353: Chapter 353 The mortal world stirs up dust, a half-drop of leftover tea severs the path to immortality

"Why must you spill the tea that I finally managed to taste properly?"

"And ruin it?"

This sentence was extremely flat.

Extremely casual.

It even carried a tone of complaint, much like an older neighbor in the mundane world.

In this extremely noisy, chaotic, low-end teahouse, it drifted out with extreme abruptness.

The voice was not loud.

It contained no terrifying tremors of Immortal power.

Nor did it contain any profound words of the Dao.

It was like an insignificant sigh amidst the drizzling spring rain.

But.

Just this extremely ordinary sentence.

Caused this teahouse, which had been in an uproar, filled with the screams of Mortals and the sound of shattering tables and chairs,

within a ten-thousandth of an instant,

to fall into an extremely bizarre, deathly silence!

The Iron Blood Sect Disciple who was about to swing his sword at the grey-clad youth

froze his movements stiffly in mid-air.

The extremely arrogant, hawk-nosed youth with a vicious gaze

also turned his head abruptly.

His extremely sinister gaze, like a viper, locked onto the position in the furthest corner of the teahouse.

The fat shopkeeper hiding behind the counter.

The storyteller cowering under a table.

And all the trembling Mortal tea drinkers in the hall.

All, with extreme disbelief and extreme terror,

converged their gazes upon the Youth in Green Robe.

He was mad.

This destitute scholar, who looked incapable of even tying a chicken and had not a shred of True Qi fluctuation on his body,

was absolutely mad!

In the Qingping Realm, at the foot of the Yunlan Mountain Range.

Who did not know the fierce reputation of the Iron Blood Sect?

To these Mortals, these three Outer Sect Disciples at the Qi Refinement Stage were high and mighty living immortals!

They were terrifying beings who held the power of life and death, capable of slaughtering an entire family over a single disagreement!

Everyone who saw them wished they could kowtow their heads into the dirt.

Yet this poor scholar.

Facing these three baleful stars.

Not only did he not kneel and beg for mercy.

Not only did he not tremble with fear.

Instead.

He complained, with extreme recklessness, asking why they had spilled his tea?

This was simply like an old man eating arsenic—he was tired of living!

"Gulp."

In the corner.

The grey-clad youth, who was in a wretched state, covered in mud and water, having knocked over the tea table,

struggled to swallow a mouthful of bloody saliva.

He looked in extreme shock at Zhou Wannian, who was sitting on the bench without having changed his posture in the slightest.

A flash of intense guilt crossed the youth's extremely clear, yet despair-filled eyes.

"Big... Big Brother..."

"I... I'm sorry..."

"I... I didn't mean to..."

The youth struggled weakly, wanting to crawl up from Zhou Wannian's feet.

He clutched the extremely tattered oilcloth bag in his arms tightly.

Using an extremely anxious and shrill voice, he shouted at Zhou Wannian.

"Big Brother! Run!"

"They are bad people from the Iron Blood Sect!"

"They kill without blinking! You must go! Don't worry about me!"

The youth knew he would definitely not escape today.

But he did not want to implicate an innocent Mortal because of his own recklessness.

He desperately tried to use his extremely thin body to shield Zhou Wannian.

However.

Facing the youth's desperate warning.

Zhou Wannian.

Remained sitting steadily on that extremely rickety bench.

On his handsome and easygoing face.

There was no trace of panic.

Nor any fear.

He just, in an extremely ordinary manner,

lowered his head slightly.

His eyes, deep as an ancient well, looked extremely calmly at the blood-covered youth.

A faint, extremely easygoing and relaxed smile curled at the corners of Zhou Wannian's mouth.

Zhou Wannian's tone was steady, as if he were soothing an extremely mischievous neighbor's child.

He spoke lightly.

"Why run?"

"It's still raining outside."

"I, for one, hate getting my shoes dirty in mud puddles."

He, extremely casually,

stretched out his long, fair right hand.

Extremely gently.

He patted the youth's mud-covered head.

"Little one, sit down and rest for a while."

"You knocked over my tea."

"I will naturally settle this score with those people who kicked the table."

This extremely casual remark, filled with a sense of protecting his own,

left the extremely thin grey-clad youth completely stunned.

He could not understand at all.

Where did this Big Brother get his confidence from?

Could he not see that the three fellows in blood-colored robes opposite were high and mighty Cultivators?

