Chapter 370 - 354: Is It Too Late to Rejoin the Nine Schools Sect Now?

Chapter 370: Chapter 354: Is It Too Late to Rejoin the Nine Schools Sect Now?

Silence.

A dead silence fell over the entire area.

The townsfolk, hiding beneath the faint glow of the Mirage Gauze, stared with their jaws on the floor.

They stared wide-eyed at the two figures, long-forgotten memories frantically resurfacing, trying to reconcile these two domineering experts with the two humble figures from their past.

"That... that person with his foot on the bad guy’s head... isn’t that Zhang San, the beggar who used to squat at the south street corner every day asking for food?!"

Someone pointed at Zhang San, his hand trembling. "I remember it clearly! Just a few days ago, he was grinning at me, holding out his broken bowl for money. I even tossed him two cents... How... how did he suddenly transform into an Immortal who can stomp a demon lord under his foot?!"

Another person exclaimed, "The one next to him! That’s Li, who sells steamed buns!"

"Weren’t the two of them always together? One begging, one selling steamed buns. I even used to buy steamed buns from Li to give to Zhang San... Oh my god!"

The crowd looked at each other, a theory straight out of the storytellers’ tales slowly taking root in their minds.

’Could they be... the peerless masters from the stories, the ones who hide amongst the common folk to experience the mortal world?!’

And in a corner of the crowd, Wang Sheng and Mrs. Li, that pair of star-crossed lovers, were clinging to each other.

If everyone else was shocked as if they’d seen a ghost, then their shock was beyond that—it was as if they’d seen a ghost that had slept in the same bed with them just two days ago.

Wang Sheng stared intently at the backs of Zhang San and Li, his own back already soaked with cold sweat.

’That build, that voice... It’s them! It’s definitely them!’

’They’re the two perverts from that night at the Yuelai Inn! The ones who inexplicably appeared in our bed and turned our cozy, exciting "world for two" into a four-person slumber party!’

Wang Sheng’s mind went BUZZ, and the whole world suddenly felt absurd.

’What was it they said back then?’

’"I’m going to report you to the authorities! I’ll have the whole city judge who’s right!"’

’Report to the authorities?!’

Wang Sheng glanced at the great Foundation Establishment Stage demon lord—a ruthless killer—who had been stomped into the ground, then thought back to his own actions, and was left speechless.

’Report to the authorities, my ass!’

’Even a fiend who could destroy half of Anhe City with a wave of his hand is nothing but an ant under their feet. So what the hell is City Lord Zhao of Anhe City to them?!’

’They could have crushed me with a single finger or turned the entire inn to dust with a single breath, yet they were there acting all serious? Is this the legendary twisted sense of humor of powerful masters?!’

’Do all you big shots in Cultivation enjoy mingling with the masses for fun?!’

Wang Sheng wiped the cold sweat from his face, his heart a turmoil of mixed emotions.

He, Wang Sheng, had been a respectable traveling merchant in Nantong City. But it seemed the Daqian Dynasty had relaxed its policy on Paradise Powder. The City Lord of Nantong City was using the young lord as a front to lure in the local populace, seemingly plotting some grand alliance. Sensing that big trouble was brewing, he had come to Anhe City to trade and lie low for a while.

Who would have thought he had just escaped the wolf’s den only to enter the tiger’s lair.

To think that here, in Anhe City, he would run into a once-in-a-century tragedy like a demonic massacre!

Just moments ago, on the run, he had watched people fall one by one around him. That Foundation Establishment Evil Cultivator charging straight for them, in particular, had made him certain he was a dead man. He never would have imagined that the ones to save his life would be the two commoners who had nearly scared him to death that day.

Wang Sheng looked at the two towering figures. Though his heart was filled with gratitude, he felt more bewildered than anything.

’Big brothers... since you’re both so damn powerful, since your Cultivation has reached this level... can’t you do something productive?! Begging for food, selling steamed buns, disturbing people’s sweet dreams... What in the world are you trying to achieve?! Is this... the way of Immortals? Is this how one tempers their heart in the mortal world?’

