Chapter 1

Northern Que Prince Consort, Bookstall Owner

Southwest Dao, Chai Sang City, outside Dong Gui Tavern.

Killing intent filled the long street.

A butcher wielded his cleaver, raising and lowering it to carve flowers into bone; an old woman selling embroidered shoes picked at candle flames with her needle, sending sparks flying.

And there was the Oil Seller, who was always sizing up Little Xi Shi.

Nearby.

In front of a bookstall, a blue-robed young man sat on a long bench with a jug of wine and a stack of books, reading with great enjoyment as if he had forgotten everything else.

Whenever he reached an exciting passage, he would suddenly chant a couplet of poetry aloud.

[Clang! After reading treasured books for five hours, you have been rewarded with the Three-Foot Qi Wall.]

At that moment, peach blossoms drifted down, their delicate petals landing on the blue-robed young man's hair and making him look even more handsome and dashing.

Under normal circumstances, he would surely have drawn amazed looks from those around him.

But at this moment.

A fierce clash suddenly erupted inside Dong Gui Tavern, drawing everyone's attention and causing each person to reveal an expression worth pondering.

"Looks like the plot has begun..."

On the long bench, Jiang Mu Ming casually glanced at Dong Gui Tavern.

He sank into thought.

Fifteen years ago, he had unexpectedly arrived in this world.

His identity, however, was somewhat awkward.

He was the Prince of Southern Chu.

He had only just been born when Western Chu was destroyed by Northern Li in a single battle. He had personally witnessed his parents in this life die amid the flames of war.

Fortunately, Jiang Mu Ming had been lucky enough to survive.

Then, by chance, he had arrived in Northern Que, a nation that had likewise been destroyed and would later transform into Beyond Heaven.

After learning Jiang Mu Ming's identity, Yue Fengcheng, the emperor of Northern Que, decided that he could profit from it.

He immediately betrothed Yue Yao to Jiang Mu Ming, making him Yue Yao's fiancé and formally inducting him into the Demonic Cult of Beyond Heaven.

Yue Fengcheng, however, was a man with the heart of a wolf and the ambition of a jackal.

The reason he had taken Jiang Mu Ming in as his prince consort was entirely because of his identity as the Prince of Western Chu!

As a result, Jiang Mu Ming was constrained at every turn within the Demonic Cult.

Not to mention that Emperor Tai An was bent on eradicating the remnants of the Western Chu royal family outside. Jiang Mu Ming's situation could be called perilous indeed.

Fortunately, he had awakened the Reading and Preaching System several years earlier.

As long as he read, he could obtain rewards! And if he spread the Way, he could obtain rewards as well!

There were two methods of spreading the Way.

The first was to have others read books. As long as they read, he could obtain rewards.

The second was to teach various moves and cultivation techniques from other worlds.

However, the prerequisite for spreading the Way.

Was that he first needed to accumulate enough knowledge.

Fortunately, although the Demonic Cult was called a demonic cult, its predecessor had been the nation of Northern Que, so it naturally possessed countless books.

Thus, over the past fifteen years.

He had used his status as Yue Yao's husband to read through the Demonic Cult's entire collection.

This had also allowed his strength to advance rapidly.

He had now reached the Half-Step Carefree Heaven Realm!

Moreover, thanks to his reading day and night without pause, Yue Fengcheng had gradually let down his guard around him.

By now, the surveillance on him was no longer strict.

Yue Fengcheng merely thought he was a frail scholar with no knowledge of martial arts who loved nothing but reading. Calling him a bookworm would not have been an exaggeration.

He had no idea that Jiang Mu Ming possessed martial arts.

Unfortunately, no matter how many books the Demonic Cult possessed, there was still a limit. When Northern Que had been destroyed, only one or two books out of ten had survived.

There were no more books for him to read.

Otherwise, he would have already entered the Carefree Heaven Realm!

As it happened, Beyond Heaven had begun making a move, so Jiang Mu Ming had volunteered and come to Chai Sang City, using the identity of a bookstall owner as cover.

