Murong Xiao was completely dumbfounded.
He stared blankly at the female bandit who had just been fiercely tearing off his clothes, now displaying genuine sorrow; the pain and despair in her eyes were impossible to fake.
How deeply must one be wounded to reveal such profound and unforgettable pain?
Unexpectedly, this person was also a fellow sufferer in this world. In an instant, the string of "vigilance" in Murong Xiao's mind snapped open.
Seemingly noticing Murong Xiao's suddenly relaxed shoulder, Shen Zhaozhao's eyes darkened, and she changed the subject: "But then again, look at your cultivation level, Foundation Establishment Level 2. You almost got yourself into trouble by beating up a piglet in Falling Star Marsh."
"At this rate, by the time you climb back to the upper realm, your poor sworn brother will probably have been squeezed dry and his soul destroyed by your father."
"..."
Murong Xiao shuddered at her blunt and bloody "prophecy." The little brat suddenly raised his head, his eyes instantly turning red as if they could drip blood. He bit his lower lip so hard that it almost bled.
"……I know!"
His voice was choked with sobs, filled with anxiety and resentment. After a long pause, he managed to squeeze out a few words through gritted teeth, "But...but what can I do! My body is so weak, my aptitude is so bad that I wouldn't even qualify as an outer disciple of the five major sects!"
"Without a major sect to take me in, I can only spend my days in this muddy, low-level secret realm, hoping to quickly improve my cultivation through actual combat!"
Looking at his despairing expression, as if the sky had fallen and the earth had collapsed, Shen Zhaozhao's lips curled up almost imperceptibly, and the sharp glint in her eyes was almost impossible to hide.
She slowly straightened up, crossed her arms, and looked down at the little boy crying his eyes out in the mud puddle. "What if I told you I had a way?"
Murong Xiao's sobs abruptly stopped, and his tear-streaked eyelashes trembled.
Shen Zhaozhao: "I see that you have lofty ambitions, but you lack a good platform and a solid support that can tailor a training program for you, help you overtake others, and achieve success as soon as possible."
Her voice was seductive, like an HR professional painting a rosy picture for a recent graduate: "Do you know why you're stuck in this mess? Because you're all alone!"
"Rogue cultivators are at the very bottom of the cultivation world, lacking resources, connections, and security. But joining our sect changes everything."
Shen Zhaozhao patted her small chest suddenly: "Have you heard of Xiao Jingrui, who has recently made a name for himself in the alchemy world?"
Murong Xiao nodded subconsciously.
Xiao Jingrui's reputation has indeed been quite prominent lately, with all sorts of elixirs emerging one after another, stirring up a storm in the elixir market.
"That's my second senior brother."
Shen Zhaozhao grabbed Murong Xiao by the collar and lifted him up a little from the mud, staring at him with gleaming eyes: "Those old fogies from Medicine King Valley, he's almost stolen 30% of their business. Tell me, how can a sect that can raise a genius like my second senior brother not be strong?"
"So? Why not take action instead!"
"Join us, and all you'll lose is a tiny, insignificant bit of face, but what you'll gain is the most top-tier cultivation experience in the entire Lingzhou and the brightest future!"
Murong Xiao was completely bewildered by her combination of punches, his wariness shattered, leaving only a clear-eyed stupidity.
He opened his mouth, his voice trembling slightly, "...Really?"
They even overlooked why Shen Zhaozhao said that what he would lose was a very strange price, such as "face".
Unfortunately, it was all too late.
Just after Murong Xiao nodded, Shen Zhaozhao seemed to remember something and gave the little brat a bright and gentle smile: "Junior brother, welcome to our peerless handsome sect."
"When you announce your sect's name in the future, remember to speak louder!"
His handsomeness was unparalleled.
These five words were like five bolts of lightning covered in mud, striking Murong Xiao squarely on the head.
The moment Shen Zhaozhao finished speaking, Murong Xiao felt a wave of dizziness. He froze on the spot, his eyes unable to move, staring straight at Shen Zhaozhao's smiling face that seemed to say "Welcome to the pit."
A few breaths later, Murong Xiao's handsome face, covered in mud, suddenly contorted, his expression shifting from bewilderment to shock, and then to utter terror: "Wh-what?!"
The little brat, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, suddenly took a big step back, instantly widening the distance between himself and Shen Zhaozhao by at least three meters, as if what Shen Zhaozhao had just said was not the name of a sect, but the true name of some ancient demon.
"Handsome...handsome..."
Murong Xiao's voice trembled, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, filled with a deep sense of humiliation and offense: "What kind of lousy name is this?!"
"Has your sect leader lost his mind?!"
"Does he still think he's incredibly funny, incredibly charming, and incredibly unique?!"
"No! Absolutely not!"
Murong Xiao shook his head like a rattle-drum, his eyes filled with the resolute determination of "rather die than enter a fire pit," while his feet continued to quietly move backward, wishing he could grow eight legs immediately and escape this land that made his soul feel suffocated.
"Senior Sister Chen... I think..."
He swallowed hard, forcing a smile that looked more like a grimace. "This sect... it's not really necessary to join... right? Being a rogue cultivator is pretty good too, free and unrestrained. I... I think I can still salvage my rogue cultivation career..."
Shen Zhaozhao's smile remained unchanged, and even became brighter. Her smile clearly conveyed her warm concern: "We'll share the hardships together," "You're already here," and "You've delivered yourself to my doorstep, how could I let you run away?"
"Junior brother~"
Shen Zhaozhao's voice was sickeningly sweet. She stepped forward and precisely grabbed Murong Xiao's wrist as he tried to escape. "A name is just a code. And listen to your senior sister, once you've thrown away your pride, you'll get better and better at it."
As she spoke, she didn't hesitate to drag Murong Xiao, who had instantly turned into a screaming chicken, towards the source of the increasingly dense spiritual energy fluctuations in the center of the secret realm.
"Let me go! Shen Zhaozhao! You bandit! Liar! Heartless bastard! You didn't say your sect was called that before!!"
Murong Xiao was pulled so hard that he stumbled, almost half-dragging and half-hanging on Shen Zhaozhao's arm, his legs kicking futilely on the ground, kicking up mud and decaying leaves.
"Help!!! I don't want to join that bullshit 'Unparalleled Handsome Man Sect'! My brother will laugh me to death if he finds out!"
"Brother—save me—"
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