These words left everyone in the great hall stunned. After a moment, Luo Xingzhou came to his senses and cursed angrily through gritted teeth, “If you’re going to notify us, just notify us—did you have to do it in my wedding hall?! What kind of Formless Sect…”

“Calm down,” hearing him about to curse, Liu Feishuang and Xie Gutang quickly stepped forward to restrain him. “Xingzhou, forget it. They’ve already said it anyway.”

“Let go of me! Disrupting my wedding—just watch me beat them up!”

Luo Xingzhou threw punches and kicks at the air. Jian Xingzhi glanced at him. “Why didn’t you attack earlier? There’s not even a shadow left—what hero are you trying to be?”

Luo Xingzhou was struck speechless, quite guilty. Jian Xingzhi waved his hand. “Just hurry to your bridal chamber.”

With that, Jian Xingzhi stepped forward and looked up at the golden characters still floating in midair about to dissipate. He waved his hand, and the golden characters scattered and fell, transforming into an invitation. The invitation bore no signature—it seemed whoever obtained it could use it.

Jian Xingzhi held the invitation in silence. Qin Wanwan walked up to him. “What are you looking at?”

“Trying to sense if there’s any trace of Mei Suihan’s aura on this,” Jian Xingzhi smiled and handed the invitation to Qin Wanwan. “Unfortunately, it’s already untraceable.”

As the two talked, Liu Yuehua saw everyone discussing in confusion and raised her hand to reassure them. “Honored guests, please be at ease. Though the Formless Sect’s invitation came at an inopportune moment, there was no malice. All guests may follow the steward to your seats. Today is still my son’s joyous occasion—all friends and family may sing freely and drink to your heart’s content.”

After Liu Yuehua finished speaking, she had the steward lead the guests out of the great hall. Once most people had dispersed, Liu Yuehua approached together with Xie Gutang and Cuilu. Qin Wanwan turned and handed the invitation to Liu Yuehua. “Family Head Liu, the invitation.”

Liu Yuehua accepted the invitation and thanked Jian Xingzhi. “Just now I’m much obliged to Daojun Jian.”

Jian Xingzhi nodded, only saying, “It was nothing.”

Liu Yuehua took the invitation and after looking at it for a while, sighed. “I was originally going to have Gutang go ask their sect master about the Immortal Alliance matter. I didn’t expect the Formless Sect to beat us to it. Unfortunately, my son just had his joyous occasion, so I’ll need to wait a few days before going. I wonder when you all plan to depart?”

Liu Yuehua looked up, glanced around, and settled her gaze on Qin Wanwan. Qin Wanwan smiled. “We’ll depart today.”

Liu Yuehua was startled, but after thinking about it, she still nodded. “For Daojun Jian and Miss Qin to be in such a hurry, you must have urgent matters. Then this Liu will not try to keep you. When we meet again at the Immortal Alliance Conference, if fate allows.”

After exchanging pleasantries and bidding farewell to Liu Yuehua, Qin Wanwan turned to look at Xie Gutang and Cuilu standing beside her. No one spoke. After standing in silence for a moment, Cuilu was the first to speak. “Aren’t we leaving yet?”

Hearing this, Qin Wanwan smiled, looking at Jian Xingzhi quite smugly.

Jian Xingzhi wasn’t surprised either. He lazily swept a glance at Qin Wanwan, then turned to lead the way. “Let’s go.”

“Should we say goodbye to Xingzhou and Feishuang?”

Qin Wanwan turned to look at Xie Gutang. Xie Gutang smiled. “I already told them last night. We can set out now.”

Having received Xie Gutang’s answer, no one had any attachments. Qin Wanwan brought Nanfeng, packed briefly, and left Flower City by waterway that night.

Everyone sat together on the boat around a small table playing mahjong. Nanfeng was beside them grilling late-night snacks. While playing cards, they discussed the day’s events.

“The Formless Sect has always been mysterious and uninvolved in worldly affairs. Suddenly standing up to uphold justice—what nerve did they hit? Nine bamboo.” Cuilu threw out a tile carelessly.

“Pong,” Xie Gutang claimed the tile, discarded one, and took Cuilu’s tile, reminding her, “They like fortune-telling. They probably calculated something.”

