Chapter 285: Alleyway

Ultimately, Chen Mobai gave in to Hua Zijing and slightly disguised his appearance.

Scales from his Azure Scale Bracer flew out and coalesced on his face, forming a slightly transparent black crystal mask. It perfectly covered half of his face, revealing only his eyes, forehead, and chin.

"This..." Hua Zijing glanced at the mask, a strange expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Chen Mobai reached out and touched the mask. The scales, made of a crystal-like material, felt cool and slightly hard to the touch.

This was the style of mask worn by the protagonist's dark avatar in a TV series he watched as a child, and its aesthetics were naturally top-notch. After putting it on, his originally peaceful and slightly youthful demeanor gained an air of mystery and majesty.

"Isn't this the mask of the villainous demonic sect leader from 'Legend of the Heavenly Sword'? What was his name, King Abiluo, right?" To his surprise, Hua Zijing had seen it too. Chen Mobai instantly felt like he had met a kindred spirit, and the two immediately began discussing and debating the tragic fates of the various characters in the series.

However, Chen Mobai didn't forget the important matter at hand.

He summoned his Scarlet Cloud and Mist Gauze, carrying the two of them away from the Myriad Treasures Cave and flying towards the Scarlet City Grotto-Heaven.

Upon reaching the entrance of the grotto-heaven city, they descended.

Private flight was prohibited within grotto-heavens and blessed lands.

"President, if you were the demonic sect leader, and you ultimately obtained the Heavenly Sword, becoming invincible, what would you choose in the end? Power or love?" Hua Zijing couldn't help but ask after disembarking from the Scarlet Cloud and Mist Gauze.

"Impossible. I've been educated by the Immortal Sect since childhood. I'll always be a righteous person and could never be part of a demonic sect." Chen Mobai replied righteously from a different angle, a cliché response that made Hua Zijing roll her eyes at him.

"I meant hypothetically."

"Then I suppose I'd choose power." Chen Mobai hesitated for a moment, still feeling that love was too illusory and, having never experienced it, he made this choice.

"Hmph." Hua Zijing heard him, let out a cold snort, and walked past him, entering the Scarlet City Grotto-Heaven first.

Chen Mobai scratched his head, knowing girls probably preferred guys to answer 'love,' but he chose to follow his true feelings.

Wearing their Weapon Dance red and black robes, they predictably attracted the admiration and attention of some passersby. But because Chen Mobai wore a mask, no one recognized him, allowing him to experience what it felt like to be an "ordinary person."

Throughout the Scarlet City Grotto-Heaven, Chen Mobai looked around and saw students wearing the uniforms of various other universities and academies.

But among the crowd, the most striking were still those from the Four Great Daoist Academies.

"That row over there consists of stalls from the Jumang Daoist Academy," Hua Zijing said, pointing to a row of wooden stalls that occupied the best spot on the east side of the plaza. "They are the most popular at this exchange meeting because they sell many hard-to-get elixirs and spiritual liquids, and at cheap prices." About seventeen or eighteen students from the Mending Heaven Daoist Academy, dressed in immortal azure robes, were busily taking out bottles of elixirs and tubes of spiritual liquids to sell to the young people from various academies and schools queuing in front of their stalls.

Chen Mobai even spotted two familiar faces from the Weapon Dance Daoist Academy in the queue.

"Squad Leader Si, Committee Member Zhuang." He immediately waved to the two of them, completely forgetting he was wearing a mask and was supposed to be low-key.

"You... Didn't I tell you..." Hua Zijing began scolding Chen Mobai in his ear. He then remembered the importance of being low-key, looking sheepish. But by then, Si Guanyu and Zhuang Jialan, who had been queuing, had already walked directly over, and he couldn't just turn and run away.

"Classmate Chen... how come you're here?" Zhuang Jialan, with her delicate face, slender eyebrows, and dimples, adjusted her glasses. Seeing Chen Mobai in a mask, she immediately knew not to call out his name in public.

Otherwise, they would surely be surrounded by layers of people, and without the ability to fly, they would probably cause a traffic jam.

"Our student council is responsible each year for maintaining the security of the Daoist Academy's stalls during the exchange meeting," Chen Mobai replied with his pre-prepared excuse. "Before, I was busy with spell duels in the Minor Scarlet Heaven, but today I happened to have free time, so I came with the Vice President to check things out and inspect." He then carefully observed the two of them, noticing their aura was slightly different, more substantial.

However, the Immortal Sect does not actively probe others' cultivation levels, so he could only guess that they might have comprehended the Limit Law and were already attempting Foundation Establishment.