Meanwhile.

In the center of the teahouse hall.

The extremely arrogant, hawk-nosed youth.

Upon hearing Zhou Wannian's words.

He was stunned for an extremely brief moment.

Afterward.

On his extremely sinister face.

A look of extreme cruelty and extreme arrogance emerged, followed by a hideous laugh!

"Hahaha..."

"Hahahaha!"

His laughter was extremely piercing, like the cry of a night owl.

In this extremely quiet teahouse, it appeared extremely abrupt and terrifying.

The two Late Stage Qi Refinement Disciples beside him also laughed extremely brazenly.

"What did I hear?"

"A Mortal piece of trash who doesn't even have a Spiritual Root."

"Daring to question us?"

"And wants to settle scores with us?"

The hawk-nosed youth shook his head extremely arrogantly.

With an extremely contemptuous gaze, as if looking at an extremely laughable stink bug.

He stared fixedly at Zhou Wannian.

His voice was extremely cold, carrying an extremely bloodthirsty killing intent.

"Kid."

"I don't know if you are truly stupid or just playing the fool."

"But in front of me, Zhao Li,"

"You don't even have the qualifications to be a dog."

He raised his right hand extremely slowly.

Pointing at that extremely remote corner.

Towards the Disciple beside him who was holding a Magical Artifact sword.

He gave an order, extremely casually and with extreme nonchalance.

"Go."

"Since this kid is so heartbroken over his cup of lousy tea."

"Then cut out his tongue and soak it in the teapot."

"Let him drink his fill."

"Then, chop off his hands and feet, and throw him onto the rainy street outside to feed the wild dogs."

This extremely cruel, extremely bloody order.

Coming from the hawk-nosed youth's mouth, it was as commonplace as ordering what to eat for lunch.

For these low-level Iron Blood Sect Disciples.

Slaughtering Mortals.

Was simply routine, a way to Cultivate evil techniques and vent their hostility.

"Hehehe..."

"Senior Brother, rest assured."

"I guarantee to make this kid wish for death but be unable to die."

The Disciple holding the Magical Artifact sword.

Let out an extremely sinister sneer.

He, extremely arrogantly,

strode forward.

Stepping over those shattered porcelain pieces and collapsed tables and chairs.

He walked with extreme barbarity toward the corner where Zhou Wannian was.

The Magical Artifact sword in his hand.

Although it was only a lowest-grade Low Grade Magical Artifact.

But urged by True Qi.

It still emitted an extremely pungent smell of blood, and the blade even faintly glimmered with an extremely eerie red light.

"Kid."

"In your next life, remember to keep your eyes open."

"Not everyone is someone you can just talk to."

The Disciple walked to the tea table extremely arrogantly.

He, in an extremely condescending manner,

Looked down at the Youth in Green Robe who was still sitting on the bench without even moving.

The Magical Artifact sword in his hand.

Extremely viciously.

He slashed down fiercely at Zhou Wannian's face!

This sword strike.

Had no Move to speak of.

It relied entirely on the Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator's Physical Body strength and True Qi enhancement, which far exceeded that of a Mortal.

An extremely simple and brutal slash.

The sword wind whistled.

Even tearing the surrounding air with an extremely piercing sound.

If struck by this sword.

Let alone a Mortal's flesh and blood body.

Even a hard bluestone slab would be split in two instantly!

In the corner.

The grey-clad youth closed his eyes in extreme despair, letting out an extremely shrill scream.

"Don't!"

The Mortals hiding under the tables in the hall also covered their eyes in extreme terror.

Not daring to look at the extremely bloody, extremely cruel scene that was to follow.

However.

An incredible scene of absolute dimensional crushing.

In this extremely simple, mundane teahouse.

Was staged with extreme silence and shock!

Facing this terrifying sword strike, which to a Mortal looked like the Grim Reaper swinging his scythe.

Facing the bloody sword blade that had already slashed to within three inches of his face.

Zhou Wannian.

Remained sitting steadily on that extremely rickety bench.

His washed-out green robe, in this extremely weak sword wind.

Did not even develop a single tiny wrinkle.

He did not even cast an extra glance with his eyes, which were deep as an ancient well, at the slashing Magical Artifact sword.

He just, in an extremely ordinary manner,

Extremely casually.

Stretched out that extremely long, fair right hand.

Between two fingers of this right hand.

He was holding something, extremely quietly.

