A world without glitz
The story of how Zhang Sanfan saw through the hidden rules began with a scam. Zhang Sanfan was a well-known man in Luo'an Town, known for his crippled left leg. His disabled left leg, a handicap he'd carried since birth, meant he wasn't expected to do any manual labor at home, leaving his three older sisters as his free labor. This made him the family's little bully, a man who spent his days learning nothing, intent on studying the profound art of cultivating immortals. He was, in reality, just an ordinary person, yet to awaken his spiritual intelligence. He'd heard from somewhere that a group of immortal cultivators had recently arrived in town for their trials, and this intrigued him, so he spent the day squatting on Plum Blossom Street near the council hall.
Today, he'd actually caught two ostentatious individuals. He'd witnessed with his own eyes how the man simply waved his hands, and the woman beside him was swept up against the gray wall by a gust of wind. Life in Luoan Town was peaceful and ordinary, so no one except Zhang Sanfan paid any attention to the two's playful encounter. Even though it had been ten years, Zhang Sanfan would never forget that encounter with them. It was his first encounter with an immortal, unlike the ethereal beings described in storybooks. They looked no different from the more beautiful second sister, but their aura was truly ethereal, unlike the graceful figures in the picture books. They were clearly childlike, just like the youngest sister at home.
Zhang Sanfan's left leg is slightly disabled, making walking very difficult. He relies almost entirely on his right leg to support his body and move forward, but surprisingly, his speed is almost the same as that of a normal person. Due to the imperfections in his legs, he is forced to move forward in a hopping manner, and each step seems a bit unsteady.
He rushed towards the two men anxiously, shouting, "Master, wait for me! Wait for me!" However, before he could reach the Master, a speeding carriage suddenly appeared in front of him. Sanfan was caught off guard and was almost hit by the carriage, almost flying out.
At this critical moment, he clearly saw the horse's raised front hooves, its powerful muscles pressed tightly against his cheek, as if it would crush him into a pulp in the next moment. However, a miracle happened—time suddenly stopped! It was the immortal who cast a magical spell and saved Sanfan's life.
Despite having just experienced a life-or-death crisis, Sanfan didn't take it too seriously, viewing it as a lucky coincidence. The two immortals also didn't take it seriously, believing it was nothing more than a simple favor. Just as they were about to turn and leave, something unexpected happened.
Sanfan clung to the two men's legs like a stray dog, refusing to let go. Zhang Sanfan was a scoundrel to begin with, and this time, in order to keep the two men, he used all his tricks, crying and making a fuss on the spot, like a bullied child, and kept yelling as if the two men in front of him had bumped into him.
Xia Xiwen stepped forward first. After all, she had saved the man. She looked at the scoundrel on the ground and remembered how she had her own way of dealing with him back home. "Excuse me, sir, what's wrong with you? We're not your parents, so why are you yelling out of nowhere?" Xia Xiwen was polite and tried to help the man up.
However, Zhang Sanfan was different. He was like someone who could shine with a little sunshine and start a dyeing factory with a little color. Just as Xia Xiwen reached out to help him, he clung to her like a piece of taffy, as if he never wanted to be apart.
Seeing this annoying guy pestering her endlessly, Xia Xiwen felt a wave of nausea, but she managed to hold back her anger and helped him up. After Zhang Sanfan regained his composure, he shamelessly leaned close to Xia Xiwen's ear, almost touching her face, and whispered, "Master Immortal, do you think I have the potential to become an immortal?"
You have to know that in this unpretentious world, those who can awaken their spiritual intelligence usually do so in their childhood, around the age of three. After their teenage years, there is basically no chance of awakening their spiritual intelligence. Xia Xiwen looked at the scoundrel in front of him and couldn't help but sigh in his heart. The threshold for becoming an immortal is getting lower and lower these days. Even people like him still dream of becoming an immortal.
However, Xia Xiwen was a cultured man after all. He didn't reject Zhang Sanfan outright. Instead, he smiled and said, "Of course, anyone can become an immortal. However, becoming an immortal isn't easy; it requires constant practice. Here, I'll give you a bracelet. As long as you persist in doing good deeds and accumulating merit every day, the day the bracelet breaks will be the day you become an immortal."
