Xu Mu was a bit confused. He glanced at Dai Xingluo before asking skeptically, "What do you mean?"
"Old Li, your words do sound a bit ambiguous. Anyone hearing it might think you're trying to set me up with someone."
Dai Xingluo covered her mouth and chuckled beside him.
"Actually, it's not much different from matchmaking—both involve finding someone to share life with."
Li Zizai smiled, twirling the Buddhist beads in his hand. "What I meant was, would you like to work at our shop under Miss Dai? Salary won’t be an issue."
"Sorry, but I have to take care of my master often. I probably won’t have time to help here."
Xu Mu refused without hesitation.
His schedule was already packed—how could he waste time here?
He had initially thought Dai Xingluo was almost won over by him, but now he understood the real reason.
She was only interested in his antique appraisal skills.
"You're Xu Mu, right?" Dai Xingluo asked.
"That’s correct."
Xu Mu nodded lightly.
"I understand. With an ability like yours, money isn’t an issue. You could easily become wealthy just by spotting hidden treasures."
Dai Xingluo carried an air of refined elegance. "I simply admire your talent. I won’t force anything."
"Thanks."
Xu Mu nodded again. "If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave."
"Going to meet that ‘ordinary friend’ of yours?" Dai Xingluo smiled faintly.
"I came here only to look for treasures."
With that, Xu Mu turned and left.
His visit to Dai Xingluo was merely to make an appearance and remind her of his existence.
He had other matters to attend to—namely, helping Feng Yue break through as a martial artist.
Watching Xu Mu exit the shop, Dai Xingluo reclined back into her chair.
"Even a beautiful boss like you couldn’t keep him around. This kid’s got some serious self-control."
Li Zizai grinned as he looked at Dai Xingluo.
"Earlier, I saw a pretty woman greet him enthusiastically. Maybe in his eyes, she’s the more attractive one."
Dai Xingluo leaned back, no longer holding the jade pendant Xu Mu had given her but instead a gold-edged dagger.
"That kid’s a martial artist too, and he could instantly identify an Earth-rank technique. He’s no ordinary guy."
Li Zizai smirked. "Should we test him?"
"What do you mean?"
Dai Xingluo turned her head toward him.
"I just want to see how strong he is. If he’s capable, wouldn’t it be perfect to recruit him? We’re short on skilled fighters right now."
Li Zizai picked up a magnifying glass and resumed examining a porcelain piece.
"Look at him—do you really think he’d join us?" Dai Xingluo shook her head slightly.
"With your beauty, plenty of men would jump at the chance to be your lapdog. Luring a young guy like him should be easy."
Li Zizai paused briefly before adding, "Besides, you seem to have a favorable impression of him."
Dai Xingluo recalled Xu Mu’s earlier words to her and smiled. "What good is that? I need top-tier fighters, not weaklings."
---
Xu Mu strolled down the street, hands in his pockets, his eyes scanning the market stalls like a high-tech scanner.
Even the most skilled antique appraisers needed time to examine items carefully, but Xu Mu’s ability worked like an instant label—revealing an object’s age and value at a glance.
Suddenly, his gaze landed on an intricately carved jade pendant.
"A Tang Dynasty white jade cloud-pattern pendant."
Xu Mu was inwardly stunned. He hadn’t expected to find something like this at a street stall.
Upon closer inspection, however, he noticed a flaw—a crack running through it.
If intact, this piece would easily fetch over five million. But with the damage, its value was halved.
Approaching the stall, Xu Mu deliberately ignored the pendant at first, pointing instead at a plain white jade tablet. "How much for this, boss?"
"Haha, young man, you’ve got a good eye! This pendant’s made of Hetian jade—almost flawless—and it’s an antique."
The stall owner, a middle-aged man with a buzz cut, grinned. "Twenty grand, and it’s yours."
"Too expensive. Got anything cheaper?" Xu Mu asked.
"Everything I display here is high-quality." The man chuckled.
"Really? Then what’s this? Low-grade jade with a crack—how much could it possibly be worth?"
Xu Mu pointed at the cloud-pattern pendant.
"That’s a premium piece!"
The stall owner glanced around before lowering his voice. "I bought this from tomb raiders."
"Boss, let me be honest—I wouldn’t even pay a hundred for it."
As he spoke, Xu Mu picked up a bracelet. "How much for this?"
"Ten thousand. It’s a celadon jade bracelet."
The man eyed the bracelet before answering.
"I’ll take it."
Xu Mu nodded.
The owner wasn’t lying—it was indeed celadon jade, and the price was fair.
"Great! I’ll wrap it up right away." The man beamed. "Anything else, brother?"
"What about this smaller one?"
Xu Mu pointed to another celadon jade bracelet.
Since he was buying, he might as well get two—one for Ye Tong and one for Ye Yu.
"Nine thousand for this one, but if you buy both, I’ll give them to you for eight and a half each."
The stall owner smiled.
"Deal. Pack them up."
Xu Mu then gestured to the cloud-pattern pendant. "Throw this in too."
"This one’s another ten grand." The man grinned slyly.
"Not honest? Fine, forget it." Xu Mu turned to leave.
"Wait, brother! We can negotiate!"
Seeing Xu Mu actually walk away, the owner panicked and called after him.
He’d found the pendant in an old wooden box while collecting antiques in a village. It looked aged, so he’d tossed it on display.
Selling it for even a hundred would still be profit.
"How much for all three?" Xu Mu stopped.
"Twenty grand for the bundle."
The man held up two fingers.
"Fine, I’ll reluctantly agree."
Xu Mu returned, scanned the payment, and took the items.
Since no one could see his storage space, he openly transferred the purchases into it right there.
Just as he was about to leave, he spotted Shen Wanning.
She stepped out of an antique shop, carrying a bag, and noticed him too.
"Hmph!"
Shen Wanning lifted her chin, ignoring Xu Mu as she walked away.
Xu Mu couldn’t help but smile. This woman was amusing.
But he didn’t chase after her. Unlike protagonists like Lin Yang, he didn’t lose all sense at the sight of a pretty face.
He was content—the women around him already provided a steady stream of justice points. That was enough.
Shen Wanning noticed Xu Mu seemingly following her and quickly turned left.
But Xu Mu hadn’t been pursuing her at all—he simply continued down the street.
Only then did she realize they’d just been going the same way.
She couldn’t stand it. Xu Mu clearly liked her—he’d even studied music for her sake.
Though she’d never accept his advances, being overshadowed by some green-tea girl was too much to bear.
With that thought in mind, Shen Wanning turned back and hurried after Xu Mu.
"Xu Mu! Stop right there!"
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?!
close your eyes and open them again, only to find yourself transmigrated into the role of a villainous male supporting character. Readers familiar with urban wish-fulfillment novels know that it is only through the relentless antics of the villainous male supporting character that the plot between the male and female leads can progress. As the villainous male supporting character, Long Aotian not only has to bully the female lead, harass the second female lead, and flirt with the third female lead, but he also has to go all out to antagonize the male lead. In the end, when his body is discovered, he is still clutching half a moldy fried dough stick in his hand. Fully aware of the plot, Long Aotian is determined to change his fate, starting with the female lead! In the beginning, the female lead lacks confidence: "Big brother, I hope I didn't scare you?" In the middle, the female lead treads carefully: "Brother Long, please don't hit me, okay?" Later on, the female lead becomes coquettishly clingy: "Aotian, it's time to pay the 'public grain' tonight." Long Aotian's legs go weak, and he feels like crying: "I taught you to be thick-skinned, not shameless!"
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
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)
