Su Li didn't let the opportunity slip by. He sighed, "So you think you're amazing, and that I'm hopelessly untalented—that my soul merely mutated, giving me a little ability to make deductions? In truth, that's not the case at all. I only casually studied the art of deduction with my father for a little over ten years, yet I can deduce all the causes and effects in your life. I can not only Peep into Profundity, but also Peep into Spirit—and even Peep into Sainthood!
"So I think people like you, who are so full of yourselves and pleased with your own cleverness, are truly short-sighted, ignorant of how high the heavens are and how deep the earth lies.
"But you don't just lack self-awareness. You actually think Heaven itself is jealous of you? You even think you're incredibly successful and outstanding?
"My Heavenly Secrets deduction skills are more than ten, a hundred times better than yours, and my looks are more than ten... times better than yours!
"Alas, life is as lonely as snow. I'm so successful, so outstanding—have I ever been arrogant? Have I ever boasted? Have I ever bragged to you all?"
Su Li's words rang like a thunderclap, each one striking home. Zhuge Qingchen nearly shut himself off from the world.
"Oh, and one more thing. If you want Senior Hua Yunxiao to die sooner, you can try to become his son-in-law."
"And what about Hua Ziyan? She's always treated you like an elder, someone of her father's generation—a grizzled old uncle! At most, she feels a little admiration for you.
"Since ancient times, unrequited love has brought nothing but regret; the falling flower may be willing, but the flowing stream is not. Master Zhuge Qingchen, you'd be better off focusing on being a Heavenly Secrets Mystic Master. Romance really isn't for you."
Su Li added two more remarks.
Hearing this, Hua Yunxiao's expression stiffened.
"So that's why Mystic Master Zhuge Qingchen has been making deductions for me all these decades and acting so friendly...
"I thought of him as a friend, but he actually wants to be my son-in-law—to sleep with my daughter?"
"That bastard! What an ulterior motive! Does he think he can have my daughter?
"If anyone gets to think about her, it can only be Master Su!"
"Other than Master Su, no one else can be my son-in-law!"
Hua Yunxiao grumbled inwardly, already pondering how he could reject Zhuge Qingchen without offending him or the Heavenly Secrets Pavilion behind him.
Su Li noticed the change in Hua Yunxiao's mood and checked his Life Archive. At once, he felt reassured.
See? His future father-in-law really had a keen eye and the sharp gaze of an eagle. He'd immediately recognized that Su Li was the true peerless prodigy of the age, a man of extraordinary valor!
"Su... Master Su..."
Zhuge Qingchen came back to his senses, and the shock he felt was impossible to describe.
He wasn't the least bit embarrassed. Embarrassment? Was that even something he experienced?
He never lost face. Face simply lost him.
He was still the same young man he'd always been, unchanged in the slightest.
Zhuge Qingchen kept his expression composed and quickly recovered. Smiling, he said, "Master Su must be joking. I should first calculate how your friend can resolve his cultivation problem. Cultivation really isn't difficult at all. Just look at me: I only practice casually every few days. As for my strength, well, it's just as Master Su said—decent enough. My Nascent Soul is Spiritual Infant five-star quality, and I'm at the mid-stage of the first level of the Nascent Soul Realm. These things are no big deal. No big deal."
As Zhuge Qingchen spoke, Su Li heard a different voice in his heart: My deductions may not be as good as yours, but my cultivation realm is higher and my talent is better. You're jealous, aren't you, little guy?
Besides, between you and me, I actually work very hard at cultivation. Deductions drain my essence, energy, and soul. If I weren't trying to curry favor with Imperial Lord Hua, my future father-in-law, would I go around making deductions for just anyone?
After all, I spend most of my time—even the time I could use to sleep or take Fairy Li out for fun—working hard at cultivation...
Su Li 'listened' to those thoughts and was utterly speechless.
Why was this man so hypocritical? Why did he always put on one face in public and another in private?
Wasn't he practically begging Su Li to use him as an ATM?
How could Su Li possibly refuse?
Su Li immediately began 'Reasoning to Convince' him, right there and then. "Cultivation really isn't difficult for you! After all, your last breakthrough into the Nascent Soul Realm made you cry. While thinking about how to break through, you pulled your hair out strand by strand and spent quite a while completely bald."
"Practicing casually every few days—that's true too. After all, you go without sleep or food every few days, devoting yourself so completely to cultivation that you forget to eat and sleep. That really doesn't sound like much effort."
"As for your Spiritual Infant five-star Nascent Soul quality and your cultivation at the mid-stage of the first level of the Nascent Soul Realm, you may think they're no big deal. But why do you bring them up constantly and ask your master every day whether you're amazing? Are these really the little things you claim?"
Su Li hit Zhuge Qingchen with three questions in a row, and his face darkened.
This was simply too much!
Zhuge Qingchen felt that something must have gone wrong when he'd left home. Maybe he hadn't checked the almanac. Otherwise, how could someone be rubbing his face against the ground this mercilessly?
Alas, rub-a-dub-dub—such a devilish technique!
Su Li was utterly shameless!
Damn it, Zhuge Qingchen wanted to slap that smiling face of his so hard his ass would split open!
Zhuge Qingchen took a deep breath and struggled to suppress the violent thoughts rising within him.
Fine. He wouldn't stoop to the level of such a smug little man who'd just found success. He'd calculate things for him properly, too!
Hmph. What friend? I bet he's just terribly untalented when it comes to cultivation!
And don't think you're the only one who can make deductions!
Annoying!
You little rascal!
Zhuge Qingchen began to make deductions about Su Li's situation, his thoughts full of resentment.
Meanwhile, Su Li watched the system panel flood with red light. His face lit up, and joy welled in his heart.
