"Sis, don't worry. Huang Shang showed up, but he only confirmed the enemy's situation. He wanted to join the fight, but I forced him to go back."
"How could I possibly not worry?!"
After hearing Xu Feng's answer, Xu Yue's heart bled.
Murphy's Law had never lied: whatever you feared most would come to pass.
She still had a trump card against Nightingale and Wu Que, so she wasn't too worried about them. At worst, she'd just have to pay a heavier price.
But Huang Shang was a treasure trove she'd only just begun to unearth. If he was gone, he was gone for good!
Still, Xu Yue was no ordinary person. She immediately tried to console herself. "If their third person went after Huang Shang, we're guaranteed to win this fight. We'll have quietly averted a huge crisis, too, and saved that trump card. It's not a loss... not a loss..."
As she told herself it wasn't a loss, she instinctively clutched her chest and rubbed it.
It hurt so much.
As the two sides faced off, Wu Que saw Xu Yue suddenly grit her teeth and make a strange gesture. His heart skipped a beat.
He knew how difficult this woman was to deal with. Judging from her expression, was she about to unleash some powerful move?
While calling for their third companion, Tu Xingsun, Wu Que tried to buy time. "Queen, we don't actually have a life-or-death grudge. I'll ask you again: will you buy the Bright Jade Art?"
What had started the conflict between Wu Que and Xu Yue?
The sale of a manual.
Wu Que's codename was inspired by Hua Wuque, the protagonist of Handsome Siblings. He'd visited that world twice. The first time, he'd obtained a legacy. The second time, he'd tried to make a contract with Yao Yue and Lian Xing, nearly losing his life in the process. But fortune had smiled on him, and he'd obtained the complete manual of the Moving Flower Palace's supreme art, the Bright Jade Art, which he'd turned into an item card.
He'd treasured it like a priceless gem. After returning to the Main God Temple, he'd prepared to sell it at a high price.
This was one of the four great divine arts of the Gu Long world!
But then he discovered that so-called divine arts from low-martial worlds weren't popular in the Main God Temple.
That was because anyone who could afford to spend Reincarnation Points on the Bright Jade Art was a star-rank powerhouse.
And star-rank powerhouses all aimed for two-star, three-star, or even higher levels.
As a result, the Bright Jade Art was in an awkward position.
Even at its peak, the ninth level, it was only a two-star technique.
How easy was it to reach even greater heights and break through to the tenth or eleventh level?
With that kind of effort, it would be better to follow Xu Feng's example and obtain an early-stage cultivation method from a higher-level world. That way, they could continue their training seamlessly later on.
Just as the Bright Jade Art kept hitting dead ends, Xu Yue took an interest in it.
Back then, Xu Yue wasn't a star-rank powerhouse yet. She'd only just acquired Elsa's ice magic, and she'd considered cultivating the Bright Jade Art.
Wu Que had been overjoyed, but Xu Yue couldn't afford it.
The manual cost two thousand Reincarnation Points.
Even star-rank Reincarnators would wince at that price.
Wu Que refused to sell it at a discount. When they failed to reach an agreement, Xu Yue naturally gave up on the idea.
But not long afterward, the Xu siblings became star-rank Reincarnators and made a name for themselves. Wu Que came knocking again to pitch the manual.
By then, Xu Yue no longer wanted it.
They'd argued and parted on bad terms, and from that day onward, they'd held a grudge against each other.
Now, Wu Que had brought up the matter again, clearly intending to force the sale.
Don't think this was hard to understand. Quite the opposite—things like this were common.
In most of the Heavens' worlds, the Main God Temple forbade Reincarnators from killing one another.
If they killed another Reincarnator, not only would they gain nothing, they'd be punished.
But unfortunately, the more something was forbidden, the more people were drawn to it.
There were policies above and countermeasures below.
Who didn't know how to play dirty?
There were two common methods:
First, lure a story character into killing a Reincarnator, then take the target's belongings.
Second, force a sale: defeat the other party and trade a low-value item for a huge number of Reincarnation Points, making it a legal robbery.
Wu Que looked utterly sincere. "I mean it. You can have the Bright Jade Art for fifteen hundred Reincarnation Points. I'll consider the difference a way of making amends. If you run into trouble with your main quest in this world, we can help you out, too. What do you say?"
"Fifteen hundred points really isn't much."
