Nine Nether Dragon Emperor

While the crowd whispered amongst themselves, Ning Xuan's Dao Body began writing with both hands. In a short time, he had already written tens of thousands of words. Then, right at the most exciting part, he left them with a cliffhanger!

"What happens next? Did Xiao Xuan really call off the engagement?"

Even Shangguan Qingrou, who wasn't very interested in novels, was drawn in by the plot and couldn't help but press Ning Xuan for answers.

Heh heh. These plotlines that seem so cliché to us are truly a powerful weapon here!

"What happens next? There's nothing. The story's been dropped," Ning Xuan replied to Shangguan Qingrou. At the same time, he turned and addressed the crowd.

"Don't misunderstand, everyone. I'm actually an author. Miss Shangguan is chasing me for updates. However, meeting all of you must be fate. Seeing you all gave me a burst of inspiration, so I immediately dug a new pit—er, I mean, I wrote a very exciting opening for a novel. Here, catch!"

The moment Ning Xuan finished speaking, he tossed the stack of folded pages toward an ordinary-looking man in the crowd. The man caught them subconsciously and began to read, devouring ten lines at a glance. It only took a single look for him to be completely captivated by the plot. And it wasn't just him. Soon, heads were crowding in from the left, right, and behind, all equally enthralled.

Before long, the scene devolved into chaos.

"Where's the next page? Let me see!"

"Why are you snatching it? I'm not done reading yet!"

"Damn it, that woman named Shangguan is infuriating!"

"Hey, where's the rest? Why does it just stop here?"

The crowd devolved into a heated argument. By the time most of them realized there was no more to read and looked for Ning Xuan, he was already gone!

"He actually ran off! This won't do!"

"Brothers, after him!"

"Split up! We have to make him continue writing!"

"That was so thrilling! If I could read novels like that every day, who would need a wife!"

Once out of the alley, the group immediately and voluntarily split up, determined to find Ning Xuan as quickly as possible.

「Meanwhile.」

From a room overlooking the street, Shangguan Qingrou peered through a crack in the window at the anxious crowd below. She turned to tease Ning Xuan, "Why the long face?"

"I just wrote that nonsense to placate them peacefully and get away. I didn't expect..." Ning Xuan said with a wry smile before promptly changing the subject. "Right, where are we? Isn't the Bi Luo Palace here? Why does everyone seem so... sheltered?"

Shangguan Qingrou felt a little embarrassed. She had been about to ask him about what happened next in the novel. How could she possibly bring it up now?

Hmm, I'll just answer the first part of his question.

"We are in the Gouchen Star Realm, in Posa City."

"So this is the Gouchen Star Realm!" Ning Xuan was delighted to hear this. After all, this was the Jiang Family's stronghold. Even if his pursuers came here, they wouldn't dare to act so recklessly out in the open. This was definitely good news.

"You seem rather happy?" Shangguan Qingrou asked.

Ning Xuan nodded. "I have an old acquaintance in this Realm."

"A woman?"

"A woman."

"You're so dismissive of me. She must be gorgeous, right?"

"I told you, I have face blindness; I don't know if she's beautiful or not. By the way, her name is Jiang Chan. You might know her."

"Wha—"

Just as Shangguan Qingrou was about to cry out, Ning Xuan clapped a hand over her mouth. He certainly didn't want to be found by those people outside.

The story he just wrote was already dead in the water. As an author, once you abandon a story, you abandon it. There's no reason to continue. Of course, if the readers were generous enough, he'd take that back.

"You... you know Jiang Chan?" Shangguan Qingrou stared at Ning Xuan, her expression one of utter shock.

Ning Xuan loved seeing that look on her face. He raised an eyebrow and said nonchalantly, "Why? Is that a problem?"

"No!" Shangguan Qingrou nodded, though the look she gave Ning Xuan was very strange. After a moment, she bit her lip and asked tentatively, "You don't like big ones?"

Ning Xuan glanced at her and subconsciously replied, "Thirty-six..." He coughed awkwardly. "Ahem. Big ones are good. Big ones are good."

"Thirty-six? Do I look that old to you? I'm only eighteen! You like them that old?" Shangguan Qingrou asked, first indignant, then apprehensive.

"Haven't you read Luo Tianyi's novels? Didn't she write about that?"

"I don't actually enjoy reading them, but my mother does. Speaking of which, after reading her novels, my mother wouldn't even let my father into her room..." Shangguan Qingrou stopped mid-sentence, her gaze toward Ning Xuan growing even more peculiar.

Then she said, "I'll give you two choices. First, marry into my Shangguan Family. Second, leave Posa City immediately!"

Without a moment's hesitation, Ning Xuan replied, "I'll take the second one!"

Shangguan Qingrou was fuming, but she still decided to respect his decision.

"Fine, you can go."

"Um, could you do me a favor and send them away?" Ning Xuan asked with a smile.

Although he didn't know when the master and servant from the Fang Family would arrive, Ning Xuan decided it was best to keep a low profile.

"Also, you need to collect all those wanted posters. Someone is hunting me down! If they find out I was here, the consequences would be unthinkable! No... I have to leave right now!"

Ning Xuan's mind flashed to the Realm Lord's Mansion in the Dali Realm, which had been completely slaughtered. If that master and servant—or anyone else—found out he had been here, the entire city might be destroyed the moment they arrived.

He quickly changed his mind. "Never mind. Just tell me where I can find Jiang Chan!"

For the sake of the innocent people who might die because of him, he couldn't afford to keep a low profile.

Shangguan Qingrou's disgruntled voice cut in, "She's in the Realm Capital. Good riddance!"

"Right, is there a Teleportation Array here that goes to the Realm Capital?" Ning Xuan asked, remembering what Qiu Hao had said. Since even the cities in the Dali Realm had interconnected Teleportation Arrays, it was impossible for Gouchen Star, the home star of the Empress, not to have them.

Shangguan Qingrou had been about to say no, but after meeting Ning Xuan's gaze, the words on the tip of her tongue changed. "The Teleportation Array is at my house."

"So I'm in the presence of the daughter of Posa's Judge. Forgive my disrespect."

"What do you mean, Judge's daughter? That's a title they only use in the Dali Realm... Don't tell me you're from the Dali Realm?" Shangguan Qingrou's expression changed.

Ning Xuan nodded.

Shangguan Qingrou's face went deathly pale, and she stumbled back several steps as if Ning Xuan were a ravenous beast.

"I should have told you that from the start," Ning Xuan said with a wry smile. If he had known it would be so effective, he wouldn't have wasted so much time.

Shangguan Qingrou quickly explained, "I'm sorry. It's just that I heard so many stories about the Dali Realm from my father when I was growing up. I don't think you're a bad person!"

"It's fine, don't worry about it," Ning Xuan said, though he was puzzled. "But I am curious, what stories did your father tell you?"

He couldn't think of anything particularly scary about Dali.

"My father said that the Dali Realm has the Trial Mountain Range stretching across the entire realm, and beneath those mountains lie the burial grounds of evil demons! Infinite, endless evil demons!"

Ning Xuan's expression changed as he finally realized what the pretender emperor's Shadow Group was trying to do.