When he received the inner sect identity token from the fat elder in charge of miscellaneous affairs, the smile on Mo Fan's face was simply brighter than the spring sun.
Compared to the radiant, exquisitely cloud-patterned jade tokens held by the other Top 8 competitors...
The token assigned to Mo Fan was shabby to the absolute extreme.
It was clearly a scrap piece of wood sawed off some broken door panel, casually sanded down a few times.
The three large characters "Hundred Forging Peak" were carved crookedly into it using crude knife work. It didn't even have a patina from being handled.
Yet Mo Fan treated it like some peerless treasure, solemnly and preciously hanging it at the most conspicuous position on his waist.
After all, with this broken wooden sign, he was legitimately an inner sect disciple protected by the Azure Cloud Sect's rules.
Harboring the huge fortune of twenty mid-grade Spirit Stones, Mo Fan swaggered with a cheerful mood, taking large strides toward the gates of the inner sect plaza.
"Beautiful new life, here I come!"
However.
The instant one of Mo Fan's feet crossed the plaza gate, the smile on his face froze, and the foot he had stepped out hung rigidly in mid-air.
Outside the gate, the atmosphere was bizarre to the extreme.
The originally broad mountain road was completely empty.
There were only two figures standing silently on the left and right sides, like two door gods. Judging by their posture, they were clearly here specifically to block him.
On the left was the ice beauty dressed in a tight purple-black martial suit—Shen Qiu.
She tightly gripped that long soft whip in her hand. Although that flawlessly beautiful face was cold as frost, if one observed carefully, they could find an extremely complex emotion hidden deep in her eyes: anger, shame, and even a trace of tsundere fiery temper.
On the right was the newly crowned outer court king, dressed in white whiter than snow—Lin Tian.
His face was pale as paper; clearly, he hadn't fully recovered from the mouthful of old blood he spat earlier. But he still forcefully maintained the aura of an aloof, peerless swordsman.
His hand rested on his sword hilt, staring dead at Mo Fan. His eyes burned with a killing intent and frustration that almost materialized into something physical.
"Holy shit?"
Under the shadow of his hat, Mo Fan couldn't help but swallow hard.
His brain short-circuited instantly. Memories from his past life of being addicted to Otaku games uncontrollably surged up.
"Why is this scene so familiar? Isn't this exactly the ultimate branching route in those dating sims (Galgames) I used to play in my past life?!"
The System seemingly popped up a virtual selection box before his eyes:
[ HIGH ENERGY ALERT! Player, please carefully select your Capture Target: ]
[ A. Battle-Damaged Tsundere Ojou-sama (Difficulty: Hell-Tier). ]
[ B. Blood-Vomiting Irritable Sword Cultivator Bro (Difficulty: Suicidal). ]
[ Your choice will determine your upcoming plot branch and your survival. ]
"Choose my ass!"
Mo Fan roared frantically in his heart.
"How is this a romance game? This is clearly two max-level NPCs camping the gates of the starter village ready to seek revenge, okay?!"
Almost at the same time Mo Fan stepped out the gate, the two people on the left and right also noticed him.
Shen Qiu took a step forward, biting her lip tightly.
Lin Tian was even more direct; he half-drew his longsword, taking an arrogant strut that recognized neither kith nor kin, and closed in on Mo Fan carrying a chilling sword Qi.
One came to demand an explanation for the night's "confession," wanting to see what kind of tricks this scoundrel was playing.
The other came to see exactly how many heads the culprit who ruined his chance at the front page headlines—and got him rumored by the media to be on drugs—actually had!
Two massive auras instantly locked onto Mo Fan.
"What do I do?"
In this critical, hair-trigger moment, Mo Fan's "corporate veteran heart," which had tumbled through the bottom rungs of society for years, displayed an astonishing adversity quotient (AQ).
He deeply understood a principle: As long as I am not awkward, the awkward ones are them!
Before the two even had time to open their mouths and drop harsh words.
"Aiya!"
Mo Fan suddenly cleared his throat.
An incredibly natural, sunny, and even somewhat street-smart, familiar smile blossomed on his face. He even rubbed his hands together with extreme sociability.
"You two! What a coincidence?"
Mo Fan's voice was loud and resonant, as if he really had just bumped into old neighbors at a street corner.
"Standing around the award ceremony for so long, you must be hungry, right?"
"As the saying goes, a planned invitation is never as good as a chance encounter! Since we're all going to be fellow inner sect brothers and sisters from now on, why don't I play host, and we go to the inner sect cafeteria for a casual meal? Eat and chat?"
This move of preemptive aggressive social engineering, coupled with this extremely down-to-earth "lunch-break hustler invitation," acted like a heavy sledgehammer.
It directly smashed the killing intent Shen Qiu and Lin Tian had been brewing for a long time into pieces.
The two were rigidly stun-locked (CC'd) in place, completely dumbfounded.
They had prepared countless opening lines. They thought Mo Fan would beg for mercy, would quibble, or even turn tail and run.
But the one thing they never expected was that this guy would smilingly ask them "Are you hungry?" and "Wanna go grab lunch?"!
Shen Qiu and Lin Tian couldn't help but look at each other.
It was this very glance that instantly turned the atmosphere extremely bizarre and awkward.
Shen Qiu already felt a guilty conscience and flushed cheeks because of Mo Fan's "deeply affectionate yet scoundrel-like" confession earlier. She only came here to question Mo Fan privately.
Now that a Lin Tian had suddenly popped up nearby, how could she possibly say those embarrassing words in front of an outsider?
Thinking about her scandalous rumors with a servant currently flying everywhere, the tips of Shen Qiu's ears instantly turned beet red.
"Who... Who wants to go eat with you!"
The ice goddess instantly broke character (defense broken). She glared viciously at Mo Fan, her eyes seemingly hiding countless tiny daggers.
Then, gritting her silver teeth, she dropped an extremely classic line:
"Lu Xiaoqi... You just wait!"
Saying this, she turned around abruptly.
Like a startled rabbit, she turned into a streak of purple light and rapidly fled this awkward Asura Field.
Watching Shen Qiu's retreating back, Mo Fan let out a long, long sigh of relief in his heart.
"One down."
He turned his head, looking at Lin Tian who was still standing in place, still maintaining that honest, simple smile:
"Senior Brother, Senior Sister Shen seems to have an emergency. Then... just the two of us?"
Lin Tian didn't flee in a panic like Shen Qiu.
His pride as an aloof sword cultivator didn't allow him to retreat.
Today, he had to figure out exactly what kind of trash this bastard—who caused him to lose his reputation and vomit blood from anger—was!
This "grudge of stolen headlines" required an explanation!
"Hmph! We eat then! I want to see what kind of tricks you can play!"
Lin Tian snorted coldly, pushing his longsword back into its sheath with a CLANG.
One in front, one behind, the two followed the mountain road toward a spirit dining hall exclusive to inner sect disciples.