Inside the room, the young man whose body was drained hollow knelt before Wei Yuan, rambling away. The other person sat cross-legged on the bed, back turned toward them, behind a barrier of Dao power that sealed inside from outside.
"My name is Xu Wenwu, and I come from another world. After graduating from college, I couldn't find a job, so I just stayed at home... Oh, college is pretty much like an academy here...
"...Late that night, I was watching borderline content when suddenly my vision went dark, and when I woke up, I was here...
"...After coming to this world, I searched high and low, but I never met an enlightened lord...
"...Immortal! I'm very useful, I know a lot of things, and I will definitely be of help to you! With me assisting you, we can definitely bring the entire world to its knees beneath our feet! From now on, you're the big boss, and I'm second in command!...
"...Don't worry, Big Bro, in the future my merits will definitely outshine my lord, and I'll have the yellow robe draped on me..."
Wei Yuan sealed his mouth with a strand of Dao power; otherwise, there was no telling how long this fellow would keep babbling.
This Xu Wenwu's words were startling, yet otherworldly visitors were not entirely unheard of in the history of the human race. However, those individuals had all achieved tremendous success. For example, the one who proposed the Immortal Sect Unified Examination was already standing at the pinnacle when their identity as an otherworldly visitor was revealed. Once someone had entered the immortal gate, their origin no longer mattered.
Yet the one before Wei Yuan possessed none of the bearing expected of an otherworldly visitor. The moment Wei Yuan set him down, he had dropped to his knees on his own and rambled on and on, almost entirely outlining a rosy future after conquering the world—like gathering all females into a harem and whatnot—interspersed with occasional reflections on watching borderline content.
Although Wei Yuan did not understand why people from that world enjoyed wiping down the edges of tables and chairs, the fact that this fellow could not say even half a word about how, specifically, they were to conquer the world made it clear he was a complete strawbag.
Wei Yuan suddenly recalled a Mortal Tier Dao Foundation he had seen years ago in the Hall of Myriad Manifestations: Style Makeup. If that world was full of people like Xu Wenwu, that Dao Foundation would be practically invincible.
Furthermore, this Xu Wenwu was physically frail, his Body Casting practically nonexistent. If thrown into the northern frontier, let alone Liao cavalry, he wouldn't even be able to beat a Liao horse. And someone like this wanted to conquer the world?
Truth be told, this fellow had already been in this world for over half a month, yet had barely learned anything about its state. Arriving at the Lie-Flat Inn had been like a mouse falling into a grain pile; he had read storybooks for over ten days straight without resting day or night, until the innkeeper's collection was almost depleted.
At least he had enough sense of the situation to latch onto Wei Yuan and conquer the world along the way rather than trying to go solo. However, Wei Yuan felt there was no rush to conquer the world; paying off his debts came first. Besides, this world had no small number of genuine Immortal Monarchs; conquering it would probably take a few thousand years of cultivation to even be possible.
Even up to this moment, Wei Yuan still could not comprehend how on earth this fellow was worthy of consuming an entire wisp of his fortune to suppress. If he had just let him stay up a few more nights reading storybooks, the fellow might have sent himself back on his own.
Putting Xu Wenwu aside for now, Wei Yuan dispersed the barrier of Dao power and said to the person on the bed, "What about you? Who are you?"
The person on the bed turned around. No longer bearing the appearance of an ordinary young man, she revealed a pure, serene face, as elegant and clean as a sheet of jade paper, utterly out of place in Quliu Town. When she looked toward Wei Yuan, her expression was filled with sorrow and grievance.
She climbed down from the bed and bowed gracefully to Wei Yuan. "This humble woman is Xu Wan'er; greetings, Senior Brother. My father is Xu Zhijie, former commandery governor of Ningxi Commandery."
Now this was someone with a real background.
