April 15, 2018

After sending off the maids who had come specifically to celebrate Shen Qingming’s birthday, it was already evening.

Although according to Li Wanqing’s arrangements, this private birthday party was best to last through the night, as the truly exciting and thrilling parts were set for the latter half of the night.

But Shen Qingming, after all, had read books, and she knew very well what kind of turbulence and waves a woman might experience when spending a night with someone of a carnivorous nature in times of disappointment. Such things have been described extensively in books like "Nine-Colored Deer," leaving a deep impression on Shen Qingming, unable to sleep. Now, although Shen Qingming was disappointed, she had not lost her footing; she wasn’t ready to shed her skin and transform just yet.

So by evening, Shen Qingming tactfully expressed her desire to leave. Li Wanqing, being no less than a grandmaster in this field who had seen it all, did not forcefully keep her but rather ended the party promptly, dismissing the maids, which made Shen Qingming feel a bit embarrassed.

Afterward, Li Wanqing presented Qingming with her birthday gift: an exquisite azure necklace. The gemstone on the necklace was crafted from high-quality sword stone, which had a magical effect in assisting the circulation of sword Qi, and the tier was designed exactly for cultivators in the Cloud Surge Realm.

Receiving the gift, Shen Qingming felt a warmth in her heart.

Though she always felt uneasy about the occasional carnivorous aura from Sister Wanqing, apart from that, Li Wanqing was indeed like a gentle spring breeze, making one feel utterly comfortable.

Just over a month ago, Shen Qingming had broken through to the Cloud Surge Realm, relying on that explosive advance in the Immovable Tyrant Body tier, and then taking the opportunity for body tempering, her long-accumulated True Essence had also undergone a qualitative change, the whistling Spirit Wind within transformed into patches of gleaming Spiritual Clouds, formally stepping into the threshold of the Cloud Surge Realm.

For the daughter of the Cyan Cloud Li Family’s patriarch, cultivation in the Cloud Surge Realm was insignificant, but for Shen Qingming, reaching the Cloud Surge Realm at fifteen was something she dared not even dream of, so now her dream had come true, she actually really wanted to celebrate with someone, but hadn’t found the opportunity.

Instead, Li Wanqing carefully noticed this.

So, when Shen Qingming wore the necklace and felt the rich power in the sword stone, she even had an impulse to walk up and give Li Wanqing a kiss.

Fortunately, out of biological survival instinct, Shen Qingming managed to suppress this irrational impulse and waved goodbye to Li Wanqing.

Leaving the Divine Sword Tower, Shen Qingming looked at the newly illuminated Shen City outside the tower, her mind filled with only one figure, wondering where he might be at this moment.

Was he still in Shen City? Or had he already embarked on his journey to Golden Jade City? It couldn’t be that urgent, right? Even going to Golden Jade City, wouldn’t he notify his number one ride?

As she thought and thought, the girl’s heart began to feel uneasy again.

"Ah Jiu... are you there?" Silently, Shen Qingming called out the name of Wang Jiu in her heart, but before she could receive any response, she heard a sudden bustle of voices nearby.

The noise came both boisterous and abruptly, instantly interrupting the girl’s contemplation, making her feel a twinge of annoyance, but the next moment, the chaotic voices reached her ears, arousing her curiosity.

"Press conference, there’s a press conference!"

"Quick, quick, quick, right at the inner city gate, an earth-shattering event!"

"Hurry, call old Zhang and the others, if we miss this, we’ll regret it for a lifetime!"

"Old Li, old Li! Stop sleeping and let’s go to the inner city gate to see the big news!"

"A press conference hosted by Lord City Lord himself! I’ve lived in Shen City for over thirty years; such a thing is unprecedented!"

Shen Qingming was astonished: A press conference hosted by Lord City Lord?

Was it referring to Shen Yueying? It was indeed about time; after a month of hard efforts, the work of rebuilding the diplomatic ties between Shen City and QingCyan Cloud City was finally completed, the main agreements fully signed, and the first batch of cooperation projects officially started. If it weren’t for Lu Xin avoiding the official duties in QingCyan Cloud City, their party should have long departed for QingCyan Cloud City.

However, such things couldn’t be delayed forever; Lu Xin’s ostrich tactics would eventually come to an end. Could it be that Shen Yueying finally didn’t want to use the public funds of Shen City to support Lu Xin, deciding to hold a press conference ahead of schedule to announce the results?

Shen Qingming felt both amused and exasperated, thinking the people of Shen City were too stingy; with Lu Xin’s small physique, how much food could he possibly consume from them? He worked overtime for them recently, yet didn’t ask for much spirit stone overtime pay, and now they were intending to throw away the overtime champion just to save some food, utterly inhumane!

Thinking this, Shen Qingming followed the crowd towards the inner city to see what this unexpected press conference was up to.

However, she hadn’t walked far before finding it hard to move, as if half the city’s inhabitants had stepped out and gathered towards the inner city, the originally spacious streets of Shen City blocked completely by dense crowds, Shen Qingming hopped around, looking all around, only to spot at least a thousand people gathered just on this main street beside her. Elsewhere, the scene was similar, hence rough estimation suggested there were likely over ten thousand people on the city streets.

