Chapter 169: Zhong Ling's Troubles

"Zhong Ling, what brings you to the Ming Kingdom?" Ye Xiu asked with a hint of curiosity.

"Um, anything I want to do? Not really, I just feel I've gained strength, so I came to travel the world, and while I was traveling, I ended up in the Ming Kingdom," Zhong Ling replied.

Ye Xiu was speechless. Zhong Ling's words were clearly a bit disingenuous. If she was just traveling the world, why would she follow them?

Especially at the beginning, Zhong Ling was very wary of them, even running away from them because of the Bei Ming Divine Art. But then, inexplicably, she came back.

What puzzled Ye Xiu even more was that Zhong Ling's relationship with Qu Feiyan and the others had become harmonious.

They were almost on the verge of a fight before, but then, inexplicably, they suddenly became friends.

Seeing Zhong Ling like this, Ye Xiu knew she wasn't going to tell him the truth, so he simply stopped asking.

As for Zhong Ling, though, Ye Xiu had a certain understanding of her due to the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. However, this was a real world, and Zhong Ling's path of growth differed from that of the Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils. Therefore, Ye Xiu was inevitably wary of her.

Of course, this was primarily due to the Bei Ming Divine Art that Zhong Ling practiced.

Generally, encountering someone practicing a martial art that absorbs the energy of others would immediately raise a sense of wariness. Even Ye Xiu was no exception.

Even if Ye Xiu believed his Qi was pure enough, a martial art like the Bei Ming Divine Art would have no effect on him. But after all, the Bei Ming Divine Art could absorb the energy of others.

This was why Zhong Ling would check her diary every day, trying to see if Ye Xiu's favorability towards her had increased, but she was always disappointed because Ye Xiu's favorability towards her hadn't increased at all.

It was probably because Ye Xiu didn't trust her enough, or perhaps she hadn't earned his trust.

If Ye Xiu hadn't been surrounded by so many beautiful women at the beginning, a lovely little beauty like Zhong Ling would have increased Ye Xiu's favorability simply by her appearance. Unfortunately, that stage has passed. Ye Xiu already has many beautiful women around him, especially Dongfang Bubai and Yao Yue, both of whom have made Ye Xiu's feelings sweet.

So now, Zhong Ling, who has no way of gaining Ye Xiu's trust, can't gain his favor simply by relying on her cute appearance.

...

"Fei Fei, I've been here for several days, why hasn't my favorability increased at all?" Zhong Ling became anxious and couldn't help but ask about Qu Feiyan, the girl she had the closest relationship with.

It was mainly because Qu Feiyan was young, and because she wanted to learn the Beiming Divine Art, she often pestered Zhong Ling and spent the most time with her, naturally making their relationship stronger than the others.

"This, it's probably because you don't have Ye Xiu's trust," Qu Feiyan analyzed.

"Not having Ye Xiu's trust—then how can I gain Ye Xiu's trust?" Zhong Ling continued to inquire.

"I'm not entirely sure about that. But from what I understand, it seems that after Dongfang Jiaozhu and Yaoyue Gongzhu entered Ye Xiu's room at night, Ye Xiu's favorability towards them increased significantly. And Jiang Yuyan, it seems her attempt to sneak into Ye Xiu's room at night, though unsuccessful, also increased her favorability. How about you try sneaking into Ye Xiu's room at night?" Qu Feiyan said seriously, a glint of cunning in her eyes.

Zhong Ling stared at Qu Feiyan in bewilderment, having never expected her to come up with such a lousy idea.

Although Zhong Ling had never experienced sexual relations, and even under the protection of Zhong Wanchou and Gan Baobao, she hadn't been exposed to such knowledge during her time in the martial arts world, she had at least some knowledge of the subject.

Hearing Qu Feiyan's suggestion, Zhong Ling couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed: "How could I do such a thing?"

"Then there's nothing I can do. You can't just steal Jiang Yuyan's job and wash Ye Xiu's feet, can you?" Qu Feiyan shrugged.

Actually, Qu Feiyan hadn't mentioned a thought yet: saving up money to treat Ye Xiu to a high-end brothel.

Well, that was Qu Feiyan's idea.

Qu Feiyan had always wanted to treat Ye Xiu to a brothel, but she'd never succeeded. In fact, every time, she'd been scolded by Dongfang Bubai or Yao Yue.

But Qu Feiyan never gave up.

Why didn't she? On the one hand, Qu Feiyan truly wanted to repay Ye Xiu. On the other hand, Qu Feiyan had heard of the four unwavering bonds of life: being classmates, serving in the military together, visiting prostitutes together, and sharing spoils together.

Being classmates wasn't an option. She wasn't a Huashan Sect disciple, and she hadn't studied, so she couldn't possibly be classmates with Ye Xiu.

Military service was even more out of the question. After all, she was just a little girl, and Ye Xiu was a man of the underworld, so he wouldn't be a soldier. As for the spoils, there didn't seem to be much worth sharing. Even if Ye Xiu found some silver from the corpse, it wouldn't mean anything to him, not even a penny.