“What calculation?” Jian Xingzhi drew a tile, frowned at his hand, struggled for a long time before discarding one. “Clearly it’s the thief crying ‘stop thief!’ I think that Old Ancestor is Mei Suihan, waiting to catch us in a trap.”

“Kong.”

Seeing Jian Xingzhi discard, Xie Gutang stopped Qin Wanwan’s hand as she was about to draw, and under her shocked expression pushed his tiles forward. “Mahjong.”

Everyone stared at him blankly. Xie Gutang raised his hand and hooked his finger, calmly urging, “Pay up.”

“Are you cheating?”

Jian Xingzhi couldn’t believe it. He stared at the tiles again. Xie Gutang smiled. “Natural good gambling luck. Sorry.”

“I’ve seen a ghost,” Jian Xingzhi painfully poured two low-grade spirit stones from his storage pouch, complaining. “My luck used to be super good. How did it get so bad after coming here?”

“So people can’t just rely on being a lucky koi,” Qin Wanwan sighed. “You need to learn to work hard.”

With that, she placed spirit stones on the table and looked at Xie Gutang bitterly. “Big Brother Xie, how about you stop playing and switch with Nanfeng?”

Xie Gutang looked at her, his eyes full of doubt. “Am I not worthy of playing mahjong with you?”

“It’s we who aren’t worthy.”

Cuilu angrily slapped spirit stones on the table and downed a gulp of tea.

Xie Gutang smiled and swept all the spirit stones to his side of the table, politely thanking them. “Thank you.”

Cuilu glared at him fiercely, gritting her teeth. “Again! I refuse to believe it.”

With that, everyone started another round. As Qin Wanwan played, she changed the subject and turned to ask Jian Xingzhi, “Jian Xingzhi, what’s your objective this time?”

“This time the objective is simple.” While arranging his tiles, Jian Xingzhi answered casually, “Help you become the most dazzling star of the Immortal Alliance Conference!”

Hearing this, Qin Wanwan’s movements paused. Cuilu didn’t understand. “What thing?”

Xie Gutang also looked over. Jian Xingzhi began drawing tiles and explained, “Making her the most eye-catching person at the Immortal Alliance Conference is my purpose this time.”

Xie Gutang and Cuilu exchanged a glance and both chose to remain silent without asking further.

Qin Wanwan was curious. “So how do you plan to do it?”

“I’ve thought it through,” Jian Xingzhi looked up at her. “First, you need an identity. The most dazzling star can’t be an ordinary person.”

“Right.” Qin Wanwan nodded. “So what identity do you plan to give me?”

“Jishan Mountain Lord.” Jian Xingzhi looked at her. “What do you think?”

“My mother could beat me to death.” Qin Wanwan swallowed. “How about we make one up instead?”

“Then Shangshan Sect Master,” Jian Xingzhi looked around at everyone. “At minimum it should be a sect master position.”

“Right,” Cuilu nodded. “And you need to dress beautifully.”

“And have superior martial skills.” Xie Gutang added, “Legends about her should be all over the cultivation world.”

“But her martial skills aren’t superior enough,” Cuilu frowned. “What do we do about that?”

“That’s simple,” when it came to fabricating reputation, Qin Wanwan had considerable experience. She looked at Xie Gutang and Cuilu. “If you don’t mind, we’ll make up some stories and claim I’m a reclusive expert. Since emerging, I’ve never been defeated—even against you two—” Qin Wanwan pointed at them, “I only needed one move.”

“I…” Xie Gutang glanced at Cuilu. “I don’t mind.”

“I don’t care either.” Cuilu spread her hands. “Then what?”

“We’ll pay a hundred people to spread this story everywhere in the city where the Formless Sect is holding the Immortal Alliance Conference. We’ll also place my signboards in various locations around the city, making this image of a beautiful and powerful reclusive expert deeply rooted in people’s hearts.”

“This…” Xie Gutang hesitated. “Will it work?”

“It’ll work,” Jian Xingzhi stated decisively, telling Xie Gutang from his experience of being deceived. “It’ll definitely work.”

Having been subjected to too many planted stories, he understood the situation all too well.

