Chapter 189

Chapter 189: Young Master Must Listen Carefully to People’s Words, Desu~ (4000 words, two-in-one)

[System: Rewards from the Yellow Sand River Dragon King have been fully settled.]

[System: You defeated the Yellow Sand River Dragon – Yellow Sand True Lord (Golden Core Realm), increasing your physique +100, spiritual energy quality +100, Martial True Qi +100, Sword Qi +100, Dragon Slaying Technique +20.]

[System: You defeated small demons around the Yellow Sand River Dragon, gaining an estimated Strength +50, Mass Combat Ability +20.]

[System: You repelled the messengers of the North Sea Dragon Palace – Ruolan and Ruoye sisters, increasing your Sword Intent +20, Sword Qi +50, Sea Race Special Attack +30.]

Just as Ming was walking outside Yanzhi City, the sound of the system echoed in his mind.

As the system’s voice faded, Ming felt a refreshing warm current flow through his body.

That comfortable feeling made Ming want to let out a little moan.

Ming clearly felt – he had grown stronger.

And Ming also sensed that both his Martial Artist realm and Cultivation realm were showing signs of instability.

This is the precursor to breaking through to a new level!

But Ming quickly suppressed this impulse.

It wouldn’t do to act on it now.

Currently, his Cavern Realm spiritual energy and Heroic Soul Realm True Qi are already at odds with each other like mortal enemies.

If he breaks through, his spiritual energy and True Qi will rise even further—how could he handle that?

Ming feels that he must make a choice; either the Martial Artist realm or the Cultivator path must be abandoned, otherwise, his spirit meridians would surely snap.

The only thing that slightly bothered Ming was that apart from the attribute points, the system didn’t reward anything else this time.

Ming guessed that the Yellow Sand River Dragon King was simply too weak. Though it was at the beginning of the Golden Core Realm, its quality was among the lower tier, hence the system’s sparse rewards.

Perhaps because he had encountered many Golden Core Realm cultivators before, the first battle against one brought more substantial rewards, but the more Golden Core Realm opponents he faced afterward, the fewer the rewards became.

“Master, why aren’t you entering the city? What’s making you so lost in thought here?”

Beside him, Mo Zhu’er approached, smiling at Ming.

Ming snapped back to reality and casually brushed her off, “Nothing, just thinking this city seems a bit strange. Let’s go.”

Ming strode forward.

Looking at Ming’s back, Mo Zhu’er frowned, unsure if it was her imagination earlier.

She felt that for a moment, Ming’s spiritual energy and Martial True Qi had become even denser, almost giving off the vibe of an impending breakthrough.

No way, right? How old is Ming anyway? Whether his Martial Artist realm or Cultivation realm breaks through, it’s terrifying.

Not to mention that he can already confront Golden Core Realm cultivators at his current level.

After he breaks through, won’t he be even more formidable?! “It must be my imagination… Definitely! Ming hasn’t done anything special lately. There’s no way cultivation can happen just by walking around in this world!”

Mo Zhu’er shook her head, consoled herself, and followed after Ming.

The city they arrived at was called “Yanzhi City.”

Yanzhi City is a neutral city, not belonging to any dynasty.

Legend has it that this city contains all kinds of cosmetics, thus earning its name.

It’s rumored that Yanzhi City is the territory of the Joy Sect, with many of their businesses located here.

Upon entering Yanzhi City, the faint scent of cosmetics greeted them.

Ming felt like he’d fallen into a powder box.

Fortunately,

the ancient scents of cosmetics were relatively natural, mostly derived from flower pollen without chemical additives, unlike the Blue Ocean Star’s perfumes that could sting your nose.

“Master~ come play~”

“Master, I’ve missed you so much~”

“Chen Lord, you’ve come~~ Please come in quickly~”

“Oh~ Master looks so handsome~ I’m really good at playing the flute, shall I play for you?”

On both sides of the street, women dressed provocatively were pulling customers.

Truly worthy of being a Joy Sect city.

In less than three hundred meters of one street, there was already a Qinglou (brothel). It seemed that the brothel business in Yanzhi City was highly competitive.