It was not some peerless Immortal sword.

Not some defensive Magic Treasure.

It was merely, just now, when the grey-clad youth knocked it onto the table.

That extremely rough, extremely cheap, and even noticeably chipped.

Coarse porcelain teacup's...

An extremely tiny piece of porcelain.

On Zhou Wannian's handsome and easygoing face.

That extremely relaxed smile became extremely cold.

Zhou Wannian's tone was steady, carrying an extremely natural, absolute condescension.

He spoke lightly.

"I said."

"You spilled my tea."

He, extremely casually,

Holding that extremely tiny piece of coarse porcelain.

Facing the Magical Artifact sword that was slashing down with True Qi.

Calmly and plainly.

Extremely casually.

He gently met it upwards!

"Ding—"

An extremely crisp sound.

Extremely faint.

An extremely bizarre collision sound, almost inaudible amidst the rain.

Resounded abruptly in this extremely quiet corner.

The next instant.

A scene of extreme despair, enough to shatter the worldview and destroy the Dao Heart of every Cultivator in the Qingping Realm.

Erupted in extreme silence!

The Low Grade Magical Artifact sword, forged from refined iron by the Iron Blood Sect Cultivator, inscribed with a low-level bloodthirsty Formation, and touted as being able to cut through iron like mud.

In the ten-thousandth of an instant that it touched that extremely tiny piece of coarse porcelain!

There was no deafening collision.

Nor was there any stalemate of True Qi clashing.

It was like an extremely fragile, rotten blade of grass.

Extremely abruptly.

Extremely unreasonably.

It crashed into an ancient Divine Mountain that could never be shaken!

"Crack... crack... crack..."

Extremely dense, extremely crisp shattering sounds.

Exploded wildly in mid-air!

The Magical Artifact sword.

Starting from the very tip of the blade that made contact with the porcelain piece.

It presented an extremely desperate structural collapse!

The refined iron sword body disintegrated inch by inch.

The bloodthirsty Formation patterns collapsed instantly.

The extremely arrogant Iron Blood Sect Disciple.

Even the extremely triumphant, hideous smile was still frozen on his face.

He only felt.

A terrifying counter-shock force that he could not understand and absolutely could not resist.

Along the shattered sword.

Extremely barbarically.

Extremely dominantly.

It rushed directly into his extremely fragile Qi Refinement Stage Meridians!

This force was not True Qi.

It was the extremely tiny recoil of the "Immunity to All Laws" and "Absolute Mass" that the Great Perfection Five Elements Law had bestowed upon his Physical Body, even though Zhou Wannian had self-sealed his inner universe!

Just this extremely tiny bit of recoil.

For a Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator.

It was no different from an entire star crashing directly onto their head!

"Bang!"

An extremely dull, explosive sound, like a tattered sack being thrown onto the ground with extreme force.

Rang out cleanly in this teahouse.

The Iron Blood Sect Disciple's body.

Froze abruptly in mid-air.

Immediately after.

Under the gaze of everyone, filled with extreme terror and extreme confusion.

His body.

Starting from his right hand that held the sword.

It was like an extremely fragile sand sculpture encountering a level-twelve gale.

Extremely rapidly.

It turned into a large cloud of extremely fine, grey dust without any smell of blood!

This dust.

Drifted down.

Extremely quietly.

Landing on those collapsed tables and chairs, falling into the crevices of the bluestone floor.

No screams.

No struggle.

Not even a single drop of blood remained.

A living Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator.

Just by Zhou Wannian meeting him extremely casually with a piece of coarse porcelain.

Completely.

Extremely cleanly and efficiently.

Was erased of all physical form!

"This..."

"This... How is this possible?!"

In the center of the hall.

The extremely arrogant, hawk-nosed youth, Zhao Li.

And the remaining Disciple beside him.

At this moment, were completely stunned.

Their eyes, like vipers, were filled with extreme horror, incomprehensible confusion, and an extreme fear stemming from the depths of their Souls!

They stared fixedly at the Youth in Green Robe who was still sitting in the corner without having changed his posture in the slightest.

Their brains fell into an extremely terrifying state of system failure.

What happened?

What exactly happened just now?!

Why did Junior Brother's sword shatter?

Why did Junior Brother suddenly turn into a pile of ash?!

What on earth did this destitute scholar, who didn't even have a shred of Spiritual Qi fluctuation on his body, do?!

