The group set out with considerable imposing manner. Qin Wanwan sat on the Divine Transformation stage Cuilu, holding Jian Xingzhi who leaned against her shoulder. Xie Gutang stood in front, while Nanfeng knelt beside her massaging her shoulders. Though she felt quite uneasy, she suddenly understood why people in this world all strived so hard.
A life winner was nothing more than this!
“Wanwan, are you feeling the joy?”
Cuilu chattered in the air. “Sister is telling you—men must be trained! You can’t let them be too unrestrained. I have so many male consorts, and not one is as arrogant as Jian Xingzhi. You usually indulge him too much…”
“That’s enough.”
Seeing Cuilu getting more and more outrageous, Jian Xingzhi straightened up trying to resist. “You…”
Qin Wanwan grabbed Jian Xingzhi, and before he could speak, she pressed her finger to his lips and spoke gently. “Don’t talk.”
Jian Xingzhi froze, then heard Qin Wanwan smile and tell him, “I think Sister Cuilu is absolutely right. Right now you only need to use that face of yours to make me happy.”
Jian Xingzhi’s eyes widened as he watched Qin Wanwan raise her hand to press his head onto her shoulder. Jian Xingzhi nestled against her shoulder, his heart beating somewhat fast.
He began to panic. He felt like he was leading Qin Wanwan down a crooked path.
But after leaning there for a while, he also felt that this crooked path actually wasn’t bad.
Cuilu flapped her wings and flew toward the location designated on the Formless Sect’s invitation. The Formless Sect habitually concealed their sect, but this time to hold the Immortal Alliance Conference, they finally opened their mountain protection formation, allowing their sect to appear in the mortal world.
Flying before the Formless Sect, Cuilu didn’t forget to instruct Qin Wanwan. “To become the most dazzling person in the crowd, you not only need beauty but also temperament. You must learn to be confident, cold, domineering, and arrogant.”
Hearing these adjectives, Qin Wanwan couldn’t help but glance at Jian Xingzhi.
Jian Xingzhi immediately retorted, “Why are you looking at me?”
Qin Wanwan meaningfully withdrew her gaze and nodded toward Cuilu. “I understand.”
“If you can’t get the imposing manner up, that’s fine too,” Jian Xingzhi felt like Cuilu was stealing all his thunder and quickly added his own scene. “We’ll give you a grand opening that guarantees you’ll be the most eye-catching!”
Hearing this, Qin Wanwan felt a bit panicked. She couldn’t help asking, “Did you decide this opening or did everyone decide it together?”
Jian Xingzhi looked at Qin Wanwan’s completely distrustful gaze. He hesitated for a moment, then said insincerely, “Everyone decided it together.”
Everyone cast reproachful looks at him.
But Qin Wanwan relaxed slightly. Before long, she saw a towering high mountain suddenly appear on the plain ahead. At the foot of the mountain, voices were clamorous. People were waving light swords at cultivators flying in the sky, directing them to stop.
“Get ready!”
As soon as Jian Xingzhi saw they’d arrived, he notified everyone. Xie Gutang looked back at him, hesitated for a moment, and nodded.
Cuilu called out, attracting everyone’s attention, and dove down toward the ground. The crowd panicked and everyone shouted, “Move back! A big bird is diving down!”
Hearing “big bird,” Cuilu wanted to spray fire, but considering the group of weaklings below who hadn’t even reached Foundation Establishment—one spray would kill them—she decided to be patient.
She dove all the way down. Xie Gutang descended from the sky according to plan, raised his hand, and a blade of sword intent rushed straight toward the main gate. The sword intent transformed into a golden giant dragon that roared before everyone, directly carving out a pathway, then with a raised hand, a red carpet unfurled all the way to the gate.
Everyone was shocked by this opening. Then they saw Cuilu land on the ground. Jian Xingzhi jumped down first, Nanfeng jumped down after, moved out a small staircase, then Jian Xingzhi and Xie Gutang stood on either side of the small staircase, bowing their heads and extending their hands toward Qin Wanwan.
