him, as if he couldn't see them at all.

He hastily put on a fawning smile and said, "Good sir..."

Cui Hao casually glanced at one of the patrons' tea bowls and noticed that the tea inside was so pale it was almost colorless. Who knew how many times those leaves had been re-steeped.

"I'm covering everyone's tea tab today." Cui Hao tossed the silver he had been playing with to the waiter. "Switch to the best tea you have, and brew the freshest leaves."

The waiter's vision blurred for a second, and then a heavy silver ingot landed in his hands. Without asking a single question, he quickly pocketed the silver, his tone growing exceedingly sycophantic.

"Sir! Just call for me if you need anything else."

Cui Hao's voice was loud and full of vigor, and the silver was eye-catching enough.

Many people in the tea stand cast strange and cautious glances at this foolish young master who clearly had more money than sense.

Those who drank tea at this kind of stall were naturally all poor laborers; the wealthy would go to proper teahouses.

A rich person coming to show off their wealth in front of the poor naturally made for an unlikable first impression.

However, no one would truly refuse a free benefit. A few people chimed in, praising Cui Hao for his generosity and the like, and then ordered a few more bowls of tea.

Cui Hao found a less crowded table and sat down. There was no look of disdain in his eyes; instead, he asked with considerable curiosity,

"Do all of you here come from all corners of the world?"

Although Cui Hao looked like a wealthy young master at a glance, since he initiated the conversation, naturally there were bold ones willing to answer.

A dark-skinned, burly man holding a tea bowl laughed loudly,

"Those who can afford to live in the capital are all rich people. Would they be drinking plain water here?"

Cui Hao's gaze quickly locked onto the burly man who answered. With a gentle smile on his face, he said,

"Plain water has its own flavor. I am treating everyone to tea, naturally not because I have more money than sense, but because my family is strict and I have a restless temper. I always want to know what exciting days are like outside the capital, and what stories happen in the outside world. Of course, if I ask something I shouldn't, you all can just tell me to shut up."

Hearing this, the burly man put down the bowl in his hand and looked at Cui Hao strangely. Such a rich person was truly rare, but he also just had too much free time.

He thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "Life outside the city is just making a living. If there are real stories, they belong to those who don't have to worry about food and drink. We are either driving carts or feeding horses; we don't have any good stories to tell."

Hearing this, Cui Hao scratched his head with an awkward expression, then suddenly looked as if he realized something,

"Have you guys heard of Li Junzi from Junzi Mountain?"

The smile on the burly man's face stiffened slightly, but he did not dare to speak up in response.

This matter was already known to everyone in the Xuanwu Kingdom.

Like a gust of wind, before Li Junzi had even fully entered the borders, almost the entire Xuanwu Kingdom knew about it.

Cui Hao seemed unaware of the atmosphere in the tea stall. Thinking he had found a good topic, he began to speak,

"The current Emperor has summoned Li Junzi to the court to serve in the Secretariat. I am afraid he is going to implement new policies."

"To let everyone in the world who wants to read have books to read. Some say this vision is good, while others say it is bad. What do you all think?"

The burly man looked at the innocent-looking Cui Hao and asked in return,

"Does the noble lord think it is good or bad?"

Cui Hao's lips curled up, and he declared loudly,

"Since ancient times, those who become officials are the ones who can read."

"My father says, words are formless blades that kill without spilling blood."