So, that left only the last one: visiting prostitutes together. Qu Feiyan paid for Ye Xiu to go to a brothel, which probably counted as a visit with him.

This way, she thought, Ye Xiu's favorability would increase significantly, allowing her to receive more rewards and grow stronger, unlike now, where she was still stuck in the Acquired Realm.

However, Qu Feiyan had never shared this idea with anyone else, and she hadn't considered telling Zhong Ling, fearing she might snatch her method away.

Zhong

Ling, on her part, couldn't seem to improve Ye Xiu's favorability, leaving her scratching her head in frustration, but she had no other options. Finally,

she approached Huang Rong, Jiang Yuyan, Yue Lingshan, and the others.

Yue Lingshan, needless to say, while not stupid, wasn't particularly bright, and couldn't figure out the reason.

Huang Rong and Jiang Yuyan, however, knew exactly what was going on. However, they hadn't bothered to tell Zhong Ling that the reason lay with the Bei Ming Divine Art or her actions.

Zhong Ling's expression darkened.

But she was unwilling to let Zhong Ling leave like that.

After all the hard work, she finally came here and found Ye Xiu. But she left without getting any benefits? Didn’t she run from Dali Kingdom to Daming Kingdom in vain? She

had to sleep in the open air all the way, it was so hard, and she had encountered many robbers, robbers, bandits, rapists, black shops, and she was even poisoned by Murong Qiudi.

After going through so much, she just left like this now? No one would be willing to do that.

Ye Xiu also noticed that Zhong Ling’s face was not right. On the one hand, Zhong Ling practiced Beiming Divine Art, a martial art that easily makes people wary. On the other hand, Zhong Ling inexplicably ran from Dali Kingdom to Daming Kingdom, and then repeatedly came to contact him. It was really hard for Ye Xiu to trust her.

Especially since Ye Xiu had tried to talk to her before, but there was no truth in her words, and she was just perfunctory. How could Ye Xiu trust her?

...

"We're almost to Huayin County, and it's still three days away at most. The unconscious woman hasn't woken up yet. But her internal injuries are almost healed. She's no longer in danger of death. I just don't know if she can wake up."

"It's such a pity if such a beautiful woman becomes a vegetable."

"I hope she can wake up soon."

"Zhong Ling's complexion is a little off today, and she seems a little depressed. I don't know the reason. Could it be because women's mood is off during those few days?"

"Well, it's possible. After all, women's moods are usually a little off during those few days. Some people get angry easily, and some people get depressed easily. Zhong Ling should be the type who gets depressed."

"However, I still don't understand why Zhong Ling followed us."

"After running all the way from Dali to the Ming Dynasty, she has been following us. It's a bit puzzling. I can't get a reason from her. It can't be because she practiced the Beiming Divine Art, and then targeted us, wanting to absorb our true energy, right?" "

However, although the Beiming Divine Art is powerful, it should also have great limitations. What's more, she is no match for Dongfang and Yaoyue."

"Speaking of which, I'm a little confused about the strength."

"How strong is Rong'er now?"

"I remember when I first met Rong'er, her strength shouldn't be strong, right? But yesterday, I accidentally saw Rong'er reveal a trick, and found that her strength seemed a little beyond my expectations."

"I haven't seen Rong'er practice martial arts very often, and with her personality, she is not the kind of person who is used to practicing martial arts, so with her personality of fishing for three days and drying the net for two days, her strength should not be that good. But now, her strength is unexpectedly good. At least she is innate, and the level of innateness is not low. Well, it should be innate. I don't believe that Rong'er has the cultivation level of a grandmaster."

"After all, I have a cheat, and I can increase my cultivation level by one month every day. Now I am only at the fourth level of the grandmaster."

"And the little junior sister, she is also an innate master."

"The little junior sister is the same age as me, only eighteen years old. An eighteen-year-old innate master, the little junior sister's aptitude seems a bit too strong." "

You know, in Huashan Sect, under normal circumstances, it would be considered extraordinary for Linghu Chong to be able to break through to the Xiantian realm at the age of twenty-five or twenty-six. As for Junior Sister, although her aptitude is okay, she is definitely not a genius. To become an Xiantian master at the age of eighteen is definitely a rare talent, okay? Just like when my strength reached the Xiantian realm, Master was so happy that he almost ascended to heaven." "

I really don't understand, I don't understand. Could it be that it was because of my appearance that changed the situation of Huashan Sect, and Junior Sister realized the situation of Huashan Sect, and then worked hard, began to concentrate on practicing, and then her strength increased rapidly? But it doesn't make sense?"

"On the other hand, Feifei, Yilin and Yuyan, they seem normal."

"Oh, I don't understand."

"I am starting to suspect that someone has a cheat. Although in less than a year, I have become a master of the fourth level of the Grandmaster Realm from the third level of the Acquired Realm, I already think this cheat is awesome enough. But because of Huang Rong and Junior Sister, I feel that my cheat is not strong enough."

"Not to mention Dongfang and Yaoyue who are really riding on my head now. I feel that my plug-in is not good enough."

