Flying Sword Delivery, Guaranteed

The Heavenly Gate was a modern cultivation society, and a relatively peaceful environment for cultivation.

Whether someone was a Golden Core or a Nascent Soul cultivator, never mind treating them as an equal-one could even look down on them.

The person Hu Mang had just spoken to on the phone would have been at least an old monster of an unorthodox path in Demon-Subduing City—and Hu Mang had hung up on him just like that.

Never mind the Azure Mysterious Realm; even overseas, if the other party wanted something from a "Qi Refining Realm cultivator" like him, there were plenty of ways to get it: tearing out his tendons and flaying his skin, interrogating his soul, or sending a heart demon into his body.

Having spent time in both Port Surumai and Demon-Subduing City, Hu Mang naturally knew the brutality of the weak being prey to the strong.

He had nothing against this kind of peace.

But the problem was that a peace established in a world where the strong preyed on the weak necessarily rested on the absolute suppression of extralegal force.

To a large extent, that would wear away one's fighting spirit and Blood Qi.

Leaving everything else aside, if another Heavenly Gate cultivator had transmigrated to Demon-Subduing City in his place, Hu Mang doubted he could have survived in that environment, even if he were a Golden Core cultivator.

That wasn't even the main point. The key was-

Hu Mang still had nearly twenty "lethal Law Artifacts" on his hands. What was he supposed to do with them?

He also had lightning crystals, natural treasures comparable to "high-grade Spirit Stones." If there had only been one or two, he could have handed them over; the relevant authorities wouldn't take them for nothing, anyway.

But Hu Mang had nine lightning crystals, and once the passage between the two realms was successfully activated, he would only have more and more of these things.

How was he supposed to handle that?

He couldn't very well hand over the "fragment" too. Hu Mang wasn't that generous.

So he still had to reconnect with the old contacts worth cultivating.

As a major underworld boss in Port Surumai, Zheng Qingbo's main business wasn't actually the underground fighting rings, but smuggling.

Smuggling of all kinds.

His identity as a major underworld boss was just a front; he was really a smuggler.

Hu Mang returned several more calls after that, either to former colleagues or academy classmates. He also received a call from his counselor checking on him, and reported the good news that he had regained Foundation Establishment.

His counselor was relieved, but also a little regretful. After all, an unemployed Foundation Establishment cultivator couldn't serve as an outstanding graduate of a first-rate academy, much less return to give a speech.

Hu Mang looked through his missed calls and rang a fellow named "Chen Xiaosan," but there was still no answer.

This fellow called "Chen Xiaosan" had left him more missed calls than anyone except his mother, but for some reason, every time Hu Mang called him, the response was, "This number is out of service range."

If this guy was out of service range, where was he?

Had he gone into the sea too—no, gone overseas?

Hu Mang shook his head and gave up on the idea of using Divine Sense Communication. He patted his backside and got ready to head to the mourning hall first thing in the morning!

At that very moment, in a popular livestream on the Heavenly Gate's biggest short-video app,

The livestream had a strange name: "Feeding Ghosts Livestream."

A young man clad in yellow robes, with a filming Law Artifact on his head, was twisting his waist, rolling his hips, and thrusting his backside. He looked as though he was dancing to Heavenly Gate Is Calling, but with an especially flirty swagger.

Matching comments began flooding the screen: "Guys, it's time to go out and feed the ghosts again."

Sure enough, after finishing his "Male Model Is Calling" routine, the young man chuckled, flashing a brilliant smile and a mouthful of white teeth.

"Guys, it's time to go out and feed the ghosts again. Who knows what quality clients we'll run into today? Let's go!"

The next moment, the guy set off, bumping along on a secondhand delivery flying sword with a large insulated box strapped around its hilt.

Along the way, he began frequently "harassing" merchants and passersby.

"Ding-dong! The Samadhi True Fire roasted chicken wings you ordered have arrived~ Please collect your food~"

"Samadhi True Fire? Is your roast chicken authentic? I want the same kind Brother Monkey had."

"Buddy, flying a sword without a helmet? That's a fine of 100 Spirit Coins! That's right, just hand it straight to me."

"The note actually said, 'Handsome delivery guy wanted.' I made a special trip to the back mountain to look into a beauty mirror, and it was definitely talking about me."

"I know you! Are you that 'Ghost feeding specialist, flying sword delivery guaranteed' guy? I watch your streams all the time!"

"That's right, kiddo, I'm the guy who feeds ghosts. Here, here, our meeting must be fate. Have a White Rabbit milk candy."

"Hello, I have no manners. Can I use Sword Qi Thunder Sound to overtake you?"

"Streamer, you're so handsome."

"Mm, that's right. I'm the most handsome female cultivator in Great Prosperity City."

"Big sis, look, my flying sword's so worn out the skin's peeling off. If you give me a good review, I can apply for a new sword when I get back, and I won't have to keep mooching off yours every day."

After all that chaos, with chickens flying and dogs jumping, and chickens flying off only to smash their eggs, the young man finally picked up several Spirit Cuisine takeout orders.

The comments suddenly multiplied.

"It's finally time for the thrilling delivery segment again!"

"Go to Bewildering Ford Garden! The formations there are insanely exciting. One time the streamer wandered around for more than three double-hours and still couldn't get out."

"Go to Fierce Ghost Street instead. I love watching the meat-chopping ghost there."

