Xu Qi’an turned his head to look at Mu Nanzhi, seeking her opinion.

The latter shook her head and smiled gracefully.

She was pleased because Xu Qi’an always gave her the utmost respect, seeking her opinion on everything. For Mu Nanzhi, this was a novel experience. She felt valued and that when interacting with him, their status was equal, rather than a dependent relationship.

“I apologize, but we’ve been traveling for a long time and are weary. We don’t wish to move,” Xu Qi’an politely declined the indigo-robed young woman’s offer.

Her delicate brows furrowed slightly, but she said nothing, withdrawing the gold ingot and turning to leave.

“Today, whether you want to move or not, you must!” Suddenly, a cold laugh echoed as the handsome man, presumably the Dragon Palace Lord of the East Sea, stepped over the threshold, speaking arrogantly.

He wore a black robe embroidered with gold and silver threads, his ornaments tinkling, exuding an air of opulence.

Xu Qi’an scanned him briefly, noticing at least three instances of dress code violations. If I were still a Silver Constable, you’d already be done for, he thought, frowning inwardly. This “Palace Lord’s” attitude irked him, and he responded coolly, “And what if we don’t move?”

The corner of the handsome man’s mouth curved upwards as he said languidly, “Zhu’er, teach him a lesson.”

The young woman in the indigo dress struck without warning, flinging two hidden weapons at Xu Qi’an. As he tilted his head to avoid them, the lovely girl moved with lightning speed, launching a powerful straight punch towards Xu Qi’an’s face.

The force of the punch whistled through the air.

Suddenly, she let out a soft cry. Midway through her punch, her body seemed to lose all strength, her steps faltering, struggling to maintain balance.

“Peak Qi Refinement, not quite enough,” Xu Qi’an scoffed, delivering a whip kick that sent the girl flying. She crashed heavily into the wall with a loud thud, clutching her waist, her small face as pale as paper, drenched in cold sweat.

A Qi Refinement realm martial artist was almost powerless before him. By combining with the air, he could exhale a colorless and odorless poison gas, easily paralyzing those at the Qi Refinement level who lacked a crisis warning system.

The Poison Insect could produce different toxins based on the environment. When combined with air, it could create an invisible, odorless poison gas. Though its potency was somewhat reduced, only capable of paralysis, it was sufficient.

The Strength Insect greatly enhanced his power. He had held back just now; otherwise, one whip kick would have snapped the indigo-robed girl in half.

Seeing this, the young man in the black robe was not angered but delighted, applauding, “Impressive, impressive!”

At this moment, a cool and melodious female voice rang out: “Young Master Li, you’re causing trouble again.”

Outside the courtyard gate stood a stunningly beautiful woman. She wore a cyan long dress covered by a moon-white bamboo-patterned cloak, exuding an air of pure elegance, giving the impression of a chaste young matron.

“Sister Qing, you’ve arrived at the perfect time.” The handsome man in the lavish black and gold-silver embroidered robe pointed at Xu Qi’an and said, “Zhu’er kindly requested him to vacate the courtyard, but not only did he refuse, he even injured her. Poor Zhu’er is in such pain now.”

To be honest, this handsome man’s appearance was among the finest Xu Qi’an had ever seen in men. In terms of “delicacy,” only the Second Young Master Xu could rival him.

The woman addressed as “Sister Qing” furrowed her delicate brows slightly, scrutinizing Xu Qi’an before asking, “Why did you injure someone, sir?”

It seemed that this woman held a position of authority… Just as Xu Qi’an was about to explain, the black-robed man cut in. He leaned close to the cool woman’s ear, exhaling softly as he whispered, “I want to stay here. It’s quieter, with the best scenery. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to drink and chat with Sister Qing at night?”

The elegant woman’s fair face flushed, adding a touch of allure to her cool demeanor.

She truly was a beauty.

Her beautiful eyes glanced sideways, her attitude changing as she said coldly, “Leave this place now, and I’ll overlook the injury you’ve caused. Otherwise…”

Xu Qi’an interrupted with a cold smile, “Otherwise what?”