Wang Sheng couldn’t comprehend it, but he was utterly shaken!

Meanwhile, Mr. Su, Mrs. Su, and Su Wenjing were even more profoundly shaken.

Mr. Su murmured to himself, "Roam the four seas, free among the nine streams... So what Mr. Lin said was all true?"

He recalled Mr. Lin’s profound and inscrutable demeanor, and the scene of him accepting Su Wenxuan into the society.

"No wonder... no wonder my Ling’er, despite having entered an Immortal sect, was always so reserved in front of that Mr. Lin... So this Sect of Nine Streams is a great hidden sect, just like the Guixi Sect?!"

...

The players, who had been getting their asses handed to them, were now completely baffled.

[Righteous Light]: Holy shit! Aren’t those two just lifestyle players from the city? One’s a beggar and one sells steamed buns, so they’re secretly some kind of janitor-monk-level masters?

[Big Bro]: I’ve never heard of a sect like this in Ashen Heaven! Is the [Sect of Nine Streams] a hidden sect?

[King of All-Nighters]: Dude, are these two masters just logging on now?! We were about to get wiped!

But the most shocked and conflicted person in the entire place was, without a doubt, Kabuta Giant.

He looked at the two figures, heard their slogan, and couldn’t help but shiver.

"The S-Sect of Nine Streams?!"

"They’re from the Sect of Nine Streams?!"

He had originally thought that little chuuni brat Su Wenxuan had been brainwashed by a few cheap storybooks. He assumed this so-called "Sect of Nine Streams" was the same old organization of con artists from the streets, the kind that only knew how to resort to petty theft and dirty tricks.

But as it turns out...

’How did you guys suddenly level up to Cultivation?!’

’Where’s the wuxia theme we agreed on? Where’s the gritty, street-level martial world? How did the game suddenly get a major version update and jump servers to the xianxia side?!’

’This isn’t a sect of drifters and vagrants! This is a sect of pay-to-win whales!’

Kabuta Giant’s composure was starting to crack. Immediately after, a wave of gut-wrenching regret shot straight to his head.

’Those are gods you can latch onto, people who can one-shot a Foundation Establishment boss! And I actually left the guild?! I have to go back! I’ll beg and grovel if I have to, but I’m going back!’

"Nobody move! Stay right here!"

Kabuta Giant turned and roared at the Su Family and the other townsfolk, striking a pose as if he were about to make a heroic sacrifice.

Then, under the bewildered gazes of the crowd, he charged out from the concealment of the Mirage Gauze without hesitation. Sprinting toward Zhang San and Li, he yelled, "Big shots!! It’s me! It’s Little Ka!!"

"So you are the two seniors from the Sect of Nine Streams! I wonder if you two still remember me? I used to pay the membership fees! I’m an old-timer from the Sect of Nine Streams!"

"Is it too late for me to rejoin?! Please let me back in!!!"

Hearing this, Zhang San and Li turned around at the same time, looking Kabuta Giant up and down as if he were some rare animal.

The two instantly connected on their private chat channel:

"Who is this guy? You know him?"

"Nope. His ID looks unfamiliar. Probably some sucker who wants to leech off the guild benefits."

"Tsk, newbies these days will do anything to ride a whale’s coattails. They have no shame. Forget him, the guy’s a psycho."

"Yeah, totally. Besides, if we let him back in after he already quit, wouldn’t that mean he quit for nothing?"

With perfect coordination, the two of them turned away, completely ignoring Kabuta Giant, who was left dumbfounded in the wind, still frozen in his pose of heartfelt appeal.

[Kabuta Giant]: ...

Just then, Gu Li, who had been stomped into a deep crater by Li, finally began to stir.

"COUGH... COUGH COUGH..."

With a series of violent coughs, a few broken stones were blasted away.

Gu Li’s face—once sinister but now flattened by the stomp—struggled to lift itself from the dirt.