"It's gotta be the Eternal Joy Quarter. That place, hehehehe~"

"Did you guys see the video from the last time the streamer was late with a delivery and a female ghost chased him for three streets? It was hilarious."

"Wait, how was this video filmed? Are there really this many ghosts in the Heavenly Gate?"

"Didn't the person above read what's underneath? 'Fictional/dramatized work, for entertainment only.' For entertainment only, fellow Daoist."

"Then how exactly was it filmed?"

"That question has joined how to break through to Void Refinement as one of the Heavenly Gate's ten great unsolved mysteries."

"Here we go, he's delivering the food."

On the third floor of the Locust Shadow Lane Residential Complex, outside the dimly lit Unit 404,

The young man carefully edged up to the door. The surroundings were dim, and the white light buzzed and crackled, frightening him so badly that his legs trembled.

He bent over to set down the takeout, still putting on a brave front. "This? It's just a short circuit. Back in the day, I even endured a heart demon tribulation-"

Before he could finish, an eyeball with no white squeezed out through the crack in the door, its blood vessels writhing like living things.

His entire face went pale, and his breathing stopped for a full three seconds.

The next second, he shot backward, scrambling and tumbling.

"Enjoy your meal, buddy! Please don't open the door to receive me, I'm socially anxious!"

Eternal Joy Quarter, Beauty Pavilion, essential oil private room No. 666.

He stood outside the room holding a bag of "Spiritual Qi nourishing medicinal cuisine," a lewd, sleazy grin on his face. "Honored guest, your 'Dragon and Tiger Convergence Soup' has arrived. Remember to give me a five-star review~"

A wisp of pink bewitching mist suddenly drifted out through the crack in the door. Countless lip prints appeared faintly within it, each silently calling his name.

Besides the lip prints, densely packed black handprints crawled up his back, kneading him with practiced skill. With each squeeze, a strand of Yin Qi burrowed through his skin.

Silvery, bell-like laughter rang out beside the young man's ears.

He hurriedly retreated in fright. Sensing its master's mental contamination, his flying sword automatically activated "chastity protection mode" and reversed at full speed, but he still remembered to turn around and shout something cheeky:

"Have mercy, sisters! I'm still a virgin! I can't take you doing this to me! This order's free! Please don't keep me overnight!"

Deep in an alley,

He set down the food box and had just lifted his foot to leave when faint chewing sounded behind him; he turned to find a translucent ghostly figure crouching on the steps, and the streetlight abruptly went out.

The crouching ghostly figure was chewing on his takeout.

"...Buddy, you didn't tap to accept the order."

At the Among the Clouds Porridge Shop, the delivery guy walked in, exhausted.

A familiar figure was busy at the stove. The gentle older shop assistant was holding a long ladle, slowly stirring the milky-white porridge in the pot; steam rose, blurring half her profile and making her look especially tender.

"Order nineteen."

"Wait a moment, Xiaosan. Yours is next."

"Okay."

"Did you get scared again today?"

"Ah, I'm getting old, and I don't have as much courage as I used to. But when it comes to you, Sister Zhao, I've still got plenty of lust in me."

Chen Xiaosan plopped down on a stool and, while waiting for the food, didn't forget to keep up his flirtatious banter.

The older shop assistant turned around, revealing a gentle smile, and handed him the takeout she had just packed.

"Then hurry up and grow up. I'll be waiting for you."

"I don't need to grow up at all! I'm already very-"

Chen Xiaosan took the takeout and looked up, only to see that the older shop assistant's human skin had fallen off at some point and landed right on the takeout bag.

"...Sis, they ordered strictly vegan porridge. You can't add anything extra."

A whole morning passed. Chen Xiaosan lay exhausted on the grass, basking in the sunlight, his face pale and his eyes staring blankly.

The comments on the screen, however, kept pouring in.

"Third Brother, you didn't get swamped with orders this morning. You only delivered six. From now on we'll have to call you Little Third Brother."

"Streamer, your acting is so good it's a waste to deliver takeout. You ought to join the entertainment industry."

"It really is a horror movie. Several shots gave me a fright."

"Seriously, if it weren't impossible to become a spirit after the New Heavenly Gate was established, I'd have almost believed it."

"Streamer, when that big sister was chasing you just now, your underwear showed. You didn't censor it."

"Streamer, you're so handsome~"

Chen Xiaosan's eyes finally moved a few times and settled on the screen. He spoke weakly.

"A little preview: don't you all keep saying I'm acting? In a couple of days, once the equipment's in place, I'm planning to start a paid Divine Sense livestream. Then you guys can connect to me with your Divine Sense and see whether I'm for real."

Another wave of comments flooded the screen: "Holy shit, streamer, you're really doing it!"

Chen Xiaosan was just about to say something when he suddenly took a closer look, then brightened.

"Guys, I'm ending the stream. My own brother's calling me. I'm hanging up, see you tomorrow at the usual time."

Chen Xiaosan immediately called "Hu Xiao'er" back, only to get another "out of service range."

"Huh? Why's he out of service range? Didn't he come back? Did my brother go into the sea again?"

Hu Mang naturally had no idea that his third brother was gossiping about his second brother. The reason his signal was poor at the moment was that he had returned to the Artificial Lightning Tribulation Tower in the inpatient department.

The signal here really was bad.

Hu Mang pondered for a moment, then turned over his palm and went up to the eighth floor with the "fragment."