Chapter 217: Quickly, Quickly Go and Invite Elder Qiao

"Aah."

On the narrow wooden bed, the young man stretched lazily. He picked up a bronze mirror and examined his face in the morning sunlight.

The surface gleamed with a radiant luster, full of vitality.

"Truly handsome!"

Xu Xiaoshou pushed open the window, gazing at the rising sun, and realized he must have slept through an entire extra night...

From the successive battles at Tianxuan Men to the Sheng Nu assault, the unrelenting tension had kept him on edge. It made sense that half a night wouldn't be enough to fully recover.

Glancing at the sunlight pouring through the large hole in the ceiling, Xu Xiaoshou sighed quietly.

"At least it didn't rain last night, or I'd have had to sleep in the Ling Zang Ge."

The inner courtyard's back mountain was no longer recognizable, and his newly built spiritual residence, which he'd barely stayed in, had been destroyed. For now, he was back in the outer courtyard.

Well, in the guest quarters.

The kind that were open-air and windowless!

That night, Elder Sang hadn't said much. After a brief inquiry into his situation at Tianxuan Men, he had hurried off.

From his rushed demeanor, it seemed like he was off to intercept the Sheng Nu or something—maybe even rob them blind!

Who knows if he succeeded.

Su Qianqian and Rao Yinyin were both seriously injured. When Xu Xiaoshou went to check on them, the former was already unconscious.

As for the latter... well, she was half out of it.

He had left a jar of honey and then slipped away on his own.

With Rao Yinyin there, Su Qianqian probably wouldn't be too heartbroken. He could go comfort her later!

Too bad he hadn't managed to swindle that famous sword...

Uh, from the masked person.

Stepping out the door, Xu Xiaoshou surveyed the pitted and uneven courtyard, his brows furrowing.

"I really need to fix this up. It's my asset, after all, and who knows if I'll end up having to crash here again in a pinch."

Thinking this to himself, he headed out, intending to post a task at the Ling Shi Ge.

There was one in the inner courtyard and one in the outer courtyard.

Not bad at all!

The Ling Shi Ge had a very complex flow of people; dozens or even hundreds were inside, and countless more waited outside.

With the recent influx of new members to the spiritual palace, everyone was buzzing with excitement, flocking to the task board.

In short, it was packed!

"Look, look! It's Xu Xiaoshou—Master Xu!"

"Where, where?"

"Huh? Why's there only one head?"

"Yeah, yeah! Where are his wings?"

"Wings? I thought he had golden horn dragon scales. Does he need wings to fly?"

The moment Xu Xiaoshou appeared, the crowd erupted in a frenzy, like a pot boiling over.

"Under suspicion, passive value: 146."

"Under admiration, passive value: 66."

"Under envy, passive value: 48."

A barrage of all sorts of information flashed by, and Xu Xiaoshou listened to the chatter with a dark expression as he stepped into the Ling Shi Ge.

So, he had become a celebrity?

But why had his legend turned out like this?

Xu Xiaoshou fell into deep thought.

All that talk of three heads and six arms, golden horn dragon scales...

What the hell? Is that even human?

The only consolation was that his passive values didn't discriminate—they were skyrocketing.

By the time he got here, they were already breaking several thousand.

"Passive value: 19,899."

Turns out, choosing not to go with the masked person was the right call.

The spiritual palace was the perfect place for his growth!

At counter number one.

"Hmm? Elder Qiao isn't here?"

Surprised to see the somewhat nervous young girl in front of him, Xu Xiaoshou wondered where Elder Qiao could have gone. He rarely left this spot—had he run off to cook again?

"What a leisurely guy, with all this chaos in the spiritual palace... He's got nerves of steel!"

The girl in the green skirt had a flushed face, stealing glances at the young man before her, her heart pounding.

Xu Xiaoshou, the senior brother— he wasn't as sharp-tongued as the rumors said, was he?

He seemed easy to talk to, with a pleasant voice, good looks, and even this furrowed, thoughtful expression was oddly charming.

He was just like the blurry-faced prince on a white horse from her dreams.

"Um..."

"Hmm?"

Xu Xiaoshou looked at the girl. This wasn't the first time he'd seen someone act so hesitantly; plenty of people had done the same along the way.

What on earth did they want?!

"What's up?"

The girl panicked, her hands trembling as she pulled a small notebook from her chest.

"Could you..."

Oh, it's for an autograph!

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled. It was just a signature—why be so scared? He wasn't going to eat anyone!

He took the notebook and flipped it open. "Where do you want it?"

The girl froze. He was actually this agreeable? Delighted, she pulled out a spiritual pen from her chest.

"Anywhere is fine!"

Xu Xiaoshou waved it off—he had his own pen.

As soon as he took out the first spiritual pen from his ring—the one from his first fan—he noticed the girl's disappointed look and awkwardly smiled.

"Ah, this one's broken. Guess I'll use yours!"

Taking the pen, the girl beamed with joy.

With a few quick strokes, he finished signing, nodding in satisfaction. He'd gotten pretty experienced at this—his signature was getting more and more stylized.

Great!

But soon, he sensed something was off.

"Under envy, passive value: 44."

"Under envy, passive value: 86."

"Under envy, passive value: 177."

Glancing back, Xu Xiaoshou saw a crowd of girls with jealous glares behind him—that was one thing—but there were guys too?

Wait, what?

How did this envy end up directed at him? Shouldn't it be at her?

"Xu Xiaoshou actually signed an autograph? I thought he was the type who guarded his words like gold, silent as a stone, and could verbally shred an innate expert in one go!"

"Yeah, me too. I figured he wouldn't be so approachable. Damn it, I ran into him on the road earlier and didn't dare say anything."

"Huh? Damn it?"

"Shh, shh, you misheard!"

"Oh my god, I'm so jealous! I want an autograph too!"

"Me too, me too!"

"Get lost, you! A guy like you, don't push me!"

"What do you mean? Guys can't get autographs? Sexist? I—I... shh, shh!"

The crowd went wild in an instant, surging forward.

Xu Xiaoshou jumped in fright. He finally understood the struggles of being a star.

He considered blasting these fanatics away, but they were his fans, after all, and in this situation, his passive values were exploding.

That would be pretty unethical.

Besides, you couldn't just throw hands in the outer courtyard. Even though he qualified for the inner courtyard, if he hurt anyone, he'd probably end up dragged to the Ling Fa Ge for punishment.

That would be the end of him.

With no other choice, Xu Xiaoshou channeled his spiritual energy, making his robes flutter wildly, and shouted sternly:

"Quiet!"

The scene fell silent for a second.

"Wow, so domineering!"

"Xu Xiaoshou, I love you! I've been cheering for you since the group stage—please sign for me!"

"Bullshit, Xu Xiaoshou is mine."

"Get lost!"

The tide of people instantly swallowed the young man whole, not even a ripple in sight, as Xu Xiaoshou vanished from view.

"Damn it, whose hand is that—stop groping!"

"Hell, don't crush me—I'm about to fight back!"

The Ling Shi Ge shook unsteadily, on the verge of collapsing.

The disciples at counter 108 stared blankly, frozen like statues at the human pile-up.

They wanted to shout, but it was futile; they wanted to intervene, but they lacked the power.

"Quick, go get Elder Qiao!"

From the sea of people, a terrified head popped up, pale-faced and screaming:

"Help... mmph!"