"Tsk, diary, oh diary, can't it be more awesome? Give me a year's cultivation a day, and I would have been able to ride on the heads of Dongfang Bubai and Yaoyue by now." "

Finally, it's Yuyan. I'm quite conflicted now. Should I teach Yuyan the Wedding Dress Divine Art? After all, when she practiced the last level of the Wedding Dress Divine Art, the Flower-Transferring and Wood-Transplanting Technique, she went crazy killing people. If I give her this martial art, will she turn evil directly? After all, if she turns evil and starts killing people like crazy, she might attack Dongfang Yaoyue and the others. Well, in the world of Zongwu, she should be unable to do anything to Dongfang and Yaoyue. But Feifei, Yilin, Rong'er, the little apprentice sister and even the master's wife might suffer from the murderous hands."

"Forget it, I won't give her the Wedding Dress Skill. When we have time, I'll teach her the Divine Illumination Sutra. The Divine Illumination Sutra isn't very lethal, but it's quite effective in protecting her life, so it's a good one for Yuyan."

...

Huang Rong and the others couldn't help but chuckle as Ye Xiu complained in his diary about their unreasonable cultivation levels, even suspecting they had cheats.

Indeed, they did have cheats. The strength of these cheats depended on Ye Xiu's favorability towards them.

There was no way to tell Ye Xiu the truth, and watching him puzzled was quite amusing.

Huang Rong, Dongfang Bubai, Yaoyue, and the others took the matter as a bit of fun.

Murong Qiudi, who had been trying to figure out how to approach Ye Xiu and gain his trust, was startled after reading Ye Xiu's diary today, and then had a very absurd idea.

"Could it be that the women around Ye Xiu, including Dongfang Bubai and Yaoyue, are actually the owners of the diary?"

"Huang Rong, Yue Lingshan, and the others are stronger than Ye Xiu expected because they've gained so much from the diary that their strength has increased so rapidly?" "

Furthermore, Dongfang Bubai and Yaoyue, two such proud people, are

actually willing to share a husband. Perhaps they're doing this because they've gained so much from the diary." "What's that about feelings? It's a joke. Their goal is actually to gain Ye Xiu's favor and get more rewards!"

"Furthermore, before this, the outside world only considered Dongfang Bubai and Yaoyue to be Grandmasters, not Grandmasters. The fact that they were Grandmasters is definitely due to the diary!"

Murong Qiudi speculated.

She even thought that Dongfang Bubai and Yaoyue had no feelings for Ye Xiu at all, and were only committed to him to gain his favor.

Murong Qiudi's judgment stemmed from her own experience.

Initially, she believed in love, but after Xie Xiaofeng's betrayal, she despised it, even believing she'd never believe in love again.

And how could Dongfang Bubai and Yao Yue, the leader of the Sun Moon Sect and the Grand Master of the Yihua Palace, possibly find love? Even if they did, how could they possibly be attracted to Ye Xiu, a mere disciple of the Huashan Sect?

Unless it was for the opportunity Ye Xiu offered, meaning his favorability.

To Murong Qiudi, committing to Ye Xiu for favorability, to gain more rewards, was perfectly natural.

Ever since she learned of the diary's rewards, she'd considered committing to Ye Xiu, having sex with him, and thus gaining his favor. She didn't even consider this an exaggeration. Well, women of Gu Longfeng's stature were generally quite open-minded in this regard.

After all this thought, Murong Qiudi's desire to possess Ye Xiu only grew stronger.

If Ye Xiu weren't accompanied by two Grandmasters, Dongfang Bubai and Yaoyue—well, including Zhong Ling—she might have simply sent someone to snatch him away.

As for whether her favorability would drop, she

could simply plot and trick Ye Xiu into coming over, and naturally, she would be able to gain his favor.

As a woman who had built an organization like Tianzun from scratch, Murong Qiudi's mind was always full of conspiracies and schemes.

"However, if the women around Ye Xiu are all the owners of the diary, then our plans against Ye Xiu will have to be adjusted again."

"Perhaps, I can try to contact Dongfang Bubai and Yaoyue."

"After all, they allowed Huang Rong and the others to stay with Ye Xiu, which means they don't have any ill will towards the diary's owner, or at least they won't show much ill will." "

So next, I need to do some probing to determine Dongfang Bubai and Yaoyue's attitude."

"It's a pity that we didn't know the diary had such magical powers before. Otherwise, we wouldn't have targeted Zhong Ling for the Beiming Divine Art."

"After all, the value of a mere Beiming Divine Art is far less than Ye Xiu's."

Murong Qiudi began to adjust her plans to approach Ye Xiu.

Meanwhile, Lian Nishang had already descended the mountain and was heading towards Huayin County. She didn't know Ye Xiu's exact location, but she knew he was on his way back to Huashan. As long as they stayed in Huayin County or Huashan, they would definitely be able to stop Ye Xiu.

After reading today's diary, her mood became even more heated. She also had a guess, a guess that she was not the only one holding. She felt that Ye Xiu could definitely quickly send her to the Grandmaster realm, or even a higher realm.

In addition to Lian Nishang, there was another person, Tianshan Tonglao. After she came down from Tianshan, she concealed her whereabouts along the way, but also rushed to the Ming Kingdom at a very fast speed.