A Stream of Compliments

Li Shaojun did not carry any metal weapons, but he held a Five Elements Magnet, which could attract the gold-bound rope.

After the location was locked onto Li Shaojun, he was also pulled down from the mountain by the Flood Dragon Demon.

Do you think I'm handsome?

The dragon demon looked at Li Shaojun, who had fallen from the steps and was completely disoriented, grabbed him and examined him closely before directly questioning him.

He clearly remembered killing his opponent with a single shot, but with a living person right in front of him, the dragon demon was somewhat dazed, only feeling that what Zhang Xuezhou and the others said was true.

"Heavens! How can there be such a handsome demon king in the world? Which demon king are you?"

Li Shaojun regained some of his senses.

He didn't need Zhang Xuezhou to remind him.

Zhang Xuezhou and Gongsun Hong were able to stand safely not far from the dragon demon, and even pulled him down from the mountain, which must have meant that the two sides had a brief period of peace.

Zhang Xuezhou had previously angrily cursed the dragon demon for its ugly appearance, which led to the dragon demon's furious pursuit.

At this point, resuming peace would obviously have backfired.

Ugliness, in reverse, becomes handsome; Li Shaojun rattled off a string of praises.

"Sigh, it seems I'm still somewhat handsome in human eyes. It's just that the Dragon Ancestor values pure bloodline more, which is why Ao Li got the better deal. But I'm not entirely at a loss; obtaining a drop of the Dragon Ancestor's Essence Blood is enough to improve my bloodline!"

The dragon demon touched its ugly face.

He was furious at the injustice he felt after all the effort he had put in to secure this fortuitous opportunity, but in retrospect, he realized that the standard for judgment should have been the purity of his bloodline.

His dragon bloodline is indeed not as pure as Ao Li's, and perhaps that is the real reason why he was recognized as such.

The dragon demon could accept that bloodline was something innate and difficult to change, but he truly found it difficult to accept that physical appearance determined one's fortuitous opportunity.

Now, hearing everyone praise his handsome appearance, he felt much more at ease.

No matter what, he was still a common dragon, and he was still somewhat pleased to be praised.

Listening to the compliments from the crowd, he couldn't bring himself to hunt them down for food, even though he was quite hungry. The dragon demon stubbornly endured it.

"Forget it, humans can't endure hunger like we can. I'll wait until they starve to death, then I'll scavenge their corpses and eat a couple of bites!"

The dragon demon pondered many things for a while, and only came back to his senses when Li Shaojun asked him again.

"This... dragon is Ao Sheng of the Western Sea," the demonic dragon said.

"If you're known for your victories, then you must be incredibly brave and skilled in battle," Li Shaojun flattered.

"My strength is only so-so," Ao Sheng waved his hands repeatedly, "I'm only somewhat presentable at the Seventh Realm, but beyond that, I'd just get beaten up!"

"There are only so many cultivators in the Divine Ability Realm in the world. You have already stood at the top of all living beings," Li Shaojun said.

"Ao Sheng, it seems that he is destined to overcome all odds. He has an indomitable spirit and will surely be able to overcome difficulties and defeat his opponents," Zhang Xuezhou also praised.

"Victory means to overcome; the Erya mentions that victory means defeating the enemy!"

Gongsun Hong also showed his support.

But he didn't voice the thought in his mind, "Even if I win, the dog's manure will still stink."

The original meaning of the word "Sheng" refers to the fishy smell of dog meat, which means that Ao Sheng was most likely to have a strong fishy smell when he was born, which is why his father gave him such an unpleasant name.

But since everyone was only saying nice things, Gongsun Hong naturally wouldn't want to make a fool of himself.

Moreover, Zhang Xuezhou had already steered the conversation very quickly toward individual strength and circumstances. If Gongsun Hong was not mistaken, this was most likely an attempt to push Ao Sheng to risk his life and charge into the Mechanized City.

Thinking of Dong Zhongshu at the gate of the city, and looking at his own bruised and swollen body, Gongsun Hong couldn't help but feel a bit of unease, completely at a loss as to how to break out of this predicament.

This was merely an appetizer at the gates of the city.

The dragon demon was right. When the mechanical city was combined with the secret realm, the resulting situation had gone beyond the scope of normal adventure.

Even the surviving members of the School of Mohists might perish in such a situation.

"If you're in a predicament, only a highly accomplished practitioner with your unwavering belief could break through," Zhang Xuezhou praised.

"I..."

"In the past, our Great Han had a king whose name was synonymous with victory, known as the Hidden King," Gongsun Hong said eloquently. "The Hidden King's uprising against the tyrannical Qin Dynasty and his confrontation with the powerful Qin Dynasty were utterly absurd, yet he succeeded!"

"Is the Hidden King Chen Sheng?" Li Shaojun asked.

"Yes," Gongsun Hong nodded.

"I've heard of Chen Sheng! He talked about sparrows and swans!"

With the continuous praise and the added effect of the celebrity endorsement, Ao Sheng felt that many things were making more and more sense.

He also enjoys being around these honest people, since they are all very pleasant to talk to.

He had never encountered such a situation in over two hundred years. After such a barrage of sweet talk, even though the group didn't offer any real benefits, Ao Sheng was overjoyed and felt as if he had known them for a long time.

If he weren't so hungry, he wouldn't even have been able to bear eating the corpses of these people who had starved to death.

"How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan? This means that those who use 'victory' in their name have lofty aspirations and a firm belief in moving in that direction," Gongsun Hong added.

"This Mohists mechanical city is very likely the place where you, Demon King Ao Sheng, rose to power," Zhang Xuezhou said.

Zhang Xuezhou usually persuades others by using psychological tactics on his own, but now with two people working together, his actions are incredibly swift.

From enemies to stalemates, and now Ao Sheng's malice has completely vanished, and he treats everyone almost as good friends, praising and flattering them constantly.

Gongsun Hong, if not a master of social skills and a deep mind, was at least a well-informed and knowledgeable scholar. Li Shaojun and Zhang Xuezhou were very similar; both were people who spoke irresponsibly, saying whatever came to mind.

The three spoke in unison, and Ao Sheng, in a daze, even began to agree to gather everyone's strength to explore the Mohists's mechanical city and strive to successfully explore this important place.

"This secret place must be the Demon Cultivator," Gongsun Hong said. "The mist here draws upon the power of the water in this secret place, and it doesn't cause hallucinations. What truly confuses us is the power of the mirage demons!"

"In other words, the Mohists's mechanical city crashed into this secret place that just happened to open, and then merged with the secret place where the mirage demon was located, and was protected by this mirage demon," Li Shaojun summarized.

"That's right," Gongsun Hong nodded. "We need to figure out the mirage demon's breathing patterns, and then sneak into the mechanical city while it's resting. After that, we need to quickly find the mirage demon and eliminate any future threats!"

"How do we find the mirage demon?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"The mirage demon uses water magic, and only those skilled in water magic can rival it," Gongsun Hong said. "If one engages in a continuous battle with the mirage demon, and there are onlookers observing, the location of the mirage demon's true form will surely be found!"

"In other words, only those skilled in water magic can fight the mirage demon!"

Li Shaojun nodded repeatedly, looking at Ao Sheng with anticipation.

Li Shaojun was filled with hatred as he was killed by the dragon demon's spear.

But Li Shaojun was extremely satisfied with his current actions (retaliation).

Just thinking about Dongfang Shuo, who stood atop the mountain and made him lose three hundred rounds of rock-paper-scissors, and then made him kowtow nine hundred times until he died once, sent chills down Li Shaojun's spine.