A Guide to Appraising Otherworldly Courtesans

He waited for the stars, longed for the moon, and at last, the main storyline had arrived!

Jiang Chen merely found it a little strange.

He had waited nearly a month without seeing any main storyline. Yet the moment he had cultivated Myriad Phenomena Resonance to minor accomplishment and slain a Foundation Establishment Sandworm across realms, the main storyline arrived?

Wasn't that a little too much of a coincidence?

This main storyline was called: Twin Mermaids.

"Another demoness?"

Jiang Chen suddenly realized that every main storyline seemed to involve demons or devils, and female demons or devils at that.

This simulator really felt like a cross-species pimp. It could simply be called: A Guide to Appraising Otherworldly Courtesans.

Now, a pair of Merfolk Women lay before him...

Jiang Chen glanced around. No one was watching him, and with Li Lingzhou's Sword Domain protecting him, he was in no real danger.

"Begin storyline!"

The storyline began in a midnight desert.

It was probably somewhere near Jiang Chen's current location.

Bright moonlight spilled down, and Jiang Chen could vaguely make out slight movements beneath the surface.

A Sandworm!

A Foundation Establishment Sandworm was racing underground.

Jiang Chen enlarged the map and shifted his view, quickly finding himself a hundred li to the southeast.

It was possible that this Sandworm had passed nearby earlier.

In the storyline footage, Jiang Chen saw himself sitting cross-legged atop Flame Mountain, his handsome, sculpted face bathed in soft moonlight.

He could clearly sense that his own bearing had changed.

Yet upon closer inspection, it was difficult to say exactly what was different. It seemed to be a kind of gentle clarity that could only be understood, never spoken...

His gaze returned to the Sandworm.

Jiang Chen had not examined it closely earlier, but with a little attention now, he discovered that this was no ordinary Sandworm.

It was actually a fake Sandworm created by human hands!

The craftsmanship was vivid and lifelike, far superior to his own. Evidently, its makers understood Sandworm anatomy extremely well.

But its method of concealing its aura was far inferior to his.

Even so, it was still doing its utmost to hide its aura while maintaining its speed, not daring to descend into the deeper sea of sand.

Jiang Chen guessed that this Artificial Sandworm was probably transporting some rare treasure that could not see the light of day.

For instance: Merfolk Women.

Jiang Chen had never seen a Merfolk Woman in his three years since transmigrating, but he had heard legends about them.

It was said that there had once been a Quicksand River near Flame Mountain, where the nearly extinct Merfolk Clan lived.

The Merfolk Clan had evolved incompletely. They had not fully transformed into demons, but were half-human and half-demon, commonly known as mermaids.

Besides being kept for people's viewing pleasure, the tears of Merfolk Women could condense into tear pearls, peerless treasures for healing injuries and illnesses, or advancing one's cultivation.

For example, Shopkeeper Zhang of the Spirit Spring Inn had once bought a homely-looking but cheerful Merfolk Woman for his son... If she had not been cheerful, he probably could not have afforded her.

The market price of a single Merfolk Pearl exceeded a hundred spirit stones.

Perhaps that was the root cause of the Merfolk Clan's near extinction: all the Merfolk Women had been captured and forced to weep, while male Merfolk found things even harder.

Jiang Chen thought that if his system had never arrived and he had been unable to enter Qi Refining for so long, then if he switched careers and became a plagiarist of Korean dramas, wouldn't helping Merfolk Women shed tears let him sweep through everything?

Jiang Chen's vision followed the underground Artificial Sandworm as it raced onward.

Very soon, he detected another Foundation Establishment divine sense locking onto the Artificial Sandworm.

The newcomer was about ten li away and rapidly closing in.

Only after being pursued to within three li did the Artificial Sandworm realize it was being followed. It hurriedly changed direction and burrowed deeper underground.

Unfortunately, it was too late.

A black-clad man with Foundation Establishment Middle Stage cultivation, wielding a black iron steel saber, swiftly caught up to the Artificial Sandworm.

Standing atop the surface, he cleaved his saber deep into the sea of sand!

In terms of cutting, this steel saber was far sharper than an ordinary spirit sword. It was also imbued with water spirit energy, rapidly penetrating the sea of sand and reaching the Sandworm.

