Purple Sun Prefecture, Joyful Hotpot Restaurant.
Not long ago, the Hidden Dragon Ranking was updated again, and two prodigies from a prefecture-level sect caused a sensation throughout Purple Sun Prefecture, becoming the talk of the town.
"Have you heard? Our Purple Sun Prefecture’s Qingyuan Sect produced two..."
"Who in Purple Sun Prefecture hasn’t heard of the ‘Wife-Blessing Battle Soul’ and the ‘Frost Fairy’?"
"Among the recent Hidden Dragon prodigies, who could possibly outshine these two?"
"Tsk tsk, just at the Third Realm, they ventured into the Southern Borderlands to slay demons and returned unscathed—what peerless grace! This calls for a toast!"
"Stuttering Girl, bring us more wine!"
Listening to the custors’ chatter, the ‘waiter’—dressed in oversized clothes with a cloth blindfold—clattered over with a tray of wine, along with a complintary plate of peanuts.
"Stuttering Girl, we also ordered wine. Why no peanuts for us?" one table of custors asked curiously.
"You... you just... said Young Hero Li’s... nickna wasn’t nice."
Jiang Chulong hugged the tray to her chest and whispered.
Only those who spoke well of Big Brother Li got free peanuts.
The slighted custor grew displeased, but his companions quickly pulled him down and gestured toward the second floor. There, a woman in palace attire sat with her legs spread wide, squinting at the mouth of her wine gourd. She tipped it twice—not a drop left—and her stunningly beautiful face twisted in annoyance.
The custor shuddered and imdiately sat straight, as obedient as a child on their first day of school.
"Sister Shang, your wine."
"Why hasn’t my precious disciple returned from the Southern Borderlands yet?"
Shang Wu sighed, taking the wine from Jiang Chulong. She smacked her lips—her tastes had long been spoiled by her disciple’s offerings, and even this fine Qingluo wine now seed lackluster.
"I... I miss Big Brother Li too."
Jiang Chulong bit her lip. She glanced toward the private room where Aunt i and the Qingyuan Sect elders were gathered, then whispered:
"Sister Shang, did... did Big Brother Li send word back?"
Shang Wu shook her head—not to deny it, but because she didn’t know.
So Jiang Chulong tiptoed to the door to eavesdrop.
Aunt i’s voice ca through:
"Those two youngsters in the Southern Borderlands—it’s not just about making a na for themselves. You all know the stakes. With the Floating Temple gone, chaos is brewing."
Qian Bufan, Xue Jing, Han He, and the other peak masters and elders sat in grim silence.
Every elder who oversaw a peak knew the sect’s deepest secrets—their sect had descended from the guardians of an imperial mausoleum.
And behind the Calamity Beasts lurked the remnants of the Great Shang Dynasty.
"Why haven’t Li Mo and Ying Bing returned yet?" Qian Bufan mused.
"What if," Xue Jing ventured, thinking of the boy’s temperant, "he’s trying to defend the Southern Borderlands’ cities?"
The room fell quiet.
Only the bubbling of the hotpot and Qian Bufan’s thoughtful lip-smacking filled the silence.
That possibility was disturbingly plausible.
"Prepare yourselves. The imperial court has already abandoned the Southern Pass. It’s only a matter of ti. I plan to take Chulong and leave—"
Before i Yun could finish, the door creaked open. Jiang Chulong stood there, timid yet resolute, like a white flower pushing through stone.
"Aunt i... Chulong... Chulong won’t go."
i Yun froze. She’d never seen this side of Jiang Chulong before. Her expression darkened.
"Is it this place you can’t leave? We can rebuild an identical one elsewhere."
"It’s not the sa... This... is the ho Big Brother Li gave ."
Jiang Chulong’s face paled, her voice trembling but firm.
She didn’t understand the grand sches of the world or the turmoil in the Southern Borderlands.
She would wait here for Big Brother Li’s return.
Just then, forr Rain Pavilion assassin Zuo Qiuyang rushed in waving a slip of paper:
"Big trouble! Huge trouble!"
"What now?"
"Soone bought out every last scrap of beef and lamb in the prefecture—not half a catty left! How are we supposed to run our business? Is this so underhanded tactic by rival hotpot joints?"
"Get out!"
"???"
......
Yunzhou.
The entire Prosperity Trading Company was in chaos, workers scurrying like ants in and out of warehouses.
"Short on manpower? What do I pay you for?"
"Go to the docks and hire temps—double, no, triple their usual pay!"
Sun Gui, the plump general manager, bustled about personally.
This order ca from the God of Wealth himself. If he pulled it off, he might not just stay in Yunzhou—the Imperial Capital headquarters could be next.
"Mother of rcy, what’s Young Hero Li planning?"
"This much grain could raise an army and start a rebellion..."
Sun Gui wiped his brow and muttered.
"How’s progress?"
A voice spoke behind him. Sun Gui turned to see Li Mo at the warehouse entrance, chugging a bottle of Three-Light Elixir—a rare spirit-nourishing treasure—like it was water.
Sun Gui’s liver trembled at the sight.
What kind of Divine Perception Realm soul could withstand that?
And when had he arrived? Sun Gui, an Internal Scenery expert, hadn’t sensed a thing...
A thod to traverse from the Southern Borderlands to Yunzhou in monts? Unheard of.
"The first batch is nearly ready—at, grain, oil..."
Sun Gui handed over the inventory list, then hesitantly added:
"Forgive my boldness, Young Hero, but Yunzhou’s grain prices have risen twenty percent. To avoid impacting locals, we’d need to source the next batch from outside, which’ll cost far more."
"Then source it."
Li Mo nodded, storing mountains of supplies into his World Seed as Sun Gui gaped.
A spatial treasure of that scale? Also unprecedented.
Another day where the richest man in Yunzhou was humbled by the limits of his imagination.
......
Southern Borderlands, Greenwood City.
The city was already on high alert, tension thick as the circling winged Calamity Beasts of the enemy scouts.
The grain depot of Greenwood Barracks, now under Commander Qu Sheng’s personal guard, stood as the most heavily fortified site.
Yet as the wind howled through its empty halls, Qu Sheng stood before the barren warehouse, face unreadable.
"Young Hero Li said he’d fill Greenwood Barracks’ granaries to bursting?"
"That’s what he said before leaving."
Huang Donglai confird nearby.
"......"
Qu Sheng’s frown deepened. Reason told him this was impossible.
Eight thousand n consud hundreds of thousands of pounds of grain daily. The logistical demands of war staggered even the Imperial Court—how could one man shoulder this?
Let alone the question of transport...
Even if they managed to gather the supplies, how could they deliver them in ti?
For a single person to transport provisions across thousands of miles in such a short span—it sounded like nothing short of a fantasy.
Had it been anyone other than Li Mo making such a claim, Qu Sheng would never have mobilized his n to wait here.
Ti passed.
Qu Sheng began to wonder—had Young Hero Li already decided to leave, but couldn’t bear to lose face, so he made those grand promises before slipping away?
From what he knew of that young hero, such behavior was unlike him. But hearts were hidden behind layers of flesh, and this was a matter of life and death...
Suddenly.
Qu Sheng stiffened.
The mournful howl of the wind had ceased, as though blocked by sothing.
He turned around.
There stood the figure of a young man, now seemingly more upright, casually drawing a line in the air. So kind of spatial treasure tore open the void, revealing within it mountains of supplies piled high.
"You’ve waited long, Commander Qu."
It was him. Him, again.
"...You... truly ca back?"
Qu Sheng stood dumbfounded, slow to process the reality.
Of course.
How could he have left alone?
After all, the Frost Fairy was still in the city.
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