“Tch. If you wanted the goods, you should’ve just said so. Why beat around the bush with all that nonsense? You scared the hell out of me.”

The attendant, initially flustered, sneered with disdain upon hearing Lu Changfeng’s request. He quickly reached into his robes and pulled out a stack of Shadow Retaining Talismans.

“These are the latest arrivals. High-definition, uncensored, and incredibly lifelike. Best of all, they can be replayed for repeated appreciation. Two hundred low-grade spirit stones a pop. How many do you want?”

“Let me see one!”

As soon as the attendant finished speaking, Lu Changfeng snatched one from the stack, eager to inject a wisp of his spiritual sense into it.

The next moment, his body stiffened. His mouth fell open, and his eyeballs nearly bulged out of their sockets.

Could it be… actually real?

Seeing this reaction, Qi Yuan grew curious. He took a talisman from the attendant’s hand to examine it himself.

Instantly, the image of a female cultivator in a revealing pink dress appeared in his mind, striking a series of alluring, coquettish poses.

While the woman’s features bore a subtle passing resemblance to the true Holy Maiden of the Exquisite Sanctuary, her temperament was worlds apart. It was obvious at a glance that she was using some sort of disguise technique to pass off a fish eye for a pearl.

The quality was crude, and the acting was forced and artificial. Even though Qi Yuan had never met the Holy Maiden, he could tell the person inside was an imposter—this was pure roleplay.

The seller had clearly seized upon men’s desire for thrill-seeking, deliberately cloaking the “actress” in a halo of noble, ethereal prestige as a gimmick to hook buyers.

And afterward? Even if a buyer realized they’d been duped, they wouldn’t dare make a scene. It wasn’t as if they could go to the Exquisite Sanctuary and report, “I got scammed buying your Holy Maiden’s porn!”

“This is garbage,” Qi Yuan said, snapping back to reality.

He was just about to expose the scam on the spot when he saw Lu Changfeng frantically pull a massive bag of spirit stones from his storage bracelet and shove it into the seller’s hands.

“I’ll take the lot! Also, leave me a contact method. In the future, I’ll come pick up the new stock myself.”

“No problem at all! I’ll give you an address. You can come directly to me next time. I offer discounts for bulk purchases.”

clutching the spirit stones, the seller beamed with joy. He whispered a few words into Lu Changfeng’s ear, then turned and left, practically skipping away in delight.

Once the seller was gone, Qi Yuan looked at Lu Changfeng with confusion. “Aren’t those Shadow Retaining Talismans all fakes? Why did you buy so many?”

Lu Changfeng snorted coldly. “Of course I know they’re fake. But someone is openly tarnishing Fairy Xiao’s reputation like this. How can I sit idly by?”

“By pretending to be a whale client, I made them lower their guard to extract the location of their production den. Later, I’ll go report this to Elder Pang of the Exquisite Sanctuary so we can round up this gang of swindlers in one fell swoop.”

Qi Yuan listened, feigning sudden realization, his tone full of approval.

“Not bad. I didn’t expect you to be so thoughtful.”

He pointed at the thick stack of talismans in Lu Changfeng’s hand. “So, how should we handle these? Want me to help you destroy them?”

Before Qi Yuan could finish his sentence, Lu Changfeng swiped the talismans into his robes with lightning speed, putting on a solemn face.

“These are irrefutable evidence of the crime. I haven’t had time to… critically analyze each one yet. Naturally, they must be preserved with care…”

You were practically drooling when you looked at the preview earlier. Did that look like a ‘critical analysis’?

I’m almost embarrassed to call you out on it!

Qi Yuan curled his lip, too lazy to bother with this hypocrite any further. He poured himself a cup of spirit tea and began sipping it leisurely.

A short while later, a green-robed male cultivator with an exceptionally ugly face descended from the floor above. It was precisely the Holy Scion of the Celestial Zenith Sanctuary, Piao Genshuo, whom they had been waiting for.

Seeing Qi Yuan and Lu Changfeng, Piao Genshuo’s eyes lit up. He walked over with a hearty laugh.

