Translator: Subudai11 Editor: Chrissy

  When he came out of the room, Wang Lu felt that his head had begun to hurt.

  If he knew that things would develop to this point, he would just sit still and brace for the speedy gossip propagation. Let alone a gossip was just that, a gossip—anyone who could use their head should know that it was just a misunderstanding—how could a grand Daoist Master of Non-Phase who was known to have thick skin be that sensitive! Wang Lu had no need to pay attention to those who could not use their head.

  In any case, his reputation had never been good. Since he crushed Liu Li with his IQ in his early years, he was described by a group of 'white knights' as the world's most despicable and shameless man in the underhanded means. And over the years, after one controversial victory after another, people's evaluation of him had also become more polarized. Therefore, Wang Lu didn't worry that he had no personal enemies. Even if Zhu Shiyao's misunderstanding spread… at most, he would just need to spend some effort to hire professional lawyers to sue those who spread the rumors until they lose their family fortune!

  Unfortunately, a moment of wavering had led him to choose a path that seemed like a shortcut but actually led to hell.

  Just now, in her room, the girl Murong Bingli and Daoist Master Miao Yan had made an agreement to form a popular idol group in Nine Regions, so that men and women all over the world would become their captive.

  Daoist Master Miao Yan initially didn't care about unwarranted reputation since she only pursued the realization of her own aesthetic. However, after a heart-to-heart talk with Murong Bingli in the room, she was moved by the former's ideals and became an important member of the group.

  As long as he thought that in the near future, the cultivators under the heaven would hold the fluorescent stick and shout 'Long Live Wu'Er,' Wang Lu felt that he would become the sinner of the Nine Regions. A moment of error let him opened the terrifying door, and when he tried to close it, he was actually not able to.

  No. Wait a minute, things were really not that desperate. If there was a day when the idol group of Murong Bingli became ungoverned, then all he had to do was to exert his influence in the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals to ask the relevant departments to issue a notice to ban the bad artists.

  "Alas, before that, however, I can only hope that the people of Nine Regions to take care of themselves. My hands are already full, I have no time and energy to entangle myself in this matter."

  Although there was a trace of 'escape from reality' in this reason, the burden on Wang Lu was indeed very heavy. As the chief planner of the contest, he had to spend a lot of time thinking and making decisions. Moreover, he was also one of the main forces in the Jindan Stage fighting group and in the civil category; he a person participated in more than fifty competitions and had a considerable advantage in most of them.

  He had to spend time practicing for the events and commanding the overall situation from a higher angle. He was so busy that he looked as if he was flying all the time. Fortunately, the training partner in the fighting group, Murong Bingli, abandoned her post to pursue her dream, which caused the training of the fighting group to temporarily be paralyzed, leaving Wang Lu with a few days of breathing time.

  Therefore, Wang Lu had the energy to pay attention to some minor things in his busy schedule.

  —


  "Brother Wang Lu, this is the form that you want."

  In the bedroom that Wang Lu had changed into an office, Hai Yunfan, the disciple of Ten Thousand Arts Sect, handed Wang Lu a form that contained the information that Wang Lu wanted.

  This noble son of a royal family had been cultivating immortal cultivation for more than twenty years, with a top cultivation base among the inner court disciples. His meticulous thinking, strict execution, and strong tolerance were even more precious. Therefore, Hai Yunfan was fortunate enough to join the organizer team, becoming Wang Lu's personal secretary.

  And toward this secretary, Wang Lu's evaluation was very positive, especially because of the effort that was given to make the report in his hand. Even the typesetting and writing of the report were perfect, which made people sigh with emotion.

  "Little Hai, apart from sex, you are a perfect secretary."

  Hai Yunfan said with a wry smile, "Brother Wang, you are speaking more and more like my wife."

  Wang Lu was stunned. "… Are you flirting with me or making a perverted confession?"

  "Sorry for that indiscreet remark, but I just couldn't help but say it a moment ago… As I mentioned in my previous letter to you, Feifei, who has been stuck in a bottleneck in recent years, had been asked by her master to extensively explore knowledge and expand her accumulation. Thus, she began to indulge in all kinds of novels, especially in infernal hell. Sometime ago… when I tried double cultivate with her to break through the bottleneck, she suddenly said that if she were a man, she and I would be perfect."

  "…"

  Wang Lu used more than fifty percent of his Jindan Stage strength to stop himself from laughing, but his voice still came out slightly distorted, "If necessary, I can help you contact Daoist Master Miao Yan. She seems to be quite professional in this respect."

  Hai Yunfan sighed. "I finally understand the meaning of the word 'besieged' that Brother Wang wrote on the congratulatory letter of my wedding ceremony."

  "Hahaha, little Hai, this kind of thinking is very dangerous, it's the precursor of having extramarital affair! So, do you want me to introduce you to several mistresses?"

  As he laughed, he looked down at the report and then, shortly afterward, sighed.

  "This Luo Xiao is really talented, participating in thirteen competitions, of which the weighted level of the five key competitions is above grade B. And he has excellent performance in all of that. He would soon catch up with me."