“Then I’ll call people now,” Cuilu nodded. “The Formless Sect is holding an Immortal Alliance Conference—there’s no way they won’t invite me. I’ll have my subordinates take the invitation directly to the Formless Sect to wait for us and handle this matter on the side.”

Ghost City was much closer to the Formless Sect. Qin Wanwan nodded. “Perfect.”

Cuilu took out a voice transmission talisman and immediately transmitted a message to Ghost City. Her subordinates responded at once to handle it.

With Cuilu’s deployment, Qin Wanwan felt much more at ease. The four people and one ant toured mountains and waters all along the way while perfecting their story, successfully arriving at the Formless Sect ten days later.

The Formless Sect had no fixed location, only a jurisdiction area. When they reached the Formless Sect’s main city, they saw there were obviously many more people here than in other cities.

Everyone queued to have soldiers check their identities. Qin Wanwan glanced around and saw her signboard standing at the entrance in a welcoming posture, holding a sign that read “Shangshan Sect Master Welcomes You.”

Although this sign didn’t capture her beauty at all and you couldn’t even tell it was her, Qin Wanwan still felt quite gratified.

Both Qin Wanwan and Jian Xingzhi looked at this sign full of memories. Jian Xingzhi sighed with emotion. “Back when I first went up to the Southern Heavenly Gate, I saw exactly this kind of sign. At the time I thought, this must be the face of the immortal realm.”

“Yes,” Qin Wanwan sighed. “Now I’ve also become the face of the Formless Sect.”

“What face?” An old man behind them interrupted, pointing to the side. “There are lots of these signs over there. Five spirit stones per day—if you like it, you can put one up too.”

Hearing this, the two followed the old man’s pointing and looked to the side, seeing a dozen identical human-shaped signs standing there, reading things like “Phoenix Gate Sect Master Welcomes You,” “Wutong Sect Master Welcomes You”…

Qin Wanwan froze and turned to look at Jian Xingzhi. Jian Xingzhi immediately said, “There weren’t this many people back then.”

Qin Wanwan turned to look at Cuilu. Cuilu said in a low voice, “When my subordinates reported, I didn’t know so many people had this hobby either.”

“It’s fine…” Seeing Cuilu’s embarrassment, Qin Wanwan forced a smile to console herself. “This is also a form of exposure. The important thing is fame—it’s fine.”

The group followed the crowd through the guard inspection. Although there was a small mishap at the entrance, after entering the Formless Sect’s main city, they discovered Cuilu’s propaganda work was actually quite good. As soon as they entered the city, legends about her were everywhere.

“The momentum has been built,” Qin Wanwan nodded. “Then we need to prepare the next step.” With that, she looked at Cuilu. “Clothes.”

“Exactly!” Cuilu nodded. “Clothes make the man, just as a saddle makes the horse.” She looked at Qin Wanwan confidently. “I already had people prepare everything for you.”

“Sister Cuilu is so thoughtful?” Qin Wanwan was quite surprised. Cuilu was rather proud. “Naturally.”

With that, she stepped forward to lead the way, bringing them into an inn. “I had my subordinates arrange everything early. Isn’t it just about becoming the most eye-catching person?”

Cuilu brought her into the room her subordinates had prepared. As soon as she entered, Qin Wanwan saw a pile of garishly colorful clothes covered with various feather ornaments. Cuilu stood with her back to the clothes, facing Qin Wanwan, spreading her arms and saying excitedly, “How is it? The battle robes I prepared for you—aren’t they beautiful! Very colorful! Very pretty!”

Qin Wanwan looked at those complicated colors, covered with gold and jewels, full of avian style clothing. She didn’t know how to describe it.

It wasn’t that they weren’t nice, just that they felt too ostentatious.

She felt that the moment she put them on, she would no longer be a person but a bird person.

But seeing Cuilu’s excited eyes waiting for approval, Qin Wanwan couldn’t speak. After holding it in for a long time, she could only find one piece from this pile that had slightly fewer feathers. She raised her hand to point at a bright red outfit. “I think that one is quite good.”

“Good eye!”

Cuilu clapped her hands, quite excited. “Then this set it is!”

