Chapter 1 The Beginning

“This kid… what’s his background…” The white-robed woman appeared calm on the surface, but inwardly she was pondering, “I can’t sense any Sacred Yuan Power from him, yet he was able to kill Ren Bufan, who was at the fourth level of Sacred Yuan Youji, with a flick of his finger…” Her eyes flickered slightly, “Could it be that I’m so blind… that I can’t see his true strength?”

“Miss, why aren’t you saying anything?” Feng Bujue’s ability to read people was extraordinary. He saw at a glance that the white-robed woman was deep in thought due to her confusion, so he quickly urged her to speak, trying to interrupt her train of thought and get her to make a decision as soon as possible.

“This young master must be visiting our Harem City for the first time.” The white-robed woman quickly put on a smile and replied, “You should first take a look at the rules set by our city lord.” As she spoke, she gestured towards the city gate behind her.

On the inner side of the giant archway, there were indeed three lines of words engraved: [Moonlike Appearance and Flowery Countenance], [Wisdom Encompassing All Things], [Courage to Stand Against the Limitless].

“Mm… I see.” In fact, Feng Bujue had already seen those twelve characters, which was why he had killed Ren Bufan… attempting to curry favor with the NPC sister guarding the city gate in this way.

“Our city lord has said that if it’s a woman, as long as she meets one of these requirements, she can enter the city.” The white-robed woman continued, “As for men… they must meet two of them.” She glanced at Ruote, “Just now I said… ‘Even if just for those three sentences, I would let the lady enter the city,’ but I was just joking. With the lady’s beauty, how could Harem City refuse to let you in?”

She paused for a moment, then looked at Feng Bujue and said, “As for you, young master…” She smiled, her gaze resting on Jue-ge’s face without any hesitation, “Forgive me for speaking frankly, but you’re a bit lacking in the looks department…”

“Tch…” Hearing this, Feng Bujue immediately began to complain in his heart, “Don’t you feel bad for telling such lies to your country? Don’t you feel bad for your parents? Don’t you feel bad for the Party-state… oh, no… the city lord’s years of nurturing you?”

“I advise you to put away that look of dissatisfaction on your face.” At this time, Ruote had quietly walked to Jue-ge’s side and said in a low voice.

“What’s wrong?” Feng Bujue responded.

“Take a good look.” Ruote said, looking ahead.

Feng Bujue followed her gaze and noticed something…

“Holy crap… I really didn’t notice just now…” Jue-ge stared blankly at the two city gate guards and muttered, “These two guys are actually so handsome…”

Of course, it couldn’t be said that Jue-ge wasn’t observant enough. After all, the two guard brothers were men, and as a heterosexual, Jue-ge naturally wouldn’t deliberately stare at their faces closely. Moreover, they were wearing full-body armor and helmets, so only the middle part of their faces was exposed, meaning… their handsomeness wasn’t obvious.

“See? As a man… you need to have at least two of these three things: wisdom, courage, and looks to get in.” Ruote continued, “Even the city gate guards are no exception.”

“Alright…” Feng Bujue sighed, raised his voice and said to the white-robed woman, “Then how should ‘Wisdom Encompassing All Things’ and ‘Courage to Stand Against the Limitless’ be interpreted?”

“Let’s not talk about ‘Wisdom Encompassing All Things’ for now…” The white-robed woman’s expression changed slightly as she looked at Jue-ge and said, “Young master… have you truly reached the ‘Zhenyuan Wuji’ realm?”

“Can you explain what she’s saying?” Feng Bujue quickly leaned in and whispered in Ruote’s ear.