This had completely exceeded the extremely narrow cognitive limits of these low-level Cultivators.

The unknown is the most terrifying thing.

"You... what kind of evil magic did you use?!"

Zhao Li swallowed a mouthful of saliva with extreme difficulty.

His hand holding the Magical Artifact was now trembling uncontrollably.

Although he was arrogant, he was not a fool.

Means capable of killing invisibly and instantly shattering even a Magical Artifact.

This was definitely not something a Mortal could do!

The other party.

The other party was highly likely a high-level Senior who had hidden their cultivation!

A Foundation Establishment Stage power?!

Or even a legendary Core Formation stage old monster?!

Thinking of this.

Zhao Li only felt an extremely cold chill rush straight from his spine to his forehead.

He was extremely regretful.

Why did he have to show off his might in this lousy teahouse today!

In the corner.

The grey-clad youth.

Also opened his eyes in extreme disbelief.

He looked blankly at the pile of grey dust on the ground.

And then, with extreme dullness, he raised his head to look at Zhou Wannian, who was sitting on the bench with an extremely calm expression.

[part:gemini-3.0-flash]

In the youth's extremely clear eyes, there was extreme shock and an intense sense of disbelief.

This big brother...

Actually made that terrifying bad guy... disappear?!

Zhou Wannian still sat steadily on the bench.

He, very casually,

took the piece of coarse porcelain in his hand that had performed a great service,

gently,

and tossed it onto the already dilapidated tea table.

"Clink."

The coarse porcelain shard collided with the wooden table, letting out an extremely crisp, faint sound.

His faded Green Robe, in the slightly dark corner, exuded an indescribable, extremely transcendent sense of relaxation.

Zhou Wannian slightly raised his head.

His eyes, deep as an ancient well,

extremely calmly,

landed on the trembling Zhao Li and the other person in the center of the hall.

On that handsome and easygoing face,

a very leisurely and easygoing faint smile appeared.

Zhou Wannian's tone was steady, as natural as ordering from a teahouse waiter.

He spoke indifferently.

"Sorcery?"

"I am someone who has always been most reasonable."

"You overturned the table, spilled my tea, and even dirtied my clothes."

"I only collected a little bit of extremely insignificant interest."

He casually brushed off a tiny tea stain on the hem of his Green Robe.

Zhou Wannian's tone carried an extremely natural majesty.

Extremely lazily,

he continued.

"Now."

"It's your turn."

"Will you obediently turn into ash yourselves,"

"or do I have to personally use the shards on this table to give you a hand?"

These extremely flat and casual words,

in the now deathly silent teahouse hall,

were like a terrifying, life-demanding demonic sound!

Zhao Li and the remaining Disciple shuddered violently in fear.

"Senior, have mercy!"

"Senior, please spare our lives!"

The remaining Disciple's mental defenses completely collapsed.

He very decisively let his knees go weak.

With a "thud,"

he knelt heavily amidst the broken porcelain shards and muddy water.

He kowtowed desperately and forcefully toward Zhou Wannian; his forehead was instantly bloodied by the porcelain shards, yet he seemed not to feel the pain.

"This Junior failed to recognize your greatness and offended Senior!"

"I beg Senior to treat this Junior like a fart and let me go!"

"This Junior was also forced; it was all Senior Brother Zhao Li who brought us here!"

In the face of life and death, the pitiful camaraderie between fellow Disciples of Cultivators vanished instantly.

However,

the sinister Zhao Li

did not choose to kneel.

In his viper-like eyes, a flash of extreme madness and poisonous determination flickered!

He knew that high-level Seniors who could wipe out fellow Disciples with a wave of their hand often had extremely eccentric tempers; once they intended to kill, they would never let him go just because he begged for mercy!

Either way, it was death!

Might as well fight!

"I don't care what kind of expert Senior you are!"

"In the Qingping Realm, if you offend our Iron Blood Sect, no one in heaven or earth can save you!"

"Blood Fiend Demonic Shadow! Explode for me!"

Zhao Li let out an extremely shrill roar, like a cornered beast.

He, very decisively,

spat a mouthful of thick heart's essence blood violently onto the Medium Grade Magical Artifact saber in his hand!

At the same time,

he crazily burned his meager Qi Refinement Stage Origin!

Boom!

An extremely pungent and foul-smelling blood-colored mist

spread violently through the teahouse hall.

