Xu Mo tossed the matter of Yin Chen to the back of his mind as he marched out of the Sect Master's Hall. He had more pressing concerns to deal with—like breaking off his engagement.

Raising the token again, he glanced at the word etched into it—"Shu." Perhaps the girl he was engaged to had a name starting with that character. It didn't really matter.

Whether she was a top-tier beauty or not meant little to him. He only knew one thing—women were trouble. If he were the protagonist of some legendary tale, perhaps he would've been interested—maybe even courageous enough to pursue someone of that caliber. But now, he didn't even dare to step foot outside the sect casually.

Tch—

"Senior, is everything all right? You look a little... disturbed," Li Xueya's voice came out of nowhere. This girl had a strange ability to suddenly appear at the most unexpected moments. Her talent was terrifying too. She was already at the peak of the Qi Condensation Stage. At this rate, she would surpass Xu Mo in no time.

"I'm thinking about something," Xu Mo said, waving his hand dismissively as he continued walking.

Li Xueya didn't follow him. She wasn't some bubbly junior sister who liked to pester her seniors. No, she was a cold, calculating ice block. Sometimes Xu Mo found himself envious of his sect brothers. Their juniors fawned over them. They laughed, joked, and even trained together.

And him?

He was stuck with her.

He couldn't even joke with her—she never smiled. The only time her lips curled was when she was up to no good.

"Do I really have no option but to do what the Sect Master said?" he mused aloud. He wished someone like Jin Meiyu, Mei Xueyin, or even Xue Lingxi were here. A terrifying thought, to be sure—two years ago, he wouldn't even have dared to think it. But after a year of complicated events, the relationship between him and those women had mellowed.

At the very least, he had managed to recover some of his shattered image in their eyes. Even Mei Xueyin, after discovering it was actually Long Chen and not him who had caused her transformation into a Half-Dragon Lord Bloodline during that Secret Realm incident, had stopped treating him with disdain.

How did Xu Mo know?

The system told him.

Still, he was fairly certain the person he was engaged to probably wanted out of it just as much as he did. Maybe he should simply sit back and wait for her to come break it off. When she did, he could pretend to be heartbroken, ask for a bit of compensation, and let her go. That way, both of them would be free.

These types of scenarios were pretty popular in certain novels these days. He didn't know who the authors were or where they came from, but they were oddly entertaining. And in those stories, breaking off an engagement was practically a pre-requisite to becoming an all-powerful protagonist.

He chuckled to himself, shaking his head.

He'd let his imagination run too wild again.

Forget the engagement for now. Let nature take its course.

What he needed to do now was find out just how badly his reputation had deteriorated—without him even realizing it.

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Dreamcloud Pavilion? Should I go there? The idea popped into his head but was immediately dismissed. My reputation is already in ruins because of rumors. If I get recognized in that kind of place... it'll become reality overnight.

With that thought, Xu Mo left the sect. He needed to find the second-best place to confirm the rumors—and perhaps even start fixing them.

He stepped behind a tree, and in less than a nanosecond, emerged again—his appearance unchanged, but his clothing different. He now wore plain robes, slightly dusty, with smudges on his cheeks to make him look like a wandering cultivator or even a common villager.

Random Inn.

Xu Mo figured an inn would be the best place to gather information about himself. He found one at random and took a seat in the corner.

The inn seemed unusually crowded tonight—some kind of event must be going on. He didn't even dare raise his head. The women here wore outfits far more revealing than anything he had ever seen. In the sect, female disciples dressed modestly, their attire covering them from head to toe, revealing only their hair, hands, and face.

But here?

He couldn't even bring himself to describe it.

The lighting was strange, flickering and warm, and the air carried an odd, flowery fragrance that made his nose itch. He had always been sensitive to strong scents. Around him, male guests shamelessly groped and flirted with the women.

Xu Mo noticed that the women varied in age—from young to middle-aged to even elderly.

"Young Master, what can I bring you today?" a young woman asked at the table next to him. She was clearly a waitress, though she didn't look like any he had seen before.

Thanks to Xu Mo's appearance, no one paid him any attention. Most of the others wore expensive, flamboyant robes. Despite his humble look, even his current attire could deflect the attacks of Qi Condensation cultivators. That was the irony.

"I'll have—" the man beside him began. He looked like a decent person at first glance. But then, without warning, he pulled the waitress onto his lap.

"You!"

"Young Master... please let me go... Ah~"

Xu Mo instinctively prepared to intervene, seeing her struggle. But he paused. Things weren't always as they appeared.

He was right.

Soon, the woman began cooperating with the man willingly.

Am I in the wrong place? Xu Mo thought, his expression unreadable.

He'd been asking himself that same question since he walked in. Still, he felt awkward just getting up and walking out. What would others think? Would they laugh at me?

Somewhere along the line, he had grown too comfortable in the sect, and his mentality had softened.

"Um... Young Sir... Would you... like to order something?"

"Huh?!" Xu Mo looked up in surprise, not expecting anyone to speak to him.

"Can I ask you something, sister?"

It slipped out naturally—he had grown used to addressing women as "sister."

The waitress blinked in astonishment. "Sister?!"

She had worked here for five years. In all that time, no one—not even the wives, mothers, or sisters of the customers—had ever called her something so... pure.

She was used to being referred to with vulgar words.

"Yes, sister. Can you please tell me—this is an inn, right?" Xu Mo asked, still taking in the chaotic atmosphere around him, which screamed otherwise.

"Yes, Young Sir. This is the Dream Inn," she said, more at ease now. Her revealing outfit did nothing to faze her. She had grown used to the stares. But Xu Mo's eyes, though not pure, held a kind of respectful restraint. He lowered his gaze when speaking. That alone earned her respect—not affection, just a fleeting, quiet recognition.

She was far too deep in this world to feel anything anymore.

"I haven't gone out in two years... since when did inns become like this?"

"Oh!" she chuckled. "I get it now. You've come to the wrong 'inn,' sir. This is the Dream Inn, under the authority of Dreamcloud Pavilion."

"Ah?! That explains it. Here I was thinking I stepped into another dimension," Xu Mo said, half-joking as he stood to leave. He was already looking for a more ordinary inn.

"Wait, sir! You look like you've come from far away. Would you like something to drink? Also, there's a special music performance starting soon. Why don't you stay a little longer and watch it?"

She looked him up and down, then added quickly, "It's free. Watching the performance is completely free."

"Sister, I'll have some water. But I'm not really interested in... this sort of thing. I'm an engaged man," Xu Mo said seriously.

He tried to be as respectful as possible. He saw all professions equally. These girls, too, must've had stories—pasts full of pain. Some may have entered willingly, but even they would eventually yearn for a quieter, simpler life... only to realize it was too late to turn back.

She didn't respond to that, but her eyes lingered on him a moment longer.

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