Wei Yuan recalled the records. The six-thousand-li Shattered Lands had originally been divided into four commanderies, of which Ningxi Commandery was the largest and westernmost, spanning two thousand five hundred li across. Both the Xu family's grotto-heaven and Lanshen Palace had once been located in Ningxi Commandery. The commandery governor, Xu Zhijie, also hailed from the Xu family, but a year before the great war, he had been arrested for embezzling military payroll and colluding with foreign tribes, and was beheaded shortly thereafter. This incident had even been recorded in the local gazetteer, ensuring his infamy for ten thousand years.
Upon seeing Xu Wan'er, Xu Wenwu's eyes instantly went wide and transfixed; he looked eager to say something. With a flick of Wei Yuan's finger, he was stuck back onto the wall, only this time facing inward.
Wei Yuan asked impassively, "Why did you kill Wang Lang and throw his corpse into my courtyard?"
Xu Wan'er reflexively began, "It wasn't me—"
Yet the moment she met Wei Yuan's gaze, her body shuddered, and she said, "Senior Brother's discerning eyes see all; it truly was my doing. I originally disguised myself as a female cultivator with shallow cultivation and pretended to be captured by Wang Lang, intending to mingle among his entourage heading west to evade the intercepts and manhunts of those people. But after we reached the outskirts of town, Wang Lang inexplicably tried to take liberties with me. As it happened, Sister Yun noticed that you paid close attention to Wang Lang, so I killed him, hoping to test whether you were the person Sister Yun was looking for."
"Which Sister Yun?"
"Yun Feifei. Sister Yun was originally the Saintess of Lanshen Palace; I have known her for a very long time. Later, when misfortune befell my father, she was the one who rescued me and helped me evade our pursuers all this time. After Lanshen Palace was destroyed, she was hunted down as well, which forced us to separate and go into hiding on our own."
"And what if I wasn't the person you were looking for?" Wei Yuan asked.
"Wang Lang had to die anyway; if you weren't, then so be it. The bounty on Wang Lang was also placed by me; even if I hadn't made a move, someone else would have killed him." Having explained this, Xu Wan'er said softly, "I have a presumptuous request. Could Senior Brother..."
Wei Yuan cut her off. "Since it's a presumptuous request, there's no need to say it. Where is Yun Feifei?"
Xu Wan'er shot Wei Yuan another aggrieved look and said, "Sister Yun isn't here, but I have a way to contact her. It's just that the magical artifact for contacting her is currently in Senior Brother's hands."
With a wave of Wei Yuan's hand, a pile of magical artifacts and confiscated items appeared on the bed, among which were several intimate garments. Xu Wan'er's face flushed as though on fire. Lowering her head, not daring to look at Wei Yuan, she hurriedly rummaged out a jade pendant and handed it to him, touching nothing else.
Probing it with divine sense, Wei Yuan realized this was a sophisticated communication artifact: once content was input, the message would appear on a matching jade pendant. Such artifacts had varying ranges; for example, Wei Yuan carried a jade medallion bestowed by an Immortal Monarch that could transmit messages across a hundred thousand li. Xu Wan'er's piece could probably reach around a thousand li.
"Ask where she is and how we are to meet."
Right before Wei Yuan's eyes, Xu Wan'er channeled Dao power into the jade pendant and sent the message. After a moment, the jade pendant flickered, displaying a short line of text: "Meet at the old grounds of Lanshen Palace. Grotto-heaven fragments have fallen there, offering shelter from powerful enemies."
After this message appeared, the jade pendant lost its luster, its magical power completely drained.
Wei Yuan scrutinized Xu Wan'er and asked, "What made you so certain I was the person you were looking for? Didn't you even try to verify it?"
"Even in the Xu family's ancestral home, I have never seen anyone with Senior Brother's grace and presence. Surely only the Palace of Grand Beginning could nurture someone like Senior Brother. Besides, not only are you extraordinary in bearing, your methods are formidable as well. I hid myself so well, yet you caught me in an instant."
Chapter 106