He served as a spy watching Baili Dongjun.

Now that a fight had broken out inside Dong Gui Tavern, Jiang Mu Ming immediately thought of the original plot.

On the Southwest Dao, the Yan Family and the Gu Family had clashed.

This had opened the curtain on a conflict that would embroil the martial world, involving numerous forces.

Not just Baili Dongjun and the others.

Dark River, Beyond Heaven, the Eight Princes of Northern Li, the Wen Family...

And Emperor Tai An, Xiao Chongjing, fanning the flames from behind the scenes.

But if that were all, he naturally would not have gotten involved, because his goal was to spread the Way across the world.

This incident, however, involved Baili Dongjun.

And behind Baili Dongjun stood Ru Jian Guchen!

His opponent's strength was astonishing. At his peak, his cultivation had been at least the Half-Step Profound Spirit Realm.

He also held the world's number one sword technique—the Western Chu Sword Song.

Having read the original plot, Jiang Mu Ming naturally knew that not long after the conflict between the Yan and Gu Families ended.

Ru Jian Guchen would die.

As someone from Western Chu himself, he naturally did not want to see such an outcome.

"Bang!"

Just as Jiang Mu Ming was deep in thought, several figures burst through the wall.

Broken stones covered the long street.

Several figures fought fiercely. It was none other than one of the Eight Princes of Northern Li, Young Master Zhuo Mo, Lei Mengsha, battling Golden Mouth Yama, Yan Qiansui, and Granny Needle.

Both sides unleashed powerful techniques one after another.

In only a moment, the battle had become white-hot, with broken stones flying and smoke filling the sky.

Although Lei Mengsha could contend with Golden Mouth Yama, he was no match for the combined forces of his opponent and Granny Needle.

He gradually fell into a disadvantage.

Golden Mouth Yama seized an opening and sent him flying with a palm strike, making him crash to the ground.

He landed beside Jiang Mu Ming, who was nearby, absorbed in his book.

"Brother, that landing of yours wasn't very graceful."

Lei Mengsha froze.

He had not expected anyone else to be on this long street. When ordinary people saw a fight break out, shouldn't they run?

And judging by the other man's appearance, he seemed not to care at all.

A jug of wine, a stack of books, a long bench, and falling blossoms—where had this inexplicably dashing air come from?

"Boss, aren't you going to take cover?"

Jiang Mu Ming put down his book.

He glanced at Lei Mengsha, then at Golden Mouth Yama and the others, and asked in confusion, "You fight your fight, and I read my book. We don't interfere with each other, do we?"

With that, he sighed.

"Besides, you people can't kill anyone with this level of skill..."

With this third-rate ability, who could they possibly kill?

"Huh?"

Lei Mengsha was dumbfounded. He quickly got to his feet and brushed the dust from his clothes.

He stared at Jiang Mu Ming like a curious child.

Which person here was not famous throughout the martial world? Golden Mouth Yama, Granny Needle, and the others were all ruthless killers.

He said they couldn't kill anyone?!

Even Lei Mengsha, who was usually so talkative, was rendered speechless.

"Brat, what a boast!"

Across from them, Granny Needle flew into a rage.

She raised her hand, sending a storm of needle-shaped hidden weapons at him like a goddess scattering flowers.

There was nowhere to hide and nowhere to evade.

"Watch out!" Seeing that something was wrong, Lei Mengsha immediately tried to stop her.

But the other side was determined to take the bookstall owner's life, and even he found it difficult to block every needle.

A single touch from these long needles would leave an ordinary person dead or gravely injured!

"What are you panicking for?"

Jiang Mu Ming simply flipped his book.

A strong wind rose.

It swept up a Three-Foot Qi Wall in front of him.

Countless long needles fell to the ground. Not one came within three feet of Jiang Mu Ming!

Everyone was shocked.

Who would have thought that this seemingly unremarkable bookstall owner was actually an expert?!