Chapter 202: Chapter 203 Truth, Lies, and Compliments
Aguna decided to leave with Qin Luan and the others to travel the Nine Provinces.
Before departing, she went to say goodbye to her parents—only to find her father kneeling outside the house, head lowered, as if he’d done something wrong.
“Dad, why are you kneeling outside? Why aren’t you going inside?”
“Your mom got mad out of nowhere and kicked me out. She said I couldn’t come back in until I realized what I did wrong.”
The High Priest’s wife was also at the Nascent Soul Stage—and in terms of combat ability, arguably the best in the Gu Clan.
Faced with such a dominant wife, the High Priest could only obediently roll out the door.
“Did you say something to upset Mom?” In Aguna’s memory, her parents were always loving and never quarreled. What happened today?
“Jiang Renhuang once told me women don’t like hearing the truth, so you should never be honest with them. So as soon as I walked in the door, I reversed everything I wanted to say and told your mom: ‘You’re the ugliest woman I’ve ever seen. Marrying you was the biggest mistake of my life. I deeply regret it.’”
“…” Aguna fell silent.
“Don’t worry, Jiang Renhuang definitely foresaw this. This is a test for me.” The High Priest knelt with full confidence.
The High Priest of the Gu Clan was chosen through the Gu Immortal Mystic Realm, and the selection criteria had always been a mystery.
Aguna suddenly understood why.
Legend had it the Gu Immortal had once been infatuated with a man full of sweet lies, who deceived her so badly that she never recovered, even after thousands of years.
Aguna guessed the Gu Immortal created the Mystic Realm to select the man with the lowest EQ in the Gu Clan—to deal with her.
That way, she’d never have to worry about being duped by flowery words again.
Even though the High Priest was no longer facing the Gu Immortal, the standard hadn’t changed. That’s how her dad got the job.
“So women don’t like hearing the truth,” Qin Luan nodded, feeling enlightened.
Song Ying’s heart skipped a beat when she saw this and immediately grabbed Qin Luan’s cheeks with both hands, saying seriously, “Listen to me. I know you admire Jiang Renhuang, but you can’t just copy everything he says. He also said at the Great Zhou Imperial Academy: ‘Authority must not be blindly trusted.’”
Qin Luan’s emotional intelligence was already low enough—if he started copying Jiang Renhuang’s nonsense too, the day they made their relationship official would never come!
“So women like hearing the truth?” Qin Luan was confused.
“Of course. As a woman, I naturally like hearing honest words from a man.” Song Ying said shyly, her tone full of hints. “For example, if I ask you, which woman around you do you think is the most beautiful?”
Qin Luan answered truthfully: “Lately, I’ve been dreaming of a white fox girl—she’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
For some reason, he’d been having dreams lately. In those dreams, a stunning white fox girl dressed in fine clothes—with fluffy ears and a tail—would appear.
This white fox girl gently guided him, pointing out flaws in his cultivation methods, praising his strengths, even sparring with him. His combat experience had grown rapidly in his sleep.
Song Ying nearly blew a fuse.
Who the hell is this vixen trying to steal my man?!
Little White Fox sat comfortably on Qin Luan’s head, blinking her innocent eyes at Song Ying.
What bad thoughts could a little fox possibly have?
“Then lie to me.” Song Ying said with a defeated expression.
“Song Ying, I like you.”
Song Ying was overjoyed. Her eyes sparkled—she looked like she was about to break through to the next realm.
In a trembling voice, she asked, “Really?!”
Qin Luan gave her a strange look: “Of course not. Didn’t you ask me to lie?”
“…”
Song Ying wished she was strong enough to pin him to the ground and beat him senseless.
Aguna stood off to the side in silence, wondering if she’d confessed to Qin Luan too early.
“So what do you want me to say—truth or lies?” Song Ying’s wild reactions left Qin Luan utterly confused.
Now even Song Ying wasn’t sure whether women liked the truth or lies.
“Actually, it’s not about truth or lies,” Yuan Wuxing, clearly the experienced one, said. “Women like hearing flattering things—praise that makes them feel good.”
Seeing how clueless his disciple still was, Yuan Wuxing grew increasingly annoyed. At this rate, when’s he ever going to start dating? And if he never dates, he’ll never get distracted from cultivating!
Qin Luan’s cultivation speed was already insane. If he kept this up, he’d catch up to Yuan Wuxing in no time.
That wouldn’t do. The job of Human Sovereign was way too exhausting—better leave it to the master. As for Qin Luan, he should just date girls and build a harem.
Qin Luan suddenly understood. Why didn’t anyone just say this from the start? So women like compliments.
“Song Ying. Out of all the women I’ve seen, you’re the strongest. You’re definitely the biggest obstacle on my path to becoming the Human Sovereign!”
Qin Luan felt this was the highest praise he could give.
As a cultivator, who didn’t want to be strong? Who didn’t want to be the Human Sovereign?
What he said was basically calling Song Ying terrifyingly strong.
She’d definitely be thrilled.
Yuan Wuxing facepalmed. No way this kid is ever going to figure out romance. I better focus on breaking through to Soul Formation myself and compete for the Human Sovereign seat through sheer power.
…
“Thanks for the advice, Brother Jiang.” Commander Mu felt he’d learned a lot from Jiang Li’s insights.
He made a silent vow—once he finished dealing with the demonic cultivator situation, he’d apply what he’d learned from Brother Jiang to pursue Ayisu.
Colleagues, get ready for my wedding banquet!
Commander Mu was full of confidence.
[Mission Issued: The Feiyun Chamber of Commerce is hosting an auction. You’ve obtained a large amount of spirit stones from the Gu Immortal Mystic Realm—this is a great chance to equip yourself. At the auction, you and a scion of a noble clan both fancy the same treasure. Unable to outbid you, he loses face and holds a grudge. After the auction, he plans to teach you a lesson. Please defeat the noble and his lackeys.]
[This mission cannot be declined.]
[Reward: A sword technique, a Fusion Stage cultivator’s insight, 100 high-grade spirit stones]
Previously, the system had issued a mission for Jiang Li to reach the final trial of the Gu Immortal Mystic Realm.
Because it was labeled as “not recommended to abandon”, Jiang Li chose to skip it.
That’s why he’d asked the High Priest if there was still a Love-Gu reward for anyone else who passed the final trial. The High Priest had said the top woman from two generations ago was still around.
That generation was exactly five hundred years ago.
It seemed that woman—the Gu Clan’s top pick from five centuries ago—was the one tied to him in the system’s timeline.
The Gu Clan had no Soul Formation cultivators. That woman was likely still alive because she was at the Nascent Soul Stage and had taken a Longevity Pill once.
Jiang Li had secretly seen her once—she was now a frail, elderly woman.
He chose not to meet her, even though she was meant to be romantically linked with him. Instead, he left her a few Longevity Pills and asked the High Priest to deliver them—then left the Gu Clan.
“Some things are better left in the past,” Jiang Li sighed.