Chasing after her husband? Is it even possible to win him back?

Before the girl in white could speak, a deep, rumbling voice came from afar.

Two qian of silver will suffice.

Chu Xunfeng turned his head, and the burly man with the square face stared at the young man. "You... don't need to pay, it's free."

Chu Xunfeng smiled and touched the tip of his nose, feeling a little embarrassed.

Sure enough, they figured it out.

Chapter Six: The Unique Baidi City

No need to pay, it's free.

These words naturally drew the attention of the onlookers to Chu Xunfeng. Such preferential treatment suggested either that the burly man with the square face had misjudged him, or...

That handsome young man, what makes him so special?

"Brother Chu, go give it a try." Nian Shiyi, who had already been recruited by Baidi City, was no longer worried about himself. Instead, he encouraged Chu Xunfeng to step forward, "It's rare for Baidi City to actively recruit people."

"Alright." Chu Xunfeng nodded, casually took out some loose silver from his cloth bag and placed it on the table, then walked towards the burly man with the square face.

Nian Shiyi and the lively girl in white went there together.

As the three approached, the crowd slowly parted to make way.

Amidst the curious gazes of the onlookers, the young man walked up to the enormous Bagua plate in front of the burly man. "How do I do it?"

“Raise your hand and place it on the Tai Chi diagram,” the burly man said, his eyes fixed on the young man.

Chu Xunfeng did as instructed, raising his hand to press the hemispherical Taiji diagram on the Bagua plate. Chu Xunfeng felt a warm breath probing into his body from the bead, and inexplicably felt the discomfort of a foreign object entering his body.

Seeing the young man frown, the burly man spoke up, "Don't resist."

Chu Xunfeng suppressed the urge to cut off the aura.

The next second, the Tai Chi diagram covered by the young man's palm began to spin wildly, with blue light mixed with orange-red, converging into short beams of light that stung the eyes of those around.

In fact, the Zhen and Xun trigrams on the Bagua plate also lit up briefly with a faint light, but eventually went silent. Apart from Chu Xunfeng and the burly man who were staring intently at the Bagua plate, no one else saw it.

"Are you interested in joining White Emperor City?" The burly man slowly raised his eyes, staring into Chu Xunfeng's eyes, and asked in a deep, muffled voice.

After all, as far as he could see, the young man had been looking for a long time but had not come forward. He had been forced to come over by him, and the proper procedures still had to be followed.

But to be honest, he really didn't want to ask that question.

After all, asking means giving the other person the opportunity to refuse.

"Since you've come forward, there's no reason not to join, is there?" The young man smiled modestly. "May I ask your name, senior?"

"Wow, you pretty boy, that's so rude!" A slender hand slapped Chu Xunfeng on the back. "Now that you've joined, according to the rules of White Emperor City, you should acknowledge the person in front of you as your master. What kind of nonsense is it to call someone 'senior'?"

Chu Xunfeng turned around, looked at the girl in white, and simply smiled, "Then, you must be my senior sister?"

"No," the burly man replied in a deep voice, "You cannot become my disciple. I am not suitable to teach you."

The girl in white stared wide-eyed.

Nian Shiyi, who was standing to the side, was also stunned. She looked at Chu Xunfeng and then looked down at her own clothes.

Only Chu Xunfeng himself, like the onlookers around him, looked completely bewildered.

“There will be better teachers. Wait here for a while. They will be here soon.” The burly man seemed to be not good with words, but his eyes were sincere. Chu Xunfeng suppressed his doubts, nodded and stepped aside.

"Next." The burly man crossed his arms, his thoughts returning to his own affairs.

"Senior sister, what... what's going on?" It was inappropriate to ask the burly man directly, since there was someone else beside him who could answer his questions.

Chu Xunfeng looked at the girl in white who seemed to be questioning the meaning of life.

“You will probably be directly recruited into Baidi City.” The girl hesitated for a moment. “I’m not really sure, since I’ve never encountered it before. I’ve only heard that the Bagua Plate is actually a magic weapon made by an elder of Baidi City. If someone with enough talent touches it, the elder will sense it. Those disciples with great talent take a different path than us lower-level disciples.”