Ruote also lowered her voice, replying in a tone that only Jue-ge could hear, “The power system of the Sacred Yuan World, from low to high, has three realms: ‘Fanti’ (Mortal Body), ‘Zhenyuan’ (True Yuan), and ‘Shengyuan’ (Sacred Yuan). Each realm is divided into two levels: ‘Youji’ (Limit) and ‘Wuji’ (Limitless), and each level has one to nine zhuan (revolutions) – nine levels of skill.” She paused for a moment, “The lowliest mortals can start cultivating from ‘Fanti Youji One Revolution,’ and each increase in a revolution doubles their power. After nine revolutions, there is a bottleneck. Once broken through, one can enter Wuji One Revolution. After Wuji Nine Revolutions, breaking through the bottleneck again allows one to advance to the next realm.” Her explanation was very efficient, not only fast but also clear and logical, “And so on, constantly changing from quantitative to qualitative… until one reaches ‘Shengyuan Wuji Nine Revolutions,’ a total of fifty-four levels. One of the three conditions for entering this Harem City is to reach the ‘Zhenyuan Wuji’ level, that is, level twenty-eight or higher.”

“Hey, hey… so that guy I killed with one move just now was pretty strong.” Feng Bujue said, “According to your theory, he was level forty, right?”

“He was quite strong.” Ruote replied, “But… you’re not weak either.” She turned to look at Jue-ge and explained, “Of course… the main reason you were able to defeat him so easily was due to the difference in power systems, which gave you a great advantage.” She paused for half a second, then continued, “Ren Bufan’s ‘Sacred Yuan Power’ would instinctively react to various energies in this world. If you used inner force, True Yuan, or Sacred Yuan to attack him, it would be impossible to kill him with a single blow because his body would automatically defend and neutralize similar energies. However… the power of your ‘Evil King Flaming Kill Fist’ doesn’t belong to this world. Therefore, the Sacred Yuan Power in his body couldn’t sense your movements or make an effective defense.”

“Hey… have you two finished your whispering?” At this time, the white-robed woman became a little impatient and interrupted the two who were whispering to each other in a loud voice, “That lady, you can enter the city whenever you want, but… that young master…”

“That’s right! I haven’t reached the ‘Zhenyuan Wuji’ realm. I’m sure you’ve noticed… not to mention Zhenyuan, I don’t even have inner force.” Feng Bujue took a step forward, righteously admitting a fact that had already been seen through by the other party, and said loudly, “But… so what?”

“What do you mean, ‘so what’?” The white-robed woman said, “Rules are rules. If everyone…”

“Please hear me out, miss.” Feng Bujue didn’t let the other party finish speaking and interjected, “The ‘Courage to Stand Against the Limitless’ set by the city lord, is the focus on the word ‘courage’ or the two words ‘Wuji’?”

“This…” The white-robed woman was slightly stunned.

Obviously… another innocent woman was about to be logically violated by Feng Bujue.

“There are mountains beyond mountains, and people beyond people. Can’t there be… cultivation methods other than ‘Sacred Yuan’ in this world?” Feng Bujue put his hands behind his back, put on a masterly demeanor, and said a seemingly profound but ultimately nonsensical sentence.

“What?” The white-robed woman was really taken aback by him. For a moment, her eyes flickered, and her thoughts were racing.

Feng Bujue’s sentence was like saying to someone who had been learning orthodox Christian dogma since childhood, “You think only Jesus can resurrect in place? Where do you put Brother Chun?”

“Could it be… young master, you…” The white-robed woman murmured.

Feng Bujue took the lead and cupped his fists, “Greetings, I am Feng Bujue, the Lord of the Broken Sword Teahouse. I learned on my own since childhood, and opened up a new path outside the Xuanmen (Mysterious School); I do not cultivate the Mortal Body, nor do I practice True Yuan; relying on a unique set of skills, I can also match the masters of Sacred Yuan Wuji.”

As soon as these words came out, the white-robed woman and the two guards were all no longer calm. The expressions of the three were all uncertain and seemed to believe but not believe.

“Hahahaha… what a Lord of the Broken Sword Teahouse!” Suddenly, a hearty laugh sounded.

Immediately afterward, a blurry figure slowly walked out of the city gate. The moment he passed through the archway, his figure suddenly became clear.