Zhao Li's figure instantly transformed into an eerie blood shadow within the mist.

He did not choose to attack Zhou Wannian.

Instead, extremely craftily

and extremely viciously,

he turned into a blood-colored lightning bolt toward the teahouse's worn-out window

and crashed toward it crazily!

He wanted to escape!

As long as he escaped back to the Iron Blood Sect's base and reported to the Elders that there was a hidden expert here,

with the strength of those several Foundation Establishment Stage Elders in the Sect, they would surely skin this damned poor scholar alive!

"Swish!"

The blood shadow's speed was extremely fast,

even leaving a lifelike afterimage in its place.

Seeing that

he was about to smash through the window and escape into the continuous spring rain,

the Disciple kneeling on the ground saw this, and a faint glimmer of hope appeared in his eyes.

In the corner,

the youth in gray clothes also clenched his fists nervously.

If this vicious bad guy escaped, the big brother who saved him would surely face terrifying retaliation!

However,

facing such a desperate Blood Escape technique from a low-level Cultivator,

Zhou Wannian, sitting on the bench,

on that handsome and easygoing face, that leisurely smile

not only did not change in the slightest,

but instead,

it revealed a hint of helpless disappointment.

Zhou Wannian's tone was steady, carrying an understated composure as if he had seen through endless specks of dust.

He spoke indifferently.

"Those who drink tea at my place without paying,"

"even if you escape to the ends of this Universe,"

"I can still very easily"

"take this annoying fly of yours"

"and swat it against the wall."

He didn't stand up,

nor did he reach out.

He just, very normally

and very casually,

toward the blood shadow that had already broken through the window paper, with half its body already out of the teahouse,

plainly,

and very lightly,

blew a tiny breath of tea mist.

"Hoo—"

This breath

was extremely weak,

it didn't even stir the dust on the dilapidated tea table in front of Zhou Wannian.

But,

in the ten-thousandth of a second that this tiny breath of tea mist left Zhou Wannian's lips!

An incredible scene of absolute dimensional erasure

in this extremely mundane Chunyu City

played out with a deathly silence and shocking impact!

The Great Perfection Five Elements Law bestowed upon this Physical Body the most instinctive absolute mass pressure.

Following that tiny breath of tea mist,

it transformed into an invisible yet irresistible wave of absolute destruction!

Extremely arrogantly,

it ignored the distance of space,

and directly and precisely

caught up with that crazily fleeing blood-colored afterimage!

"Bang!"

A dull sound, like a balloon being violently popped,

in the drizzling spring rain outside the teahouse window,

rang out briefly.

That arrogant Iron Blood Sect Disciple Zhao Li, who had burned his Origin to perform the Blood Escape technique,

his supposedly perfect escape plan,

the moment it touched that tiny breath of tea mist,

completely

and despairingly, was declared a failure!

That sturdy Qi Refinement Stage Physical Body,

that venomous Soul,

before this absolutely irresistible dimensional crushing,

could not even let out a tiny scream.

In mid-air,

in the continuous spring rain,

abruptly,

it turned into a cloud of fine gray dust without any bloody smell!

This cloud of dust

was ruthlessly washed away by the spring rain,

instantly,

cleanly

merging into the muddy water on the street.

Without a trace.

Completely erasing any tiny trace of his existence in this world.

An instant kill.

A true absolute instant kill where even moving a finger was superfluous.

In the teahouse hall,

it was deathly silent.

The last Iron Blood Sect Disciple kneeling on the ground with a bloodied forehead

witnessed Senior Brother Zhao Li strangely turning into ash in mid-air.

His fragile mental defense

at this moment, completely and utterly collapsed.

"Aaaaaah!"

He let out a shrill, crazed scream.

His pitiful Dantian Qi Sea actually became chaotic and reversed instantly due to extreme terror.

"Pfft!"

A large mouthful of bright red blood sprayed out.

This Qi Refinement Stage Cultivator

was actually literally scared to death, dying pathetically amidst the pile of broken porcelain shards!

In less than half the time it takes an incense stick to burn,

three arrogant Iron Blood Sect Disciples who had been lording over Chunyu City

in this ordinary teahouse,

before this poor scholar in his faded Green Robe,

cleanly and efficiently

were completely wiped out!

And

this youth hadn't even emitted a faint ripple of True Qi.

He had just casually used a porcelain shard

and casually blown a breath of tea mist.