While the code of honor in the jianghu world could be gratifying, the phenomenon of resorting to violence at the slightest provocation was equally common and troublesome.

Sometimes, a few wrong words or even an exchanged glance that displeased the other party could lead to a brawl.

When traversing the jianghu, don’t be surprised if mindless antagonists jump out to pick fights—it’s standard procedure.

For someone like Xu Qi’an, who was used to the ways of the capital, this was indeed a culture shock that would take some time to adapt to.

The cool woman snorted, “If you can survive ten of my moves, then we’ll talk.”

She pressed her slender hand against her shoulder, then suddenly flung it outward. With a whooshing sound, the moon-white bamboo-patterned cloak whirled towards Xu Qi’an.

The cloak floated down lightly, failing to envelop Xu Qi’an, who had already appeared two zhang away in the shadow of a tree.

The cool woman materialized in his original position, next to Mu Nanzhi, catching her cloak and turning her head to look at Xu Qi’an in the tree’s shadow.

Her beautiful eyebrows arched, “A member of the Southern Border Insect Clan?”

The Buddha’s nail at his Baihui acupoint had sealed his divine soul, depriving him of a martial artist’s intuition for danger, but this didn’t affect his ability to anticipate. The moment the cool woman made her move, he had preemptively used Shadow Jump.

“Nanzhi, go inside,” Xu Qi’an said calmly.

The Princess Consort obediently slipped back into the room. Her survival instincts had always been good, never becoming a burden.

The beautiful woman didn’t stop her. After Mu Nanzhi returned to the room, she charged forward with a few quick steps, cracking the blue bricks beneath her feet, transforming into a blur as she lunged at Xu Qi’an.

Xu Qi’an used Shadow Jump again, appearing under the eaves, but as soon as his form materialized, the beautiful woman had already anticipated his position.

The wind howled as this elegant beauty attacked with ruthless ferocity. Her skirt billowed as her vicious knee flew towards him.

Xu Qi’an’s expression remained unchanged as his left palm attempted to push down the knee while his right hand formed a claw in a move known as “Fermented Bean Curd.”

The beautiful woman’s eyebrows raised slightly, her already cool face becoming even more frost-like as she punched his palm.

Smack!

Xu Qi’an was sent flying backward. Just as he was about to crash through the door into the room, his body abruptly vanished. In the tree’s shadow, a figure flew out, then disappeared again.

Under the table, a figure flew out, then vanished once more.

From the shadow behind the black-robed man, a figure flew out, then disappeared again.

Xu Qi’an’s silhouette kept appearing in the shadows around the courtyard, always in a flying posture, flashing more than a dozen times before finally dissipating the beautiful woman’s terrifying strength.

Thud, thud, thud… Xu Qi’an retreated several steps, absorbing the last of the force. He looked towards the cyan dress under the eaves, his expression gradually becoming serious.

A Fourth-Rank martial artist, no, a Peak Fourth-Rank, a formidable warrior no less than Yang Yan or Jiang Luzhong.

How could such a powerful Fourth-Rank Peak martial artist appear in tiny Pingzhou? And damn it, I had to run into her, and even worse, end up in conflict with her… Xu Qi’an cursed his bad luck inwardly, but his face remained cold and calm as he steadily gazed at the beautiful woman under the eaves.

She slowly raised her hand, the back of which was tinged with a blue-black color. Black qi visibly coiled around her fair skin, creeping upwards.

Beneath her skin, a network of blue-black blood vessels bulged.

Scalding qi surged downwards, attempting to expel the toxins from her body. The blue-black qi and the scalding qi remained in a deadlock.

“Sister Qing, are you alright?” The young man in the luxurious black robe asked, his face full of concern, displaying his affection.

“Stay back!” the beautiful woman scolded, then softened her expression and said in a low voice, “This poison is extremely potent.”

Xu Qi’an’s mouth curved into a smirk. Over this period, he had consumed and refined the ancient corpse’s venom, evolving his Poison Insect to an incredibly high level.

