Hearing that Qi Yuan tabled the idea, Great Sun Flame Emperor finally sighed in relief. "Qiyuann Sovereign, Great Venerable Jasmine is extremely powerful. Due to her father, she also carries tremendous prestige across the three regions. Many senior figures respect her. It's best not to offend her lightly."

His expression turned complicated at the mention of Jasmine. Moreover, what he said was the truth. Even if Jasmine wasn’t the strongest cultivator in the three regions, she was certainly one of the most untouchable. The treasures her father left behind drew countless admirers and followers, all eager to curry favor with her.

"Qiyuann Sovereign, when did you manage to get involved with Great Venerable Jasmine?" Rogue Immortal asked curiously from the side.

Gossips about the private life of a Yin Spirit expert was irresistible to a newcomer like him.

"I don't know her," Qi Yuan replied honestly.

He truly had never met Jasmine. What interested him wasn't really her Mythic Secret Treasury, but the cultivation manuals hidden inside it.

Great Sun Flame Emperor frowned. "Then why would she say something like that?"

Rogue Immortal said, "Maybe it's because Qiyuann Sovereign is too handsome! if I were a woman, I'd fall for him too!"

Qi Yuan glared at him. "Stay away from me!"

Everyone burst out laughing.

Qi Yuan then said, "As for this matter with Jasmine, I can ask my junior sister for advice. As a fellow rich woman, she probably has plenty of ideas."

Following that, he took out a jade slip and sent a message to Jiang Lingsu.

Qi Yuan: Junior Sister, I recently ran into a rich woman. We’ve never met each other, but she publicly declares she likes me. I'm quite interested in the things she owns. What do you think I should do to trick those things out of her hands?

Not only had Jiang Lingsu funded him many times before, she had even secretly given him Jiang Ya’s cultivation technique. Even his early success was largely because of his wealthy junior sister’s backing.

***

On Seven-Colored Peak, Jiang Lingsu widened her eyes, which made her look unusually adorable.

Frowning, she muttered angrily, "Didn't he say he was meeting some friends from the Divine Flower Society?! Why is there suddenly another rich woman involved? Also, what nonsense! Saying she likes my senior brother without even meeting him, she must be some shameless flirt with ulterior motives!"

Staring at the message, she thought for a moment before sending a reply.

Jiang Lingsu: Senior Brother, didn't she say she likes you? Then just go ask her directly. If she really likes you, she should be willing to give you those things. If she gives them to you, great, you get what you want. If she refuses, then it means she was just playing with you.

***

Qi Yuan couldn’t help but smile at Jiang Lingsu’s reply. "Junior Sister really has both beauty and brains. Her wisdom rivals that of Lord Great Wisdom."

He genuinely felt she had a point. In that case, he would simply find some time to meet Jasmine in person.

Didn't she say she loves me? Giving me a mere Mythic Secret Treasury should be easy, right? If she transferred the treasures to me as a gift, then even if things go to court, I wouldn't have to return it. What a brilliant plan. Compared to marriage, this approach is far simpler and more direct! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

The other three exchanged puzzled glances. They had no idea what Jiang Lingsu had said to Qi Yuan.

Qi Yuan said, "I have a perfect solution for the Jasmine matter. Now, let's discuss how to obtain the cultivation techniques from the Seeking Dao Palace."

As the saying went, three cobblers together equal Zhuge Liang. With four of them here, they were bound to come up with something good.

***

Meanwhile, inside Wangxian Tower, an elderly man with snow-white hair appeared. His eyes burned with suppressed anger. "Is Feng Xie in this building?"

He was Xiangyun, an ancestor. His relationship with Feng Xie had always been terrible, it was practically a blood feud. If not for his fear of Lord Wind, or uncertainty about Jasmine's stance, he would have chopped that man into pieces long ago.

The last time he emerged from seclusion, he immediately received messages from many friends. They all asked him the same question, “After three hundred years of seclusion, how did you suddenly gain an eighteen-year-old son?”

He had been furious at the time, even suspecting one of his concubines had betrayed him. Only later did he learn it was all a rumor, and the source? Great Sun Flame Emperor. Yes, Feng Xie himself! The thread he posted in the Divine Flower Society had caused it.

<<Shocking! After 300 Years of Seclusion, Ancestor Xiangyun Suddenly Has an 18-Year-Old Son!>>

Even though it was clearly a joke, many cultivators believed it. Some even assumed that, for the sake of his reputation, he had secretly killed that "son." To say that Xiangyun wanted to murder Feng Xie wasn’t an exaggeration. Unfortunately, ever since then, Feng Xie had remained in seclusion under Lord Wind's protection. Xiangyun had never found an opportunity to retaliate. Now, Feng Xie had emerged and invited friends for a gathering. This was the perfect chance.

