Before long, even the newly added meatballs in the hotpot weren’t cooked yet, but Lin Shu and Chang Jiujiu had already finished discussing the details of the advertising slogans and were now considering the remaining issues.
“I think there’s a problem with this design. If it forces the opponent to faint, what happens if it’s bought by people with ill intentions or members of the demonic cults?”
“That’s simple. Just engrave a reverse rune, right? As long as a second living being enters the Spirit Gathering Array, they’ll fall asleep together!”
“Good idea! Then the price needs to be adjusted higher! How about five more spirit stones?”
“Senior Sister, you still don’t understand human nature well enough! If spending five spirit stones makes me twice as fast as others, but spending fifty spirit stones makes others twice as slow as me, I’ll definitely choose the second option!”
“Darn it! In that case, we’ll raise it even higher!”
***
Lu Zhiyun fearfully picked at the food in her bowl, remaining silent. She was terrified that she would be forced to participate in the design of this conspiracy at any moment.
In the mental space, the Sanqing Fairy picked up the small notebook in her arms and began to take notes frantically.
‘So this is how business can be done!’
‘Fairy! Don’t learn everything!’ Lu Zhiyun said helplessly.
After Lin Shu wrote down the complete plan, he handed it to Lu Zhiyun and said, “Junior Sister, go execute this tomorrow!”
“Eh? M-m-me… me?” Lu Zhiyun asked in surprise.
Is there really no escaping this after all?
Becoming birds of a feather with an evil cultivator and boarding this den of thieves together — that sort of thing.
“Of course! Treat it as experience!”
Lin Shu’s thinking was simple. Since he had brought his Junior Sister to Wu City, she had to learn something. If cultivation only focused on pure training, it would be detrimental to the growth of one’s character.
Watching Lu Zhiyun “excitedly” take the project plan with trembling hands, Lin Shu suddenly thought of another question.
“Senior Sister, speaking of which, the slogans are designed, but is there anywhere to display them?”
If one wanted to sell a product well, relying solely on slogans definitely wouldn’t work. If there was no place to display them, the effect of the slogans would be negligible.
In short, Lin Shu wanted an advertising spot.
“There are many advertising spots in Wu City, but most of them must be fought for!”
Chang Jiujiu let out a yawn. Her Unblemished Immortal Body was making her sleepy again. “The advertising spots here aren’t decided by the number of spirit stones or the status of the sect.”
“Then how? We can’t possibly rely on fighting to get them, right?” Lu Zhiyun asked casually.
“Actually, yes!” Chang Jiujiu nodded. “The City Lord of Wu City loves watching people fight. However, the Daqian Dynasty strictly prohibits Nascent Soul stage cultivators and above from fighting in cities to prevent damage to public property and injury to innocent civilians.”
“Therefore, the City Lord of Wu City set the cultivation level for the duels at the Golden Core and Foundation Building stages. Moreover, he divided them into the Rogue Cultivator Ranking and the Sect Ranking to prevent rogue cultivators from being unable to compete against the geniuses trained by the sects.”
The Sanqing Fairy placed her brush under her nose and twitched her lips. ‘It is quite fair! I actually like this City Lord!’
When cultivators above the Nascent Soul stage fought, they could move mountains and fill seas at best, or destroy the heavens and earth at worst. If they fought in the city, a disaster would be unavoidable.
The City Lord’s humane design gave rogue cultivators the possibility of developing in Wu City. They didn’t have to deliberately compete with sect disciples; as long as their cultivation was high enough, they could still obtain the corresponding benefits in Wu City.
After hearing this, Lin Shu nodded in agreement. “You probably won’t be able to participate in the Rogue Cultivator Ranking, so how many spots do we have in the Sect Ranking?”
“Uh…” Chang Jiujiu was uncharacteristically guilty, her eyes darting around.
“Don’t tell me we don’t have even one?” Lin Shu asked in shock.
“Yeah!” Chang Jiujiu nodded.
Lin Shu looked at Chang Jiujiu in confusion, wondering what was going on.
Years ago, when the Tianque Sect had just been promoted to a Transcendent Grade Immortal Sect, the cultivation of the disciples had already improved by leaps and bounds. Even the two junior sisters who had received Lin Shu this morning were at the initial Golden Core stage.