It wasn’t enough to fatally poison a Peak Fourth-Rank cultivator, but it was sufficient to cause severe negative effects, as evident now, forcing her to circulate her qi to expel the poison.

Moreover, he had managed to evade the martial artist’s crisis warning by using the Celestial Insect’s ability to shift stars and constellations.

The black-robed man cast a hateful glance at Xu Qi’an and said in a deep voice, “I’ll go find Sister Rong.”

“We’re done here,” the beautiful woman frowned, seemingly resistant to the idea. She said coolly, “Let’s go.”

Without looking at Xu Qi’an, she left directly.

Although she had been poisoned, it was at most troublesome, not even causing an injury, let alone endangering her life. She wasn’t afraid of this plain-looking man in cyan; she was just ending things here.

Firstly, the opponent had demonstrated strength worthy of respect. For the sake of a mere courtyard, there was no need to fight to the death.

Secondly, this was an inn in Pingzhou city. A real death match would result in many casualties.

Lastly, both parties had been restraining themselves. She had allowed that woman to return to her room, and the cyan-robed man hadn’t taken the opportunity to ambush Young Master Li.

The black-robed man glared at Xu Qi’an before following, saying softly, “Sister Qing, does it hurt? Let me suck the poison out for you.”

…

After walking for a while, they entered a nearby courtyard. This courtyard was larger but less exquisite, its scenery and furnishings far inferior to the Elegant Instrument Pavilion where that ordinary-looking couple was staying.

In the spacious bedroom, smokeless silver-bone charcoal burned fiercely, its red flames dancing.

On the soft couch sat a coquettish woman with her legs crossed. She wore a thin gauze robe, a pink dudou, and white underwear that only reached her upper thighs.

The dudou was plump and full, faintly revealing snow-white delicacy, hiding seven ounces of charm (Note 1).

The seductive woman glanced at her sister’s blue-black right hand and giggled, “I divined for you today and knew you’d run into trouble.”

The beautiful woman snorted coldly.

She wasn’t concerned about the poison in her body. Instead, she frowned upon seeing her sister’s snow-white long legs wrapping around the handsome young man’s waist, warning, “He’s mine tonight.”

The seductive woman sneered and said coquettishly, “Young Master Li, who do you prefer between me and Qing’er?”

The black-robed man looked left and right, then smiled, “The palm and the back of the hand are both flesh. I can’t do without either.”

The seductive woman poked his forehead with her jade-like finger, chiding, “Smooth talker.”

After a pause, she leaned into the handsome man’s embrace and looked at her sister, frowning, “Who’s staying in that courtyard?”

The beautiful woman shook her head, “He uses Insect Clan techniques, but he’s from the Central Plains.”

The seductive woman pursed her flame-red lips, pondering, “The Insect Clan never shares their techniques with outsiders. Even among the Seven Great Schools, there’s serious sectarianism. Let alone someone from the Central Plains.”

The beautiful woman frowned, “We needn’t bother with him. We have important matters to attend to on this trip. Let’s try to avoid unnecessary involvement with unrelated individuals.”

The black-robed man, embracing the elder sister’s voluptuous waist, looked at the younger sister and said, “I’m just worried he might be a ‘fellow traveler’.”

…

After lunch, Xu Qi’an took Mu Nanzhi to browse the marketplace, buying many porcelain wares with soft, mellow glazes. He used himself as a dragon qi detector, but after an entire afternoon, he hadn’t found any dragon qi host.

This left him somewhat disappointed.

Before dusk, they returned to the inn. Mu Nanzhi was in high spirits, still savoring the experience.

Originally, they had separate rooms, but due to the earlier conflict, the Princess Consort feared retribution at night, so she shared a room with Xu Qi’an again.

They slept in separate beds.

Wrapped in sun-dried bedding, she poked out her head, her dark, tranquil eyes watching the man sitting silently at the table.

He would sit there in contemplation almost every few days.

Mu Nanzhi enjoyed watching him think at the table. Watching him helped her drift off to sleep, giving her a sense of security.

She kept this small feeling of security to herself, not telling anyone.