Moreover, Yanzhi City had many clothing stores, and the women here dressed extremely revealingly!

Ming occasionally saw women wearing half-covered tops, or skirts with slits up to their thighs, exuding charm with every step.

Passing by several seemingly ordinary inns, the servers weren’t male attendants but rather ladies dressed provocatively.

Some customers, while eating, got aroused and directly rented a room, dragging the girls inside to discuss life.

Indeed, this was a city of extreme luxury.

Ming thought that if it weren’t for his self-discipline, he might lose ten pounds within three days of arriving here!

Indeed, most men in this town looked somewhat pale.

They found an inn, and Ming went inside to eat.

Since Ming was accompanied by a “female companion,” and this “female companion” was exceptionally beautiful, the inn’s women did not serve Ming.

This made many of the women in the inn feel quite regretful.

Mainly because they hadn’t seen someone as handsome and full of vitality as Ming in a long time.

“Do you need me to step aside and let the inn girls entertain our prince?” Mo Zhu’er smiled at Ming.

“Not necessary.” Ming replied calmly, “Just sit there.”

“True, isn’t it~” Mo Zhu’er propped her chin, looking quite smug, “These people aren’t nearly as pretty as me. How could the prince possibly fancy them?”

Ming didn’t refute Mo Zhu’er’s narcissism.

She wasn’t wrong.

Since entering Yanzhi City, Ming indeed hadn’t seen anyone prettier than Mo Zhu’er.

Soon, a woman wearing nothing but a belly band and underpants swayed her hips as she carried the dishes over: “Please enjoy slowly, we’ve served all the dishes. If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask.”

After saying that, the woman gave Ming a flirtatious glance and left.

“Hmph, seductive trash.” Watching the woman flaunting her allure, Mo Zhu’er couldn’t help but criticize sarcastically.

“You’re not much better.” Ming said indifferently, handing Shen a pair of chopsticks and serving her a bowl of rice.

“It’s not like that~” Mo Zhu’er cooed, “Master, look how wide their hips are. They might have been ridden by thousands of men. But I am still pure. If Master doesn’t believe me, you can verify tonight~”

“Stop acting flirty and eat.” Ming scolded.

“Hmph~” Mo Zhu’er picked up her chopsticks, ignoring this tasteless man, and began eating her meal in small bites.

Actually, Mo Zhu’er’s mental journey during this period was quite complex.

At first, Mo Zhu’er lured Ming mainly to poison him. He would need an antidote to survive, otherwise, they would die together.

Unlike now, where Ming merely had to choose between the paths of martial artist and cultivator, while she would have to sacrifice her life—it was too unequal.

But later, as Ming repeatedly avoided her advances, even refusing to look at her properly and treating her like a servant without any regard for her beauty, Mo Zhu’er began doubting herself.

Thus, her attempts to lure Ming gradually turned into proving that she was still highly attractive to men—even to this blockhead!

Needless to say, this blockhead was truly just a blockhead. The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. The angrier she got, the more she wanted to provoke him. Mo Zhu’er furiously shoveled a mouthful of rice and grabbed a piece of vegetable.

“Hmm?”

A mouthful of food entered her mouth, and Mo Zhu’er felt something was off. She looked at Ming.

Ming ate a piece of meat as if nothing happened: “Why are you staring at me? Keep eating, ignore it.”

As he spoke, Ming poured tea for Mo Zhu’er and Shen, but when pouring the water, two pills fell from his sleeve into the teacup and dissolved in the water.

Mo Zhu’er drank the tea and continued eating.

After finishing the meal and settling the bill, the three of them walked out of the inn.

“Someone tried to poison us. Is it aimed at you?” Ming asked softly.

“Master shouldn’t say that. Even if it’s aimed at me, it’s also aimed at you.” Mo Zhu’er didn’t want to take full responsibility, “Look, we’re together. You’re on Black Lotus Sect’s hit list, and I’m their Holy Maiden. Many people definitely want us dead, but we don’t know who’s behind it.”

Ming remained silent, found another inn, went inside, and tossed a piece of silver: “Boss, give us a superior room.”

