Mu Chenyuan was busy cleaning the room of the Zhenbao Society's president. As an odd-job member of the Zhenbao Society, her duties included not only recruiting new members periodically but also taking care of chores within the society.
"Little Yuan, you've done a great job cleaning today too~"
The president was originally twirling a teapot in her hands, but when she looked up, she found the room spotless and gleaming.
Mu Chenyuan put the broom back in the corner, intending to leave the hall.
"Wait a minute, Little Yuan. I recently discovered a new skill the teapot has: it can use spiritual power to deconstruct cultivation techniques learned by others."
The president tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear and looked at Mu Chenyuan with a smile.
Mu Chenyuan hesitated slightly: "President, is your teapot really not some crooked, heretical sorcery?"
"Of course not! Sit down, sit down quickly, I'll show you."
The president patted the stool playfully, signaling Mu Chenyuan to sit with her on the bench.
"After absorbing spiritual power, the teapot can analyze the owner of that power. For example, I'll absorb a little bit of spiritual power right now."
The president brought her hand close to the spout of the teapot, and her spiritual power was sucked inside.
Then she opened the lid of the teapot, fished out the newly absorbed spiritual power from the surface, and said, "Now let's tag this clump of spiritual power—let's tag it as <Invincible Universe President>."
Soon, the words "Invincible Universe President" floated above the clump of spiritual power.
"This clump of spiritual power can reveal all the cultivation techniques practiced by its owner."
"If this spiritual power and previously collected spiritual power were extracted from the same person, the previously collected spiritual power will float up and emit a brighter glow."
Mu Chenyuan hadn't understood before why the president would set up a strange stall on the Jiang Qiao Black Market bridge; if it was just to tail people, it was way too perverted.
"Actually, I haven't fully penetrated all the uses of this teapot myself. Perhaps I haven't pushed its abilities to the absolute limit. By inhaling only a tiny trace of spiritual power, some people are completely unaware of it. I use this teapot to analyze cultivation techniques, and from those techniques, I can also tell which sect they inherited their teachings from."
"So, Little Yuan, why don't you give it a try too~ I also want to study the cultivation techniques you know~"
"The teapot couldn't absorb my spiritual power last time."
"Before was before, now is now~"
Before Mu Chenyuan could make her next move, the president brought her hand close to the teapot, but strangely, the teapot showed no reaction at all.
The president was also stunned, but soon gave a knowing smile. "So the teapot still has no effect on you."
"Even with all my obsession over cultivation techniques, I still can't see through yours~"
The president gave a feigned, sighing laugh, then moved the teapot away, before quickly pushing it back to the edge of Mu Chenyuan's hand. The teapot still remained completely unresponsive.
"I really need to study the uses of this teapot properly..." the president muttered.
Mu Chenyuan figured that the president's gesture wasn't just out of a desire to understand her cultivation technique; the president simply didn't feel at ease.
The teapot worked on every member of the society, except for Mu Chenyuan.
After sunset, many disciples had already gathered inside the painted boat, all of them here to exchange the rare treasures in their hands.
Naturally, Jiang Qiao was among them.
Jiang Qiao had run into Mu Qinggan on his way out earlier, though she hadn't come to kill him—she had merely increased his favorability by 5 points and given him a basket of green tangerines.
Thank goodness he hadn't been stabbed.
This was enough to prove that not becoming the Sect Master's personal disciple was the right decision; the game itself wanted him to make this choice.
He quietly found a corner and listened to the disciples passionately boast.
"Let me show you guys a treasure. You've definitely never seen anything this good before. Look."
A disciple flashed the thumb ring on his hand. "This Storage Ring is a brand-new style from Duoyun Hall, and it costs a million Spirit Stones just to buy one. Its storage capacity is a thousand, ten thousand times stronger than yours."
"Are you sure? That looks like a knockoff at first glance," another disciple ruthlessly critiqued.
"A knockoff? How is that possible? I picked this out at Duoyun Hall myself. You bumpkin probably haven't even set foot inside Duoyun Hall's front gates..."
"You..."
Jiang Qiao's silence was deafening. So before his last death, when the Sect Master talked about going to the Zhenbao Society to broaden his horizons, she actually meant coming here to witness biodiversity?
His usual socialization all came from the cafeteria, seeing as his daily routine was a strict three-point line: cave abode, Plucking Stars Cliff, and the cafeteria. The people in the cafeteria were much more down-to-earth; in their daily interactions, they chatted about very mundane topics, though of course they also shared recent cultivation techniques or talked about how their masters scolded them.
Gathering so many seemingly wealthy bigshots here all of a sudden really made it hard for him to blend in for a moment.
Still, he treated it as just watching the excitement.
"Since you say my Storage Ring is no good, why don't you pull out something good yourself?"
"If I pull it out, I pull it out. I'll show you a purple Dian jade bead."
Jiang Qiao watched as that person took out a box from their Storage Ring. Opening the box revealed a string of beads radiating a purple glow.
And those exact beads were ones he had happened to see in the Black Market. That time, he had bumped into someone, and those beads had cascaded all over the ground.
But why would they appear here now?
"There's no need for me to elaborate on how rare this bead is!"
The disciple who had been showing off his Storage Ring instantly lost his composure. "What on earth is that? I've never even heard of it."
Soon, Mu Chenyuan walked over and snatched the purple Dian jade bead that was being displayed before the crowd. "Display anything else... why did you have to display this..."
She frowned, looking somewhat reproachful as she glared at the disciple who had produced the jade bead.
"Oh come on, little sis, since we're at the Zhenbao Society, shouldn't good things be shared for everyone to see? If you've got a treasure, there's no need to keep it tucked away."
"..." Mu Chenyuan merely silently took back the purple Dian jade bead and said nothing.
Her older brother had said before the start of the Zhenbao Society that he wanted to admire this bead, so Mu Chenyuan had given it to him and told him not to casually take it out to show off.
Yet she hadn't expected this infuriating plot development to happen anyway.
Last time at the Black Market, for some reason, the string holding the beads together had snapped.
There had originally been twenty-four beads, but now one was missing.
She hadn't paid attention to the count at first, only realizing it much later, and when she went back to look, she couldn't find it anywhere no matter how hard she tried.
Not only would the existence of the purple Dian jade bead attract attention, but if that person found out one was missing, she wouldn't be able to escape punishment.
Seeing that Mu Chenyuan had finished speaking, Jiang Qiao stepped forward and poked her.
[System Prompt: Luck +0.1]
Jiang Qiao felt quite pleased; he had successfully checked in this time as well.
"Hm?" Mu Chenyuan turned around.
"Let's talk."
Jiang Qiao's mind was clear. Being tracked down in the Black Market was a taboo, but the other party was a complete stranger to him, and they currently had no conflicts.
Yet in the previous loop, she had claimed to have the receipt and fingerprint from when Jiang Qiao bought medicinal pills, speaking with such specific detail that Jiang Qiao couldn't help but suspect he had already been targeted.
Was threatening him really just as simple as wanting him to join the Zhenbao Society? So what on earth were they plotting? What was the underlying logic?