Xu Yue's eyes flickered as she pretended to consider it.
To be fair, it wasn't a high price.
But Wu Que had no intention of being sincere.
His apparent willingness to force a sale was just meant to lull them while he waited for their third companion to arrive.
Still, Xu Yue played along. "I don't have that many Reincarnation Points right now, but we can sign a contract first."
Wu Que nodded. "All right!"
The tension in the air immediately eased. Xu Yue glided forward, and a Star Mark rose in her palm, bringing up the terms of a contract.
Wu Que secretly breathed a sigh of relief and stepped forward as well.
But just as his Star Mark appeared, Xu Feng suddenly stepped forward and threw a punch, righteous and blazing, like a scorching sun. Xu Yue's sleeves billowed as snowflakes surged through the air, and an unprecedentedly fierce glint appeared in her phoenix eyes.
"Quick! Drive them back, then go after Huang Shang!"
On the other side, Huang Shang clutched the Zhuge Pen and hurried toward the exit as a thunderous rumble sounded behind him.
A real man never looked back at an explosion.
He had to admire Xu Feng's skill at planting bombs.
It proved that many people weren't stupid; they'd just gotten used to not using their brains.
Reincarnators were even more prone to solving things with their fists rather than their words.
But even the foolish might hit upon a good idea after a thousand attempts. Smart people thought they could look down on others, only for their plans to be ruined by someone they considered a fool.
Those who thought they were so clever they could see through everything, plan for every contingency, and toy with others like pieces on a chessboard never met a good end.
Xu Feng had flashes of brilliance, and Xu Yue was even more perceptive.
Huang Shang was genuinely afraid of being found out.
He knew his own limitations.
Even if he'd inherited Huang Shang's memories and had adapted to this world as much as possible, he was still a modern man.
In the small details of daily life, he was bound to reveal something that set him apart from people of the past.
Xu Yue might not notice for a while, but if she kept observing him in secret, he'd eventually slip up.
So after Xu Yue was trapped, Huang Shang gave it a little thought, followed Xu Feng, and entered Worry-Free Cave.
An opportunity had come.
If he could help someone else, he could help himself, too. If he succeeded, he'd kill two birds with one stone.
Now, Huang Shang was hurrying toward the exit when a sudden twitch in his brow sent an odd sensation through him.
They've followed me, just as I thought.
Huang Shang was delighted.
Earlier, when he'd killed the three beggars, his Literary Qi had faintly sensed an extremely weak fluctuation.
It seemed to come from beneath his feet, but it might have been his imagination.
He couldn't be sure.
He'd only just begun cultivating. If he could clearly track an enemy's movements already, that wouldn't be impressive—nine times out of ten, it'd be a trap.
But now, the other party was practically making no effort to hide. A gust of wind suddenly rose behind him.
Huang Shang spun around and swiftly wrote two characters with the Zhuge Pen. Once again, they formed the Great Power Hexagram, which he thrust forward.
But this time, the Literary Qi attack hit nothing. The space ahead was empty. Ten paces away, a short figure emerged from the earth. His tiny, ratlike eyes darted about as he clicked his tongue in amazement. "So it really is a cultivation path based on literary talent! The Queen and the Prince have really gone all out!"
Huang Shang thought, Well, you certainly know your stuff. He turned back toward the dirt and put on a shocked expression. "Who are you?"
The Reincarnator didn't answer. He danced around, shouting, "I'm rich! I'm rich!"
Thanks to the book friends "Good Friend Chen Xu," "True Wild Boar King," "Heavenly Crystal Chaotic Heaven Treasure Mirror," "Slaughtering Heaven Demon," "Jiu Xiao Shu," "Sileau," "Nine-Headed Evil God," "Feng Yu Wu Fei," "Marvel Iron Man," "Mo Hanfeng," "Born Guo Fengxiao 2," "Bookworm Addict," "Iron Longsky," "Wandering on the Water," "Flying Beyond the Star Dream," "Passing Water, Wandering Star," "Doomsday Lisui," "Fire Dragon Doesn't Eat Dragon Fruit," "Night Wandering Ink Lock," "Stealing Only Hearts, Not Bodies," "Low-Key Silhouette," "Manager Tiao Pi," "I'm Not Lonely," "Eyes Gradually Warm," and "Book Friend 20170110012456311" for their tips.
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