The men and women were arguing when suddenly a burly man interrupted them. After signaling for everyone to quiet down, he turned his head to a mixed-race girl.
"Xia Sha, did you get the photo just now?"
The mixed-race girl, Xia Sha, nodded excitedly, "I did, I did! My camera was in my hands the whole time!"
As she spoke, she took off the camera hanging from her neck, opened the collection of photos stored inside, and said happily:
"Look! From start to finish, not a single one missed! This time our Canglan Expedition Team is sure to make a name for ourselves!"
The man took the camera and looked at it, then said with disapproval:
"This is killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. We should keep this matter to ourselves. The fact that that person didn’t hold it against us earlier doesn’t mean they are easy going. What if our revealing their secret brings about their retaliation?"
Someone nearby nodded and said, "Shi Yong is right. It’s better we investigate this ourselves. Opportunities are rare! How can we just let others take advantage?"
"Exactly, exactly, we must find him. Who knows, we might even embark on an Extraordinary Path because of it!"
Shi Yong, who had been looking through the camera, suddenly furrowed his brows and said, "Strange, Xia Sha, didn’t you capture that person’s face just now?"
Xia Sha was taken aback at first, but then snatched back the camera and said with displeasure:
"Don’t doubt my skills, okay? I’m a professional when it comes to photography!"
As she spoke, she hurriedly scrutinized the saved photos, yet the reality was just as Shi Yong had said—none of the photos captured the face of the man from earlier, all were blurred images of his back.
"How can this be! I clearly captured it! Why is it gone!?"
The girl’s face showed disbelief.
"No, I definitely took more than this, so many photos are missing! It must be this camera’s fault! Damn those deceitful merchants for cheating me!!"
Seeing her reaction, the others exchanged puzzled and bewildered looks.
"So, what do we do now...?"
Someone pointed at the camera and said, "Look here, we can follow up based on these symbols, we might discover something!"
Shi Yong pondered for a moment, then slapped his thigh in agreement and said:
"That’s what we’ll do! There’s no other option now. I suggest we end this expedition plan ahead of time and go back to fully investigate this symbol. How about that?"
Everyone chimed in agreement, and thus, a long-planned Anling expedition was cut short. But there wasn’t a hint of dismay on their faces; instead, they were filled with excitement.
As flowers bloom, each branch tells a different story.
After driving away, Zhang Xiaoman first circled above Anling, admiring the beautiful scenery, and replenished his energy with the Soul Absorption Technique before activating the auto-navigation feature to head towards the address given by Pei Laoliu.
Dingxianghua City, Central Avenue.
This was a very peculiar place. Walking around here, you could see buildings from many different periods and countries—as if strolling through a collection of diverse paintings, yet without feeling the slightest bit of messiness, everything merged perfectly together.
Zhang Xiaoman was now quietly floating above the street in his vehicle, admiring this exotic atmosphere and marveling at the power of invisibility mode.
"As expected of a System creation, I’m just sitting here and absolutely nobody has noticed me... The gap in technology is truly terrifying..."
As he spoke, he slowly descended towards the rooftop of the tallest building, which was his destination.
"Hmm... This must be the place Master Liu mentioned, right? I didn’t expect this group to be so playful as to find such a huge venue."
He marveled at the grand European-style building beneath him.
He switched the Anti-gravity Car to waiting mode and took out a half-translucent bracelet-like object from inside. Only then did Zhang Xiaoman step out.
He gently tapped a button on it, and then the whole car vanished without a trace, entering its invisible state again.
"I hope I can pull off this bluff~" Zhang Xiaoman murmured, pulling up the hood behind his clothes before going down from the rooftop entrance.
His main purpose for coming here was to reconfirm whether any of these so-called Cultivators were genuine. At the same time, he didn’t mind earning an extra tens of thousand dollars in travel expenses.
Although it had been over a month since he obtained the System and despite the world background being altered by the Sect Establishment Order, Zhang Xiaoman still harbored doubts about this matter. Now with the opportunity to interact with Cultivators from all over the country, he wouldn’t miss it.
The entire building had been rented out, and entry obviously required an invitation. However, that was no concern to Zhang Xiaoman, who had come down from the rooftop and directly entered the interior of the building.
Checking the time, the assembly had already started, but the most ceremonious "discussion of the Dao" part likely hadn’t yet begun. Not in a rush, Zhang Xiaoman decided to wander around inside.
It was originally a hotel, but for today’s event, many paintings and objects related to Cultivation decorated the place.
Zhang Xiaoman then learned that this Cultivation exchange conference would last the entire day, from morning until evening.
During that time, not only would there be an uninterrupted supply of exquisite food, but there would also be various activities such as appraisal, auction, exchange, and discussions of the Dao.
There would even be special venues for antiques, gemstone gambling, and the like, far beyond a mere "mystic gathering."
But then again, as the organizers had rented such a large space, how could they just end with a simple party?
In the short time since Zhang Xiaoman arrived, he had already seen seven or eight different "Cultivation sects," each one more bizarre than the last, his own attire carrying a shabby sword seemed utterly inconspicuous in comparison.
The shabby sword, of course, was none other than the Purple Cloud Divine Sword.
This weapon, having been transformed into a Divine Artifact, still maintained its cheap appearance due to the Sealed status, but Zhang Xiaoman didn’t underestimate it.
He had tried at home and found that even though the sword couldn’t exert its high Strength due to the Sealing, its durability remained undiminished—no amount of hacking could cause any damage to it.
If it was just about endurance, the Mountain and River Sword probably couldn’t even hold a candle to it.
Therefore, when it was inconvenient to carry the Mountain and River Sword, he would carry the Purple Cloud Divine Sword with him.