Xia Xiwen's words struck Zhang Sanfan as puzzling, but he nodded involuntarily. After all, these two men were genuine immortals, a rare opportunity for him. Xia Xiwen produced a humble black jade bracelet and placed it on Zhang Sanfan's hand before vanishing from the spot. This was a deliberate departure. This man was a cultivator fanatic, his modest pockets filled with cheap, fake talismans. He was also an uneducated, unsophisticated scoundrel. Although he employed some deceptive tactics, he had at least persuaded him to embark on his journey.
Zhang Sanfan's understanding of the concept of doing good deeds was too direct and crude. As soon as he got home, he took over his eldest sister's needlework without caring whether he was really capable of doing it. But perhaps his kindness moved God, and the black jade bracelet on his hand really faded a little, which made him even more convinced.
"Sister, you stole my bracelet to do things for yourself. Does your master know about it?" Yuxing was half a head shorter than Xia Xiwen. He was jealous of her luck in succeeding in her evil plan. His round almond eyes stared angrily at his sister who was much older than him.
Xia Xiwen looked at another little brat who was so dismissive of his reputation as a genius that he was even fussing over a stolen bracelet. What a child's mindset. "Kid, does your master know that you peeped at your sister bathing just to get first place?"
"Take a shower?" Yuxing instantly became the one in the wrong and blamed his master for not telling him about the differences between men and women. For a moment, he lost control of himself.
In fact, some people had already predicted who would take the top spots at this year's Immortal Cultivation Conference. For example, the first place winner was naturally Yu Xing from Desolate Mountain. His strength was comparable to Qi Yiwen's, and he was the most talented person in Desolate Mountain in the past century. As for why he came to participate in the trials of the Taixu Sect's Immortal Cultivation Conference, his master boasted that it was to prove that Desolate Mountain was no less capable than the Taixu Sect. Although he was called a genius, he only looked like a child, claiming to have mastered his own unique techniques to achieve his childlike appearance.
The second-place finisher was Xia Xiwen, a star trialist from Xia Fang, a sister sect of the Taixu Sect. Everyone was betting on the outcome, and after the Immortal Cultivation Conference concluded, they naturally decided the outcome. Although there were ten candidates for admission to the Taixu Sect, the Sect had already announced that only the first-place finisher would become the direct disciple of Sect Master Qi Yiwen. Therefore, the top two contenders had naturally been secretly on guard since the start of the trial, following closely everywhere.
“Ding Dong!”
“Ding Dong!”
The ding-dong sound instantly resounded throughout the corners of Luoan Town. Everyone was thinking about what they had done to increase their scores. Only Yuxing and Xia Xiwen reacted quickly. This hidden rule was closely related to everyone in Luoan Town. As long as they resolved their conflicts, they could get extra points.
In fact, it is basically about completing tasks to earn points.
"Benefactor, why don't you come up? It's dark down there and bright up there." Shen Qingzhu's voice awakened the confused crowd.
Shen Qingzhu was blocked by Jingbai, who was listed as a murderer. A murderer protecting another murderer was the biggest joke Shen Qingzhu had ever seen.
It turned out that during the opening ceremony of the Immortal Cultivation Conference, Shen Qingzhu was trapped in the inn and unable to escape, so she did not see the true face of the sect leader. At this moment, she saw Jingbai blocking her, and her anger instantly ignited. She shouted at the sect leader, "You murderer, I want revenge for my elder sister!"
Meanwhile, Meimei, standing nearby, was visibly downcast after seeing the rankings. Seeing this, Chen Ye, adhering to the principle of taking the best and discarding the worst, quickly imitated Jingbai's behavior, walking closely alongside Meimei and comforting her, "It's okay, Boss. We still have a chance to come from behind and surpass her."
Chen Ye continued his analysis, "Look, our current score is five points. Although we're ranked second to last, this also means we've earned five points just by eliminating one murderer. This shows that this matter still has great potential."
Chen Ye knew very well that first place in this trial was crucial to both her and Meimei, which was why she was so eager to comfort Meimei, hoping to cheer her up. But Meimei was just worried about whether she should bring this burden—a relative—with her.
"I'm not the murderer, she's talking nonsense." When there's only one person in his sight, he becomes hesitant. Qi Yiwen was just like that. She knew they were anxious and had unknowingly quickened their pace, yet she still insisted on joining them. Chen Ye fiercely turned his head away, as they say, out of sight, out of mind.