  "Catch up with you? Your data is at least three times more than him, so he's not on the same magnitude as you. Moreover, among Jindan Stage cultivators, there are more than a couple of cultivators that performed better than Luo Xiao. The lead disciples of the Five Unique are all above him. So, why do you pay so much attention to him?"

  Wang Lu said, "My intuition tells me that this guy is not a good thing."

  "Really? But his assessment is quite good. If you want to deliberately target him, I'm afraid, there would be a not quite small pressure," Hai Yunfan said, vaguely reminding him.

  Wang Lu frowned. "There would be pressure? Then that's even more reason to try. Let's do it like this, little Hai, help me come up with a text which would give him a bit of trouble, such as… strengthening the management of the cultivators' attires and hairstyles and prohibiting certain sleazy dress, such as black clothes with a bald head, which can make people easily confuse it with the black head style."

  "…" Hai Yunfan chuckled, cupped his fist, and then silently withdrew. A moment later, he came back with a scroll in hand. The draft notice on strengthening the management of attire and hairstyle had been written.

  Wang Lu reviewed it again and found that little Hai was indeed a perfect secretary except for his sex. He had a good grasp of the leader's intention. In the notice letter, with grand reasoning, he had given trouble for Luo Xiao.

  "After this, I want to see if someone really gives me pressure for Luo Xiao.

  —


  The answer that Wang Lu anticipated was soon announced.

  No one put pressure on Wang Lu because Luo Xiao himself obediently changed his dress according to the notice. As the treasure of the Flower Stern School, the black robe was replaced without hesitation by him in response to the notice.

  Of course, there were indeed many people who saw that Wang Lu's notice was deliberately targetting someone, but rather than defending against the injustice, they were all persuaded by Luo Xiao. He said, "At the critical moment, the big picture is more important."

  "So, I, the chief planner, have become a scumbag who doesn't know about the big picture? This Luo Xiao is really smooth, but this is not unexpected. Little Hai, what do those old men have to say?"

  Hai Yunfan said, "No one said anything. Even when I directly asked them, the answer is ambiguous."

  "Tsk, looks like they still don't fully trust me."

  Hai Yunfan asked, "Brother Wang thinks that when they see this notice, they should cooperate with you to make things difficult for Luo Xiao?"

  "If they really trust me, they ought to know that I have no reason to find unnecessary trouble for a baldy. I do not know him, and there is no injustice nor hatred between us, how could I be so sick as to give trouble to him? I can even treat Beast Master School, whom I have enmity with, impartially, could I not tolerate Flower Stern School?"

  Hai Yunfan said, "Brother Wang, what you say is reasonable, but not everyone understands your pains."

  Wang Lu sneered a couple of times and then, after tapping his fingers on the table for a while, took a long sigh and let the matter go.

  "Forget it, this is not just my problem alone. Since they are willing to believe Luo Xiao, if something happens in the future, let them solve it themselves. There are still many problems that I need to deal with," Wang Lu said.

  He then picked up the latest daily report. "What's going on with Numerous Withering Sect withdrawing from the competition? They are the main force in the poison competition. They are just about to start their training, but they had already withdrawn from the competition. Don't they want to mingle with the Union of Ten Thousand Immortals?"

  Hai Yunfan smiled wryly and said, "Brother Wang, you don't know this, but the reason why the Numerous Withering Sect withdrew is that all of their main forces had a violent poison attack and was seriously injured."

  "… Aren't they the experts in poison?"

  "Yes, but this time, they ate more than they can chew. In order to be able to stand out among the elite experts in poison, they over exerted their subjective initiative, completely disregarding the objective law by sparing no effort to develop new poisons by testing it on themselves. As a result, the poison is not developed, and all of their main forces are injured."

  Wang Lu angrily slapped the table. "How did this gang get mixed in? Didn't I repeatedly emphasize the need to conduct IQ test in the selection process? Those with insufficient IQ could not be selected?"

  Hai Yunfain said, "The rule has been dropped by the elders. After all, you're just the chief planner, not the person in charge."

  "Tsk, those fools are just holding me back… Now, without the Numerous Withered Sect, how could we find a sect that is good at developing poison in such a rush?"

  Hai Yunfan felt the same. "Numerous Withered Sect has indeed a unique originality in developing and innovating poison using local materials. Even us, Ten Thousand Arts Sect, is inferior to them. It is indeed really difficult to find their substitute in such a short time. There might be some evil sects who also specialize in this, but I have to communicate with them, and I don't know how."

  "Development and innovation… that's right, the event that the Numerous Withered Sect participated does not focus on the poison toxicity and lethality, but on the innovation in content and form. I have an idea!"

  Wang Lu clapped his hand and said to Hai Yunfan, "Little Hai, help me write an invitation letter to Misty Peak of Spirit Sword Sect. Yes, it's my sect. But don't write it under my name, but under the organizing committee name. Write in the letter that the committee invites the world famous chef Aya to participate in the development of exotic cuisine."

  "… Food development?"

  "Yes, ask her to try her best to use her native cuisines as a base to innovate with the characteristics of Nine Regions. Then, send all the finished products to the poison group, there would surely be a surprise."