Chapter 563 34: I Come from the Continuous Prayer Meeting

An ordinary person with no cultivation?

No. In this day and age, where would you find an "ordinary person" in the traditional sense? Apart from children who haven't reached the age for cultivation, virtually every adult has some foundational training. This "universal cultivation" isn't a joke—even the western mountain villages have special cadres sent out to promote it.

An ordinary person is the most extraordinary thing of all. Although this meant his threat to me in the real world was reduced to almost nothing, I had to be even more cautious. Who knew what his true purpose and backup plans were? He might be using a Secret Technique to hide his cultivation level; in fact, that was the most likely possibility.

Even if people might call me paranoid, I never tire of this line of thought.

After three knocks, permission to enter was granted. The door opened slowly, and a young, polite voice sounded out. "Hello. It seems I'm late."

"Not at all. If anything, we were early," I replied, then looked at the newcomer with great interest.

The person who walked in was of mixed race. He had long, slightly curly black hair and a pale, clean-cut face that could be described as effeminately handsome. The Divine Light in his deep brown eyes was restrained, and the friendly, gentle smile on his lips immediately made one feel at ease.

If my friend Su Zhou were to describe that hairstyle, he'd definitely say, 'It looks just like instant noodles.' But I had a faint, familiar feeling about that slightly curly long hair… as if it resembled a snake.

Pushing that strange thought aside, the moment I saw his face, my guard went up.

'Something's not right.'

So I thought to myself. Because this visitor's appearance was simply too outstanding.

It wasn't jealousy. After all, if I had to say so myself, I'm not bad-looking either. In fact, after obtaining the Perfect Blood, Su Zhou's features were even more refined than this mixed-race man's. Though Su Zhou's own personality and behavior often prevent people from calmly considering just how handsome he is, I, who see him often, know very well that if he just shut his mouth and sat in a chair, he'd be a template of perfection that not even the marble statues of Ancient Mycenae could compare to.

With Su Zhou as the benchmark, this man's looks didn't surprise me.

But my point is, appearance itself is a form of power.

Looks of this caliber inevitably attract attention. My "friend 014" here had the face of a movie star. Whether he liked it or not, if he just walked down the street, he would surely become famous. And I knew most of the even slightly famous people in all of Hongzhou, and even Zhengguo—to say nothing of someone with the rare "mixed-race" label.

But I didn't recognize him. This proved that he wasn't, as he had claimed, from Hongzhou, or even from Zhengguo.

He had lied, and solely for the purpose of meeting me. This made me even more curious. I didn't intend to expose him, because I wanted to find out his real reason for meeting me and what other lies he would build on top of this first one.

Having just recently advanced to the Extraordinary Early Stage, my strength couldn't compare to that ridiculously powerful friend of mine, but I wasn't considered weak among the younger generation worldwide. The confidence my strength gave me, along with some of the hidden Bottom Cards I held, could guarantee my safety.

Although he might have backup plans of his own, you have to take some risks to get information.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries and mutual compliments, this "friend"—who still hadn't revealed his real name and just called himself 014—and I chatted for a while about matters concerning the fan group. This took about twenty-five minutes, and I gleaned no useful information from it.

An ordinary person would have grown restless by this point, but I didn't. I had already vaguely guessed the reason and purpose behind his time-wasting. It seemed he wanted to make me feel a trace of annoyance—not with him, whose conversation was as pleasant as a spring breeze, but with the tasks of managing the fan group.

His conversational tactics were very clever. He would casually mention how managing a fan club was a time-consuming affair, the subtext being, 'It will affect your cultivation.' If I hadn't been more wary of this guy than usual from the very beginning, I probably would have followed his lead and developed other feelings about it.

'He's showing his hand.' I nonchalantly kept the conversation going, and 014, seeming to know when to quit while he was ahead, moved on.

"A gift."

He said with a smile, "For you and Professor Su. If he is someone I have always respected and admired, then you, Mr. Shao, are someone I sincerely wish to befriend."

As he spoke, 014 handed over two small boxes. I could sense waves of restrained Spiritual Energy from within them. And what 014 had just said was surprisingly not false. Even I, who had eaten two Wisdom Fruits, couldn't detect any trace of a lie in his words.

'He genuinely respects and admires Su Zhou, and he wants to be my friend? Interesting. But that doesn't conflict with him having an ulterior motive.'

"You really shouldn't have. But if it's too valuable, I can't accept it."

Though I said as much, after a bit of polite refusal, I opened the boxes.

A Spiritual Light flared.

Inside the boxes were two watches. They were exquisite but not extravagant. An extremely intricate Gathering Spirit Array was inscribed on them. When the Gathering Spirit Array was active, the watch could even detect the surrounding Spiritual Qi concentration and other, more detailed data.