Such a terrifying crowd could easily cause hundreds to thousands of stampede casualties with any slight mishap, but Shen City folk had a unique order, maintaining crowded yet non-chaotic organization; order was order, but city space was limited, and soon the crowd couldn’t move forward any further, coming to a complete standstill, Shen Qingming caught amidst it, felt impatience after a while, so she simply used her advantage in stature to nimbly weave through the gaps between people like a fish.

Actually, as a cultivator in the Cloud Surge Realm, Shen Qingming theoretically already had the foundation for flight, but after recently breaking through the realm, she hadn’t had time to learn the Immortal Techniques she should master in the Cloud Surge Realm, hence despite possessing pure True Essence, she couldn’t utilize it fully, so she endured the discomfort in her heart, bowing down to scuttle among the crowd.

Moments later, Shen Qingming finally squeezed and ducked through, arriving in front of the inner city gate.

In front of the inner city gate, tens of thousands of people had already gathered, filling every inch of space to the brim, and in the sky, hundreds of sword-controlling flying immortals looked expectantly at the gate.

The more Shen Qingming watched, the more suspicious he became. Was it really necessary to make such a big scene? The re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Shen City and Qingyun City had been a topic of city-wide discussion for months. Now this press conference to announce it was merely a formality. What was there to fuss over?

However, just as he was pondering, he heard someone beside him say, "I didn’t expect Lord City Lord to come out of seclusion so quickly. I’d heard he intended to enter a death seclusion. I thought he was going to retire forever to the shadows."

"Haha, Lord City Lord has been unparalleled his whole life. What could a death seclusion possibly do to trap him? No matter how difficult the challenge, he breaks through with ease. That’s the undefeated Shen Ruoshi who’s dominated the Southeast for a century!"

Suddenly, Shen Qingming understood. It turned out that when people spoke of the Lord City Lord, they didn’t mean the new City Lord Shen Yueying, but Shen Ruoshi.

Indeed, over the past decades, Shen Ruoshi’s prestige in Shen City had been so high that the name "City Lord" immediately called him to mind for everyone. Although Shen Yueying had served as Deputy City Lord for nearly twenty years, her reputation was far less compared to her predecessor.

But now the main issue was... what was Shen Ruoshi suddenly calling this press conference to announce?

With a bit of curiosity, Shen Qingming stood earnestly at the front row of the crowd.

Before long, the massive gates of the inner city rumbled open. From within, the white-haired, black-clad Shen Ruoshi gracefully floated out, standing ten zhang high in the air, looking down at the masses gathered in the square.

The entire square fell silent, tens of thousands of people looked ahead without blinking, waiting for Shen Ruoshi to announce today’s important matter.

The scene was so extraordinary, it defied belief.

However, to the people of Shen City, this was merely the basic courtesy due to their revered City Lord Shen Ruoshi.

The silence did not last long. Shen Ruoshi pondered briefly before speaking, "Today, I have gathered you here in my capacity as the former City Lord to make an announcement."

Facing the tens of thousands of audience members holding their breath, Shen Ruoshi spoke slowly.

"I am Three Lives Stone."

"Yes, I am the romantic novelist Three Lives Stone whose works are bestsellers in the continent, my other identity besides the City Lord of Shen City."

"Writing romance novels is my personal hobby and also a strong mental need that arose after the Heart Demon entered my body. For certain regrettable events in reality that I can’t reverse, despite my great powers, I can only find solace in the literary world."

"The identity of a romance novelist is vastly different from my usual image, and I find it difficult to take pride in, so I’ve been reluctant to reveal it. Until recently, due to force majeure, my writing was interrupted. Some publishers in Shen City attempted to take this chance to plagiarize my pen name by publishing shoddy works. I didn’t want my years-developed pen name to be misused, but neither did I want to publicize the matter, so I had my subordinates destroy the Original Jade Plate, which led to the widely-discussed Fire Dragon Burner incident. Unfortunately, my subordinates were careless and left traces, leading me to make those who might expose the matter disappear one by one... this is what they call ’God’s Disappearance.’"

"That is everything I wanted to reveal to you all today."

After Shen Ruoshi finished speaking, he glanced at the tens of thousands of stunned Shen City residents whose worldviews were shattered. After a slight hesitation, he added, "Moreover, I want to clarify that whether it’s engaging in romance writing, the Fire Dragon Burner, or the God’s Disappearance incident, these were actions I took for personal reasons. They had nothing to do with anyone else or any other force. It definitely is not some conspiracy by an outside enemy. In the end, I am not a perfect City Lord, not even a competent one..."

However, before Shen Ruoshi could finish his self-reflection, he heard a Shen City soldier angrily shout, "I knew it! This is all a plot by outside enemy forces!"

Shen Ruoshi was momentarily stunned and glanced at the soldier who dared to interrupt. Just as he was about to speak, he was drowned out by a wave of voices from all around.

"Indeed, there must be a conspiracy!"

"Lord City Lord must have had his reasons! He must have sullied his own name for the greater good!"

"Forever support the City Lord!"

"Down with the outside enemy forces!"

"I bet this is the conspiracy of Golden Jade City!"

"Down with Golden Jade City!"

"Capture Zhao Chenlu alive!"