"Which room is he in?" Xiangyun asked coldly.

"Room twelve on the Ninth Heaven floor," replied the shopkeeper helplessly. Just from Xiangyun's tone, he knew nothing good was coming.

"Hmph. Go drive him out and give me his room." Xiangyun sneered. "Didn't he invite guests? Let him lose face in front of them."

Since the higher-ups hadn't made their stance clear, he didn't dare kill Feng Xie. Still, that didn’t mean humiliation was not allowed.

"That might not be appropriate," the shopkeeper said cautiously. "It seems one of them is a Violet Palace cultivator of questionable background. If we offend the wrong person..."

Xiangyun said arrogantly, "We are in Phoenix Heaven. Is there anyone here that the Phoenix Palace can't afford to offend?"

The Phoenix Palace was the dominant power of Phoenix Heaven, and its palace master was none other than Jasmine. The sect had been founded by her father, a Mythic expert, and had existed for hundreds of thousands of years. It was undoubtedly the absolute ruler of the region. Even Mythic experts would give the old palace master face and by extension, Jasmine as well. Xiangyun's own father was an Yin Spirit elder of the Phoenix Palace, which explained his arrogance.

Furthermore, suppressing Feng Xie practically aligned with the Phoenix Palace’s interests. Rumor had it that Lord Wind was actually the illegitimate son of the old palace master, meaning Jasmine's younger brother. Jasmine herself seemed to dislike that brother. Though Xiangyun appeared to act out of personal revenge, he was simply carrying out the wishes of those above him and making things difficult for Feng Xie.

The shopkeeper sighed. "If that's the case, then I'll do as you say."

Once the Phoenix Palace was invoked, refusal was impossible.

"By the way, what are the backgrounds of his guests?" Xiangyun asked.

"They're not from Phoenix Heaven. One of them is a Violet Palace cultivator, and judging from her apparel, she likely comes from a prestigious background. The other is Gao Xiaoyu from the Eastern Lands Junior Prodigy Ranking, backed by a Violet Palace clan. We are unsure about the background of the last guy, but judging from his attire, even Gao Xiaoyu outranks him. At best he's from some Violet Palace power."

The shopkeeper's intelligence network was impressive. He had memorized the names and appearances of young geniuses from the various prodigy rankings, which was how he recognized Rogue Immortal.

"The Eastern Lands Junior Prodigy Ranking?" Xiangyun scoffed. "That garbage?"

Aside from the top twenty of the main ranking, he didn't care about any of them. The junior prodigy ranking was even worse. Trash among trash.

Xiangyun said coldly, "In that case, I will kill the chicken to scare the monkeys."

While he couldn't kill Feng Xie, dealing with two nobodies was easy. Even if the Phoenix Palace heard about it, the higher-ups would likely praise him.

The shopkeeper hesitated briefly, then understood.

Iceberg Empress couldn’t be touched too rashly due to her possible Yin Spirit backer. Feng Xie couldn’t be killed. Qi Yuan and Gao Xiaoyu, who seemed to have neither power nor backing, were the perfect targets. Frame them, throw them out of Wangxian Tower, and have the enforcers beat them to death. That would humiliate Feng Xie nicely.

Xiangyun said, "Do this for me and you'll be rewarded. Didn't you have your eye on Yang Li's granddaughter? Help me handle this today, and I'll deliver her to your bed."

The shopkeeper's eyes gleamed with greed as he gulped. "Fine, I'll do it."

Xiangyun burst into laughter. "Feng Xie, offending me was the stupidest thing you could’ve ever done."

After all, he had been acting according to Phoenix Palace's wishes when he pressured Feng Xie. Yet that man had dared to resist him, ruining him more than once. How could he not be furious?

***

Qi Yuan waved his hand. "We're brothers. Your problems are my problems. When the Bright Palace pressured me back then, didn't you all stand behind me and support me?"

Great Sun Flame Emperor appeared deeply grateful. On the flying ship earlier, he had already told them about his predicament. His sudden reappearance could provoke retaliation from Xiangyun of Phoenix Palace.

Even then, Qi Yuan had simply shrugged. "If he dares to come, by the time grass grows ten meters tall on his grave, he'll probably gain another illegitimate son."

"Thank you, Qiyuann Sovereign," Great Sun Flame Emperor said, relieved.

His biggest worry had been that if Xiangyun showed up, these three friends would think he had deliberately lured them here to borrow Qi Yuan's strength.

Qi Yuan smiled. "As long as things are said openly, it's fine. I didn’t hide how I formed a Star Golden Core and condensed more than four thousand Nascent Souls, right?"

Rogue Immortal gulped. "Four thousand Nascent Souls? You have that many? Can you give me one?"

"Qiyuann Sovereign, are you planning to have children or something?"

At that moment, the door to the private room suddenly burst open.