This wretched woman, how long is she going to stare at me… My Emotion Insect is about to act up again… Maybe I should visit a brothel tonight. No, the East Sea Dragon Palace forces are right next door… Xu Qi’an grumbled internally.

Enduring the Emotion Insect made him reminisce about a difficult period in his past life. Deleting his “wife” from his hard drive, leaving all those risqué image-sharing chat groups, all to practice abstinence.

Seeing that pair of top-tier beauties today was like seeing erotic images. The suppressed thoughts suddenly surged like thunder and lightning.

“Come to think of it, I really should be lavishly spending at brothels and official entertainment houses. The Emotion of Insects can’t always be suppressed. The Seven Fatal Insects are a complete set. The Poison Insect is nearing its bottleneck, and to progress further, the other insect techniques must keep pace.”

“Otherwise, the Poison Insect and Corpse Insect will struggle to grow. Fortunately, the side effects of the Heart Insect and Corpse Insect only make the insect master fond of animals and corpses. Corpse parties and animal carnivals aren’t essential…”

“Let’s set a small goal first: within three months, cultivate the Seven Fatal Insects to a level capable of matching a Fourth-Rank expert.”

After setting his goal, Xu Qi’an turned his head to look at Mu Nanzhi, who had fallen into a deep sleep.

Xu Qi’an got up from the table, walked to the bedside, and gazed deeply at the ordinary face of the Great Dafeng’s number one beauty. Then, he crawled under the bed.

Exhaling slowly, Xu Freeload felt like he had found his home, feeling physically and mentally relaxed.

“Hmm, now I can make another conclusion. Excessive use of a particular insect technique will temporarily intensify its side effects. I suddenly understand why Lina always eats a big meal after fighting.”

Xu Qi’an closed his eyes and entered a sweet dream.

In a nearby courtyard, in a bedroom as warm as spring.

The handsome young man, with a soft, delicate body on either side, opened his eyes, feeling the soreness in his waist. He sighed lightly and continued his deep slumber.

…

In a daze, Xu Qi’an heard someone calling him. He suddenly woke up and crawled out from under the bed to see a handsome young man sitting at the round table. He wore a black robe embroidered with gold and silver threads, exuding opulence.

Seeing him emerge from under the bed, the handsome young man immediately bowed, “Great hero, please save me.”

His tone was sincere, completely different from the arrogance he had displayed during the day as if he were a different person.

How did he get in here? I didn’t even notice… Xu Qi’an was secretly alarmed but maintained a calm exterior, “We’re mere strangers, you’re being too hasty.”

“Great hero, at least hear me out.” The black-robed man smiled bitterly and said, “This humble Daoist is the Heavenly Sect’s Holy Son, Li Lingsu.”

“???”

Xu Qi’an almost lost control of his expression, his mind full of question marks.

Heavenly Sect’s Holy Son? Is he Li Miaozhen’s senior or junior fellow disciple? Ah, I seem to recall Li Miaozhen mentioning she had another senior fellow disciple traveling… But, this is too coincidental, to encounter Li Miaozhen’s senior fellow disciple here.

Xu Qi’an looked at him indifferently, “Why should I believe you?”

Li Lingsu replied frankly, “You’re currently in a dream state. I’ve entered your dream with a strand of my divine soul power. Tell me, how could anyone but a Daoist disciple achieve this?”

No wonder I didn’t notice him enter. So it’s a divine soul dream entry… Xu Qi’an argued, “Shamans can do this too, and they’re even more proficient at it.”

Li Lingsu was momentarily speechless. He then sighed, “If I were a shaman, I’d divine my fortune daily and wouldn’t have fallen into the hands of those sisters.”

Xu Qi’an raised an eyebrow, “Aren’t those two beauties your lovers?”

“They are indeed my romantic companions, but I have no freedom by their side. I’m not happy, and even my waist hurts a bit…”

Who the hell are you showing off to? Xu Qi’an’s face twitched slightly. He said in a deep voice, “Tell me what’s going on. I’ll consider whether to help you or not. Also, why did you seek me out? Did you intentionally cause trouble earlier today?”