The child sitting next to Lu Yang perked up with a look of keen interest, "A murder case? I’ve solved a few tricky cases back in my hometown. I wonder if I’ll be able to crack this one."

Considering it might not just be bad feng shui in this cabin but the entire flying ship, Lu Yang decided to disembark and fly to the Sword Tower. Consider the later ship ticket money down the drain.

However, there were a few accidents along the way, such as stumbling upon a secret realm that opens once every millennium, encountering a young lady from an influential family who was dissatisfied with an arranged marriage and used Lu Yang as a shield, and other minor incidents that turned a half-month journey into a month to reach the Sword Tower, arriving just in time.

Feeling the thick humidity of Shu State, Lu Yang couldn’t help but remark, "Thank goodness I set off early, otherwise I wouldn’t have made it in time for the Sword Inquiry Ceremony."

"...Is it possible that you wouldn’t have encountered these issues if you had left a day later?" Fairy Eternity couldn’t help but ask.

"Makes sense, I’ll leave a day later when the Sword Tower holds the Sword Inquiry Ceremony again in a hundred years." Lu Yang was meticulous in his methods, understanding that to conduct an experiment, he needed to control variables, changing only one condition at a time.

The Sword Inquiry Ceremony is a major event of the Cultivation World, with many cultivators from beyond Great Xia attending. The officials of Shu State took this very seriously. If they could take this opportunity to convince some sword cultivators to stay in Shu State, it would be a splendid political achievement.

Ever since flying cars became popular, many sword cultivators have switched from flying with swords to flying with flying cars. Upon entering Shu State, Lu Yang saw many flying cars accompanying him.

Quite a few sword cultivators gave sidelong glances, even turning back to look at Lu Yang as they flew away.

After all, they hadn’t seen anyone flying with a Sword-Washing Pond before, a novel sight indeed.

Lu Yang didn’t mind the impolite actions of these sword cultivators, since the patent rights for the flying cars were in his hands. This meant that these sword cultivators had essentially paid him with Spirit Stones, considering them guests.

Towards guests, Lu Yang always had a good attitude, which was evident from the time he ran a barbecue restaurant.

"Let’s go eat hotpot."

Once at the destination, there was no need to rush anymore. It was time to settle down and enjoy the local cuisine; otherwise, wouldn’t the trip to Shu State be wasted?

This was a habit Lu Yang had learned from his Eldest Senior Sister.

Hotpot is ubiquitous in Shu State, each one claiming to be the authentic taste, an excellent flavor, and a reputed old-brand among the locals.

In the street full of hotpot restaurants, seeing a barbecue restaurant standing strong proves how delicious the barbarian tribe’s recipe combined with the Three Flavored True Fire and Pure Yang True Fire is, carving out a path for itself here.

Tripe, beef slices, catfish, duck blood, and dried bean curd... ingredients in small dishes piled up on the table. Lu Yang added what he liked into the Nine Palaces grid, the spicy aroma wafting through the air.

"Hello, I see you’ve ordered so much; you might not be able to finish it all. Could I maybe have some?" A woman dressed casually stood in front of Lu Yang’s table, her tone hesitant as she eagerly eyed the boiling hotpot.

Lu Yang looked up and saw he was being addressed by an extremely beautiful woman, her appearance second to none compared to Junior Sister Tao, and she had a great figure to boot, curvaceous in all the right places. The only issue was, he didn’t know her.

Lu Yang initially wanted to say that he, as a cultivator, could finish all the food, but seeing the woman’s pitiful look, his heart softened and he changed his mind at the last moment.

"Then sit down and join me."

Lu Yang signaled to the shop assistant, "Shopkeeper, another pair of chopsticks here, and one more dipping sauce, please!"

Lu Yang sighed with relief, glad that Old Meng wasn’t here—his luck might have changed.

"Thank you, thank you so much," the breathtakingly beautiful woman thanked him profusely.

"Which family’s young lady are you? Run away from home and forgotten your money?" Lu Yang asked with a smile. Although the woman seemed penniless, her clothes were quite costly, surely belonging to a well-off household. She must be a young lady from an influential family who sneaked out and forgot to bring money.

Lu Yang had encountered such people before, having once met a wealthy young lady disguised as a little beggar, covered in grime, sneaking onto a flying boat. She was discovered by the merchants, and a kind-hearted young man paid for her.

Seeing Lu Yang’s misunderstanding, the woman hurriedly explained in panic, "Forgot to bring money? No, no, it’s just that I forgot we need to use money outside. Where I come from, we don’t use money at all."

"It seems your family has protected you well, not having to spend money on a regular basis," Lu Yang teased casually.

"We can eat now."

As soon as the woman heard they could eat, she imitated Lu Yang’s movements and skillfully picked up a slice of beef covered in chili, dipped it into the oil, put it in her mouth, and showed an expression of bliss.

Seeing this, Lu Yang couldn’t help but laugh, "You can’t be serious, you’ve never eaten this before?"

He admitted that the hot pot in Shu State was delicious, but it wasn’t to the extent of warranting such an exaggerated reaction.

The woman’s cheeks turned red with the teasing, and she smiled sheepishly, "Indeed, I’ve never eaten anything like this before."

"I came out just to eat this; it’s really delicious."

The woman clearly loved the hot pot, and the expression she showed made Lu Yang doubt for a moment whether they were even eating the same thing. Passersby saw the beautiful woman eating so joyfully, pleasing to the eye, and couldn’t help but walk into the shop, making the already packed hot pot restaurant even more crowded.

The two of them ate heartily, finishing off with two bowls of ice jelly for dessert.

"Shop Assistant, check please, and bring two more hot pot base blocks."

"What are hot pot base blocks? Can you eat them?" the woman asked, puzzled.

Lu Yang shook his head and smiled, "You can’t eat them directly, I’m buying a couple to take back for my Eldest Senior Sister to try."

The Eldest Senior Sister always liked to try local specialties whenever she came to a new place and would take some home if possible.

"I’m headed to the Sword Tower shortly, what do you plan to do, Miss?"

Lu Yang was somewhat concerned for the woman, unclear on how her family had protected her or how she had managed to get out. She seemed so naive and without common sense, and on top of that, she was so beautiful. Leaving her here alone, if something happened, Lu Yang would find it unbearable.

After thinking for a moment, the woman who indeed knew very little about the outside world, felt that Lu Yang seemed like a good person. With nothing urgent to attend to, she figured she might as well follow him and learn something about the wider world.

"May I come with you?" the woman asked tentatively.

"That’s fine, but once the Sword Inquiry Festival is over, I’ll have to take you home," Lu Yang replied, as he couldn’t let the woman follow him around indefinitely.

In the Spiritual Space, he already had one silly charm, and he definitely couldn’t add another.

"Then I thank you, fellow cultivator," the woman said earnestly.

"By the way, we’ve talked for so long but I still don’t know your name, how should I address you? My name is Lu Yang." Lu Yang offered his own name, which was now widely recognized among the cultivators.

The woman did not show the surprise or shock Lu Yang expected, as if she had never heard his name, and introduced herself with a sweet smile:

𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"So you’re Fellow Cultivator Lu Yang, I’m Yun Mengmeng."

"So you’re Miss Yun... Wait a second, what did you say your name was?"