It wasn't the Nine-Story Demon Pagoda?
Yang Zhen froze for a moment, then put on a gentle, refined smile and said softly to the woman in yellow, "I haven't had the pleasure of asking your name, pretty big sister!"
The woman in yellow was taken aback. Blushing again, she looked at Yang Zhen with interest and said, "You really are amusing. I... my name is Wang Shuiyan, and I'm a disciple of the Huyang Sect. These are all like-minded fellow Daoists. What we were just talking about isn't a secret, but it isn't the Nine-Story Demon Pagoda. It's the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda in Raging Fire City."
"The Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda?" Yang Zhen had never heard the name, but he had heard of Raging Fire City. He was on his way there now to see what was so extraordinary about the highly acclaimed Long Moon Pavilion.
"Young Master, you haven't heard of the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda?" Wang Shuiyan looked at Yang Zhen in surprise. The others also found it a little strange, and a hint of awkwardness crossed their faces.
Most people who hadn't heard of the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda were those who had no chance of entering it, or disciples from minor sects who had seen little of the world.
Even a Rogue Cultivator who had spent years training away from home would have heard of the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda.
Among the ten was a slender, handsome young man. Though he fell a hundred and eight thousand miles short of Yang Zhen, he was more charming than most men. He gave a soft chuckle, hid the disdain deep in his eyes, and laughed heartily.
"Fellow Daoist, could it be that you live deep in the mountains and have spent so long cultivating in your sect that you haven't heard of the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda? After all, the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda is a sacred site that only recently appeared. It was discovered by the Long Moon Pavilion... oh, I'm afraid you haven't heard of the Long Moon Pavilion either, have you?"
The young man's presence was formidable. His cultivation seemed to be at the sixth level of the Foundation Establishment Realm or even higher, and the easy way he talked and laughed made it hard not to like him.
Although his words carried a faint suggestion that Yang Zhen was ignorant and inexperienced, Wang Shuiyan said nothing. She merely frowned and gave Yang Zhen an apologetic smile.
Why would Yang Zhen pay any attention to this sanctimonious fellow? He turned to Wang Shuiyan with a gentle, refined air, his face full of infinite regret. "That's right. I lived deep in the mountains and never came out. I always thought the outside world was nothing special, and that the legends of fairies were even more absurd. Only now, upon meeting Miss Shuiyan, do I realize that fairies really do exist. I truly am ignorant and inexperienced."
Wang Shuiyan stared at Yang Zhen in bewilderment, unable to understand why he had brought up fairies. Only after cultivating immortality, seeking the Dao, breaking through to achieve longevity, and ascending to immortality could one be called a fairy or an immortal king. How could such powerful beings of legend appear on the Youzhou Continent?
Catching sight of her companions staring open-mouthed, Wang Shuiyan seemed to remember something. Her beautiful face flushed red all the way down her neck. With a little cry, she lowered her head to her chest and said awkwardly, "Young Master, you... how could I possibly be a fairy?"
Yang Zhen glanced at the young man, whose face had turned livid, and chuckled inwardly. You can't even handle the basics, yet you've got time to stand around making snide remarks? You dare fight Brother Yang for control of the group? You'll need to cultivate for another thousand years!
"The Nine-Story Demon... what exactly is the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda?"
Wang Shuiyan's chest rose and fell, and it took her quite some time to calm down. She gave Yang Zhen a faint, reproachful glare and said, "The Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda is incredibly mysterious. Each floor is a world unto itself. If you cultivate in a world whose attributes are close to those of your true essence, not only can you achieve twice the result with half the effort, but you may also cause the true essence in your body to mutate, gaining a new true essence attribute and making your true essence purer and stronger."
"Such a miraculous thing exists?" Yang Zhen was dumbstruck. These properties made it practically tailor-made for him! With a chance to change the attributes of his true essence and gain new abilities, his off-the-charts talent would definitely win him something good. He might even obtain one of those rare elemental roots that appeared only once in ten thousand years.
Seeing Yang Zhen staring open-mouthed, Wang Shuiyan giggled and stole a glance at him. "Young Master, are you interested in the Nine Realms Exquisite Pagoda? We're heading to Raging Fire City on this trip, so why don't you..."