After delivering that slash, the black-clad man also leaped into the sea of sand and continued the pursuit.

His movements looked highly professional, like the bone-scraping waiter from New Dragon Gate Inn. Jiang Chen's legs ached just watching him.

Yet his divine sense still followed them down.

Sure enough, four people were hidden inside the Artificial Sandworm.

One was a merchant at Foundation Establishment Early Stage.

One was an apprentice at Qi Refining Fifth Layer.

And there were two Merfolk Women locked inside water tanks.

The water tanks were taller than a person. Wooden bars stood outside them, while a layer of translucent waterproof bamboo membrane was pasted inside.

The Merfolk Women inside had human upper bodies and fish tails below. White shells covered their chests, while chains were fastened around their necks.

Clearly, the two men outside really were merchants.

The two Merfolk Women were not very old. Both had Qi Refining cultivation and pretty, delicate features. They looked like a pair of twin sisters.

What a sin... Jiang Chen could not help sighing inwardly.

Next, the black-clad man swooped down to kill.

In the blink of an eye, the two merchants were silenced forever. Their Storage Rings and heads were taken, and the water tanks were dragged from the sea of sand by the black-clad man.

Muffled cries for help came from inside the tanks, their sobs sounding like the cries of infants.

The black-clad man raised a hand and patted the wooden bars.

"Stop shouting. We're with the authorities."

The cries from inside the tanks grew even more shrill...

The black-clad man had no choice but to use the spiritual pressure of the Foundation Establishment Realm to knock the two Merfolk Women unconscious.

Afterward, he carried the water tanks and rode his saber toward a nearby underground relay station.

Jiang Chen had heard before that the Fireburn Kingdom authorities had established bandit-suppression outposts in the desert around Flame Mountain.

He had heard their locations were extremely mysterious and that no one had ever seen them... He had not expected it to be true!

A Golden Core Realm elder was stationed at the relay station.

The elder had stern features and a burly build. He wore the spirit-protecting armor of the Fireburn Kingdom Imperial Guards and looked every inch a veteran general of countless battlefields.

"After idling about for more than half a year, we finally caught Merfolk Women—and a pair of young twin girls at that. With this merit, this old man can finally return to the imperial capital."

Jiang Chen was somewhat surprised. He had not expected the emperor of Fireburn Kingdom to have a taste for Merfolk Women as well.

He remembered that the old emperor possessed Nascent Soul cultivation.

Why would a Nascent Soul Realm powerhouse be interested in Merfolk Women at Qi Refining?

Their lower bodies did not even have any place that could make him happy.

Jiang Chen could not puzzle it out no matter how he thought.

After finishing his tea, the old general grabbed the water tanks and prepared to leave.

"You rendered the greatest service this time. This old man will petition His Majesty to confer upon you the title of general."

The black-clad man respectfully cupped his fists.

"Thank you, General Chen!"

Afterward, Old General Chen returned to Xiyang City, handed the two Merfolk Women over to the palace, and sent them to the imperial physicians to check whether they had suffered any injuries...

On the other side.

At the underground outpost, the black-clad man opened the merchant's Storage Ring and found only a little over twenty Merfolk Pearls. Somewhat disappointed, he said:

"A merchant is a merchant indeed. He hid his family fortune elsewhere. Had I known, I would have spared his worthless life."

Turning the Merfolk Pearls over in his hand, the black-clad man muttered softly to himself:

"Merfolk Pearls are sacred treasures for preserving one's beauty. Should I give these Merfolk Pearls to the princess, or to the Empress Dowager?"

"The princess is gifted with keen intelligence, and her talent for cultivation far surpasses even the crown prince's. What a pity she is a woman... I hear she has also entered a marriage engagement with a genius of the Beast Taming Sect... It seems I have no chance again!"

"The Empress Dowager ruled from behind the curtain in those days. Now she has been stripped of power, yet His Majesty still dares not touch her. There must be something extraordinary about her... Could the fox demon legend from back then be true?"

The Empress Dowager... the fox demon legend?

Jiang Chen thought, could Thousand-Faced Fox be possessing the Empress Dowager? Had she even ruled from behind the curtain back then?

Thinking of that dignified, beautiful woman from the Butterfly Effect footage...

Damn.