After deciding on the clothes, Cuilu also helped her select jewelry. After a busy day, they finally rested.

The next morning when they got up, everyone gathered together. The others weren’t important—they all helped Qin Wanwan with makeup.

After Qin Wanwan changed clothes, Xie Gutang arranged her hair, Nanfeng used an incense burner to iron her clothes, Jian Xingzhi squatted down to file her nails with the same precision he used to sharpen swords, and Cuilu began applying her makeup.

“This outfit is the battle robe I dyed red with blood when I slaughtered my way through battlefields in the past.” Cuilu spoke proudly as she drew an upward-sweeping eyeliner for Qin Wanwan.

Hearing this, Qin Wanwan looked up in shock and immediately wanted to take off the clothes. But when she opened her eyes, she saw Cuilu’s warning gaze. “Don’t move!”

Qin Wanwan was torn between shock and doubt for a moment. Cuilu finished her eyeliner and began drawing eyebrows. “That was when I killed the most enemies. To commemorate it, I specifically had craftsmen maintain this bright color. Today I’m pairing you with a demon woman makeup. When you appear, you’ll definitely intimidate everyone!”

Qin Wanwan listened to Cuilu’s explanation while sneaking glances at the bronze mirror.

Her heart was racing, yet she couldn’t see what she looked like.

Finally, when Cuilu released her face and gently said “Done,” she saw in the bronze mirror a completely darkened version of Qin Wanwan.

She looked at herself in the mirror and couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.

Was she the most dazzling star of the entire venue, or the biggest villain of the entire venue?

“How is it?”

Cuilu asked excitedly. Qin Wanwan remained silent. After a long while, she turned to look at Jian Xingzhi. “What do you think?”

Jian Xingzhi froze, then applauded. “Great! Beautiful! Exactly like the demon heads I’ve seen before!”

Hearing this, Xie Gutang immediately chimed in. “Right, Wanwan’s outfit today is definitely eye-catching enough. If it were me, I’d definitely notice her first thing.”

Notice this enemy, right?

Qin Wanwan grumbled internally and shifted her gaze to the only normal person, Nanfeng.

Nanfeng ironed the last wrinkle for her, put away the incense ball, and forced a smile. “Master, there’s no time left.”

Qin Wanwan took a deep breath and told herself that what mattered most was the soul, not the appearance. She nodded and stood up imposingly. “Let’s go.”

“Good,” Jian Xingzhi applauded. “Let’s divide up the tasks. What must a successful person have?”

“A spirit beast.”

Cuilu instantly transformed into her bird form and stood on the table.

“A follower.”

Xie Gutang stood back behind Qin Wanwan.

“A servant.” Nanfeng stood behind Qin Wanwan.

“What else?”

Qin Wanwan and everyone looked at Jian Xingzhi together, only to see Jian Xingzhi cough lightly, stand beside Qin Wanwan, and remind her in a low voice, “A man.”

Hearing this, Cuilu, very experienced, corrected him. “A male consort.”

“No…” Jian Xingzhi tried to save face. “Isn’t it the same? What’s the difference?”

“A male consort must look like a male consort,” Cuilu reminded him. “If you can’t do it, switch with Xie Gutang.”

“He can do it but I can’t?” Jian Xingzhi glared at Xie Gutang. But the instant everyone looked over, they saw Xie Gutang had already linked his arm with Nanfeng’s, looking innocent, delicate, like a bird depending on a person.

“Obviously,” Cuilu turned to look at Jian Xingzhi. “He can.”

Jian Xingzhi stared at Xie Gutang. Xie Gutang calmly returned the gaze. After the two stared at each other for a moment, Jian Xingzhi laughed in exasperation.

“Isn’t it just being a male consort?” He raised his hand to link arms with Qin Wanwan. Qin Wanwan’s entire body instantly stiffened. Jian Xingzhi leaned his head against Qin Wanwan’s and looked at Xie Gutang. “I can do it too!”

Seeing Jian Xingzhi lean against Qin Wanwan, Cuilu was satisfied. She jumped out the window and instantly transformed into a giant jade-green bird. “Get on,” she called to everyone. “This old lady will reluctantly serve as a spirit beast this once.”