In the teahouse hall,

the Mortal customers hiding under tables and in corners

were all trembling violently in fear.

The way they looked at Zhou Wannian was no longer just with awe, but with extreme, ultimate terror!

This is a living immortal!

No!

This is a peerless god of slaughter, countless times more terrifying than those evil Cultivators!

In the corner,

the frail youth in gray clothes

stared blankly at all this.

He swallowed hard with great difficulty.

In his clear eyes, there was an indescribable, ultimate shock.

This big brother...

Really... really defeated all those terrifying bad guys?

Zhou Wannian still sat steadily on that shaky bench.

On his handsome and easygoing face,

that leisurely faint smile reappeared,

as if killing three Cultivators just now was as insignificant as swatting three flies.

He, very casually,

brushed the sleeves of his Green Robe.

Slowly,

he turned his head.

His eyes, deep as an ancient well,

extremely calmly,

landed on the muddy youth in gray clothes who was tightly clutching a worn-out oilcloth bundle.

Zhou Wannian's tone was steady,

carrying a very easygoing and lazy sense of relaxation.

He spoke indifferently.

"The flies have been driven away."

"Now, it's quiet."

He casually pointed to the overturned coarse porcelain teapot on the table.

"Little fellow."

"You knocked over my tea."

"Shouldn't we settle this account properly?"

Hearing this, the youth nervously hugged the bundle in his arms.

Although he was extremely grateful for this big brother's life-saving grace,

he knew even better how much terrifying trouble the item in his arms would bring.

The youth bit his lip with great difficulty.

In a very weak yet firm voice, he said,

"Bi... Big brother..."

"Thank you for saving me..."

"I... I don't have money to pay for your tea..."

"But... but I have an extremely important treasure..."

Very cautiously and reluctantly, he slowly handed the worn-out oilcloth bundle to Zhou Wannian.

"Thi... This is what my father risked his life to find in the Yunlan Mountain Range..."

"The people from the Iron Blood Sect killed my whole family just to snatch this..."

"Big brother, you are a good person... and a very powerful immortal..."

"This treasure... I'm giving it to you..."

The youth finished miserably, tears of pain falling from the corners of his eyes.

Zhou Wannian's expression remained as calm as water.

He didn't take the oilcloth bundle.

His eyes, deep as an ancient well, very casually,

glanced indifferently at the muddy, worn-out package.

To him, a Creator True God who once used the Creation Immortal King as fertilizer and the Heavenly Abyss of Origin as a vegetable garden,

these "treasures" in the mouths of Mortals from a low-level, low-dimensional world,

even if it were the top-tier Extreme Dao Immortal Artifact of this world,

in Zhou Wannian's eyes, they were absolutely scrap metal, even worse than trash.

He didn't even have the slightest interest in investigating.

But,

just as Zhou Wannian's gaze casually swept over the oilcloth bundle for a ten-thousandth of a second,

deep within his deep, calm eyes,

extremely rarely,

a faint, incredible ripple flashed.

On that handsome and easygoing face,

that extremely relaxed smile froze slightly.

Because,

in this worn-out oilcloth bundle,

in this ordinary, low-level Mortal teahouse,

most incredibly,

he felt a faint trace, so faint that even the Heavenly Dao of the Taihao Immortal Realm couldn't detect it...

the aura of "Absolute Truth Code"!

This,

how is it possible?

He had clearly dismantled and formatted that Absolute Truth Realm into nothingness with his bare hands!

Even the Ultimate Calculation Source Core had been turned into an abacus by the Spirit of Origin in his inner universe.

Why?

In this remote, low-dimensional Small World where Spiritual Qi was extremely scarce,

in the arms of this weak Mortal youth,

actually

hidden within was a trace of the pure, underlying logical residue belonging to that high-dimensional tumor?!

On Zhou Wannian's handsome face,

instantly,

a brilliant, deep smile brimming with intense interest appeared.

Zhou Wannian's tone was steady,

carrying a sense of control and the expectation of finding a very interesting new toy.

He spoke indifferently and casually,

"A bit interesting."

"I thought this was just a boring stroll through the Mortal world."

"I didn't expect"

"that in this mud pit, there would be hidden an extremely chewy copper pea."

He, very normally,

reached out his slender, fair right hand

and casually placed it on the worn-out oilcloth bundle.

"This tea money."

"I'll accept it."