How could they fail to win even a single match?
Chang Jiujiu explained gloomily, “Junior Brother, you forgot that this batch of disciples came to Wu City a long time ago. The people haven’t really changed…”
After hearing Chang Jiujiu’s explanation, Lin Shu understood.
The disciples at the Tianque Sect headquarters had learned all sorts of “unexpected” and miraculous tricks under Lin Shu’s earnest teachings and influence — referred to as Lin-style Bottomless Fighting.
However, the disciples of the Wu City branch had been here for a long time and rarely returned to the sect. Most of them were honest and upright.
They said they were fighting, and they really were honestly fighting, competing in spiritual energy and techniques. They were pure, righteous talents, so they naturally couldn’t compare to the disciples of other sects.
Most of those who came to the Tianque Sect had multiple spiritual roots. If they only purely practiced the *Three Purities One Qi Manual – Lin Shu Annotated Version* without someone to guide them on how to apply it flexibly, they would definitely be inferior to the high-level techniques of other sects.
“So that’s how it is!”
Lin Shu breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn’t a problem with their cultivation levels, he could provide guidance for technical issues.
Of course! Serious guidance!
“Senior Brother! Do you have a way?” Lu Zhiyun asked.
“I do!” Lin Shu said with certainty. However, his tone shifted as he asked another question, “But then again, does this fighting limit things like taking pills, using artifacts, talismans, or arrays?”
Chang Jiujiu’s eyes were so sleepy they could hardly stay open. Using the last of her strength, she said, “No. There used to be limits, but it changed this year. Now, any way of fighting is fine!”
“That’s good, that’s good!” Lin Shu smiled.
After saying this, Chang Jiujiu leaned forward and almost plunged her head into the bowl. Fortunately, Lin Shu was quick and caught her.
Seeing that Chang Jiujiu was asleep, the Sanqing Fairy flickered and slipped out of the mental space. She picked up a pair of chopsticks and began to eat voraciously.
“Fairy, your image! Your image!”
Lu Zhiyun, like a worried mother taking care of her daughter, helped wipe the soup from the tip of the Sanqing Fairy’s nose.
Only after settling Chang Jiujiu did Lin Shu return to the table.
Seeing Lin Shu closing his eyes in deep thought, Lu Zhiyun clutched her skirt and asked weakly, “Senior Brother! Can I participate in this fighting competition?”
Lu Zhiyun’s thinking was simple. In this kind of fighting competition tacitly approved by the Daqian authorities, evil cultivators certainly wouldn’t dare to act recklessly, so she could participate with peace of mind.
And this seemed like an opportunity to increase her favorability with the evil cultivators!
Hearing Lu Zhiyun’s enthusiastic registration, Lin Shu immediately smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum.
“Good Junior Sister! How did you know I was planning to let you take the stage?”
Lu Zhiyun’s heart skipped a beat, and she suddenly felt a sense of foreboding.
Why did it feel like she had just walked into a trap?
The Sanqing Fairy bit into a piece of tofu and said indistinctly, “Although fairness is a good thing, you can only participate in the Sect Ranking. It seems you won’t be able to participate in the Rogue Cultivator Ranking!”
Lin Shu and the others all had officially certified identities as sect disciples, so they definitely couldn’t participate in the Rogue Cultivator Ranking.
This was equivalent to losing half of the advertising spots.
And most importantly, Lin Shu was a Qi Refiner, belonging to the Qi Refining stage category of cultivators. He didn’t even have the qualifications to compete, meaning the Sect Ranking was down one combatant.
Lin Shu wasn’t flustered at all. He smiled mysteriously, intending to show the two of them the power of **[Disguise +1]**.
His left hand reached out in a lifting gesture, circulating the spiritual energy within his body.
“What are you doing? You’re not planning to ask me for a Golden Core, are you?” the Sanqing Fairy asked in confusion as she chewed on a tender fish ball.
Lin Shu didn’t answer but focused on gathering spiritual energy.
A moment later, under the astonished gazes of the Sanqing Fairy and Lu Zhiyun, a round but slightly flawed Golden Core quietly formed, resting peacefully in Lin Shu’s hand.
It worked!
Rogue Cultivator Golden Core Master Lin Shu!
Reporting in!