Jue-ge took a closer look… the newcomer was also a man wearing armor, but the style of his armor was different from that of the two guards outside the gate. In addition to the more gorgeous color and shoulder armor, there was also a phoenix feather inserted on top of his helmet, which clearly indicated that he was a higher-ranking officer.

“General Huo, why did you come out…” The white-robed woman, who had always had a hint of arrogance on her face, showed some respect when she saw the person who came, “Your injuries…”

“Alright, girl, I’m fine.” General Huo waved his hand, interrupting her.

Although the woman called him “Old” General, judging by his appearance, this Mr. Huo was only around forty-five years old, and… still very handsome.

“I wonder who this senior is…” Feng Bujue looked at the man quite politely and asked.

“I am Huo Wei, the Southern Gate Guard of Harem City.” Huo Wei’s voice was as loud as a bell, his eyes were bright, and his every move was like a tiger descending the mountain, with extraordinary power, “Kid, I advise you to go back… leaving now is still considered dignified.”

“What do you mean by this, General Huo?” How could Feng Bujue, a shameless person, leave? “It’s only been a few words, why are you already issuing an eviction order?”

“Hmph… I’ve been standing in the door for a while.” Huo Wei said as he walked towards Jue-ge, “I originally heard someone arguing in front of the door and wanted to catch them and punch them a few times to stretch my muscles, but I didn’t expect… you kid to beat me to it. What I didn’t expect even more was… that you kid would actually be spouting nonsense here.” He chuckled, “Ha! What ‘self-taught,’ ‘new path,’ can only fool those little ghosts…” He shook his head and said, “Listen carefully, ‘Lord Feng,’ don’t think that you can spout nonsense here just because you killed a Sacred Yuan Youji Four Revolutions master with a few ingenious tricks… I’ve lived for more than eight hundred years, and I’ve never heard of any cultivation methods in the Sacred Yuan World that don’t cultivate the Mortal Body or practice True Yuan.”

Faced with this questioning, Feng Bujue’s expression remained unchanged, and he replied calmly, “That’s normal… where knowledge does not exist, ignorance calls itself science.”

“What is science?” General Huo asked in confusion.

“Oh, sorry, I should use a way you can understand to express it.” Feng Bujue paused for a moment and continued, “I mean, ignorant people always like to treat ignorance as the truth. Do you understand now?”

Cursing without using swear words was Jue-ge’s forte, and this kind of mockery was definitely effective for NPCs with straightforward personalities…

“Presumptuous!” Huo Wei was immediately enraged, and a burst of orange-red energy suddenly bloomed around his body, “I’ve seen many people who talk nonsense and muddy the waters, but it’s rare to see someone as rampant as you!”

“Oh ~ you’re angry.” Feng Bujue said with a smile, calmly and composed, “Since you want to fight with this Lord, how about we make a bet?”

“Ha?” Huo Wei really felt amused and annoyed at the same time. Although he had already identified the “Lord Feng” in front of him as a liar, Feng Bujue’s various reactions made him feel vaguely curious, “Tell me, how do you want to bet?”

“Within three moves, if I can take the phoenix feather on your head, you let me enter the city.” Feng Bujue said very calmly.

“What?” Huo Wei simply suspected that he had heard wrong, “What did you say you wanted to do?”

At this moment, Huo Wei’s feeling was like… a professional boxer, on the boxing ring, hearing his opponent say, “I’m going to shave your nose hairs off within three punches.”

“If I can’t, I’ll kowtow and apologize on the spot.” Feng Bujue said, “Whatever you say about me being foul-mouthed or deceiving the world, I’ll admit it.”

“You play slowly, I’ll stand a little further away, so I don’t get affected.” Ruote’s calculation ability was also outstanding. After hearing this, she probably already knew what Jue-ge wanted to do, so she said coldly and stepped aside.

“Hahahaha… good!” Huo Wei also laughed, and the unpleasantness just now seemed to have been swept away, “You kid is either a madman or a true peerless expert! I’m going to learn today and see how you can get the phoenix feather on my head within three moves!”