Zu An suddenly thought of two people from his previous life—Jack Ma, the creator of Alibaba, as well as Uncle Wang, who charismatically lectured his crowd that they ought to start with a small financial target for their life, say, a hundred million RMB.[1] 

Hmmm, I could do that too, right? If I go out in public and start talking about how easy it is to get a pretty wife or something, I should be able to collect a massive outburst of Rage points.

Yeap, this idea isn’t bad. I ought to give it a try too.

He examined the ‘Befriend a Rich Man’ skill and found that even though it had no usage limit, there was actually a huge restriction to it—money.

However, he noticed that the effect of the artifact was rather ambiguously described. The one hundred million coins seemed to be referring to copper coins, which meant that it was equivalent to one hundred thousand taels of silver per use. Hmm, that doesn’t sound like too much.

He had the equivalent of six hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver on him at the moment, and the Four Seas Casino still owed him another five hundred thousand taels. In total, he would be able to use the ability six times.

Had anyone else known what he was thinking, they would have surely burst out cursing. A hundred thousand taels of silver was already a huge sum. Even the wealthy merchant clans of this world would have difficulty forking out such a sum in one go.

Right now, though, Zu An was considering another problem, which was what the skill would actually do once he spent the money. The details in the artifact description were sketchy, only mentioning that he could turn a target into his friend for an hour. However, there were many different kinds of friends, such as friends who had been through hardships together, and friends who scurried off in the face of trouble. He wasn’t certain how effective the skill would be.

For example, if I try this skill on Jiang Luofu, could the two of us become friends with a lot of benefits?

Zu An was a little tempted, but he suddenly recalled the sealed state he was in, and his mood clouded over immediately.

My priority right now should be to find the Evanescent Lotus. Let me put all miscellaneous thoughts away for now.

He continued to draw the lottery, but he didn’t get anything else that was worthy of note. His final haul was 70 Ki Fruits. With that, he had used a total of 156 Ki Fruits on his fourth formation, which meant that he just needed 77 more to fill it up entirely.

While it looked as though the speed of his cultivation was incredibly slow at the moment, it was already much faster than the other cultivators in this world. Others had to put in decades of hard work in order to reach his current cultivation rank, whereas it had only taken him a month or so.

Besides, his cultivation would rise significantly every time he suffered a beating, thanks to the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra, which meant that it was only a matter of time before he caught up with the others.

If others were to learn of his secret, they would surely go green with envy, and hunt him down for his secret method of cultivation.

Zu An had realized this as well, but he viewed it as a path that he was destined to travel. After all, he was aiming to become the strongest man in the world!

He had read far too many webnovels in his previous life, and his mind had been poisoned by all sorts of overpowered protagonists. He compared himself with those protagonists—as if he was on the same level as them—and he felt that his current accomplishments were still lacking in comparison.

Well, a top-notch prodigy like me should aim for the stars, right?

After some rest, Zu An felt that he was in a much better condition, so he headed out of the forest to resume his search for Ji Xiaoxi. His mood was pretty good, having just obtained two artifacts from the lottery.

However, the moment he walked out of the forest, the smile on his face froze. Goosebumps rose all over his body, and his heart began pounding nervously.

A woman in a green dress was standing before him. She had a graceful, slender figure and an alluringly willowy waist. A slight breeze swept across the land, fluttering her skirt. Her face was hidden behind a veil, shrouding her in an air of mystery.

Any other man would be delighted to stumble upon such a beautiful woman in the wilderness, but Zu An was in no mood to appreciate her beauty. He had a firsthand experience of the terrifying power that her slender profile harnessed.

This woman was none other than Snow!

The latter had noticed him too, and her lips curled up in glee. Found him!

Zu An’s eyes flickered around nervously for a moment before he finally managed to calm his nerves. Instead of turning tail and fleeing, he walked over with a smile and said, “Oh? Miss Qiao, I never expected to meet you here.”

Snow was surprised. Given the grudge between them, she expected the two of them to engage in a fight right away upon meeting one another, but the other party was approaching her amicably instead.

It took a moment before she realized that she was currently Qiao Xueying of Brightmoon Academy, not Snow. It was only natural that he didn’t recognize her.

Hmph! He must be trying to chat me up because I’m in tenth place on the Sweetheart Ranking! This fellow sure is… Despite being impotent, he’s still so lecherous!

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 233 Rage points!

Zu An’s heart skipped a beat. Woah, she must really hate me a lot. She’s already raging at me when all I’ve done is greet her?

Watching as Zu An approached her like an ignorant fool, Qiao Xueying’s lips curled upwards in ridicule. All of a sudden, she didn’t want to kill him that quickly anymore. This fellow made me suffer so much the last time, making me… me… go through that! How can I assuage my anger if I don’t toy with him a little?

“Miss Qiao, you seem to be in a really good mood. Is it because of me?” Zu An sighed deeply. “I guess it can’t be helped. Given my dashing appearance, it’s hard for any woman not to be in a good mood upon meeting me.”