Qin Wanwan elegantly placed her hands on theirs, firmly remembering the three words: arrogant, domineering, confident, and glanced at the crowd.
The crowd watched them in shock as Qin Wanwan descended. Jian Xingzhi linked arms with her. Cuilu transformed into human form and took out a flower basket. Nanfeng took out a large umbrella. Xie Gutang rushed ahead and shouted at the red carpet path that had no one on it at all, “Move aside, move aside! The Shangshan Sect Master is traveling—idle people step back!”
With that, Cuilu began scattering flower petals. Qin Wanwan, accompanied by Jian Xingzhi, stepped on the red carpet under an umbrella, advancing with a smile amidst the flower petals.
The entire venue watched them in shock. When they reached the entrance, Xie Gutang handed the invitation to the guard who was staring at them blankly. “The Shangshan Sect Master has arrived in person—why haven’t you quickly made arrangements!”
“Oh!” The guard came to his senses and quickly said, “Arrange, we’ll arrange right away!”
With that, the guard turned and called inside, “Someone come—quickly take the Shangshan Sect Master to the Peach Garden to rest!”
A maid quickly stepped forward and said respectfully, “Sect Master, please follow me.”
“Sensible.”
Qin Wanwan nodded slightly and signaled to Jian Xingzhi. Jian Xingzhi quickly took out spirit stones and tossed them to the maid with an arrogant tone. “A reward for you.”
The maid bowed with a smile, raised her hand in salute. “Please.”
Qin Wanwan’s group followed the maid away. Only then did those at the main gate recover from their shock. An old man said, “These years, these small sects trying to attract attention are getting more and more flamboyant.”
“But that sect just now seemed to have some substance,” a scholar frowned. “From their auras, among them, someone is at Foundation Establishment, right?”
“Not only that,” the old man shook his head, his gaze quite sharp. “It’s even possible someone is at Golden Core.”
“Quite formidable!”
Everyone sighed together.
Meanwhile, Qin Wanwan’s group was led by the maid into a garden. Tables and chairs were set up in this garden. The maid brought them into a pavilion and said respectfully, “Please rest briefly, everyone. The banquet will begin shortly and dishes will be served.”
Qin Wanwan nodded with feigned aloofness. “You may go.”
The maid bowed and left. After she was gone, Qin Wanwan surveyed the surroundings and saw everyone was secretly watching them.
“As expected,” seeing everyone’s furtive glances, Jian Xingzhi smiled confidently. “We really are the most dazzling ones here.”
“There isn’t a single Golden Core cultivator here,” Cuilu glanced around disdainfully. “How could we not be dazzling?”
“Indeed,” Xie Gutang also found it strange. “From the main gate until now, we haven’t seen a single cultivator above Golden Core stage, and we haven’t seen any acquaintances either.”
Cuilu and Xie Gutang were also quite renowned in the cultivation world. For such a grand occasion as the Immortal Alliance Conference, logically there shouldn’t be not a single person they knew.
“Moreover,” Qin Wanwan pondered, “the Immortal Alliance Conference should at least have some agenda. Why did that maid just now only tell us about eating and serving dishes, without mentioning anything else?”
Having raised so many questions, everyone felt something was off. Jian Xingzhi thought about it and grasped a strange key point. “Then, with their cultivation so low, can they sense our power?”
Hearing his words, everyone was somewhat confused. Xie Gutang analyzed seriously and only said, “They should be able to sense we’re very strong, but as for exactly what level we’re at, they probably can’t tell.”
In other words, the point about having powerhouses like Cuilu and Xie Gutang as subordinates to show off—the other party very likely couldn’t get it.
Hearing this, Jian Xingzhi immediately said, “How can this be? Then haven’t we failed?”
As they were talking, several cultivators came to stand outside, holding wine cups, looking ingratiatingly at Qin Wanwan sitting among the crowd. “Having the fortune to meet Fellow Daoist today, would Fellow Daoist honor us by sharing a cup of wine?”