Wang Shuiyan's pretty face was bright red as she secretly studied Yang Zhen, a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
The young man behind her ground his teeth in anger and said gravely, "Miss Shuiyan, we don't even know this fellow Daoist's name or background. How can we presume to invite him to travel with us?"
Apart from a few men and women, the others all nodded to themselves in strong agreement.
Wang Shuiyan started to speak but stopped, looking somewhat troubled. She gave the young man behind her an annoyed glare and said, "Young Master Lu, you and I aren't close either. Please don't call me Miss Shuiyan."
Young Master Lu froze and looked at Yang Zhen with resentment. Clearly, he couldn't understand why Yang Zhen, whom she had just met and whose name she didn't even know, could call her that when he couldn't.
Yang Zhen laughed heartily, then sighed and said with infinite melancholy, "To travel alongside Fairy Sister would be a blessing I've cultivated for a hundred years to earn. It's just that I was born an ill-omened person and always bring disaster to those around me. That's why I... I don't have a single confidant to this day. Never mind. I'd better continue wandering the world alone."
Yang Zhen was making it all up, intent on leaving the group and heading to Raging Fire City. To his surprise, his words stirred up a flood of sympathy in Wang Shuiyan. She looked at him with pity and said resolutely:
"What ill-omened person? How can we cultivators believe such nonsense so readily? If you don't mind how weak we are, we can be... be your close friends."
Yang Zhen froze, then hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no, no! I don't want to bring any disaster upon Fairy Sister. I can manage on my own. So what if I'm an ill-omened person? We cultivators defy the heavens to begin with. I want the heavens to never again obscure my face, I want the earth... ah, I can't make this up anymore. Fairy Sister, we'll meet again if fate allows!"
As Yang Zhen spouted this nonsense, he darted away, moving as fast as lightning. He had suddenly felt a bad premonition, as though some danger was drawing closer and closer.
Pah! Why did he have to call himself an ill-omened person? What a crow's mouth!
The feeling was very strange. Just as animals grew restless before an earthquake, Yang Zhen felt a sense of agitation.
The group stared dumbfounded at Yang Zhen's retreating figure. Wang Shuiyan cupped her hands around her mouth. "I haven't yet had the pleasure of asking your name, Young Master!"
Yang Zhen waved and said, "My name is Yang Zhen. Until we meet again!"
"Yang Zhen," Wang Shuiyan murmured, her eyes shining. "What a good name."
Young Master Lu was utterly baffled. What was so good about that name? Yang Zhen, Yang Jia... Yang Zhen?
At the thought of the name, Young Master Lu suddenly let out a strange cry, his reasonably handsome face turning pale in an instant.
Startled by his sudden cry, the others asked in surprise, "Why are you so shocked, Young Master Lu?"
"Yang, Yang, Yang... Yang the Skinflint!"
"What yang, yang, yang?"
"Young Master Lu said Yang the Skinflint. Who's Yang the Skinflint?"
Wang Shuiyan clapped both hands tightly over her mouth, staring in shock at Yang Zhen as he grew smaller and smaller in the distance. "He's that Yang Zhen who sent Zhang Zongjin flying with a kick in front of the Dao Comprehension Stele... so handsome!"
Everyone: "..."
Handsome, my ass! This guy was terrifying, all right? He robbed and stripped people at the drop of a hat, and demanded their cultivation methods and martial techniques too. Even Zhang Zongjin, a genius disciple of the Tonglin Sect, one of the five great sects, hadn't escaped him. Not only had this guy kicked him away from the Dao Comprehension Stele, he had also beaten him half to death with a punch. Most importantly, Yang Zhen had actually driven Zhang Zongjin mad with anger!
How had Yang Zhen's habit of taking revenge for the slightest grievance and his shameless cunning become "so handsome" to Wang Shuiyan? A woman's thoughts really were a wondrous thing.
"No, a man like that stands tall between heaven and earth. How could he be an ill-omened person?" Wang Shuiyan murmured, gazing at Yang Zhen in a daze.
Just then, an earth-shaking roar like a thunderclap rang out. "Yang Zhen, you brat, stop right there!"
The group's expressions hardened. They looked up in horror to see an old man riding a flying sword, charging toward Yang Zhen from the distance like a raging thunder dragon.
"Th-this is an elder of the Tonglin Sect, Ma Dexing!"
Wang Shuiyan and the others cried out in horror.