"The alchemists from Jumang Daoist Academy will be refining a batch of Qianyuan Bone-Exchanging Pills on site today. After it's done, there will be a live lottery to determine who gets the purchasing qualification, so we came to see if we have that luck," Si Guanyu proactively explained the reason for their presence. After listening, Chen Mobai's suspicions were confirmed.

The Qianyuan Bone-Exchanging Pill was a substitute for the Jade Marrow Pill, possessing approximately one-tenth of its efficacy.

"Are you going to establish your foundation?" Chen Mobai asked very directly. Si Guanyu and Zhuang Jialan nodded.

"In the past few years, we both spent some time obtaining talisman-making certifications," Si Guanyu said. "It was only after seeing you establish your foundation that we had a sudden realization: no matter how extraordinary a skill might be, it can't compare to the importance of one's own cultivation realm."

"In the past two years, we reduced our study time and diligently cultivated the Limit Law, finally achieving some progress. Unfortunately, our attempt at Foundation Establishment last year got stuck at the first step."

"However, we've already prepared another set of the Three Foundation Establishment Treasures and Profound Fire Spirit Liquid. Now it just depends on whether we can buy a Qianyuan Bone-Exchanging Pill."

After hearing what Si Guanyu said, Chen Mobai was a little surprised.

"Why not buy a Jade Marrow Pill?"

"The Mending Heaven Daoist Academy only brought ten Jade Marrow Pills when they set up their stall this time," Zhuang Jialan said with a wry smile. "They were all bought by senior students from other Daoist Academies and schools on the very first day. By the time we got the news, it was too late." The two had also spoken with the Mending Heaven Daoist Academy students at the exchange meeting to see if they could exchange Profound Fire Spirit Liquid for a Jade Marrow Pill.

However, due to the reduced production of the Great Toothed Tree sap in the past two years, the number of Jade Marrow Pills from Jumang Daoist Academy had also decreased annually. Without a strong connection, very few people were willing to make an exchange anymore.

"I see. I have a friend at Jumang Daoist Academy. I'll help you ask later." Chen Mobai remembered Qing Nü, whom he had defeated with a single sword strike in the Minor Scarlet Heaven. He hadn't apologized for that incident yet, so he decided to call her when he had time that evening.

"Is that Qing Nü, the one with the Heavenly Spiritual Root?" Zhuang Jialan suddenly asked after hearing this.

"Huh, how did you know?" Chen Mobai was puzzled.

"You're the hottest topic in the Immortal Sect these days," Zhuang Jialan explained. "Many of your classmates from Danxia City have been spreading rumors online, claiming that in high school, you publicly dated the Heavenly Spiritual Root from Jumang Daoist Academy while secretly flirting with the class beauty, making you an absolute scumbag."

"Slander, defamation, vilification..." Chen Mobai was so angry he nearly jumped up after hearing this. He swore that he only had a good friendship with them, had never even held their hands, and was incredibly pure.

"I also think it's probably your high school classmates being jealous of your achievements, which is why they fabricated these negative stories to harm you," Zhuang Jialan continued. "In the past five years at the Daoist Academy, you've hardly cared about anything else besides cultivation. We've all seen that."

Hua Zijing, standing nearby, also nodded.

Indeed, Chen Mobai's actions during his five years at the Weapon Dance Daoist Academy were evident to all and easily verifiable.

Not to mention chasing girls, he never even invited a female classmate to eat alone.

Only at the end of each academic year, when his small circle of friends who cultivated the Divine Transformation Great Method gathered for a meal, could he be seen relaxing.

On weekdays, he was either cultivating or studying.

He was truly a cultivation fanatic.

It was precisely because of this that Chen Mobai achieved such success, and most people in the Weapon Dance Daoist Academy acknowledged it.

Because he had put in the most arduous effort during his five years at the academy.

"Damn it," Chen Mobai fumed, his face filled with indignation. "I hope I don't find out who's slandering me, or I'll hire a lawyer to sue them for defamation and get them locked up for a few days."

In Danxia City, Lu Hongsheng, who was rapidly typing on a certain online forum, suddenly sneezed. He casually rubbed his nose and continued to "expose explosive news."

After bidding farewell to Si Guanyu and Zhuang Jialan, Chen Mobai and Hua Zijing went to browse the stalls of the Mending Heaven Daoist Academy and the Kunpeng Daoist Academy, both of which were also overflowing with people.

The two then finally visited their own Daoist Academy's section.

The one managing the order was Ming Yu from the student council, who recognized Chen Mobai at a glance. After all, the only person in the entire Daoist Academy who could have Hua Zijing accompany them was the student council president.