“Sorry for the wait! I was just downstairs discussing the Dao over tea with Fairy Murong of the Joyous Union Sect. I got a little too excited and lost track of time. I hope you brothers don’t mind.”

Qi Yuan didn’t waste words. With a casual wave, he deployed a sound-isolation barrier to block out the surrounding noise, then got straight to the point.

“Senior Brother Piao, you mentioned that you’re well-versed in the internal affairs of the Exquisite Sanctuary. I happen to have some questions I’d like to ask.”

Hearing this, Piao Genshuo immediately puffed up his chest with pride.

“That’s right! My family’s old grand-aunt and the Exquisite Sanctuary’s Sect Master have been best friends for thousands of years. Their relationship is so close they practically share the same skirt.”

“The world says the Exquisite Sanctuary is a forbidden zone for men—that even a fly passing through has to be checked for its gender. But when I was a kid? Going into the Exquisite Sanctuary was like going to a playground. The beauties inside were incredibly warm and proactive whenever they saw me.”

Lu Changfeng listened with deep respect, his face filled with envy. “I never imagined Brother Piao had such connections. I’ve truly been disrespectful before. If you could take me into the Exquisite Sanctuary to meet Fairy Xiao, this brother would be eternally grateful.”

“I said that was when I was little.” Piao Genshuo shook his head awkwardly, his tone turning melancholy. “I don’t know why, but after I grew up, those women suddenly changed their attitudes completely. They listed me as one of the least welcome males.”

“Now, unless I receive a specific invitation, I’m forbidden from setting foot even half a step into the Exquisite Sanctuary.”

As he spoke, he let out a despondent sigh.

“Sigh… Is it because I’m not as cute as I used to be?”

Seeing Piao Genshuo’s utterly bewildered expression, Qi Yuan couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

Do you have absolutely no self-awareness? Women are visual creatures. With a face like that, constantly trying to force your way into a pile of women at the Exquisite Sanctuary… aren’t you just deliberately grossing them out?

The only reason you haven’t been hacked to pieces yet is thanks to your old grand-aunt’s massive influence…

Remembering he still needed to inquire about the Primordial Divine Beast, Qi Yuan took a deep breath, forcing himself to stay calm.

“Senior Brother Piao, are there any particularly powerful demonic beasts within the Exquisite Sanctuary?”

“Demonic beasts?”

Piao Genshuo blinked, then thought for a moment. “Those women do like keeping spiritual pets, but they’re all small, good-looking ones—ornamental types like Golden Spirit Hounds, Snowflake Lynxes, or Purple Jade Martens. Nothing you could call ‘powerful’.”

Qi Yuan frowned, pressing further. “I mean, does the Exquisite Sanctuary have any demonic beasts with profound cultivation? Say… at the Great Ascension realm?”

“Impossible.” Piao Genshuo shook his head with absolute certainty. “The Exquisite Sanctuary isn’t known for beast taming. Great Ascension level demonic beasts possess earth-shattering abilities and extraordinary innate gifts. Even three or four Great Ascension cultivators working together would struggle to subdue one.”

“Great Ascension demonic beasts are incredibly rare in the cultivation world. Each one is famous and documented. If the Exquisite Sanctuary really had one, it would have caused a sensation across the world long ago. It couldn’t possibly be kept a secret.”

Hearing this, Qi Yuan fell silent.

Although his compass had reacted, locating that Primordial Divine Beast was clearly not going to be simple.

Ultimately, the Exquisite Sanctuary was not a faction one could offend lightly. Any investigation had to be conducted with extreme caution to avoid bringing trouble upon himself.

His only hope now was that the divine beast was lurking within the Exquisite Sanctuary in secret, its identity not yet exposed. Otherwise, his plan to use the Command Seal to subdue a Primordial Divine Beast would likely be doomed…

Pulling his thoughts back to the present, he asked casually, “Brother Piao, over the years, have any strange incidents occurred within the Exquisite Sanctuary?”