Hearing this, Qin Wanwan immediately said, “Please sit.”
Although everyone had doubts, now that people had actively come to give Qin Wanwan an opportunity to show off, everyone still decided to act according to the original plan, continuing to disguise their identities and making way for these cultivators.
These cultivators sat in the pavilion. Cuilu, Xie Gutang, and Nanfeng poured wine for them. Jian Xingzhi knelt beside Qin Wanwan, pouring wine for her.
These cultivators looked at most Foundation Establishment stage. Seeing Qin Wanwan they were all quite reserved, but still actively introduced themselves.
“This humble one is Li Chunyuan, Wutong Sect Master.”
“This humble one is Lei Tianba, Thunderbolt Sect Leader.”
“This humble one is Yun Yishui, Palace Master of the Nine Heavens Mysterious Maiden Palace.”
…
Everyone introduced themselves in turn—all sect masters. Qin Wanwan relaxed slightly, guessing that although this group’s cultivation wasn’t high, their status wasn’t low.
Meanwhile, Cuilu and Xie Gutang exchanged a glance and couldn’t help wondering—why hadn’t they heard of any of these sects?
After they finished introducing themselves, Qin Wanwan glanced at Nanfeng. Nanfeng immediately took over and introduced Qin Wanwan. “This is our Shangshan Sect Master, Qin Wanwan.”
“Qin Wanwan?”
Everyone’s eyes immediately widened. Li Chunyuan said in shock, “The one who defeated Xie Gutang with one palm strike and kicked over Ghost City’s Lord Cuilu with one foot—that Qin Wanwan?”
Qin Wanwan smiled and nodded. “Precisely.”
Li Chunyuan sighed and glanced at everyone. “Truly heroes emerge from youth. Back in the day when I faced Xie Gutang, I still needed ten moves to defeat him. Who’d have thought Sect Master Qin could take him down in just one move!”
Hearing this, Xie Gutang’s hand pouring tea trembled. Qin Wanwan’s entire group looked meaningfully at Xie Gutang.
Before Xie Gutang could process this statement, he heard the others chime in.
“Yes,” Yun Yishui sighed. “Back when I defeated Xie Gutang, I used thirteen moves.”
Once this started, everyone immediately joined in.
“I used seven moves.”
“I used six moves!”
“I used no moves, yet triumphed over those with moves!”
…
After everyone verbally competed for a while, Li Chunyuan sighed with emotion. “So everyone present has defeated Xie Gutang. To gather here today is truly fate! Come, let’s all raise our cups and drink together.”
With that, Li Chunyuan raised his cup. Everyone happily echoed him. Qin Wanwan awkwardly raised her cup and glanced at Xie Gutang kneeling beside her, gripping his sword.
She felt a bit panicked. She began thinking—this clearly wasn’t the Immortal Alliance Conference. What place was this exactly?
Were these people telling the truth?
“Actually, besides Xie Gutang,” Li Chunyuan drank a cup of wine with considerable emotion, “this humble one has also exchanged blows with Ghost City’s number one expert, Cuilu.”
“That’s right,” Lei Tianba showed a reminiscent expression. “Back in the day when Cuilu and I met in Flower City, we fought at the slightest disagreement. At that time, my one move ‘Thunder Filling the Sky’ scattered her bird feathers everywhere!”
“Watch what you’re saying!” Hearing this, Cuilu smashed the tea set in her hand and turned to curse. “Cuilu hasn’t left Ghost City in all these years—what nonsense are you spouting!”
“Oh.” Lei Tianba nodded guiltily. “Then perhaps I remembered wrong. In any case,” he raised his voice again, getting excited, “I used lightning to scatter her bird feathers—this definitely happened!”
“You…”
Hearing this, Cuilu wanted to smash this person’s head on the spot but was stopped by Qin Wanwan calling, “Cuicui.”
Cuilu looked over coldly, seeing Qin Wanwan winking at her.