"Grassroots disciple?" This was a rather novel title. Chu Xunfeng looked curiously at his senior sister, who was probably even younger than him, and waited for her to continue.

“Those of us who don’t learn our skills in Baidi City are considered basic disciples.” The woman pretended to be mature, and her tone revealed a deep sense of earnestness. She patted Nian Shiyi’s shoulder and said, “If Horse Face and I want to move up, besides our master recommending us to enter Baidi City, we only have three paths: to cultivate diligently and accumulate contributions to advance, or to stand out in the sect competition and be chosen by the masters in Baidi City.”

"This is different from many sects I know." Chu Xunfeng frowned. This sounded a bit like the kind of education he had in his previous life, where he always tried to get into better schools.

"Besides being a cultivation sect, Baidi City also undertakes the management of the Imperial State. Baidi City selects talents in cultivation, but not everyone can advance their cultivation in Baidi City. Some people who are not talented enough will be sent to various cities and places in the Imperial State to take up official positions after they reach a certain level of cultivation."

“But don’t worry about Horse Face.” The girl patted Nian Shiyi on the shoulder, ignoring his bewildered expression, and instead encouraged him, “Even if you take up an official post in a local area, the sect’s cultivation resources will only be reduced relatively. If you achieve satisfactory results, you will be rewarded.”

"There might be some lucrative opportunities in the local areas?" Chu Xunfeng chuckled, making a casual guess.

"You can't say that." The girl in white wiped the smile off her face and became serious. "You can accept gifts from others, but you have to weigh how much to accept. If you try to take it yourself, the Enforcement Hall has eyes and ears all over the Imperial Province. If you get held accountable, you'll be in deep trouble."

Seeing the senior sister's stern warning, Chu Xunfeng also adopted a proper posture, cupping his hands and bowing, "Thank you for the lesson, senior sister. I will remember it."

"Well, I didn't mean to teach you a lesson..." The girl's seriousness froze on her face, then turned into a slightly embarrassed but mostly smug smile. "I've only heard about it. After all, although such things are rare, there are always a few cases every year. In short, Horse Face and I are more likely to come into contact with these kinds of taboos. As for you, Little Pretty Junior Brother, you must be in contact with a higher level than these."

"Senior sister, why do you keep calling me Horse Face? I have a name." Nian Shiyi scratched her head with a wry smile.

"Because your face is longer than average?" Senior sister blinked, staring at Nian Shiyi.

Nian Shiyi opened her mouth, "I still hope that you will call me by my name, Senior Sister."

"Pretentious!" the junior sister snorted. "Look, even the pretty boy junior brother didn't say anything."

Nian Shiyi exchanged a wry smile with Chu Xunfeng, who had a gentle smile.

Can this be the same?

Chu Xunfeng is really good-looking; calling him a pretty boy is a compliment.

My face really is long, it's called a horse face... but that's just a joke.

However, looking at her senior sister, who was probably a few years younger than her, Nian Shiyi could only sigh inwardly and raise her hands in a fist salute, saying, "Senior sister is right to reprimand me; I was narrow-minded."

"Hmm..." The young girl tilted her head slightly and glanced at Nian Shiyi. "Since you call me Senior Sister, I'll change my address and call you Junior Brother Nian, how about that?"

Nian Shiyi blinked, suddenly realizing something, and suppressed a laugh, "Then thank you very much, Senior Sister."

The little girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and nodded repeatedly.

It's clear that she really enjoys being called "senior sister".

Chapter Seven: The Wandering Scholar and the Visitor from Baidi City

It was the same teahouse. Chu Xunfeng, Nian Shiyi, and the white-robed junior sister sat in front of the teahouse, each holding a teacup, drinking tea, and chatting about cultivation, sects, and other topics, while keeping an eye on the enrollment progress of the square-faced burly man.

According to the junior sister, the burly man with the square face belonged to the "wandering scholars" category in Baidi City.