"Young lady, neither I nor you are the murderer of your sister. Stop your nonsense." Jingbai suddenly realized that he was a spirit beast, not an ordinary person. If he couldn't deal with the demon saint, couldn't he teach this yellow-haired girl a lesson to clear the ears of the sect leader? The Silencing Spell was extremely effective except when used on oneself.
"Girl, I have no motive to kill anyone! I'm not your distant cousin, right?" Qi Yiwen saw that her boss had clarified things, but Chen Ye didn't listen to a word he said, so she could only analyze the original situation rationally and eliminate the suspicion.
Shen Qingzhu couldn't speak, so she could only nod. The five of them left the outskirts of Star Valley, and the fireflies gradually faded, gradually converging into the candlelight of the inn. Meimei had been sitting here alone for a quarter of an hour, and Chen Ye had just returned to his room after showering. Seeing his heroine grow depressed again, he could only blurt out the opportunity he had just noticed. "Boss, I have an idea. The reason Shen Qingmei's case was discovered first is because it attracted attention first. The conflict in Luoan Town didn't just arise out of thin air. I know you just secretly visited nearby, and the quota for many quests has long been reached. So we need to create a conflict ourselves—one that will cause a sensation in Luoan Town!" Chen Ye's tone and demeanor were quite imposing, and she suddenly remembered the reason she became a matchmaker on a dating website. Perhaps many people don't know that children in orphanages love to hear stories, and as the oldest in the West City Orphanage, she has become a skilled storyteller. The rhythm and twists and turns in the story require skill.
Although Meimei, the heroine of this book, is a little love-sick, it is only shown briefly when she meets the hero, so Chen Ye sincerely hopes that the hero will never appear in front of the heroine.
"Host, remember your mission is to prevent them from falling in love, not to prevent them from meeting." The system is the most disappointing existence and can always catch every bad joke thrown by Chen Ye.
"Then set up a crappy plot of love at first sight for me."
"Ah, hasn't the favorability level returned to normal? The heroine's heart is pounding, what can I do? Besides, they were fighting and spinning around together just for you, okay?"
"I refuse PUA, understand?"
"Come on, let's go to Yue Lao Temple." Chen Ye had just laid down on the bed and curled up in the fragrant silk quilt when he was pulled out and brought to Yue Lao Temple in Luoan Town.
"Brother, what's this old-fashioned way of picking up girls? How is it different from those wretched men who bullied the weak in the Taixu Illusion Realm that you told me about?" Although Tanhua did not monitor every move in the water mirror, she was still very concerned about why this idle senior brother went to Luoan Town in person?
"You don't understand that Ye Ye and I are from past lives and present lives. How is the thing I asked you to investigate going?" Qi Yiwen and Epiphyllum are connected through a pool of clear water. This is the special feature of the water mirror. Water is the medium connecting to the outside world.
"My brother said Bifang has rushed to Luoan Town, but I haven't detected any trace of Taixu in this water mirror."
"He is deliberately avoiding you. But he is so busy avoiding us that he forgets about others. He is still in town and won't be able to leave for a while." A pool of clear water can be used to connect with nature and can also be used for narcissism. "Brother, you are almost rubbing the ponytail you tied to look young." Epiphyllum really couldn't bear to look at the narcissistic old man in the round mirror, the old man obsessed with past and present lives.
The Yue Lao Temple is bustling with activity during the day, but at night, a sense of loneliness and desolation permeates the air. The fruit on the altar had been plucked by someone, leaving a noticeable chip on the previously intact fruit. The copper coins in the square box were also noticeably missing, as if someone had taken some of them.
Taixu had been hiding here all day, disguised as the Yue Lao stone statue, accepting worship from the Yu people. Perhaps because he considered himself a spiritual beast, he felt a certain peace of mind about this behavior, a somewhat shameless act. "Damn Bifang, why hasn't it come to me yet!" Taixu muttered angrily. "If I hadn't almost been discovered, I wouldn't be in this situation now, possessing this Yue Lao stone statue to avoid Qi Yiwen's capture." He complained as he viciously gnawed at the snake fruit in his hand, each bite filled with resentment and dissatisfaction. The snake fruit made a crunching sound as he chewed, as if expressing his inner anxiety and helplessness.
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