“Alright.” The boss respectfully handed Ming the room key, “Master, go upstairs, third floor left, the room farthest inside.”

“Thanks.”

Ming glanced at the other guests in the inn and then took the room key upstairs.

“Seems like quite a few people are following us.”

Mo Zhu’er smiled.

“Do you have any leads on these people?” Ming asked.

“Nope.” Mo Zhu’er shook her head, “I don’t recognize any of them. But this place is Yanzhi City, the territory of the Joy Sect.”

“Joy Sect?” Upon hearing this sect’s name, Ming was startled.

“What? Could it be Master knows something about the Joy Sect?” Mo Zhu’er smiled at Ming.

“No, just heard of it.” Ming shook his head.

The name “Joy Sect” was incredibly familiar.

In all the fantasy novels he read in his previous life, he almost always came across this name.

The Joy Sect was often referred to as the number one sect in the world, and not without reason.

However, most of the Joy Sect characters were usually cannon fodder.

“How powerful is the Joy Sect?” Ming asked Mo Zhu’er.

“Decent.”

Mo Zhu’er slowly explained.

“The Joy Sect is actually a very peculiar sect. It has existed for tens of thousands of years but remains relatively weak.

So far, the highest recorded realm of the Joy Sect’s leaders throughout history is only the Jade Pudding Realm, with most of them staying at the Nascent Soul Stage.

For example, the current leader of the Joy Sect—Cui Renwang.

The Joy Sect’s motto is ‘Bring joy to all, practice happiness for all,’ regardless of gender, everyone practices dual cultivation. Rumor has it that the Joy Sect has a supreme secret technique that can even allow dual cultivation to reach the Ascension Realm.”

“If the Joy Sect has such a powerful secret technique, why are the highest realms of their leaders throughout history only the Jade Pudding Realm?” Ming curiously asked.

A cultivator’s realm is primarily determined by talent and techniques.

Logically speaking, the Joy Sect has existed for so long; it’s impossible not to have a talented disciple. Even if it’s like a lottery, it’s improbable to not draw a winner in tens of thousands of years.

Therefore, Ming suspected it was a problem with the techniques.

But according to Mo Zhu’er, the Joy Sect’s techniques aren’t bad.

“Master~ The realms of the Joy Sect leaders I mentioned are all recorded. In the unrecorded ones, rumors say the highest realm once reached the Ascension Realm, but that was countless years ago.”

Mo Zhu’er chuckled, “Nowadays, those in the Joy Sect have deviated from their original path.

Currently, the Joy Sect consists of lust-driven insects, whether male or female, all think with their lower halves.

Probably, they’ve long forgotten what the original Joy Sect philosophy was meant to be.

Many disciples of the Joy Sect have fallen into the evil ways.

Male disciples of the Joy Sect have become rapists, forcibly defiling other women, using them as their furnaces.

There are also many female disciples of the Joy Sect who drain others’ energies without restraint, turning them into dry corpses.

Hence, many cultivators now classify the Joy Sect as an evil sect.”

“But, you can’t deny that although the Joy Sect lacks top-tier fighters, they have numerous followers, with brothels spread across the land…”

Mo Zhu’er shrugged, looking quite helpless.

“After all, compared to monotonous cultivation, what could be more enjoyable than cultivating while engaging in carnal pleasures?”

Mo Zhu’er stretched lazily on the bed: “This time, it’s undoubtedly my competitor collaborating with the Joy Sect, aiming to kill both of us.

Remember, Master, you’re also on the list~”

Ming stroked his chin: “What kind of benefit did your competitor offer to get a whole sect to act?”

Mo Zhu’er smirked but didn’t elaborate.

Ming looked at Mo Zhu’er, sensing it might be related to her.

“Hey, Master, don’t look at me like that~” Mo Zhu’er shyly waved her hand.

“Now, we’re definitely surrounded by the Joy Sect. If Master wants to leave, there’s only one way.”

“What way?”

“That is…”

Mo Zhu’er stepped close to Ming, her warm breath brushing against his face.

“Master must listen carefully to what I say~”