"Qi Replenishing Spiritual Liquid, Blood Replenishing Spiritual Liquid, Nourishing Spiritual Fluid, Profound Fire Spiritual Liquid, Soul Nurturing Water..." Chen Mobai looked at the items displayed on his own Daoist Academy's stall, all of which were familiar to him.

A Foundation Establishment stage two cultivator from the Alchemy Department was demonstrating water alchemy, refining Soul Nurturing Water, a spiritual liquid that could nourish spiritual consciousness and stabilize the Purple Mansion.

One of its main ingredients was the Vermillion Fruit.

Hua Zijing introduced the person as Ying Sizhen, an eighth-year student from the Daoist Academy. He was a second-tier alchemist and also the head of the student council's alchemy department. After Shen Renyou graduated next year, he was highly favored to succeed him as vice president.

Ying Sizhen was fully focused on refining pills but still took a moment to turn and nod to Chen Mobai, the president, as a greeting.

"You all focus on your work. I'm just here to look around." Feeling he was getting in the way, Chen Mobai immediately left with Hua Zijing after saying this.

After the Four Great Daoist Academies came the Ten Great Academies.

At the True Spirit Academy's stall, there were fluffy and adorable pets like puppies, kittens, and rabbits. Hua Zijing immediately took a liking to a white cat with large eyes and spotless white fur that felt smooth and soft to the touch.

However, none of these pets were for sale; they were just brought out to let them see the outside world.

"You can pet the cats here. I'll call you when it's time to go back." Seeing Hua Zijing unable to move while holding the cat, Chen Mobai immediately seized the opportunity, preparing to go off on his own.

"Okay, President." After hearing this, Hua Zijing, still holding the white cat, ordered some cat food and sat down without looking back.

Chen Mobai, feeling "abandoned," wasn't upset. He turned and walked past the True Spirit Academy's stall, entering an alley, intending to take a shortcut to the western corner of the plaza to find the Longevity Academy's stall.

However, just as he reached the end of the alley, he saw a girl wearing sunglasses who had actually set up a stall there.

A black cloth covered the table, on which eight characters were written: "Mastering Heaven and Earth, Divine Calculations!"

A fortune teller? From the Stargazing Academy?

Among the Ten Great Academies, Taiyuan, Pure Yang, and Stargazing were second only to the Four Great Daoist Academies. The head of the Stargazing Academy was even a Nascent Soul Grandmaster, and their Heavenly Divination and Deduction techniques had never been wrong.

Within the Immortal Sect, anyone setting up a fortune-telling stall could generally be assumed to be from the Stargazing Academy.

Chen Mobai curiously scrutinized the girl in sunglasses sitting on a small folding wooden stool. In contrast to his own mask, which covered the lower half of his face, her dark, oversized sunglasses perfectly obscured her eyes and the upper half of her face, revealing only her fair cheeks and the graceful lines of her oval-shaped chin.

Although he couldn't see her full appearance, just by looking at her fair and delicate chin, Chen Mobai thought she must be very beautiful.

However, she didn't seem to be very good at business, having set up her fortune-telling stall in such a secluded spot; who would come here?

Moreover, as he walked past her, she didn't even greet him.

She probably lacked confidence in her skills and dared not put on a show.

As he thought this, Chen Mobai had already stepped one foot out of the alley's shadow, about to step into the light outside.

Suddenly, a whim struck him.

Should he have his fortune told?

"Hello, what's the charge for fortune-telling?" Turning back, Chen Mobai asked the girl in sunglasses sitting on the small folding wooden stool.

He wondered if it was an illusion, but when he turned around, he seemed to see her entire body looking somewhat illusory, as if a TV signal was bad, half there and half gone.

However, after he spoke, it was as if the signal suddenly improved, and the girl in sunglasses, whose body had been slightly illusory, suddenly solidified.

"I only divine for those with destined connections, and there's no charge." A slightly hoarse voice, as if carrying an electric current, came from the girl in sunglasses. Her eyes, hidden behind the sunglasses, showed an unknown expression.

Chen Mobai approached her stall, his face full of curiosity.

"No charge? Are you a student from the Stargazing Academy? Are you using this opportunity to practice your divination techniques?"

"I only divine three times a day, and you are the first today." The girl in sunglasses didn't answer Chen Mobai's questions; her husky voice was very distinctive.

"How do I do it?"

"Write one character, then ask what you wish to know." A white piece of paper and a ballpoint pen were taken from under the table and handed to Chen Mobai.

After taking them, he hesitated.

Should he ask about his romantic destiny? Or his cultivation?