They wander among the various cities of the Imperial State, teaching disciples in their own way. When a disciple grows to a certain level, they recommend him to study in White Emperor City. In return, White Emperor City will provide these wandering scholars, who replenish the sect with fresh blood, with a great deal of resources.

Part of it was for the wandering scholar's own use, and the other part was for the wandering scholar to teach the next disciple.

As a local, Nian Shiyi had naturally heard of these rules, but seeing Chu Xunfeng's blank expression, her junior sister explained, "These are rules left by our ancestor, the White Emperor."

Chu Xunfeng nodded thoughtfully, "Because the patriarch's master was a rogue cultivator?"

“Not only is he a rogue cultivator, but he is also the kind with very poor strength.” The junior sister saw Chu Xunfeng’s surprise, but then smiled. “Poor strength does not mean he cannot teach. The ancestor’s master was quite accomplished in the art of educating people. I heard that there is a copy of the ‘Education Classic’ left by the ancestor’s master in White Emperor City.”

"At first, Baidi City only had 'wandering monks'. Later, it gradually prospered and transformed Baidi City into what it is today. I heard my master say that back then, Baidi City was full of the founder's senior brothers. In other words, they were all disciples taught by that rogue cultivator."

"I see." Chu Xunfeng nodded slowly, and after a long silence, he couldn't help but sigh, "Truly a divine being."

“Who can argue with that?” Nian Shiyi nodded vigorously. “People who grow up in the Imperial State, whether they are mortals or cultivators, all yearn to step into the White Emperor City. That’s the charm of the White Emperor City.”

"Unfortunately, Junior Brother Nian, you and I won't have the chance to set foot in Baidi City for the time being."

"Both Senior Sister and Brother Nian will have opportunities." Chu Xunfeng's expression was subtle, and he could only manage a smile.

All three had decent emotional intelligence, so the topic didn't go any deeper. Instead, they started talking about their experiences. Senior Sister and Nian Shiyi were both locals from Dizhou, while Chu Xunfeng was an outsider from Bianzhou.

During the exchange, they shared local customs and traditions, and all three felt they benefited greatly and broadened their horizons.

They had been chatting for less than half an hour when, just as the three of them were taking a break to drink tea, a thunderous roar suddenly echoed in the sky.

Not to mention the three people in the teahouse, even the surrounding common people were terrified by the thunderous sound that shook the land.

"The people from Baidi City have arrived." A rough voice broke the silence.

The three people in the teahouse exchanged glances, then stood up to prepare to greet the guests.

Before long, an enormous T-shaped hammer flew down from the sky, its shadow looming over the street, the sound of its head blocking out most of the road.

[The user is a weapon cultivator at the Earth Profound Realm.]

I understand.

Chu Xunfeng quietly exhaled, silently straightened his body, and watched as the huge T-shaped hammer rapidly shrank, and three people jumped down from the air.

Leading the way was a thin, bald man with a thick beard. Not only was he thin, but he was also somewhat hunchbacked, looking like an old man in his sixties or seventies. The shrunken T-shaped hammer flew straight into the bald man's hand, and he was the Earth Profound Realm soldier cultivator mentioned by the system.

The second person was a woman, dressed in a long white robe that covered her graceful figure. Her face was covered by a white veil, revealing only a pair of slightly indifferent lake-blue eyes. She held a long sword behind her back, exuding a cold and aloof temperament.

The third person... well, it's hard to describe. If I had to, he was just ordinary. He wore ordinary clothes, had an ordinary appearance, and an ordinary build. He had no distinguishing features whatsoever.

"Disciple Ji Hong respectfully welcomes the Seventh Elder, the Fifth Elder, and the Eldest Miss." The burly man with a square face bowed from afar, helping the three juniors identify the three visitors.

"Li Yao, a junior disciple, pays respects to the two elders and the young lady."

“The grassroots disciple Nian Shiyi pays respects to the Seventh Elder, the Fifth Elder, and the Eldest Miss.”

"Disciple Chu Xunfeng greets the two elders and the young lady." Chu Xunfeng followed his junior sister's example and bowed.