Qiao Xueying resisted the urge to smack him.

Still as thick-skinned as ever, I see.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 131 Rage points!

However, she maintained a smile on her lips and said, “Young master Zu, aren’t you afraid that your wife will be displeased?”

Hmph, I shall twirl you around my fingers like an utter fool. I’ll first make you fall for me before exposing my true identity to you. Heh, let’s see how you’ll react to that!

Zu An waved his hands and said, “Miss Qiao, please do not worry. My wife has said that she doesn’t mind me looking for another woman. If you don’t believe me, feel free to ask her.”

Qiao Xueying clicked her tongue in annoyance. How dare this fellow mess around with other women behind the young miss’ back?

However, barely had the thought surfaced in her mind when she realized that she was still addressing Chu Chuyan as ‘young miss’, and feeling indignant on her behalf. It looked like the years she’d spent by Chu Chuyan’s side had really left a deep impression on her.

“Miss Qiao, what are you doing out here alone? It’s not safe for you to walk around on your own. This dungeon seems to be far more dangerous than the records have stated,” said Zu An. “However, now that you’ve met me, there’s no need to worry anymore. I’ll protect you from now onward.” 

“You?” Qiao Xueying couldn’t help but sneer mockingly. However, she quickly changed her tone and replied, “You have my deepest gratitude, young master Zu.”

“Wait a moment, what’s with that ‘you’? Don’t you believe me?” Zu An immediately grew agitated. “Haven’t you heard of Yuan Wendong? He’s a fifth rank cultivator—a fifth rank cultivator, I kid you not—and I defeated him! There’s also…”

Qiao Xueying couldn’t be bothered to listen to his nonsense. She interrupted him and asked, “Did you meet any other students along the way?”

“Other students? I don’t think so. You’re the first one I’ve encountered. Ah, it must be fate bringing us together!” Zu An chuckled.

“You didn’t meet anyone?” Qiao Xueying eyed the wound on Zu An’s chest. “How did you get that injury, then?”

“Ah, I stumbled into a few zombie soldiers and fought them. Ahhh, it was really a tough fight. There’s something really weird about this dungeon! I didn’t think that there would be actual zombies here… The academy should have told us something in advance!” a hint of fright crept into Zu An’s voice. His acting was as genuine as one could imagine.

Qiao Xueying pondered over Zu An’s words. She recalled what she had seen in the mountain valley she’d passed by earlier, and a furrow formed on her forehead. Did Jia Zhengjing and the others encounter the zombies and get killed off by them?

“Hm? Honey, what are you doing here?” Zu An suddenly glanced behind Qiao Xueying and exclaimed in delight.

“Young miss!” Qiao Xueying’s body shuddered as she subconsciously turned around to take a look, only to see that no one was behind her.

Zu An was waiting for this opportunity all this while. He intentionally dragged the conversation all around the place in order to make Qiao Xueying lower her guard, creating this opportunity for himself.

Without hesitation, he drove his dagger straight into Qiao Xueying’s heart. He showed no mercy this time around, resorting to the Poisonous Prick for this attack. While it was a pity to let a beauty like her die in this manner, he was well aware that she had entered the dungeon to take his life. Given her five ranks of cultivation, any compassion he showed would likely result in his death.

‘Bixie Swordplay’ was fast enough as it was, and Zu An had taken her by surprise this time around. Even a cultivator of Qiao Xueying’s level couldn’t hope to dodge it.

*Pshhh!* 

Blood splattered all over the place.

Zu An had managed to pierce his dagger into Qiao Xueying’s body! However, he didn’t look relieved at all. There was something weird about the sensation of his dagger piercing her flesh.

As he expected, ripples suddenly appeared on the ‘Qiao Xueying’ which he had pierced, and she eventually morphed into a flower that dissipated into thin air. Meanwhile, the real Qiao Xueying was standing several meters away, fixing him with a chilling glare.

From the moment she turned around and saw no one at all, she knew that she had made a fatal mistake. Her initial thought was to use her ki armor to ward off his incoming attack, but every cell in her body was tingling, warning her of a terrifying danger that was approaching her.

She couldn’t understand why Zu An could cause her to feel such a great sense of alarm, but she instinctively resorted to a talent that she could only use three times in her life, Moon’s Reflection, and transferred the damage she suffered onto a flower.

“You actually made me waste one use of my Moon’s Reflection!” bellowed Qiao Xueying.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 1024 Rage points!

Every use of Moon’s Reflection was equivalent to an additional life! She had been in many dangerous situations ever since she was young, but she could never bring herself to use Moon’s Reflection. She knew that this technique could save her life from a powerful opponent against whom she stood no chance, which was why she treasured its three uses greatly.

Yet, she had actually wasted one of them on a man whom she thought of as nothing more than a mere ant!

Despite her furious bellow, there was no one around to answer her. Zu An had already turned around to flee back into the forest, and he was just a moment away from vanishing from Qiao Xueying’s vision.