It was a satisfying harvest—
[Reasoning to Convince, exposing Zhuge Qingchen's hypocrisy, earned 250 Heavenly Secrets Value.] [Reasoning to Convince, exposing Zhuge Qingchen's hypocrisy, earned 438 Heavenly Secrets Value.] [Reasoning to Convince, exposing Zhuge Qingchen's hypocrisy, earned 945 Heavenly Secrets Value.] [Reasoning to Convince, exposing Zhuge Qingchen's hypocrisy, earned 1,888 Heavenly Secrets Value.]
The four consecutive notifications left Su Li thoroughly satisfied, as if he'd just guzzled a bottle of '82 salt soda. It felt incredible.
After deducting the 500-point cost, he'd made a net profit of 3,021 Heavenly Secrets Value!
Adding the 2,840 points he'd saved, he now had 5,861 Heavenly Secrets Value.
Sure enough, Reasoning to Convince felt great once—and it felt great every time!
"Lightblue, refresh the Heavenly Secrets Mall!"
[Second refresh of the Heavenly Secrets Mall costs 1,000 Heavenly Secrets Value. Confirm?]
"Confirm!"
This time, Su Li didn't hesitate at all. He was bold as could be.
Why ask? Because he was rich!
A golden light flashed across the Heavenly Secrets Mall panel. Su Li's heart tightened, and his pupils abruptly contracted!
A gold-tier item had appeared!
Clearly, the purple Five Emperors Ancient Coin had been more valuable than the green Introduction to Metaphysics!
And this gold-tier item was obviously even better than the purple one!
Su Li didn't have anything specific to compare it with, but he could already see the thick golden light surrounding it.
The glow was dazzling. Su Li felt that a phrase from his previous life perfectly captured the moment: it had lit up his titanium-alloy dog... eyes!
Su Li narrowed his eyes. Within the golden light, the item revealed its true form.
It looked like a human 'brain'. It was only about the size of a fist, but it kept twitching, which made it look rather intimidating.
Once Su Li focused, information about the item appeared.
Latent Dragon Pill (price: 99,000 Heavenly Secrets Value): On the ninth day, the dragon lies hidden and should not be used. If it is used, the dragon will appear in the field. After taking it, one's mental power will increase greatly, sharpening the senses and clearing the mind...
Su Li was naturally thrilled to see a pill like this, but when he saw its price, he nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.
How could the price be merely high? It was outrageously high!
Su Li's boldness vanished.
The system's description made the item sound ordinary, as if it merely boosted one's intelligence. But judging by Introduction to Metaphysics, this pill was sure to be outrageously powerful!
In other words, if he really managed to buy it, it would bring him an earth-shaking, ultimate transformation!
After all, his looks already surpassed everyone in the world. He was peerless. If he became even smarter and more spiritually perceptive, life would only get harder for the other male cultivators.
And that wasn't all. Once he became smarter, the difficulties he faced with cultivation in this world would surely be resolved with ease!
How could he not be excited?
Unfortunately, he didn't have enough Heavenly Secrets Value right now!
And there were only four days left until the new week!
Four days from now, all the items in the Heavenly Secrets Mall would refresh automatically, whether he bought them or not!
Getting 99,000 Heavenly Secrets Value in four days would be no easy feat!
More importantly, he had to keep his Heavenly Secrets Value under control. If he accidentally went over 100,000, the system's usual ways meant it would automatically upgrade and take the points away!
That would be truly despairing!
Still, the 99,000-point threshold was manageable. After all, squeezing Mu Yuxi once earned him 250 points.
Thankfully, it wasn't 99,999. Now that would truly have been despairing!
"Lightblue, refresh the Heavenly Secrets Mall."
[Third refresh of the Heavenly Secrets Mall costs 10,000 Heavenly Secrets Value. Confirm?]
"Cancel."
Su Li tested it out. As expected, each refresh cost ten times more than the last. A third refresh of the mall cost 10,000 points!
That was extortionate. It didn't seem worth it at all.
"In these four days, I'll squeeze Hua Ziyan dry, squeeze Mu Yuxi dry, Reason to Convince people, and make Zhuge Qingchen admit defeat..."
It took a while for Su Li to take a deep breath and calm his excitement.
At that moment, everyone in the world had ceased to be people in his eyes. They were all tools for harvesting Heavenly Secrets points!
Su Li's excitement naturally caught the eyes of Hua Yunxiao, Yun Wanchu, and Zhuge Qingchen.
But none of the three thought there was anything wrong with it. For a peerless Heavenly Secrets deduction prodigy who was born unable to cultivate, his yearning and enthusiasm for cultivation were fearsome.
Now that there was hope, wasn't it perfectly normal for him to get a little excited?
"Master Su, I'm sure your friend will have hope very soon."
"That's right, Master Su. Mystic Master Zhuge has never disappointed anyone when it comes to this."
Yun Wanchu and Hua Yunxiao spoke with warm smiles, their voices full of anticipation.
Su Li nodded, though in truth he wasn't all that hopeful anymore.
He'd already confirmed that he had three souls and seven spirits, and that they were fundamentally incompatible with this world. Even though his body belonged to this world, it couldn't change the fact that his soul and spirit were incompatible with it.
His immunity to the laws of the world, and his existence beyond those laws, could very well mean that Zhuge Qingchen wouldn't be able to deduce a single thing about him.
Given that, cultivation was clearly just a pipe dream.
Even so, Su Li couldn't help feeling a little hopeful. Since his body belonged to this world, perhaps there really was a way to solve the problem.
Of course, if there really was no solution, the Heavenly Secrets Mall could offer him another way forward.
Besides that, there was one final path he could take. His chances of succeeding were high, but it would be extremely difficult.
For now, Su Li wasn't willing to take that path.
Before you continue