Cuilu took a deep breath and finally suppressed her anger, sitting back in her original position to continue brewing tea.
Yun Yishui observed the master-servant interaction and smiled at Qin Wanwan. “Sect Master Qin’s attendant seems very protective of Lord Cuilu.”
“They share the same origin,” Qin Wanwan explained, then decided to fish for information. “Are you all here to attend the Immortal Alliance Conference?”
“Naturally!” Li Chunyuan nodded with a righteous expression. “With demonic seeds emerging in the world and the cultivation realm in peril, my Wutong Sect is a righteous sect—in matters of eliminating demons, we cannot shirk our duty!”
“Correct!” Lei Zhentian chimed in. “Thunder shatters darkness and upholds justice—how could my Thunderbolt Sect be absent from such matters?”
Everyone expressed their loyalty in a cacophony. Qin Wanwan frowned.
This was indeed the Immortal Alliance Conference, but why was it all such people? If the cultivation world really relied on this batch of people to contend with the Evil God, she felt the cultivation world needed to switch to an alternative confrontation plan—
Such as surrender.
Qin Wanwan didn’t understand. Cuilu, Xie Gutang, and Nanfeng were also somewhat dumbfounded, while Jian Xingzhi frowned looking at this group, only thinking—this small world was finished.
Better ascend and leave quickly.
Everyone interacted and chatted with this group with their doubts. This group wasn’t good at anything else, but commercial mutual flattery was extremely impressive. In no time, Qin Wanwan was dizzy from their praise, and Jian Xingzhi also became optimistic.
Although the cultivation world was finished, at least his task could be completed!
He looked at his task list with great interest, feeling happy, only to see that in the task list, the progress bar for [Help the female lead become the most dazzling star of the Immortal Alliance Conference] hadn’t moved at all!
Jian Xingzhi’s expression changed dramatically. He immediately looked up, about to remind Qin Wanwan, when he heard a bell ring from high above. Birds startled and flew up. A young man’s voice came from above, calmly speaking, “Close the formation.”
This young man’s voice was identical to the one that had delivered the invitation. Everyone turned around together to see a membrane light up on the high mountain behind them. The membrane gradually faded, and the high mountain inside also gradually became transparent.
Qin Wanwan turned around in shock and looked at the people beside her. “What’s this?”
“Oh,” Li Chunyuan looked at the high mountain and happily explained. “The Immortal Alliance Conference is about to begin. The Formless Sect’s Old Ancestor is closing the mountain protection formation.”
“Why are we outside the mountain protection formation?”
Qin Wanwan was completely confused. Everyone looked at Qin Wanwan strangely. “Only the three major sects and four great cities—those large sects—are qualified to enter the Formless Sect’s great hall for discussions. How could small sects like us be qualified? Everyone just came for a free meal. Fellow Daoist need not panic,” Li Chunyuan winked. “First time freeloading, right?”
Everyone was shocked by the word “freeloading.” After a moment, Qin Wanwan finally realized where they were.
Generally, immortal family large-scale events would set up some banquet tables for general guests. This batch of people came to freeload!
With these bragging freeloaders at the front, the Formless Sect treated them as freeloaders and sent them here!
“What are we waiting for?”
Cuilu was the first to react and said excitedly, “Charge!”
Hearing this, everyone didn’t hesitate at all. They turned and transformed into streaks of light, rushing toward the Formless Sect’s mountain protection formation.
Jian Xingzhi’s Luoshui transformed into ten thousand swords that fell like rain, striking toward the Formless Sect’s mountain protection formation. Cuilu’s fists ignited with fire as she fiercely punched the mountain protection formation. Xie Gutang’s sword energy transformed into a dragon. Qin Wanwan raised her hand to condense spiritual power in Yuanning. Nanfeng clung to Qin Wanwan’s shoulder, gripping her clothes tightly and shouting, “Add oil! Master add oil! Everyone add oil!”
The Formless Sect’s great formation was shaken by this sudden incoming attack, humming and resonating. Formless Sect disciples cried out in alarm, “Not good! Someone’s attacking the mountain gate! Form the array!”
“Don’t close the gate!”
Qin Wanwan followed Jian Xingzhi charging into the mountain protection formation. Spells transformed into light blades flying around them. She dodged the light blades everywhere, shouting loudly, “We’re here to attend the Immortal Alliance Conference!”
“Still trying to deceive us!”
The Formless Sect’s lead guard shouted excitedly, “Fire attack!”
With that, flaming arrows carrying spells flew straight at them. The arrows transformed in midair into dozens of flame-bearing arrows that chased them together with the light blades.
Jian Xingzhi raised his hand to split open the dozens of arrows. Qin Wanwan struggled to dodge in the middle.
Her full outfit was extremely heavy and voluminous. Her sleeves accidentally caught fire and began burning. Seeing this, Jian Xingzhi quickly sliced off her sleeve with one sword strike, grabbed her to dodge the attacks beside them, and shouted loudly, “Follow me!”
Qin Wanwan followed him darting through the formation, rushing toward the palace at the mountain peak. Their speed was too fast—all the ornaments in her hair were thrown out. Cuilu cried out in alarm, “My hairpin!”
“Never mind, I’ll compensate you!”
Jian Xingzhi called back to stop Cuilu who wanted to go back for the hairpin, using sword energy to blast open a pathway. Qin Wanwan’s hair flew loose, catching sparks from time to time in the dense flaming arrow attacks.
She extinguished fires while hacking and slashing all along the way. Finding human form inconvenient, Cuilu simply transformed into a giant bird and sprayed fire directly at everyone as she passed.
The group overturned all the formations and crowds blocking them, finally charging into the Formless Sect’s great hall.
Jian Xingzhi took the lead, kicking open the main gate and landing together with Xie Gutang. Qin Wanwan executed a flip and landed standing on their shoulders in a sword-raising pose. Cuilu entered last, spreading her wings and crying out loudly behind Qin Wanwan.
Everyone stared blankly at this woman covered in smoke, hair disheveled, clothes full of holes, makeup smeared on her face with dark circles prominent as if she hadn’t slept in years, along with the two people and one bird beside her who weren’t much better off. No one could speak.
In the complete silence, Nanfeng thought about it and felt it couldn’t separate from the team. It stood up on Qin Wanwan’s shoulder and called out loudly, “Shangshan Sect Master Qin Wanwan has arrived—everyone welcome her!”
Hearing this, Qin Wanwan looked at Ning Buxiu, Liu Yuehua, Song Xinian seated in attendance, as well as Heavenly Sword Sect Master Luo Bufan and on the high seat a youth in white robes who looked only sixteen years old, propping his chin with a smile as he watched them—she couldn’t quite maintain her expression.
She really wanted to cry.
Compared to her, Cuilu directly stopped appearing in human form, transforming into a jade-green bird that landed on Qin Wanwan’s shoulder with its back to everyone, gazing at the sky.
Meanwhile, Xie Gutang was probably the most miserable person here. His sect master Luo Bufan stared at him in shock, and after quite a while managed to squeeze out, “Gu… Gu… Gutang?”
Xie Gutang lowered his head in shame, saying in a low voice, “Sect Master, it’s me.”
The only happy one was Jian Xingzhi.
He heard a “ding” sound in his mind. He knew that at this moment, Qin Wanwan was the most dazzling star of the Immortal Alliance Conference!
—
**Author’s Note:** Finished writing early today, posting early!!!
**[Mini Theater]**
Luo Bufan: “Gutang, I sent you to protect the dragon core, not to be a comedian. What have you become?”
Xie Gutang: “Sect Master, Gutang has failed you!”
Qin Wanwan, Cuilu, Readers: “Sect Master, this isn’t Xie Gutang’s fault!”
Luo Bufan: “Whose fault is it then?”
Everyone points at Jian Xingzhi.
Jian Xingzhi: “???”
Jian Xingzhi draws his sword: “I suggest you all think again.”